Inglourious Basterds (2009)

July 25, 2010 · Posted in Reviews , , , , , , , · 1 Comment 

You probably heard we ain’t in the prisoner-takin’ business; we in the killin’ Nazi business.

Inglourious Basterds Movie Poster

Inglourious Basterds

Not quite the farcical, knockabout slapstick comedy fest the Japanese adverts led me to believe (I’ve included the trailer at the end of the review).

There are admittedly a couple of funny lines and some black comedic drama but more action drama than Abbot & Costello I think.

This movie is an alternative version of the “end” (I assume) of the second world war as seen through the imagination of Quentin Tarantino.

Starring a mutachioed Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine, Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa (for which he won a well deserved Ocar), and Eli Roth as Sgt Donny Donowitz amongst others. It involves a group of Jewish soldiers, nicknamed The Basterds by the Germans, sent to France to basically kill Nazis.

There’s also a second plot parallel to this involving a Jewish girl, Shosanna Dreyfuss played by Melanie Laurent with a traumatic background linked to the evil Nazi Hans Landa.
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Alexander Sokurov’s The Sun

June 23, 2010 · Posted in Reviews , · Comment 

I wrote this review back in 2005 just after seeing the Russian/Japanese movie “The Sun” about Emperor Hirohito.
So without further ado, here’s the review:

Well, that is all in the past. There is only one unresolved issue left. That is the issue of your fate.

Alexander Sokurov's The Sun
Went to the cinema the other day, to check out the new film by Alexander Sokurov, “The Sun” from 2005 about the last few days of World War II in Tokyo and Emperor Hirohito meeting McArthur and surrendering. To say this film was slow, would be putting a brave face on it, (first 20 minutes is Hirohito getting up and dressed), however stick with it and a fascinating and interesting human study of Hirohito comes into play.

Unfortunately 2 people sitting just behind us didn’t stick with it, walking out after about 20 minutes (possibly during the long breakfast eating scene), with the not so favourable review “That was f*cking shit”, just heard as the cinema doors closed.
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