Well mates, it brings me perhaps far too much pleasure to report that Inglourious Basterds killed the box office this weekend with an estimated $37.6 million (updated) $38.1 million (and that’s only the domestic gross), so Quentin Tarantino and Harvey Weinstein may never be able to wipe the smiles from their faces. Deservedly so, I might add.

What other possible endorsement could I give for Inglourious Basterds other than this: Even with the unnaturally high expectations that I held for the film, it did not disappoint. And while I stated before that I wouldn’t be writing a formal review, either here or at Pajiba, I wholeheartedly recommend this film. As if to prove my point, the Saturday matinee audience was, quite literally, filled with people from all walks of life, ages, and races. There was much laughter and cheering at just the right moments, and, afterward, the audience spilled into the lobby with a burst of energy as everyone buzzed to their companions about what a bloody fucking magnificent movie they’d just seen.

All of this occurred despite the fact that 2/3 of the dialogue was spoken in either French, German, or Italian with English subtitles. This was also a “war movie” without any traditional battle scenes, and the titular Basterds were actually only present in about 2/5 of the entirety. Not to mention that, for many months, you people laughed at the “misspelled” movie title (didn’t I warn you about that?), but it still worked, and Quentin motherfucking Tarantino pulled it off. True, he used the actual Basterds as more of a supporting group of players, but their scarcity was part of what made the film work, for this effectively communicated the Basterds’ mysterious, fear-instilling, and legendary status among the Nazi regime.

In addition, the cast gave performances were altogether amazing. Mélanie Laurent was sublime as the vengeful Shosanna Dreyfus, whose entire family was slaughtered by Nazis during the film’s first chapter. As rumoured, Christoph Waltz gave a nearly perfect performance as the eloquently disarming Col. Hans “Jew Hunter” Landa, and he found a perfect foe in Brad Pitt, who earned most of the audience laughs as Lt. Aldo Raine. Omar Doom impressed as Pfc. Omar Ulmer and kicked some dazzling ass in the finale alongside Eli Roth, who was probably far too convincing as Sgt. Donny “Bear jew” Donowitz, so his haters will certainly be delighted to misinterpret his performance as “reality” and, therefore, a fittingly retroactive justification to label the Hostel director as a sociopath, but you know what? It’s called A-C-T-I-N-G, folks.

Of course, I can’t give a wrapup of the cast without mentioning the awe-inspiring German actors, including Daniel Brühl as Fredrick Zoller (who is swift and brutal as a Nazi sniper but sweet and adoring while attempting to court Shoshanna); Til Schweiger as the legendary Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (who barely says a word but communicates his fury nonetheless); and August Diehl as Major Dieter Hellstrom (who really only appears in the tavern, but he entirely steals the scene and is my official new favourite German actor).

The film’s few flaws were present but so insignificant that nobody in the audience really gave a shit about, say, the bizarre interjection of Samuel L. Jackson’s minimal “narration.” While I do understand why Tarantino wanted to highlight Hugh Stiglitz’s backstory, Jackson’s voice really took me out of the film for a few moments. In addition, the soundtrack didn’t quite mesh as seamlessly as with previous Tarantino works, but the entire film was still damn entertaining and told a fantastic story. This movie is definitely one of my favourite Tarantino flicks. Just not quite if it’s Top 3 material yet, so I gotta go catch it again for a third time. If you haven’t seen Inglourious Basterds, you really should.