Reviews

Come and See (1985) is one of those rare films that has the potential to shake one to their core. The film follows a young boy who digs up a rifle and is inadvertently thrust into World War II during the initial stages of Nazi Germany's invasion of Belarus. The film depicts many of Nazi Germany's horrific war crimes in the region including setting people on fire with gasoline and rounding up entire villages to be shot or burned. While the vast scale of Nazi Germany's atrocities are widely understood today, it is still deeply haunting to witness these atrocities on film. By the end of the film, the viewer will feel as they have aged considerably after witnessing such horrific deeds. Even the young boy ages on-screen. By the climax of the film, the young boy who was so hopeful and energetic at the beginning of the film is nearly unrecognizable and the viewers are left with a grim reminder of what happened when German soldiers invaded the Soviet Union during World War II.

The Beijing Opera did not allow females to perform, even though many of the best known productions had female characters. This cultural tradition forced boys to go through ruthless training that suppressed any gender identity that they would develop on their own for the sake of the art of the Beijing Opera. Farewell My Concubine tells the story of such a boy and his budding friendship with the male lead in the Opera.

In the film, Cheng specializes in playing female parts in the Beijing Opera while his friend Duan plays commanding male leads. The film follows the two boy's friendship over the next 50 years as China undergoes turbulent changes in its history such as World War 2 and the communist revolution. The complex relationship between these two characters is tested over the course of the film while touching difficult topics such as child abuse, same-sex attraction, and cultural history. While Farewell My Concubine is not an easy film to watch, it does tell a compelling story that is profound in its own right.

Rashomon starts off with an intriguing premise that draws its audience in by subtly referencing the troubling events that transpired prior to the opening of the movie. A noticeably disturbed priest mentions a strange story and the viewer is left wondering what could have happened to cause this character to lose his wits and question his faith in humanity.

As the story progresses the audience is told the same story but through multiple different vantage points. Overall, the story is about a belligerent vagrant who encounters a samurai escorting his wife across a passage where he is resting. When the vagrant notices the women he becomes enamored to the point of wanting to possess her at all costs, even if it means killing the samurai escort. What actually transpired after this is up to the audience to decide. But at the end of the day, the samurai ends up dead, his wife ends up at the mercy of the vagrant, and the vagrant is captured and accused of murdering the samurai.

Rashomon is a rather short film. The entire movie is shot in black and white but is less than 90 minutes from beginning to end. Yet, despite the lack of production value and limited time frame and color, the movie tells a compelling tale that demands the audience to question the story itself and its broader implications for human nature. As such the film has earned its place amongst Japanese period classics.

Based on the 1986 novel of the same name, the 2017 film "It" tells the story of a group of pre-teens who are on a quest to overcome an ominous force that has been wreaking havoc and murdering the children of their home town for centuries dressed as a clown. The novel is a lot more gruesome than the film. A lot of the incest and abuse scenes were removed from the film to keep it more lighthearted and focused on the main antagonist which is an evil presence that simply goes by the name of Pennywise.

The young cast deserves a lot of credit. Their remarkable performance will conjure up memories of more iconic films like "E.T"., "Stand by Me", and even the recent Netflix classic "Stranger Things". They certainly have a future in Hollywood.

The film is noteworthy for Hollywood because its one of the few Horror films to come out of the industry that have generated more than $200 million at the box office within weeks of release. This alone should indicate the film's promise. It ended up being one of the most profitable films of 2017.

Although, "It" may not appeal to die-hard horror fans or even die-hard fans of the original series, the film does offer many genuinely horrifying moments. Children are commonly used to evoke horror within the horror genre. But "It" managed to use the concept in a particularly new way with excellent results.

"It" offers a fresh relief from the usual Horror fare simply because the film has characters that are believable and fully developed. The fact that such a young cast was able to pull of a Stephen King novel is a testament to their talent. Like the novel, the film is bound to be an instant classic. Therefore, it's worth a watch.

In 1980 the Iran hostage crisis fueled a diplomatic divide between the United States and Iran that wreaked havoc on millions of innocent people's lives. After the notorious incident, many who had lived in the United States peacefully for a long time began to face hostility simply because of their affiliation to Iran. The region that was once known as Persia used to be a solid American ally.

"American Wrestler" begins in 1980 with brutal scenes from the Iran- Iraq war which cost millions of lives on both sides. The United States armed Iraq during this war. Forced into a corner, the Iran revolutionary guard and Ayatollah began to conscript child soldiers into their ranks to fight against Saddam Hussein. During this time, a desperate family smuggles their 17 year old youngest son, a seemingly docile boy named Ali Jahani, out of Iran to an uncle who happens to be residing in a small town in California.

The relative is reluctant to take in Jahani as he is facing his own problems with America's hostility towards people of Iranian descent. He loses his business and faces harassment on a regular basis because of his ethnicity. Ali faces similar hostility in high school. After being ostracized and bullied, Ali decides that he needs to join the school's wrestling team to make friends. Ali immediately becomes a rising star in the team. His uncle considers wrestling as an opportunity for revenge for the mistreatment of Iranian people in America. The uncle is convinced that if his nephew Ali can win against Americans in California, then together they can convince people that Iranians deserve to be treated with equality. Ali and his uncle begin to train together intensely and a strong bond eventually forms.

During one of the training sessions, Ali asks his uncle why he isn't counting his exercise reps. The uncle casually replies by saying, "… What, are you Lebanese? You want to drive a Mercedes while your children starve? Now you want others to think you are strong when you know you are weak. Count for yourself. Cheat if you don't care to win". Ali takes such lessons to heart. But after an unseen accident disqualifies him for his final wrestling championship match, Ali has to recruit the help of his new American friends to eventually go on to become a champion. The film ends on a positive not and even shows scenes of the real-life Ali wrestling in his prime. "American Wrestler: The Wizard" could have come up with a more cohesive title. But the film is touching in a good way and is worth a watch.

Sylvester Stallone's Rocky series has been widely acclaimed and become a cornerstone of Hollywood's iconic cultural history. However, the man who inspired this famous series remains much more of a mystery. "Chuck" is a Sports bio-pic that tells the story of Chuck Wepner, the former professional boxer who is most well-known for going toe to toe with heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in a 1975 title fight. Wepner lost the fight against Ali, but the fighter lasted nearly fifteen rounds in the ring with the world's heavyweight champion. This famous fight was what inspired Sylvester Stallone to create the film "Rocky" in 1976.

Chuck is a good move for a number of reasons. The plot is fresh and the movie's narration that dictates the story of Chuck Wepner is both clever and humorous. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously. In fact, it goes out of its way to make fun of movies and Hollywood in general. This is the greatest aspect of the film which willfully recognizes that Hollywood is a world of its own. Rocky is a billion dollar franchise that is recognized around the globe. However, Chuck Wepner, the man who Rocky was based off of, received little if any reward from the film series. While the first Rocky ends after the fight between Rocky and Apollo Creed, Chuck's life goes on, even after the Rocky series takes the world by storm.

