Visitors

Pages

Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Black Hawk Down (2001)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: Action/war drama based on the best-selling book detailing a near-disastrous mission in Somalia on October 3, 1993. On this date nearly 100 U.S. Army Rangers, commanded by Capt. Mike Steele, were dropped by helicopter deep into the capital city of Mogadishu to capture two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord. This lead to a large and drawn-out firefight between the Rangers and hundreds of Somali gunmen, leading to the destruction of two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters. This film focuses on the heroic efforts of various Rangers to get to the downed black hawks, centering on Sgt. Eversmann, leading the Ranger unit Chalk Four to the first black hawk crash site, Warrant Officer Durant who was captured after being the only survivor of the second black hawk crash, as well as many others who were involved.

Amistad (1997)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: Amistad is the name of a slave ship traveling from Cuba to the U.S. in 1839. It is carrying a cargo of Africans who have been sold into slavery in Cuba, taken on board, and chained in the cargo hold of the ship. As the ship is crossing from Cuba to the U.S., Cinque, who was a tribal leader in Africa, leads a mutiny and takes over the ship. They continue to sail, hoping to find help when they land. Instead, when they reach the United States, they are imprisoned as runaway slaves. They don't speak a word of English, and it seems like they are doomed to die for killing their captors when an abolitionist lawyer decides to take their case, arguing that they were free citizens of another country and not slaves at all. The case finally gets to the Supreme Court, where John Quincy Adams makes an impassioned and eloquent plea for their release.

Monday, April 23, 2012

The Dam Buster (1955)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: The British are desperate to shorten the length of WW2 and propose a daring raid to smash Germany’s industrial heart. At first the objective looks impossible until a British scientist invents an ingenious weapon capable of destroying the planned target.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (2011)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: During the Japanese rule of Taiwan, the Seediq were forced to lose their own culture and give up their faith. Men were subject to harsh labor and kept from traditional hunting; whereas women had to serve the Japanese policemen and their families by doing the household work and giving up their traditional weaving work. Above all, they were forbidden to tattoo their faces. And these tattoos were seen as the Seediq’s traditional belief to transform themselves into Seediq Bale (“true humans”). Mona Rudao, the protagonist, witnessed the repression by the Japanese over a period of 30 years. Sometime between autumn and winter 1930, when the slave labor is at its harshest, a young Seediq couple are married and a joyful party is thrown. At the same time, a newly appointed Japanese policeman goes on his inspection tour to this tribe. Mona Rudao’s first son, Tado Mona, offers wine to the policeman with gusto…

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Valkyrie (2008)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: In Nazi Germany during World War II, as the tide turned in favor of The Allies, a cadre of senior German officers and politicians desperately plot to topple the Nazi regime before the nation is crushed in a near-inevitable defeat. To this end, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, an Army officer convinced he must save Germany from Hitler, is recruited to mastermind a real plan. To do so, he arranges for the internal emergency measure, Operation: Valkyrie, to be changed to enable his fellows to seize control of Berlin after the assassination of the Fuhrer. However, even as the plan is put into action, a combination of bad luck and human failings conspire on their own to create a tragedy that would prolong the greater one gripping Europe.

W.E. (2011)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: The affair between King Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson, and a contemporary romance between a married woman and a Russian security guard.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Les Aventures de Philibert, Capitaine Puceau (2011)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: Kingdom of France, 1550, in Bretagne.Philibert, robust fellow of twenty years, eldest son of a farmer of artichokes, is different from other boys of the village. Idealistic, naive, he predicted a glorious future in the artichoke and preserve her virginity for the woman he is not yet known but that God intended. Before passing away, his father tells him that it is not his real father. It was a gentleman, Fulgence Saint-Berendourt Avoise, assassinated by a Burgundian wine stain with a rose-shaped neck. His wallet full of ideals and artichokes, Philibert leaves his village and galloped towards Burgundy, accompanied by his servant Martin a little disingenuous. The courage of Philibert, charity, purity physical and moral well be put to the test against the meanness and venality of the villains and the temptation of women more libidinous each other…

Friday, April 13, 2012

The Battle of Algiers (1966)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: A film commissioned by the Algerian government that shows the Algerian revolution from both sides. The French foreign legion has left Vietnam in defeat and has something to prove. The Algerians are seeking independence. The two clash. The torture used by the French is contrasted with the Algerian's use of bombs in soda shops. A look at war as a nasty thing that harms and sullies everyone who participates in it.

