Quentin Tarantino's INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

[Johann]

Well I must say, it was an electrifying experience being at the Canadian Premiere. (never been to one of those type of galas before). To have him introduce the film with Eli was pretty damn special. I still can't believe I was there. I'm not so much star struck as just feeling priviledged- it's not lost on me, trust me.
I don't take it for granted.
Seeing someone you admire in person is pretty damn cool, like when I met Henry Rollins, and the members of Riders on the Storm in 2005, when they had Ian Astbury with them.

I haven't had too many brushes with REAL celebrities.
That will probably change in the next two weeks tho...

[Michuk]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Michuk (Borys Musielak) of FILMASTER watched the interview at my suggestion and then went on to watch all the Charlie Rose interviews. A good idea; they're good. I don't think I've seen them all and want to. But this new one is particularly comprehensive and good.

Indeed I did. And after doing that I watched Pulp Fiction two times in a row which made me love and appreciate this fantastic movie, one of the best in the history of cinema, even more.

But back to The Basterds... Many believed that even a quasi-serious war movie is too much for him. After being slightly disappointed by his latest features (Death Proof was a fine "carsploitation" film but I'm not a big fan of the genre, Kill Bill was good but too long and with too many fighting scenes which made it boring for me at times) I was very sceptical about the Basteds. I did not expect a masterpiece. But it got close to one! Christopher Waltz owns this film and even though the script could be better at times and some acting is out of place (think Roth and some of the other Basterds), great cinematography and acting of Waltz, Laurent and most of the crew make up for it. Funny and entertaining. Best Tarantino in years!

I wrote a review of the film on Filmaster so you can take a look here: Who's the bastard?

[Michuk]

By the way... yesterday I watched Almodovar's "Broken Embraces" and for the whole screening I had this crazy idea that the movie is very similar to Tarantinto's "Basterds". Of course the cinematography is very different, there are more gay people and fewer Nazi scalps and the stories have completely nothing to do with each other... but what they have in common is that both movies show the great love and affection for cinema-making in their own Almodovarish and Tarantinoesque ways.

This is what my first impression after watching Broken Embraces was:

What is the worst thing that can happen to a filmmaker? Someone cutting the movie for you! There is no doubt that Pedro Almodóvar was more lucky than the director in his movie, Harry Caine, and was allowed to make the final cut all by himself. In "Broken Embraces" he shows his great affection for cinema-making while still managing to tell us a fresh, funny and dramatic story about love, jealousy and sick desire. Very unique, one of his best.

I love both directors even though they are so different. But I love them mainly for this distinctive taste they brought to the world cinema. When you watch any of their movies, after nearly 5 minutes you can tell it's Almodovar or Tarantino. And not that many directors managed to achieve this. I can think of the Coen brothers, Altman, Jarmusch, Kieślowski, maybe a few more. And they are my favorite directors.

One could argue that making a movie about movie-making is inappropriate ego-centrism. It's like a writer writing about writing a book (it can go recursive as well). It's very personal and very true, but why would anyone care? Those are not real-life issues, right?
But if you look at the cinema not as you look at the novels (more or less you expect them to be serious and have something to say), but rather admire it for its pure, naive beauty and just let yourself be simply entertained, you may start to fully appreciate the geniuses of such art.

Did I go offtopic? Sorry for that... I just felt like sharing some of those feeling about cinema that I recently discovered in myself.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for the appreciations. Broken Embraces opens later in the US. I hope to see it in the NYFF, where it is a selection. Almodovar will probably be there. He and Richard Pena, the festival director are friendly.

[Michuk]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Thanks for the appreciations. Broken Embraces opens later in the US. I hope to see it in the NYFF, where it is a selection. Almodovar will probably be there. He and Richard Pena, the festival director are friendly.

Judging on your previous reviews (of which I read something like 20 just today :P) you are going to love it. It has all that a decent movie needs, highly recommended!

[Chris Knipp]

I sure hope so.