Movies Graded

Director: Masaki Kobayashi Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Tamao Nakamura Runtime:   190   minutes Synopsis:  His ideals challenged by life as a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist faces ever greater tests in his fight for survival. Verdict:  Kaji's arc comes to a close in a harrowing way in the final two parts of what I firmly consider now to be one of the greatest trilogies of all time. His contributions at a labor camp and later on the battlefield have made him a shadow of what he once was. Only his love for Michiko and his socialist beliefs remain from the pacifist we've grown to admire in the first chapter of his story. He has become a product of the atrocities of war, a changed man who has to live with the burden of having killed soldiers who were thrown in situations similar to his. His psychologic journey resembles that of Dante in the Divine Comedy, where Virgil, representing conflict in his case, guides him from heaven (No Greater Lo...

Director: Masaki Kobayashi Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Kokinji Katsura Runtime:   181  minutes Synopsis:  As a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist struggles to maintain his determination to keep his ideals. Verdict:  Since "Road to Eternity" is a direct continuation of "No Greater Love", there will be spoilers for its predecessor in this piece, so I advise you to click away if you still haven't seen it. Following the events of the first chapter in the "Human Condition" trilogy, Kaji, a pacifist whose ideals are tested during the final years of the Second World War, finds himself in the place he was most dreading: a training camp where he has to undergo his military service. His wife isn't there to comfort him, and he's treated miserably due to his sympathy towards Chinese prisoners, but that doesn't keep him from maintaining his anti-war philosophy alive. There, his biggest fears are materialized as he witnes...

Director: Masaki Kobayashi Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Chikage Awashima Runtime:   208  minutes Synopsis:  A Japanese pacifist, unable to face the dire consequences of conscientious objection, is transformed by his attempts to compromise with the demands of war-time Japan. Verdict:  I know what a lot of you are thinking: why would I ever subject myself to a black and white, three and a half-hour long film that, on top of it all, is in a foreign language? And to be perfectly honest, if any of these obstacles usually bother your movie-watching experience, I'd recommend skipping the first chapter of what is a nearly 10-hour long narrative divided into three parts. The first one, entitled "No Greater Love", introduces us to Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai), a Japanese pacifist who, in order to escape mandatory military service, accepts a managerial position in a labor camp where Chinese prisoners of war are detained. He moves there with his wife and immediately realiz...

Director: Jasmila Zbanic Stars: Jasna Djuricic, Izudin Bajrovic, Boris Ler Runtime:   101  minutes Synopsis:  Aida is a translator for the UN in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army takes over the town, her family is among the thousands of citizens looking for shelter in the UN camp. Verdict:  As I sat speechless staring at my screen while the credits of the Oscar-nominated war film “Quo Vadis, Aida” were rolling, all I could feel was my body filling up with rage. With time, that anger slowly turned into guilt as the idea of it being inspired by a true story started to settle in. A few moments later, the realization that the events taking place in the film are still occurring to thousands of silenced victims around the world made me comprehend how crucial Jasmila Zbanic’s film is, making it a must-see in my books. Set in 1995, we follow a UN translator named Aida soon after the town of Srebrenica is taken over by the Army of Republika Srpska during the...

Director: Costa-Garvas Stars: Yves Montand, Irene Papas, Jean-Louis Trintignant Runtime: 127  minutes Synopsis:  The public murder of a prominent politician and doctor amid a violent demonstration is covered up by military and government officials. A tenacious magistrate is determined not to let them get away with it. Verdict:  5 days. Following the horrifying explosion that took place at Beirut’s port on August 4th of last year, the president of the republic issued a statement promising that those responsible for the murder of hundreds of people and the destruction of half a city would be held accountable within that reasonable amount of time. Nearly 7 months later, not only is justice far from being served to citizens that are also facing all sorts of turmoil including the arrest of activists protesting for their most basic rights, but the government had the audacity of removing and replacing the investigative judge the second he dared to question the involvement of hig...