Monday, April 9, 2012

The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: Action-packed look at the beginnings of the fall of the Roman Empire. Here is the glory, the greed and grandeur that was Rome. Here is the story of personal lust for power, and the shattering effects of that power’s loss. Here is the tale of the plight of a people living on the brink of a political abyss.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: Seven years after the apparent death of Chen Zhen, who was shot after discovering who was responsible for his teacher's death (Huo Yuanjia) in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. A mysterious stranger arrives from overseas and befriends a local mafia boss. That man is a disguised Chen Zhen, who intends to infiltrate the mob when they form an alliance with the Japanese. Disguising himself as a caped fighter by night, Chen intends to take out everyone involved as well as get his hands on an assassination list prepared by the Japanese.

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: Epic tale of a group of Jewish gangsters in New York, from childhood, through their glory years during prohibition, and their meeting again 35 years later.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Red Cliff II (2009)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: In this sequel to Red Cliff, first minister Cao Cao convinces Emperor Han to initiate a battle against the two Kingdoms of Xu and Wu, who have become allied forces, against all expectations. Red Cliff will be the site for the gigantic battle.

Schindler's List (1993)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: Oskar Schindler is a vainglorious and greedy German businessman who becomes unlikely humanitarian amid the barbaric Nazi reign when he feels compelled to turn his factory into a refuge for Jews. Based on the true story of Oskar Schindler who managed to save about 1100 Jews from being gassed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. A testament for the good in all of us.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: A dashing officer of the guard and romantic poet, Cyrano de Bergerac falls in love with his cousin Roxane without her knowing. His one fault in his life, he feels, is his large nose and although it may have been a forming influence in his rapier-sharp wit, he believes that Roxane will reject him. He resorts to writing letters to her on behalf of one of his cadets, Christian, who is also in love with Roxane but just doesn’t know how to tell her. She falls for the poetic charm of the letters but believes that they were written by Christian.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

A Frozen Flower (2008)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: A historical drama set in the Koryo dynasty and focused on the relationship between a king and his bodyguard.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Territories (2010)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: Five friends returning from a marriage in Canada return home to the United States. Not far from the border, two customs officers stop them to check their identity. Suspicious, they take their time especially with Jalil, a man of Arab origin. The situation worsens when a customs officer finds a small bag of marijuana in the luggage. Then things degenerate rapidly: a customs officer grabs the little dog that's part of the group and slits open its belly to be sure it's not a mule. When Gab makes a move, he's shot. The customs officer orders the surviving friends to undress and put on orange coveralls. Gradually, it dawns on the four tourists that they are in the hands of former torturers from Guantanamo.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

La Rafle (2010)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: 1942. Joseph is eleven. And this June morning, he must go to school, a yellow star sewn on his chest. He receives the support of a goods dealer. The mockery of a baker. Between kindness and contempt, Jo, his Jewish friends, their families, learn of life in an occupied Paris, on the Butte Montmartre, where they've taken shelter. At least that's what they think, until that morning on July 16th 1942, when their fragile happiness is toppled over. From the Vélodrome D'Hiver, where 13 000 Jews are crammed, to the camp of Beaune-La-Rolande, from Vichy to the terrace of the Berghof, La Rafle follows the real destinies of the victims and the executioners. Of those who orchestrated it all. Of those who trusted them. Of those who fled. Of those who opposed them. Every character in this film has existed. Every event, even the most extreme, transpired on that summer of 1942.

Yamada: The Samurai of Ayothaya (2010)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: Based on a true historic figure during Ayothaya Era, the film depicts the life of Yamada Nagamasa, a Japanese adventurer who gained considerable influence in Thailand and became the governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat province in southern Thailand.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown (1997)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: Queen Victoria is deeply depressed after the death of her husband, disappearing from public. Her servant Brown, who adores her, through caress and admiration brings her back to life, but that relationship creates scandalous situation and is likely to lead to monarchy crisis.

Pocahontas (1995)


INFO: [IMDb]

Synopsis: Capt. John Smith leads a rag-tag band of English sailors & soldiers to the New World to plunder its riches for England (or, more precisely, for Governor Ratcliffe, who comes along for the ride). Meanwhile, in this “New World,” Chief Powhatan has pledged his daughter, Pocahontas, to be married to the village’s greatest warrior. Pocahontas, however, has other ideas. She has seen a vision of a spinning arrow, a vision she believes tells her change is coming. Her life does indeed change when the English ship lands near her village. Between Ratcliffe, who believes the “savages” are hiding the gold he expected to be plentiful, and Powhatan, who believes these pale newcomers will destroy their land, Smith and Pocahontas have a difficult time preventing all-out war, and saving their love for each other.