Archive | May, 2008
All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front

War is futile. We’ve heard that many times before from all directions. I’ve never seen it told so exceptionally well though.
This movie, which is based on the classic book by Erich Maria Remarque, tells the story of a group of young German men who enlist as soldiers in World War I at the behest of [...]

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Mononoke-hime

Mononoke-hime

Princess Mononoke is my sixth Miyazaki movie (after, in order of me seeing them, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, The Castle of Cagliostro, and My Neighbour Totoro), and I’m very sorry to say it’s probably my least favourite. I have been enchanted with all his movies so far, so maybe it’s fair [...]

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The Killing

The Killing

The Killing is a little movie about a big heist. Clocking in at only 84 minutes, Kubrick has really stripped this down to essentials. Basically, it’s about a bunch of guys who are gonna rip off the race track. They all have different jobs to do: there’s Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden), an ex-con who’s the [...]

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The Best Years of Our Lives

The Best Years of Our Lives

The Best Years of Our Lives tells the story of three World War II servicemen returning home and trying to readjust to their new lives. We follow these three men as they try to come to terms with their wartime experiences, readjust to society, and reconcile their past with their new reality.
Al Stephenson (Fredric [...]

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Yojimbo

Yojimbo

Before this, I had only seen two movies by Akira Kurosawa: Rashômon and Seven Samurai. And even though I found the former to be pretty standard (especially having seen the same technique used many times since) and the latter to be drawn-out and rather dull, I was impressed by both. There’s no denying Kurosawa had [...]

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