Your Head Will Spin Learning About Steve

Comedy movies are supposed to make you laugh, that's the one simple thing that you want if you go into a movie that is being sold as a comedy, what we don't want is to watch a movie that makes fun of a person or their little idiosyncrasies, but that is what we get in the new comedy, or the new movie that's supposedly a comedy "All About Steve". What we get is a few jokes about life a few jokes about stalking and a lot of jokes about the life and temperament of the leading lady.

Crossword puzzle constructor Mary Horowitz (Sandra Bullock) is set up on a blind date with CCN cameraman Steve (Bradley Cooper) and when things go from the beginning stages to the hot and heavy stage Mary thinks Steve is the one for her, when Steve's phone goes off and he has to leave, he mentions that he wishes Mary could be with him, little does he know what those few little words will do to his life later. As Steve heads out to one news story after another he finds out that Mary is hot on his trail. The next morning after the date Mary created a crossword puzzle that was all about Steve and was fired, she takes this as an omen of her future and decides to track Steve down.

Story after story Steve finds Mary hot on his tail and when Mary falls into a hole in the ground it is funny, but the premise is that deaf kids had originally fallen into the hole and who thought that making fun of deaf kids would be funny for as long as they played out the skit, it comes across as a bad SNL skit. When Mary finds a lone kid still in the tunnel she of course turns into super woman, and all of her zany slapstick is gone. Steve of course is standing around up top telling people that he is not Mary's boyfriend. CCN on screen talent Hartman (Thomas Haden Church) decides that he is to blame for making the event into a mockery and grabs a fire hose to jump into the hole to save the day, of course the fire hose isn't strong enough and he falls into the hole only to be rescued by Mary.

This movie is cruel almost from the start, it makes fun of people little quirks and doesn't stop there, we get jokes about handicaps and that alone should make this a movie to stay away from, this one won't be out long and should be on the rental shelves way before Christmas, would that make it better? No I don't think anything but a better script would have made this movie any better, seeing that we don't have one, should tell you enough to avoid this stupid movie.

I give All About Steve a 1 and on my avoidance scale a 2, even Bradley Cooper can't save this horrible movie, it seems that with each successive movie Bradley Cooper is making some very bad choices. Even Sandra Bullock should have walked away from this rabid dog.

All About Steve is rated PG-13 for Sexual Content Including Innuendos

Running time is 1 hr. 38 mins.

Just How I Like It...Loud!

Who hasn't wanted to be a rock star, join a band or play electric guitar? Music resonates, moves and inspires us. Strummed through the fingers of The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White, somehow it does more. Such is the premise of It Might Get Loud, a new documentary conceived by producer Thomas Tull. It Might Get Loud isn't like any other rock'n roll documentary. Filmed through the eyes of three virtuosos from three different generations, audiences get up close and personal, discovering how a furniture upholsterer from Detroit, a studio musician and painter from London and a seventeen-year-old Dublin schoolboy, each used the electric guitar to develop their unique sound and rise to the pantheon of superstar. Rare discussions are provoked as we travel with Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White to influential locations of their pasts. Born from the experience is intimate access to the creative genesis of each legend, such as Link Wray's "Rumble’s" searing impression upon Jimmy Page, who surprises audiences with an impromptu air guitar performance. But that's only the beginning. While each guitarist describes his own musical rebellion, a rock'n roll summit is being arranged. Set on an empty soundstage, the musicians come together, crank up the amps and play. They also share their influences, swap stories, and teach each other songs. During the summit Page’s double-neck guitar, The Edge’s array of effects pedals and White’s new mic, custom built into his guitar, go live. The musical journey is joined by visual grandeur too. We see the stone halls of Headley Grange where "Stairway to Heaven" was composed, visit a haunting Tennessee farmhouse where Jack White writes a song on-camera, and eavesdrop inside the dimly lit Dublin studio where The Edge lays down initial guitar tracks for U2’s forthcoming single. The images, like the stories, will linger in the mind long after the reverb fades.  It Might Get Loud might not affect how you play guitar, but it will change how you listen.

