Opening This Week: Inglourious Law Abiding Basterds

This week = epic week. So far, Inglourious Basterds has received some extraordinary buzz and Law Abiding Citizen, not so much, but it still manages to seem like a decent action flick. Let's look at what to expect of these films, shall we?


Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Cast: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Til Schweiger
Director: Quentin Tarantino
USA release: August 21
Malaysia release: October 22
USA gross: $119,098,000
Worldwide gross: $275,365,277
Genre: Drama, War
Runtime: 2 Hours 34 Minutes
Rated in USA: R for strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality
Rated in Malaysia: 18PL
IMDb User Rating: 8.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
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Inglourious Basterds begins in German-occupied France, where Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). She narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema. Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organises a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of vengeance. Known to their enemy as "The Basterds," Raine's squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own.

From what I've read and heard, this movie is Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece. And if Quentin Tarantino has a masterpiece, you absolutely HAVE to see it. The trailer is apparently very deceiving and the movie doesn't have as much gun-slinging action as portrayed in the trailer. Instead, people have said the movie is filled with intriguing verbal exchanges. Also, this film is very long. I, for one, am excited to watch this film but I cannot speak for anyone else. I guess we'll just have to go see the film to tell for ourselves.




Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler
Director: F. Gary Gray
USA release: October 16
Malaysia release: October 22
USA gross: $21,250,000
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller, Drama
Runtime: 1 Hour 49 Minutes
Rated in USA: R for strong bloody brutal violence and torture, a scene of rape, and pervasive language
Rated in Malaysia: 18PL
IMDb User Rating: 7.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 24%
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Clyde Shelton (Butler) is an upstanding family man whose wife and daughter are brutally murdered during a home invasion. When the killers are caught, Nick Rice (Foxx), a hotshot young Philadelphia prosecutor, is assigned to the case. Over his objections, Nick is forced by his boss to offer one of the suspects a light sentence in exchange for testifying against his accomplice. Ten years later, the man who got away with murder is found dead and Clyde Shelton coolly admits his guilt. Then he issues a warning to Nick: Either he fix the flawed justice system that failed his family, or key players in the trial will die.

I've said this numerous times before and I'm going to reiterate it by saying trailers can be terribly deceiving and we shouldn't peg our expectations for the movie to the quality of the trailer. In my opinion, the trailer for this film was action-packed and really well done. According to IMDb, the general audience liked the film but on the other hand, many of the movie critics on Rotten Tomatoes didn't like it. In any case, let's just hope this film is full of good purposeful action and suspense.

Source: Cinema Online, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo