An early look at Tarantino's 'Basterds'Quentin Tarantino is making a strong bid for the second Palme d'Or of his career. He won his first in 1994 for "Pulp Fiction." He's back at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 competing for the festival's top prize with "Inglourious Basterds," his WWII film starring Brad Pitt. 
Eli Roth and Brad Pitt star in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds."
 I saw it today and loved it. The movie contains the kind of spectacularly creative and entertaining dialogue Tarantino is known for. In fact, it begins with a very long dialogue scene which may make some viewers restless because of its length. But if you're someone who savors Tarantino's writing, it's great. The film is less violent than many of Tarantino's efforts, or maybe it's that the violence doesn't seem as gratuitous in the context of a war movie. I think it's his most mature (a term I wouldn't normally associate with Tarantino) movie. The film feels very assured and less overtly referential than his other work, which can seem a bit self-indulgent at times. His "Grindhouse" movie did not do terribly well at the box office, perhaps because not many people were familiar with the kind of movie Tarantino was evoking. But everyone's seen a war movie, right? The box office fortunes of "Inglourious Basterds" may be improved by Brad Pitt's involvement. I think he gives a very smart and funny performance. But the movie was just about stolen (in my opinion anyway) by Christoph Waltz, who plays the Nazi villain known as the "Jew Hunter." The movie gains momentum every time he's on screen. It's a performance that's not to be missed. Will the Cannes jury pick Tarantino's film for the Palme d'Or? He's got tough competiton in Pedro Almodovar's "Broken Embraces" ("Los Abrazos Rotos") which got a standing ovation from the audience at the premiere Tuesday night. The Ken Loach film, "Looking for Eric," has also won rave reviews. Loach won the Palme d'Or just a few years ago with "The Wind that Shakes the Barley." Whatever happens with the voting, American audiences are in for a treat when "Inglourious Basterds" opens in the U.S. in August. – Matthew Carey, CNN Entertainment Producer |
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Anyone who thinks Brad Pitt isn't a good actor is a complete idiot. His role as Mickey in Snatch, was fantastic and every time I hear the name Floyd, I think of Pitt's character in True Romance. He is just an all around great actor. I think Pitt bashers are just jealous.
Oh, by the way Tarantino misspelled the title on purpose. I read that some of the subtitles in the film are misspelled as well, so you spelling freak may want to refrain from watch or your head may explode.
Brad Pitt's a great actor. Anyone see Seven? Oh, and it takes at least 3 digits in your IQ to appreciate Tarantino, so some of you might just be out of luck.
Sterling, I agree with you that the Death Proof bee itches were awfully annoying, just like Tarentino apparently can't spell "bastard."
I think they were intended to be seen as irritating...maybe to help desensitize the audience to their death, as what was Death Proof if not pure escapism? They weren't supposed to be likeable characters for the most part, with the exception of the two black and kiwi heroines whose name escapes me at the moment.
no one else can keep you glued to the screen at a moment when there is no action only talking.
You will always have some MORON bringing up politics and Obama.( Frank ) It's a movie review thats the topic of disscusion not politics. And alot of people must have been duped because he won.
It's always interesting watching people argue about a movie that most of them haven't seen.
Having not seen Tarantino's latest I can't comment on it. I will say though that I think he is over-rated. Here's a brief review of his career thus far:
Resevoir Dogs – Overwrought crime drama that garnered a bunch of attention for setting a torture scene to a bad 70s song.
Pulp Fiction – Inventive, good dialogue and mildly homophobic.
Jackie Brown – Just bad. There's a reason why no one mentioned it above.
Kill Bill – Two movies of Tarantino ripping off a bunch of other film makers while also displaying a non-so-subtle misogyny.
Death Proof – Cinematic masturbation.
Tarantino does have talent as a writer of dialogue. Too bad he still has the mentality of a sociopathic 12 year old.
When you look like Brad Pitt ... and act like he did in .. "Legends of the Fall" ... and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" ... it's not too relevant where he is from. Let's give the reviewer the benefit of a doubt ... that Pitt improves this picture with his presence. I can imagine that!
It is intended to be Basterds (with an 'e') – because of the original (of which this is not a remake) Italian film Quel maledetto treno blindato (The Inglorious Bastards) with Bo Svenson and Fred Williamson – quote: "The title (and partial premise) of the upcoming film are inspired by Italian director Enzo Castellari's 1978 movie Inglorious Bastards, but it is not a remake of that film."
