Quentin Tarantino Retrospective Inglorious Basterds Review

Hey, this is Steve Blum and you are listening

to the GeekCast Radio Network. and welcome to

cinema geeks as we continue our quentin tarantino

retrospective today we will be reviewing quentin

tarantino's world war two epic in glorious bastards

but before we get to the review let's go over

who's here you have me of course movie revolt

dan and joining us as always is kevin optimus

solo how's it going man it's going great man

hopefully hopefully uh we have uh We have a little

better results this episode than last, because

I know last one, we gave our lowest score so

far. We were trending downwards with our scoring.

We'll see how we end up with Tarantino's last

two movies. Yeah, I'm interested to see because

also you said kind of teased a little bit I think

last episode where you said the Original viewing

of this film that we're talking about today.

You didn't necessarily have a positive reaction

to so I'm gonna be interested both to see what

you think caused that or what your reasons were

for that and then How things have changed or

not changed since then? Definitely. Yeah, I did

kind of tease that last episode. We'll definitely

get into that. A lot to really go over with The

Glorious Basterds. I mean, there's a huge history

here with this film. It's been well reported.

It was a script that Tarantino wrote for like

10 plus years. He finally kind of came to do

it once Death Proof didn't have the success he

was hoping for to kind of finally finish that

project. I do like to start all these with a

question, and this kind of question came to me

partially because I know you're such a history

buff, so I thought this would be a good place

to start. So, you know, with Enchlorious Basterds,

we do get to see when historical fact blends

with Quentin Tarantino's fiction. My question

for you is, knowing the massive and tragic impact

of World War II had on the world and your own

love of historical fact, do you take issue with

Quentin Tarantino rewriting it to fit into his

own artistic vision, or does it show us? that

that old saying that history is written by the

runners needs to have an addendum to also say

and rewritten by movie makers. That's a good

question. Actually, that's kind of interesting

because I was thinking I was listening to a podcast

today on something completely different. I was

going back through some old podcasts actually,

and it happened to be a podcast that was reviewing.

I think it was like Dracula Untold or something

from last year. Never thought that was an historical

fact. Yes. Never thought we'd get that. I got

a Dracula Untold mention while we're in Tarantino's

ballet, did you? No, no. But it spawned some

discussion between the host on source material

and that type of stuff, which is kind of similar,

I guess, than when you're talking about historical

accuracy or not. You know, like it's hard because.

What I got myself thinking was I was kind of

going on off in a tangent and I was thinking,

you know, yeah I'm usually one that has not I

don't have issue when it is a fictional like

fictional source material like you can take the

world of whatever GI Joe and You can make something

of that and it doesn't have to be true necessarily

to that source material as much for me because

it's a fictional source material to begin with

and I was thinking but I usually do have somewhat

of a stronger reaction when it's a historical

item that then is being kind of changed or you

know edited or whatever but then I was thinking

to myself wait a second am I being a hypocrite

here because Didn't have that problem at all

with this movie and some other movies that might

do it in the same vein and so I was trying to

come to terms with myself like when is it not

okay for me and I guess maybe tone has something

to do with it. Maybe Maybe mostly the intent

What is the answer of? the director or of whoever's

in charge and if The intent is something like

it is with Tarantino in this one. I guess just

naturally I don't have a problem with it compared

to let's say a director that was creating something

and then putting it out there as if This is how

it happened. You know what I mean? Like yeah,

it's different And the reason I have that problem

is not from my own perspective. Like I know the

true Or not necessarily. I mean, history is there's

a lot of history out there. So there's no way.

Yeah. But, you know, let's say if it was one

of my areas of expertise, I guess, when it came

to history, I'll know the truth and I know what's

not true. So it doesn't bother me because I'll

be able to discern it. But the problem I have

is if it's something that is presented as fact

and then it is put out there where people are

going to take that in that aren't. Maybe as versed

in that subject and then they're gonna think

that's how that happened or that's how that was

So I mean that I guess that's more the teacher

in me. Like I don't want to have to correct people's

Misconceptions because hey the movies told me

this is how it happened. So I guess it's kind

of a Blurry line, but for me it comes down to

what was the intent and then how was it presented

and when it's presented like it is in this Movie

and what with the intentions that Tantino had

I have no issue Be much different if it was saying,

you know This is exactly how the battle of such

-and -such happened in World War two and it's

completely BS It's Pearl Harbor bad or something.

Yeah, it's like, you know that battle of World

War two that had dinosaurs in it Yeah, no, no,

that didn't actually happen that way, right?

I hear we I definitely kind of get what you're

saying I think intent the way I kind of look

at it too is just how effective that changes

like if there are Movies based upon historical

fact there's ton to them and none of them 100

% accurate to the source material from even something,

you know 12 years of slave to Amistad to gone

with the wind. I mean they all Take historical

fact and a couple that came up that were talked

about a lot not to interrupt you were both American

sniper and unbroken It's unbroken. I'm getting

the right name. I get all my own names mixed

up, but with the with O 'Connell Oh 71 no, but

oh, oh, yeah. I'm sorry. I'm broken. Yeah. Yeah,

I think people had issues We both on broken and

American sniper for similar issues, but I didn't

mean to interject but yeah, no, I you know, I

think that's actually a good comparison because

In to me it's like what does that change do like

is is that change going to? Have some sort of

thematic Element to it. Is it more about telling

us about the story of the character or is there

almost? Especially when you come to something

that's more recent more of a political Standpoint

where you're changing something, you know that

work. It's a little bit murkier. It's probably

you're a slave They've changed things, but I

don't think it was for political stance It was

to fit within the story that they're telling

American sniper, for example made some leaps

and some changes that A. I think we're bad. I

like that movie, but a little bit, but I think

there were some things that were like the story

elements that like that were added that made

this it worse that the whole like additional

sniper type of situation with this with Quentin

Tarantino's film. There's no question whatsoever

going into this. I hope the god not at least

that someone's walking into this thinking well

This is a realistic approach to what really happened

then that's you know, that's clearly not the

case With American sniper, I think it presents

itself that way. So those changes a little bit

more evidence So if it's a little it's a little

murkier when you're when you're drastically relating

things over and all but with this it's like Tarantino's

changing things. I think but like he said his

characters don't realize that they're in a movie

So they they change the outcome of what happened

because you know, they're his characters and

that's what he wants to happen So I yeah, I the

first time I saw it. I was I was a little taken

back by it because I'm like What just happened

like that? I did that he really went all the

way with it. I did not that was unexpected and

not necessarily, but it was it was kind of shocking

because the entire time I'm watching this, the

first time, you know, I know what happens in

World War II, so obviously that's not going to

change anything, and then... Oh, no, Quentin

Tarantino is going to make his own history, which

is fine with me. But I was curious because I

know you've expressed some issues with people

who have done it. But I think, like you said,

it's a case by case basis. It's how it's done.