The majority of "Chuck" is about the rise and fall of a boxer who once had a chance to take the heavyweight championship of the world. In the spirit of raging bull, "Chuck" depicts the athlete at the heart of the film as a deeply flawed individual who is as unfaithful to his wife as he is to his own values. The end of Chuck's boxing career was also the end of his prospects. After a series of unfortunate choices, Chuck ends up being incarcerated. Upon his release he meets the women of his dreams and ends up marrying her.

At the final moment of the film, the real-life Chuck can be seen with the women he met after leaving prison at his advanced age. Despite everything the man has witnessed and been through, in 2016 he is still alive and kicking. A fighter till the end. At its core, "Chuck" is a comedy masquerading as a sports film. While there is plenty of comedy, there are some rare moments of sporting thrill. My favorite scene is when Chuck narrates to the audience on-screen during his fight with Ali, "he'd already closed both my eyes, broke my nose, and he was still dancing circles around me. I didn't care. I was just happy to be in the ring with him. I don't remember much after that, except trying to stay on my feet. I could feel him hitting me. No pain, just the thud of his fists. Bone on bone. Boom. Boom".

It's hard to believe "Gods and Generals" came out in 2003. The film slightly resembles some of the films from Hollywood's dark era of rewriting history. The film depicts the stories of some of the Confederacy's most prominent generals during the American Civil War including controversial leaders such as Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. From a technical perspective, the film can be appreciated for the costume detail and acting.

In one of the opening scenes of this film, John Wilkes Booth is seen delivering a soliloquy as southern belles from Virginia swoon. By the way the film depicts Booth, one would never guess that this same man went on to murder a sitting US president, one who was perhaps the country's greatest. This is just a taste of what is to come. Overall, "Gods and Generals" is a visual feast of highly idealized portrayals of Confederate historical figures. But its pretty hard to digest that a movie produced by Hollywood would glorify people like Booth who murdered a sitting president beside his wife. While Robert E. Lee and Jackson were not a reprehensible as Booth, they were nevertheless controversial historical figures who were imperfect in a very human sense. This film elevates such figures to god status and idolizes them in a deeply unhealthy way.

But the most horrifying aspect of the film is the sheer lack of diversity in the casting. It's white faces everywhere. The first slave face doesn't make an appearance on-screen until nearly twenty minutes have passed. Even then, the slave is depicted cheering on the men leaving Virginia to fight for the Confederacy. That particularly scene would have been laughable if it wasn't so absurd. This film came out in the twenty-first century. It's hard to understand how the makes of the film expected to get away with making a pro-Confederacy film with such little diversity.

This could have been a decent film. If only it wasn't so misguided and one-sided in its misrepresentation of such important historical events and figures. Additionally, the religious slant is a bit of an unnecessary distraction. This film could have taken the historical route or the fictional route, but instead it decided to rewrite history with sloppy fiction. That is why this film isn't worth watching despite the high production value and effort that was put into making it.

If you are a fan of the iconic 2017 Texas based western "Hell or High Water", then this West Virginia-based heist film is sure to please. In "Logan Lucky", Channing Tatum and Adam Driver play two distraught and estranged brothers who are down on their lucky and willing to risk everything to rob a vault at a NASCAR racetrack during one of their busiest events.

While the setting in this film is definitely new, the usual fare that come with bank heist films can be found throughout this film. But the movie is definitely worth watching as it is sure to deliver more than a few laughs. Despite the tense moments, there is plenty of humor sprinkled throughout the narrative.

There are definitely moments to remember such as Daniel Craig, who plays a convict that the two brothers go to for help with their robbery, raising his hat to the American national anthem before putting his hat back on and gleefully exclaiming in a thick country accent, "let's blow this thang". Then there is the part where Daniel Craig is writing chemical formulas in chalk on the walls of the vault room. He ends up having to deploy his make shift explosion device twice because as he confesses, "I twisted the bag too many times". Perhaps the funniest and darkest moments of comedy in the film happen when one of the brother's prosthetic arm gets sucked in by the vacuum which is being used to suck money from the NASCAR vault.

While many heist films try to be gritty, Logan Lucky takes the heartfelt route ending on a positive note. Everybody gets a cut in the end. But the end is open-ended, and the audience is left wondering if the brothers get away or not. Either way, it's not the destination, it's the journey. In this case, Channing Tatum's and Adam Driver's journey is funny enough to warrant watching at least once.

Hollywood has produced a lot of heist comedies over the years. But few heist comedies have been made with older actors. "Going in Style" is one such film. The movie is a 2017 remake of the 1979 comedy that goes by the same name. The film stars Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Alan Arkin who take on the roles of a dynamic trio of retirees who become dead set on robbing a bank after their pensions are cancelled after 40 years of loyal service.

While "Going in Style" does deliver a few laughs on the behalf of the elderly at the expense of society, there isn't much meat in the film to keep the viewer invested in the story. Each of the three characters has financial problems for different reasons. Morgan Freeman's character is affected by kidney disease. Michael Caine's character discovers that he and his family will be homeless within thirty days. After witnessing a bank robbery where the robber gets away with over one and a half million dollars, the three elderly gentlemen each decide to come together to rob a bank despite their inexperience. While this plot does offer lots of opportunity for comedy, the story is implausible and the film isn't all that funny despite the creative license that the film takes.

Although the actors delivered a solid performance, "Going in Style" is a flawed film because of its weak plot and is only watchable if one is looking for a few predictable laughs.

"The Irony Lady" is the 2011 biopic depicting the life and career of Margaret Thatcher a British stateswoman who would go on to be both the first and the longest serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the 20th century. For the role of Thatcher herself, the esteemed Meryl Streep brings out her acting chops. Despite the movie's sloppy delivery of the film's plot, Meryl Streep's acting alone makes this film worth watching. In fact, her performance in this film has widely been recognized as among the greatest of her long and distinguished career. That in itself is no small feat considering the extent of Streep's career. She would go on to win her 17th Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in this film.

The name of the film stems from soviet journalists colloquial nickname for Thatcher who was a steadfast figure during the most intense period of the Cold War. "The Iron Lady" as a film begins with a series of flashbacks depicting the life of a young Margaret Roberts who grows up working at her family's grocery store. The young Roberts will eventual go on to win a place at the prestigious University of Oxford, which was quite uncommon for a girl at the time. She then uses her education to jump start a career in politics but struggles to make ground in the male-dominated Conservative Party of the United Kingdom.

Eventually, thanks to a marriage proposal from a local businessman named Denis Thatcher, the young Roberts enters the House of Commons as a polarizing figure within the Conservative party and begins to dominate Parliament. Her political rise culminates in her eventually rising to the position of Prime Minister, a position in which she serves from 1979-1990.