Director: Agnieszka Holland Stars: Ivan Trojan, Josef Trojan, Juraj Loj Runtime: 118  minutes Synopsis:  The breathtaking story of a man gifted with exceptional abilities set against the background of the events of the totalitarian fifties. Verdict:  Czech Republic’s official submission for the 93rd Academy Awards, which made the February shortlist, is a biopic of a rather obscure historical figure. “Charlatan” tells the story of Jan Mikolásek, a famous Czech healer who treated his patients by eyeballing a sample of their urine and then prescribing them plant-based medication. His unorthodox methods ultimately irritated the totalitarian Communist Party that was, at the time, ruling the country, and it didn’t take long for them to seize an opportunity to go after him and his assistant. Agnieszka Holland’s feature does a half-decent job at educating viewers about a character I’m certain most haven’t heard of. It doesn’t offer anything too fancy aside from a realistic depict...

Director: Shaka King Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons Runtime: 126  minutes Synopsis:  The story of Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, and his fateful betrayal by FBI informant William O'Neal. Verdict:  Months after they happened, the effects of the Black Lives Matter protests are still being felt in Hollywood. Filmmakers are aware that now’s their chance to educated the world about the injustices faced by the African-American community at the hands of law enforcers for decades now, and I applaud them for seizing that eye-opening opportunity. “Judas and the Black Messiah” is the latest addition to a list that includes Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” or Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology series, and I personally found it to be the most rewarding experience out of them all. The film follows the fascinating true story of Bill O’Neal, an informant tasked with gaining the trust of revolutionary icon Fred Hampton wh...

Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy Stars: Yuliya Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrey Gusev Runtime: 121  minutes Synopsis:  When the communist government raises food prices in 1962, the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist. Verdict:  It’s a good movie. Seven out of ten. I might even bump it up to an eight in the future. If you’re here for a quick feedback about Russia’s submission for the next Academy Awards, that’s pretty much all you need to know. I don’t consider the rest of this review to feature any heavy spoilers, but I wouldn’t recommend you to keep on reading if you’re genuinely interested in checking out Andrey Konchalovskiy’s “Dear Comrades”. A black and white feature told using a 4:3 aspect ratio to add authenticity to the times in which the events take place, the film recalls the Novocherkassk massacre that took place in Khrushchev’s Sov...

Director: Simon Stone Stars: Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James Runtime: 112  minutes Synopsis:  An archaeologist embarks on the historically important excavation of Sutton Hoo in 1938. Verdict:  Everything about this movie screamed boring British period piece, one of my least favorite subgenres in the world of Cinema. Directed by Simon Stone and starring Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, and Lily James, “The Dig” tells the true story of an archeological excavation that took place in 1939. Despite using a visual template that has been used far too many times within the subgenre and a script that wasn’t entirely free of cheesy dialogue, my love of archeology was enough to make the first half of the film at the very least intriguing. I wasn’t blown away by it, but I also wasn’t nearly as bored as I was expecting to be. But then the second half of the movie came along and with it a change in focus that worked against the flow of the narrative. The focus shifted from hist...

Director: Agnès Varda Stars: Thérèse Liotard, Valérie Mairesse Runtime: 120  minutes Synopsis:  The lives of Pomme, an aspiring singer, and Suzanne, a struggling mother, as they search for their own identity in 1970s France. Verdict:  The one who sings is Pomme, a free-spirited and adventurous young woman who lives her life one step at a time. At the age of 17, she meets Suzanne, a married housewife and mother of two who is struggling to deal with an unwanted pregnancy that will financially ruin her family. Pomme takes it upon herself to help her out, initiating one of the most heartwarming friendships ever to be featured on the silver screen. The connection they share is authentic, honest, and immortal, unlike the bond that connects them to their significant others. It's a connection rooted in profound feminism, a recurrent theme found in Varda's projects, and one that allowed them to discover their true selves and embrace the freedom that came with being a woman or figh...

