Rising Star of 'Inglourious Basterds'

I found this comment by Lawrence O'Donnell about the movie Inglourious Basterds to be on the mark:

If Quentin Tarentino's ingenious Nazi-killing fantasy comes from behind in the polls and wins the best picture Oscar, the win will be a shocker to the TV audience, but not the Academy.

The more I talk to Academy voters, the more I hear them leaning toward Basterds. Maybe half of the votes have already been cast. Most of the rest will pour into the Academy this week. The timing for the buzz shift toward Basterds could not be better.

If I had a vote to cast, Basterds would get mine. What I love most about Inglourious Basterds is its utter indescribability. Go ahead, try to describe it to people who haven't seen it. It will sound like a silly, incoherent, horribly inaccurate depiction of World War 2. They will not believe any adult would put up money to make or see a movie like that. They will not be able to fathom why Brad Pitt would jump at the chance to star in it. Tarantino took a crazy idea that rattled around in his head for years, turned it into what must have seemed like a pretty crazy screenplay, then turned that into a masterful movie crammed with unbearable tension, twisted humor, true eloquence, and remarkable performances.

The choice between Inglourious Bastards and Avatar is a really tough one. I was taken with both of them.  At this point, I don't know how I would cast my vote for Best Picture, if I had a vote.  I definitely know that Christoph Waltz should win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (it really should be Best Actor), because he was the star of Inglorious Basterds.  Brad Pitt wasn't really a significant force in the movie at all.