But I think it is something that you have to

be careful of as people who podcast about movies,

as people who write reviews about movies, etc.

I mean, because I think we can find ourselves

sometimes. getting caught up with some of those

details that at points or having problems with

sometimes and then not having problems with others

and I think it's it there is a kind of a line

that you have to draw for yourself you know when

do you have an issue with it and why and are

you consistent with that because I even myself

I probably have kind of contradicted myself at

different times oh yeah movies you know kind

of dependent on how it hit me at the time but

I think it you know as a In later days, you know

looking back and when you kind of look back at

those films I hope that you know for me at least

that it comes down to you know What was the intent

and what were we trying and are we trying to

portray something to someone in a false manner?

or are we simply adjusting things to fit the

narrative that we're telling or the message we're

giving or whatever purpose we had in making the

film and and Hopefully we were good enough or

intelligent enough to try to find that line and

not get too caught up in the moment like I'm

sure I have in the past. And I think something

else that's enjoyable out of this film, though,

is it presents itself, obviously, immediately,

hopefully, like you said, as clearly something

that is not necessarily factual. But I do like

the amount of factual things and accurate things

they do throw in there along the way. Yeah, yeah,

it's it's not completely outlandish I make it

seem like it's not but there are certain things

obviously that kind of stick out but There there

is a lot of reality in what's being told and

what's being said and I think that's what makes

it even more effective And even from like a linear

standpoint, you could almost go up to a certain

point in the movie and say everything before

that it's basically not maybe not a hundred percent

but Is basically somewhat factual. You know what

I mean? Like it's it's not there's a next Express

point where they decide to say and then now we're

going to rewrite history Yeah, it's like a timeline.

It's like this this is the quentin tarantino

timeline and this is real timeline Yeah, we've

had an alternate reality that we kind of veered

off on but but I do like the amount of stuff

that they do come up with or they do include

that was you know stuff that actually was factual

and we'll kind of probably get into a few of

those things as we go through so Yeah, definitely.

And one thing too I hear about, that was one

complaint I hear, some people just naturally

have resistance to changing historical fact.

But another complaint just on a movie -making

standpoint I hear with The Glorious Bastards

is that people can recognize the scenes individually,

are brilliantly told, they're done really well,

but cohesively, they don't all fit together.

It's kind of like three different movies that

don't seem like they belong. Did you personally

have that issue where you felt like these characters

didn't necessarily exist in the same world or

did you feel like there was a cohesion there

that made it all kind of gel together? I didn't

get I didn't see that at all and I was watching

in one of the special features I think on whatever

copy of what I think I have the blu -ray copy

I don't know if there's multiple copies of it

or not but there's a an actual roundtable with

Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino and the gentleman

that's doing the kind of the questions and they

kind of touch on this a little bit too. And I

didn't, as Tarantino says it, he basically says,

look, I had my first three chapters are introducing

my three characters that this film is based on.

I introduced Hans Landa, I introduced Shoshana

and I introduced Aldo, Brad Pitt's character.

It was like, those are what the first three chapters

are supposed to do. Give you the introduction.

basically of all three of those characters. And

then from there, everything else is kind of the

actual story and the adventure of how those three

characters come into contact with each other,

intermingle, you know, come in and out of each

other's lives, etc., building towards the climax,

obviously. And that's exactly how I saw it when

I was watching it. I mean, I might not have been

able to break it down in the moment like that,

but... that I didn't I kind of liked out of all

of the Tarantino films and they've all kind of

had that structure where they where they do the

The chapters and you know, like you're reading

a book type thing So, I don't know if it's just

because at this point, you know However many

movies were into this thing that we're just used

to it But I definitely had no problem with it

I actually felt like it kind of gelled even more

than it has maybe in a couple of the other films

that we've watched I don't know. How did you

feel about that? To me, I didn't have an issue

with the cohesion whatsoever, because I felt

like the one thing that ties them all together

is the theme of theatrics and how that plays

into what they do. Theatrics used to intimidate,

theatrics used to motivate, theatrics used to

basically persuade. And that's all over this

film. And it makes a lot of sense when you think

about it, from it taking place in Nazi -occupied

France and what organization used Propaganda

theatrics more than that of the Nazis. That's

very much what they did for intimidation purposes

and whatnot and even starting with the very first

scene and Hans Wanda From the moment he walks

on screen. He's putting on a show and he is He

chooses his world very purposely. There's no

question when he walks to me when I'm reading

that scene I've seen watching that scene over

and over again There's no question in my mind

that he knows exactly what he needs to know.

He's speaking with M. Lepetit just to kind of

wield his power. It's not a question for him.

I think he's just putting on this act and even

the pipe, for example. I think that's a good

example of how he knows that he has a pipe. So

he pulls out an even bigger pipe just to use

a visual aid to show you that, yeah, I am more

than you. I have control over you. I am bigger

than you. you in this moment. So, he has theatrics

in that realm. You know, the glorious patches

of themself, I think, very much rely on theatrics.

Everything they do was about intimidating the

Nazis. You know, one of the first scenes we see

with the Bear Jew, that to me is like something

that's straight out of, like, Vaudeville, straight

out of, like, professional wrestling here. You

have this guy who is... emerging from the shadows,

who has batting the bat with the echoes louder

and louder and louder coming up, and using violence

in a way as theatrics to intimidate the other

soldiers to get the information they want. And

then, again, with the finale, how Shoshana She

didn't just want revenge. She wanted, she wanted

to hit them at another level. So what does she

use? She uses, you know, film. She uses, again,

it's about showmanship. So I think that's all

over. Even inside the movie itself, we see that

with the movie, with inside the movie. So I thought

thematically they all shared very similar elements

in that to me being the biggest one. So I never

saw an issue with the cohesion. I felt like they

were all kind of taking the same idea, but With

different perspectives from the Nazi perspective

to you know, the American perspective to the

victim perspective So that's I never had that

issue and at the same time even probably to help

this even more He doesn't necessarily really

change too much of the style of each one of these

different parts You know, like we've seen in

a few of the other films where he Helps kind

of illustrate the different sections by also

filming them differently whether it be with the

use of I can kill Bill with animation and black

and white and things like that. But with these,

I think in an attempt to keep it all kind of

a cohesive unit, they're all pretty much the

same type of style. I mean, maybe someone with

a much better eye for, you know, different types

of cinematography and stuff like that might be

able to pick out something that I can't. But

it feels like it's they're all very similar,

similarly shot, very similar in tone and kind

of all the aesthetics to make it go together.

