FS #271: Inglourious Basterds / Top 5 Quentin Tarantino Scenes
EXT. FILMSPOTTING STUDIOS. DAYTIME. LOS ANGELES. TWO HITMEN SIT IN A WHITE HONDA CIVIC.
KAHUNA
You really think you should be drinking while we’re casing a joint?
NEIL VEGA
What is this an intervention? You’re gonna get all Betty Ford on me?
KAHUNA
No, I’m just saying. Don’t you want to be, you know, alert, on top of your game, in case they come out? I mean, you never hear of a doctor tying a couple on before going into surgery, or an actor downing a fifth before his big monologue...
NEIL
Oh, oh, oh contraire mi amour. Exhibit A, Richard “Ginny Wolf” Burton, my friend. Drank like a sailor between acts, sometimes between lines. Peter O’Toole: never appeared sober on a set in his life.
KAHUNA
Larry the Arab?
NEIL
The same. And you know the Titanic.
KAHUNA
Not that Jimmy Cameron-Celine Dion video from the 90’s?
NEIL
No, I’m talking about the boat. The mother-effing R-M-S herself. Grand old lady is going down. It’s a panic, right? Everyone’s scrambling. You’ve got Astors and Guggenheims about to waltz with Davy Jones. No one’s thinking. No one’s doing what they should, you know, looking for Queequeg’s coffin. Except one guy. Wally Pipp. Second class passenger. Waltzes on up to the pantry, no one’s paying him any mind, they’re too lost in "Nearer My God To Thee" to notice the portly little guy making his way to the liquor locker. He opens it up. What does he see? Bam. It’s a Valhalla of booze. We’re talking the Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio of moonshine: 500 year-old Scotch from Robert the Bruce’s personal collection, Beowulf’s mead, Miles Standish’s Ouzo. It’s all there. And Wally Pipp figures, well, “I’m going down, I’m going down pickled!” And he just starts drinking. I mean WC Fields wetdream drinking. Three hours straight. Just as he's polishing off Joan of Arc’s favorite cabernet. Good night Mrs. Calabash, wham, he blacks out.
KAHUNA
What a way to go.
NEIL
But that’s just it. Seven hours later, the Carpathia comes by to start plucking Kate and Leo from the water, everyone’s dead, hypothermia. Guess who they pull from the water, still breathing? Wally effing Pipp. He drank so much, his blood was 70% alcohol. It wouldn’t freeze.
KAHUNA
Wow. Now that’s A Night to Remember.
NEIL
Now you’re talking. Pussy Galore and Kenny Moore on the high seas.
KAHUNA
He was in "Longest Day," right?
NEIL
Exactamundo. The Duke Does D-Day. Great war movie. Not like this latest travesty, you seen this thing, this "Inglourious Basterds?"
KAHUNA
No.
NEIL
Quentin Tarantino, movie clerk. It’s his new film. What a piece of refuse. But that’s why we’re here. These two guys that Mr. Wallace wants us to take out, Adam and Matty, they won’t shut up about it. They’ve got this Filmspotting show and they spend thirty minutes geeking out over the genius of "Inglourious Basterds" and the performance of Christoph Waltz as Nazi Hans Landa like it should be hanging in the frigging Louvre. And if that’s not enough, they devote the entire rest of the show to all things Johnny Destiny, including a list of their Top 5 Quentin Tarantino Scenes. All this dead air wasted over a guy that can scribble some clever dialogue and pepper his scripts with annoying movie references. It’s exhausting. Man, I’m hungry.
KAHUNA
You want a get a taco?
NEIL
Ah, forget it. Where we gonna get a taco 'round here? It’s Chinatown.
Plus, music from the "Reservoir Dogs" soundtrack.Listener Feedback, Massacre Theatre -- presented by In Review Online and Pixar Talk.
Filmspotting #271
:13-30:17 - Review: "Inglourious Basterds"
Music: Steeler's Wheels, "Stuck in the Middle With You"
31:04-35:14 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: J. Wilcox)
35:15-49:15 - Polls, Notes, Feedback
Music: Sandy Rogers, "Fool For Love"
50:13-56:50 - New DVDs/Donations
56:51-1:13:35 - Top 5: Tarantino Scenes
1:13:36-1:16:39 - Close/Next Show/Outtake
NOTES
- Adam alluded to this during the review... he has a theory about Hans Landa, or at least something worth considering. Some are buying it, some aren't.
