Inglorious Basterds

It was opening night. I left the wife at home. I caught a little hell for sneaking out of the house last Friday to check out Inglorious Basterds. After all, Tarantino is one of the greatest living moviemakers of all time-I kind of got wind of that around Jackie Brown-and I’ll be goddamned if I can wait too long to see something new that he’s crafted.
I saw this one at the very cinema that I saw Death Proof (also solo and also late night). I also watched it with some obvious fanboys-we all laughed at the right moments, snickered with every ridiculous notion and applauded at the end of the film.
Except for me. I didn’t think Inglorious Basterds was worthy of my applause.
It is my least favorite in the Tarantino cannon. With that being said, I’d want to see it a few more times just to make sure that Death Proof doesn’t fall below it. Which reminds me that I need to see Death Proof a few more times to make sure of that. Which all leads you to realize how good Tarantino is: even with his also-rans, you want to see them more than once.
I want to see it for the things I missed-those subtle nuances that Tarantino always puts in his films, the homage to other films, the stuff missed from lengthy dialogues, and the other things that eventually get revealed in dvd commentaries. Did anyone feel that A Nation’s Hero was suspiciously like the final battle in Saving Private Ryan? Did you feel a little cheated how it was promoted as a modern-day Dirty Dozen only to discover that it was really about a French woman who singlehandedly ended WWII? Did you miss all of those musical discovers that Tarantino normally injects into his movies, like some older brother with a wicked record collection of obscure titles?
Me too.
But a Tarantino film at 80% is better than most of the tripe that Hollywood gives us. For example, I have a few dvds still in the packaging that were given to me as gifts that I still haven’t watched years after I’ve last seen them. If you were to give me a copy of Basterds right now, I would most assuredly watch it tonight-a mere week after my first viewing.
I’d even watch it with my wife this time.

The rankings (as of this writing):
1.) Pulp Fiction
2.) Jackie Brown (close second)
3.) Kill Bill (1 + 2 combined)
4.) Reservoir Dogs
5.) Death Proof
6.) Inglorious Basterds