But he stated he did not want to confuse it – thus the 'e' as well.
Oh, by the way, Missouri is a "Southern" state. It was part of the Confederate States but did not formally secede from the US. Know your history! Can you name the other southern states that did not secese?
Yes, Brad Pitt is from OK, but he grew up in Missou. Besides, I love the name, Tarantino, and Pitt! Hot!
Did someone mention Harry Potter?
Wow – I read a review today in the Guardian that absolutely trashed the film: "today the full catastrophe of his new film arrived like some colossal armour-plated turkey from hell. The city of our hopes is in flames."
I guess I'll have to go see it now and form my own opinion...
"[I]f you’re someone who savors Tarantino’s writing, it’s great"? Does one need to be so absolute? I savor Tarantino's writing when it's *good*. I'm perfectly happy to listen to "Pulp Fiction"'s hit-men riff off each other; after fifteen minutes of "Death Proof"'s starlets prattle on, I was ready to kill the characters myself.
Missouri is a border Southern state. Many residents in Southeast Missouri would take umbrage with the assertion that they are not "Southern" or from the "South". It snows in Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina too, and those are all Southern states. That said, Springfield (where Mr. Pitt is from) is in the Southwest corner of the state and the accents in that region are not as predominantly "Southern" as they are in the Southeast corner.
It should also be noted that there is not one "true" Southern accent. The "Southern" accent of North Carolina is quite distinct from that of Mississippi or Arkansas or Kentucky. Even the states themselves are not monolithic as accents will vary by region or county, just as they do in every other part of the nation.
Assigning one accent to the South is like assigning one accent to every state north of the Mason-Dixon from Iowa to Maine.
Missouri is not in the south. Why would anyone think that people from Missouri would have southern accents. Missouri is definitely in the north. It snows there so it's the north. People from certain parts may have a country accent, but never a southern accent. Get a clue.
The media makes Brad! It doesn't matter if he can act as long as he and Angie are heralded by the media as the it couple. If you disbelieve, just look at Obama. The media put him there. Never a difficult question. Always pushing him as their candidate from day one. He was never was never covered as an opponent of the other democrats or republicans, only as the one annointed by all the media as the next president. He had no qualifications to prepare him for the presidency, associated with so many questionable people, etc. Yet he still won because the media pushed him to win. Just shows how stupid and easily duped the American people are.
ok morons....it is intentionally spelled Basterds.......but for the rest of of you spell-check -dopes...it's spelled "BASTARD"....smarten up idiots
I've seen all of Tarantino's movies and I'm a fan. Outside of Resevoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, though, he hasn't made a good movie.
Who cares? Go see the movie if you're interested, don't go if you're not.
This is CNN's movie reviewer?? Could we try to move a little bit closer to something resembling intelligent commentary? I know CNN's become a "no one ever got rich underestimating the public's intelligence" kind of news source, but please...
This trailer looks awesome! I can't wait til August. Tarantino is such a master – his dialogue is some of the most delightful, playful and fun in modern cinema. The opening sounds great.
Quentin may be the most skilled writer of dialogue of his generation, but I shudder to think at how his hip sounding smug characters would clash with believable 1940 American English. It might degenerate this movie into another juvenile work of phantasy. I'll see the movie, but I won't have high expectations of it.
He might have been born in OK, but I know he spent at least grades 2 through 6 in Springfield, MO...same grade school my daughter attends. At those influential ages, you might as well say he grew up in MO.
Peter,
I wouldn't say Pitt is what made them great, but Fight Club and Snatch were definitely not “loosers”.
Marblecake. The game.
Looks like a winner in my book.
Hey Peter – "loosers?" Seriously? The word is "losers," friend.
As for Tom Cruise playing a German officer, welcome to last year.
With respect to questioning Brad Pitt's abilities, obviously you haven't seen his EXCEPTIONAL performance in Kalifornia. Yes, spelled intentionally and NOT a Tarantino film. Maybe Pitt is the reason this movie is spelled the way it is. LOL
Mel Bain – Brad Pitt is from Springfield, MO.
K Pearson – Many people from MO don't have "southern" accents.