- List of film references in "Inglourious Basterds"
- Daniel Mendelsohn's "Inglourious Basterds" article in Newsweek
- Follow more notes and corrections at http://twitter.com/filmspotting.
- Jeff Goldsmith's Creative Screenwriting Podcast can be accessed through iTunes here.
Labels: Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino, Top 5 Quentin Tarantino Scenes
posted by Candace @ 1:05 PM
21 comments
21 Comments:
Sorry, but I couldn't finish this episode. Couldn't take all this QT ass kissing talk. I rather get poked in the eye with rusty nail than finish listening to this episode.
I think this was one of the best shows youve ever done despite the ass kissing, Inglorious Basterds will be studied for years to come though? Come on now.
You really find that surprising? A 20 minute scene of two people talking is that intense, and no film school anywhere is going to be using it for students to consider the screenwriting, directing and editing?
I found the bar scene was more intense than the opening, although i did think that was pretty ballsy opening the movie like that. Maybe i need to see it again now knowing all the little homages.
Filmspotting, I think this just might be your masterpiece. Great Great Job.
It is amazing to me that it never dawned on you that Pitt was told to play the role cartoonishly. Sometimes, you guys are really snobbish.
Matty defended the performance.
How could that now dawn on us? Yes, QT is partially responsible for Pitt's performance, of course. That said, not all cartoonish performances are equal. I would argue that a better actor could have still brought the cartoonish element QT wanted, and been much more interesting and less annoying on screen.
Not sure what disliking a performance has to do with being snobbish, but I'll wear that hat if I must.
Not even the unexplained scar made Pitts performance interesting and i kind of like Brad Pitts performances from time to time.
So, guys, I'll be exposing my ignorance here. I have seen Reservoir Dogs, KB vol.1, Death Proof, and, of course Pulp Fiction, so I got the joke in the notes above, but, aside from the obvious style-homage and reference to hit men talking trifles before a hit, I didn't recognize much of the specific details in the above dialogue from a QT film. Is the drinking banter and Titanic story your own concoction traced with Tarantino. I mean, is this original Adam and Matty screenwriting here?
I thought it was so fun I ended up doing my own one-man massacre theater for my wife, and she thought it was funny, too.
So, good job, guys. Nice touch.
Matty is a genius. (See also Funny People below.)
I agree with Reese to a certain extent re: Pitt's performance. There is no doubt in my mind that everything that Adam found annoying about the performance was dictated by QT. The cartoonish delivery, the over-the-top accent, and the macho bravado. Pitt's cartoonish character was helpful and almost necessary as a counterpoint to the drama and tension in the Landa scenes.
Not only do I agree with Matty that Pitt pulls off this requirement beautifully, but I submit that there is no other actor who could pull off Lt. Aldo Raine like Pitt. Adam, you keep saying that "a better actor could have brought the cartoonish element QT wanted," yet you never mention an actor who could fit the bill. I challenge you to name the actor that could have done this better and that meets the other requirements of the role (i.e. machismo of a WWII army officer, larger than life in all respects including good looks). Honestly the only other actor that *might* qualify is George Clooney, but he's almost too smooth.
Of course QT probably dictated it... or at the very least he allowed it. But again, not all cartoonish performances are equal. Listeners have come up with two much better alternatives:
Tommy Lee Jones (yes, I'd take him now at 70)
Billy Bob Thornton
I don't see why good looks is a requirement for Aldo Raine.
I'll give you Tommy Lee Jones in his prime, but now he is way too old for the character.
I don't think Billy Bob has the comedy chops to pull it off.
