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Dunkirk’s Darkest Hour

Have two highly-acclaimed films ever been so perfectly matched as accompanying entities?

This year, Christopher Nolan’s gritty on-the-beach dramatization of the historically necessary evacuation of hundreds of thousands of British soldiers in Dunkirk was hailed as an incredible war movie unlike any other. You were on the beach, you were in the air and you felt the literal and metaphorical claustrophobia of what seemed like inevitable demise closing in. It was a matter-of-fact story that took audiences into the living hell of British and French soldiers under deadly German air attacks.

Also this year, just weeks ago, Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour was hailed as an engaging peek into the life of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Faced with the end of the British armed forces, Western civilization, and the world in domino fashion by Germany in World War II,  Mr. Oldman’s metamorphosis into Mr. Churchill was a masterclass in acting brilliance. To put it briefly, Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour was an ordinary man who, through cigars, booze, unlikely confidants, ingenuity, courage and his wife, was able to lead the rescue of soldiers struggling for their lives on the beaches of Dunkirk in a matter-of-fact manner on the silver screen.

Movie fans should see both films, both for historic and cinematic purposes. But what if you could see them interwoven together in an epic trailer?

While Gary Oldman has all but sealed up a forthcoming season of Best Actor awards for his performance as Winston Churchill, there’s an argument for cinematic history to be made with regards to the Best Picture of 2017:

Dunkirk + Darkest Hour.

The Academy will likely not comply. Regardless, history is eternally thankful for the ordinary heroes showcased in both films.

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Happy Monday

Winston Churchill’s resolute strength + Hans Zimmer’s emotional instrumental inspired by Christopher Nolan’s dramatic storytelling of Dunkirk =

Wise people say that history repeats itself. That’s certainly an eternal truth. However, what these wise people don’t specify is the manner in which this repeating occurs. Therefore, in whatever fashion this epic musical and oratorical collaboration inspire you, let it. And then do something positive to change yourself and the world around you in a profound manner.

Bravery and sacrifice never get old.

Have a Better Week Than Last Week.  

The Other D-Day (Dunkirk-Day) is Here

Christopher Nolan’s newest film has arrived in theaters across the country. And today’s blog post is fairly short and sweet going into this weekend:

Go see Dunkirk in IMAX.

‘Dunkirk’ Is a Tour de Force War Movie, Both Sweeping and Intimate (Manohla Dargis, The New York Times)

A spare, propulsive, ever-intensifying combat thriller, Nolan’s history lesson is both a rousing celebration of solidarity and the tensest beach-set film since Jaws (Nick De Semlyen, Empire online)

‘Dunkirk’ chronicles heroism during WWII rescue with beauty and intensity (

The Bottom Line: A stunning victory (Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter)

For history’s sake, please go see Dunkirk this weekend.

1 Ticket Will Transport You to the Peril of 400,000

War is hell.

But the new film Dunkirk (an epic war story set for release this week) has been viewed as heavenly by movie critics regarding its acting veterans and young newcomers, storytelling dynamics and daring cinematic achievements involving practical effects in the air, on the land and in the sea.

Famed director and screenwriter Christopher Nolan explained his first ambitious journey into framing and telling a real story from history.

Having followed the inception of this film (I had to) concerning the earliest reports of what Mr. Nolan was up to following his 2014 science-fiction epic Interstellar, the fragmented bits of information that were revealed throughout the past couple years that a war film was the director’s next venture was genuinely thrilling. This news was before any IMAX cameras were reserved by his production team. And as Mr. Nolan says in the video interview above, Dunkirk strives to be an experience wherein the silver screen offers no barrier for the audience from feeling the intense action sequences being projected on said screen.

Dunkirk portrays a hellish ordeal for 400,000 Allied soldiers. For history’s sake, that’s a good thing and precisely what Mr. Nolan was aiming for with his brand new cinematic epic on a massive scale.

War is hell. However, if the events of Dunkirk had turned out differently, then something much larger than a solitary war would’ve become hell.

For that reason alone, people should see Christopher Nolan’s newest film centered on that surreal, and historically consequential, evacuation effort.