If you love the guitar — and who could doesn't? — then It Might Get Loud is worth seeing for many, many reasons. Not the least of which is the chance to see Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, white-haired and suave, grinning as he puts a 45 of Link Wray's "Rumble" on the turntable. Check it out as Page, the man who has probably inspired more air-guitarists than anyone in existence, gives in to the temptation and starts air-guitaring to Wray's vibrato-soaked chunk of '50s cool. He's a guitar-crazy kid again. A guitar nerd - just like the other two guitarists featured in this affectionate though never quite incendiary documentary. The guitarists are, in theory, well chosen. The Edge, from U2, is a minimalist player who favors maximum technological effects, while Jack White from the White Stripes is a rootsy guy who likes cheap old guitars with bent necks. And Page? Well, he's Jimmy Page, the elder statesman. It Might Get Loud hums along as it tells how each of the guitarists got to where they are. Each has great stories, as you might figure, and each is humble and engaging. And there's priceless video of young "James Page" being interviewed after strumming through a skiffle tune (his voice not even broken, he says he doesn't plan to be a musician; he's more interested in "biological research").

Still, It Might Get Loud has a nice central idea that doesn't quite work: Get the three guitarists in a room, talking guitars and jamming together. Trouble is, their chemistry's a bit off: They're all too diffident. Too nice. It looks as if The Edge and White are intimidated by Page, as genial as he is. And so when they do jam, it's really not much beyond what you might hear in the corner of a noisy guitar store. It is fun, though, to watch the little admiring smiles that creep onto the faces of The Edge and White as Page turns his Les Paul to 11 and starts blasting out the riff from "Whole Lotta Love." They're big rock stars, but all of a sudden they're 14 again. This gets a 3 on my "Go See" scale.

Peace, Love , and Music...All At Woodstock

It's 1969, and Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin), a down-on-his-luck interior designer in Greenwich Village, New York, has to move back upstate to help his parents run their dilapidated Catskills motel, The El Monaco. The bank's about to foreclose; his father wants to burn the place down, but hasn't paid the insurance; and Elliot is still figuring how to come out to his parents. When Elliot hears that a neighboring town has pulled the permit on a hippie music festival, he calls the producers, thinking he could drum up some much-needed business for the motel. Three weeks later, half a million people are on their way to his neighbor's farm in White Lake, NY, and Elliot finds himself swept up in a generation-defining experience that would change his life, and American culture, forever in Taking Woodstock.

Timed to come at the tail end of all the publicity surrounding the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair -- or simply "Woodstock" to most of us -- Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock avoids overlap with Michael Wadleigh's seminal 1970 documentary. He gives us the perspective of a real-life insider who, ironically, was simultaneously an outsider, being too busy with his festival duties to become part of the audience. Elliot Teichberg (Martin) aspires to the urban art scene but is stuck helping his parents operate a rundown motel in Bethel, N.Y., not far from the proposed site for the festival. When the organizers lose their permit, Elliot arranges for the event to be relocated to the farm of his neighbor Max Yasgur (Eugene Levy), with the motel serving as festival headquarters. No Lee film would be complete without elements of family drama -- that's what muddled his 2003 "Hulk" -- and Taking Woodstock is at least 50% about Elliot's strained relationship with his parents and his delayed coming of age. Dad (Henry Goodman) is stooped over from years of dealing with Mom (Imelda Staunton), an irritating, neurotic Holocaust survivor. And the problem is not merely that Elliot has given up his own life to help them out but that he's isolated from the urban culture that might give him some support vis-à-vis his sexuality. Yes, Elliot is gay, and a small town in the Catskills isn't quite the same as Greenwich Village.

We never hear more than snatches of the music, and it’s not until three-quarters of the way through that we and a tripping Elliot actually get to see a little of the concert, albeit from a very great distance. After following our hero through 90 minutes of behind-the-scenes craziness, this moment is simply beautiful, a transcendent glimpse of the event's more magical elements. (Let it also be said that -- after decades of ridiculous acid sequences in exploitation films -- Lee gives us the best simulation of real acid hallucinations I've ever seen.) Perhaps because he's never had a lead role before, Martin radiates awkwardness, which is exactly right for a character who can't relax, who is always playing at being straight. Staunton's performance is perfect; even if you want to bash her head in, you can’t help but feel the tiniest spark of sympathy. And -- as a transvestite, ex-Marine security guard -- Liev Schreiber is hilarious and surprisingly fetching. The only major misstep is the character of Billy (Emile Hirsch), a traumatized Vietnam vet. Lee and screenwriter James Schamus presumably wanted to give at least a nod to that other, more dire, emblem of the '60s. The result is a cliche that feels grafted on to the rest of the story. This may be the least ambitious of Lee's films, but his directorial chops still guarantee a worthwhile experience. This gets a 3 on my "Go See" scale.

