Am I not Entertained?

I’m back, baby, and finally ready to dust the cobwebs off of this blog after spending the last few months moving to a new country (where it will be so much easier to travel to sites of classical antiquity rather than just watching movies about them). We’re kicking things off with a return to my… Continue reading

It turns out that the same year Akira Kurosawa released Throne of Blood, halfway around the world in Sweden, Ingmar Bergman also put out his classic historical fantasy film, The Seventh Seal. This was probably the most arthouse of all the movies I’ve watched for this project so far, and in some ways the least… Continue reading

Rashomon got its hooks in me, so I decided to make it a Kurosawa marathon weekend by diving into Throne of Blood, which I’ve been looking forward to for a while (I also watched Sanjuro, having enjoyed its predecessor Yojimbo a while back, but both are sadly out of the time scope of this project).… Continue reading

Rashomon has been on my to-watch list for a while–even before this project began–as it’s regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. And I’m not here to argue with that assessment! It was excellent! I think it has enough tension and mystery to hold up for modern audiences, and I found myself… Continue reading

I bent my definition of “ancient” film to watch Harakiri–it’s set in early Edo period Japan, or roughly the end of the Renaissance period in the west, so pretty far off–but I’m glad I did, as this is apparently (and with good reason) considered one of the best samurai films of all time. More precisely,… Continue reading

Asoka was pretty far out of my movie comfort zone (but hey, that’s what this project is for). For one thing, I know pretty much nothing about the ancient history of India; for another, I think this might have actually been my first Bollywood movie ever, so it took me a while to adjust to… Continue reading

If, like me, you found yourself with a huge Norse hole in your heart after the disappointment of watching The Northman, I highly recommend this under-the-radar Norwegian film to fill that space. The Last King contains some similar themes–a royal betrayal, the precarious safety of an escaped heir, a man’s drive to avenge his dead… Continue reading

Iphigenia is a movie that you might never hear about or watch unless, like me, you find yourself this deep down the ancient movie rabbit hole. This is a Greek-made film about the eponymous character of myth, who is the daughter of Agamemnon. Agamemnon’s armies are preparing to advance on Troy, but find themselves unable… Continue reading

I was assured by several people that the Director’s Cut of Kingdom of Heaven was a vast improvement upon its critically panned original release. All I can wonder in light of now having watched the former is just how rough that original version was. It’s not that this film was a disaster, but to be… Continue reading

I was drawn to watch Agora in spite of its mixed reviews–it might be one of the only films on my list that features a female protagonist in an ancient setting, and it has a knockout cast, starring Rachel Weisz, Oscar Isaac, and Max Minghella, all of whom I love. On top of that, the… Continue reading