Book Review: WATERLOO--MAKING AN EPIC

The 1970 historical epic film WATERLOO is still considered by many to be an expensive flop, but I've long maintained that it has one of the greatest cinematic battle sequences of all time. Bear Manor Media has recently published WATERLOO--MAKING AN EPIC, a massive tome written by Simon Lewis that mo... Read full article

Wild Boys of The Road (1933): Another Wellman Micro Epic

We’re always told that teen culture was an invention of the 1950s and the post-war boon. To a certain extent this is true and yet watching something like Wild Boys is eye-opening. We open at the Sophomore Frolic. It suggests there were elements of this lifestyle generations before. Dances, gir... Read full article

Rocco and His Brothers (1960): An Epic Family Drama

One immediate takeaway from Luchino Visconti’s Italian epic Rocco and His Brothers is its gorgeous, swoon-worthy black & white that’s absolutely magnificent. It shares hallowed ground with films such as The Grapes of Wrath or The Godfather where the palette does yeoman’s work w... Read full article

The Epic of Everest

(1924) Written and directed by Captain John Noel; Available on Blu-ray and DVD Rating: ***** “To us Everest was but a mountain – a thing of rock and ice and snow. To the Tibetans she was more – she was what they named her, ‘Chomolungma,’ ‘Goddess Mother of the ... Read full article

The Young Lions (1958): Humanity in Epic Scale

The opening of Edward Dmytryk’s The Young Lions, based on Irvin Shaw’s titular novel, could be plucked out of an earlier picture like The Mortal Storm. It’s New Year’s Eve 1938 in Bavaria, Germany. Young lovers ski and frolic in the snow as locals make merry indoors. Marlon B... Read full article