Weinstein Co. appealing to the meathead market with 'Inglourious Basterds'

Try to find a more muscle-bound media plan than the one around Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino's kosher-porn flick coming out next month. Cases in point: A partnership with TNT for the premiere of Jerry Bruckheimer cop series Dark Blue, with a 90-second extended trailer and co-branded tune-in spots; a deal with Ultimate Fighting Championship that put the movie all over the Vegas venue where Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir battled it out a few weeks ago; and Tarantino and Brad Pitt plugging the World War II film at Spike TV's Guys Choice awards, a celebration of beer drinking, babe watching and head banging. There's an explanation for the meathead marketing. The Weinstein Co. is in desperate need of a hit and hopes to create one with the help of young action junkies. What better way to do that than position Basterds as a bloody late-summer adrenaline rush? Problem is, reviews are calling the movie "talky," with large stretches not in English. The Hollywood Reporter says, "For a war movie there is very little action." Sure would hate to be around when the testosterone set realizes they've been lured into a two-and-a-half-hour art-house flick.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley