‘Killin’ Nazis’ – Tarantino Style

There is little attention paid to film posters these days. Those rectangular signs that excite and enthrall us before we’ve seen a single clip of action. It doesn’t take long to recall the classics – coincidentally, great film posters tend to accompany great films – like ‘Jaws’ and ‘Apocalypse Now.’ They manage to convey the very essence of the film in one fell swoop and I put it to you that the above, one of the posters for Tarantino’s newest release, ‘Inglourious Basterds,’ is in similar, if not the same company as the Spielberg and Coppola classics.

But this isn’t about film posters, this is about a film I’ve been waiting my whole life for, without even knowing it. This is about my sheer spastic excitement for a new Tarantino picture. This is going to be near-enough to one-thousand words of  unadulterated, fawning praise for one of the few iconic film directors left out there. So suck it up, and, if necessary, hand the sick bags out but I’m not going to make a single apology.

I don’t recall if I saw ‘Reservoir Dogs’ or ‘Pulp Fiction’ first, but whichever one it was, had me hooked from the opening lines. The story was told with a fresh voice that had been broken by a life of movie-watching, the plot, revealed with original technique and undoubted mastery. It was a Donnie Brasco moment, as sure as any Donnie Brasco moment that has, or ever will occur. His assembled casts from those first two pictures lends credence to the argument that he got a reputation, quickly.

From there to here, Tarantino has spanned the genres that many of us had simply forgotten about. ‘Kill Bill’ brought The Bride to our screens in a quest for bloody vengenace. Stuntman Mike terrified the women of Nowheresville, USA, in ‘Death Proof’, the Grindhouse homage that just slightly missed the mark (thank you Messrs Weinstein.) Using his silver tongue born of a thousand cool predecessors and his unique golden touch, Tarantino now stands behind his latest project which will soon hit the UK’s shores and fortify itself, surely, as one of my favourites.

I can’t pinpoint why my hopes are so high for this film. It’s new Tarantino, so obviously, it’s something to be excited about. But things run deeper than that. Wary of the subject matter, and of his scope for violence and dark, prose-like dialogue, it’s entirely possible that I’m giddy at the prospect of pure overkill, like Augustus Gloop who is granted entry to Willy Wonker’s factory. Don’t make me link it, you all must have seen it.

He has dragged legendary performances out of Kurt Russell, Robert Forster and Harvey Keitel, and that’s without mentioning the body of work which Samual L. Jackson has contributed so adroitly to Tarantino’s movies. Now, armed with an eclectic cast ranging from all-around egalitarian and star of ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’s Bastardisation’ Brad Pitt, to Mike ‘Lemon Sherbert’ Myers. My mind, free of doubt, is prepared for ‘Inglourious Basterds’ to be the best movie ever.

I have heard many reviews and many opinions, some of which I refuse to believe simply out of grounds of loyalty, and some of which have only baited my keen, calendar-watching eyes. I have seen snippets here and there that have appropriately whetted my appetite like any good film advertisement should. So it seems that I’m destined to sit in the velvet splendour of some run-down cinema with a tub of popcorn that dwarfs my head, a drink with eighteen times the volume my bladder can safely take and follow, wide-eyed,  the Diane Kruger goodness, Eli Roth’s (barely) acceptable acting and all the moustache-action there is to be had.

Certificated 18, I can rest assured that no youths who will attack me with bleach. What I don’t get is, why were a group of youths, willing to injure a woman in such a horrifying way, were sat watching Harry Potter of all films!

Inglourious Basterds is released on the 19th of August and has a provisional Four Stars from me. Stay tuned for the post in which I, in all liklihood, give it its Fifth Star.

The Review: A Place To Bury Strangers – Exploding Head

Big Muff. Those are the first words that come to mind when i think of NYC’s A Place To Bury Strangers. No i’m not being rude i am of course referring to the guitar pedal, and by the sounds of things a bass and drum pedal aswell. Much hyped during 2007′s noise rock revival i have always been fond of, if not wildly impressed by their self titled debut album, it came to me across to me as a band with a goal but very different ideas of executing it, almost a collection of My Bloody Valentine B-sides; this has changed however.

Today i was supposed to be posting a review of a festival i had recently visited yet this album has blown me away more than anything i’ve listened to this past year, all drone-rock noisescapes, Psychocandy-esque melodies and pounding rhythm section it could scarcely have been better designed to distract me from what i should otherwise have been doing. ‘It Is Nothing’ is a signal of intent from the off, sounding like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club if they’d shredded a few strings and found themselves a decent drummer, i LOVE it and it’s one of the weaker tracks on the album. Follow up track ‘In Your Heart’ comes across as New Order if Peter Hook had spent less time bitching about stuff and encouraged his bandmates to write something good for the first time since Joy Division, and ‘Ego Death’ is potentially the best track i have heard this year building slowly to an ear-shredding crescendo; with a riff that’s equal parts Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘Blues From A Gun’ and Marilyn Mansons ‘Fight Song’, it’s a 6 minute opus that nearly ripped my fucking face off.

I could happily sit and wax lyrical about every track on this album, other highlights include ‘I Lived My Life In The Shadow Of Your Heart’ and the Teardrop Explodes-meets-a-road-gritter epic ‘Exploding Head’, but i fear i’ve gushed enough over it. For those of you not interested in the noisier side of post-punk i’d imagine it could potentially get quite samey, but i’ve not found this to be a problem for my own tastes. I can’t recommend it enough, it’s far and away the best album i have heard this year, and probably my favourite new release since The Walkmen’s ‘You & Me’ from late last year. My copy is on pre-order, just go out and buy it on October 6th, i promise you won’t be disappointed.

A+