Time for me to eat crow. From the onset, I wasn’t such a big fan of Inglourious Basterds as a choice for the Movie of the Month – it seeming to be a too recent and too popular film for my particular MOTM tastes. In the end, the die-hard battle between it and Citizen Kane had me more than supporting it as the eventual choice, and I couldn’t have been more wrong about my preconceptions of it being chosen. If I do say so myself, it made for an excellent MOTM, leading to a spirited LAMBcast discussion – led by Lindsay and Nick of French Toast Sunday (our MOTM Champions for the month) of the various themes, high points, low points and legacy of Quentin Tarantino’s multilingual, multi-genre “masterpiece.”
As usual, I give you the IMDb summary for the film, for those few unfortunate souls that aren’t familiar with it:
“In Nazi occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the “Basterds”, a group of Jewish-American guerilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl’s plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.”
Now, let’s see what your fellow LAMBs had to say about it. Thanks to all of the LAMBs that sent in their posts for this edition of the MOTM.
* A Swede Talks Movies
* Cinematic Corner
* Cinematic Paradox
* Commentary Track
* Foolish Blatherings (review)
* Foolish Blatherings (Hans Landa character study)
* French Toast Sunday (5 Favorite Things)
* French Toast Sunday (Movie Drinking Game)
* Is It Better Than Avatar?
* The Stop Button
It’s also time to vote on next month’s movie. Once again, I put out the call for MOTM Champions. The gist is this: I ask for volunteers – people to select a film to be placed on the poll (up to 10 per month, as usual), then promote it on their site, Facebook, Twitter, whatever. Should their film win, they are guaranteed a spot on the LAMBcast episode where we will discuss said film. As a bonus (?), they will also get to host that segment of the show. Also, Joel likes me to mention that if you happen to campaign for your selection on your blog, he’d be happy to put up a Plug for it on the LAMB.
This month, we had seven Champions – the sites are listed along with the films in the poll below. You have one week to vote (and promote your movies!). I’ll be putting out the call for the next MOTM in a few weeks, so stay tuned.
As we do every month, the LAMBcast is tied in with the MOTM. This month, as mentioned, our Champions from FTS hosted the Basterds discussion in which we talked up and down the film, covering (we hope) all of the important themes and talking points. They were joined by LAMBcast host Dylan, as well as Tom and newcomer Dan G.
Also on tap:
* Rants and Raves of the Week
* Last LAMB Standing
A couple notes:
* The show can be found, of course, via iTunes – just do a search for “LAMBcast.” Also, I always post a link to the show on the LAMBcast’s Facebook page, and there’s a player there if you’d like to listen online.
* Shows will eventually make their way to the LAMBcast Archives. If you’d ever like to catch up on back episodes, go there.
If you’re interested, you too can be a LAMBcaster – we love new blood! For more information on the LAMBcast, check out the topic at the LAMB Forums. Music provided royalty-free by Kevin MacLeod’s Incompetech website. Big thanks to Kevin for providing this service. Opening song by Cake. The LAMBcast loves feedback, too – if you’d like yours read on a future show, leave it in the comments section at the LAMB. Please visit and like our Facebook page, and finally, we’re on iTunes, and would still love a review, even if it’s a bad one.
Thanks for listening!
Tags: French Toast Sunday, Grind My Reels, Inglourious Basterds, Man I Love Films, Movie Reviews by Tom Clift