Quentin Tarantino's INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

[Chris Knipp]

Ha! Well, there's a certain amount of politics always, but I think Christoph Waltz chews up the scenery with appropriate delight. He's very good in the role and riveting to watch. I don't even know what the other nominees were for this award. It doesn't seem very easy to find the list of them. It appears that Waltz is another actor whose career Tarantino has rehabilitated, and Waltz acknowledged that: "You gave me my vocation back," he said in accepting the award.

[Johann]

Today I watched a profile of Tarantino that was put together by a local TV station. They used clips from the premiere and Tarantino praises Toronto's audiences: (paraphrasing) I love taking my films to Toronto. Some cities you go "Ah, I don't want to take my movie there". But Toronto..Toronto moviegoers are up for anything. A zombie movie, one of my movies, a foreign film- they're THERE. And I don't mean just for the Toronto Film Festival. Toronto has perfect audiences. I loved how they reacted to "Basterds" tonight.
So he watched us watch his movie!
Huzzah!

And Eli Roth was interviewed as well, saying how he wants to bring to his sets the same kind of "knowing your character" that QT made every one of the cast do. Apparently he has group meetings, where they flesh out characters BEFORE any read-throughs or costumes or sets or anything. Roth said he would grill you on your character: "What's your history? How did you feel about so and so joining the Basterds? How would you react if this happened? or that?" Eli said he's never worked on a movie where that kind of "getting into character" was emphasized like it was with Tarantino. He said by the time cameras started rolling everybody knew what was going on, what everybody else's motivations or roles were. It made it that much easier to go for it.





***EDIT*** I talked to one of the ticket taker staff members at the Scotiabank theatre when I went to see District 9 and he said that Tarantino was not in the movie theatre very long that night.
He worked the premiere and he said that Quentin & Eli left fairly soon after the movie started, within a half hour. So take from that what you will...

[Chris Knipp]

I don't think it's news that Tarantino's an actor's director. He has done wonderful things for actors. His casting is not only brilliant, but enormously human, in the way he revives careers and plays around with the cast member's personal histories and resumes in tuning their roles.

I've heard long ago that Toronto was a great movie town. So naturally it would be a great place to bring a new movie and promote it.

The method of working actors into their roles is not unique with Tarantino (think of Mike Leigh) but certainly is one that often improves actors' experiences.

[Chris Knipp]

I think this is recent. If it's not, correct me. The byline on KungFu Cinema is "by Mark Pollard | August 17, 2009." Tarantino has made a list of his 20 favorite films since 1992 when he became a director himself. You can get him presenting them on YouTube here. (Actually that is the KungFu Cinema site's page for it.) This list begins with his overall favorite and the rest are alphabetical (a practice I agree with):

1. BATTLE ROYALE
2. ANYTHING ELSE
3. AUDITION
4. THE BLADE
5. BOOGIE NIGHTS
6. DAZED AND CONFUSED
7. DOGVILLE
8. FIGHT CLUB
9. FRIDAY
10. THE HOST
11. THE INSIDER
12. JSA
13. LOST IN TRANSLATION
14. THE MATRIX
15. MEMORIES OF MURDER
16. POLICE STORY 3: SUPERCOP
17. SHAUN OF THE DEAD
18. SPEED
19. TEAM AMERICA
20. UNBREAKABLE

Watch the video to get his special favorites on the list and why he cose some of the odd ones. Others, he simply lists without explanation. BOOGIE NIGHTS, FIGHT CLUB, THE INSIDER, and LOST IN TRANSLATION he doesn't say anything about unfortuantely. Not here anyway.

[Johann]

Thanks for that link. I enjoyed hearing his "20 faves".
Half on his list I haven't seen.
They just moved up on my must-see ledger.

I like his praise of Trier's Dogville and of the stunts in Supercop.
High praise there.
But of all films on his list, Battle Royale is the one I'm keenest to see. I'm with him in his praise of Unbreakable
(underrated Shyamalannadingdong movie- forgot about that one).
You can tell that Quentin likes to ENJOY a movie, not be too too critical.

[Chris Knipp]

I don't share QT's tastes, but I like what comes out of them through him. I don't really like Dogville either. But so what? Von Trier is an original too, and I respect and over time have begun to understand him. I thought I said that Shyamalan was good through Unbreakable. I have also not seen a lot on the list. I would have liked to know, but he does not tell, why he selects -- from all the generally admired movies of the period -- only BOOGIE NIGHTS, FIGHT CLUB, THE INSIDER, and LOST IN TRANSLATION. Why those, in particular? Well, I can see BOOGIE NIGHTS. But why not MAGNOLIA? I can see FIGHT CLUB. But why THE INSIDER nd LOST IN TRANSLATION,which are in such a different vein and so much more low-keyed?

[Johann]

I think he may just be throwing support to Sofia Coppola, P.T. Anderson, Michael Mann and David Fincher, giving them a nod as directors, as if to say "good job! nice work!".
That's what I got out his mentioning the Woody Allen- it was a shout-out to Jason Biggs, in particular.

I would also like to know why he didn't pick Magnolia, which I think is much much better than Boogie Nights. (But Boogie Nights Rules, I must add!)

I thought he might mention Gaspar Noe or Harmony Korrine or Donnie Darko. Or Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger or American Psycho.
Or maybe even Watchmen or V For Vendetta.
But, that's fine.
His list reflects his interests, and they are what they are.

[Chris Knipp]

I haven't found any truly insightful comments on this list elsewhere oneline, But National Post (Canada) comments:

Listening to Quentin Tarantino rattle through his favourite flicks since he made his directorial debut with Reservoir Dogs is entertaining in that what-can-I-throw-at-the-screen kind of way: You'll certainly disagree with him flat-out on some of the choices (for your correspondent this was the reaction to Anything Else and The Matrix — I'd have put those on a worst movies list). However, he does make a case for re-renting a few others, such as Unbreakable and Speed, to see if he has a point.

Using NYMagazine online as their source, National Post gives the list with the dates. I notice he has not included anything from the last five years but THE HOST. Others have remarked that "idiosyncratic" as the list is, there are some great movies on it.

Anything Else (2003)
Audition (1999)
Battle Royale (2000)
The Blade (1995)
Boogie Nights (1997)
Dazed and Confused (1993)
Dogville (2003)
Fight Club (1999)
Friday (1995)
The Host (2006)
The Insider (1999)
Joint Security Area (2000)
Lost in Translation (2003)
The Matrix (1999)
Memories of Murder (2003)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Speed (1994)
Supercop (1992)
Team America: World Police (2004)
Unbreakable (2000)

[Johann]

Yes. Some great movies on the list, no question.
Team America: World Police especially.
That movie is one of the greatest "stick it to the man" features I've ever seen. I love that movie.
I'm gonna put a Jihad on you.
Laughed my ass off. Plus it has a serious message about the USA's foreign policy under Cush and Bheney..

I haven't seen Anything Else but if it's got QT's stamp of approval it must be worth seeing or he would not put it on a list.
A list of only 20, to boot.

He likes his action movies. Over half have lots of action in them.

[Chris Knipp]

Violent reactions to INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

The erudite Jonathan Rosenbaum, never a QT fan to begin with, goes positively bonkers over INGLOIURIOUS BASTERDS, primarily for the obvious reaons -- the movie's lack of solemnity or reverence in approaching WWII history, and its violent re-imagining of Jewish opposition to the Nazis. QT's now movie is even "morally akin to Holocaust denial," he says, "even though it proudly claims to be the opposite of that. It's more than just the blindness to history that leaks out of every pore in this production (even when it's being most attentive to period details) or the infantile lust for revenge that's so obnoxious. ..." and so on. So Rosenbaum recommends we all read "'When Jews Attack' by Daniel Mendelsohn, a two-page spread in the August 24 & 31 issue of Newsweek." It's obvious many would find INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS offensive, and QT's application of his methods to the sacred topic of WWII is destined to arouse greater outrage than usual. I think this was one of the main motives behind negative reactions at Cannes. It's hard to bring a sense of humor and Tarantinoesque camp to a movie about WWII. And you have to do that to appreciate the film. JR decided to dislike INGOURUIOUS BASTERDS from scene one. Indeed he can hardly conceal his contempt even for the title (" [sic sic -- or maybe I should say, sic, sic, sic]") After all, in his Movies As Politics book, he wrote "You won't find any serious discussion of art, literature, or philosophy or any serious technical innovations in Tarantino's PULP FICTION.'

As for the "lust for revenge" being "infantile," perhaps JR should tell that to the Israelis when they retaliate ten-fold against Palestinian attacks. And that may be cause for reflection that macho Jews are ot the monopoly of Mr. Tarantino.

There is going to be tons of debate and fur flying over INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, and for now there is an excellent summing up of debates so far with multiple links on The Auteurs , which I've only just begun to follow up on. This incidentally gives a link to SPOUT blogger Christopher Campbell's rundown of "a zillion responses" to Tarantino's Top 20 movies list.

There is all this debate going on. But the best answer I can ever give is my own review of a film. I am, however, still going to hold off and wait till release day Friday (it opened in England today and Borys Musialak of FILMASTER said he's going to see it today). I started this thread to post my review, but since the distribution reps at the press screening requested that we hold our reviews till opening day, I will wait till Friday before putting up my review here.

[Johann]

I know this movie is gonna be treated like a football.
Jonathan Rosenbaum is really being a "critic" here.
Sure, you can rip it apart on historical grounds.
No question. It's an alternate depiction of WWII.
And it's loaded with comedy.
Hell, even Mike Myers spoofs himself in it!

I'll hold off until friday to write anything about it too.

[Johann]

And I started this thread, Chris.
Don't ever try to steal my thunder again.

lol

[Chris Knipp]

Sorry about claiming to start this thread! (:-)

I start so many of them. But so do you!

[Johann]

Here's a link to clip from the Canadian premiere.
I had just gone into the theatre when this was taking place!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJu2Yd5sivE

[oscar jubis]

I intend to watch this movie just like I've watched everything Tarantino has directed. But, as you guys know by now, I am not a fan. And what I get from the trailer is that this is a film that glorifies revenge, which totally turns me off. I actually think that this revenge factor, that Americans in particular enjoy so much, is philosophically tied to the fact that the US is the only "civilized" country where the death penalty is a legal response to crime. Tarantino's list of favorite films is indicative of what he values about cinema and reflects a worldview I find deplorable. Given the nature of his films, it is logical that his favorite film since he started making movies is the nihilistic Japanese exploitation flick Battle Royale. The only Tarantino film I would ever watch again is Jackie Brown. And it doesn't seem like he has any interest in developing that vein.