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 | | 5. Valkyrie | | | Starring: Tom Cruise Director: Bryan Singer | | Format: DVD Release Date: 5/19/2009 | | Video Reviews Available: 2 |  | Valkyrie (Single-Disc Edition) - DVD Review By: Emily McDonald - Cinema Blend DVD Reviews Published on: 5/31/2009 1:27 PM | | Cruise plays good guy, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a German officer plotting to assassinate Hitler. After getting blown up in the opening, Stauffenberg is forced to wear an eye-patch for the rest of the film, a wardrobe necessity that mars Cruise's effortless beauty and no doubt creates an impediment to his acting. Regardless, Cruise shines in his first meaty role in years. He's completely believable as a German Colonel with intense faith in "Sacred Germany". read the full review | |
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 | | 22. Defiance | | | Starring: Daniel Craig Liev Schreiber Director: Edward Zwick | | Format: DVD Release Date: 6/2/2009 | | Video Reviews Available: 1 | | Defiance - DVD Review By: Sean O'Connell - filmcritic.com DVD Reviews Published on: 5/22/2009 5:40 PM | |
Decades after the last shot was fired, filmmakers continue to find intriguing narrative passages into WWII. The latest, Edward Zwick's Defiance, tells the true story of the Bielskis, three Jewish brothers who, in 1941, avoided capture by the Germans and fled to Poland's Lipicanzia Forest. Willing to help as many fellow exiles as possible, Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber), and Asael (Jamie Bell) formed what eventually came to be known as the Otriad, a mobile community that grew to encompass 1,200 Jewish refugees. The Otriad provided food, shelter, safety, and a moderate sense of stability. There were rules and guidelines, which bred harmony and conflict. read the full review | |
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 | | 29. Miracle At St Anna | | | Starring: Derek Luke Michael Ealy Director: Spike Lee | | Format: DVD Release Date: 2/10/2009 | | Miracle at St. Anna - DVD Review By: Ed Perkis - Cinema Blend DVD Reviews Published on: 2/9/2009 6:56 PM | | Lee's attempt to tell a story about black soldiers in World War II is a meandering, overlong mess. Using a script from James McBride, who adapted his own novel, the director can't seem to figure out what the story should focus on to make an entertaining and powerful film. Instead he focuses on anything and everything, often in such a heavy handed way that any power the story might have contained is diluted. read the full review | |
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 | | 31. Boy in the Striped Pajamas | | | Starring: Rupert Friend Vera Farmiga Director: Mark Herman | | Format: DVD Release Date: 3/10/2009 | User Rating: 5 | | The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - DVD Review By: Brandon Cozart - Blogcritics.org Reviews Published on: 3/10/2009 11:37 PM | | 2008 was a very big year for films adapted from books, with several reaching the high acclaim of Academy Award nominations. One adapted film that didn't get much recognition, however, is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, based on the novel by John Boyne. The film opens with the following quote emblazoned on the screen: "Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows." As the quote suggests, this is a sort of coming of age film, and over the course of 94 minutes,those in the audience slowly watch the innocence of children unravel before their eyes as the reality of what is taking place becomes more and more illuminated. read the full review | |
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 | | 41. Enemy At the Gates | | | Starring: Jude Law Joseph Fiennes Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | | Format: DVD Release Date: 1/25/2005 | | User Rating: 5 | | Enemy at the Gates - DVD Review By: Norm Schrager - filmcritic.com DVD Reviews Published on: 5/8/2009 5:39 PM | |
Its Stalingrad, late 1942. A young Russian sharpshooter is picking off Germans at will, bringing a much-needed lift to a demoralized Soviet army. The impatient Nazis send their top sniper to kill the man. A World War diminishes in scope to a battle of two. With such a promising plot, absolutely ripe for gutsy drama and emotion, why does Enemy at the Gates ultimately fail? First, and foremost, because of its screenplay. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud (Seven Years in Tibet, The Bear) and partner Alain Godard take a horrific true tale and sap it of its energy, irony, and tension. read the full review | |
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