I would say like Lieutenant Aldo Reign and say

Hans Landa are different in the sense like, Aldo

Reign does feel like a cartoon character. Right.

I think so does Hans Landa, but a different type

of cartoon character more like menacing. He's

more like a comic book villain in a lot of ways,

especially when you see him kind of engage in

violence and he he's like the Nazi Batman. It

is like his detective skills. And so I agree.

I think I could see where those like like, you

know, Christopher Waltz and Brad Pitt, they're.

their acting approach in this are very different.

Like on the surface, I can understand where people

feel like they're different, but I think when

you really look at what they're doing, they're

very much in the same vein of one another. Maybe

the performances, I know a lot of people have

issue with Aldo Reign or Brad Pitt, you know,

maybe his accent, but I kind of, I don't know,

something about his accent I really dug. It was

like so bad. It was good. It just, it was, I

don't know, like every line he had, I enjoyed.

It just brought, it was just fun to me. It was

enjoyable. Like he, it was, It was like a good

song or something like that. I want my naughty

scallops to oblige him. He always was able to

finish the sentence with such reverence and such

a cool attitude that I loved. I found it very

funny and humorous, so I don't know. I really

enjoyed the performance. Anybody that had a problem

with his accent or the way he was talking, what

did you want? Did you want something more realistic

in this? create you know the story that we're

put into I mean that that adds to the effect

that it knows what it's doing like it's not taking

itself so serious and I agree with you like the

the accents that he uses the Emphasis he puts

on certain syllables. It's just absolutely I

I found myself writing down more of his lines

Probably than anything else, especially when

he says bonjourno in a rivadurci Like those are

just like I have to stop the movie almost because

I'm laughing too hard for like a couple minutes

and just like stop it That that scene when they're

like pronouncing their Italian names over in

twice It's brilliant. It's brilliant. I didn't

yeah or his line with I think it was his line

at that point When he says Stonewall Jackson,

you don't have to be Stonewall Jackson to know

you don't want to fight in the basement he has

some great lines in this film, but the Opening

thing that we get from him his opening speech

just sets the tone and the first time he says

Nazi I Look forward to every time he was speaking

Eight Jewish American soldiers now y 'all might

have heard rumors about the Armada happening

soon Well, we'll be leaving a little earlier

We're gonna be dropped into France dressed as

civilians Once we're in enemy territory as a

bushwhacking guerrilla army, we're gonna be doing

one thing and one thing only killing Nazis Yeah,

I agree. And I guess like part of that too again

coming from that kind of roundtable was some

of that is not necessarily how Tarantino saw

the character and not necessarily how he saw

him saying some of that stuff like I think they

specifically mentioned the Bon Giorno and the

Arrivederci but when they were doing the initial

reading for it and Brad Pitt did that Tarantino

says that basically he couldn't get that image

out of his head like that was that became what

he saw the character has yeah, I Think you know

with death proof we mentioned like if didn't

feel like any character was specifically written

for an actor And I know this is something he

worked on for such a long time that that was

kind of the case But I thought he gave each actor

enough room that they might have been his words,

but the cadence, like you mentioned, were the

actors themselves. I mean, you have to start.

We haven't talked to him about him yet. We have

to, though, and that's obviously Christoph Waltz

in that opening sequence where that's him basically

announcing his presence to the world of like,

yeah, I'm going to be the next big actor. You

look at what Quentin Tarantino did for Samuel

L. Jackson with Julius. It's so much the same

here. Christoph Waltz with Hans Landa. It placed

his strengths as an actor. And I think it's mostly

just Quentin Tarantino seeing this guy that he,

by all means, never even knew about before he

went through this process. But I think at least,

you know, letting Christoph Waltz be himself

and certainly his language skills played a huge

part in this and it's been said a million times

that that opening sequence is brilliant and I

agree like to me if it's one of the best openings

I think I've ever seen There's a lot of movies.

I had great films I have not seen but if looking

at the movies I have I think it's one of my all

-time favorites I should say maybe a preface

but not saying best but saying favorites. It's

one of my favorite openings of Clearly of Tarantino,

which is saying a lot but just in general I I

don't know how you feel about that opening like

20 -minute sequence with Hans Landa No, it's

it and it also adds to kind of what we were talking

about before with the the connectivity between

the sequences and the cohesion throughout the

story because not only is it setting up a lot

of things with that character but another theme

outside of the theme that you already mentioned

with the With the cinema and kind of the whole

movie thing is the idea that you just touched

on with languages and how much of a part that

that plays for this whole movie. And that set

up right from the beginning with his and I love

the in that first scene when he all of a sudden

stops and he's like switching languages to English.

The way that comes across is so hilarious. And

Tarantino was so smart in how he constructed

this film with the languages to kind of call

out every other Film that has been made for American

audiences about You know things that are taking

place in other countries Especially when it comes

to war and just how all of a sudden everybody

just knows how to speak English And it plays

on it in so many different ways though not just

by having all the different languages spoke I

mean we have a bunch of French we have a bunch

of German obviously Italian a little bit and

we have all of that kind of smattered throughout,

but it's more than just including it. It's just

kind of the way they switch from one to the other

or the way they kind of pull out the fact that

they're... And he talks about this a little bit

in, again, in the roundtable. I'm not going to

talk about it again, but how it creates the opportunity

to do things that... No other war allows us to

do because this is a war fought by for lack of

a better term between white males and Outside

of language it becomes very hard to determine

what side somebody's on or it becomes easier

for people to try to play the imposter, you know,

kind of play the imitation game as far as blending

in and acting as a different countryman, because

it all came down to the language and the customs.

That's how you could be sure that someone was

on your side or against it. You know what I mean?

