#b. j. novak

[velveys]

First day on the set of The Office (2004)

[filmesbrazil]

[moviesandfood]

Vengeance

[ithinkwehitametaphor]

[alexjcrowley]

It's all fine and dandy listening to music from my country again until I have to explain that Lento violento by Canova makes me think of Ben Manalowitz (I'm one of the eleven people who want to talk about Vengeance 2022)

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[camyfilms]

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 2014

My wish for you is to become hope; people need that. And even if we fail, what better way is there to live? As we look around here today, at all of the people who helped make us who we are, I know it feels like we're saying goodbye, but we will carry a piece of each other into everything that we do next, to remind us of who we are, and of who we're meant to be.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds will either unleash a deluge of questions about morals and ethics (probably intentionally) or allow you to revel in trashy revenge fantasies while sitting through a story that’s full of finely-written dialogue, unpredictable turns and excellent performances. I strongly suspect the film isn't supposed to be scrutinized, that its only purpose is to be a “leave your brain at the door and enjoy the carnage” kind of film but the skill involved in its creation compels you to look deeper. There are many great scenes and some spectacular performances within the picture, which makes it a surprise that ultimately, the final product is less than the sum of its parts.

In 1944, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) assembles a paramilitary unit designed to spread terror among Nazi troops. The Basterds are to murder, disfigure and torture any enemy soldiers they find but must also let some live to grow their reputation. A year later, the Basterds are recruited to infiltrate a film premiere in Nazi-occupied France where several high-ranking German officers will be attending. The theater is owned by Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), a Jewish woman living in Paris under a fake name. She seeks revenge against the same Nazis the Basterds are targeting, particularly SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz).

Inglourious Basterds is two movies that briefly converge but are otherwise independent of each other. The problem is that these two stories are nearly opposites tonally. The Basterds’ story is a violent, comedic cartoon. Shosanna’s story contains real drama. Both are revenge fantasies but of a completely different kind.

It’s hard to tell what message we’re supposed to draw from the film. An opening speech by Raine reminds us that despite the way they act and look, every German soldier is not a person. They are simply pieces of Hitler’s grand machine. The more violent, and brutal their death the better. We never see concentration camps. They are never even mentioned. The Third Reich’s armies are shown killing Jews but only via machine guns. The murders they commit are no more brutal than those committed by the Basterds but we’re not supposed to see the Jewish-American soldiers as bad - even though they torture and mutilate people who beg for their lives - because the people they are killing are “not people”. It’s difficult to wrap your head around the idea because the performances are so good, and the violence so impactful.

This is the kind of film that could’ve used a couple of baddies with eyepatches and mechanical legs rather than the excellent lookalikes of Sylvester Groth (Joseph Goebbels), Adolf Hitler (Martin Wuttke) and Emil Jannings (Hilmar Eichhorn). The message seems to be that compassion and mercy have no place in the world and that they’re likely to get you killed. Should the excuse of “I was just following orders” exempt you from punishment? Tarantino says “Maybe - unless you're a Nazi". At the very least, you must admire him for committing fully to his message.

Whether or not you're turned off by the story’s brutality, there’s no denying what Inglourious Basterds does well. There are so many good scenes the package is worth seeing even if it will offend and appall you. Tarantino holds the tension and then slowly stretches it until you can practically smell the perspiration dominating the room. The dialogue is so good you can’t wait to hear what’s next and you wouldn’t miss a word for all the stolen Nazi gold in the world. The plot’s completely unpredictable and the performances are incredible. Christoph Waltz, in particular, blows you away. You should hate his character. He’s a terrible human being but he’s so smooth the atrocities he commits seem to evaporate from your memory the second he opens his mouth.

Inglourious Basterds is not a classy story but it’s made with such expertise that the mud it’s wading through looks like it came from the spa. It’s deeply knowledgeable about film history and if you are as well, you should see it. Every glimpse we get of Stolz der Nation (Nation's Pride) is perfect to a tee. Would it have been a better film if it had been separated into two? Unfortunately, I believe so. With the conclusion the way it is, the more interesting story - that of Shoshanna - is made redundant, even pointless by the actions of the Basterds. The upside is that you have no clue where it's headed until you get there.

