Category Archives: Film Reviews

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

49th Parallel (AKA The Invaders)

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Mark DuPré

49th Parallel is a propaganda film that doesn’t feel like one, though it is as potent as any persuasive film could be. (It was called The Invaders when first released in the U.S.) It’s also an unusual combination of star … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged 49th Parallel, Anton Walbrook, Canada, David Lean, Dr. Zhivago, Eric Portman, Freddie Young, Glynis Johns, Laurence Olivier, Lawrence of Arabia, Leslie Howard, Nazi, Nazis, Niagara Falls, Ralph Vaughn Williams, Raymond Massey, Ryan’s Daughter, St. Lawrence River, The Invaders, Third Reich | Leave a comment

The Other “Gaslight” (British, 1940)

Posted on July 8, 2017 by Mark DuPré

Most folks interested in classic Hollywood films know Gaslight, the 1944 melodrama that gave Ingrid Bergman her first Oscar. Also the winner of the Oscar for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White, it was a well-regarded, deftly crafted film that received … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged 1944 Oscar, 49th Parallel, Angela Lansbury, Anton Walbrook, Barbara Stanwyck, Beauty and the Beast, Casablanca, Cavalcade, Charles Boyer, Diana Wynyard, Double Indemnity, Falconetti, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Gaslight, Ingrid Bergman, Jessica Fletcher, La Ronde, Lola Montes, Mrs. Potts, Murder She Wrote, Oscar, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Manchurian Candidate, The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Red Shoes, Thorold Dickinson | Leave a comment

Watch on the Rhine (1943) and In Which We Serve (1942)

Posted on July 6, 2017 by Mark DuPré

My excursions into the films of Powell and Pressburger brought me back into the world of the 1940s, and specifically, World War II. My next film to see is 49th Parallel (also known as The Invaders in the U.S.), which … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged Bernard Miles, Bette Davis, Brief Encounter, Casablanca, Celia Johnson, Dashiell Hammett, David Lean, Dr. Zhivago, East of Eden, Elizabeth Taylor, Great Expectations, Guy Green, Humphrey Bogart, In Which We Serve, John Mills, Lawrence of Arabia, Lillian Hellman, Michael Wilding, Noel Coward, Paul Lukas, Powell and Pressburger, Raymond Massey, Richard Attenborough, Ronald Neame, The 49th Parallel, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Invaders, Watch on the Rhine | Leave a comment

Wonder Woman

Posted on June 22, 2017 by Mark DuPré

Wonder Woman does a lot of challenging things right. Like Marvel’s The Avengers, this DC Comics film has to accommodate almost too many elements, and yet, surprisingly, holds them fairly well in balance. There are viewer expectations of every stripe … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Amazons, Chris Pine, DC Comics, Diana, Gal Gadot, male gaze, Patty Jenkins, Themyscira, Wonder Woman | Leave a comment

Alien: Covenant

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Mark DuPré

A mini-review…. This film has beautiful production design, excellent cinematography, and a star-making performance by Michael Fassbender (who is already a star). On the other hand, there’s nothing new here. After wandering far afield of the Alien myth with 2012’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Alien, Alien: Covenant, Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, mini-review, Prometheus, Ridley Scott, Ripley, Sigourney Weaver | Leave a comment

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

Posted on June 4, 2017 by Mark DuPré

This improbably entitled film is the great epic of the Michael Powell—Emeric Pressburger canon. The directors’ Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes might be wilder and even more stunningly beautiful, but The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is fascinating … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged Anton Walbrook, Ben Hur, Black Narcissus, Cabaret, Deborah Kerr, Emeric Pressburger, Geoffrey Unsworth, Georges Perinal, Gone with the Wind, Jack Cardiff, Laurence Olivier, Lawrence of Arabia, Les Enfants du Paradis, Michael Powell, Roger Livesey, Tea and Sympathy, Tess, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The King and I, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Red Shoes, The Thief of Bagdad, Winston Churchill | Leave a comment

Denial (2016)

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Mark DuPré

One of the great disappointments in the art of film occurs when a great story, or even an important and engaging one, becomes a film that is just “fine.” If the film were a dud, there might be the chance … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Andrew Scott, BBC, Denial, Holocaust, Mark Gatiss, Mick Jackson, Moriarty, Rachel Weisz, Sherlock, Temple Grandin, Timothy Spall, Tom Wilkinson, Will Attenborough | Leave a comment

A Matter of Life and Death/Stairway to Heaven (1946)

Posted on May 25, 2017 by Mark DuPré

I took another trip to the 1940s, and to England, and to something like heaven. But really, I was taking another trip to the land of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (see reviews of Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes), … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged "I Know Where I'm Going", A Matter of Life and Death, A Streetcar Named Desire, Alfred Hitchcock, Black Narcissus, David Niven, Emeric Pressburger, Gandhi, It's a Wonderful Life, J.K. Rowling, Jack Cardiff, Kathleen Byron, Kim Hunter, Marius Goring, Michael Powell, Michael Sheen, Notorious, Raymond Massey, Richard Attenborough, Roger Livesey, Stairway to Heaven, Technicolor, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Red Shoes, The Seventh Seal, The Wizard of Oz, Things to Come | Leave a comment

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2

Posted on May 20, 2017 by Mark DuPré

The second installment of the Guardians series is nearly critic-proof. At this point, the franchise has a life of its own, and is successful enough at entertaining that snipes are harmless to the films and serious analysis is nearly pointless. … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Adolescent Groot, Baby Groot, Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, Clark Gable, Ego, Frozen, Gamora, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Jennifer Lawrence, Karen Gillan, Kurt Russell, Marvel, Nebula, Olaf, Passengers, Peter Quill, Rocket, Star-Lord, The Hunger Games, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana | Leave a comment

The Birth of a Nation (2016)

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Mark DuPré

The Birth of a Nation was the biggest film non-happening of 2016. This was the film that was bought at Sundance for $17.5 million. It was thought it was going to be one of the critical hits of the year, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Nat Turner, Nate Parker, The Birth of a Nation | Leave a comment