It's not, it's not just something easy to, you

know, that you can just see visually. So that

played a big part in World War II. And when we're

in here, you know, right down in areas that are

experienced in the war firsthand. And I think

it plays on that a little bit too. And kind of

just this whole idea that you could try to impersonate

somebody from a different country, but can you

get the language down? Can you get the customs

down and that type of thing? Otherwise you're

in trouble. So I mean it plays a lot the language

throughout the whole film I think is is a very

important part and it comes right out in this

first scene with with Christoph Waltz. Definitely

and I think I can't think of another director

that could have a film that literally has I don't

know an hour or so I didn't time it but a good

chunk of its film where not any English is spoken

and it's all subtitled and it's That an American

director could do that and get people on a wide

audience to come see his movie There's not many

people that can get that done. Like there's something

or would be even willing to try Do you think

do you think this is a perfect movie to start

somebody that is anti -subtitle? Possibly I think

so because I think because I feel like you don't

even realize that you're watching you're reading

subtitles when you're watching this It could

be. It could be a good place to start if you

don't tell them going in. It's like, you know,

you just show them the Brad Pitt parts and then

they'll think it's all English. That's a good

point. Like I did mention when I first saw this,

I wasn't a big fan of it. And a big reason why

is I don't know if you remember when trailers

were coming out, but the trailers made it seem

like that. It was going to be basically be Kill

Bill, but a World War Two film. It seemed like

it was the entire focus was going to be on all

those people and how they're just going at it

and killing everybody. Exactly. I thought it

was going to be in Glorious Batchers, going to

be Quentin Tarantino's 30 Dozen, and it wasn't

that at all. No. So I think when I watched it

the first time, I was. You know and like, you

know this guy comes on screen. I don't even know

who he is I'm not even really I'm thinking, you

know, this is just some scene. It's not really

important We'll move on to the more important

stuff later So I think my my thought of what

it was going in my anticipation of what was going

in And it's something completely different. It's

it's not people say it's his 30 ,000 movie it's

not at all like the inglorious bastards are really

not even the main main part of this and The first

time that did bother me because it's like I like

them and I wanted more of them and I thought

it was a lot slower because it doesn't really

have the action I was anticipating. Like I said,

I thought it'd be like Kill Bill, like that hyper

action and it's not that at all. So my anticipation,

my expectations were not at all met. So I ended

up just being kind of bored with it and I ended

up missing, I think, a great deal because I was

so... So fixated on what I wasn't seeing I wasn't

really looking at what I what was in front of

me And also didn't see and the great greatest

thing I saw on this the drive -in Which is not

it's probably not the best the best way to watch

this movie It was a drive -in after it was also

like after seeing the original GI Joe. So maybe

my head Was not in the right spot. So it was

maybe that not the best the best thing in the

world So I ended up walking being kind of bored

and ended up disappointed with it, but I'd ended

up, you know, I got so much praise and, you know,

I was like, wow, I thought everyone wouldn't

like it, but it got, you know, it was nominated.

It was, it got all this. I did, I did like Kristoff

Walt. I did think he, I wasn't, I still recognize

how good he was, but I rewatched it over and

over again and I sat down and I kind of. and

I've you know, I've researched it and I've heard

what people had to say about it and what in their

thoughts and what was going on and Kind of going

into it with fresh eyes and doing so I've enjoyed

it more and more and more every time Okay at

this point, you know, it's probably maybe besides

pulp fiction the current Tarantino film I've

watched the most and I'm the one I'm keen on

watching the most over and over again. I just

have to say it has a lot of rewatchability and

maybe we'll have to rank that in our wrap up

show or something about which ones could be most

rewatched but this one's up there. I mean you

can just put this on and just have some fun.

You don't even necessarily have to watch the

entire thing if you don't have uh however long

this is what two and a half hours? No it is it

is it is yeah it is uh quite long. Just watch

a chapter at a time and you're good. Exactly,

or I do think even these scenes do stand up on

their own I think I don't think that's a gentleman

to the film like you could take the bar sequence

and watch that by itself And it may not work

as well within the film as it does within the

film, but I think there's it it works just seeing

it as like a YouTube clip and just watching it

that way. But there's a lot of scenes in this.

You have a scene that kind of stands out to you

that you tend to go to and you enjoy the most.

I was just going to ask you the same thing. Or

if you had, you know, is talking like you're

the opening chapter and how much you enjoyed

that. If there was any other chapter that kind

of competed with that, as far as your favorite

chapter in the film, if I'm going to my favorite

scene, man, there's that's so hard to choose.

Because Christoph Waltz is whole thing in the

opening. It's just hard to beat but then you

have bread It's almost like you put that on the

side and it's like what else what other I mean

Brad's his speech and then an introduction to

the and glorious bastards is incredible, I think

the bar scene is pretty Intense as well and then

just that final kind of the final climax is good,

too. I don't know I'd be If I'm if I'm putting

Christoph Waltz is opening aside it would probably

have to be one of the two bread pit scenes either

his opening speech or the where he Tries to pretend

to be from a different country Yeah, yeah, that's

pretty good I I think besides I love the bar

scene too in the introduction or probably be

my first go -to is but besides kind of the obvious

I do like the the the bear juice sequence like

part of i don't know something about it just

like i said the theatrics of it all i really

enjoy and it's it's comedic it's it's kind of

grotesque in the best way so i i do really like

that and i do feel like too we should mention

um who i think with everything going on i think

the one person that maybe gets unfairly overlooked

in this Is Malene Laurent? I don't know if I'm

saying that correct but Shoshana who I think

is the emotional center of the movie because

Like she is the one true victim here and I think

she's like her her plight is the most I think

tragic for sure and I do think like her her as

a character is probably the one that is the most

well -rounded of all the characters like the

other ones like I said are a lot on theatrics

first, like, you know, Alderain and Alanda, like,

they're very, they're larger than life. And she,

she isn't that. I think she's, she's putting

on a different type of theatre where she's just

trying to play someone else that's a normal person,

that's not herself, just so she can survive because

she doesn't want to find out that people will

find out that she's really Jewish. So I do think

that some of her sequences are really good, like

her back and forth with Daniel Brol and the dinner

sequence when with that she has and, you know,

that ends up that Christoph Waltz walk in. I

think that's a really good standout moment as

well. But I do feel like her performance gets

overlooked. And I didn't want to mention it because

I do think like without her, I don't think it

all comes together. No, I agree with you. I think

it does. As everything you just said, it is very

important strength throughout. Another thing,

if we're talking about characters, it's interesting,

I guess, kind of looking back at it as if you

if you think about it, the as much as her character

is kind of like what you're saying, kind of that

focusing line throughout everything. Aldo's character

is interesting because he's literally the only

character that doesn't kind of play both sides.

