Movies: Drama

July 16 marks Barabara Stanwyck's Centennial. Rand, who died in 1982, would have loved this scene at YouTube, please check it out. Turner Classic Movies is featuring her this weekend. Ted Keer (See the whole review)

I can't make an Objectivist case for this movie as dramatic art, but the experience of  putting one's emotions through a workout from the safety of a theater seat can be worth seeking out for its own sake.  If that's what Aristotle and subsequent centuries of literati mean by "pity and terror" or "catharsis," then this movie taught me more than Aes... (See the whole review)

A romantic drama in the best sense of the word, this film forever secured for Rita Hayworth the title of "Sex Goddess," a title which, in real life, she found a tragic personal frustration. Directed by Charles Vidor, "Gilda" stars Glenn Ford (recently deceased) as Johnny Farrell, a handsome, streetwise adventurer who "makes his own luck." ... (See the whole review)

WARNING: This review contains both spoilers and buzz killers!  Read at your own risk. Introduction and Context Setting Before I even start reviewing the movie, I had better set context with some autobiographical information. Many readers of this site know that my parents raised me on a cattle farm in North Carolina.  I spent ma... (See the whole review)

The basic gist of this film is that "Death" (Pitt) decides to experience life as a human and takes the body of a young man. He appears to a rich businessman (Hopkins) who is going to die soon, and has him act as a guide to all that life has to offer. Without Pitt and Hopkins I doubt this movie would be worth watching. Their interplay is ama... (See the whole review)

I am happy to write a review of this wonderful film. It won Oscars for best director, best lead actor, best screenplay, and best picture. If you watch it just once, you will understand why. Kevin Spacey (best actor) plays Lester Burnham. Lester is going through a mid-life crisis. He is bored, apathetic, and uninspired. He lives in the suburb... (See the whole review)

I have taken quite a few acting classes here in Austin, just for fun. I then found out that one of my classmates actually appeared in this film for a few minutes. She did a good job. ... (See the whole review)

For all the 'equal time' this movie gives to fundamentalist Islam -- I feel that it, on balance, depicts the true, destructive nature of the religion (albeit, indirectly enough to avoid a retributive, suicide bombing!). Particularly striking, are the staunch, anti-capitalist indoctrinations by the 'teacher' at the 'Muslim School'.

I figured out this gallery. Another version of this review has been submitted to _Liberty_: Over the years, I have become increasingly distrustful of Hollywood’s biographical and historical movies. However, Sophie Scholl: The Last Days was made in Germany and has only recently come to American theaters. Shown with subtitle... (See the whole review)

Here is a movie that I saw on a whim one night when it was on cable. I was completely blown away. It's a comedy/drama about a young Austrailian ballroom dancer who wants to win the big Pan-Pacific Grand Prix dance competition. The comedy mostly revolves around the older people in the film including his parents, dance instructor, and the head of the... (See the whole review)

I haven't seen this movie in about twenty years. This is a great little romance that still sticks in my mind for it's fresh optimism and great scenery. I'm a sucker for a good romance (good, mind you) and this movie is certainly that. Here is the plot overview from IMDB: A French boy (Daniel) and an American girl (Lauren), who goes to... (See the whole review)

I went to see The World's Fastest Indian a couple of days ago with Jasmine and some friends. According to IMDB: "The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle -- a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967." It was fantastic! At first J... (See the whole review)

It's terrible that I only found German sources (and some Arabian) about this movie, who is truly a horrible piece of filming. The German-based Israelian organisations have judged the movie and found it not only offending but also terribly evil. The movie portrays the day of two suicide bombers and tries to convince the public, that they are two poo... (See the whole review)

Story of purity versus change part one: RUNNING ON EMPTY centers around a couple and their children on the run for their protest actions in the sixties. The parents are the typical Marxist hippies who try to instill in the kids the values of the left, only to face the fact that the eldest child would rather play classical piano instead of the f... (See the whole review)

Season 1 of the medical drama "House", with Hugh Laurie starring as the ruthlessly rational and funny American doctor.

