It is inglorious alright, but not funny. Review on Inglourious Basterds Movie

To his fans Quentin Tarantino is a master craftsman. He is much venerated by them for his periodic installments of'pulp fiction' i.e. bits and pieces of tales that are not to be taken seriously, at all. While presented under different guises each time, his movies are but routine products coming from a franchise that he launched with the very name(of the form of his art) in 1994 that managed to garner a decent crowd of connoisseurs behind it. His devotees like him for how he revels in blending irreverence and gore with shock and bizarre humor. His dexterity for composing a package that can be sharp(visuals), tight(editing), dramatic(acting), psychotic(twisted intrigue), and pounding(score) has them coming for more as he applies his formula to one set of demented situations after another.

The stuff that rolls off his assembly line comes with a distinct, self-indulgent, sadistic and maniacal delight that only he and his cult of fans can relish. As with other franchises, his is a craft where the means become the end rather than vice versa. It's where the story is a hodgepodge of seemingly related incidents that are picked with much deliberation(in this case, reportedly over a laborious period of ten years) so as to fit the tricks of the trade. If you look carefully at his work, a staple diet for this one-trick pony seems to be a situation where there are long-drawn weird verbal encounters which simmer to a slow boiling point before ending with a shattering crescendo of mad violence.

Simply put, in his new work, Inglourious Basterds(a title that is made to look exotic with the misspellings), American Jews, Nazis, and the backdrop of World War II just end up being props on a stage that is designed to serve three to four of such signature incidents. Some of them are so yawningly long that when the all too obvious mayhem of a climax comes around eventually, it just serves as a little reminder that yet another chapter of torture(of us audience as well, besides those poor characters on the screen) is finally over.

The redeeming contributions come in the form of some brilliant performances on the part of Christoph Waltz(as Hans Landa, a double-crossing German officer who prides is his sobriquet of the Jew hunter), Brad Pitt(Lt. Aldo Raine as the Nazi hunter from Kentucky, sporting an endearing southern drawl), Denis Menochet(as Perrier LaPadite, the defiant yet slowly crumbling French dairy farmer who is sheltering the Jewish family of Dreyfusses), and Melanie Laurent(as Shosanna Dreyfuss, the lone survivor of Hans Landa's massacare who lives to avenge the murder of her family).

Yes, there is humor to be found in all of this, but only in the mannerisms of these performers than in the lines or the situations.

As far as cult movies for humor are concerned, one is better off sitting down with the often silly and occasionally sophisticated double-entendres of the'Airplane' series for the 100th time than watch this hideous bedlam with its macabre humor. Some might argue that the hilarious schtick of a performance by Mr Waltz(for which he very deservingly won an Oscar) is just too good to miss. True! Try catching just those little pieces on You Tube and save a ton of time.