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World War I was supposed to be the war that would end all wars. Of course, history has shown otherwise. I read somewhere that Paths of Glory is the greatest anti-war film ever made. Yet, I have also read where some argue against the idea that the intent of the movie is to make an anti-war statement. Whether or not this was Kubrick's intention, the very human story of these French troops puts forth the message that war is not the answer. Vanity and the lust for power and prestige make the goals of even a just war unattainable. WW II shows us that the losers just go and regroup and plot revenge. What may be the most poignant, touching moment in cinema history is the scene at the end where the French soldiers are treated to entertainment by a Bavarian, Fraulein singer in a local tavern. When she comes out on the stage, the soldiers at first begin to jeer and make sexually charged statements that demean the woman and cause her obvious fear. But, when she begins to sing, the whole room suddenly becomes silent. Every soldier suddenly becomes emotionally touched, even overwhelmed, by the haunting beauty of the melody. Though they do not know German, they begin to hum along. In this moment, the soldiers are able to gain a glimpse of humanity in the one who is supposed to be the enemy. This is a powerful human drama that ranks as one of the all time greats.

Much of how I rate a film is based on whether or not I, at any moment during the viewing, become conscious of the passage of actual time; that is, that I am actually conscious at any given moment of viewing a movie in a real time-space continuum. If a movie carries me along and causes me, in a fairly complete way, or as completely as possible, to be oblivious to my surroundings, then I believe the story is being told in a skillful and masterful way. You can split hairs over technique and other such minutia, but, the extent of how a movie accomplishes the above determines for me and, I believe, for others how good a film really is.

Million Dollar Baby accomplishes the above for me in a way that no other movie has done; at least in recent memory. There is no doubt in my mind that Million Dollar Baby is a masterpiece. Give Clint Eastwood the credit he is surely due. There are a lot of his directorial efforts (at least the ones I have seen which does not include Mystic River)that have been great. But, they have also been in what I like to call the "almost nearly but not quite hardly" category.

To coin some boxing terminology, Eastwood goes the distance on this one. I now consider MDB the best movie of all time.

From a technical standpoint, this movie is awful. But, you still have to give credit to Lewis and Friedman for creating a new genre of film; the splatter flick. For this reason, and probably this reason alone, I rate it at 6. Well, you have to give Lewis credit for the musical score that he did himself. The electric organ and opening shot of the Sphinx is hilarious. The writing and acting, though, are deplorable.

This is an exploitation movie in the mold of the circus sideshow. The ad campaign for the movie made it appear to be more than it really was. In fact, a "nurse" was on hand at showings to assist those who might become overwhelmed by the horror presented on the screen. Many of the scenes, like the one with the woman's tongue being ripped out of her mouth (from what I understand, it was a sheep's tongue purchased from a local butcher)are quite revolting and unsettling. Actually, this is a part of what is known as the Blood Trilogy along with Lewis' better made, Two Thousand Maniacs. The third film is Color Me Blood Red.