inglourious basterds | the m0vie blog

Reaction to the Best Picture Oscar Nominations…

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Darren

Well, it’s been a week since the nominations were announced. I think I’m as adjusted as I’ll ever be to this year’s crop of Oscar contenders. Am I happy? Relatively. Am I delighted? No. Am I as filled with disappointment and rage as I was last year? Not nearly. Does this mean we can judge the ten horse race a success? I’m not so sure. Let’s take a look at the good, the bad and the worse of this year’s nominations, snubs and just inexplicable nods. I’ll be taking a look at the acting nominations later in the week, because this post just ballooned. Rather fitting given the expansion of the category, no?

Let the speculating and analysis and moaning begin...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: (500) Days of Summer, 82nd academy awards, academy, AMPAS, avatar, best director, best picture, best picture oscar, district 9, favourites, films, inglourious basterds, james cameron, kathryn bigalow, Movies, odds, Oscars, precious, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, slumdog millionaire, the blind side, the blindside, the hurt locker, the reader, up, up in the air, voting | 2 Comments »

Is an Inglourious Oscar on the Way? Or Just a Basterdly Disappointment?

Posted on January 13, 2010 by Darren

As anyone who visits the site will know, Inglourious Basterds was my film of last year. I just dug it – the post-modern aspects of it, the juxtaposition of Tarantino’s style with the historic backdrop, the ending. And I’m more than delighted to think that Christophe Waltz will earn an Oscar statuette for his work, making it three years on the trot of amazing Supporting Actor turns. But will the film itself score one of the big nominations? Of that, I’m not quite so sure.

That's one way of convincing Academy members...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 81st academy awards, academy, AMPAS, best picture, best picture 2010, best picture race, inglourious basterds, Movies, oscar nominations, oscar nominees, oscar race, Oscars, oscars 2010, quentin tarantino, weinstein company | 4 Comments »

My Top 10 Movies of 2009

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Darren

We’ve known this was coming for a while. From the moment I ran through the Irish Times’ Top 20 Films of the Decade through to my own Top 50 Films of the Decade (why stop at 20?) and even on my Top 10 TV Shows of the Decade. It seems only fair and natural to offer a top ten countdown of my favourite movies from the past twelve months. I make no apologies for how populist or anti-populist the list may seem, and I hope that it doesn’t offend anyone – I’m just a nerd on the interweb afterall. If you think I missed something, or overpraised something, just let me know in the comments below. Cheers. Now enjoy.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: coralive, doubt, films, frost nixon, frost/nixon, inglorious bastards, inglorious basterds, inglourious basterds, moon, Movies, star trek, the good the bad and the weird, the good the band and the weird, the hangover, the top ten films of the decade, the top ten movies of the year, top ten of the year, up, year in review | 1 Comment »

My Top 50 Movies of the Decade…

Posted on December 7, 2009 by Darren

Alright here it is, my top fifty films of the decade. I’ve decided to stop complaining about Donal Clarke’s list in the Irish Times and just let rip myself. There’s more than a few crazy choices down there, but – after a week in the works – I’m happy with it. I doubt that a lot of other people will be.

Like the Oscars, but... you know, better...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: (500) Days of Summer, 1 hour photo, 28 days later, a history of violence, anchorman, apocalypto, batman, batman begins, battle royale, best movies, best movies of the decade, best movies of the naughties, burn after reading, casino royale, collateral, coraline, crash, crouching tiger hidden dragon, dark knight, doubt, downfall, eternal sunshince, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, finding nemo, frost nixon, frost/nixon, gladiator, gone baby gone, good movies, history of violence, in bruges, infernal affairs, inglorious basterds, inglourious basterds, inter mission, intermission, juno, kiss kiss bang bang, little miss sunshine, Momento, moon, mystic river, naughties, no country for old men, one hour photo, pans labyrinth, phone booth, prestige, shaun of the dead, sin city, spider-man 2, spider-man ii, sunshine, team america, team america: world police, The Dark Knight, the departed, the good the bad & the weird, the good the bad and the weird, the incredibles, the lord of the rings, the lord of the rings: the two towers, the mist, the naughties, the noughties, the prestige, the two towers, there will be blood, top 50, top fifty movies of the decade, training day, tropic thunder, twenty-eight days later, zoolander | 16 Comments »

The “Twitter” Effect

Posted on October 19, 2009 by Darren

I don’t have a twitter account. Until earlier this year, I didn’t have a blog. I’m not a slow technological adapter, but I don’t pretend that I am the fastest either. I don’t do facebook, linkedin or bebo, among others. Apparently I am way behind the times. Anyway, it’s always fun to watch the sociological impact of these new multimedia methods of keeping in touch and how they find themselves harnessed (whether intentionally or not) to the service or detriment of established traditional media. Paranormal Activity is the latest movie to benefit the Twitter Effect.