During her tenure as Prime Minister, Thatcher deals with many extraordinary events, often as literally the only woman in the entire room. She witnesses the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall. She takes on the difficult role of a wartime Prime Minister during the Falklands War. She even ruthlessly negotiates with the European Union and her own country's state-owned corporations, surviving an assassination attempt in the process. On one occasion, Thatcher offends a powerful member of her own party and this cements her eventual demise. After being mercilessly forced out of politics by her own party, Thatcher's life takes a dark turn when her lifelong companion and husband dies leaving her all alone. As she ages, the woman is neglected by her children; perhaps as payback for all the neglect she showed her own family during her distinguished political career. It's hard enough to be a woman in politics. But Thatcher attempts to also be a wife and a mother.

At the conclusion of the film, an old and mentally withered Thatcher is seen in her kitchen washing dishes. Ironically enough, Thatcher vowed on-screen not to die washing a teacup as a housewife when she began her political career in the presence of her husband. She inevitably passed away in 2013. In the final scene of the film she is seen poignantly washing a teacup.

"All Eyez on Me" tells the remarkable story of Tupac Shakur, a rapper, actor, activist, and public figure whose life was taken far too soon. "All Eyez on Me" opens in the 1995 Clinton correctional facility where Tupac Shakur happens to be residing for the duration of his sentence. The film then flashes back to Tupac's childhood depicting the young black youth growing up during the turmoil of the Black Panther movement. Tupac grows up and his artistry blossoms at an early age. To pay tribute to Tupac as a musician, "All Eyez on Me" is a musical film. The soundtrack will compel you to continue watching. But as a film, the movie falls short.

The film tries to tell a lot more than it should have. It starts during Tupac's childhood. By 1987 in Baltimore, Tupac is already working with record executives who constantly try to tone down the artist's provocative style. In one particularly poignant scene in the film, Tupac is forced to convince wealthy record executives of the need to produce the track "Brenda's got a baby" despite the songs references to incest and teenage pregnancy. As he says during the scene, "I want you to feel every stutter and every breath. I don't want it polished, I want it raw." Despite the executive's initial reluctance, Tupac's message resonates with downtrodden people across the spectrum. The wealthy business executives tell him to scrap "Brenda's got a baby". Tupac refuses the executives. The song stays on the album which goes on to be resoundingly successful. Years pass and Tupac is still smoking blunts in the studio. He even tries to build an acting career culminating in a thrilling performance in "Juice" where despite being taught how to act on-film, Tupac delivers a raw performance portraying a street-wise vagrant on a killing spree. Tupac's need to promote activism through culture stems from his belief that, "Our family crest is cotton...we don't have heirlooms. The only thing we have to leave behind is our culture".

Despite Tupac's success as an entertainer, he is still harassed by the police and plagued by violence. On one occasion he is choked and assaulted by Oakland police. On another occasion, Tupac causes a fight that ended with bullets spraying, unwittingly killing a child. Tupac witnesses the violent killing and feels compelled to start a movement from the negative symbolism in his culture. Thug life was an acronym the hate you give ****s everybody. Tupac returns to see his mom from time to time to tell her, "I wouldn't be the man I am without you". His mom admonishes in response, "They are going to give you the tools you need to destroy yourself". Unfortunately, she was right. In 1993 Tupac is accused of misogyny. In response he released " Keep ya head up" a song about female empowerment. But later in his life Tupac falls asleep while a woman gets assaulted in an adjacent room. The woman wakes him up claiming she was raped. She asks him why he left her. Tupac is eventually convicted of unlawful touching for his involvement in the incident and is incarcerated as a result. As Tupac walks into prison the guards hurl racial expletives at him. But his fellow inmates with tattoos show him love. While he is fighting all of these legal charges and allegations, others are making money off of his persona and his music.

So the movie goes on to depict the final stages of Tupac's life. The "thug life" stage where the man descends into chaos and isolation. As he finds out, "The picture that you paint with your pen is your truth. The picture the media paints is their truth" . Because of Tupac's criminal charges, he is shunned by Hollywood and his acting career never takes off. But the ring where he continues to shine is in the arena of rap and hip hop. Tupac leaves prison to become one of the most successful artists in hip hop history. But the violence continues to follow him. In November 1994 he is shot five times and is robbed. He blames a rival artist named Biggie. The two form a rivalry that captivates the two coasts of the country. But while Biggie is out making money Tupac is stuck in prison.

After leaving prison for the last time, Tupac signs to Death Row records and moves to California for some sunshine and love. There were some scenes that were clearly embellished for dramatic effect. For example, the fight with Jayden Pinkett Smith was out of place and inaccurate which made it unnecessary. Tupac enjoys the last few years of his life at Death Row records where a music industry producer and street-wise gangster named Suge Knight handles the business aspect of selling Tupac's music. But by 1996, Tupac feels the need to go off on his own. Nobody knows who killed Tupac Shakur, but he died shortly after making it known that he was going to venture out and form his own record company. His life was taken tragically too soon. The scenes depicting Tupac leaving the hotel in Las Vegas right before he is shot in a drive by seem cliché. A fan snaps a photograph moments before the young rapper is shot. He was killed while riding with Suge Knight. It's hard not to compare "All Eyez on Me" to much better recent films about the rap and hip hop industry like "Straight Outta Compton". Despite being long and content-heavy, All Eyez on Me delivers a well-deserved tribute to one of hip hop's most influential artists and the actors delivered compelling performances. For that, its worth a watch.

McFarland, USA is a city in California that to this day has a sizable Hispanic population, many of whom work as migrant farm workers picking crops. "McFarland" is a film that tells the story of Coach White, a passionate coach who gets fired from his football coaching gig at a wealthy high school when he escalates a fight between him and his players to violence. The wealthy high school football players seemed more concerned about the after party than the game. Athletics for these players is a prestige thing that has nothing to do with sportsmanship. After a series of disrespectful actions, Coach White snaps and subsequently gets fired. But as Coach White reflects later to another coach when he arrives at his new school, "It's not the fight in the dog coach, it's the dog in the fight...depends on the size of the dog...".

Coach White moves to Cliff Avenue in a Hispanic neighborhood with his wife and two daughters. When he first arrives in the new neighborhood, one of his daughters questions if the family had ended up in Mexico. The Whites struggle at first to fit into their new neighborhood. Meanwhile, the high school students in the small Hispanic town of McFarland have their own struggle. Most of the students at MacFarland have jobs. Athletics isn't even an option for many of them because they come from the fields to go to school and run back to the fields when class gets outs. Many become adults in those very fields. Unless a prison gets to them first. It is a hard life which stands in stark contrast to the lives of Coach White's previous students. He begins to see the athletic potential in his hardworking students and questions the temporary nature of his transitory job as coach at MacFarland.

In the classic Disney fashion, Coach White's new community welcomes him. His neighbor even plants him a tree and tells him, "in five years senor you're going to have some nice shade". The simple transitions in the film show the migrant worker's lives with Hispanic music in the background. The scenes are poetic. But the most beautiful part of the film is the raw determination of the high school students trying to compete in a sport and environment that sets them up for failure. A boy named Thomas Valles becomes a de facto leader of the team after Coach White catches the high school student running at 12 miles an hour. This same boy shows up to practice with bruises because he gets his dad to punch him instead of a wall since as a migrant worker his father needs his hands to work. It isn't until coach White works a whole day as a migrant worker himself, picking crops getting paid by the field instead of by the hour that he begins to understand the plight of his athletes.

