Reminds me again why I love epic films so much. Taking place over the course of several years, The Pianist follows the events in the life of a Jewish man in World War II-era Poland and his struggle to survive. He is snatched from the jaws of death by several close calls and nearly starves while living amongst the ruins of Warsaw.

Based on the true-life events as written in the memoir of Wladyslaw Szpilman, this is a gripping story of one man’s journey through hardship and suffering in the face of the fiercest kind of adversity. Now that was a cliche movie review sentence if ever there was one. 4 and a half flames!

Another quirky Wes Anderson film, this one is full of the usual eccentric behavior you’d expect from its characters - especially Max (Jason Schwartzman), a student at a private school called Rushmore. Between founding and/or keeping a membership in dozens of extracurricular clubs and teams while simultaneously failing out of classes, 15-year-old Max takes on a strong liking for an elementary school teacher named Rosemarie Cross (Olivia Williams). He quickly becomes smitten with her, but finds himself in competition with Herman Blume (Bill Murray), a parent of twin boys who also attend the school.

Overall, this movie was fun to watch, but even its short 93 minute duration seems to drag in some places. It’s enjoyable if you’re a fan of Anderson’s style, but it’s also very strange. Some things in the film seem to happen for no apparent reason, but of course this is typical Anderson fare. A good view is a flame rating of 3.5, says I.