By Daniel Barnes Fixed Bayonets! (1951; Sam Fuller) GRADE: B+ War movies are an indigenous territory for a director who liked to describe cinema as a battlefield. However, Fixed Bayonets! is a little more limited by its genre and commercial obligations. It’s about an outnumbered platoon given a […]
Le Silence de la Mer (1949; Jean-Pierre Melville) GRADE: A- By Mike Dub “This film has no pretension of solving the problem of Franco-German relations, for they cannot be solved while the barbarous Nazi crimes, committed with the complicity of the German people, remain fresh in men’s minds.” – […]
Kapo (1960; Gillo Pontecorvo) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes At the age of 17, I saw Schindler’s List in the movie theater along with everyone else and loved it along with everyone else. I never revisited the Spielberg film, but I remain somewhat suspicious of my affection for […]
A Dangerous Method (2011; David Cronenberg) GRADE: B- By Mike Dub Given cinema’s predisposition for illustrating human psychology, it is somewhat surprising that David Croneneberg, renowned for his use of surreal narrative devices and imagery (he’s the man who had James Woods stick his head into the vagina […]
Godzilla (2014; Gareth Edwards) GRADE: C- By Mike Dub There is an interesting idea buried in the mediocrity of the latest revamp of Godzilla, directed by soon-to-be kazillionaire Gareth Edwards. Throughout the first three-quarters of the 123-minute film, Edwards teases his audience with momentary glimpses of the epic battle between […]
The Class (2008; Laurent Cantet) GRADE: A- By Daniel Barnes While Hollywood films are typically and predictably dismissive of school teachers (and all public servants, really) as pedants, snobs, fascists, and/or layabouts, there also exists a mostly icky vein of educator-as-hero stories. Movies ranging from Goodbye, Mr. Chips […]
