4. “Inglourious Basterds” (2009)

Essentially “Kill Bill“ set during WWII, “Inglourious Basterds” is Tarantino’s most recent film, and is his highest-grossing movie to date. Taking place mostly in Nazi-occupied France in 1941, it tells the story of two parallel plots to assassinate the German high command. The first plot is led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt with a slightly hilarious Southern drawl), a Jewish-American who is given orders to bomb a movie theatre that will soon be attended by some very important Germans. The second plot is that of Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent), a French-Jewish girl who, as an act of revenge, plans to blow up the same cinema, which she owns, on the same night Aldo and his soldiers will plant their bombs. The film, which was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay by the Academy Awards, shows off once again Tarantino’s passion for dialogue, as characters chit-chat with one another to relentlessly entertaining effect. It’s a captivating and stylish blend of opposing genres, its splendid success aided by the Oscar-winning villainous performance by Christoph Waltz as a vicious Nazi officer known as The Jew Hunter.