#87: 12 Angry Men (AFI) vs Inglourious Basterds (IMDb)
The one thing I love about Inglourious Basterds is Brad Pitt’s pronunciation of Nazis:
Nat-zees. Really this film was more of a
social experiment: is the highly-graphic, utterly-gratuitous Tarantino-esque
violence more acceptable if it portrayed against the Nat-zees rather than some
poor kid named Marvin in the back of a car?
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| Quinton Tarantino - Such a Basterd |
I was pretty okay with it until the David Bowie music video
about 2/3 of the way through. But
Tarantino has always been known for his complete disregard for cinematic rules…
so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.
You always know what to expect
with Q.T.: a spit in the face to all things normal.
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| 12 Ang... Zzzzzzzzz... |
Regardless, how do you compare Inglourious Basterds to 12
Angry Men? Definitely no graphic, gratuitous
violence in 12 Angry Men (and seriously,
in comparison to Basterds they really
don’t seem that angry). Unfortunately, I’ve used 12 Angry Men too many times as a group dynamics-teaching exercise in
my college classes to really see it as an award-winning film any longer.
12 Angry Men shows
back up as #8 on the IMDb list – totally unbelievable to me, especially for
IMDb. It definitely won’t win as #8. I’m not even going to choose it as #87. That’s right; this week I’m going with sheer
entertainment value over award-winningness.
Maybe if Henry Fonda could’ve worked the word Nat-zees in
there, the results would’ve been different.
AFI’s Top 100
|
IMDB’s Top 100 (as of 1/1/12)
|
|
#87
|
12 Angry Men (1957)
|
Inglorious
Basterds (2009)
|
#88
|
Bringing Up Baby
(1938)
|
The Great Dictator (1940)
|
#89
|
Sixth Sense
(1999)
|
Braveheart (1995)
|
#90
|
Swing Time (1936)
|
The Bicycle
Thief (1948)
|
#91
|
Sophie’s Choice
(1982)
|
The Apartment (1960)
|
#92
|
Up (2009)
|
Goodfellas (1990)
|
#93
|
The French
Connection (1971)
|
Downfall (2004)
|
#94
|
Pulp Fiction
(1994)
|
Gran Torino (2008)
|
#95
|
The Last Picture Show (1971)
|
Metropolis
(1927)
|
#96
|
Do The Right
Thing (1989)
|
The Sting (1973)
|
#97
|
Blade Runner
(1982)
|
Gladiator (2000)
|
#98
|
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
|
The Maltese Falcon
(1941)
|
#99
|
Toy Story (1995)
|
Unforgiven (1992)
|
#100
|
Ben Hur (1959)
|
The Elephant Man (1980)
|
Next week (or…er, this Sunday) - 2001: A
Space Odyssey (the movie I love to hate) and Full Metal Jacket. AKA: Kubrick vs. Kubrick. No matter who wins – I lose.
I think you picked wisely. One thing I LOVE about IG is that the best "action" scenes are the dialogue before the violence. The opening "chapter" is mesmerizing. The scene in the bar is fantastic. Words fly like bullets.
ReplyDelete12 is great, but I think IG is better. IG may not have won awards, but it should have. I think it is the best of QTs pics by far.
Seriously, look over the nominees in 2009 again. The only one with any lasting impact is IG (in terms of "film value"). Avatar? Hurt Locker (the winner of BP)? Fracking Blind Side?
As great as 12 AM is, IG is a masterpiece.