Tag Archives: Inglourious Basterds

Mercy for Monsters: Humanizing child killers and Nazis in M and Inglourious Basterds

Posted on April 20, 2011 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

Next to Metropolis, Fritz Lang’s M is one of his most famous films. The film’s narrative (police and criminals alike searching for a child killer), the noir lighting, its breakthroughs in sound (introduced a mere four years prior), and Peter Lorre’s infamous monologue all cement M as a classic, even nearly a century after its release. Meanwhile, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds is unjustly infamous for its manipulation of history. What I find most fascinating about the two films is how they treat their respective monsters (child killers and Nazis) and how their stories reflect attitudes toward societal ills.

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“Police, Adjective” lacks pulse

Posted on June 23, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 3 comments

My current spate of reviews come from the Edinburgh International Film Festival, where I believe I just encountered my first dreaded “festival film” which one writer described as:

“the submerged nine-tenths of the film production world that gets only one or two screenings in its lifetime, in a near-empty cinema in downtown Gdansk or wherever.”

I say this because watching Police, Adjective was more dull than spending three hours in hospital waiting room.*

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Posted in Edinburgh International Film Festival, Reviews

Tagged Banal, Boring, Children of Men, Death Proof, Draconian, Drama, Drugs, Edinburgh International Film Festival, EIFF, festival film, Inglourious Basterds, Law, Lumiere, Police, Police Adjective, Procedural, Quentin Tarantino, Richard Linklater, Romanian, Slacker, Slow, Unbreakable

The Oscars: What You Need to Know

Posted on March 5, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 1 comment

Just so you know, the Oscars are not a good gauge for “Best Film” or “Best Director” since people who have no experience with a certain category weigh in on that craft (actors can vote for best set design; writers on directors). You also can’t join just by paying dues, but have to be voted in by other Oscar voters.

And of course, Oscar doesn’t like to give high marks to films coming from animation (other than slipping them into the “Best Animated Film” ghetto so they don’t usually get to compete for “Best Picture”), sci-fi, foreign, or horror.

Basically, it’s a giant publicity event where producers and distributors try to make some money in ticket and DVD sales before the summer blockbusters hit. Continue reading →

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Posted in Articles, News

Tagged Cinema, District 9, Film, Film Industry, Funny People, Inglourious Basterds, Movies, Oscars, Precious, The Blind Side, The Road, Up, Up in the Air, Where the Wild Things Are

Inglourious Basterds: Cultural Edition

Posted on August 31, 2009 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

So my friends, I have now seen Tarantino’s latest film twice, in the United States, and here in Scotland.

Now, if you have not read it yet, I would like to direct you to Ben Creech’s analysis of the film. His words do a better job than mine:

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=ben+creech&init=quick#/note.php?note_id=125778207609&ref=mf

The quick review is that the film is better than “Kill Bill” but still not able to eclipse the elephant in the room that is his best film, “Pulp Fiction.” So go see it.

But to get to business:

As I stated, I’ve seen the film twice now in two different countries. Each screening, however was a different experience. Continue reading →