Just as the promotion for Ridley Scott’s latest film is getting underway, we’re watching the director’s debut film from 1977. It tells a rather incredible story of two duellists, adapted from a short story by Joseph Conrad and that was in turn seemingly inspired by real events. I do wish that it goes deeper into why one of them Gabriel Feraud acts as he does, But there is no question that this is a beautifully shot film with an intriguing premise and some amazing fight choreography.

Made from leftover footage of an older documentary and interviews with crewmembers who have survived to the present day, this is a film about the B-17 bomber missions that flew over Europe during the Second World War. Since we’ve all watched war movies, a lot of this feels very familiar but that are some anecdotes and key insights here that may be interesting even to those who have studied the subject. I especially appreciate how filmmaker Erik Nelson does of course acknowledge the crewmembers as war heroes but he also does not shy away from stating the bombing killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Germany.

Here’s another film by Roberto Rossellini and it is an Italian film despite the leads not being Italian and the dialogue in English. As befits its title, it’s a travelogue, which makes it particularly apt for watching as most of all are still barred from travel. But of course it’s really about the relationship between the couple as their frustration with each other blinds them to the incredible sights around them. This is considered a huge influential film but I don’t think it’ll be one of favorites as the psychologies of the characters involved are a little obvious and the ending feels unearned to me.

It’s sadly all too easy overlook relatively low profile new releases during the pandemic and so I don’t think too many people have watched this. I added this my list because I heard it’s similar in some ways to Inside Out which I loved. This is indeed the case and the film does actually make some bold claims with regards to the metaphysics of how personalities arise. Unfortunately the film builds up to some epiphany about the meaning of life and in the end it just can’t deliver anything particularly original or impactful and so feels truncated as a result.

This marks the last of the great films by David Lean that we’ve watched and with more than three hours of running time it is certainly qualifies as an epic. I’m not sure how it is in the original novel but this film itself is framed as a romance that takes place amidst the tumult of the Russian Revolution. I don’t really care for the romance aspect but the film is effective at showing the massive changes that took place in Russia and how families are torn apart and people change in unpredictable ways during all this.

Made by director Andrew Ahn, I believe that this counts among the recent crop of films made by Asian American filmmakers. This one doesn’t lean into the Asian identity of its characters, which I suppose is another way of moving past the barrier. It is a very modest film about personal connections and I think as it was released online during the pandemic instead of in theatres, it resonated especially to people starved of ordinary social contact.

It’s pretty crazy how many films Robert De Niro has appeared in over the decades. This one was a comedic role that he himself pursued back in the day, apparently just in order to change things up from his usual gangster roles. It was a major success back in the day but its reputation has also improved over time. As my wife observes, it evokes a sense of nostalgia for the style of humor of the 1980s but I also note that it isn’t a retrospectively offensive film in the way so many other films of the period are and that’s another reason why it holds up so well today.