Category Archives: Film Reviews

Film reviews and analyses. Most recently published is in front.

When Knighthood was in Flower, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, and The Crowd

Posted on November 12, 2017 by Mark DuPré

My voyages back into the cinema of yesterday have brought me to a few fascinating places lately. In chronological order of their initial release, I saw: When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922), Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) and … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged Ben-Hur: a Tale of the Christ, Charlton Heston, Citizen Kane, Eleanor Boardman, Henry VIII, Intolerance, James Murray, Jean-Luc Godard, King Vidor, Mae Marsh, Marion Davies, Mary Tudor, Ramon Navarro, Susan Alexander Kane, The Big Parade, The Crowd, The Jazz Singer, The Thin Man, two-strip Technicolor, When Knighthood Was in Flower, William Powell | Leave a comment

Two from 1945: The Body Snatcher and The Picture of Dorian Gray

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Mark DuPré

In my never-ending effort to fill in the gaps of my film-viewing experience, I have been sloshing around in the silent era (another analysis on its way), but happened to have available to me two quite different offerings from 1945. … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Anchors Aweigh, Angela Lansbury, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Cat People, Citizen Kane, Donna Reed, Dracula, Frankenstein, George Sanders, Henry Daniell, Hurd Hatfield, I Walked with a Zombie, Jacques Tourneur, Mildred Pierce, Nicholas Musuraca, Oscar Wilde, Peter Lawford, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Wise, Russell Wade, Spellbound, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Body Snatcher, The Leopard Man, The Little Foxes, The Lost Weekend, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Sound of Music, Val Lewton, West Side Story | Leave a comment

Concussion

Posted on October 30, 2017 by Mark DuPré

Concussion is a two-year-old film“based on” the true story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Pittsburgh pathologist who investigates the brain damage in former professional football players, and that is its main strength. His findings challenge the NFL to its core, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Albert Brooks, Bennet Omalu, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, Concussion, CTW, Drive, Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House, NFL, Peter Landesman, Pittsburgh, Will Smith | Leave a comment

Fences

Posted on October 14, 2017 by Mark DuPré

Sometimes life, responsibilities, and priorities conspire to prevent me from seeing a film I “should” see in the theater. Such was the case with Fences, which was often my number two choice to see, and never managed to make it … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged August Wilson, Broadway, Denzel Washington, Doubt, Fences, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Pittsburgh Cycle, Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, Tony Awards, Viola Davis | Leave a comment

Victoria and Abdul

Posted on October 9, 2017 by Mark DuPré

The greatest service this new trifle from director Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Queen) offers is to put forth a cinematic version of a hitherto unknown story of Queen Victoria’s friendly relationship with a much younger Indian man. The real story … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Abdul Karim, Adeel Akhtar, Ali Fazal, Dame Judi Dench, Dangerous Liaisons, Eddie Izzard, Florence Foster Jenkins, Hindu, Michael Gambon, Mohammed, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Muslim, My Beautiful Laundrette, Philomena, Stephen Frears, The Grifters, The Queen, Tim Pigott-Smith, Victoria and Abdul | Leave a comment

The Lost City of Z

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Mark DuPré

Finally caught up with what many critics considered one of the great films—as well as one of the most unsung—of 2016, though it wasn’t released in the US until 2017. It was stunningly beautiful, slow but in the best sense, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged American Sniper, Charlie Hunnam, David Lean, Fifty Shades of Grey, James Gray, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Kristen Stewart, Percy Fawcett. The Immigrant, Robert Pattison, Sienna Miller, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Lost City of Z, Tom Holland, Twilight, We Own the Night | Leave a comment

The Salesman (Iranian, 2016)

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Mark DuPré

For MSM, “my Persian son” The Salesman is the newest film from Iranian writer/director Asghar Farhadi, creator and Oscar winner (for Best Foreign Film) for 2011’s A Separation. As with A Separation, The Saleman is a meticulously crafted, well-acted film … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged A Separation, Arthur Miller, Asghar Farhadi, Babak Karimi, Best Foreign Film, Dardenne, Death of a Salesman, Deux jours une nuit, Hitchcock, L'Enfant, Shahab Hosseini, Shakespeare, Tareney Alidoosti, The Kid on the Bike, The Salesman | Leave a comment

Dunkirk

Posted on August 21, 2017 by Mark DuPré

Dunkirk is extraordinary. It’s a film, yes (a real film, but more on that later), but also an event and an experience. It should be seen in IMAX if at all possible, as with much of director Christopher Nolan’s previous … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged A Bridge Too Far, Agent Carter, Alejandro Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuaron, Ang Lee, Bridge of Spies, Broadchurch, Brokeback Mountain, Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, Damien Chazelle, Dunkirk, Fionn Whitehead, Gravity, Harry Styles, Inception, Intolerance, James D'Arcy, Kenneth Branagh, La La Land, Lawrence of Arabia, Life of Pi, Mad Max: Fury Road, Mark Rylance, Mrs. Miniver, Richard Attenborough, The Dark Knight Rises, The Revenant, Tom Hardy, Will Attenborough | Leave a comment

The Big Sick

Posted on August 13, 2017 by Mark DuPré

I’ve been telling my film students for the last 20 years that they have been raised during one of the worst periods for romantic comedies in film history. I’ve encouraged them to pretty much ignore what passes for both comedy … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Annie Hall, Billy Crystal, Emily V. Gordon, Holly Hunter, Judd Apatow, Kumail Nanjiani, Meg Ryan, Michael Showalter, Notting Hill, Ray Romano, The Big Sick, Tom Hanks, Zoe Kazan | Leave a comment

The Shack

Posted on July 23, 2017 by Mark DuPré

Things to get out of the way: Yes, it’s taken me this long to see The Shack. And yes, I started to read the book years ago, but was one of the few who never finished it. Plus, I’m posting … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Avraham Aviv Alush, Biblical exegesis, Chariots of Fire, Chris DuPre, Christians, Diary of a Country Priest, God the Father, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Narnia, Octavia Spencer, Papa, Sam Worthington, Sumire, The Blind Side, The Shack, Tim McGraw, Trinity, Wizard of Oz | 1 Comment