By Chauncey Telese

The coolest thing about doing reviews aside from getting to meet the people that make the movies you watch, or at the very least getting to see it early, is getting to review a movie made by one of your heroes. I had that distinct pleasure this week as I reviewed the latest film by the guy who first enamored me with the film industry.

In my opinion, Quentin Tarantino is one of the most unique filmmakers because he manages to blend different genres of film together, while wrapping it up in his own brand of dialogue, violence, and obscure music choices to make a film that could’ve only been done by him. His latest film, “Inglorious Basterds”, manages to make a World War II movie that is violent, completely ludicrous, and above all else a lot of fun.

While I loved this film, I understand that Tarantino is not for everyone. For the sensitive types, skip the rest of this review entirely and check out the alternative options at the bottom.

While this film has been advertised as being a straight up action flick, in reality it’s a lot more than that. In fact, the movie really doesn’t feature the aforementioned “Basterds” all that much. The movie contains several stories that manage to weave together at the very end of the movie at a movie theater in Paris where the “Basterds” attempt to kill Hitler.

We are first introduced to Christoph Waltz who plays SS Hans Landa, code named “The Jew Hunter.” He is by all measures an over-the-top villain as he is charming and charismatic, but at the flip of a switch can become a beacon of pure evil. Then we are introduced to Brad Pitt’s Lt. Aldo Raine, the leader of the “Basterds” as he assembles his team which consists of a rag tag band of Jews assigned to kill as many Nazis as humanly possible. We are shown some pretty awesome flashbacks of some of the “Basterds”. We get to see them in action as they kill entire groups of Nazis. The best kill is definitely credited to Eli Roth’s (“Hostel” “Cabin Fever”) Donny Donowitz, code named “The Bear Jew” who loves to kill people with a baseball bat. The last main character we are introduced to is Melanie Laurent’s Shosanna Dreyfus, a Jew in hiding who owns the movie theater where the film’s big conclusion occurs. She too has a plan to kill all of the Nazis that will attend the premiere of a propaganda film at her theater.

As I said though, the action is sparse, the movie is very dialogue heavy which is not a bad thing at all, as these scenes build tension and at times are very funny. Brad Pitt’s Aldo Raine is one of the coolest characters I’ve ever seen. If it were possible I would say that Pitt deserves Oscar consideration, as does Christoph Waltz.

If you’re game, this movie is a great way to end the summer season as you will be treated to a wild ride where you get to see history altered, Nazis scalped, and some truly great dialogue.

For families, I would recommend another imaginative new film, “Shorts.”

Thank You for reading and stay tuned as I go one on one with Michael Myers in “Halloween II”.

To check out local show times, at Edwards Cinemas, click here.