A few thoughts on Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, in which Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) leads a ragtag band of Jewish-American soldiers against the Nazis, with a plot to assassinate numerous Nazi leaders, including Adolf Hitler himself, in a theater with the aid of Shosanna (Melanie Laurent), who survived her family's massacre in her youth:

- Christoph Waltz, as Colonel Hans Landa, totally steals this movie, right up until the final scene where's he's squealing like a pig. He had better get an Oscar nod.

- I kept thinking, Tarantino hasn't shown a woman's foot in this movie yet. And then came the shoe scene in the cinema office.

- Tarantino movies are a lot like sex. Scenes build and build and build. And then all hell breaks loose in a matter of seconds.

- The scene in the tavern with two tables full of Nazis (or those disguised as Nazis) is absolutely brilliant sustained tension. This is a talented filmmaker at the top of his game.

- You can tell Tarantino makes his movies to entertain himself. You, the audience, are just voyeurs. It's like he says, "Here, you can watch it. I'm through with it now." Another director who makes movies the same way is John Waters.

- By the final minutes, after two and a half hours, the audience is saying, you better pay off, Tarantino. Seriously, we expect a major scene. Don't leave us with some BS ironic ending. We want to see major nasties on Nazis.

- Oh, and blow stuff up.

- He totally delivers.