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Thread: Inglorious Basterds

  1. #16
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    Classic QT

    Although I must say, it didn't blow me away. I wouldn't go so far as saying it was the 'best of the year' but I was entertained throughout. The shock impact of OT films has lessened over the years for me. Perhaps I'm just too jaded from seeing a lot of the original cinema (Asian film and in this case, vintage WWII flicks and westerns) that QT poaches for his ideas. Also QT can be so self absorbed in his long-winded edits - that's part of his style, I know, but it did tend to slow things down a bit.

    I love QT's ear for sound. The Sergio Leone/Lalo Schiffrin nods were really amusing. Honestly, his homage work is what gets me the most. However, the pilfering of another film's signature theme song (no spoiler - I won't say which but you'll know it the instant it starts) did not work for me at all. Sure, there a hot actress putting on makeup and loading a pistol, but it didn't hold a candle to the original. Remember the original? Not even in the ballpark with that scene. It should have been totally cut.

    Doug is spot on - it's all about Christoph Waltz and Brad Pitt. They just chewed up every scene they were in and spat it back with such defiant delight. With their scene, the long-winded edits worked well. I chuckled at almost every line of Pitts. And Waltz was a spectacular villain, which was key in this flick. I would have like to have seen the Basterds developed more. We got a brief intro to the gang, extended on a few, and that didn't go anywhere. Unlike those wonderful old 'band of soldiers' flicks (I'm thinking like Guns of Navarone or Dirty Dozen), the gang wasn't as fleshed out as I would have liked. The story arcs of the minor Basterds was lost. I would have rather seen that then the makeup theme song lift scene. I totally missed Bo Svenson's scene - IMDB says he was cast as the "American Colonel" but that just didn't pop out at me. Oh well. At least we got something up on the ezine on it that was marginally relevant. That article just fell in our lap in a timely manner.

    I was processing QT's commentary on exploitative violence in film after the movie. There was almost one of those artsy ****sy comments on propaganda and the spectacle of violence, but in the end, it didn't flesh out for me. Perhaps that was lost in the edit... or maybe I was projecting (as writers tend to do). Anyone else ponder this?

    P.S. Ponyo (and just how OT is that on this thread?) was disappointing. The animation and story wasn't as developed. There were some fine Miyazaki moments, but it paled by comparison to his earlier work. Even my kid and my mom (who both enjoyed it) were like 'what was up with that? after given on the loose ends in the story.
    Gene Ching
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  2. #17
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    Hey Gene, sorry for the OT sidetrack with Ponyo, but thanks for your comments on it. I may rent it.

    Back to Inglorious Basterds, I really enjoyed the music QT pilfered from La Resa Dei Conti (aka, The Big Gundown) when Eli Roth first appears. For obvious reasons, Morricone's music is very commonly lifted, esp. in many '70s-era kung fu films. QT also (very, very briefly) pays homage to Sammo Hung's Eastern Condors with soundtrack music/slow motion charge that you'll miss if you drop your attention for 2 to 3 seconds.

    As for shock value, I agree that QT has mostly lost that, but then again, it's pretty difficult to shock cinamatically anymore. And yes, Christopher Waltz's portrayal created a truly classic villain, and one of the most entertaining that I can remember.

  3. #18
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    two more thoughts...

    I'm still ruminating about IB, and that boosts my estimation of the quality of any film. It may have been a little long-winded while watching it, but the more I think about it, the more I liked it.

    I really liked the fact that so much of the film was done with subtitles. I often hear that subtitles lower box office expectations in America, which I find horribly lame. I've always thought that subtitles really change the experience of a film - you can get away with crappier stuff - or more outrageous stuff - because half of the time, you're distracted by the subtitles. Plus it forces you to listen to the tone of the language, not necessarily the literal words. I thought QT was very clever about how he darted back and forth with the subtitles. He used them as an ingenious device to move the story.

    I also liked the overall comment on terrorism. The basterds were terrorists, which made them unlikely heroes, but it brings back that age old philosophical question about how far would you go to assassinate Hitler.

