Inglourious Basterds

What's so wrong about a movie being solely derived from other movies? Nothing as far as I am concerned because the result can be pure entertainment. Quentin Tarantino's latest goes down easy even when it runs long in sections. I found myself immersed in this film from the opening sequence. Right away he merges a western with a WWII flick. The rancher, I mean French countryman, waits patiently as he sees the riders, I mean Nazi cars approach his homestead from a distance. The scene that then plays out introduces us to the jewel of the film: Christoph Waltz. From the start this is Waltz's film. He owns the screen and our attention in every scene he's in and we miss him when he's not there. His character Hans Landa is a master detective who now uses his powers of observation and deduction to hunt down Jews. So in addition to western and war flick, Tarantino throws in a police procedural and creates a new detective to rival Holmes and company. As if Waltz's performance wasn't enough, the film also has a fabulous turn by Michael Fassbender as the film critic turned military operative ala David Niven in Guns of Navarone. What was bizarre was that in this role he was a Kevin Kline clone, not sure if this was on purpose but for most of the film I was sure he must be Kline's progeny. Now wait a minute... what about Brad Pitt? Yea he's in the film and he does an interesting turn as the head of the Basterds but with so much charm oozing out of Landa and Hicox who cares? We need a prequel that shows Landa prior to 1941 and how he became the "Jew Hunter."
Memorable moment: The Lady in Red and Cat People sequence... so anachronistic and so perfect!