The Chaperone (2018) **
Based on a book by a writer from KU, this tells the "true story" of when 15-year-old Louise Brooks first moved to New York to become a dancer accompanied by an adult chaperone, played by Elizabeth McGovern. The story is more about the chaperone and there isn't much of historical interest. It's just another dull Masterpiece Theatre period production.
Soldier of Orange (1977) ****
Similar to Verhoeven's Black Book, this is a sprawling WWII film about the Dutch resistance following several college friends that pull each other into defying Nazi rule. It covers a lot of ground over 2h45m, but thanks to Verhoeven's brisk, assured pacing, it never gets dull. While every character gets their story told, the main focus is on Ruger Hauer, who is simply fantastic. It's a shame he wasn't in more Verhoeven films in the U.S. IDMB: In 2010, this movie was adapted into a musical, which became the most successful and long-running musical in Dutch history.
Out of the Clouds (1955) ***
This is an odd movie. It's basically a soap opera set in an airport, and we spend as much time learning how airports operate as we do with romances and personal dramas. 75 years later, all the vintage airport stuff is far more interesting.
Back to God's Country (1919) ***
After watching Nell Shipman drive over mountains in Something New, I wanted more of this adventurous Canadian outdoorswoman. Here she's a nature-loving Snow White character surrounded by friendly animals who meets up with a lustful, evil baddie posing as a Mountie. The story is a more conventional melodrama, and like Something New, it ends with a massive chase, this time on dogsleds through the snow, which isn't nearly as impressive. I appreciate that in both films she's saving a man in distress. So progressive.
The Grubstake Remix (2015) *
I've toyed with the idea of taking a silent film and removing the titles and adding dialogue and sound effects. The Grubstake Remix is a group doing this live using a Nell Shipman movie from 1923. Unfortunately, they decided to use Shakespeare for all the dialogue, which not only has nothing to do with the movie, it just makes it really hard to follow, and there's no attempt to match it up with lip movement. An experiment gone wrong. I couldn't finish it. I'll have to hunt down the original version.
Soldier of Orange