In the spirit of Stand and Deliver Coach White understands that he needs to go beyond his position as coach for these students. He begins to treat them like his own. During one scene, he rushes to a park without enough money for the entrance fee and tells the officer, "I've got five dollars and seven kids who have never seen the ocean". He brings his students to the beach.

Eventually, McFarland becomes more than a temporary home for Coach White and his family. It becomes their community, one which adopts them as warmly as they adopted it. The family moments such as the father's speech at his daughters quinceañera will tug at your heartstrings. Coach White disproves Thomas Valles' initial belief that, "Nobody stays in McFarland unless they have to. Because there is nothing American dream about this place". This film is based off a true story and Coach White ended up at McFarland coaching at the town's high school long after better prospects opened up for him. By the end, Coach White recognizes that these kids at McFarland cherish cross country and athletics, something he admits is a privilege many take for granted.

In the opening scenes of "Philomena", the audience witnesses a sweet old lady by the same name narrate to a well-wisher that she just got a hip replacement in a glorious Irish accent. At first glance, Philomena appears to be a normal old lady but she has kept a rather large secret buried within her for most of her life. She is seen lighting a Catholic candle at a church for an undisclosed person. Through a series of clever flashbacks, it is revealed that the person Philomena is lighting a candle for is her son. Philomena, like many naïve young girls, got pregnant by accident as a teenager in the 50's. Her son was taken from her by the nunnery in which she resided and he was sent to America. All she had left to remember him by was a picture taken as a toddler. She couldn't help but long to see her son and wonder if he ever thought of his birthplace of Ireland.

Martin Sixsmith then enters the picture. Martin is an arrogant writer who had somehow managed to quickly rise through the ranks of politics and is dismissed just as fast. Seeking to get his mind of his political career, Martin seeks out a story and ends up encountering Philomena and agreeing to help her find her long lost son. He goes back with Philomena to the nunnery she was raised in. As the main characters observe the ages on the tombstones, they can't help but notice that the majority of the graves were for young women, some as young as 14. They all died in childbirth.

"'Philomena" will easily be remembered as one of the most powerful films of 2013. The movie is a clever presentation of the complex nature between religion and class as well as social pressure. Martin attempts to confront the nun responsible for taking away Philomena's son. This same woman refused to provide proper medical care to pregnant girls to punish them for their perceived sin. She also intentionally separated countless other families and loved ones and did everything in her power to keep these people apart during her lifetime. While the old religious lady versus the young atheist is cliché, in this movie it is tastefully done. Martin fights the nun and the system that takes children away from their mothers the only way a writer knows how: through writing.

One must give credit to the acting performances of the two leads Judi Dench of James Bond royalty and Steve Coogan in the film. The remarkable chemistry between the two leads in the film helps the narrative progress in an entertaining manner without detracting from the raw power of the story.

But suffice it to say, the twist at the end will leave you stunned. Philomena is a thoughtful and provocative film that is based on a true story. In 2009, the real-life Martin Sixsmith published "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee" in 2009. Thousands more adopted Irish children and their 'shamed' mothers are still trying to find each other. Philomena Lee today lives in the south of England with her other children and grandchildren. The film "Philomena" is about the old woman and Martin's quest to find her lost son.

"The Zookeeper's Wife" starts out as an idyllic film about the Zabinskis taking care of a zoo in Warsaw, Poland. The film is based on the book of the same name by Diane Ackerman. The Zabinskis have been recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations" by Yad Vashem which is the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. The film opens in the year of 1939 and the couple and zoo seem completed isolated from the incredibly volatile geopolitical events happening between Germany, the Soviet Union, and Poland, at the time. That all changes on one of the most infamous days in history: September 1, 1939. The zoo is bombed. The Polish army massacres the animals. The cruelty towards the animals is oddly symbolic of what is to come. After the Germans overrun almost all of Poland, the couple is confronted with even more tragic news. They learn that their animals will be "liquidated" for the German war effort. All of the animals would be killed and be used for resources such as meat, glue, fur, etc. The on-screen sounds of animals screaming after being shot are haunting.

The zoo is rendered useless but the couple convinces a Nazi named Her Heck who works directly under Goring that the Zoo can be converted into a pig farm to help feed the German troops. The husband witnesses what is happening in the ghettos where Jewish prisoners were taken. He sees a teenager get raped by a couple of soldiers and feels compelled to rescue her from the horrible setting in which so many Jewish people were taken to be left for death. The zookeeper's wife tells the young girl while she recovers from her injuries, "We were running for so long. And no one knows how hard it is, a life in hiding. You can never tell who your enemies are, or who to trust. Maybe that's why I love animals o much. You look in their eyes and you know exactly what's in their hearts. They're not like people. We live in a zoo. That's where you are, in a zoo." So it begins. The couple begins to hide other Jewish people.

The most haunting scene in the film happens when the Jewish ghetto is being liquidated. The husband lifts children up onto the railway cars. For anyone who knows what happens to the Jewish people who boarded the trains out of Poland, this scene will horrify you. The image of young faces filled with fear as they are taken away from Warsaw serves as a grim reminder of one of the darkest moments in human history. Dr. Korczak, a kind and generous old man who had taken in countless orphans in the Warsaw ghetto narrates a story to convince the children not to be afraid. He tells them that they will be taken to a land called Ro to meet a magician. The older kids seem pretty unconvinced. The noble sacrifice of the doomed old man as he tries to bring an ounce of humanity to the depraved plight of Jewish children swept away by The Holocaust will bring a tear to many eyes. It certainly brought more than a couple to mine.

Her Heck is the most evil character depicted on-screen. He hides his sick nature another a veil of order and discipline. At one point, he attempts to seduce the wife of the zookeeper. In another scene he forces a rather large bison to "mate" with a much smaller cow to produce a new German breed of cattle. His experiments with genetic breeding are as unsuccessful as the Nazi's belief in eugenics were unfounded. But like the Nazis, he kills many on his quest for racial purity.

At the end of the film it is revealed that nearly 300 guests were hidden in the Warsaw Zoo and Zabinski villa during the German occupation. Some stayed a few years. Others only managed to stay a few nights. Other than two of the guests, all of the rest survived. "The Zookeeper's Wife" is a Polish "Schindler's List" about the extraordinary story of the Polish couple who turned the Warsaw Zoo into a sanctuary for Jews during the German occupation of the city in World War 2.

Caleb played by Jake Lacy from the final season of The Office television series is a senior preparing to graduate from college. He is in his fifth year and has already been in college for too long. But he doesn't quite want to leave yet. He sees the "concrete wall" of commitment laid out in front of him and gets scared. He runs away from this iron cage of commitment and responsibility by forming an intramural football team as an escape. The group that he forms can best be summed up by the advice they give each other on how to get with freshman girls in college. You have to remember:, "A little knock knock, welcome to class…tap that ass".

