I have seen the Dollars Trilogy! But I am not sure what makes a Western spaghetti, exactly.

Originally, it indicated westerns made by Italy (though usually shot in Spain), but it's since developed more as a term for...not so much a style, though that's part of it too, as an attitude which was quite at odds with American westerns up to that time (soon to change, though). If you've seen the Dollars trilogy, you've seen some of the best the "genre" has to offer.

Genre being in quotes because I suspect, like film noir, it's not really a genre per se.

Or, you know, just go to wikipedia. Heh.

We have had movies with those, but I don't think they were Curry Westerns.

With Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin no less.

I started to write down what I thought a spaghetti western was, went to wikipedia for confirmation, discovered it was way more complicated than I thought, so just posted the link.

But I am not sure what makes a Western spaghetti, exactly.

The spaghetti westerns were made in Italy (sort of), is the short version.

It's too much to sum up: Spaghetti Western

I did that already, and I still don't get it.

as an attitude which was quite at odds with American westerns up to that time (soon to change, though)

So more of the gritty antihero who's only looking out for himself as opposed to the wonderful awesome cowboy who saves everyone? But both in the frontier setting?

The spaghetti westerns were made in Italy (sort of), is the short version.

I know that. But that doesn't help me identify when something is like a spaghetti Western. Stylistically. Inglourious Basterds was not made in Italy. To my knowledge. Therefore, its commonality with spaghetti Westerns would be something I should see in the movie itself. Perhaps this discussion will be more fruitful after I've seen the movie. But what other movies I may have seen would you consider spaghetti Western-esque?

Spaghetti westerns are like porn: I can't define it but I know it when I see it.

So more of the gritty antihero who's only looking out for himself as opposed to the wonderful awesome cowboy who saves everyone? But both in the frontier setting?

Right, exactly. Also, if not a lot more violent, then a lot more brutality in the violence (as opposed to "bang, you're dead" moments), even if it wasn't necessarily explicitly gory, and a lot more callous about human life in general.

Of course, Leone's first movie A Fistful of Dollars was basically a straight-up (if not official) remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, which, while a samurai movie, was Kurosawa's tribute to westerns. It had a lot of the same attitudes of the spaghetti westerns already in place.

And, of course, Yojimbo was basically a samurai version of Dashiel Hammett's Red Harvest. And so on, and so forth.

Inglourious Basterds was not made in Italy. To my knowledge. Therefore, its commonality with spaghetti Westerns would be something I should see in the movie itself. Perhaps this discussion will be more fruitful after I've seen the movie. But what other movies I may have seen would you consider spaghetti Western-esque?

You've seen the Leone "Dollars" triolgy, so you've seen probably the three best known ones.

Just having seen those three movies, you will likely instantly recognize the part of the film that's a direct homage to Leone, even though none of the trappings have anything to do with a western.

Just having seen those three movies, you will likely instantly recognize the part of the film that's a direct homage to Leone, even though none of the trappings have anything to do with a western.

Yeah, I totally agree with Sean. It's pretty (deliberately) blatant.