Although I think Inglourious Basterds is a one-and-done for me, I'd be curious to see how a second viewing might go. It really is one of those movies that forces you to react strongly toward it. (May 1, 2020)

[fluffywolverine]

i've just watched vengeance (2022, dir. b. j. novak) and i am confusion

[mensuited]

[luckylouwho]

Six-Thirty Narration (Spoilers in Article!)

Spoilers in the article!!! Do NOT read if you have not read the book. Despite that, the article has a valid opinion on how we are missing out on so much with not having Six-Thirty be a proper narrator. I am happy that Six-Thirty has some narration in the series because I know the book fans were greatly upset about this during the first two episodes. They were worried it would not happen. When I heard that he was a narrator in the book I was hoping they would include any morsel of it in the show since I adore animals. In the article they also mention the magic he brought to the book. Some of this was his vocabulary since he is a dog and does not understand human nuances. Unfortunately, it seems some of this is going to be lost slightly according to the author. I just hope they keep including Six-Thirty more as the episodes go on. I also was wondering who was narrating for a hot minute and did not expect it to be B.J. Novak.

[rookie-critic]

Vengeance (2022, dir. B.J. Novak) - review by Rookie-Critic

Vengeance seemed very well-intentioned. The debut feature from The Office breakout B.J. Novak (who you probably know better as Ryan), Vengeance tells the story of a self-absorbed New York journalist/wannabe podcaster named Ben who, as a result of a misunderstanding, goes to West Texas to attend the funeral of a girl who, outside of hooking up with her a few times in the past, he knows nothing about. After the funeral, the older brother of the girl (played by a fully dedicated Boyd Holbrook), based on nothing but "gut," tells Ben that his sister did not die of an overdose like the reports say, but that she was murdered and they need to avenge her death. So that's the setup.

The family of Abilene, the girl who died, is made up of a cast of borderline-caricatures that are all dislikable, but lovable in their own ways, and each get their moment to shine throughout the movie. I say borderline because, from an insider's perspective they'd seem ridiculously overblown, and from an outsider's perspective they might seem just fine. However, being from Texas (although, according to the film, "Dallas isn't Texas"), and having family members that live in a more rural area of the state (although my family is from East Texas, not West), a lot of the way they're written is 100% right on the money. There are just a couple of moments where they tipped over into straight parody. Outside of the family, there are a large cast of characters, all mostly incompetent and of no help, except for Ashton Kutcher's character, small-town record producer Quentin Sellers, who is the first person to really break Ben's narcissistic and jaded shell. Kutcher excells the movie forward and almost feels like a breath of fresh air from all the "haha funny country" people in the movie.

Some of the jokes land, some of them don't, some of them will make you roll your eyes, and you never really feel a deep, emotional connection with any one particular character until getting close to the end of the movie, and the film never misses a chance to turn a heartwarming moment into one of bleak, grim realism. Again, sometimes this works, other times you wish the moment had just been allowed to be heartwarming. For the most part, the film is good. The parts that work, work well, and again, Novak seems very well-intentioned with what he was trying to say. Sadly, he makes the movie tackle so many different subjects and tries to say so much about them that the messages end up getting muddled by the time the credits start to roll. Novak is a director to watch, though, and I'll be excited to see whatever his second attempt is now that he's got one under his belt.

Score: 7/10

Currently streaming on Peacock.

Worth it for the hilarious cameo scene with John Mayer at the very beginning alone.

[filmesbrazil]

[filmhabits]

Vengeance - Poster

Releases July 29, 2022 (USA)

[hellish-cruelty]

Season 6: Episode 2 (The Meeting)

[alexjcrowley]

Ty Shaw (Vengenace, 2022) singing Congratulations (Hamilton) to Ben Manalowitz