This issue, revenge and love are examined in two of the most memorable films of the year.

"Inglourious Basterds"

(R, Now Available)

Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" is a movie that wants to settle in before giving us quick, brutal flashes of war. This also describes SS Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), "the Jew Hunter," whose joviality makes him all the more frightening.

When we first meet Landa he is happily engaging in conversation with a French farmer and suspected harborer of a Jewish family. Like a number of scenes in "Inglourious Basterds," it plays like an eternity, tension building by the second. The outcome is predictable, though Landa allows one member of the family to escape, the teenage Shosanna (Melanie Laurent).

Three years later, we meet the "Basterds." The leader of the otherwise all-Jewish unit is Lt. Aldo Raine (a hilariously southern fried Brad Pitt). The purpose of the "Basterds" is to kill Nazis in the most brutal ways possible, leaving one to tell the tale. The swastikas Aldo carves into the survivors' foreheads confirm the enemy's worst fears. Each "Basterd" is known among every German soldier throughout the Third Reich.

Meanwhile Shosanna has changed her identity in Paris, where she owns a cinema. She and her theater capture the eye of German war hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl). Zoller is starring in the latest propaganda film from Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth), "Nation's Pride." Zoller plays himself--a sort of counterpoint to Audie Murphy--in the story of how he killed over 200 enemy soldiers in three days with nothing but his sniper rifle. The premiere will be held at Shosanna's theater, with Goebbels, Goering, and the Fuhrer (Martin Wuttke) in attendance. Shosanna has a plan to kill them all.

This plan is independent from Operation Kino, the collaboration of the Americans and the British to achieve the same end. It's tailor made for the "Basterds" and Leftenant Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender). Helping to coordinate this is German film star and Allied sympathizer, Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger).

This sounds like a lot of plot because it is. Tarantino also delivers a few moments of extreme violence, but surprisingly little character development, particularly of the "Basterds" themselves. This disappointing factor aside, "Inglourious Basterds" is a good film with some great moments that proudly wears its disinterest in historical fact on its sleeve.

It also features one of the finest performances of the year. As Colonel Landa, Waltz chews scenery in the best possible way. He absolutely steals the movie.

"Inglourious Basterds" is an undeniably unique take on the Second World War that no one but Tarantino could have concocted. 8.5/10.

"(500) Days of Summer"

(PG-13, Avail. 12/22)

From the start, "(500) Days of Summer" wants to be honest with us. "This is not a love story," we're told. "This is a story about love." I, for one, could not have loved the resulting film more.

Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is in his late twenties and firmly believes in love, though he's never experienced it for himself. His notions of it, we are told, came from a childhood of "listening to sad British pop music and a total misreading of the movie 'The Graduate.'"

Tom meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel) at work while listening to said British pop music. "I love the Smiths," Summer tells him. Just like that, Tom's infatuation with her begins.

Unlike Tom, Summer does not believe in love and finds it somewhat pathetic that Tom does. "It's love, it's not Santa Claus," he insists. Even as things slowly develop between them, Summer tells him, "I'm not really looking for anything serious right now," and, though Tom hears her words, they are no match for his feelings.

"(500) Days" is told in non-linear order yet manages to not feel gimmicky. It's effective because it reflects on the ups and downs of their time together- and apart- in the way our own minds work. We remember things in pieces, sorted in a disparate way. A moment that happens while we're getting to know someone can end up illuminating a moment much later in ways we could have never imagined. This helps the film maintain a consistency of tone. Even as we're going from a heartbreaking moment on day 290 back to the joys of day 28, the movie maintains a steady feel.

This is a very funny film, even in many of its moments of sadness, and it is always real. Even an impromptu dance sequence that includes a moment so hilarious I dare not spoil it for you is completely genuine. "(500) Days of Summer" doesn't have a false moment in it because it's honest, not just about how life is but how life feels.

Written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber and directed by first time feature director Marc Webb, "(500) Days of Summer" is outstanding storytelling. It manages to be an original and refreshing independent film without ever falling into the trap of being derivative or overly quirky.

Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel are spot on. They excel in ways that never cease to impress. Gordon-Levitt's Tom is endlessly relatable while Deschanel's Summer is always difficult to read and impossible to predict. So much is communicated subtly and their finest moments each come in a scene in which Tom's expectations of an evening are shown against the reality. The sequence rings painfully true and seeing the way each plays the scenes shown in split-screen (also not gimmicky in this film) is a testament to their enormous talents, as well as the script.

"(500) Days of Summer" is a pretty much perfect movie that does not ask that you be a fan of romantic comedies, but if you are, get ready for something special. 10/10.

Also coming to DVD and Blu-Ray

Now Available

The Hangover (R) - 7.5/10

G-Force (PG)

The Tudors: Season 3

Taking Woodstock (R)

Avail. 12/22

District 9 (R) - 8/10

Extract (R)

Avail. 12/29

9 (PG-13)

Avail. 1/5

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