The jokes throughout the movie are very intelligent and many are easily missed. But the movie is clearly geared towards men. There is one quip about Uday Hussein being a Quaker that was particularly heinous. During a team meeting a member of the team asks, "What's more dangerous, a man with no fear or a man with nothing to lose?". Caleb turns the question on its head with, "What about a man who's not afraid of losing?".

"Balls Out" is the rare comedy that is both funny and self-aware. The film is chock full of hilarious moments like during another team meeting when the adopted mentor of the team teaches, "There is a classic structure to all underdog sports movies. Rocky, Hosiers, Air Buds 1,2, 3 and 5". One teammate interrupts, "What about Air Bud 4?". "A dog playing baseball? Are you insane?".

Watch this movie if looking for a few laughs. It is sure to deliver. As the stoner commentator narrates at the end of the film, "In my nine and a half years of college, I thought I'd seen it all. I witnessed a 2,000 cup game of beer pong that claimed the lives of seven bros. I've seen Frisbee so ultimate, it threatened the supremacy of God himself. I've even seen my colleague Dan here swallow two keys of pure Bolivian heroin to make good on a series of increasingly misguided cockfighting bets. But I never thought I'd witness such an amazing game of intramural football".

In the opening scene of "Timbuktu", a jeep carrying armed men is seen chasing a gazelle across the pristine dessert. This scene is followed by another scene showing militants of the so-called Islamic State shooting at intricate masks and dolls that are undoubtedly cultural icons from the region. "Timbuktu" is a remarkable film for a number of reasons. The timing of the film was so necessary because in the same year that the film came out a self-proclaimed caliphate swept up large swaths of territory across the Muslim world extending its cruel grip even to Africa. The beautiful scenes of the dessert around Timbuktu are accompanied by a masterfully selected soundtrack of tunes from the region. The music is relentless and melancholic, just like the dessert. Both stand as immobile presences throughout the film.

In one odd scene, a group of men are arguing Messi and soccer. The audience is purposefully misled into thinking the discussion was about a serious war or series of battles. But the truth is, most boys would rather fight about soccer than something as obscure as religion. Another poetic scene happens during the film when a man is sentenced to 20 lashes for knowing that football is forbidden and still choosing to play. In the next scene, a group of young boys are all playing football, without a ball. The ball is forbidden. The boys in the colorful shirts and shorts end up running around an empty field kicking sand at each other. How can you forbid children from playing? The boys cheer an imaginary goal before they feel the need to stop and hide their activities from a motorcycle patrol. In another instance, a group of fighters are sent to find where music is coming from. When they realize the music is religious in nature and praises Allah and Muhammad they question the need to stop it.

More people start to play music as a form of protest. A clearly non- silent protest that can be visibly heard by ISIS patrols in the city at night. A woman sings, "This is my land and this is my Timbuktu. It's children are mourning and suffering. It's the land of love and warmth and dignity. So tell me, why are the children crying? Because of the injustice, violence, and fear of the future. Stop crying, my Timbuktu will always be here. Everything will go fast. You've got little time left". Later in the film, the woman who's beautiful voice carries across the Timbuktu dessert is sentenced to 40 lashes for singing. Another 40 lashes are sentenced for meeting with men in private without her parent's permission. As she kneels and begins to be whipped she continues to sing. It is a poetic protest in response to the so-called Islamic States' cruel and unjust punishment system. An Imam questions the so-called Islamic State's cruelty towards women by scolding, "Remember the words of Allah Almighty. Forgive them. Involve them in decisions. Talk with them. Once you have decided, I put your trust in Allah. Because he loves those who trust him. Where is the mercy? Where is the forgiveness? Where is the piety? Where is the change, the change? Where is god in all this?".

The greatest aspect of Timbuktu is the fact that the film doesn't glorify war or violence in the fashion that Hollywood so regularly chooses to. In fact the main struggle of the film is quite simple. Nearby Timbuktu, a territorial fight brews between a fisherman and a cowherd. This struggle is less of an ideological struggle and more of a struggle for survival. A boy loses track of the cowherd's youngest cow which strays into the fisherman's nets. The fisherman kills the cow and in a poignant scene the cow can be heard breathing long after it appears to be dead. The dramatic effect is undeniable. Like Africa, the injured calf will continue to fight for life long after it was left for dead. The cowherd confronts the fisherman and in the ensuing fight a gunshot abruptly interrupts the scene and both characters are seen floating in the water. One of them gets up. The other doesn't. The calm tranquility of the setting stands in contrast to the dark nature of the political situation.

The so-called Islamic State confiscated all of the cowherd's cows and property for his alleged murder of the fisherman. The cowherd shows no regret or fear in response to being sentenced to death by the fake caliphate. Before accepting his fate, the cowherd asks the so-called Islamic State commander if he has children. When the commander replies in the affirmative, the cowherd makes one final plea for his daughter and the children of Africa. He says, "What is written will be done. I am at peace with death. We are all his children. We must protect our children. My daughter will not be protected. That hurts my whole being. Down in the grave without knowing what will happen to her. Most of our relatives have already left. But in all this, since there is only one God, I worship, he will make justice. No one escapes his fate. Tell him that it's not death that scares me but not being able to look back".

"The Rosa Parks Story" is an exceptional film that portrays the life of one of America's greatest Civil Rights figures. The film depicts this remarkable woman's life from her childhood to her rise in the Civil Rights Movement as she goes on to inspire the Montgomery Bus Boycott which to this day remains one of the most powerful examples of civil disobedience in national memory. Prior to the late 1960's much of the southern United States was deeply segregated with entrenched systematic discrimination against people of color. Rosa Parks helped spark the Civil Rights Movement in the south that culminated in creating a more progressive and tolerant country.

Early in the film, the movie briefly discusses the plight of the Scottsboro Boys who were a group of African American youth who were sentenced to death with little to no evidence for allegedly sexually assaulting two white women. The poor young men who were travelling migrant workers at the time of their arrest were eviscerated by the deeply racist legal system of Alabama and would have been unjustly executed if it weren't for the intervention of the Communist Party in the United States. This story is depicted in the Hollywood film "Heaven Falls". As portrayed in "The Rosa Parks Story", the NAACP tried to assist these boys. But like so many black youth who were swept up by the racist violence that was a regular feature of the south at the time, the NAACP's efforts provided no avail. After witnessing a series of humiliating and deeply harrowing experiences, Rosa Parks transforms on-screen in the film from a young women into a leader who begins her Civil Rights career as a secretary for the NAACP.

