The Verdict

Once upon a time in blasé film infested Hollywood . . .

Quentin Tarantino helped bring back the art of major motion pictures. That's right, I said it. He's a cinematic wonder. I went to see Inglourious Basterds today and at the end, I clapped so loud. Lucky for me, the ENTIRE auditorium clapped along with me. It is truly a genius film. It brought in refreshed techniques and a strong script with it. It's been a while since I've been so engrossed in a film like this.

I went into it knowing kind of what to expect. I mean, when it comes to Tarantino, you can always count on tons of violence—very vivid violence at that, random dark scenes that spew from his creative mind, and lots of language. And I was so surprised! I mean, don't get me wrong, there were definitely elements of all of that, but for once I felt like the main star of his film was NOT the guns, was NOT the language, but was his characters that were so strongly defined and so keenly portrayed. I mean, there were SO many little details that went into the web he wove and in the end, you just find yourself expecting one thing and being completely surprised at the outcome. I won't go into too much detail because I want you to go see it with an open mind, ready to be caught off guard like I was. Yes, I thought it was THAT good. As a beginning screenwriter, I've read through a lot of scripts and I've written and re-written and RE-re-written some of my own stuff. And it's always so tough cause you don't want to write what's already been done, and I feel like a lot of the movies I've seen recently have just done that. I mean, I know that especially in this economy, the movie studios are looking for what they know works, such as predictable rom-coms and bloodlusty horror flicks that rely on bloodflow to counteract the lifeless acting and storylines. I get it. But Tarantino bent all those rules and in Inglourious Basterds, teaches us to connect with a character so strongly that just the mention of a name of an antagonist in the flick makes your stomach turn upside down and you feel as if it's your OWN NEMESIS that you've had to come face to face with.

I love that in each of the chapters of the movie, I was given a strong piece of the puzzle that left me wondering how it all tied in and when that chapter was over, I was like, "Wait, no, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT??" In so many movies, they give it to you cause, sadly, if they don't, you'll probably never get it. But just as my mind was trying to wrap around what could possibly happen next, a new development came into the picture and it played into just a corner of what I'd just seen, totally blowing my perception of what might be coming up next out of the water.

It definitely inspired me to rethink some of my own screenplays and to challenge myself to explore plot twists I'd never considered.

Don't get me wrong, if you don't prepare yourself for a Tarantino flick, you're gonna hate it. That's just how it is. He is definitely a cinematically acquired taste. And after Grindhouse came out, many people lost faith in him as an artist . . . and I can't really blame them either—the trailer alone made me not want to even bother, but he totally redeemed himself with Inglourious Basterds. I think that any movie that can intrigue me, especially when I

A) am not really a fan of Brad Pitt
B) am not a fan of subtitles
C) am not a super huge fan of gore/violence
D) am usually turned off by the lame portrayals of just how morose Hitler is
E) am ruined from screenwriting and thus i pick apart every element of the movie

has become something of amazing art form. I really encourage you to watch it. I mean, go in knowing what you can expect from Tarantino, but be ready to be impressed in the cinematic quality it offers. From the soundtrack to the lighting, to the camera angles, and even to the wonderful supporting role portrayed by THE OFFICE's BJ Novak, I hope you get to clap at the end too. :D