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I'm just having a spell of watching random 30s movies at the moment .... some are good, some are not but I always think you can't really eulogise over the greats unless you've seen some real duffers for comparison 
Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review
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Ha, I love those duffers, they're like junk food for the brain...satisfyingly bad
speaking of which, I had rented The Egg and I where ma and pa kettle first appeared, saw the opening 20 min or so, never got to finished it, returned it to the library and utterly forgot to go re-rent it until this conversation 
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[center]
The Hero (2017)
[left]Director: Brett Haley
Writers: Brett Haley, Marc Basch
Cast: Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter
Genre: Drama, light comedy
The Hero (2017)
[left]Director: Brett Haley
Writers: Brett Haley, Marc Basch
Cast: Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter
Genre: Drama, light comedy
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Dunkirk (2017)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Fionn Whitehead, Barry Keoghan, Mark Rylance
Genre: War, Action, History
Writer: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Fionn Whitehead, Barry Keoghan, Mark Rylance
Genre: War, Action, History
'Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire and France are surrounded by the German Army, and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.'
Watched this last night on the small screen...my TV. Well it's small compared to an IMAX screen where Christopher Nolan's latest film Dunkirk is best seen. No denying that this is a strongly visual film that captures the vastness of the Dunkirk evacuation on a grand scale.
That screen shot above was one of my favorite scenes. Just prior to that image was an ultra wide angle shot that looked down the long beach at Dunkirk where many 1000's of British soldiers laid ducking for cover on the exposed beach...in the distances there's a German bomber dropping bombs on the hapless men. The bombs were so far away that the solider in the foreground appears safely removed from the explosions, and yet we can see these little specks of men in the background being vaporized by the bombs...It's all so impersonal, and it's all so far away as to show how random dying in war really is.
There's many well staged scenes like that, showing great depth of physical dimension that then relays the vastness of the Dunkirk evacuation. The film is so visual that someone has done a fan edit and turned Dunkirk into a very effective B&W silent film, complete with title cards.
Like I said, on the big screen this must be impressive. But the film's visual strength and the director's choice of not getting up close and personal with the characters, makes for an unemotionally engaging film. I did appreciate it for the visual scope and I applaud the director for thinking outside of the box, but I can tell the movie won't be staying with me.
That screen shot above was one of my favorite scenes. Just prior to that image was an ultra wide angle shot that looked down the long beach at Dunkirk where many 1000's of British soldiers laid ducking for cover on the exposed beach...in the distances there's a German bomber dropping bombs on the hapless men. The bombs were so far away that the solider in the foreground appears safely removed from the explosions, and yet we can see these little specks of men in the background being vaporized by the bombs...It's all so impersonal, and it's all so far away as to show how random dying in war really is.
There's many well staged scenes like that, showing great depth of physical dimension that then relays the vastness of the Dunkirk evacuation. The film is so visual that someone has done a fan edit and turned Dunkirk into a very effective B&W silent film, complete with title cards.
Like I said, on the big screen this must be impressive. But the film's visual strength and the director's choice of not getting up close and personal with the characters, makes for an unemotionally engaging film. I did appreciate it for the visual scope and I applaud the director for thinking outside of the box, but I can tell the movie won't be staying with me.
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Last edited by Citizen Rules; 08-07-21 at 10:34 AM.
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I recently saw The Egg and I for the first time and I highly recommend you go back and finish it. There's a review of it in my review thread somewhere.
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I had hoped to catch Dunkirk at the theater for that exact reason that you mentioned and sadly, it didn't come to pass, so I'll be watching it on DVD in the future. From the snippets I've seen it looks pretty impressive.
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The Hero (2017)
Director: Brett Haley
Writers: Brett Haley, Marc Basch
Cast: Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter
Genre: Drama, light comedy
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Writers: Brett Haley, Marc Basch
Cast: Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter
Genre: Drama, light comedy
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Intrigued for sure. Big Sam Elliot fan!
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just read your Triumph of Will review. The chilling thing with Hitler is that whenever they show his speeches they only show him yelling without any subtitles of what he's saying. So, unless you know German, all you see is someone ranting and raving without context.