Is it a phantom effect?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: films, inglourious basterds, Movies, new media, paranormal activity, snakes on a plane, The Dark Knight, the twitter effect, tweeting, twitter, viral campaigns | Leave a comment »

Going Nutz Over Nazis…

Posted on September 4, 2009 by Darren

Ah, Nazis. The most typical of Hollywood villains. It seems that whenever you want the audience to cheer at what your morally ambiguous hero is up to, just stick his opponent in a Nazi uniform and you can guaruntee that the viewers will know which side they’re on. It used to be in the old days that simply putting a villain in a Nazi uniform was a regular past time for any big director. You didn’t need characterisation or complexity. If they’re German between 1941 and 1945, they’re a bad guy. Well, at least that used to be the way. In recent years it seems that we have accepted that things may be slightly more complex than those black and grey uniforms that they wore. There are many shades. So much so that the ‘thoughtful Nazi flick’ has pretty much become guarunteed Oscar bait. Given the minor furore which surrounded the release of Inglourious Basterds, is the time of the one-dimensional cardboard cutout passed into history? And has political correctness gone too far?

Don't make a song and dance about it...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: films, germany, good, history, hitler, indiana jones, inglourious basterds, national socialism, nazis, political correctness, quentin tarantino, schindler's list, sterotypes, the holocaust, the reader, the sound of music | 1 Comment »

What a Basterdly Ending…

Posted on August 31, 2009 by Darren

Alright, since the entire point of this post is spoilers, consider yourselves duly warned. I don’t like spoiling films, but I also really think that there is a lot of discussion to be had about the end of Inglourious Basterds. Only read on if you have seen the film, or know you won’t. Because there’s no going back. Seriously. It’s something you should really see for yourself before you make up your mind on it. Anyway, those disclaimers out of the way, here we go…

Shoshanna's got an axe to grind...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cinema, climax, ending, films, history, hitler, inglorious bastards, inglourious basterds, Movies, nazis, quentin tarantino, spoilers, subtext, tarantino, themes | 1 Comment »

Non-Review Review: Inglourious Basterds

Posted on August 28, 2009 by Darren

I went to see Inglourious Basterds with my brother last night at the cinema in Swords. I’m not sure what either of us was expecting – I’d read enough reviews and opinion articles and am well-versed in the knowledge that trailers always lie to know that it wouldn’t be a straight-up Nazi-killing flick. In fairness to the misdirecting marketing campaign though, I’m not sure how you could advertise what Tarantino has produced here. What we’ve got is a film possibly unlike any other you’ve ever really seen. I’m still not entirely sure what to make of it, which is certainly a big indicator in the film’s favour.

Tarantino, you magnificent basterd, you...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: brad pitt, christoph waltz, films, inglorious bastards, inglourious, inglourious basterds, Movies, nazis, non-review review, once upon a time in nazi-occupied france, quentin tarantino, review, tarantino, weinstein | 6 Comments »

What Constitutes a Spoiler?

Posted on August 25, 2009 by Darren

What constitutes a spoiler? I mean, really? Is discussing anything about the ending of a film a spoiler? What about talking about a twist earlier on, or an underlying theme or premise that pays off at the end? Is that a spoiler? How long does a movie have to be out before you can talk about it without worrying that you’ll spoil the ending for some poor unsuspecting individual who deserves to see the movie and take it in without having their perception coloured? Some stuff got me thinking about this and I’m not really sure I know where the line falls.

I see a twist coming...

Spoiler: This article contains spoilers. Lots and lots of spoilers. But that was kind of obvious from the header, wasn’t it? I wonder if anyone ever actually heeds these warnings. Tell you what, cycle down to the end of the article and leave a comment if you do. Nah, I’m just kidding, but still… spoilers ahoy!

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: deathproof, endings, films, Inception, inglourious basterds, M. Night Shyamalan, Movies, quentin tarantino, reveal, spoilers, the 6th sense, the sixth sense, the usual suspects, twist, twist ending, unbreakable | 2 Comments »

Cannes in Review

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Darren

Well, it’s almost over. The Cannes film festival – generally praised as the height of sophisticated cinema – will wrap up on Sunday evening. I may have been a bit negative in my coverage of Cannes this year – with jabs at Lars von Trier and Quentin Tarantino who were screening at the festival – but I’m absolutely delighted with how the festival seems to have gone, and with the weather the way it is over here, I figured it was time to run some good news.