Michael DeNobile's Movie Reviews

A REFLECTION ON THE FILM DOWNFALL (2004) Michael DeNobile reviews the 2004 German film Downfall, and its historical significance.  "For me, the terrifying thing is that he [Hitler] was human, not an elephant or a monster from Mars. If he had been a monster rather than a man, it would take the guilt away from other people--from his millions of followers. A monster is capable of anything, but everyone knows that one man could never have puled it off alone."  ~Bernd Eichinger, producer of Downfall History can get dirty. It's painted in shades of ambiguous grey, not black and white. Sometimes the stories are difficult to tell. Oftentimes, is can be uncomfortable to share. Michael DeNobile asks readers, how does one share one's own uncomfortable history, parcelling out the condemnation of what was wrong while salvaging pride in one's own culture and history? As an American, Michael DeNobile recognizes that telling stories of the Civil War, especially if you're some...

Originally published in January 2016. Movie seen at Teaneck Cinemas in Hackensack, NJ. 13 HOURS OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES After visiting an old friend buried in Hackensack, NJ, I decided to take in a matinee at Teaneck Cinemas: 13 Hours . It's very clear that Michael Bay will have a handful of unintended consequences once this film lodges itself into Hollywood history. The Left will complain that it perpetuates conspiracy theories and promotes propaganda, while the Right will criticize that it does not go far enough. Michael Bay has already stated that the movie is apolitical. Unfortunately for Mr. Bay, all art is political, whether the artist intends it to be or not. Oscar Wilde noted in his preface to the Picture of Dorian Gray that all art is "useless" if the artist intends on using art for an agenda. Art's purpose for Wilde is for art's sake. Mythology, which most people don't really understand, is another art form that will shed light on 13 ...

Originally posted June 2016. REFLECTION ON THE MOVIE THE FREE STATE OF JONES Man's natural condition is freedom and to fight tyranny and oppression. Unless man is otherwise conditioned to be complacent and accept a state of slavery and even to the point, as Newton Knight put it that, "Everybody is just somebody else's nigger." As a student of multiculturalism, philosophy, and religion, I have come to the conclusions that mankind chooses over and over again to be stupid. We have made up these rules over the centuries of who is better, who is worthy of the mantel of humanity, and who gets to reap the benefits. No man is a slave except by choice. I have studied countless individuals that even in states of servitude and slavery, they are more free than those without chains. There are the blind that have more sight than those with seeing eyes. War is more than guns, guts, and glory. The wars begin when the weapons are laid down, even generations hence. Blood mu...