From a previous article I wrote: ... (See the whole review)

A stunning feature length BBC production based on the events of 9th June 1804, which saw the premier of Beethoven's Thrid Symphony (the Eroica) in a private performance for Prince Lobokowitz, some time prior to the work's public debut. Ingeniously, the work itself is played as live (and, may I add, quite superbly), while the camera captures ... (See the whole review)

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The late and much missed Jeremy Brett has long been regarded by many Holmes fans as the definitive screen personification of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle's master detective. The British-produced series of hour-long episodes and 5 tv movies cover the vast majority of Conan-Doyle's stories, and for the most part are reasonably faithful adaptations, though ... (See the whole review)

I only watched this movie once, shortly after it was available in US. It is not a movie that I can just pop in DVD player any time that I want some entertainment. In my opinion, this movie comes closest in truthfully depicting the lives of common Chinese people living during the turbulent times of "changing dynasty" and under Communism. It's time f... (See the whole review)

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Somewhere in the documents that founded the United States is buried the principle that religion should be separate from the state. It is a pity that the founding fathers never carved this directive ten feet high in marble, because some people just don’t get it. It seems that in each American generation there is someone who tries to inject a little ... (See the whole review)

"There are those in our own country too who today speak of the "protection of country" -- of "survival." A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient -- to look... (See the whole review)

I enjoyed this one tremendously. Beautifully written and shot, it tells the stories of a group of women and their Chinese-American daughters, specifically their struggles for independence and individualism. The dialogue is elegant. There were moments when I was moved close to tears by it. On a personal aside, I have just begun to learn Mand... (See the whole review)

Another of my all-time favorite. A jewel from Merchant-Ivory collections. One of the most moving love story ever told on screen. It profoundly influenced my view on homosexuality.   Here is the description from Amazon: "Set against the stifling conformity of pre-World War I English society, E.M. Forster’s Maurice is a story of coming to te... (See the whole review)

I first saw this movie in 1990, shortly after I came to the US. It struck a deep cord within me after experienced the Tiananmen Square demonstrations and its aftermath. It also eerily echoed my personal relationship at the time. I have since watch this movie no less than...um...20 times (kidding. maybe just 10). What you get from watchin... (See the whole review)

The 1968 original was a picaresque in the tradition of Thomas Mann's Felix Krull and the folk anti-hero Tyl Eulenspiegel.  The 1999 remake is the result of a new generation with higher demands.  In the 1999 story, the conflict is hot, heated, and high-spirited.  In both versions, the motivation for multi-millionaire Thomas Crowne to pull off the pe... (See the whole review)

I watched this film over the weekend, and was surprised at its timeless power and beauty. Of course, it is a standard of screenwriting, and filmmaking curriculum, and is on most "top ten" movie lists. I had watched it several times years ago, but it was this weekends viewing that I realized on a *personal* level just how beautiful this movie is for... (See the whole review)

What a truly great movie... Screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky cuts through all the plastic superficiality of so-called "love" and gets right down to what really connects two people... and two hearts. Here is a short explanation that Marty gives to his impromptu dance partner for the evening, Clara, when she expresses that she doesn't know why som... (See the whole review)

This is the film that made Steven Spielberg want to become a director, and quite simply, one of my all-time favorite movies... if not my actual favorite entirely. Lawrence of Arabia begins with the situation in World War I pre-Arabia -- under the anti-Islamic "yoke" of Ottoman Turkish occupation -- before Arab tribal cultures were short-sigh... (See the whole review)

Hoosiers tells the fictional story of the Hickory Huskers -- a nowhere high school basketball team in a small town in very rural Indiana -- and the outcast, heretic coach (played by Gene Hackman) who comes to Hickory to work his miracles, and who is opposed at every turn by the oppressive, barren, and cynical local mentality that keeps nowhere town... (See the whole review)