As for good looks, Raine is a larger-than-life throwback to old war movies. I honestly haven't seen many of these so I can't provide a good example, but these characters were over-the-top in all aspects. Cartoonish good looks (which you have to admit Pitt has in spades) belie the ugliness of the deeds that the character performs. Aldo Raine is not a good man, nor should he be. The Basterds are a mercenary force whose sole purpose is to do the activities that humanity says we can't do in order to instill fear in the Nazi, who themselves are engaging in horrific acts. The cartoonishly gruesome glee that Raine takes in dismembering Nazi soldiers (many of whom were just normal teenagers and 20-somethings much more similar to their American and British counterparts than they were different), including his distinctive calling card, is even more apparent when it is performed by someone as ridiculously handsome as Pitt.
So, maybe good looks aren't required... but they emphasize the ugliness of Raine's actions more than a more homely actor would.
One more thought on Tommy Lee and Billy Bob.
Age actually does matter here for authenticity's sake. Raine is a lieutenant, which is the lowest officer's rank in the Army. To be a lieutenant, you either have to be fairly new to the military or if you have been in the military for awhile somewhat incompetent to have not been promoted to at least Captain. It seems unlikely that Raine would have been chosen for such an important mission if he was incompetent (unless he was kept from promotion because of his brutal nature, which would seem to be an asset in the Army).
The only way someone of Tommy Lee Jones's age would be a lieutenant in the Army is if he joined up when WWII started and was commissioned as a Lieutenant. Certainly not impossible, but I don't think the Army was ever so desperate in WWII that it started letting in 70-year-olds to be first-time officers when it could go to college campuses and recruit younger, sharper, and faster kids to do the same job. Even Billy Bob Thornton's age (who looks like he's in his late 40s or early 50s) would be a stretch.
I'm a mega Pitt hater (as an actor). Adam you are 100% correct... not all cartoonish performances are equal, good looks aren't necessary, and most importantly, the role could've been cast better. Thankfully the rest of the film is good enough to offset that crap performance. Brad Pitt is in the film for box office reasons, and it worked, it was #1. Those actors Adam mentioned would be better but how about a quality no-name guy? I thought it was refreshing to be introduced to all the other great actors that make up the majority of the big roles in Basterds. But a no-namer couldn't happen, QT needed a big star to sell the movie to a mass audience, his last one was a total flop. It sucks he has to compromise his art for ticket sales but that's how it goes.
...when I wrote (as an actor) in my previous comment I didn't mean me personally. I'm not an actor, far from it. I meant I hate Pitt as an actor, and maybe hate is too strong, I just think he's no good at his job. I probably could've written it better but I like the sound of "mega Pitt hater".
Good chat on QT. He'd be proud. In the end, though, there is the moral dimension. Crafty basterd, that QT, casting his fantasy in the proven title of an already forgotten WWII fantasy/B-movie. Not so quick to judge then. But QT will be judged:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0821/p17s02-almo.html
Pitt is fine. He's supposed to be 'merican. He's supposed to be bigger than life. He's supposed to be a complete contrast.
This guy doesn't stop taking chances. Assassination of Jessie James, a film about celebrity among other things, one of the most under-rated films of the last half-decade.
"Tarantino's fantasy implies that if only there had been Jews like the Basterds, there would not have been an Auschwitz."
Leaps like this one crack me up.
I was intrigued by the discussion about whether Pitt was "too cartoonish". I had a couple of thoughts, which I don't think have been touched on yet.
First, I thought we did get a little of backstory on Pitt, and it did illuminate the rest of his role. At the end, when Hans Landa lays out his plan, Aldo Raine ruminates on his childhood in moonshine country, and how when something seems too good to be true it probably is. I thought his straightforward way of communicating was born out of this geography. I admit, I came out of the movie thinking that Pitt's performance was not up to Waltz's and others, but all of those performances were layered, i.e. people who were not able to be completely honest and so always were running on double tracks. That goes not only for Waltz, but Shoshanna, Fassbinder's character, and the French farmer. Pitt's character, on the other hand, says exactly what he thinks.
The other thing that I think Tarantino was doing with the Raines character was setting up an interesting comparison. Raines and the Basterds are pretty much the source of all the humor in the movie...much of it is a gallows humor about pretty dark stuff. So it leads to this scene in Shoshanna's theater where you're watching Germans laugh at people being killed on screen and you find them kind of disgusting....then it hits you that you're in a theater and you all are laughing at people getting killed on screen. Very tricky, that Tarantino.
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