Annie Hall

It pains me to have to criticize William Friedkin’s movie, Rules of Engagement, because it is that rare thing, a pro- military movie out of Hollywood. Moreover, its scenes of combat are well-made and gripping to watch — both those set in Vietnam in 1968, when a younger Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) saved the…

A girl who pretends to be deaf and a real bad dad don’t end up adding very much of interest to a routine high school melodrama

La Séparation, directed by Christian Vincent from a screenplay written by himself and Dan Franck, tells the story of the unraveling of a marriage, except that it is not a marriage. Pierre (Daniel Auteuil), a book illustrator, and Anne (Isabelle Huppert), who is some kind of professional or businesswoman, have lived together for years, and…

Costa-Gavras — with the help of Rolf Hochhuth — delivers a stinging indictment of the Catholic church’s part in the Holocaust. You were expecting, maybe, exoneration?

[See discussion under “My Diary” for July 2nd, 2014] Discover more from James Bowman Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email. Type your email… Subscribe

Margarethe von Trotta’s moving story of a few brave German women who successfully defied the Nazis after their husbands were arrested gets a bit lost in the complications of the telling