‘Inglourious Basterds’ / 5 out of 5 stars
‘The Invention of Lying’ / 4 out of 5 stars
Times are tough. Going out to the movies can be an expensive venture, especially at giant 47-screen cinemas that charge $10 a ticket! Luckily, home DVD rentals have become cheaper and easier thanks to companies like Red Box and Netflix.
Also, the first few months of the year never really offer much in terms of good movies. Most studios use the post-awards season winter months as a dumping ground for lesser movies. Instead of trudging out to see a sub-par and expensive recent release; I implore you to rent one or both of the following films you may have missed in the theaters.
When I first saw the trailer for “Inglourious Basterds,” I have to say that I was not looking forward to seeing it. After the over-the-top fun of “Grindhouse,” I was hoping for a more serious project from Tarantino. A film consisting of Brad Pitt and company scalping Nazis didn’t really interest me that much.
Luckily, I was wrong. While Basterds does have some fun scalping scenes, the plotline of the Basterds themselves is only of minor importance and doesn’t carry the story. Film Director Howard Hawks famously said that a great film consisted of “three great scenes” and “no bad ones.” Put to this test, Basterds is truly a great movie and Tarantino’s personal masterpiece.
The first of the three great scenes is the opening scene, with Hans Landa –‘the Jew Hunter’—in a farmhouse in France. No spoilers here. The other two great scenes are the bar scene towards the middle of the movie and the finale in the theater.
It has been a few months since I first viewed Basterds and I am still in awe. It is amazing how Tarantino is able to do so much in what is really a small film. There is not much action and most of the film is dialogue heavy. This has understandably turned some people off because of its slow pacing, yet that is what I love about it.
Tarantino is able to create rich storylines and characters, something that is rarely seen in his previous films. Let’s face it, he is best at crafting hip, stylish dialogue and is a master of cool detachment and violence. With Basterds, he finally reaches a level of sophistication and depth that he has never quite achieved before. That depth, combined with his trademark wit and excitement, makes “Inglorious Basterds” my favorite film of the year.
In Basterds, Tarantino—and actor Christoph Waltz—do the impossible. They make the main villain—Nazi Hans Landa—the most interesting—and dare I say likeable—character in the movie. Waltz’s performance as Landa is a masterwork in itself. I would also like to single out Mélanie Laurent as Shoshanna as the other great performance. Her character is the heart of the film and is the true hero of the story.
Tarantino also has some strong irony in the film that is aimed squarely at the audience and at himself. Through the movie, he uses violence to make the audience revel in the treatment of the Nazis.
During a scene late in the film, the Nazis are watching a German propaganda picture of a German soldier mowing down American soldiers. The Nazis are laughing and reveling in the senseless violence of the film. Yet as an American audience we feel disgust and horror when the Nazis revel in film violence, but when the Nazis get what they deserve, my audience and I were behaving in the same way.
Here Tarantino is making an interesting comment on perspective in history and violence, which — after even further thought– is quite frightening and powerful.
While not a great as “Inglourious Basterds,” Ricky Gervais’ “The Invention of Lying” is a funny, biting social and religious satire disguised as a romantic comedy. In the world of Lying, humans never evolved the ability to tell a lie; they always tell the blunt, cold and harsh truth. Pepsi advertisements read: “for when they are out of Coke.” Movies are nothing but filmed lectures of stories from history.
One day, after losing his job as a lecture film screenwriter, Mark Bellison –played by the perennially hilarious Ricky Gervais— evolves the ability to lie. This gives Mark the ability to do anything he wants. He discovers he can manipulate people for money, sex, power and respect. But what Mark really wants is the affection of Anna (Jennifer Garner) whose immaculate genetics are not a good match for Mark’s poor looks.
About halfway through, the film takes a more serious—and some would say dark–turn. Mark faces a personal tragedy and afterwards, he invents his own religion. Remember, this is a world where no one can lie; therefore there is no such thing as religion.
After this tragedy, everyone turns to Mark because he claims that he has knowledge of what happens after death. There is a scene where Gervais reads the tenants of his religion to an overly attentive crowd outside his apartment. This scene reaches a level of Pythonesque hilarity and is an instant comedy classic.
Lying doesn’t quite meet the “three great scene” criteria, but it does have more laughs and chuckles than most comedies and it also has a certain depth and bite to it that is sorely lacking in PG-13 comedies. I wish that Gervais had been able to make a darker version of the film incorporating more satire.
Also, the movie is loaded with so many celebrity cameos that it almost becomes distracting—although my favorite was Edward Norton as a power-hungry traffic cop. Lying does lose its momentum during the last 20 minutes, which focuses on the budding relationship between Gervais and Garner –an odd pairing if there ever was one, but I guess that is the point.
Despite its shortcomings, you should definitely check out “The Invention of Lying” if you want to see a vision of the world turned upside down, with all of the BS stripped away, or if you are just in the mood for a good laugh.