He is pretty much the only character that is,

I don't know if you want to say true to himself

the entire time, but I don't know how to word

it, but basically I mean he is doing the same

thing the entire movie he doesn't kind of he

doesn't outside of like trying to pretend he's

from a different country with the whole language

thing in that scene he's he's not trying to you

know pretend to like another side or to to do

anything he's he's just Although he's just that

southern American, you know that guy throughout

the whole thing Whereas you have a lot of other

characters that are either double -crossing their

countries or Pretending to be you know, all these

other different things and then he's just pretty

much but constant as well so I think the appearing

of those two in different ways but as kind of

a constant thread throughout both film the whole

film is is Is interesting this interesting dynamic

between them like his convictions are very are

very evident and he doesn't really Kind of go

away from that at all like he's he is no I would

say that there's no um He lacks regret I would

say like he feels no remorse for anything he

does and he kind of revels in the violence that

he's occurring and all the Nazi symbols that

he carved in people's heads and the Scalping

and everything like that. It's you know, it's

just these little tiny I guess the scalping and

Nazi symbols aren't necessarily little touches,

but I do like how Tarantino can take something

and again, like combine, like taking Western

culture with scalping and bringing it into a

World War II film, which ends up really working.

And I do love like how he can take something

that we've seen before and present it in his

own way. Like it's remarkable how many times

he can do that with each genre, which I think

is why he continues to kind of surprise us over

and over again. I had a couple of questions for

you. both things that you know as we've been

going through this spotlight that we've been

highlighting as kind of Tarantino things and

we've looked at them you know obviously they

were introduced in those first couple films and

now we've looked back at them and each film to

see has that film had that element or not and

I was curious to see your take obviously it was

nominated for best sound and best sound editing

I'm not usually someone that is and not just

with the sound editing, but I'm not usually someone

that sees a lot or that notices score, especially

the first one or two times I see a movie, unless

it's something that's real good. I'm focusing

on other things, so sometimes it can kind of

slide by me, but in my notes for this watch,

kind of to prepare for this episode, I literally

wrote down something about a musical note, like

four different times in my notes. Like, yeah,

the music in this film is awesome. Like the opening

scene, how you have the music, how you have it.

building for the tension in both that first chapter

and then again in the the bar scene I mean the

music throughout this whole thing even when you

kind of get to the point where it's in chapter

five with the revenge of the giant face you have

like this light music playing kind of a little

bit more fun like there's a lot of different

styles used throughout this and every single

time it never felt giant to me it never took

me out of the film it was always the perfect

mood setting, the perfect tension building, the

perfect, whatever they were going for, the music

fit every single time in this film. I agree.

And one moment that comes to my mind is actually

that going back to that original sequence, that

opening sequence, and it's near the end of it

when they get found out and basically the guns

start firing and the music that keys in there.

how it goes along with the gunshots and it just

it just feels it just the mood of the film just

changes immediately and what's interesting with

that scene too I find is that there's just gunfire

going off and you you know you have the music

blaring but there's no blood all you see is sawdust

right and and I think that's a great image of

just the sawdust coming up and you don't hear

any moans you don't hear any yelling it's just

sawdust music and craziness and I am so effective

in that manner and I think that's turned you

know showing that like he can evoke emotion he

can Use violence in a way that's bloodless and

still be effective with it and still not even

And make you forget that you're not even looking

at blood because your your mind's just thinking

about what's taking place So and you just see

the aftermath so I I think that's from the beginning

like you said It's great at just setting the

mood and he uses really unique pieces and Like

his that fit perfectly like each note seems like

it's meticulously placed in each moment to evoke

exactly what he wants to do So I agree that it

may be his best, you know, he's not using you

know You know soundtrack like he used to but

he's using score the thing more effectively than

he has in the past Yeah, I definitely agree with

that and and one of the other elements that I

wanted to bring up and kind of get your take

is we've looked at it with every single film

we've done is when it comes to the dialogue pieces

and Not just the dialogue throughout the film

But is there those dialogue moments where you

kind of have the back -and -forth, you know We've

talked about it in every single film. So we got

to talk about it here, too where do you think

this one ranks as far as both just general dialogue

and then like as far as number of times where

you have those kind of back -and -forth moments

where it's like You know akin to some of the

diner scenes that we saw in the earlier films

or etc I'll just basically say this, to me this

is the epitome of Quentin Tarantino in every

form. Like the dialogue, it's on par with me

with Pulp Fiction. The opening conversation's

all over the place. I think every conversation

is interesting and intriguing, it's rich, it's,

and it's... unique in a different way. You don't

necessarily have the pop culture references that

you're used to, but it's more cultural references

of the time and more historical references. But

it feels so rich. And even with that, I think

he takes elements of everything he's done up

to this point, but especially the dialogue. And

I felt like it was on par with anything he's

done previously. I love the rat squirrel discussion

in that opening chapter. It's just... That is

awesome stuff that they had there. And it's just,

it's so great to see that. And you kind of can

see where the conversation is going, but just

to kind of hear it, elaborate it. But especially

how Chris Huffwalt's handled that discussion

and kind of his ability to deliver that in the

way that he did. And then on top of that, you

have the nice visual. Amanda pointed this out

to me too, because I wasn't, I almost didn't

see it myself, but with him and the other gentleman,

I can't remember who's playing that character,

but one of them with the Sherlock Holmes style

pipe and the other one with the corn cob pipe

is just great detail there that they threw in

there. So yeah, I agree that the dialogue is

amazing. You have that, you have Brad Pitt's

speech, you have all kinds of stuff. Like you

said, with all the different cinema references,

you don't necessarily get maybe some of the pop

culture references, but you definitely get some

of that cinema reference, especially in chapter

three. The bar scene has some great dialogue.

