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Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Starring: Christopher Waltz, Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Eli Roth, Diane Kuger, Jacky Ido, Daniel Bruhl, Til Schweiger, Martin Wuttke. Synopsis: In WWII France, a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers are choosen specifically to terrorize the occupying Nazis with their brutal methods. Drama/War.  

I'm a big Tarantino fan, but Inglourious Basterds just didn't work for me...not even a little bit. Don't get me wrong, there are some compelling scenes, the trademark parallel story telling, violence, and dark humor of Tarantino, as well some fine acting, but the flick as a whole didn't do it for me and, I would suspect, not for more than few Taratino, Pitt, or war movie fans.

The first thing you might notice is that I don't categorize this movie as "historical", despite the subject matter, because its not even a little bit factual nor does it make a very serious attempt to be legitimate historical fiction. Another thing you should realize when you're getting ready to see this one is that, like many Tarantino movies, the story is heavy on dialogue, but understand that much of it is in French or German, and, in my view, at times the subittiles moved too quickly and/or were hard to read against background.

The story itself, as I alluded to, is fantastical. We have a very powerful and well done opening scene between an eloquently evil Nazi officer, Hans Landa (Christopher Waltz) and a nervous French dairy farmer who is secretly hiding a Jewish family named Dreyfus from the occupying Germans. This scene is, by far, in my opinion, the best of the flick and Walz is superb throughout.  In classic Tarantino fashion, we have another story going on at the same time and we just know the two will meet at some point.

Cut to a group of American soldiers led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt Burn After Reading) is a fast talking, blood and guts, good ole' boy type who tells his assortment of troops that they have been assembled for two reasons 1) they're Jewish 2) they are going to spread unprecedented fear among the Germans by being incredibly barbaric. In fact, Lt. Raine tells his group of recruits that each of them owes him "100 scalps, or die tryin'". Let me make this clear right now: you will see some scalps being cut off in the film, sometimes when casual dialogue is going on.

Mpw, you might think this film will be a story of this group of men (which include Eli Roth Hostel, Daniel Bruhl, and Til Schweiger) -given the title of the flick-along with their feelings of revenge, justification due to their religion and the crime the Nazis had committed upon their people, but its not. In fact, the "inglourious basterds", other than Pitt, are merely secondary/backgound characters in the story, one dimensional and no real attempt to develop them.

On the other hand, Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) is really the effective protagonist of the story, a theater owner who has a dedicated business associate (Jacky Ido) and who is developing an intricate plan to wreak some havoc on the Nazis who will be viewing a film in her theater, including Goebbels and Hitler ( Martin Wuttke) himself.

Look, I never want to be a spoiler and I already told you the plot was fantastical, but I just have to say again, it was a little too over the top for me and, worse, just didn't fit together as a good story. I will say that Tarantino fans should check this one out, no matter what, and I predict some will like it very much as it does have his distinctive flavor, but for me the one key ingredient to a good flick is a good story and this one doesn't get there. The dark humor mixed with violence  that works so well in most of Tarantino's films falls flat here, but in fairness, its hard to find any humor with Nazis and the war as your backdrop and, other than Hogan's Heroes, its probably better not to try.

Like I said, Waltz is excellent and Laurent is not far behind, but not enough to save this one. I was disappointed in Pitt. I know his character is supposed to be over the top, but to me it was to the point of being cartoonish, and this is beneath him a bit, in my view. Not a terrible performance, good for some laughs, and the character as written is over the top, but I just expected more from Pitt in terms of carrying the movie. He really doesn't. That might be unfair of me to expect great things from him in any film, but I do think he has that type of talent-I'm not talking about being a star-where its reasonable to expect more than I would from most actors.

I will also mention Wuttke's performance as Hitler, he has the look nailed and the histrionics are what many of us would associate with one of the most despicable men who ever lived. 

Overall, the good acting from some of the cast, trademark directorial florusihes, and a few interesting scenes just can't save a story that is too far fetched and contains events that just plain did not happen, e.g. the murder of Hitler along with hundreds of Nazis in a theater. I know the whole point was to paint a 'fantasy' revenge type of movie, but against the real life historical backdrop and people, it falls flat. 

But, you might think differently. Try it for yourself and find out, don't take my word for it. Hell, even I don't do that unless I've got no other alternative.

This one is really, really funny. Not the slapstick or over the top humor, but the tongue in cheek kind of humor where you will find yourself chuckling thoughout the movie, only stopping to laugh out loud.

