No, that's not a drunken typo.

Yes, I do mean basterds.

Specifically, Quentin Tarantino's basterds. I speak of course not of the illegitimate fruit of his loins, but of the newest fruit of his cinematic imagination, Inglourious Basterds. A WWII Spaghetti Western redo of Italian director Enzo Castellari's 1978 flick, the more traditionally spelled Inglorious Bastards.

There Are Bastards
Inglorious Bastards is a spin on the Robert Aldrich classic referenced in its boastful tagline, "whatever the Dirty Dozen did, they do it better" -- they being a group of American WWII soldiers being transported to a military prison for desertion and other infractions. When a German air raid hits the convoy the outlaws escape and head for neutral Switzerland. On the way they join a mission to steal a Nazi gyroscope prototype. It's a cheeky war flick that includes topless bathing beauties armed with machine guns.

And Then There Are Basterds
Inglourious Basterds, however, is a story that Tarantino's reputedly been writing for about six years. Filming began this past October 2008 in Germany. Though some say QT hopes to debut the project in Cannes in May, the theatrical release date is August 21, 2009.

Tarantino's first solo direction since Kill Bill Vol. 2, Inglourious Basterds -- unlike that samurai sword murderama that occasionally ventured into Spaghetti Western territory when not in Yakuzaville -- has been described by its creator as "truly Spaghetti Western." Set, intriguingly enough, in Nazi-occupied Europe.

The script tells two converging tales -- one showing the struggles of Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), a woman who witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of a Nazi Colonel and escapes to Paris where she begins a new life as a cinema owner and operator.

The other storyline details the exploits of Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) as he organizes a Nazi-hunting squad of Jewish-American soldiers seeking retribution -- dubbed "The Basterds" by their enemies. German actress and spy Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) collaborates with Raine's men on a mission to destroy the leaders of the Third Reich. Plots collide under a cinema marquee where Shosanna has put her own plans for revenge in motion.

Rumor has it that Pitt's character is an illiterate, lynch-rope-scarred hillbilly from Tennessee, hence the movie's purposefully misspelled header, "Inglourious Basterds." Other familiar faces (and voices) slated to appear in the movie include Mike Myers, Cloris Leachman, Samuel L. Jackson (as narrator), The Office's B.J. Novak, Hostel director Eli Roth as a bat-wielding sergeant, and possibly Enzo himself.

But where's Uma? Has Tarantino thrown over his femme fatale muse for Helen of Troy?

Spaghetti Western, WWII, vigilante vengeance, A-list actors, feisty female protagonist -- all shaken and stirred with a Tarantino twist. What will this latest parody of QT's favorite things add up to?

Nothing you'd expect -- as is to be expected from the convention-bending director. In a 2003 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, QT warned he wouldn't be "period specific." "I'm not gonna just play a lot of Edith Piaf and Andrews Sisters. I can have rap, and I can do whatever I want."

Personally, I'm envisioning Sukiyaki Western Django, Kill Bill, The Dirty Dozen and its derivative Inglorious Bastards whipped into one fabulous film feast -- or an indigestible disaster. One that I'm sure many movie fans will be hungry for after a diet of bland and brain-numbing summer blockbuster fare.

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