The "Rosa Parks Story" is powerful because it took the time to remind the viewers of the reason why so many black folk depended on the bus system in the south. Poverty was one major reason. But even if a black man managed to save up for a personal car, by owning a car these men became targets for police and hoodlums. It wasn't easy being a colored person who owned a car. This fact is demonstrated in "The Rosa Parks Story" when Rosa Parks' husband is humiliated by police officers in front of her. Rosa Parks sets out to change this broken system. She starts by changing Montgomery's segregated bus system.

The talented actress Angela Bassett deserves praise for her performance which captured the class and dignity that Rosa Parks displayed throughout her entire life. It isn't easy to portray such a remarkable historical figure. The slow piano music that graces the background is kind of unimaginative. But the movie doesn't lack passion. This movie will make you angry if you have a conscience. But that is kind of the point. There was a time when colored people could not try on shoes in public stores or even share water fountains at public parks. There was a time when color folks got lynched by mobs or electrocuted to death for the slightest perceived transgressions. America has a dark history of injustice that shouldn't be hidden by a veil. "The Rosa Parks Story" as a film does justice to the history.

One thing the movie gets right is bringing up Colvin Claudette, the fifteen year old girl who was the first person arrested for refusing to give up her seat in Montgomery. The main reason Rosa Parks became a champion of the Civil Rights Movement was her impeccable character. Unlike for others, nobody could ever accuse Rosa Parks of being a criminal. That poignant fact made her arrest all the more awakening. Even Rosa waivers in the film when confronted with the choice to give up her seat to a white man at the greatest moment of her lifetime. She couldn't have known that her moment of indecision would be one of the most powerful moments in the civil rights movement. As Rosa contemplates giving up her seat, other bus riders, even black ones, beg her to give up her seat. They just want to go about their daily routine without a fuss. But that reluctance for change was precisely the problem. After the fateful day of December 1, 1955, their daily routines would never be the same again. The greatest line in the film happens during an argument between Rosa and her caring husband who rudely admonishes her by stating, "You're not Harriet Tubman god **** it". She replies, "No, I'm only Rosa Parks".

Famed novelist Paul Sheldon seeks inspiration for his next novel by driving his vintage mustang through the mountains some where out in Colorado during a large snow storm. Paul inadvertently gets into an accident and ends up trapped underneath his overturned mustang in the ice. One would think this would be the worst situation one could imagine onself in. But what follows is much worse.

Misery is a thrilling adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. Despite the movie's short run-time, the movie is a must-see simply to witness Kathy Bates' performance. There is nothing more terrifying than a person who won't curse like the Christian caretaker Annie Wilkes. Kathy Bates won a well- deserved Academy Award for Best Actress in 1990 for her portrayal of the psychopathic Wilkes.

After Paul's accident, Annie "rescues" Paul and torments him into using his professional writing skills to fulfill her own twisted fantasies as the rest of the world desperately searches for the missing novelist.

Paul is left in a very compromising situation where he has to use the best of his wits and writing skills to maneuver his way into an escape. The ride is thrilling, the screenplay is memorable, and the acting is compelling. The greatest moment of the film occurs when Annie, possibly purposefully, spills a spiked glass of wine that was mean to subdue her. As she pours a second glass to the dismay of Paul, the writer deleriously savours the moment with his abductor and makes a toast to misery. The abductor was alluding to the name of the character in the novel. The writer was alluding to his own plight.

Days pass and Paul eventually gets stronger. He even lifts his own typewriter as a makeshift weight in a desperate ploy for survival. The survival instinct is raw. He eventually learns that his abductor is a baby serial killer. A former nurse who deserved to be killed years ago. Watch this movie which consistently ranks as among the best horror and thriller movies produced by Hollywood. Remember the most compelling line of the film, "You want it? Eat it until you choke, you sick twisted ****".

In the 2016 musical comedy, "Opening Night", Topher Grace from the iconic "That 70's Show" plays a failed Broadway singer turned production manager who struggles to save a show that is seemingly doomed to fail because of its selfish cast. Every character in "Opening Night" is a caricature of some of the worst things about Broadway and show business. The film takes off in the spirit of the Oscar winning film Birdman, but fails to deliver a compelling plot by the end despite delivering a few noteworthy laughs.

Topher Grace is mildly funny in his role as a production manager struggling to keep a Broadway show going on opening night after things get particularly awry when the main singer gets humorously knocked down by a toothpick. Witnessing the chaos on stage is amusing and the comedy offers a respite from the singing.

Musicals aren't everybody's cup of tea. "Opening Night" even acknowledges this fact by making plenty of quips making fun of both musicals and the people who attend them. But, despite making fun of musicals, "Opening Night" is a musical. So the critique of musicals in a musical film was clever to say the least.

While Opening Night isn't profound or enlightening, it is highly entertaining and simply funny. The domains of show business and Broadway theatre tend to take themselves too seriously. "Opening Night", on the other hand, doesn't take itself too seriously and consequently offers a refreshing change of pace from the usual fare. In fact, the film even offers a few brief moments of clarity about the price of fame and its nostalgic quality despite its short runtime. In one intense scene, the audience witnesses the old Broadway star coronate the newcomer. As she does this, she reminds the young singer to cherish the moment because a star's first opening Night, "It's the best it's ever going to get".

Blue Jasmine is a remarkably entertaining film. It hides a great amount of clever ideas about class in contemporary American society while telling a humorous story about two sisters who occupy two distinct spheres within America's strict class hierarchy. On the high end is Jasmine Francis, a New York socialite who is accustomed to living off of Park Avenue with her affluent financier husband Hal. On the other end of the spectrum is Ginger played by Sally Hawkins who is a single mother in San Francisco who is debating whether or not she should continue her relationship with a local grease monkey. Despite being Jasmine's adopted sister, Ginger is clearly of more humble means. Naturally, the two sister's paths don't cross until Jasmine finds herself without a husband and completely broke.

The movie's runtime is short, ending in about an hour and a half. Yet, the movie still delivers a solid story in that short period of time. The plot follows Jasmine in the present day while repeatedly cutting in with flashbacks of her lavish past life with her husband Hal played by Alec Baldwin. Hal, as it turns out, is a Wall Street con man that is caught defrauding countless people of millions of dollars. Yet, the plight of these poor people is clearly lost on Jasmine who views the events that unfolded in her family as a deep personal tragedy that the world is responsible for remedying. She shows up at her sister's apartment in San Francisco and wreaks havoc on her life. Jasmine is the perfect character study of abject narcissism. The Australian actress, Cate Blanchett's stunning performance in the role of Jasmine is enhanced by the tasteful music which includes some smooth jazz with a satirical touch. Blue Jasmine was a hit at the box office as the film made nearly a hundred million dollars off of its meagre $18 million budget. Blanchett even won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2013 for her stellar performance in the film.

Although Hal is only on-screen briefly, he characterizes all of the worst things about New Yorkers and unethical businessmen. Hal steals from hardworking people. Many of these people, such as Ginger's ex- husband for instance, trusted Hal with their life's savings. But Hal's lack of business ethics pales in comparison to his lack of marital fidelity. Through Blue Jasmine's series of short flashbacks, it is revealed that Hal is as untrustworthy in bed as he is in business and cheats on his wife constantly. Unfortunately, this is essentially his downfall.