The plot is fairly intricate for a comedy, but when you have an ensemble cast this talented, it flows very nicely and is easy to follow. The story focuses on a group of middle and near middle age folks living in the D.C. area, who are-to some degree-dissatisfied with their current lot.

We first meet an arrogant CIA analyst (John Malkovich The Libertine) who hits the bottle too much and is in a marriage to a doctor (Tilda Swinton) that is short on love and long on irritation.Things immediately go downhill when he quits instead of taking a demotion, then somehow loses a computer disc containing information he was going to use to write a memoir.   

Into that breach come two employees (Frances McDormand Fargo, Brad Pitt Seven)  at an upper scale fitness center who happen upon the disc and decide, by golly, they are going to cash this ticket since McDormand's character has a serious hankering to pay for some cosmetic surgery.

And, of course, no comedy would be complete without the cad and, in this flick, its played by George Clooney (From Dusk 'Til Dawn) who loves the ladies, in addition to his wife, and two of his gal pals are, you guessed it, Tilda Swinton and Frances McDormand.

Suffice it to say, when the blackmail plan goes awry and cheating hubbys and wives are exposed, the plot thickens and its hilarious. What makes Burn After Reading work so well, as you would think, is the acting. Clooney, Malkovich, McDormand, and Swinton are all fantastic, all very funny in their understated way, though you will probably expect what you see from McDormand, an actor more associated with comedic roles than the others. Pitt deserves special mention, however. He is side splitting playing a less-than-astute geek, I challenge you to not laugh at any scene he's in when you see the flick. 

I also liked the fact that the film was not afraid to portray these characters, including two of the bigger hearthrobs of the past decade or so, as vulnerable, not so tough, not so smart, and therefore, easy to laugh at and with. I also need to say how refreshing it was to see 40 something leading men paired with 40 something leading ladies, something you don't see as often as you'd think as big Hollywood films look for the hot 23 year old to pair opposite 70 something Sean Connery 60 something Michael Douglas. 

So, those of you who might go into this one thinking your primary reward might be some Clooney/Pitt beefcake, you'll be disappointed, though Pitt does look like someone who works in a fitness center. Just understand that this movie is not about eye candy.

The heavyweight big name stars are not the only ones who deliver, either. Richard Jenkins (Stepbrothers) is good as the manager of the fitness center who just can't seem to get McDormand's attention and J.K. Simmons (Spiderman) is hilarious as the mysterious CIA big wig who simply reacts to the circus of events that unfold with the missing disc.

This film is hard to briefly describe, but trust me, if you like any of these excellent actors and you don't need over the top slapstick or bodily function humor to make you laugh, I can pretty much guarantee you'll like Burn After Reading.    

Drama. Directed by David Fincher. Starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey, R. Lee Ermey, Richard Roundtree, John Cassini. Drama/Thriller

Synopsis: A veteran detective in his last week before retirement teams up reluctantly with a hard charging rookie detective to investigate a unique and sadistic serial killer who tortures and kills his victims as reflections of the seven deadly sins.

This creepy, disturbing thriller is another that should be on everyone's list of all timers. The only reason not to like this one is if you don't like the genre or the theme, there is nothing else to complain about otherwise.

Forbeding from the opening scenes, Seven is the story of two detectives put together at very different stages of their career. Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman/Levity) is a deep thinking, experienced detective who is burned out all the way to heck and back. Somerset is days away from retirement when he is paired with rookie detective Mills (Brad Pitt/Kalifornia). Mills is headstrong, idealistic, and has more than a little chip on his shoulder, which may be why he requested duty in the mean streets of the (nameless) big city.

They don't hit it off well at the beginning.

That pales in importance to a couple of murders that they are investigating, which are exceptional in their cruelty and viciousness. Its not long before the pair realize they are tracking a killer who is killing victims in accordance with the "7 deadly sins" of classic literature: sloth, greed, gluttony, lust, wrath, envy,and vanity. Trust me when I say, not wanting to be a spolier, that these killings are a little different, to say the least. As just one example, the "gluttony" murder is one with an obese victim who is forced to eat himself to death by the killer.

I don't feel too guilty by telling you-as you probably already know, even if you have not seen the movie-that Kevin Spacey (The Negotiator) plays John Doe, the mysterious killer who does not appear in full face on screen until the last third of the flick. Trust me, its worth the wait as Spacey outdoes himself in the sinister, creepy mode of his character. Freeman and Pitt are also matched well as the "May/December" cop pair who really never buddy up, they do grow to respect one another, and their professional relationship is important to the film as the backdrop of the killings doesn't really domiante the film until the last 20 minutes.