It's been a long time since I saw a movie which so inspired me, and helped give back knowledge of how great people can be. This is a simple story. It's not "art house" - deep and meaningful.  This movie is the true story of Carl Brashear (Cuba Gooding Jnr); not just the first colored man to "make it" as a deep sea search and rescue diver in the US ... (See the whole review)

Set in New Jersey in the 1950s, The Big Night is the story of two Italian immigrant brothers, Primo (played by Tony Shalhoub, best known in the TV series Monk) and Secondo (played by Stanley Tucci – Conspiracy, The Terminal), struggling to achieve the American Dream with their Italian restaurant, The Paradise ... (See the whole review)

Deleted by author.

There is no ideology more anathema to Objectivism that Nazism. And nothing characterizes the evil of Nazism more than the “Final Solution” – the systematic murder of over six million Jews in death factories throughout German-occupied eastern Europe during the final years of World War II. With chilling brilliance, Conspiracy dramatize... (See the whole review)

This film is a celebration of, and tribute to, the power of great art to inspire the human spirit. The subject of the film is Greet, a servant in the house of Vermeer. Her natural intelligence and ability enables her to contribute to the creation of Vermeer's painting. This is not a factual piece but every frame reflects a respect for Vermeer's wor... (See the whole review)

This film has gotten a bad rap, plain and simple.  But plain and simple, it's amazing. ... (See the whole review)

This is the classic story of the deaf and blind Helen Keller (Patty Duke) and her teacher, Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft). Pitied for her handicaps and thought to be retarded, Helen has been indulged and left in ignorance, resulting in a spoiled child without any concept of language. Annie, herself raised in a home for blind and deaf children, must... (See the whole review)

The Red Shoes is based around the fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson.  It is not, however, a reproduction of that story but a development of its central theme.  And in spite of its tragic ending, the film is inspiring. ... (See the whole review)

You will never find a more chillingly suspenseful, perversely funny, or viciously satirical political thriller than The Manchurian Candidate, based on the novel by Richard Condon (author of Winter Kills). The film, withheld from distribution by star Frank Sinatra for almost a quarter century after President Kennedy's assassination, has lost none of... (See the whole review)

As a symbol of freedom and adventure, space is also a romantic frontier. The 1999 film, October Sky, based on Homer Hickam's biographical novel, Rocket Boys, illustrates the excitement, motivation, and sense of personal potential and achievement that can result when private individuals set out on their own to conquer the final frontier. Just after ... (See the whole review)

Scripted by Rand herself, this movie adaptation inevitably leaves out some elements of the novel and plays down others, but still presents the essentials of the storyline in an accessible manner.

The movie that gives the lie to that old collectivist platitude, "No man is an island."  Chuck Noland (played by Tom Hanks), an employee for FedEx, survives a terrifying plane crash and winds up deserted on a small Pacific island.  Most of the movie becomes a one-man show as Chuck applies his mind and the meager resources available to secure shelte... (See the whole review)

Truman Burbank has unknowningly lived his entire life with paid actors, surrounded by millions of cameras recording his every move and broadcasting them throughout the world. As a child, Truman displays a desire to travel and explore the world, so he is psychologically manipulated by the show's creators to fear water and any forms of travel that wo... (See the whole review)

'I will not make any deals with you. I've resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own. I resign.' Set in a surreal village located who-knows-where and  run by who-knows-whom; populated by people who once had ideas in their head that were valuable, but are now prepared to die 'like ro... (See the whole review)

With a gorgeous soundtrack by two of this century’s master musicians - ebullient jazz composer Duke Ellington, and soundtrack maestro John Barry - and lushly-stylised cinematography by the Godfather Godfather, Cotton Club simply exudes STYLE! Cotton Club integrates superbly high-spirited jazz with a story - though occasionally lacking cohesi... (See the whole review)