• Inglourious Basterds Proves It: We Love Our Nazi Movies!

    Achtung! Quentin Tarantino had his biggest weekend opening with Nazi-killin' epic Inglourious Basterds: $37.6M. Did opening weekend hijinks by the Weinsteins help? Or is it just that America loves them some Nazi movies? I think we love Nazis in movies!

    Nikki Finke quotes one studio executive as noting: "The Weinsteins live to fight another day." I say, slow your roll: this is the first weekend, and it ain't gonna save the company single-handedly. Next week, Inglourious will have to compete with Taking Woodstock and The Final Destination (supposedly the final Final Destination movie). Horror films make for stiff box office competition, and Taking Woodstock might - might - chip away at hip young contingents who'd balk at violence. But: hot damn! Nazis - and especially Nazi killin' - do pretty okay at both the box office and at awards season. Let's take a look back at the history of Nazis at the box office, shall we? Possible spoilers ahoy, and by no means is this list definitive. Help us with the ones we missed in the comments.

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    Send an email to Foster Kamer, the author of this post, at foster@gawker.com.

    By Foster Kamer
    Aug 23, 2009 7:00 PM 9,940
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    Inglourious Basterds Proves It: We Love Our Nazi Movies!


    Inglourious Basterds, 2009, Dir. Quentin Tarantino

    Nazi Evil Factor: 6/10. Typical Nazis: they go around goosestepping and hating everything but other than Christoph Waltz's character - who just plays evil so well - they're nothing too special, and Hitler is portrayed as an idiot with the temperament of a twelve year-old.

    Box Office Performance: N/A In the long run, who knows? But! $37.6M in the first weekend for a Tarantino film ain't bad.

    Awards Season Power: N/A No telling at this point. But this year, there are ten - count 'em, ten - slots in the Best Picture category. Even a nomination could bolster its chances, and dollars to donuts, you can bet the Weinsteins are going to fight a brutal campaign to get this thing looked at.

    Legacy: N/A Again, yet to be seen. Could be the ultimate Nazi revenge epic (especially compared to Valkyrie, in which not enough Nazis are killed by a sissy, emo, eye-patched Tom Cruise).

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