Oscar Big 10 Challenge: At the finish line with "Inglourious Basterds"

I've officially seen and attempted to review all ten best picture nominees. Last movie on the best picture list today, and just in time for the Oscars tomorrow! Holy shit. Can't believe it.

Saving the best for last? Maybe. Today: Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.

I am a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino, less so for his strange Asian fetish (especially considering I'm a wee little Asian girl), more so because he has an incredibly unique vision when it comes to making movies. Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, anyone? I have a soft spot for Tarantino movies, and rightfully so because those movies are fucking awesome.

With all that said, I was expecting nothing less from Inglourious Basterds. Inglourious Basterds is set in Nazi occupied France and tells the story of the Jewish-American "Basterds" who set out to brutally kill and scalp Nazis. So what was the final verdict after 2.5 hours of scalp collecting, brutal baseball bat beatings (say that three times fast), hilariously phony accents, an incredibly loud, table banging Adolf Hitler, and crazy explosions? Um, awesome. Just like any other Tarantino film, it's set in chapters, it's incredibly visceral and violent, and it's darkly funny.

There are great images in this movie that stick with you long after, and there are characters that are so fully developed that they almost seem real. A few of the amazing characters Tarantino built: Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) as the "Jew Hunter", Donny Donnowitz (Eli Roth), the baseball wielding "Bear Jew", Lt. Aldo Raine, the ridiculous leader of the group with a sharp Southern twang, Shoshanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), a scorned Jewish woman awaiting her revenge against the Nazis, and Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), the German on the opposite side looking to take down the Third Reich. That's just a small handful of characters Tarantino crafted specifically for this movie. Now can you see why this movie was nearly a decade in the making? It has a crazy slew of characters, intertwining plots, and a script filled with a good mix of different languages--in fact, the English in this film only makes up about 30% of the dialogue.

I know from just this description Inglorious Basterds already sounds crazy, and that's because it is -- it's that and so much more. This was precisely why I was worried about its critical reception and its presence during awards season. This movie rightfully deserves to be among the ten movies nominated this year in the best picture category, but it's definitely not the type of film we usually see graced by the Academy's nod of approval. It's intensely violent, horrifically hilarious, and totally absurd. I'm glad that the Academy was able to celebrate Tarantino's vision in a similar way by granting him a best director and best picture nomination, as well as a best supporting actor nod for Christoph Waltz. Most definitely deserved all around.

Now I have to take a little time to fangirl all over Christoph Waltz's performance in this film. It was so clear after one viewing of this film that he'd be sweeping best supporting actor awards this season. His performance was incredibly wicked, incredibly hilarious, and seemed totally effortless. Can't wait to see him accept his best supporting actor Oscar tomorrow night.

Alright folks, that's the end of my Oscar Big 10 Challenge. Now I am so ready for the Oscars!

My previous best picture reviews:
A Serious Man
Avatar
An Education
District 9
Precious
The Blind Side
The Hurt Locker
Up
Up in the Air