Inglourious Basterds - vengeance against evil

Yes, the spelling is correct for this new film about Nazi hunters, which I went to see last night at Harlow Cineworld with Vanda. It was a great effort by Mr Tarantino and definitely his best film yet. A cross between 'The Dirty Dozen', 'Where Eagles dare' and Tarantino previous, the film tells the story of an American Unit sent to decapitate Nazis across Europe, literally, no scalps spared. But there is much more to it than this. There are various extraordinary elements, involving a Jewish survivor, who hatches a plot to burn down a cinema full of senior Nazis. At the same time, The Inglourious Basterds have their own plan to dynamite the cinema, and are supposed to be assisted by a senior officer from England. The main villain of the piece is a very nasty Nazi and 'Jew hunter', Colonel Hans Landa, who is a Himmler mini-me and an evil version of Inspector Poirot, and Columbo combined.

What is really great about this film is not just the originality, Brad Pitt, Christoph Walz, Melanie Laurent & the cinematography and innate quirkiness, but that it makes the case for vengeance - old fashioned revenge. There is no middle way, no 'compassion', just a war between good and evil - and each are determined to kill each other. The good have no compunction in punishing and destroying every Nazi - forgiveness is not an option. I watched it, enjoying the fantasy that the 'Inglourious Basterds' might have really existed and killed Hitler and hundreds of senior Nazis in one fell swoop, thus ensuring an earlier end to the war. Definitely the best film seen so far this year.

By Rob Halfon ~ Working hard for Harlow, Hastingwood, Nazeing, Roydon & Sheering. http//roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Time to Terminate the Terminator?

Vanda and I went to see Terminator Salvation at Harlow Cineworld this evening, and I have to say that we left feeling a little disappointed. True, there were some scary moments, and I jumped out of my chair a few times (partly due to feeling lightheaded as I had eaten no popcorn, because of my diet). There were also some great special effects and cinematography. Yet, after it was over it felt like we had been to an average Chinese meal - nice to eat at the time, but instantly forgettable (that's enough food analogies....Ed). The whole film seemed like a big cliche from beginning to end. It was like watching a cross between I Robot, Star Wars, Mad Max 2 and the War of the Worlds all at once. The story was predictable. Skynet/Robots takeover the world from humans wreaking large scale devastation. There is a small army of resistance, which against the odds, manages to win a major battle against the robots, and destroy a major Robot centre. Of course there is more to the film, than what I have just described - especially as it is linked into its predecessor films -but to me, it just seemed a sequel too many. It was so unlike Wolverine (which as a 'prequel' to X-Men, had both originality, good acting as well as great special effects. Some of the screen roles and lines in Terminator Salvation seemed a bit wooden - and Helen Bonham Carter didn't seem suited to her minimal role.

Nevertheless, it was still a pleasant and moderately scary way to spend a couple of hours, especially as I had spent the whole afternoon, catching up on mountains of casework for Harlow constituents. Just don't go to watch it, if you think your about to see something really special.

By Rob Halfon ~ Working hard for Harlow, Hastingwood, Nazeing, Roydon & Sheering. http//roberthalfon.blogspot.com