So I went to see Inglorious Basterds over the weekend with a few friends and had the GREAT displeasure of sitting behind 6 French Canadians that talked loudly from the time the lights dimmed until the credits rolled.  More on that later.

Inglorious Basterds is Tarantino’s 7th stint as director (counting Kill Bill 1 and 2 as one film) and is arguably his best since Pulp Fiction.  This film is not for everyone as it is not action oriented.  It is extremely story centered and as such relies on dialogue to progress the story and most of that is subtitled. So again, not everyone is going to really get into this one.  I hope I am wrong, but generally American’s don’t like to read their movies. Another thing to be aware of is this is NOT a typical war movie.  It is Quentin’s nod to Spaghetti Westerns via WWII imagery.   That being said, this is one phenomenal piece of cinematic brilliance.  Tarantino has a way of telling a story that quite literally draws you in.

Basterds opens with a man chopping wood on a lush green French country side, his little farmhouse in the back drop.  The camera pulls back and reveals a few Gestapo driving up the path to the house.  In that moment, from the steady chopping of the wood to the long drive up the road, Tarantino injects so much tension and it just continues to build through the entire 1st chapter and culminates in typical Tarantino fashion.  The problem I had personally with this movie as with most of Quentin’s (i.e Kill Bill and 4 Rooms) is that Tarantino builds and develops this WWII universe and only let’s us live in it for a short period of time.  I want to see more of the Basterds kicking ass, I want to know more about Shosanna (Melanie Laurent). 

Now for the quote of the movie.  I was told later it was when I leaned forward and very loudly asked, “What is the French word for “Shut the fuck up?”  To all the people out there that take the time to read these little snippets of movie review I want to say thank you.  I also want to impart a little cinema etiquette to you.  If you are ever at the theatre and people are bothering you with their loud talking, feel free to speak up.  After all they are already talking so it’s not like you are ruining the movie for them.  You paid a lot of money to enjoy yourself.  Plus, total strangers may actually cheer you afterwards.