It's it's just the right I think I think it's

like you said it's all of the Tarantino things

that we've talked about are blatantly obvious

and effective in this film. Yeah, and I What

what's kind of interesting too is that I I hear

this complain a lot with Tarantino, but especially

this where it's It's just him referencing other

films. It's just him watching other movies and

a lot of the stuff he's talking about like I

honestly I don't have any knowledge of and I

think people make a bigger deal out of that than

They need to because without that knowledge that

I clearly don't have it doesn't affect my take

on it I don't feel like I'm left out of the conversation.

I don't feel like I am missing something because

I I think Ultimately, that's kind of just window

dressing about what they're really getting after

I don't know if you have any of that we're you

know, they're talking about these different directors

and films where you I personally had no understanding

of but I never really bothered me that I was

Not I didn't have detailed knowledge of what

they were speaking of. No, I feel the exact same

way you do Yeah, I'm I'm gushing over this movie

because I and I it's hard for me not to like

I said I think it it takes the boldness of reservoir

dogs, the dialogue of pulp fiction. It has the

violence, stylistic violence of Kill Bill, the

maturity and the deep characters of Jackie Brown.

It has, and even like to me, the use of genre

that death proved it. It's like I said, I think

it's the pandemic of Quentin Tarantino being

Tarantino. So I did kind of have just a random

random fun question for you. Yeah. And that is

if you could go back. in history and kill Hitler,

would you? Man, I don't think that's a too tough

one, a too tough of one. I preface that by saying

I was actually doing a lot of research on this

and like about Hitler and they said there was

actually plans for the allies to try to assassinate

him, but they actually decided not to because

he was such a bad strategist that If they killed

him, the people who would take his place would

actually probably do a better job. Yeah, would

do a better job. And he was actually helping

them lose the war. So I guess at what point can

I go back and take him out? That's the question.

You know, if it's like during this where it's

like the height of the war, maybe not, but you

might have played beforehand. But there's also

someone has a joke where it's like if you go

back in time and you kill Hitler as a baby. You

won't be known as the guy that killed hitler.

You'll be known as the guy who went back in time

and killed a baby So because no one will know

who he is i'm like that's kind of true but I

can live with that. Yeah. Yeah, I think you know

it yeah I'm a my like that was my only hasn't

since that like some people would say that if

you if you we did assassinate him that it would

end up Being worse off than they were. So it's

definitely interesting. Uh interesting thought

there and also, uh Talk about bad strategy It'd

be a very bad idea to put all those people in

the same building during a wartime and especially

not in the in the heart of Your own territory.

Yeah, so to speak but and I guess too like in

that that actual fire that that there was actually

uh, you know, Eli Roth and some of the kickers

actually almost did suffer from some smoking

and smoke issues and and whatnot because that

was actually really happening and uh The choking

of the one actress like to her name drops forgets

at the moment But you know that was actually

Tarantino choking her and like he was actually

trying to like me So they get to the point and

now we're really choking her Yeah, like that

really was him choking her with his hands, which

is kind of weird It's like that's a lot of trust

in your director the let him choke you so that's

something that he couldn't have done in his first

film, but now Yeah, yeah, I don't think I don't

think Harvey Keitel would be like, yeah, it's

okay if you choke me Don't think that's happening

anytime soon. There's also a nifty kind of extended

Take on that scene in the theater on on the blu

-ray too that you can kind of see a little bit

more which it's almost too bad they cut that

little part out I thought because it did ahead

to a point where Getting back to some of the

real aspects that went on that this included

there is a scene where Hitler's sitting next

to Goebbels and they're watching the film and

I don't remember what happens or what transpires

but at one point he basically is talking about

how people would review the film or this that

and the other and then he like laughs out loud

or whatever and he says wait I've outlawed people

root, you know Writing reviews on films or whatever

which you know, it speaks to how far they would

they would go to kind of control the the PR and

the public You know opinions and not even let

stuff be critiqued or you know that whole censorship

idea that was going on Yeah, and Fox is like

I wish we still did that Talking about a few

other characters because you know, obviously

we brought up some of the main ones but I was

wanted to get your take on a couple of the Smaller

roles. What was your take on Mike Myers? Yeah,

if there's if there's one one thing that didn't

complete work for me It was it was maybe Mike

Myers me because I just it was so obviously Mike

Myers to me It just felt like I'm doing an SNL

character It that would be one one of the one

of two performances that didn't completely work

for me. I guess I Tantino talked about that being

the the scene where he couldn't get he said he

hates doing exposition scenes And he said there

was no way to get around it. So he was like,

let's just like do the most obvious exposition

scene ever. And just, you know, with the whole

map sequence and stuff like that. I did think

there was some cool camera work earlier, though,

when they had that different map conversation.

I thought was pretty interesting the way they

did the camera work there, as well as when they

did the camera work, when they were showing the

explosives on the guys legs and stuff like that.

I thought there were some little cool things

here and there. But you mentioned that there

was another character that you didn't quite care

for. Which one would that be? It's a very small

world, but it was BJ Novak who was an actor.

I like so he's from the office I knew him and

I don't know if it was just his performance was

bad but he literally has like two lines and it's

near the end where They're kind of going over

his nickname as I forget exactly what they call

him But he is he just feels out of place and

he doesn't feel like someone who existed Yeah

His reaction to me, I guess it was hard for me

to Not connect him with his office character

because it felt like watching a character from

you know from today trying to act so it just

it felt Off to me. It was just BJ. It didn't

work completely He seemed out of place compared

to everyone else on screen I could see that and

okay, so you mentioned two of them that you might

not have cared for as much but then on the flip

side you already talked about how you know this

Christoph Waltz basically, you know puts him

on the map and you know, hello, here's this fantastic

actor, get used to seeing him, because you're

going to start seeing him a lot. Did you get

the same vibe out of a lesser known character

in this one, played by one Michael Fassbender?

Yeah, no, I didn't at the time, honestly. I didn't,

even Daniel Burl, who I didn't think he, not

necessarily, he's not probably to the level of

Fassbender, but... No, like it didn't even cross

my mind, but rewatching it like he is really

quite good in this like it, you know, at this

point, he really just had to think hunger under

his belt. Like I knew I didn't know him at all.

Really like my first introduction to him. He

had been in and three hundred. Yeah. You know,

not as someone you would necessarily know right

away, you know, in 2006. And then, like I said,

hunger and maybe one or two small ones before

he's before he's in and glorious bastards in

2009. Brad Pitt on that conversation. He in the

roundtable, he literally says, man, what a fine

this Michael Fassbender, you know, that we found

for this film or whatever. He said, I'm telling

you right now, this guy's going to go on to do

great things to get the soundbites. We can get

it like completely how he said it. But I was

like, man, Brad Pitt calling it in 2009. Yeah.

