Weekend Movie Forecast: Inglourious Basterds or Passing Strange

Quentin Tarantino's Nazi-killing fantasy Inglourious Basterds concerns a group of Jewish American soldiers, led by Brad Pitt, getting some ultraviolent payback on the Krauts. Salon's Stephanie Zacharek says, "Tarantino thinks big, and he's got balls. If that were enough to make a masterpiece, Inglourious Basterds would surely be one. But Inglourious Basterds, in addition to having already stirred controversy for its Jews vs. Nazis conceit, is unwieldy, long-winded, self-indulgently nutso and, in places, very, very boring.

"It also caps off its two-and-a-half-hour run time with an extended finale – partially orchestrated to David Bowie's 'Cat People' theme song, no less – that I could watch again and again with pleasure. In other words, Tarantino has taken a huge leap and made a movie that doesn't fully work, which presents those of us who love his work, hate his work or love-hate his work – which should cover just about everybody – with a confounding question: Do we praise the leap, or shake our fists at the result?"