Woodstock Is Still Worth The Visit

Hollywood has loved the musical in one shape or another for many years, now comes the musical that isn't, Ang Lee directs "Taking Woodstock" the story about how one of this countries biggest music festivals started, the only thing is Lee doesn't give us any of the performances of this huge event. We get a few shots of a stage way in the distance and we hear some far away music, but with the story arc the performances may have taken away some of the stories power.

It is the summer of 1969 and Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin) has to move back upstate to help his parents run their dilapidated Catskills motel, The El Monaco. The banks about to foreclose; his father wants to burn the place down, but hasn't paid the insurance. When Elliot hears that a neighboring town has pulled the permit on an outdoor music festival, he calls the promoters and tell them he has a spot available. Elliot happens to know one of the men who comes out to inspect the property, when his property isn't exactly what they are looking for he tells them that a neighboring farmer has plenty of land they can look at and they agree to go see Max Yasgur (Eugene Levy) and they agree that his land is perfect, they shake hands and come to some financial agreement and this begins what would become the greatest music festival of all time.

Of course the towns people are upset with Elliot, they think the concert will bring nothing but hippie thieves into their quiet little town, they boycott the family hotel and even refuse to drink the milk that Max's cows produce. When thousands of people start to show up Elliot's parents start to split the rooms up and force as many people into each room as they can, when inspectors threaten to close the hotel down, the concert promoters say they will speak with them and hold up a huge bag of money, this seems to close the chapter on the threats. As the concert is going on a group of stage performers begin to perform for the town, the Earthlight Players perform nude on stage and cause the townspeople to again rebel against this type of shows, the performers of course are staying in the barn of Elliot's family business.

When things start to get ugly, the towns people start to vandalize the property, an ex marine named Vilma (Liev Schreiber) agrees to help protect the property, he is of course a cross dresser and here is where the fact that Elliot himself may or may not be gay starts to arise, he has a small crush on one of the workers in the promoters office on the farm, in one scene Elliot is so excited that the festival actually has begun he reaches out and kisses the man. The movie works on many levels and is told with heart and humor, it tells the coming of age story about a man who has already come of age. The running time may feel a little long, but this story is well worth it.

I give Taking Woodstock a 3 and on my avoidance scale a 0, this movie is for fans of music, taking part in the Woodstock experience would have been a thrill of a lifetime, but since many of us were either children of not born yet, here in this movie you can at least be a spectator on the edge of the event. The story is heartwarming and it will amuse you as well. Go and enjoy this trip through time and see for yourself just how much fun this event was, even if you see it from the outside. Ang Lee gives us just enough of the music to let us believe we are there watching from a distance, and this results in an intelligent, funny and dramatic slice of cinematic wonder.

Taking Woodstock is rated R for Graphic Nudity, Some Sexual Content, Drug Use and Language

Running time is 2 hrs. 01 min.

What Would Life Be Like Without A Soul?

In response to shiny, bigger, better American consumerism comes Cold Souls, first-time feature director Sophie Barthes' surreal comedy in which souls can be extracted and traded as commodities. Balancing on a tightrope between deadpan humor and pathos, and reality and fantasy, the film presents Paul Giamatti as himself, agonizing over his interpretation of Uncle Vanya. Paralyzed by anxiety, he stumbles upon a solution via a New Yorker article about a high-tech company promising to alleviate suffering by extracting souls. Giamatti enlists their services - only to discover that his soul is the shape and size of a chickpea - intending to reinstate it once he survives the performance. Complications ensue when a mysterious, soul-trafficking “mule” borrows Giamatti's stored soul for a talentless, Russian soap-opera actress. Rendered soulless, Paul is left with no choice but to follow the trail back to St. Petersburg. Funny, charming and wildly imaginative, the film explores the profound moods and inner struggles of a man in search of his essence.

It seems as if soulless people, unhindered by conscience, have a huge advantage in life. They calculate their options without sentiment and act decisively to advance their objectives. But could a person who is nagged by inner voices become like them? Should he? That's the quandary facing Paul Giamatti (played by -- who else? Paul Giamatti) in the futuristic seriocomedy Cold Souls. Prickly, grumpy, prone to sulk over life's trivialities, Paul has a whole world of passions battling inside him. That's his gift as an actor, but it makes for an anxious daily life. While rehearsing for a New York production of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya," Paul feels overwhelmed by the character's melancholy. When he learns of a new high-tech procedure to remove souls, he decides to unburden himself. He visits the sleek, high-tech offices of Soul Storage where Dr. Flintstein (David Strathairn) is all glib reassurance. "When you've gotten rid of the soul," the doctor purrs, "everything makes so much more sense."