Few films can be really great without a strong supporting cast and this one is no exception. Gwyneth Paltrow (Proof) is really good as Mills' shy, demure wife and you'll love R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket) playing a familiar type (himself?) as the boss of Somerset and Mills.

Thankfully, the DVD version comes with some interesting special features. One of the good things about seeing some older flicks on DVD is that the commentaries of the director and actors are done well after the fact, so they know the impact of the film and have the advantage of hindsight. Neat stuff.

Great movie.   

Directed by Dominic Sena. Starring Brad Pitt, David Duchovny, Juliette Lewis, Michelle Forbes. Synopsis: A struggling writer who has targeted the topic of serial killers for his next book and his artist girlfriend start an impromptu move from the East Coast to California. They meet another young couple from the hardscrabble South who have their own reason for heading West and agree to ride together and share expenses. What's not known to anyone, at least for a while, is that the male part of the uncultured couple is a serial killer himself. Action/Drama. 

This one was a pleasant surprise for me, as I had never seen it or heard much about it even though its over a decade old. What's interesting is that, even though there are some big time names in the cast, the film was made before any of them were big stars, at least to the extent they are today in the case of Pitt and Duchovny.

Duchovny plays a writer who has had moderate success, and has an advance in hand that paid for a nice place and not much else, but he has to come up with the book now. His chosen topic, a theme of personal fascination for him, is serial killers. He has a strong willed artist girlfriend (Michelle Forbes) who will help him on the book but is tired of falling short in her own career and wants to, as they say, blow this town and head West to California...right away.

They decide not to let the fact that they don't have the money for the move stop them, they will just find someone to share expenses in the drive...which will also feature frequent stops to research murder sites across the country for the book. Well, the pool of folks who are going to be interested in this offer is slim but, luckily, there is a couple who take them up on it, Early and Adele.

We've met Early (Pitt) and his live in girlfriend (Lewis) previously in the movie, before the two stories get tied together. Early and Adele live in a run down trailer, are behind on their rent much to the anger of their landlord, and Early is out on parole and not impressing his parole officer. We never find out exactly what Early did time for, but we know from the outset that his conflict resolution skills are not the best as he deals with his landlord by killing him. Now, of course, Early wants to head out of town himself and he gets no resistance from the compliant Adele, who does not know about the killing and truly thinks of her man as a nice guy. So, it seems like a good pairing when the two couples meet up, if not the best cultural mix.

One thing amateur criminologists know is that they say that serial killers don't just stop. Well that is apparent in Early's case, as he can't even wait until the end of the cross country drive. Of course, his activities can't be hidden forever and, soon, his three travel friends know that they are riding shotgun with a killer.

This film is almost completely focused on the four main characters, although there are some strong one or two scene performance from minor characters as well. The story revolves around Duchovny and Pitt's characters. Duchovny is just like you would expect him to be, even in his pre X Files days: introspective, abstract, empathetic, and sometimes infuriating. His attitude is to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and he does this with the crude Early from the beginning. In fact, it seems as if he kind of admires Early's bottom line approach to things that is in tune with his uninformed view of the world.

As for Pitt's Early, this role is vital to the success of the film because he needs to be somewhat empathetic for us to buy him being able to so completely dominate the devoted Adele, as well as convince anyone to trust him even for a minute. He does this. Early is crude and simple, but engaging at times and its clear that Pitt really got into this role. (In the limited special features, Pitt says he was "born" to play the role) I like Pitt, though I'm not a huge fan, and I would say that this is the best I've ever seen him.

The female characters are important, too, which, unfortunately, you can't always say in movies with any real action. Michelle Forbes is perfect as the loving but irritating girlfriend who is really the (unheeded) voice of reason in her coupling with Duchovny. Juliette Lewis might have been the best of a pretty good cast as she is the only character who is completely likable and you feel for her from the beginning.

To me, Kalifornia is more of a drama than anything, but there are pockets of action and those of you that have to see blood in your flicks will see some here. I thought this film was well directed, superbly acted, with an interesting story line. It took me 13 years, but I'm glad I saw this one and wouldn't mind adding it to the collection. For anyone who is a Pitt or Lewis fan, this is a must see.