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History of the World: Part I (1981)
Some good gags amid dated zaniness
Quite a lot of this is over the top, dated, zany comedy but there are enough genuinely funny gags sprinkled here and there to keep you watching. Brooks's over-reliance on comedy about 'Jews being Jews' can be tiresome, both here and in one or two other of his movies but his support cast make up for it here. An exquisite highlight is Madeline Kahn's performance as Princess Nympho. She nails every gag and facial expression and is clearly enjoying herself.
Ultimately this is no Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein and as a historical spoof it is a long way behind Monty Python's Life of Brian and even the Meaning of Life.
It sits happily as a tier 2 Mel Brooks film. No great expectations for the forthcoming sequel.
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Disappointing fantasy in an alternate universe
I wanted to like this but, like Django Unchained, Tarantino draws it out in too many scenes, presumably to accentuate the sporadic violent moments. By turning Jews into psychotic vigilantes he is acting out a fantasy from a parallel universe. The problem is it turns the Jewish characters into Nazis themselves.
As usual with many American war films, the British make convenient fall guys here. It is the British officer that gives them away in the tavern. Yawn. Imagined British ineptitude or betrayal is almost a trope in Hollywood and it's usually a role they give to Sean Bean. Also, like U571, that credited Americans with British achievements, the only factual unit I know of that resemble the "Basterds" are the Special Interrogation Group (SIG) a British Army unit of German-speaking Jews that operated in the Western Desert campaign.
Christoph Walz is, of course, brilliant in this, and carries the film. I would go as far to say that he is underused.
Otherwise it's more bloated and formulaic self-indulgence from Tarantino.
Bill (2015)
Great fun throughout
Ben Willbond's Philip of Spain is a genius comic creation. It's worth watching the film for him alone but on top of that it's a great film with plenty of classic moments and obscure references stuffed into it. A Python-esque comedy in the silliest English tradition.