1917 is effectively a feature length stunt. As the camera follows two young British World War I soldiers from their camp to the trenches to trudging across a field to a house in a field (etc. etc.) you realize that it seems to be one continuous, unbroken shot. The camera swoops from their faces to …
Movies have always had the powerful ability to not only entertain, but to inform. Movies can bring attention to little-acknowledged moments of history, whether good or bad, by telling a story that will (hopefully) intrigue an audience and push them to open their eyes to the past, and, hopefully, to learn from it. Starting in …
Directed by and starring Russell Crowe, The Water Diviner is an ambitious film that incorporates elements of romance, adventure, tragedy, action, and drama. You could simply call it a war movie, but really, the main thing you need to know is that The Water Diviner is about a grieving man with frying pan hands. Connor …
The novel by Michael Morpurgo is set during the First World War and told from the horse’s point of view. The live-theater incarnation features a glorious mechanical horse puppet that, over the course of the play, steals the heart of the audience and, for all intents and purposes, becomes almost real. In both instances, everything …
Even after a century, it is surprising how many great stories can be mined from World War I. It is now truly in the past, as there are (most likely at least) very few, if any, people that fought during the Great War that are still alive. Compared to World War II–the first “modern” war, …
This summer marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I, or the Great War, as it was known at the time. It was a modern war that coincided with the explosion of early Hollywood filmmaking, leading studios to pluck the thrilling stories of war to portray on the big screen to thrill …
World War I is honored in new DVD box set from Warner Bros. Read More »
Young Harry Potter gets to stretch his legs in this made-for-TV historical drama, and redeems himself quite nicely, I must say. In fact, except for the initial jolt of recognition when he first appears on-screen, I found that Daniel Radcliffe disappeared immediately to be replaced by young John Kipling, son of the famous author Rudyard …
If it weren’t for the fact that The Big Parade came out in 1925, four years before the first Oscar was awarded, it would probably now be included as part of that shortlist of films that have won piles of awards. Instead, I had never heard of this film before cozying up on my couch …
The story follows a group of young Germans who, swept up in a tide of patriotism, join the military to fight for the fatherland in World War I. It is first unclear whom the story is going to follow, but a good ways into the film we start to pick out Paul, a young man …
There are many Best Picture winners, true classics from Golden Age of Hollywood, that stand the test of time, like Gone With the Wind, It Happened One Night, or Rebecca. Then you have movies like Cavalcade, that have the credentials, but, well, no one really talks about them anymore. I think in the back of …