“I want to go to there” to quote the great Liz Lemon that’s exactly how I feel after watching the trailer for Michel Gondry’s blockbuster. I don’t want to run this point through the ground but Michel Gondry (director of such art house classics as Human Nature, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Be Kind Rewind) doesn’t make blockbusters and after watching this trailer you can’t help but feel like you’re seeing a bizarro Iron Man (directed by regular Jon Favreau). I hope that this film just proves how great a director Gondry really is, able to give us beautiful artsy films as well as this mainstream production, a much more difficult task than one might think. Then there’s our star Seth Rogen, who looks very comfortable in this role (which I found surprising) even delivering a very Seth Rogen line such as “I want you to take my hand. I want you to come with me on this adventure.” which could have come from any Seth Rogen film to date (Pineapple Exress, Knocked Up, Observe and Report). We don’t see enough of Christoph Waltz’ character and we probably see all we need to see of Cameron Diaz who looks like she’s impersonating Gwyneth Paltrow from the Iron Man series… oh well, you can’t have it all. Anyway, I cannot wait to see The Green Hornet when it’s released in theaters January 14, 2011! Enjoy the trailer-

Christoph Waltz, the Austrian actor who received widespread acclaim for his role as Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, just added a directing gig to his already-busy schedule.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Waltz is going to direct Auf und Davon (Up and Away) off his own script, based on the novel with the same name.

After his mainstream success in “Basterds,” Waltz filmed the role of the villain, Chudnofsky, in Michael Gondry’s The Green Hornet, which is set to be released at Christmas. He has also signed on to Water for Elephants and is considering a role in A Little War of Our Own, so it will probably be some time before this movie gets off the ground.

U&A is the story of a woman who “is the ruthless host of a dating show competition. She finds herself in over her head when the show’s romantic story line bumps into her own feelings for a contestant.” Sounds like a typical rom-com to me, but, with Waltz, I’m not sure.

You can tell that he definitely has a sense of humor — both from his role in Inglourious Basterds and his charming Oscar acceptance speech.

The movie would mark his feature-directing debut, as he has previously only directed for television.

Fox International Productions is financing, but that doesn’t mean it will play in the US. President Sanford Panitch said, “While Christoph’s rise to international stardom will continue, we are very proud to collaborate with him on his very own project.”

I am really glad to see this awesome actor get more work. He was terrific as “The Jew-Hunter” and seems like a nice guy.

The winners for the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards are below. I am not going into any detail because you all don’t care!

Some of the bigger winners were James Cameron, Sandra Bullock, Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges, and Jason Reitman.

Here are the results of the categories we all care about – winner is in bold!

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

• Avatar (20th Century Fox)
• The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)
• Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company)
• Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire (Lionsgate)
• Up in the Air (Paramount Pictures)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

• Emily Blunt – The Young Victoria
• Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
• Helen Mirren – The Last Station
• Carey Mulligan – An Education
• Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

• Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
  
• George Clooney – Up in the Air
• Colin Firth – A Single Man
• Morgan Freeman – Invictus
• Tobey Maguire – Brothers

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• (500) Days of Summer (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
• The Hangover (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• It’s Complicated (Universal Pictures)
• Julie & Julia (Columbia Pictures)
• Nine (The Weinstein Company)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Sandra Bullock – The Proposal
• Marion Cotillard – Nine
• Julia Roberts – Duplicity
• Meryl Streep – It’s Complicated
• Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Matt Damon – The Informant
• Daniel Day-Lewis – Nine
• Robert Downey Jr. – Sherlock Holmes
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt – (500) Days of Summer
• Michael Stuhlbarg – A Serious Man

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sony Pictures Animation)
• Fantastic Mr. Fox (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
• Coraline (Focus Features)
• The Princess and the Frog (Walt Disney Pictures)
• Up (Disney•Pixar)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

• Penelope Cruz – Nine
• Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
• Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
• Mo’Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
• Julianne Moore – A Single Man

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

• Matt Damon – Invictus
• Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
• Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
• Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
• Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
  

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE

• Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
• James Cameron – Avatar
• Clint Eastwood – Invictus
• Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
• Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE

• Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell – District 9
• Mark Boal – The Hurt Locker
• Nancy Meyers – It’s Complicated
• Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
• Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE

• Michael Giacchino – Up
  
• Marvin Hamlisch – The Informant
• James Horner – Avatar
• Abel Korzeniowski – A Single Man
• Karen O and Carter Burwell – Where the Wild Things Are

All my worries concerning how Christoph Waltz would follow up his stunning performance as Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds were laid to rest when I was informed that the actor had been cast in The Green Hornet.

Waltz is set to play the villain Chudnofsky in Michel Gondry’s superhero flick, opposite Seth Rogen as the titular hero. The role was originally slated to be played by Nicolas Cage before he avoided ruining the film by dropping out before signing.

With Waltz on board, I’m about a thousand times more excited to see the picture.

It’s due for release in December of next year.

