Blogcritics Category: Video: Historical

DVD Review: Foyle's War - Series 5

Russ Evenhuis — Fri, 9 Jan 2009 16:59:28 EST

DCS Foyle is back for the final year of WWII.
Two things the British do well on television are historical period pieces and mysteries. With Foyle’s War, history meets mystery and the results are astounding. It’s like curling up in a blanket on the couch with hot chocolate while the rain hits the window outside. The patient attentions to detail, the actors, the sets, the stories...

Movie Review: Che - Part One, The Argentine

Bags — Fri, 9 Jan 2009 11:36:39 EST

Part one of Steven Soderbergh's impressionistic four-hour take on a revolutionary life.
Steven Soderbergh occupies a unique and rather contradictory position in the filmmaking world. On the one hand, he continues to turn out those glossy, big-budget, no-brainer Oceans films every three or four years, to quite staggering box office returns. Ocean's Thirteen (2007), for example, grossed $300 million-plus from an $80 million budget....

DVD Review: The Duchess (2008)

The Masked Movie Snobs — Tue, 6 Jan 2009 18:31:30 EST

An intriguing insight into what women of the time had to do to attain high stature, yet which afforded them no power.
Written by Pollo Misterioso The Duchess is a movie about women. In fact, it is a movie about 18th century English women. But in no way is this movie specifically for women, although one might think differently. Based on a true story, The Duchess is an intriguing insight into what women of the time had to do to attain high stature, yet which...

Movie Review: Adam Resurrected

El Bicho — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 23:07:33 EST

Jeff Goldblum's performance makes up for the film's flaws.
Based on Yoram Kaniuk’s 1968 novel, Paul Schrader’s Adam Resurrected is a powerful story about human survival presented through a tour-de-force performance by Jeff Goldblum that is quite possibly the best of his career. The film is very captivating, but its conclusion is unsatisfying because it happens so quickly and is difficult for...

Movie Review: Milk Is Lukewarm

Clarence Yu — Sun, 4 Jan 2009 16:38:23 EST

Milk disappoints in storytelling but delights in the acting.
Milk tells the real-life story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. Based on actual events, the premise of the movie seems inspiring: the struggle of a man representing a hated, minority community who overcomes all obstacles to win representation in government.Looks can be deceiving, however. The movie's...

Movie Review: Munich

Brandon Valentine — Fri, 2 Jan 2009 16:16:28 EST

Despite its lengthy running-time, Munich is a remarkable feature and a valiant effort from all involved.
Despite its lengthy running time, Munich is a remarkable feature and a valiant effort from all involved. Director Steven Spielberg is back to the top of his game (after War of the Worlds), composer John Williams accentuates Spielberg’s prowess, and the cast is without a weak spot. Inspired by real events, Munich is utterly stirring to...

Movie Review: Frost/Nixon

Heloise — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:35:37 EST

If practice makes perfect then Howard�s ability to keep Frost/Nixon on nimble toes is evidence of that perfection.
What director Ron Howard has wrought in Frost/Nixon is riveting. Hands down this movie is best picture of the year material. Howard's handling of Peter Morgan's screenplay (itself an adaptation of Morgan's play) will be studied for years to come. Frank Langella’s Richard Nixon is a study in the flawless character presentation of a...

Movie Review: Valkyrie

Jordan J. Ballor — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:19:19 EST

Cruise's Valkyrie delivers acceptably, despite a narrow focus and flattened development.
The year is 1943 and Valkyrie, the second release under the revamped United Artists brand, opens with German officer Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) on assignment in Africa. He had been sent there because his opposition to Hitler and the Nazi regime had become dangerously explicit and bellicose. His promotion to lieutenant-colonel of the...

Movie Review: Of Time and the City

Bags — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:08:04 EST

Terence Davies' affecting personal memoir of growing up in post-war Liverpool.
There is nothing more likely to make me balk with horror than anything fitting the description of "English heritage cinema." I think of all of those horrifying Merchant-Ivory productions which wistfully yearned for a glorious, happy period of imperial dominance which clearly never existed in the real world. For many, the antidote to that...

DVD Review: Man on Wire

Dusty Somers — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:26:55 EST

The fascinating journey of a man who walked across the sky is one of the best films of the year.
As gripping as the best caper films, and as fascinating as the best fiction screenplays, Man on Wire is one of the best films of the year, documentary or otherwise. It’s a brilliant and beautiful piece of filmmaking that’s worthy of the incredible feat it tells of, and in many ways, just like feat it's vibrant, whimsical and...