A Basterd's Work Is Never Done? Let's Hope So...

PLANET GRIFFIN WEEKEND EDITION takes a moment for the upcoming movie from QUENTIN TARANTINO --- that Nazi-bashing, bat weilding, Jewish revenge fantasy known as INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS! It almost seems like tradition to watch a Tarantino flick on its opening weekend... I've been holding that ticket since RESERVOIR DOGS first appeared at the local Janus house.
( Yes, I was among the handful who saw GRINDHOUSE, and manned up enough to say it!)

I read the first draft script and, I admit, debated whether or not to go see this thing. ( I am a big fan of the ENZO CASTERELLI classic starring FRED WILLIAMSON, BO HOPKINS, and that damn train!) I mean, the opening ONCE UPON A TIME IN NAZI-OCCUPIED FRANCE was waaaaaaaaay too long ( try to imagine the girltalk pow wow in the diner in DEATH PROOF... Now add an additional 10 minutes to that talk... Now you get the idea.), the action that you see within the trailer was pretty much THE ONLY action in the film damn near ( all other action is IMPLIED, not detailed, within the script), there was NO TRAIN like the original (until I learned that Tarantino only wanted the title and not doing remake), the fantasy element of Hitler dying inside the burning theater near the end of the script fell short, and lastly, the premiere first screening of the film at the CANNES FILM FESTIVAL where audience members began walking out--- NOT because of any wrenching violence, but because the movie was BORING--- a term I never thought I would apply to a Tarantino flick!

That was late spring. Fast forward.

Since all this, the third act of the script was completely changed (though I will say, expect the chapter, REVENGE OF THE FACE, to remain intact... And that's NOT a spoiler!), the action was beefed up to expected visceral goodness, the humor is disturbingly pitch black at times, and the flashback sequence to how THE BEAR JEW (Eli Roth)came to be was added back in (hopefully).

Whatever the case may be, PLANET GRIFFIN will definitely ride the high country on this one, with ticket firmly in one hand, and a baseball bat in the other!