Quentin Tarantino As Night Owl
For basically this entire summer, going to the theater has been a total bust. From Terminator Salvation to Public Enemies, everything released has either looked disproportionately bad or was actually bad. Terminator Salvation saved the best of the film for the first 30 minutes, leaving the last hour-plus to be a series of dull conversations and even duller action sequences. Public Enemies…I can't even begin to describe how boring and disjointed the entire film was from beginning to end. People were shot, banks were robbed, stuff happened but good luck getting me to remember any of it.
Away We Go turned out to be a fairly pleasant indie surprise. Normally, romantic comedies bore me from the word "go". Away We Go was written more maturely than your average The Break Up, kind of like Juno for adults without the annoying catchphrases. Still, as clever as Away We Go turned out to be, it wasn't something that one would deem as "best movie of the summer".
Recently, District 9 has turned up and served as a bit of turning point for the stretch run, so to speak. While the initial trailers kind of hinted towards a current-day spin on Independence Day, District 9 turned out to be markedly different in a good way. My favorite aspect of the film was the use of mostly unknown actors, making its success more impressive. The main problem with District 9 was that shooting it documentary-style made it seem like details were sacrificed. While the whole of the story as it was could be followed, certain explanations and situations felt like they were hanging in the wind. I'm hoping to see it again on DVD, preferably in an uncut fashion.
Then, there is the film that has single-handedly saved the summer (for me)…Inglourious Basterds. For any fan of Quentin Tarantino, there was to be no doubt that this was going to be a good film. In short, it was a great film. Maybe his best since Jackie Brown. One thing that has been brought to my attention that I failed to really notice during the film was the lack of any big action/battle sequences. As is the case with most Tarantino films, each scene/chapter is bolstered by very lengthy conversation pieces that build to a heaping boil of operatic violence, done in such a way that even though you know they're coming, you still find yourself moving closer to the seat's edge. For some reason, watching Inglourious Basterds kept reminding me of a bizarre film called The Night Porter about a former Nazi who had a strange sadomasochistic relationship with a female Jewish captive.
What made Inglourious Basterds so interesting was that it was funny and many of the characters were clearly caricatures of their real-life counterparts, but they were played with the utmost sincerity. The actor currently receiving the bulk of the universal praise is Christoph Waltz who portray the devilish Hans Landa. Prior to this film, good luck finding him in any major American productions, though I'd bet that is soon to change. For my money, Brad Pitt stole this movie and has finally created a memorable character in Aldo Raine. Since Snatch, I've lost increasingly more interest in Brad Pitt's work, but his tough, ignorant portrayal as leader of the Basterds is one that I think will go down as one of his best. Easily the most curious role went to Mike Myers, turning in his best character (albeit brief) since Wayne's World.
With no major action franchise to really buoy the summer schedule (perhaps Watchmen should have been saved for July?), leave it to Tarantino to release his best work in 12 years at the end of one of the most forgettable summers I can remember. See Inglourious Basterds yesterday.
Away We Go turned out to be a fairly pleasant indie surprise. Normally, romantic comedies bore me from the word "go". Away We Go was written more maturely than your average The Break Up, kind of like Juno for adults without the annoying catchphrases. Still, as clever as Away We Go turned out to be, it wasn't something that one would deem as "best movie of the summer".
Recently, District 9 has turned up and served as a bit of turning point for the stretch run, so to speak. While the initial trailers kind of hinted towards a current-day spin on Independence Day, District 9 turned out to be markedly different in a good way. My favorite aspect of the film was the use of mostly unknown actors, making its success more impressive. The main problem with District 9 was that shooting it documentary-style made it seem like details were sacrificed. While the whole of the story as it was could be followed, certain explanations and situations felt like they were hanging in the wind. I'm hoping to see it again on DVD, preferably in an uncut fashion.Then, there is the film that has single-handedly saved the summer (for me)…Inglourious Basterds. For any fan of Quentin Tarantino, there was to be no doubt that this was going to be a good film. In short, it was a great film. Maybe his best since Jackie Brown. One thing that has been brought to my attention that I failed to really notice during the film was the lack of any big action/battle sequences. As is the case with most Tarantino films, each scene/chapter is bolstered by very lengthy conversation pieces that build to a heaping boil of operatic violence, done in such a way that even though you know they're coming, you still find yourself moving closer to the seat's edge. For some reason, watching Inglourious Basterds kept reminding me of a bizarre film called The Night Porter about a former Nazi who had a strange sadomasochistic relationship with a female Jewish captive.What made Inglourious Basterds so interesting was that it was funny and many of the characters were clearly caricatures of their real-life counterparts, but they were played with the utmost sincerity. The actor currently receiving the bulk of the universal praise is Christoph Waltz who portray the devilish Hans Landa. Prior to this film, good luck finding him in any major American productions, though I'd bet that is soon to change. For my money, Brad Pitt stole this movie and has finally created a memorable character in Aldo Raine. Since Snatch, I've lost increasingly more interest in Brad Pitt's work, but his tough, ignorant portrayal as leader of the Basterds is one that I think will go down as one of his best. Easily the most curious role went to Mike Myers, turning in his best character (albeit brief) since Wayne's World.
With no major action franchise to really buoy the summer schedule (perhaps Watchmen should have been saved for July?), leave it to Tarantino to release his best work in 12 years at the end of one of the most forgettable summers I can remember. See Inglourious Basterds yesterday.
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