    No worries on the OT, Jimbo. Sometimes a forum is all about the OT. I just thought bringing up Ponyo on this thread was particularly amusing. I've been trying to make a connection of some sort between the two flicks. As much as I like Fey and Neesom, perhaps Ponyo would have been better with subtitles.
    Gene Ching
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  4. #19
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    Gene, I also liked the fact that IB had lots of subtitles. But for me, it made the movie much more realistic, in that it does take place in Europe, with several characters that either spoke little or no English (or had no need to in the story). Plus, it seems to me that many more Europeans are multi-lingual in comparison to many people who have been in this country for several generations... due to so many countries all close together overseas. So it's not a stretch that a German would carry on a conversation in French or also understand some Italian, etc.

    I also hear that subtitles hurt a movie released here, and I do know quite a few people who will not watch a subtitled movie, period. My own siblings, in-laws and many friends claim the subtitles make them tired and they can't concentrate on the movie. They say things like, "I go to the movies to sit back and relax, not to have to read!"

    But if you become accustomed to watching subtitled movies, you learn to read them and often do so quickly enough to forget you're reading subtitles, while still catching what's happening onscreen. At the risk of sounding snobby (which isn't my intention), it's kind of an art form or a skill. Plus, like you say, it makes you pay attention to the tone rather than to the actual words themselves. Many people only hear something they don't understand and make fun of it, like "ahhhhh, yahyahyahyahyahyahyahhhhh." You open your mind that all languages, though different, are logically constructed and have meaning/emotion.

    OT to Ponyo again, it'd be nice if it and all of Miyazaki's work would be available at least with original language/subtitles as a DVD option, instead of just the English versions. Miyazaki's films are usually better English-dubbed than most other anime films, but I can't help feeling some of the original feeling is lost.

  5. #20
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    going for my second helping of this movie tonight. its crazy to me cause i didnt think this movie was going to be good at all. especially after everyone i know who went to cannes dog it. but it was one of my friends who works over at tarrintino's company band a part who got me to see it, and since it was free i said why the hell not. and my god i'm so glad i did. i say it was the best film of the summer i wont say year cause the year aint up and the oscar movies havent come out yet(you guys know what i mean, those movies that come out year end to get nominations) and sherlock holmes isnt out yet. and turning one of my favorite literally characters into a badass kung fu fighter has got to be a must see. but I.B. was certainly the best of the summer, the summer films that were offered up werent that good, certainly all of the big film(harry potter, tranformers, and terminator) failed to fully deliver. I.B. and public enemies were the only two films that i came out of and was really revved up. as for the long windedness, if you ever heard quentin talk(and i have actually) he can babble on for hours and hours(always about movies i dont think he can think of nothing else) so the fact that that permeates his films is understandable, fellini once said if i make a film about a shoe it would always be about me, or something to that effect. and quentins films are always so personal to him. but i will say this ten minutes could have been cut out of the bar scene and it still would have been fine, that scene almost killed me. but it ended so beautifully.

  6. #21
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    I liked the bar scene too...

    ...it completely worked for me. I could imagine where it could have been trimmed a tad, but I was actually fine with that one as it was. The level of tension it built up and the way it ended was just QT on top of his game. Throughout the film, there could have been other little cuts here and there to tighten it up, but the bar scene was solid as it was for my tastes. I have the most issues with that make-up/theme song lift scene. That still bugs the hell out of me. I should have gone for more nachos then.

    Back to Ponyo (because I now find it funny to discuss that parallel to QT) I've never seen any Miyazaki in Japanese with subtitles. He knocked one out of the park with Totoro, and everything that I've seen in its wake has been translated ever since.
    Gene Ching
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  7. #22
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    so saw it the second time and it was just as good. infact i enjoyed it more for some reason, maybe because i knew when things were going to happen. took my production partner to see it, and she loved it. she called the big theater scene ejaculatory. as for ponyo the only miyazaki film i really liked was princess monanoke.

  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimbo View Post
    OT to Ponyo again, it'd be nice if it and all of Miyazaki's work would be available at least with original language/subtitles as a DVD option, instead of just the English versions. Miyazaki's films are usually better English-dubbed than most other anime films, but I can't help feeling some of the original feeling is lost.
    Hey Jimbo.

