World War II

Before watching Hart’s War, I had read no summary of the movie. I knew it took place in World War II and had Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell. Other than that, I was completely in the dark.…

Ralph Fiennes excels at playing villains, even when he isn’t necessarily trying to. The English Patient is a good example of this. Even though Laszlo de Almásy (Fiennes) is our main character that we should sympathize with,…

If you have never heard about Albert Speer, this documentary is a great introduction to his life. He grew up in a bourgeois family and studied architecture and eventually became a confidant of Hitler. He…

Wife of a Spy won the Silver Bear for Best Director at last year’s Venice Film Festival. I had heard of director and co-writer Kiyoshi Kurosawa (not related to the late great master of Japanese…

After the Holocaust, the catchphrase “Never Again” caught fire. It was supposed to be the reminder of what hate and prejudice can do to humanity. But in the 76 years since World War II ended,…

“That was a pretty savage review that Adina had, let’s see what it’s actually like.” “Ralph Fiennes is really leaning into this whole pipe schtick. I wonder if that’ll be a thing this whole movie?”…

Judith Kerr was nearly 50 years old when she heard something she could not excuse. Her children remarked to her one night that they had always imagined her childhood as being similar to The Sound…

When we think of archeology, we think of exotic locales, hordes of ancient buried treasures, and danger coming from the locals who are not pleased by the sudden appearance of strangers. But in reality, it…

Creating an intimate documentary that goes deep into an individual’s backstory can be one of the most difficult types of film to do right. The level of intimacy necessary can be difficult to capture and dip…

War is complicated. Humanity is complicated. Put them together and there is a perfect storm of destruction and loss of life. But satire has a way of allowing us to both laugh and think clearly.…

Wartime comedies must walk a fine line. Obviously, they have to be funny. But they also have to fully present in a world in which war is the norm. In 1942, the original To Be or…

Every writer or director has his or her own signature style. Quentin Tarantino’s signature films contain violence, humor, a slightly out-there narrative, and many callbacks to the films ans shows that he loved growing up.…

War has a way of changing everything, relationships included. The new movie, The Aftermath, based on the book by Rhidian Brook, dives into this idea, looking into the aftermath of war and the repercussions that…

I recently lost a sizeable amount of faith in J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot. The Cloverfield Paradox was so bad that the famed director sank down a few notches in my mental rankings. That being…