Giamatti is crestfallen to discover that his immortal essence resembles a chickpea. Flintstein is concerned with more practical matters. He informs Paul that he can avoid sales tax by storing his soul in New Jersey. In her feature debut, writer/director Sophie Barthes handles weighty issues with a light touch. Her through-the-looking-glass fantasy is silliness with a hint of transcendence. It turns the eternal spirit-body problem into a springboard for sly jokes and trippy philosophy. It's also a great platform for its star. Giamatti gets to play the role of a lifetime: Himself with the "Giamatti-ness" removed. As promised, Paul feels lighter and less stressed without his existential baggage. But that is not the ideal mindset to play a glum Russian. He bounds through his next rehearsal of "Vanya" as if he were performing a dinner-theater sex farce. His eyes are blank despite his grins and scowls. He flails his arms and gooses his costar. Things go poorly at home. Paul's wife (Emily Watson) can't relate to her newly soulless mate. Paul visits Dr. Flintstein to re-implant his soul, but the doctor warns, "you'll feel the unbearable weight again." So Paul leases one belonging to a Russian poet, which should be ideal, but isn't. He asks for his own soul back, angst and all. There's been a little mixup. It's inside another client, the last person a vain, neurotic performer would want to have possession of his essence. With the aid of a mysterious beauty named Nina (Dina Korzun), Paul travels to Russia to recover the soul he thought he could live better without. Peppered with ingenious twists of imagination, Cold Souls walks a tightrope between intellectual slapstick and edgy social commentary. Virtuoso cinematographer Andrij Parekh gives the film an elegant, uneasy Kubrickian look that complements the action to perfection. This is a film to be savored as it evolves from idiosyncratic characters and oddball premises to situations that are universal. I wouldn't recommend it to someone looking for a nonstop hoot, but Cold Souls made me laugh hard and think harder. What more could you want? This gets a 3 on my "Go See" scale.

I Wouldn't Wanna Mess With These Basterds

Inglourious Basterds begins in German-occupied France, where Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema. Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to their enemy as "The Basterds," Raine's squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own

Quintin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds follows the usual formula of the films from this audacious and deftly entertaining auteur: Take a particular cinematic genre (here being the war film), drop a lot of references from other genres that have tenuous connections to the primary structure (we get lots of sampling from Spaghetti westerns and French noir), fill in dialogue that rarely alludes to the plot and is usually written too smart for the characters speaking it (this film dollops into a lot of languages and allows its characters to derive insight into other characters' use of language that proves quite telling), and stubbornly sticks to one message to the point that Tarantino seems destructively unapologetic. Here, the focus is revenge. Of the three main characters, enacting is undeterred and the feeling of satisfaction it brings refuses to call into any account of moral doubt. Some may say such an approach is irresponsible or suspicious. For Tarantino affectionados like myself, "Basterds"'s a thrilling tour of an artist's inspirations and an adrenaline shot of lush screenwriting and cringe-inducing gallows humor that amounts to a fantasia of the war film that makes battle more personal than ever. There's three plots that weave through the film that merit equal attention. There's the title story of the Basterds, a group of Jewish soldiers dropped into Nazi-occupied France with the charge of scalping and massacring as much of the Third Reich as possible. This unique fighting squad is led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), a moonshiner from the hills of Tennessee with an unexplained rope burn that encompasses the width of his neck. He speaks in folksy colloquialisms but is most forceful with his actions. While most military men deal with guns, Raine wants his men to deal with knives. And deal with them they do. You never get to know much about the soldiers under his command; about where they came from or how they interact with each other. There's no talk about their feelings on the Holocaust or about the consequences of their mission. All the audience really gets to see is their vengeance-driven blood lust; they are defined by their revenge. On the flip side of the Basterds, a lot of time is spend with Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), a nasty Nazi with the fitting nickname, "the Jew hunter". In what is sure to become a classic opening scene, Landa and his men visit a French dairy farmer accused of hiding a Jewish family. The niceties of his conversation with the farmer masks a nasty, determined crackdown. This scene closely invokes the scene in Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction", where Jules Winfield interrogates a couple of insubordinate business associates. However, here, the history of the moment and the consequences of what Landa is doing wrings through the scene. It is chillingly effective, as is Waltz's entire performance. He is always charming and effective no matter what he is doing. His motives, however, tend to offer some clever surprises. His revenge, and the motives behind it, is best left to discover for yourself. While the Basterds strike fear and terror throughout the Nazi ranks, Landa is always a few steps behind and, in many case, well ahead of their plans. He may not be able to beat the best Nazi put on screen - but it would be hard to beat Ralph Fiennes in "Schindler's List" - but there is something deliciously horrible about Col. Landa. Then, in perhaps the most interesting of the three stories is found with Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent). A Jewish girl who survives Col. Landa's murderous hands, she flees to Paris where, somewhat miraculously, becomes the owner of a cool little movie theater. She catches the attention of a German soldier (Frederick Zoller) and, ultimately, the Nazi leadership who choose her theater as a venue to show off their latest propaganda film, "Nation's Pride." At first reluctant, she decides this will be the perfect opportunity to avenge the loss of her family. It is Dreyfuss where "Basterds" seems to find its soul. Being a theater owner, Tarantino clearly wishes to symbolize (pretty blatantly) the power of film and its ability to wreck havoc upon its audience. Tarantino also unleashes an artisitc flourish unseen in most of his earlier films; the use of color to highlight the character's arc is particularly impressive. More importantly, this young actress captures some very raw emotions in her performance one hopes she heads down the Tarantino heroine path or Uma Thurman and not of Maria de Medeiros.

