Critics Find Basterds Glorious

(NEWSER) - Festival fave Quentin Tarantino opened his comic-fantasy take on World War II, Inglourious Basterds, at Cannes today. The film traces Jewish-American soldiers, led by Brad Pitt, as they annihilate as many Nazis in France as three grisly hours can fit. Some early sentiment:

• "It's western meets war movie, with David Bowie on the soundtrack," writes Emma Jones for the BBC, adding that she regrets only that it's too long and there isn't enough Pitt.

Sally Menke worked with director beginning with Reservoir Dogs

(NEWSER) - Renowned movie editor Sally Menke, 56, was found dead after going for a hike in the Hollywood Hills during yesterday's record-breaking heat wave . Investigators believe she became disoriented in the extreme heat and suspect heat stroke was the cause of her death, the Los Angeles Times reports. Her severely dehydrated dog was found next to her body. More»

Tarantino's flick has the best shot at top Oscar

(NEWSER) - Though everyone is buzzing about Avatar’s best-picture prospects, Tom O'Neil was an early predictor of Inglourious Basterds snagging the top Oscar prize—and now he’s defending his position. Even though it came out eons ago (in August), the disappointing performance of many much-hyped late-year films leaves Basterds in a position to make a “late-year dash” a la Gladiator or Braveheart, he writes in the Los Angeles Times . More»

(NEWSER) - Inglourious Basterds had a glorious opening weekend, scalping the box office for $37.6 million to give Quentin Tarantino the best opening of his career, USA Today reports. District 9 continued its strong showing in second place with $18.9 million, while GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra ($12.5 million), The Time Traveler's Wife ($10 million), and Julie & Julia ($9 million) rounded out the top five. More»

...and calls Tom Cruise's Valkyrie 'ridiculous'

(NEWSER) - Brad Pitt thinks Inglourious Basterds is so good that no one should ever bother making a World War II movie again, People reports. “I believe that Quentin put a cover on that pot. With Basterds, everything than can be said to this genre has been said,” he said in an interview with a German magazine. “The film destroys every symbol. The work is done, end of story.” More»