I can't understand this Brad Pitt thing..he has NEVER made anything except some " B " movies of which none of those were very good...he is a star because of the women he has dated but his movie roles and acting are really nothing to get him any real fame .I think his movies are all loosers.
Also Tom cruise as a German Officer..give me a break..talk about miscasting..WOW another Cruise bomb.
K Pearson,
I am from the heart of missouri, and not all of us have the "drawl" you might expect. I pronounce wash... wash not worsh. Just a little heads up on that. Ohhh and Mel is right, he is from Oklahoma.. but his family now lives in Springfield where you might find a few people who would say worsh.
These are some of the dumbest comments I've ever seen. That being said, this is going to be a good movie, whether the haters want to hate or not.
I, for one, am excited to finally have a new movie from him coming out! I don't think I have seen one that I haven't liked Grindhouse included.
Another forum with a bunch of brainiacs. Spell check that..
Brad pitt is from Oklahoma, not Missouri
what do you mean K Pearson?? That trailer is awesome and makes me, who is generally not a Tarentino fan, really want to see this movie!! I think Brad is a very underrated actor who people don't take seriously because of his looks and his fame. But i thought he was perfect in the scene from the trailer. It totally made me excited to see the rest of his performance.
BTW...spelling is like that on purpose obviously. i think editing would have caught that!
I can't wait to see this!!
I hate people.
Tarantino is such a genius! Such a freaking genius! I mean who else in the world would think of misspelling both words in the title of a movie, and on purpose no less! [End sarcasm]
Wow, lots of brilliant posting today.
1. If you're going to cite spelling errors, be specific. If you're talking about the title of the movie, you're wrong. 100% wrong. Tarantino spelled it that way on purpose. (Also, "Filip" and not Philip?)
2. If you don't like the review, go watch a trailer of you want to see more.
3. Grandstand and Reality, why don't you stick to Transformers 2 and Harry Potter? Probably mroe your speed.
K Pearson – Missouri is not in the south.
Why an "e"? Why not "Basturds"?
No, the movie doesn't have gratuitous violence, that's the whole point. People are so caught up on Kill Bill and seem to think that it and Pulp Ficiton are the only movies he's ever made...
It's spelled with an 'e' on purpose!
Wow. So from that review, I got that it's good, it's a war film, and there's a character that's called the "jew hunter." Thanks, that was very helpful.
I saw the trailer last night...I can't imagine how this film would be somehow improved by Brad Pitt. He is horrible, at least in this trailer. How can it be that someone originally from Missouri does such an awful southern accent?
"Basterds" is intentionally spelled that way. Otherwise, be specific.
Thanks Matthew! I've been waiting for an American review - and I'm thrilled you liked it. And I'm glad you "got it" when it comes to Tarantino (most reviewers are surprised to learn that Tarantino is a brand name in itself, which is shocking when you wonder about how they got the job). It sounds like you "get" Tarantino and his movies (therefor, your post has more validity to us fans). I loved your review - thanks for posting it! JD.
Actually, the title of the movie is “Inglourious Basterds”, misspellings and all.
However, "competiton" is missing a letter...
I'm with Scott. SPELL CHECK!!!!
Why doesn't Tarantino just do the inevitable and start making cartoons?
I think the misspellings are intentional.
The title is supposed to be spelled that way, Scott.
Ease off, dudes. Those who can't do, correct grammar.
Thanks for the sneak peak! I can't wait to see this movie.
If the "Spell Check!" is in regards to the movie title, well.... he's got it right. It's quite deliberately misspelled by Tarantino.
'Gratuitous violence not as violent as we are used to? is this what we’ve reduced ourselves to?'
Calm down. It's a movie. If you don't feel like being 'reduced' to this, don't go see it. No one is forcing you.
I guess we should start censoring art too......
I love the narrow minded people of this country.
Tarantino is the best writer of his generation when it comes to believeable diaologue. I could listen to his characters talk about the origins of the Sicilians (True Romance), whether a foot massage is sexual (Pulp Fiction), or the true meaning of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" (Resevoir Dogs) for hours on end.
He's at his best when his characters are doing nothing BUT talking.
Looking forward to this! I know it's been quite a long road between the initial idea for the film and the finished product.
Spell check!
Gratuitous violence not as violent as we are used to? is this what we've reduced ourselves to?