DGutting Reviews

The Secret Cinema (1966)

A forgotten classic

[10/10 · 3 January 2001]

I had heard that The Secret Cinema had become lost, but I'm glad to see that someone has turned it up and that it's even possible to buy a VHS of this little masterpiece.

This is a superb piece of work--original, funny, and capturing the real essence of what a movie is all about.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Spielberg's finest hour

[6 August 1998]

Saving Private Ryan forced me to respect Steven Spielberg again. While I often found little depth to his other films, with the obvious exception of Schindler's List, his work on this was absolutely magnificent. The thing I liked most about the process behind SPR was the amount of teamwork involved -- Janusz Kaminski's photography is the best I've ever seen, for not only was it technically brilliant, but it also made me feel as though I was in Normandy, on the beach, and amidst the dying. The same goes for the sound and production design, for it did what was needed most: put the viewer in the action. Everyone associated with this picture should be proud of their work. The only fictional war story better than this in my opinion would be Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front.

I doubt I'll see a movie more powerful than Saving Private Ryan, even if the rumors about The Thin Red Line are true.