Director: Michael Haneke Stars:  Christian Friedel ,  Ernst Jacobi ,  Leonie Benesch Runtime:  144 minutes Synopsis:  Strange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. Who is responsible? Performances: 9/10 Screenplay: 7/10 Editing: 6/10 Cinematography: 10/10 Verdict: Michael Haneke is a masterful director and "The White Ribbon" may be his most impressive feature to date on a technical level. The Oscar-nominated cinematography is nothing short of absolutely gorgeous and will fool anyone into thinking that the film is a classic dating from the 1950s rather than one released a decade ago. The world created within it is impressive and captures the essence of a small German village during the 1910s splendidly. Even the acting is near-perfect, with each performance standing out on its own without ever taking the spotlight from the rest of the cast. However, it's the scale of the p...

Director: Oualid Mouaness Stars: Nadine Labaki, Mohamad Dalli, Ghassan Maalouf Runtime:  100 minutes Synopsis:  During the 1982 invasion of Lebanon at a private school on the outskirts of Beirut, 11-year-old Wissam tries to tell a classmate about his crush on her, while his teachers on different sides of the political divide, try to mask their fears. Performances:  5/10 Screenplay:  5/10 Editing:  6/10 Cinematography:  6/10 Score/Soundtrack:  5/10 Enjoyment Factor:  7/10 Verdict: Being born in the mid-1990s, I wasn't alive during the Lebanese Civil War that started in 1975 and ended in 1990. Its ghost is still haunting us to this day, maybe now more than ever, but I can't even begin to imagine what life was like during these dark days. And since there are no official records to brief my generation about what happened then (the result of the country being governed today by the same warlords who led militias into battles against one another), all we...

Director: Stanley Kubrick Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee Runtime:  185 minutes Synopsis:  An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England. Performances: 10/10 Screenplay: 9/10 Editing: 8/10 Cinematography: 10/10 Score/Soundtrack:  10/10 Verdict: "Barry Lyndon" is one of those acclaimed movies I kept postponing for no other reason than it coming off as intimidating. I mean, a 3-hour long period piece, even directed by Stanley Kubrick, doesn't seem like something I'd be into. But deep down, I knew that I was going to watch it one day, and it was upon reading a statement suggesting giving it a shot even if the premise scares you that I decided to finally sit down and watch it. I don't exactly know what it is about what was initially a Napoleon biopic that did it, but God am I glad I finally crossed it off my watchlist. "Barry Lyndon" is impressive on so ma...

Director: Aaron Schneider Stars: Tom Hanks, Elisabeth Shue, Stephen Graham Runtime:  91 minutes Synopsis:   Early in World War II, an inexperienced U.S. Navy captain must lead an Allied convoy being stalked by Nazi U-boat wolfpacks. Performances: 6/10 Screenplay: 3/10 Editing: 4/10 Cinematography: 4/10 Score/Soundtrack:  4/10 Verdict: "Greyhound" had been on my radar ever since its trailer debuted. Not because it's yet another war movie starring Tom Hanks, but because it's the actor's first screenwriting gig. The Hollywood legend's resume speaks for itself, and I thought that he had surely picked up more than just a few writing tips along the years while working with some of the most talented people in the field. The Apple TV+ original, however, wasn't exactly the ideal debut for his young newfound career. It wasn't a disaster, that I can assure you, but God did it feel stale. The (not true) story of a Navy captain tasked to defend his convoy against e...

Director: Thomas Kail Stars:  Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Leslie Odom Jr. Runtime:  160 minutes Synopsis:  The real life of one of America's foremost founding fathers and first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Captured live on Broadway from the Richard Rodgers Theater with the original Broadway cast. Verdict: My knowledge of on-stage musicals not being as developed as I want it to be, I'm not entirely sure how to approach this review of what is perhaps one of the biggest cultural phenomenons of the current century. Unless you've been living under a rock (or away from social media), odds are that you've heard of Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton" and at least listened to a couple of songs featured in it. I personally never was a theater guy, and have probably only seen a couple of plays, both musicals, in my entire life ("Les Misérables" and  "Notre-Dame de Paris"). I'm not even sure how to approach it from a critica...