All of this adds up to a film that wants to celebrate the cliches of the war film by expounding upon those cliches and making them into something very personally revealing. Tarantino has taken the standard WWII story of soldiers and turned it into a film of intimate revenge. Most war films feature heroic soldiers autonomously slaughtering the enemy. Here, the enemy is engaged. There are conversations between predator and prey. The victim talks about themselves. This is consistent among all of the main characters with a similar questions emerging: Is war better when the enemy is unknown and distant rather than known and close-up? If there's any moral or ethical core to Inglorious Basterds, that's it. Tarantino certainly relishes in the art of the war film; in its aesthetic and its scope. But watching war as executed using baseball bats and Bowie knives is certainly a lot more shocking than watching war combated with machine guns and aerial bombs. Ancillary to this is efforts Tarantino makes to connect Raine, Dreyfuss, and Landa with one another. One of the characters asks one of the other how much different they really are; whether geography had more to do with ideology as to what side they landed. While the response is simplistic, the overall message from the film is pretty provocative. Of course, I can also see any point of criticism in that Tarantino has allowed his self-grandstanding narcissism to get the best of him in "Basterds." Setting the fictional massacre of Nazi officials in the Parisian art house theater certainly sets up an argument that cinema and film is more powerful that Nazi-level evil. Or the brief documentary piece that explains the combustible nature of celluloid. Such a literal statement meant to be so figurative it causes eye-rolling. Further, there are proclamations from Pitt's character - looking straight into the camera - that "I may have finally made my masterpiece." Bravado from a filmmaker who can be rightly criticized for borrowing too much from other filmmakers? Perhaps. But being audacious and talented is something I can rightly handle for a film so well-crafted and cleverly constructed. There's also some self-aware showiness - particularly with the narration provided by Samuel L. Jackson that intentionally feels lifted from a whole other film. Yes, this might be there just because Tarantino is indulging some film fantasy. But, for a film that plays loosely enough with history to make its ultimate point, bemoaning such flourishes seems beside the point. Inglourious Basterds can excessive and graphic and pretentious all at once. There will be people who feel it is disrespectful to history and to the challenges and prevails of World War II. To that, I say: You've had YOUR war movies. This is unique and fresh for an American filmmaker and an American audience. Whether you'll love it or hate it, "Basterds" is something to be experienced. This gets a strong 4 on my "Go See" scale.

Tarantino's Basterd's Change History And It Rocks

War movies have been a staple of Hollywood for many years, we have had movies about The Revolutionary War, World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Korea and many many such movies about Desert Storm. Now one of Hollywood's most gifted directors brings his view to this classic genre, Quentin Tarantino's seventh film, "Inglourious Basterds" is sort of a "Dirty Dozen" remake that deals with WWII but this time shows the effects of a small band of men willing to go behind enemy lines and just wreck havoc on the moral of an entire country. The movie has its flaws, small though they may be, the Chapter Headings at the start of each scene does get old rather quickly. Although the use of the French and German languages adds to the movies authenticity overall.