I actually found a speech of his back in the nineties from a friend at the time and we were laughing worriedly that a lot of it was the same thing that Bush Senior was saying and a recurring theme that most American Presidents touch on: making our nation great again, the promise of prosperity, a return to a moralistic climate and the removal of decadent behavior that is detrimental to the life blood of the country, being patriotic by safeguarding your country from outside threats from within. That it is your sworn duty to report suspicious behavior, even from your parents or, as parents, regarding your children. That they should stand up as a Nation and show the world they are strong, they are unified, they are pure and they are NOT weak.
All of which was going on back then and even more so nowadays.
So, how did they fall for Hitler's promises? Pretty much the same way we fall for our leaders' promises, basically.
Scary, huh?
I actually found a speech of his back in the nineties from a friend at the time and we were laughing worriedly that a lot of it was the same thing that Bush Senior was saying and a recurring theme that most American Presidents touch on: making our nation great again, the promise of prosperity, a return to a moralistic climate and the removal of decadent behavior that is detrimental to the life blood of the country, being patriotic by safeguarding your country from outside threats from within. That it is your sworn duty to report suspicious behavior, even from your parents or, as parents, regarding your children. That they should stand up as a Nation and show the world they are strong, they are unified, they are pure and they are NOT weak.
All of which was going on back then and even more so nowadays.
So, how did they fall for Hitler's promises? Pretty much the same way we fall for our leaders' promises, basically.
Scary, huh?
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just read your Triumph of Will review. The chilling thing with Hitler is that whenever they show his speeches they only show him yelling without any subtitles of what he's saying. So, unless you know German, all you see is someone ranting and raving without context.
I actually found a speech of his back in the nineties from a friend at the time and we were laughing worriedly that a lot of it was the same thing that Bush Senior was saying and a recurring theme that most American Presidents touch on: making our nation great again, the promise of prosperity, a return to a moralistic climate and the removal of decadent behavior that is detrimental to the life blood of the country, being patriotic by safeguarding your country from outside threats from within. That it is your sworn duty to report suspicious behavior, even from your parents or, as parents, regarding your children. That they should stand up as a Nation and show the world they are strong, they are unified, they are pure and they are NOT weak.
All of which was going on back then and even more so nowadays.
So, how did they fall for Hitler's promises? Pretty much the same way we fall for our leaders' promises, basically.
Scary, huh?
I actually found a speech of his back in the nineties from a friend at the time and we were laughing worriedly that a lot of it was the same thing that Bush Senior was saying and a recurring theme that most American Presidents touch on: making our nation great again, the promise of prosperity, a return to a moralistic climate and the removal of decadent behavior that is detrimental to the life blood of the country, being patriotic by safeguarding your country from outside threats from within. That it is your sworn duty to report suspicious behavior, even from your parents or, as parents, regarding your children. That they should stand up as a Nation and show the world they are strong, they are unified, they are pure and they are NOT weak.
All of which was going on back then and even more so nowadays.
So, how did they fall for Hitler's promises? Pretty much the same way we fall for our leaders' promises, basically.
Scary, huh?
...I make joke, ya?
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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
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just read your Triumph of Will review. The chilling thing with Hitler is that whenever they show his speeches they only show him yelling without any subtitles of what he's saying. So, unless you know German, all you see is someone ranting and raving without context....
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the fact that it actually includes subtitles for the speeches has me even more curious than I was previously about it.
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Too soon to mock Hitler, or too soon to mock Trump?
Or simply just not amusing.
Many have already said similar things or made comparisons between Trump and Hitler.
Maybe Mark can clear it up?
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Funny how the scenes of the soup kitchen and the cooking of bratwurst looked almost idyllic as bonfires were lit and the Nazi youth for a moment are only youths having fun on a summer day. As odd as it might sound there's real hope in the faces of those youth. But they're just expendable pawns with no idea what their leader has in store for the world. I can't help but think that the German people were like all people who need hope, desperately willing to following what ever path comes their way as long as it promises a better future.
I studied this as a primary source when I studied Nazi Germany and had completely forgotten that. Great review, CR. The Nazi youth just being kids who were 'pawns' as you said really upset me.
That Abandon Ship looks like a good flick. It's too bad you didn't find it in time for the 50's countdown but I think I'd still like to see it.
I think I gave Philomena the same rating; a real good film even if I'll probably never watch it again.
I also have that Olympics film on my watchlist, but I believe it's over 4 hours long.
I think I gave Philomena the same rating; a real good film even if I'll probably never watch it again.
I also have that Olympics film on my watchlist, but I believe it's over 4 hours long.
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