Inglorious Basterds

It is hard to review this movie after only one viewing, it deserves a second one and by the time this review comes out many will have seen it a second time. And with good reason, the movie is wonderfully done and Quentin Tarintino handles all of his characters with care.
It should be stated right away that this movie is not historically accurate. There should be a better lead than that but right after I got out of the movie one of my friends said its inaccuracies were criticized by some. And it shouldn't be. Just because the movie is based on an actual event doesn't mean you should be forced to take it as a historical movie. Frankly it ends the way you want it to, the whole time thinking that it can't end like this. A tip of the hat to the ending of the film (which Quentin Tarantino was quite stumped on - part of the reason the script took a decade). Tarintino gave his audience what they wanted.
The standout of the movie was without a doubt German actor Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa. He delivers a standout performance in which he is well-mannered, intelligent, and sadistic all at the same time. He sends chills down your back until he makes you laugh. He won best actor at Cannes and without a doubt deserves an Oscar nomination. After all its fairly difficult to make a Nazi sympathetic, this may be as close that anyone will ever get.
Brad Pitt plays opposite Waltz as Lt. Aldo Raine, while Pitt's portrayal does not come near to the performance of Waltz, you will fall in love with his Southern accent and may even find yourself trying to mimic his accent after the movie. The character has great one-liners given to him and I would have to agree with Roger Ebert that some of his slap-stick moments are very Marxian (Groucho that is).
Eli Roth is also great character and I can imagine we'll be seeing him again later as Halloween approaches. He also does a fine job directing the movie within the movie Nation's Pride. Til Schweiger, Michael Fassbender, and Diane Kruger all provide terrific performances as well. These characters are given some quality screen time and captivate the audience. The other performance not mentioned (including Melanie Laurent as Shosanna who has a large amount of screen time and her own plot line) merely help highlight the stronger performances of the other actors.
The Shosanna plot line has some nice moments but its always just leaves you wondering when the other characters are going to step back on. I really wanted to see more of the Basterds. After all the movie is titled for them. Tarintino loves his violence and many may believe that you get it, maybe even too much. But as a fan of his work I not only expect gruesome and sometimes comedic violence I want more of it.
Not enough can be said about Tarintino's shots as well. The wide angle views from above to the close-ups all help to accent the tension and pacing of the movie. The settings are chosen with care from the French countryside, to the quaint town movie theater.
After all Inglorious Basterds is a tribute to what Tarintino loves most, movies. The names, the plot, the setting all done as a tribute to his love of movies. Is this his masterpiece as stated in the film, maybe for any other director, but not Tarintino. Tarintino has done too well with too many other movies for it to be his masterpiece. But top 3...there you can have a discussion. A-