The film opens in 1941 to a placid countryside and soon turns to a suspense filled scene full of horror. Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) of the Waffen-SS, proudly known as the "Jew Hunter", interrogates Perrier LaPadite (Denis Menochet), a French dairy farmer, about rumours that he has been harboring a Jewish family. It's clear that Landa knows the truth long before it is revealed, but Landa keeps the pressure on LaPadite. For twenty minutes we watch as LaPadite squirms until Landa manages to break down LaPadite and locates the hiding place of the Jews underneath the floorboards. He orders his soldiers to fire into the floorboards, killing the entire family save one. The horror and violence erupts quick and brutal. This climatic opening introduces one key character and also lends a revenge motive to another, the teenage daughter of the family slaughtered in the beginning, Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) had escaped the carnage and has run into the woods, we hear the music crescendo and know she will be back.

The movie has several cameos by some of Hollywood's major stars, the bad thing is that some of these cameos seem as long as the films major star's on screen time. U.S. Army Second Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), doesn't make an on screen appearance until the second scene to give his newly created squad their orders. They are to drop into enemy territory and collect one hundred Nazi scalps. Than Pitt doesn't get much more onscreen time. Than its 1944 and we have skipped several years ahead, D Day has already happened but the liberation of France has yet to begin. We do get a sort of history lesson about how bad the Basterd squad is, and a now blond Shosanna who has assumed the identity of one Emmanuelle Mimieux the proprietress of a cinema, this cinema is chosen by Frederick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), after he meets Emmanuelle one night. Zoller is a sniper-turned-actor whose exploits are celebrated in the Nazi propaganda film, Stolz der Nation "A Nation's Pride". Smitten with Emmanuelle, Zoller convinces Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth) to hold the premiere in her cinema, Emmanuelle realizes that the presence of so many high ranking Nazi officials and officers provides an excellent opportunity for revenge, she intends to burn down the cinema the night of the show.

The Basterds are Jewish American soldiers who operate behind enemy lines killing and scalping Nazi soldiers, they are each trying to collect one hundred Nazi scalps, they allow one German soldier to survive each incident so he can spread the news of the terror of their attacks. However, the Basterds carve a swastika into the forehead of that German. The Basterds consist of several men, most notable are Sgt. Donny Donowitz (Eli Roth), Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger) who is German himself, but decided he didn't like the High Command and killed over a dozen of them himself. Rescued by the Basterds he has become an infamous part of the squad.

The movie has a lack of action, but when it comes, it is epic. One such scene is a bar shoot out that is sudden and rapid, bloody as well as violent and ends in what we are told is a "Mexican Standoff" the carnage comes on the heels of what is a marathon session of back and forth dialogue between German actress and spy Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), two members of the Basterd squad and a Major Dieter Hellstrom (August Diehl). The historical liberties taken by Tarantino may outrage or offend many people. The movie is unpredictable and has the power to illuminate an audience. Basterds builds suspense, shakes up the genre and plays by no ones rules save it's own. Inglourious Basterd isn't going to be your fathers favorite WWII movie, but it will be yours.

As Landa, Waltz steals every scene he is in. In fact he comes close to being the movies sole saving grace, from the opening interrogation to his other displays of cruelty, charm and at the very end his shameless self preservation, in several languages no less Landa's character screams evil. Another such saving grace is the scene where Shosanna Laurent, is awaiting the hated German dignitaries who will arrive for a film preview, is framed on a balcony, reflected in the glass mirrors of the gorgeous theater, her red lips and low cut dress reflecting the intensity of her pain and desire for revenge is a single shot that showcases power and grace.

I give Inglourious Basterds a 4 and on my avoidance scale a 0, although the running time of this movie is over two hours it does seem to just flow by. The movie is taut and suspenseful and lives up to no ones expectations, it is a cinematic beast that will destroy your beliefs in Hollywood's cliche machine. Tarantino is back and I for one think he has created his one true masterpiece.

Inglourious Basterds is rated R for Strong Graphic Violence, Language and Brief Sexuality

Running time is 2 hrs. 32 mins.