Skimming other reviews of 1917, I have seen critics refer to it, time and time again, as a "piece of filmmaking". The term is entirely apt. For what sets 1917 apart from other war movies – indeed, from most movies in general – is its stagecraft. Arguably a higher priority than story, character, or theme, 1917's strength is its well-known… read more!

American Beauty is one of those annoying movies that purports to tell its audiences about All the Big Truths About Life, when actually there's not an honest bone in its body. Take, for starters, the setting. The story is about a so-called "ordinary suburban family", where the husband (Kevin Spacey) is an underpaid magazine writer who hates his cubicle job… read more!

Sam Mendes is a veteran theater and film director who has worked with a variety of material written by others. 1917 was the first feature he cowrote, but its script was really secondary to its showy single-take acrobatics. Empire of Light marks his first produced solo screenplay – yet despite Mendes's vast experience on stage and screen, his writing is… read more!

Believe it or not, I was excited when Titanic came out in 1997. Having worked on a documentary about the ship a few years earlier, I was among the first to catch it when it was released. At the time I also was a fan of both its young leads: I was impressed by Leonardo DiCaprio in This Boy's Life… read more!

Although I loved James Bond movies as a kid – cheesy though they were, with a lazy Roger Moore smirking through his scenes – they've done little for me as an adult, and I've only seen a couple of the post-Moore entries. (I finally saw some of the Sean Connery Bonds a couple years back. I wasn't impressed. So sue… read more!