Director: Steve McQueen Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o, Michael Fassbender Runtime: 134 minutes Synopsis:   In the antebellum United States,  Solomon Northup , a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Performances: 5/5 Screenplay: 5/5 Costumes/Makeup: 5/5 Editing: 5/5 Cinematography: 5/5 Score/Soundtrack:  5/5 Verdict: "12 Years a Slave" is no easy watch. In fact, it's possibly one of the most depressing movies of the current century. But similarly to "Schindler's List", I'd qualify it as an essential watch that needs to be experienced at least once by everybody. The movie follows the true story of Solomon Northup who, despite being a respected free man, was kidnapped and sold to slavery in the mid-1800s. Directed by Steve McQueen, the film paints this dark era in human history in a brutal, upsetting way that makes the experience of watching it an intense and unsettling one. McQu...

Director: Christopher Nolan Stars:    Fionn Whitehead, Barry Keoghan, Mark Rylance Runtime:  106 minutes Synopsis:  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. Performances: 7/10 Screenplay: 7/10 Editing: 8/10 Cinematography: 8/10 Score/Soundtrack:  9/10 Verdict: "Dunkirk" is not a conventional war movie. Aside from being impressive from a technical level as you'd expect from a Christopher Nolan project, it sets itself apart from other films in the same genre by choosing to focus on an entirely different enemy: Time. Based on a real operation that occurred during the Second World War, the movie is told through a non-linear structure that follows three storylines, each taking place during a different amount of time. This choice, alongside Hans Zimmer's mesmerizing score that features a ticking clock suggesting a sensation ...

Director: Todd Haynes Stars:  Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins Runtime: 126 minutes Synopsis:  A corporate defense attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution. Performances: 7/10 Screenplay: 7/10 Editing: 5/10 Cinematography: 7/10 Score/Soundtrack:  6/10 Verdict: When an ambitious lawyer finds out about a chemical that's been poisoning the water of a man's farm in West Virginia, he makes it his mission to bring down the corporation responsible for it. No, I'm not reciting the synopsis of Julia Roberts' "Erin Brockovich", but I'm indeed talking about Todd Haynes' latest directorial effort starring Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway. I've been postponing watching "Dark Waters" for a while now. Despite the positive reviews it received, I was nervous that the 2-hour long drama, which is based on a real story, would come off as a little dull. ...

Director: Damien Chazelle Stars: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke Runtime:  141 minutes Synopsis:  A look at the life of the astronaut,  Neil Armstrong , and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Performances: 10/10 Screenplay: 8/10 Editing: 9/10 Cinematography: 9/10 Score/Soundtrack:  8/10 Special Effects: 10/10 Verdict: Despite being Damien Chazelle's most recent release, "First Man" also serves as the young director's least talked about movie to date. "Whiplash" and "La La Land" are both instant classics in my eyes, and while I do enjoy both of them over the Neil Armstrong biopic, I still believe that it deserves as much acclaim as his previous projects. "First Man" is quite the departure from Chazelle's very musical-heavy style, and that may be the reason why people don't remember it as fondly. Ironically enough, it acts as a ...

Director:  Alejandro G. Iñárritu Stars:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter  Runtime:  156 minutes Synopsis:  A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team. Performances: 10/10 Screenplay: 8/10 Editing: 8/10 Cinematography: 9/10 Score/Soundtrack:  8/10 Verdict:  Alejandro G. Iñárritu is a perfectionist and a master at what he does. "The Revenant", which he remarkably managed to release only a year after "Birdman", is further proof that he's one of the most exciting directors working right now. Doomed to only be remembered as the movie that won Leo his first Oscar for his role as Hugh Glass, a real historical figure whose story is one that deserves to be experienced on the largest screen possible, "The Revenant" is much, much more than just an acting tour de force by not only DiCaprio, but also To...