On the other end of the moral spectrum is Ginger. Ginger is a plain girl who lacks the flair of her stylish and cosmopolitan sister. But she is still an interesting character. She is the quintessential girl next door. Influenced by Jasmine, Ginger is convinced to give up her stable relationship in pursuit of an exciting fling. She attempts to "better herself" through relationships like Jasmine who managed to seduce the affection of an aspiring local politician after the disastrous demise of her marriage to Hal. It's a shame that Ginger follows Jasmine's relationship advice despite the woman's clear lack of human relationship skills. Although Blue Jasmine has some merits as a film on its own, it is Cate Blanchett who literally steals the show. Her portrayal of a fallen New York socialite recovering from mental illness is spot on and does justice to the real life Jasmines of the world.

One thing that narcissists like Jasmine will never do, is admit that they are wrong. At the end of the film, it is revealed that Jasmine is responsible for her own demise. Just proves that although Karma might not always be readily visible, sometimes it can be a five letter word that rhymes with snitch. In the spirit of Jasmine, "Uh who do I have to sleep with around here to get a Stoli martini with a twist of lemon".

The concept of ritual suicide in the form of Harakiri, otherwise known as Seppuku, has captivated western imaginations for centuries. Indeed, the very notion of suicide, for religious or social reasons is viewed with a feeling of disdain within the western mindset. However, ritual suicide held an important ceremonial role for members of the Samurai class in ancient Japan. Viewed as an important component of the Samurai's Bushido warrior code, Harakiri was often used as a punishment but was often done voluntarily as well. It was a matter of honor and upheld the tradition of the warrior code. Harakiri forces the audience to confront the brutality of such a tradition and questions the morality of it. During the film, the main character questions both Bushido and the authenticity of the warrior code. He asserts that Bushido is a mere facade rather than a symbol of discipline. Whether or not these assertions are true, is a question that Harakiri leaves for the audience to decide.

During the Edo period of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan, it was common for master less samurai who were known as Ronin to request to commit harakiri in the palace of feudal lords.In this tradition, a man who goes by the name of Tsugumo Hanshirō requests to commit suicide at a powerful feudal lord's courtyard. Masaki Kobayashi directed this film to start out slow with the old man Hanshirō narrating a story. The story is about how the powerful clan at the courtyard was responsible for the death of Hanshirō's entire family. The old man confronts the powerful feudal clan in such a calm and authoritative manner that the audience is left at the edge of their seats.

Hanshirō's daughter was married to a poor Samurai that was so destitute that he had to sell his blade to care for his family. He has a young baby who unfortunately gets sick and becomes desperately in need of medicine. When Hanshirō's son in law came to the Li clan seeking alms for medicine, they chose to punish him for disgracefully giving up his Samurai sword by forcing him to disembowel himself in the Seppuku fashion using the only sword he had left: a dull bamboo katana.

After covering the dramatic backstory, the movie masterfully builds up to the final conclusion where Hanshirō uses every last ounce of his Samurai abilities to fight his way into the feudal lord's compound to desecrate his hall. The sheer force of will and determination displayed by Hanshirō's character on-screen is a testament to the acting abilities of Tatsuya Nakadai.

Despite being shot in black and white, the film is aesthetically appealing as it depicts idyllic Japanese villages and sword fights in Samurai graveyards. At the climax of the film, the greatest line of the film is spoken. Before the culminating final sword battle, the main character proudly proclaims, "Motome had indeed gone mad. But I say good for him! I praise him for it. He may have been a samurai, but he was a man of flesh and blood. He could not live on air alone. When he has reached the point of no return, even a man as strong as Motome will go mad trying to protect his family, and I would praise him for it. They'll call him the bamboo ronin. Not only samurai, but townspeople, too, will scoff at his wavering. But let them laugh all they want. Who can fathom the depths of another man's heart?".

"The Kite Runner" is a film adaptation of a 2003 novel of the same name. The movie is chock-full of stunning visuals in its depictions of Kabul both before and after the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. But the subject matter of the film is very grim. In "The Kite Runner", the main protagonist is a Pashtun boy named Amir who flees to America with his courageous father after the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan to prop up the Communist party of the country in 1979. Amir grew up flying kites which was a common practice among the children of Afghanistan at one time. Amir's "kite runner" was a Hazara boy named Hassan.

The "Kite Runner" tells a story of redemption while also depicting the atrocious practice of Bacha Bazi. Bacha Bazi is a slang term for a practice that involves child sexual abuse that takes place in many central Asian countries such as Afghanistan. Under the Taliban's rule from 1994-2001, the practice of Bacha Bazi officially carried the death penalty. It remains illegal under Afghan law today, but the law has always been seldom enforced. This is especially the case against powerful offenders. Bacha Bazi is among the worst forms of theft. It is a theft of a person's innocence. One of the most poignant lines of the film says, ""There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband; rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness". Bacha Bazi is a horrendous practice that deserves more attention and condemnation from the international community.

Hazaras are an ethnic minority within Afghanistan. Hassan was a member of this minority and worked as Amir's servant. Despite being treated well by Amir and his father, he is tormented by many Pashtuns elsewhere due to stigma. At one point in the film, Hassan is pinned down and raped by the children of prominent Pashtuns in Kabul. Amir "jan", as he is formally called, witnesses this horrific event and doesn't intervene. Instead he attempts to frame Hassan for theft to remove the awkward obstacle of dealing with the event from his life. Decades pass by. Amir Jan escapes Afghanistan and grows up and gets married in sunny California.

But the American dream is interrupted when Amir is brought back to Asia by his father's old friend, a humble man named Rahim Khan. Khan informs Amir that Hassan was actually his half-brother. Hassan was eventually murdered by one of his childhood tormenters who had risen to a high rank within the Taliban. Amir's half-nephew, Hassan's young son was taken and forced to become a dancing boy and sexual slave to the high-ranking official within the corrupt Taliban government. The rest of the story is about how Amir rescues his nephew Sohrab from the Taliban. Afghanistan is a tragic place. The country has its own version of strange fruit.

One of the most powerful moments in the film happens when the main character reads a letter written by his deceased childhood friend Hassan. As the protagonist reads the letter, a crate of fruit falls as if to represent the lost souls in this desolate land. The first line of the letter reads, Bismillah ir-Rahman ir- Rahim. It loosely translates to "In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate". The letter goes on to say," I've included a picture of me and my son, Sohrab. He's a good boy. Rahim Khan and I taught him how to read and write, so he doesn't grow up stupid like his father. And can he shoot with that slingshot you gave me! But I fear for him, Amir agha. The Afghanistan of our youth is long dead. Kindness is gone from the land, and you cannot escape the killings. Always the killings. I dream that God will guide us to a better day. I dream that my son will grow up to be a good person, a free person, an important person. I dream that flowers will bloom in the streets of Kabul again, and music will play in the samovar houses, and kites will fly in the skies. And I dream that someday you will return to Kabul to revisit the land of our childhood. If you do, you'll find an old faithful friend waiting for you. May God be with you always. Hassan".

