Whenever Quentin Tarantino has a new project coming out, film fans work themselves into a tizzy, praising and/or bashing it well in advance of its release date.

At least that’s what we’re seeing with Inglourious Basterds — Tarantino’s new and confusingly misspelled war project with Brad Pitt. Criticker’s forum community seems split on whether it’s going to suck or rule, though modest optimism seems to be the prevailing mood.

User brandt64 dug up the following French trailer, which (in our opinion) seems promising.

Inglourious Basterds opens on August 21st… are you excited? Why not go join the discussion in the forum?

- Dream Vacation

A couple days late, but you’re patient folks. The films making up this week’s batch of new DVD releases are a special kind of crappy, so this might be a good weekend to catch up on your classics or explore some neglected gems. Only Two Lovers, a romance between Gwenyth Paltrow & crazy man Joaquin Phoenix, managed to score decent marks from Criticker users. If you’re under 12, you won’t need informed that the Jonas Brothers’ DVD is out this week. But a word of warning — in just a few years, you’ll be ashamed of yourself. Really.

Two Lovers – Average Tier 6.77
A Brooklyn-set romantic drama about a bachelor (Phoenix) torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry (Shaw) and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor (Paltrow). Two Lovers @ Amazon

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li – Average Tier 1.59
Based on the popular video game franchise, female fighter Chun Li embarks on a quest for justice. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li @ Amazon

12 Rounds – Average Tier 2.50
Detective Danny Fisher (Cena) discovers his girlfriend (Scott) has been kidnapped by a ex-con tied to Baxter’s past, and he’ll have to successfully complete 12 challenges in order to secure her safe release. 12 Rounds @ Amazon

Tunnel Rats – Average Tier 3.31
During the Vietnam War [1959-1975] a special US combat unit is sent out to hunt and kill the Viet Cong soldiers in a man-to-man combat in the endless tunnels underneath the jungle of Vietnam. Suicide squads of a special kind. Tunnel Rats @ Amazon

Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience – Average Tier 1.29
A 3-D concert film of the 2008 Jonas Brothers “Burning Up” concert tour, as well as documentary footage on the lives of the three brothers. Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience @ Amazon

Mario Bava, possibly the most important director from Italy’s golden age of sleazy horror, never lived to see the theatrical release of Rabid Dogs. However, over the course of years, it’s become one of his most appreciated works.

A roller-coaster ride of blood, murder and terror, Rabid Dogs (later re-released as Kidnapped) is 90 minutes of either unadulterated adrenaline or offensiveness, depending entirely on your level of appreciation of such things.

The plot centers around a group of nasty criminals (Doc, Thirty-Two, Stiletto and Ace) who are attempting to make a getaway after a job. Their escape is botched and they’re left having to kill and brutalize their way to freedom, kidnapping beautiful and hapless Maria as a hostage for the road.

The Criticker users who have seen and ranked this film agree. Almost everyone has given it high marks — though this may be because the only people who’d willingly seek out violent Mario Bava films are those predisposed to like them… Still. Good enough to land Rabid Dogs in our list of Neglected Gems!

The Academy just announced that there will now be 10 nominees up for the Best Picture Oscar.

Sounds to me like a naked bid to increase attendance in the cinemas — how many people go to see a film just because it’s nominated for the best picture? I can say without hesitation that it was the only reason we watched The Reader.

From CNN.com:

Tonight you’re all gonna be part of a social experiment.

Which of course is just another way of saying, “We’ll still be snobs, but now we’ll pretend as though Batman has a chance, in order to appease you idiots and take your money”.

Do you know a single person under 65 who thought The Reader was better than The Dark Knight? Oh well… at least this gives us more to talk about when award season comes around.

- Join the discussion in the forums

Say hello to Criticker Lists, a brand new way to rank things and compare taste with other people! Criticker has always been a great place to find what movies other people are into, and now you can find out a lot more… Criticker Lists allows you to compare taste on any topic you can imagine… G.I. Joe figures, characters from Lost, favorite natural phenomena, coolest former Yugolsav Republics and… well, there’s no limit*!

The ways to use Criticker Lists are infinite. It’s a lot of fun to compare taste in random topics with people (now that I know Dexter and I are 97% compatible in Preferred Suicide Methods, I’ll be more likely trust his taste in other things). Of course, it’s most fun with family and friends — so once you get a taste for Criticker Lists, make sure to invite them and add them as your Kumpels.

As is always the case when our limited and excitable staff rolls out new functionality, there will be errors. Please report any problems or suggestions to lists-at-criticker.com. We hope you like the new utility!

*Well, we’re not going to allow pornographic or clearly offensive imagery, but besides that there are pretty much no limits.

Cinema Jove is a summer film festival in Valencia — the 3rd biggest city in Spain and, incidentally, the current home of Criticker. It’s focused on European cinema and, though it isn’t as well-known as other Spanish festivals, it’s a big deal in Valencia.

