Netflix Interruption (Everything Must Go / Paths of Glory)

Everything Must Go (2011)

Director: Dan Rush

Writers: Dan Rush, Raymond Carver (short story "Why Don't You Dance")

Stars: Will Ferrell, Rebecca Hall and Christopher Jordan Wallace

Found it neither funny enough to classify it as a "dramedy," nor really deep enough to truly offer anything worthwhile as a straight drama. Considering that only one really major event occurs during the film, the characterizations are surprisingly thin. I was checking the time throughout the second half because it really starts to drag on and on. Ferrell does a decent job drawing empathy for a character who hasn't really earned any via the script, proving to be at least a passable dramatic actor. Didn't hate it and there's a few genuinely enjoyable scenes with the kid - but overall left me feeling fairly apathetic.

Score: 4 / 10


Paths of Glory (1957)

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Writers: Stanley Kubrick (screenplay), Calder Willingham (screenplay), 

Jim Thompson (screenplay), and 

Humphrey Cobb (novel "Paths of Glory")

Stars: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker and Adolphe Menjou

Every element of this film is executed exceptionally well. From the long tracking shots through the trenches showing the faces of men facing almost certain doom to the harrowing charge through no-man's-land; from the intense courtroom scene to the heartbreaking march to the firing squad. Great performances all around and typically wonderful direction from Kubrick really complement a solid story that shows both the horrors of the battlefield and the inhuman politics that drive those events. Definitely need to add this one to the collection.

Score: 9 / 10