Yeah. Little did he know he would help produce

a film that he got nominated for an Oscar in.

Right. Speaking of speaking of Oscars obviously

this film did get a quite a bunch of accolades

in the Academy Awards specifically Nominated

for best sound best sound editing best film editing

best cinematography best original screenplay

best director best picture and then of course

the one win it had would have been for best supporting

actor for Christoph Waltz so The Academy did

represent recognize the the greatness of this

film and it was a thing if I could be mistaken

was the first time that a Tarantino film won

an Oscar. He was nominated before, but I think

it was the first time he actually won, or for

an acting performance, I should say. I think

he might have won for writing, I think, in Pulp

Fiction. But the first act, which is surprising

because you consider Pulp Fiction, there were

some great performances there, but they were

only nominated. No one in Jackie Brown. But yeah,

so it won't be the last time, obviously, that

someone wins. Other stuff, some facts about the

film. Obviously, Rotten Tomatoes, it currently

has an 89 % for critics and an 87 % for audiences.

And when it came to the box office, it had a

budget of $70 million and it... had a total domestic

gross of 120 million. So a long way from our

first film that we talked about here with the

budget and the gross. And if you want to do some

interesting rankings as far as World War II settings,

it is actually the fourth highest grossing film

for World War II. Can you, Dan, put you on the

spot? Can you think of any that would be above

it? Well, Favorite Private Ryan. That's number

one. Other two are hard. The longest day? No,

number two sadly is Pearl Harbor. Yeah, Pearl

Harbor number two. Then there's a cheat for number

three because they're actually counting Captain

America the first Avenger It says something about

us when those are the four highest grossing war

two films once a comic book movie once a Michael

Bay movie And then that's kind of funny. Yeah,

and then I wonder if you adjusted for reflation

what it would really be Yeah, that's hard to

say. And then when it came to 2009, it was the

second highest rated R film. 2009. Oh, man. The

only one that beat it was The Hangover. Ah, so

second highest rated R film for that year, but

a good showing from from the box office for sure.

I just wanted to get a couple of those back since

we've kind of been keeping track of the Rotten

Tomatoes and box office stuff for each one. Yeah,

and it's a good and it's certainly good a good

bounce back for Tarantino because like we said

with death proof Critically and financially was

kind of a disappointment and I think that says

a lot too about a director like if you think

all directors I don't there's have had fit films

that maybe weren't failures I want to call death

proof a failure but ones that didn't necessarily

weren't as successful right Spielberg for example,

he he had 1941 which was not it was kind of a

Disappointing compared to everything he did before

but I think it says a lot about the quality of

a director when what's what does it do next did

they bounce back and still you know Spielberg

bounce back and made a little movie called Rage

of the Lost Ark and Quentin Tarantino bounces

back and makes Inglorious Bastard so I think

that some people look at that failure and kind

of fold and then those that use it as motivation

to do something even greater and I think that's

what makes a That separates to me the great directors

from just your average good directors Well, and

this one, like you said, it was an important

film for him. You know, if this one is a flop

or, you know, doesn't come across well, coming

off of what he had been doing, it could have

meant for... Some different stuff going forward.

Yeah, it's also too I know he even said that

it's it wasn't and the fun product was nothing

like he ended up with like the original product

like a lot of the With you know, the bastard

stuff wasn't in it So even mentioned like he

could do a prequel film if he really wanted to

I doubt he will because I was actually listening

to your interview where he's like when I talk

about doing sequels and prequels don't really

just Don't even pay attention because I say that

all the time. So he kind of knows he just he

says things out loud. So I would you be up for

seeing any additional movies within this universe

or do you think like this is kind of good enough?

Well, it's funny because they talk about how.

How much he writes about these characters. you

know how much every detail is played out like

why is this person doing that there's a story

behind it you know what happened between this

time and this time it's actually already written

down like he goes so in depth as to the development

of these characters because that's it this is

Tarantino's most important thing in a film is

the characters like that is his You know focus

he's all about the characters and they were talking

about a little bit and Brad Pitt was even He

even blurted out kind of under his breath prequel

because they were kind of talking about you know,

what happened and and Aldo's past and kind of

to get him to the point where he was and kind

of in in that journey You know or like, you know,

basically we have a we have time jumps in this

obviously, you know, yeah from Shoshana hiding

under the how you know the floorboards to where

how she gets to uh involved in the cinema and

that's all stuff that's been written down he

said he actually had a whole another i don't

know if it was a whole chapter shot or whatever

but he actually had already filmed that he had

filmed how she what had happened to her in between

that time and how she came into owning that cinema

etc and You know, he said he even he had it and

everything, but he said he would never put it

in at directors could or a DVD or whatever, because

after it all was said and done, he liked it better

without people knowing and letting them try to

kind of figure that out for themselves. But back

to your question. I would be interested from

an aspect of maybe seeing earlier adventures

with the with the bastards. Maybe if that was

the way they went, I guess that would be the

one way that I could see it. But I'm not necessarily

saying go do it. I don't think it's necessary.

Yeah, I agree. Like I wouldn't mind seeing like

additional material inspired by English bastards,

like a comic book or novel or something of that

nature. But I think I like it just. Within itself

like i'm like not knowing everything, you know,

like having just the idea of what could possibly

happen So if he made a prequel would I see it?

Of course, but that's not something i'm claiming

for I probably would rather see like kill bill

volume three rather than like, you know, the

Story behind glorious bastards or something like

that, right? Although there are some some great

characters in the bastards. Oh, yeah, definitely.

There's no I I don't doubt the materials there,

but it's just like Be impossible to match my

expectations at this point. Maybe you could but

it would it feels like I'm just setting myself

up for disappointment Maybe it's too much pessimistic

look I guess yeah, we've been burned too many

times All right, anything else before we finally

give our final ratings I think the only note

I have that we didn't somehow touch on at least

a little bit was I like the whole idea that They

connect uh kind of go full full circle as far

as the first time we see bread pit to the last

time with the whole Would you take the uniform

off? Yes, type thing that he has with that first

prisoner that he has compared to when he has

it with christopher waltz I love that kind of

connection and then you know, just kind of like

the wink almost to the audience that This is

where we're going So, you know with I think that's

a good good place to go with it too because at

the end It's very much Aldo Reign saying, this

is his masterpiece and say what you will might

be Tarantino saying that himself. So where do

you rank this? I mean, not necessarily like within

Tarantino's films, but if you're going to give

this a rating, you know, looking at you gave

Pulp Fiction a nine. Is this to you better than

Pulp Fiction? What is your ranking for this?

