Newsletter

THE LAST DUEL IS A REMINDER OF THE MISOGYNY OF THE MIDDLE AGES Soon after the beginning of The Last Duel, directed by Ridley Scott, Jean de Carrouges (played by Matt Damon) has just achieved another victory at the Battle of Limoges (1370), where he saves the life of Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver). A […]

DE GAULLE RISES FROM COLONEL TO FRANCE’S MAIN DEFENDER Often understood as an arrogant leader who kept Britain out of the European Economic Community and later became the leader of the French Fifth Republic, the film De Gaulle, directed by Gabriel Le Bomin, is a biopic of his role from April to June 1940, when

OPERATION CURVEBALL EXPOSES DUPLICITY REGARDING IRAQ Most political observers know that the United States started the Iraq War based on a lie. Few, however, know where the lie originated. Operation Curveball, directed by Johannes Naber, puts the blame on the German government, though the role of the American government is also revealed. At the center

HELD FOR RANSOM IS LINKED TO GUANTÁNAMO As one grows up, a career is not always obvious. Daniel Rye (played by Esben Smed), growing up in a small town in Denmark, is unsure of himself but knows that he enjoys photography. One day he applies for a position as assistant to an established photographer, flies

DOCUDRAMAS SOMETIMES ARE SUSPENSFUL     Adventures of a Mathematician, directed by Thor Klein, is a biopic of Stan Ulam (played by Philippe Tlokinski), whose mathematics worked out the formula to produce the atomic bomb at Los Alamos during World War II. Although Klaus Fuchs, Robert Oppenheimer, and Edward Teller are better known members of the

Wife of a Spy

BLUE BAYOU IS THE SADDEST FILM EVER MADE Two recent films demonstrate difficulties that Korean immigrants experience in the United States. Minari features a Korean immigrant family in Arkansas during the 1980s; the husband tries to become a farmer with little success in the first year but he promises to try again in the following

WHO WAS ON TRIAL IN AMERICAN TRAITOR? An American citizen named Mildred Gilliars (played by Meadow Williams) was in Germany when World War II began, hoping to became a famous actress. Approached by radio program director Max Otto Koischwitz (Carsten Norgaard) one day in 1941, he presents her with an extraordinary opportunity—work as a high-profile

THE COURIER IS NOT JUST ANOTHER SPY MOVIE Directed by Dominic Cooke, The Courier is the story of how the gravity of the Russian threat came to the attention of President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missiles Crisis of 1962. The basic facts are quite simple: In 1960, the Kremlin discovers that Major Pyotr

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 IS HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED On August 26, 1968, the Democratic Party was scheduled to begin its national convention at the Chicago Hilton and was expected to nominate as their presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey, who was expected to continue American involvement in Vietnam. Protesters from several different groups called