What a Basterd!

Despite it's running time (153 minutes), Quentin Tarantino's INGLORIOUS BASTERDS is a tension-filled blast of revisionist schlock. Unlike the tedious stretches of dialogue in DEATH PROOF, each sequence in BASTERDS keeps you glued to the screen. Most characters are very well drawn, especially Col. Hans Landa (played by Christopher Waltz, who deserves an Oscar nod). Brad Pitt's Tenessee-bred Lt. Aldo Raine provides a lot of patriotic "pumping up" and also a lot of laughs. The violence is slightly graphic at times, and during the film's 'cinema-finale,' it plays out like a cross between Pacino's SCARFACE and a Warner Brother's cartoon (as does the over-the-top portrayal of Hitler). And, of course, Tarantino manages to add another close up shot of a woman's foot (Diane Kruger's glitzy Bridget von Hammersmark), confirming--if there was ever a doubt--that the man must has a serious fetish! As for Eli Roth...his skull-bashing scene made his non-existent acting tolerable, but I'd still rather see him in front of the camera than behind it.

Easily Quentin's best film since PULP FICTION. Add a plus for super-legible subtitles when they were needed.