Man, man, man. I. I'm watching this and I had

the I after I watched, I had a rate in my head.

And I'm like, okay, I would give it this rating.

But like, the more I'm thinking about it, where

do I deduct anything for this film? Like, how

do you take something? Because my arbitrary rating

in my head that I had in my mind after I did

this was also to give it a nine out of 10. But

I feel like I don't know, do I have a good reason

to not give it a 10? Man, I mean do you do you

have outside of maybe Mike Myers and like you

said Maybe that one other role that that didn't

work as well for you What brings this movie down

for somebody not necessarily you but I mean,

I know sometimes, you know You're more in tune

with like the the critiques that other people

have had for it Honestly, a lot of the complaints

for this or a lot of the complaints like people

have for a lot of Tarantino stuff They feel like

it's soft mark. Like it's it's it's brutal with

its violence, that it's, it's all style or substance,

that it's a lot of just references to things

like, uh, you know, other films and it's, it

doesn't really hold up in its own. I mentioned

the cohesion thing. Like people feel like these,

these movies, these parts don't necessarily go

together. Usually the biggest complaints I've

seen. And for me, none of those complaints, I

don't have any. Like I hear people saying these

things and I'm like, I don't feel like I watched

the same movie as they did. like I said, like

I I explained what like when I had an issue with

when I first watched it and and I will really

meant it was more me than a movie because it

like the power of expectations and can can kind

of kill you sometimes but I like I like I said

this to me is the pin in me I've said it like

four times already but the pit me of Quentin

Tarantino and Not to give our rankings already,

but I legitimately think it's his best movie.

It's It's everything that it's he was working

up towards and I think it came in and to the

like the perfect You know the perfect piece of

filmmaking and you know is like they're issues.

Yes, but like to me they're so minute and so

Irrelevant to the overall final product that

to me it is a 10 out of 10 and that's why I said

it It's I I gave Pulp Fiction a 10 and I still

feel it's a 10 film But if you know, is it 10

.1? Maybe I don't know it's I would rank it within

the best films of that year. I would rank it

within the best films of the last decade Maybe

you within the last, you know, 20 years or so.

I would Masterpiece is a strong word. I don't

think I was just thinking in my head the same

word and I'm trying man That's a heavy word to

throw around. Yeah, I feel like that word does

more damage and than anything like that Like

you're saying it's every every piece Or every

element that we've brought up about tarantino

that we like Is in spades in this film like it's

it's highlighted. It's spotlighted. It's there

and it's just like how is this not his masterpiece?

I I agree. It's definitely quentin tarantino's

masterpiece. Now is it like um Filmmaking overall

masterpiece. I don't know like I feel like i'm

not mostly i don't feel like i'm qualified to

keep that response I would say it is, if you're

looking at the career of him, it is his career

mass piece. At this point, his greatest achievement.

You think people are going to take exception

to you saying that and not putting Pulp Fiction

in that? I think there's a lot of people who

would agree with that. I think a lot of people

do see Pulp Fiction as his best film. I don't

know for sure, but I think it's Inglourious Basterds.

And I know people will say, like, Resurrected

Dogs is his best movie. I think there is a...

And some people will say Jackie Brown. So I think

there are... You know, if you're going to pull

people, my guess is it's probably pull fiction

ahead of everything else. But for me, I love

pull fiction. It's probably if I'm ranking my

favorites, it's like I said, probably top 10

favorite films. But looking at it as like a filmmaking

standpoint, I have to put this as at the top.

Yeah. And like I said, I can't come up with a

single justification for not giving it a 10.

I can't. I mean, I can't think of a single thing

I did like about this film. So this might be

the first time in cinema geek's history that

you gave a 10 even. I think it might be. Yeah.

Since we've changed the name at least We for

a while there we didn't give rankings So it was

hard to tell so maybe back when we were doing

some some of our earlier episodes on some other

stuff like 12 years a slave and her maybe I would

have been tempted on those but I definitely I

definitely I got to give this one a 10 as well

and the scary part is every time I Watch the

film. I've liked it better So how many times

do you think you've seen it up to this point?

Um, not as many as I thought because I I saw

it initially, obviously, and I want to say that

there was some times where I didn't necessarily

sit down and watch it from beginning to end,

but there was quite a few times where I saw a

scene or a chapter here and there. Straight through

beginning to end, though, it's probably only

at like three now, which seems very small, very

small number, but I swear every time I've watched

it, it's gone up like times 10 on the enjoyment

factor. Every time I'm finding more little bits

and pieces. I'm laughing more I'm enjoying more

even though I know what's you know happening

and everything It's like we said the rewatch

ability on this one is pretty high and it's just

the dialogue the comedy the music the tension

everything builds perfectly and even if you don't

like any of that just for the freaking acting

performance by Christoph Waltz, Brad Pitt, Michael

Fassbender, et cetera, from almost from top to

bottom. It's just ridiculous. Yeah. I mean, I

think the only thing you'd say it doesn't have

is that it doesn't, like I said, have a lot of

the more soundtrack elements as other films,

but it's made up for, which is a really one of

his best use of score, which almost is more impressive

to me. Yeah. Yeah. To be able to set those moods

and stuff like that. I think we'll see a return

of the use of soundtrack for next week single

and change But I think that'll bring us to the

end of the episode but if you want to get in

contact with us and maybe Remarks that maybe

we're a little bit too hyperbolic with this film.

We didn't praise enough or what -have -you There's

tons of ways to do so you can email us at feedback

at geek cast reader calm We're also on Twitter

at cinema geek cast and Kevin. What's your Twitter

name? Mine is at optimus solo and I can't wait

to get crap for now finally giving that score

that people are gonna say is too high. Exactly,

and I'm at mover revolt. But that'll be it for

this week, but make sure to join us next week

as we continue the Clinton Tarantino Raptorspective

as we review Django Unchained. We'll catch you

next time.