    Most of Miyazaki's movies are available on DVD with subtitles and the original Japanese track. It is the only way I would really want to watch them. However, I must admit that the English dubs for his anime features are very top notch. Not just because they use big named and highly talented A list actors but because there is actual care in the process. The artistic integrity is maintained because the tone and feeling is on par with the original script. I do believe Miyazaki himself supervises the dubbing process.

    Inglorious Basterds...I don't know if I could watch it a second time. Usually, one time is enough for his movies.
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  9. #24
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    still havent seen it yet. maybe tonight. i hate QT movies though. too much useless babble in them. KB vol 1 was the only one i liked though. I thought it had a good mix of everything. that grind house movie he did was total garbage other then the last chase scene.
    Quote Originally Posted by Psycho Mantis View Post
    Genes too busy rocking the gang and scarfing down bags of cheetos while beating it to nacho ninjettes and laughing at the ridiculous posts on the kfforum. In a horse stance of course.

  10. #25
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    just found out that leo dicaprio was originally going to play hans landa, glad tarrintino went with christoph waltz.....oscar worthy performance.

  11. #26
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    All the official releases of Miyazaki's stuff over here has English/Japanese as audio/subtitle, full choice. Since Sentochihiro being Ghibli's first big break overseas, and that that had good English, he really pushed the boat out with Mononokehime and got real pro production values and translators in with whom he worked really closely. I think that Mononoke is his English benchmark. The dub version was written by Neil Gaiman.

    But then I think they altered the cultural references a little too much in Mononoke's English version.

    I really hate the Totoro English version: they add of lines when the kids in the Japanese version aren't saying anything because the American audience wouldn't get the silences I suppose, which really ****es me off. Dunno what you Americans actually think about that, mind.

    The older ones are pretty varied... Laputa is pretty badly translated in parts (as in HK movie badly), Nausicaa is OK IIRC but I didn't bother with the English the last couple of times I watched it, Kiki's is all right... haven't bothered with Ponyo in English yet.

    The only things of Tarantino's I liked were Res Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Thought the rest has been total bollocks. Flashes of excellence (like some of the direction in KB1), but overall, ****e. As for casting proper foreigners, still can't reconcile his casting of Lucy friggin Liu with her utterly irredeemable attempt at Japanese gang vernacular with his seeming desire for more authentic people in IB. Might bother with IB on DVD, might not. There was an interview in TIME a couple of weeks ago, with QT, that really showed him up to be a fruitcake who's lost it.
    its safe to say that I train some martial arts. Im not that good really, but most people really suck, so I feel ok about that - Sunfist

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  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by MasterKiller View Post
    Ponyo is odd. They must have cut down about 30 minutes from the run time, because it makes absolutely no sense
    I thought it was perfectly understandable... perhaps I've lived in Japan for too long!

    As for run times... odd: according to Wiki the Japanese vers is 100 mins and the US is 103!
    its safe to say that I train some martial arts. Im not that good really, but most people really suck, so I feel ok about that - Sunfist

    Sometime blog on training esp in Japan

  13. #28
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    Freaking Brilliant!!! Only if more American films and film makers relied on dialogue, unique story lines, and character depth as this one!!! I've become a huge fan of foreign movies ie French, Korean, and Chinese films over the last few years...complexity, complexity...American Movies have become so effects driven...if they can only pair that with braver story telling.

  14. #29
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    I loved IB. I loved the fact that the French people were French, the Germans were German (or Austrian) and the whole european feel of it (that openning scene could have been straight from a French film). I loved the long tense conversations with the increasing sense of menace (The first scene and the bar scene especially). One thing I really loved was that Tarantino played on the fact that middle class germans often seem slightly camp to make his SS officers more menacing.
    "The man who stands for nothing is likely to fall for anything"
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  15. #30
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    this probably should go in the green hornet section. but our boy christoph waltz aka hans landa has just been casted as the villian in the new green hornet movie staring seth rogen and jay chou(even to type it makes me feel icky). i might see this movie just for waltz.

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