Happy Sunday, Streamers.
It’s daylight savings, which means another hour to sleep this morning and another hour to stream great content tonight. Luckily we’ve got a primo piece of feature-length Oscars bait to take advantage of the opportunity.
Now let’s get to it.
All Quiet On The Western Front
Why You Should Watch: For brutally vivid trench warfare, time spent in the camaraderie among soldiers, and some hauntingly picturesque cinematography.
War is hell, and All Quiet on The Western Front makes no argument otherwise. In this update of the 1930s landmark Hollywood anti-war film (based on arguably the best war novel ever written), all the horrors and ultimate futility of war are on display, contrasted with breathtaking images of misty forests, snow-capped hills, and peaceful countryside vistas (if there was ever a movie to watch on a well-calibrated 4K TV, it’s this one). Alongside frames that look like paintings are omnipresent death and violence, which are gut-wrenching and, as the film repeatedly points out, completely unnecessary. If there’s any knock to make on the film, it’s that the deviations from the book (less backstory on characters, more focus on prideful generals and politicians’ refusal to end the war) forcedly hammer this point home (we get it, men wage war and boys have to fight it!). Outside of these departures, the film dutifully honors the timeless tale of the banalities and atrocities of war and is all the more poignant given the current war in Europe. It’s an emotionally draining 2.5 hours, but if you care about the Oscars/are masochistic, you’ll want to watch All Quiet On The Western Front. After all, an artfully made remake of a Hollywood classic that speaks to modern-day conflicts is precisely the kind of movie the Academy falls all over itself for and will no doubt be taking home some statues next year.
Who’s In It, and Where You Probably Know Them From:
Most of this cast is unknown, but you will most likely recognize Daniel Bruhl from Inglourious Basterds, Rush, or as Baron Zemo in the MCU/Captain America franchise.
Who Made It, and What Else Have They Done: The film was directed by Edward Berger, who mostly has done German TV hits like Deutschland 83.
Where You Can Watch: Netflix