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If you’re not a Star Wars fan, you probably won’t enjoy this move at all – it’s chock-full of references and homages, mostly having to do with the original trilogy (Episodes IV-VI). If you ARE a Star Wars fan, the only reason for you not to have seen this film is that you’ve been frozen in carbonite for the last 12 months. Go see it now. Really.

“You slappa da base, mon?” A great film about best friends and how important it can be to know there’s someone there that’s always got your back and is genuinely interested in your well-being, even when it looks completely the opposite. Rush fans will enjoy this film more than most other folks, as the band features VERY prominently throughout.

Sometimes we want to help people that we perceive to be less fortunate, or people that we think have problems. Sometimes these people we judge are perfectly ok and don’t need or want our help. And sometimes, the only thing these people who we judge to be less than ourselves need or want is the simple comfort of knowing they have a friend, someone that cares about them. This film showed me all of these things in brilliant form.

With the subtleness of script and deft storytelling that has become their hallmark, Disney and Pixar share a story that just about anyone can relate to from wherever they are and regardless of age, making this a film that any family can watch and enjoy together. It’s truly one of the best accomplishments of the Disney/Pixar partnership.

No other film has been as relentlessly funny in so many different ways and compelled me to laugh hysterically from beginning to end. It’s inappropriate as hell, but that’s part of the humor. Make no mistake, The hangover doesn’t use school-boy humor as a crutch to support itself, although it’s prevalent throughout. This film is absolutely, unashamedly, disgustingly, offensively funny.

I never read the book, so I can’t comment on how accurate this film is to the source material. What I can tell you is that it’s a brilliantly told story of a sister’s love. Bring a box of tissues. Yes, the whole box.

I’ve never understood the military mindset and what really drives a soldier, in particular, the need/desire to go on tour after tour in a theater of war. I may never fully grasp what motivates someone to consciously and deliberately put themselves in harms way (sometimes a bit too recklessly), but after watching this film I have a new appreciation for the men and women in uniform and the prices they truly pay for our freedoms beyond simply serving and fighting.

As much a parable and social commentary on apartheid (and discrimination in general) as it is a sci-fi flick, there is an unflinching brutality and accessibility to this film that easily placed it within my top 10.

Tarantino at his Tarantino-est, Inglorious Basterds bears all the marks of a classic work from this brilliant filmmaker – the dialogue, the sight gags, the extremely graphic (but not gratuitous) violence, the unpredictability and unforeseen demise of key characters, and most of all, the absolutely phenomenal story-telling. If you enjoy Tarantino, this film is a must-see (although you probably already have). If you’re not a fan, this one certainly won’t change your mind.

In both the real-world and wild-world (are they really any different?) sequences of this film I found myself revisiting my own childhood and the thoughts, emotions, and imagination that made it such a magical time of life. More than just a re-telling of the original story and a faithful recreation of the art and characters, this film is an indispensible companion to the book.