MOVIE REVIEW - Inglourious Basterds (2009)

A fictional renegade band of Jews (led by Brad Pitt) collects 100 Nazi scalps, per Basterd. I dislike Quentin Tarrantino movies; but this was giddy fun. Christoph Waltz deserves the supporting Oscar for grinning through his Nazi cruelty. A “glourious”, fictional, insane ending caps a near-perfect crazy masterpiece. A unique part of the movie is that I liked nearly everyone in it. Brad was incredible. He explained somewhat in his initial speech why he wanted the scalps - because the Nazi's want to do the same to the Jews, and we're gonna show 'em what it's like (I use "'em", because Brad would've). I liked every Basterd that we got to know - the Bear Jew (you can even make him a Fan on Facebook); Stiglitz (the guy who the broke out of prison); and BJ Novak (mostly because he finally hopped away from The Office for a rewarding bit part). I didn't think the good guys were evil at all. They were confidently and joyously doing their righteous work, and good for them. I loved - LOVED - Christoph Waltz. The opening scene at the farm house was terrifying and amazing. His grin, his relishing of his job, his cruelty - it was like he was licking his lips and fingers after eating delicious ribs, during every scene. What a ham, that I thought he kept perfectly in line. It made his penultimate scene make sense and seem (can I even use this term in this absurdly crazy movie?) realistic. He needs (and just may get) an Oscar win. He is this year's Anton Chigurh. Bridget von Hammersmark, and the excruciating basement bar scene, were top notch. Shoshanna was excellent, as were ALL of her scenes (watching Waltz drink his milk was edge-of-your-seat fantastic) - except for the only flaw in the movie - the one you mentioned with putting on lipstick to Bowie - that was SO out of place and stupid. Faux-artsy crap is right. But only for this one scene - the rest is a masterpiece.