Sort by
Listing Movies
Display Movies
The Monuments Men (2014)
It was the greatest art heist in history
Filmmaker(s): George Clooney

Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is an action drama focusing on seven over-the-hill, out-of-shape museum directors, artists, architects, curators, and art historians who went to the front lines of WWII to rescue the world’s artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their rightful owners. With the art hidden behind enemy lines, how could these guys hope to succeed?

The Diary am thankful that Clooney is working. I’ve heard him speak as himself; he is a good man, interested in good things. I forgive him his lack of range as an actor, because the characters he plays are so engaging. And he made ‘Good...


Published February 5, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975)
The most dreaded Nazi of them all!
Filmmaker(s): Don Edmonds

Ilsa, a warden at a Nazi death camp that conducts experiments on prisoners, strives to prove that women can withstand more pain and suffering than men, and therefore should be allowed to fight on the frontlines.

Damaged Film, Damaged Viewers touch life in fewer and more unexpected places than you think. Most movies are about other movies or society’s dreams rather than the real world. So films that reference major historical events are interesting beasts. Possibly apart from Vietnam, no war-related event...


Published May 19, 2022
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)
BACK AGAIN - INGRID BERGMAN in her greatest role
Filmmaker(s): Mark Robson

All her life, Englishwoman Gladys Aylward knew that China was the place where she belonged. Not qualified to be sent there as a missionary, Gladys works as a domestic to earn the money to send herself to a poor, remote village. There she eventually lives a full and happy life: running the inn, acting as "foot inspector", advising the local Mandarin, and even winning the heart of mixed race Captain Lin Nan. But Gladys discovers her real destiny when the country is invaded by Japan and the Chinese children need her to save their lives. Based on a true story.

Three Forces gosh: how could this fail to please. It employs all three of the major forces in pandering film: cute children, a beautiful woman ennobled by adversity and finally: unlikely ‘interracial’ love (‘.. he pressed his earthy oriental skin...


Published May 16, 2022
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Twos |
Tagged: , ,
Exodus (1960)
The drama and the passion of one of the epic events of the twentieth century !
Filmmaker(s): Otto Preminger

Ari Ben Canaan, a passionate member of the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah, attempts to transport 600 Jewish refugees on a dangerous voyage from Cyprus to Palestine on a ship named the Exodus. He faces obstruction from British forces, who will not grant the ship passage to its destination.

Stalled Ship wonder what damage we are doing to ourselves by writing false history. All history is fictional. It must be because it abstracts single narratives from the hubbub of life. We hope that the narrative models something that can be traced back to facts, can...


Published May 13, 2022
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
Napoleon (2023)
He came from nothing. He conquered everything.
Filmmaker(s): Ridley Scott

An epic that details the checkered rise and fall of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine.

Lettered Narration characters make interesting films, so we are led to believe. Filmmakers certainly believe it, and here is one of the most interesting historical figures ever. So why not? Especially since you have budget, a master filmmaker and good actors. But usually it doesn’t work;...


Published January 9, 2024
| Categorised as New Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
Dark Blue World (2001)
Filmmaker(s): Jan Svěrák

Lt. Franta Slama is a top pilot in the Czech Air Force who is assigned to train a promising young flier, Karel Vojtisek, and they soon become friends. When Nazi Germany invades Czechoslovakia in 1939, they both reject the authority of their new leaders and escape to England where they join other Czech exiles in the RAF. While flying a mission over England, Karel crash lands and happens upon the farmhouse of Susan, a young woman whose husband is in the Navy. Karel soon falls head over heels for Susan but, while they enjoy a brief fling, in time Susan decides she prefers the company of the older and more worldly Franta. As Franta and Karel struggle to maintain their friendship despite their romantic rivalry.

Not Czech nation cannot be a nation unless it has an identity. These days that identity is at least found in and often generated by movies, especially war movies. Also, if a nation has a mature identity, you will see it in the nature of the...


Published January 23, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
Toward the Unknown (1956)
Somewhere at a secluded U.S. Air Force Base lives a picked handful of very special men — the rocket pilots of outer space and the eerie experimental craft that rule the skies beyond the sky...
Filmmaker(s): Mervyn LeRoy

Tortured into a false confession while a POW in Korea, Major Lincoln Bond returns to active service as a test pilot. Determined to clear his name, Bond battles a hard-nosed base commander, prejudiced officers and his own insecurities.

Spam in a Jan things noteworthy about this movie, which though big in its day is almost completely forgotten now. It is one of a class of movies where the humans are second class citizens and the prime characters are machines. This class originated almost at...


Published January 24, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
Eye in the Sky (2015)
Welcome to the new front line
Filmmaker(s): Gavin Hood

A UK-based military officer in command of a top secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing and the mission escalates from “capture” to “kill.” As American pilot Steve Watts is about to engage, a nine-year old girl enters the kill zone, triggering an international dispute reaching the highest levels of US and British government over the moral, political, and personal implications of modern warfare.

Three Distances notion of noir is the communication in a film story that the audience is the writer of the world, a world designed to satisfy our urges. Innocent victims are manipulated through coincidence and love. Since Welles, we’ve seen a great many variations and...


Published February 3, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014)
Filmmaker(s): Tsui Hark

Yang Zirong disguises himself as a bandit to infiltrate and destroy a bandit group. He joins hands with a hostage, and together, they fight against the warlord, Hawk.

The Japanese Win? a 2D viewing. This is very clearly produced under Party sponsorship to celebrate the soldiers who won the country. The contrast with US WWII films is striking. We require tough heroes, where here there is something more noble. Two remarkable things...


Published February 4, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
American Sniper (2014)
The most lethal sniper in U.S. history.
Filmmaker(s): Clint Eastwood

U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle takes his sole mission—protect his comrades—to heart and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. His pinpoint accuracy not only saves countless lives but also makes him a prime target of insurgents. Despite grave danger and his struggle to be a good husband and father to his family back in the States, Kyle serves four tours of duty in Iraq. However, when he finally returns home, he finds that he cannot leave the war behind.

Focus watched this like many others, consuming a rather simple story. Superficially, we are to admire this soul, both as an individual and representative of a collective who ‘serve‘ us. As with Forgiven, we have some subtle exit from the story in the direction of...


Published February 4, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,