Although politically charged and sometimes overly dramatic, Sully tells the incredible story of the pilot who landed a plane on the Hudson River. More specifically, the film deals with the aftermath consequences of the pilot's decision.

In early 2009, the now infamous Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, played by the equally famous Tom Hanks in the film "Sully", attempted to make an emergency landing on January 15. Although he tried to reach an airport, he ends up landing a full plane on the Hudson River and becomes a national hero overnight. Watching these events take place on-screen is breathtaking. However, the aftermath of the events prove to be much less amusing.

Sully is eventually investigated and questioned for his decision to land the plane on the Hudson. Although "Sully" is a short film to begin with, the drawn out investigation made the film appear to be much longer than about an hour and a half. The directing and cinematography is very tastefully done. Which shouldn't be surprising considering the film was directed by Clint Eastwood. But the story leaves the audience wanting.

Ultimately, Sully is exonerated in the film thanks to simulations that prove the wisdom of the famed pilot's split-second decision making. But the investigation is portrayed as unnecessary and mildly intrusive. Many people took offense to the way the National Transportation Safety Board was portrayed in the film. This caused a little controversy among those who work for the investigative agencies responsible for protecting the public. The thing every good movie needs is a villain. Unfortunately, in "Sully", the villain happens to be working for the public. Unlike Canadian geese.

Hollywood loves to depict World War Two. The Second World War has overwhelmingly been the setting of choice for major filmographic depicts of war. But the German film industry, for understandable reasons, has been much more hesitant to produce such films. To be fair, how does a filmmaker depict such a period in human history? How does one do justice to its tragic nature without glorifying the carnage? It isn't easy to depict Adolph Hitler on screen accurately without risking alienating and horrifying a great number of people. Such a task is especially not worth attempting on a budget of only €13.5 million. This fact alone makes the 2004 German film "Der Untergang" an accomplishment worthy of acknowledgement.

The war drama is called "The Downfall" in English and basically depicts the final ten days of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Regime in 1945. The film was directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and received critical acclaim upon its release. But it is a movie that can still be watched years later. The story is influenced by two books: "Until the Final Hour" by Traudl Junge and "Inside Hitler's Bunker" by Joachim Fest. Traudle Junge was a historical figure who worked as Adolf Hitler's last private secretary until his death. The film is partly based on her personal account of the events that took place before Hitler's suicide.

Traudle was young when she was hired by Hitler to be his secretary in 1942. At the opening of the film, a much older Traudle expresses remorse for admiring Hitler in her youth. A common theme among portrayals of World War Two is that bad things happen to good people. In The Downfall, bad things happen to bad people. The Downfall was a dark and grim movie to watch. The movie is often both absurd and horrifying at the same time. There are times when the movie portrays the solitude and hopelessness of the characters in the film so well that you forget that the characters being portrayed in the film are some of the most ruthless leaders of the 20th century. There is a scene where SS officers and soldiers are getting drunk and partying with topless prostitutes in a bombed out Berlin that is actively being taken over by the invading Soviet army. Everybody knows that they are going to die. Yet nobody, at any point of the movie, can come to terms with the insanity of their situation.

Both the First and Second World Wars can both be summed up as soldiers fighting for politicians who were completely unwilling to fight for them. However, understanding this is one thing. But getting a chance to visually witness the stark contrast between the fates of the soldiers on the losing side to the fates of the politicians on the losing side is quite awakening. There is a scene where Eva Braun, Hitler's future wife dances on a table to celebrate Hitler's birthday even as the venue is getting shelled by artillery fire. Children are dying in Berlin to try to protect them from the invaders. But it isn't until a shell explodes right next to the gathering, shattering the windows of the venue in the process, that the vain attempts at celebrations are brought to a halt. These "leaders" couldn't care less about the Germany people. Half of them even abandon Hitler and his regime before the war is over.

There is a sense of desperation throughout the whole film. But that isn't the most horrific part. Any film that can get an audience member to feel pity for a barbarian like Adolph Hitler is remarkable enough to be worth watching at least once. At his ruined birthday party, against his own commander's advice, Hitler declares, "I will defeat them in Berlin, or face my downfall". He failed, and the rest is history.

"Eden" starts out in 1992. Rock and roll and disco are both dead. But in the seedy nightclubs and warehouses throughout Paris, a new music form begins to emerge. Electronic music is born. It is called "garage music" and "house music". The names are homage to the garages and warehouses where the original raves and parties that allowed this music form to thrive took place. Like many French youth in the 90's, Paul Vallée, the main character of "Eden", enjoys going to raves. He eventually drops out of college and partners with his friend Stan to form a musical duo called Cheers. At this same time, two of his other friends form another group called Daft Punk.

As the movie progresses, Paul abandons his writing and college ambitions and pursues a DJ career that takes off. Paul's passion for the music shows as he describes it as a beautiful combination of robot and soul. It is a love for that smooth sound that is what brings the two main characters of the film together to pursue the elusive career of a disc jockey. Back in the time of vinyl records and Polaroid pictures, the term DJ was a fairly accurate representation of the profession. But another cultural phenomenon emerged in the club scene where the two protagonists thrived: rampant drug use. Although cocaine is still in use today, ecstasy has replaced it as the drug of choice in raves. Rave culture is intoxicating. It sucks in Paul and consumes him.

The 2014 French film "Eden" is about the rise and fall of Paul and his experiences during his time in the electronic music scene. After facing various hardships, Paul becomes deeply addicted to cocaine. At one point in the film, the protagonist's mother, like a cliché, insists that the main character give up his dream of being a DJ and go back to university. She also callously reminds him of studies speaking of nerve cell deterioration, insomnia, depression, and a whole range of possibly unrelated symptoms to discourage the use of drugs. The character takes this to heart and comes up with the name of his DJ duo, "Cheers", while rolling on "e".

After a thoroughly dramatic rise and fall, Pall eventually faces reality. The film concludes in the modern era in the year 2013. smartphones, tablets, and hands-free devices now rule the day. Paul has managed to rehabilitate his life but has to adjust to "normal life" which is far different from what he was used to as a DJ. He continues his abandoned dream of writing by attending a creative writing workshop at night. The film ends brilliantly with Paul encountering a young girl who he reflects his experiences as a DJ with. To Paul's dismay, she coldly replies that the only techno DJ she knows happens to be Daft Punk.

One has to really admire the attention to the changing sounds of the 90's and the overall soundtrack. This movie is a must-watch not just for fans of daft punk or electronic music but any music lover looking for a "rags to riches" tale. The film was written by Mia Hansen-Løve and Sven Hansen-Løve. Mia is also the director. Both filmmakers came of age during this transformative era that set the stage for modern electronic dance music. Sven was actually a DJ during this era and wrote "Eden" based on his experiences.