Reagen Sulewski's 2009 Calvins Ballot
By Reagen Sulewski
March 2, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com

Mr. Tarantino does not care what you think of him. He also says good luck with fatherhood, Reagen.
Like 2008, 2009 was a year where TV offered me a lot more in terms of entertainment than the movies did. The gap closed in both directions for me, though, as a number of brilliant series ended or got the hook, and a number of directors stepped up to provide us with one of the stronger movie years of the decade.

Really, any year for me with a Quentin Tarantino film in release is going to be a good one for me, and Inglourious Basterds provided me with that rare thrill of the unexpected that I haven't had in some time. It's now the fourth time that a Tarantino film has topped my yearly list (the other three being Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill Vol. 1) at a time when it feels like I should probably be growing tired of his films, and his strange genre affectations.

And I entered into Basterds expecting to find that Tarantino had given into the simple gore mentality of the last few years, and based on the ads I don't think I could be faulted for that. Instead, I found Tarantino using a WWII backdrop for a meditation on the power of cinema and its essential nature in determining truth, structured around three incredible set pieces. I never should have doubted you Quentin, even if I still can't really stand you as a person that much.