Normally when a film leaves me cold, I tend to shy away from thinking about said picture. If I must, I’ll ponder the film and realize that I’d just seen a film I wanted to like, but had ultimately witnessed something mediocre or worse. Walking out of Inglourious Basterds, I recalled the same feeling as walking out of The Matrix Revolutions. I wanted to like it, and convinced myself for a while I did. In the end, the mediocrity of that film won and while the trilogy still gets my defense, I no longer consider the whole a work of genius like the perfectly standalone first entry. Basterds initially left me thinking ‘good, not great.’ Then through the rest of the day I couldn’t stop thinking of the film. By the time it was all said and done, I had reached the only conclusion that could be made:

Inglourious Basterds may be Tarantino’s best film.

First things first: I do not subscribe to the notion that Quentin Tarantino is the be-all end-all of cinema. In fact, if anything, the man is really overrated as a director and slightly overrated as a writer. He’s not a terrible filmmaker by any stretch (although Death Proof tries to convince you he is,) but he left an impact on cinema that ruined crime films post-1992. One person put it to me one time that “Tarantino masturbates onscreen,” and that statement seems right on track. He loves to hear his characters talk, instead of showcasing their actions, having them do something interesting. This indulgence destroyed the second half of Grindhouse, and the legacy has been continued here in Inglourious Basterds.

And that is one of Basterds best strengths, as everything that didn’t work in Death Proof is perfected here. The words are weapons, and all the trademark Tarantino pop-references are present but they build tension. These characters do talk, and it does go on and on and on, but all of it leads up to something and has some sort of payoff. Yet as opposed to some of Tarantino’s other works, it never feels like it drags on. He indulges as we’ve come to expect, yet here he turns his dialogue into gunfire. Q.T. keeps one on the edge of his seat as the characters fire back at one another, and above all feels his most relaxed as he crafts his most entertaining film to date.

Yet the true winner in this marvel isn’t Q.T., but Christoph Waltz who portrays one of the best, most charismatic villains since Alan Rickman defined the suave baddie with Hans Gruber in Die Hard. I’m going to echo what some of my colleagues are declaring, that Waltz doesn’t deserve just a nomination for his role as Colonel Hans Landa – oh, no. The Oscar itself is already chiseling his name in under ‘Best Supporting Actor.’ Consider it a crime if he doesn’t get every supporting actor award. The man embodies Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird by putting on an Acting School. To continue the gushing, while it’s arguable this man is the leading male of this particular story, Waltz needs to be jettisoned as a leading man in the future. He has everything, from screen presence to charm. Landa is the perfect Nazi, a terrible person who enjoys slaughtering his foes. Yet Waltz does everything he can to make him likable, only to have it snatched away by an act of valor.

His adversary, the lead Basterd, comes in the form of Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo ‘Apache’ Raine, who has much more personality than he did in his last film. Pitt’s also having a ball, playing on every hard-assed lieutenant stereotype. It’s never been done with this kind of swagger though, as Pitt makes for a wonderful protagonist (or is it antagonist?) You root for the guy as he captures and plays with his Nazi prey before dispatching them, as it’s just as fun as hell to see the actor mosey through this. The most unique of his ‘Basterds’ is likely Donny “The Bear Jew” Donowitz, portrayed by Eli Roth. Regardless of his filmmaking abilities, one can enjoy the ruthless aggression with which Donowitz dispatches Nazis. Lowbrow actor Til Schweiger makes an appearance here as Hugo Stiglitz, a man who’s notorious for murdering large numbers of the Gestapo. All he really needs to to is pose and look gruff and tough, but damn if the man doesn’t do it so well.

Covering all required bases of World War II, Melanie Laurent gives a beautiful performance as Shoshana Dreyfus, a Jew who avoided death at the hands of Hans Landa. She’s the most sympathetic of the group, as displayed by the brutal slaughter that opens the movie. Her motivations are openly justified, and Tarantino is wise enough to watch them build up chapter by chapter through the film. She gives everyone some breathing room with her journey as a refugee who tricks the Nazis into hosting the premiere of Stolz der Nation at her theater. The star of said film is Frederick Zoeller who’s graciously, arrogantly, and expertly played by Daniel Bruhl. In a great sense of irony, Zoeller stops being egocentric for just a moment – and it costs him big time. It’s almost operatic, the way Tarantino directs it and plays it.

Tarantino masterminds all of these stories to come together in a climax that should be taught in history classes. All of these stories mesh together, and I’ll dare to say they meld better than three stories present in Pulp Fiction. Give credit where it’s due as Q.T. makes a near perfect war film, that’s actually about movies. His love of cinema has never been more evident, going so far as to show us the mark for reel changes. While also at his best, Tarantino is also at his most fun, enjoying what’s happening just as much as the audience is.

“Y’know, I think I’ve made my masterpiece.”

So you have Quentin. So you have.

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Finally. Something else I can add to my wall.

The new international poster for Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds has hit grandma’s interwebs and we are lucky enough to find it. Maintaining the true international poster style, this one-sheet is mostly lame with a side of a haunting Eli Roth. But, with that said, it appears Brad Pitt is walking into my soul.

Basterds stars Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Bruhl, Eli Roth, Samm Levine, B.J. Novak and Til Schweiger. It opens August 21, 2009.