A couple of the movies making up the official selection look great, particularly Norway’s Nord and Sweden’s Involuntary Discretions.

In addition to the films in competition, Cinema Jove invites a director to pick his or her favorite movies for an open-air screening in Valencia’s wonderful Viveros Gardens. This year’s director is Enrique Urbizu and the films he’s selected are awesome– tonight, Juergen and I are going to see Touch of Evil in the park.

Laurent Cantet

Laurent Cantet is another one of the main protagonists of this year’s festival. The French director is best known for his Palme d’Or winning masterpiece The Class. Cantet will be on hand in Valencia during the festival to receive an achievement award, and definitely helps augment the profile of Cinema Jove.

If you’re lucky enough to be in Valencia this week, make sure to check out some of the films — many of which are being screened free of charge to the public. And if you’re interested in the city, keep an eye on our city blog, holavalencia.net, where we write about all things Valencia. It’s a hidden treasure on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, which is fairly unknown to tourists despite its size.

Cinema Jove’s Official Website

- ABC B&B Valencia

Earlier this week, we introduced a couple new minor enhancements which will let you share your reviews with the world: Permalinks to your reviews and Automatic posting to Twitter.

So the next time you write a particularly clever mini-review, let people know about it on Twitter! Or use the permalink in whatever way you like. With the permalink, your review always appears highlighted, on top of everyone else’s.

These changes are also available for all your existing mini-reviews & ratings, too.

- Follow us on Twitter

It didn’t make much noise in American cineplexes, but Doris Dörrie’s Cherry Blossoms is the movie of choice amongst this week’s new DVD releases. It’s a tale of discovering that it’s never too late to be surprised by the ones you think you know most. Or you can watch some kids get hacked to pieces in the Friday the 13th remake. It’s all good.

Friday the 13th – Average Tier 3.60
A group of young adults discover a boarded up Camp Crystal Lake, where they soon encounter Jason Voorhees (Mears) and his deadly intentions. Friday the 13th @ Amazon

Cherry Blossoms – Average Tier 6.44
When Trudi learns that her husband Rudi is dangerously ill, she suggests visiting their children in Berlin without telling him the truth. As Franzi and Karl don’t care much about their parents, Trudi and Rudi go to the Baltic Sea, where Trudi suddenly dies. Rudi is thrown out of gear, even more when he learns that his wife wanted to live a totally different life in Japan… Cherry Blossoms @ Amazon

Madea Goes to Jail – Average Tier 2.00
Mischievous grandma Madea lands in jail, where she meets a variety of mixed-up characters. Madea Goes to Jail @ Amazon

The Perfect Sleep – Average Tier 2.80
Against the backdrop of a noirish dreamscape, a tortured man returns to the city he swore he would never return to… The Perfect Sleep @ Amazon

Morning Light
Fifteen young sailors… six months of intense training… one chance at the brass ring. This documentary tells the story of a group of intrepid and determined young men and women, on the cusp of adulthood, as they embark on life’s first great adventure. Morning Light @ Amazon

The collections which Criticker users come up with never fail to surprise in their originality and curiosity. And Hailey has created a great one — Films which have inspired TV series.

“HAHAAH James Spader Be PWND”

There are a lot of interesting entries in this collection, ranging from series that would ultimately trump their precursor in popularity, like MASH and Stargate, to somewhat less successful ones like Uncle Buck (what, you don’t remember?)

7 users have contributed to Hailey’s public collection, which now collects 44 films. If you know another which belongs, why not add it yourself?

- Backpacker’s Delicatessen – Everything Canned

Some films are shit, but have somehow managed to fool a lot of people into believing that they’re good. That’s my take, anyway, on Empire Records, a film from 1995 that should have been instantly forgotten, but has managed to scratch and claw its way to cult status. It has an unbelievably high Film Contentiousness Quotient of 52.82, which means almost equal numbers of users loved and hated it, with very few in between. Details on the math can be found here.

Ach, maybe I’m just being grumpy. The truth is I hardly remember even seeing this film, about a bunch of record store employees. Empire Records stars Liv Tyler and Renée Zellweger and has a soundtrack featuring the likes of the Gin Blossoms and Better than Ezra. Now if that collection of talent doesn’t inspire excitement, CHECK YOUR PULSE!

And now, let’s hear from some Criticker users:
Neil Miller – “One of my favorite films of all-time.. a truly enjoyable portrait of the slacker counter-culture of the mid-90s.”

FitFortDanga – “Pretty much the worst thing I’ve ever seen. But strangely compelling in its absolute awfulness. Quite likely the blandest, shittiest soundtrack of all time. Toad the Wet Sprocket? Fucking hell.”

Last week, you voted on 300, and I’m pleased to report that

It passed your test with flying colors.

- This Is My Boom Stick T-Shirt