Simon's Movie Reviews

I so wish a movie like American History X (1998) was not relevant at all today. Instead it feels like but a short prologue to the madness that was to come. The movie's director, Tony Kaye, apparently wanted to disavow the movie but fortunately star Edward Norton helped bring a finished cut to the screen. The result is a story about white nationalism, neo-Nazis, hatred, racial division, and a war of ideas that couldn't feel timelier in today's political climate. When a neo-Nazi proudly talks about the advances they have made with the Internet I got chills. I had been vaguely aware of the movie ever since it came out, never being very interested in watching it given the heaviness of the subject matter. It became available on Netflix recently so I thought I may as well scratch another Greatest Movies off my list. The short plot description also told me this could sadly have been shot last year as a possible companion piece to Spike Lee's Blackkklansman. As I wat...

Battleship Potemkin (1925) is a very powerful piece of cinema history. A black and white silent film set during the Russian revolution, it is simultaneously memorable for its subject matter and for its technical prowess. Directed by Sergei Eisenstein, the movie's messages still resonate today and the way the images are edited influenced filmmakers from around the world decades after its release. Most notably, without it there wouldn't be the train station shootout in The Untouchables. My knowledge of Russian history in the early 20th century is a little rusty and yet I was still moved by the dramatic images I saw. The movie is available for free on Open Culture, with some information about the filmmaker and the time period. Even for non-experts like me, the story’s themes of inequality, rebellion, and the violence that often happens when people rebel against inequality, remains very accessible. The images are all in black and white and the only sound is the dramatic ...