It’s unfortunate that Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front wasn’t given a theatrical run. This is one of the best war films I’ve ever seen, up there with the likes of 1917, Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Hacksaw Ridge, The Deer Hunter, Full Metal Jacket, and The Thin Red Line. While it’s ultimately not quite as memorable as these, there is not much of a gap where each mentioned above receives an Oscar nomination (or win) for Best Picture. Still, All Quiet on the Western Front can’t even get a theatrical release. 2022 is a different era than 1978, 1986, 1998, 2016, or even 2019. The film doesn’t do itself any favors with its no-name cast or the fact that it’s filmed in German. However, this film is incredibly well made and overcomes any obstacles that may preclude viewers from enjoying it.
Category Archives: Daniel Brühl
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Captain America: Civil War is perhaps the greatest superhero movie that Christopher Nolan has not directed. My two favorite superhero movies (The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises) belong to him. As of this post, my third favorite would probably be a toss-up between Batman Begins, Iron Man, and Captain America: Civil War. There are others (such as The Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, etc.) that are up there, but there is clearly a distinction between the top 3 or 4 and all of the others. I hope that superhero movies continue to get better, but unfortunately, it feels like we get 3-4 bad ones for every good one we get. So when we get a movie like Captain America: Civil War, it’s important to take pause, see it, praise it, and encourage more movies like it because we know that poor movies will continue to be made because all of them seem to gross over $100 million easily. And the reason they do is our fault. We continue to see these terrible movies. But that is a different story for a different day.
Continue reading Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Rush (2013)
Rush is a movie that I thought would be dumb based on the trailer. If produced n the early 80s, I would have been all about it. But with so many sports movies created since then, I honestly feel like there isn’t much that is able to make it feel original. So many sports movies have the “been there/done that” approach. They retell Rocky over and over and over again. On top of that, it’s a car racing movie, which is generally something that doesn’t interest me. Also, it is Formula 1 racing, which I find far less exciting than NASCAR. I’ve never seen a Formula 1 race live, and the experience certainly doesn’t translate on the screen for me…especially the road races. Finally, the name of the movie bothered me. There is already a fantastic movie called Rush that came out in 1991 and starred Jason Patric (he was born to play the roles of troubled police detectives) and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It’s a small thing, but something that I thought Ron Howard would respect. Despite these factors going against it before the opening titles even rolled, I found the movie to be a great story, quite enjoyable, and well directed.
Continue reading Rush (2013)