Lights, Camera, Nazis.

There's something about the Nazis and the Holocaust that seemingly cries out for film makers to use World War II as a setting. Wal-Mart is actually selling a box set of twenty World War II movies for a whopping five dollars. Lately it seems that there's been a sudden influx in Nazi movies hitting the screens. Valkyrie. The Reader. Inglourious Basterds. Defiance. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Good. They just keep coming.

The thing is, these movies are all making bank at the box office and in the eyes of critics. Valkyrie was applauded in both America and Germany, with the latter country considering it a very fine history lesson. Although, they weren't crazy about the casting of Tom Cruise, considering Scientology isn't that popular in Germany. Quentin Tarrantino's Inglorious Basterds also did damn well at the box office, and I personally loved it. Granted, even though it takes more than its fair share of liberties with historical accuracy, the movie going public had no trouble over looking that. On the other side of the spectrum, the childhood drama The Boy in the Striped Pajamas focused less on military issues and more on a young Jew imprisoned in a concentration camp. While that too has come under attack for its historical accuracy, its heartstring pulling has wrapped up more than a few awards.

I'm not sure why the Holocaust is the in thing to make movies about again, but at least for now they're putting out quality films. Hopefully we'll get a few more films of note before the inevitable over saturation kicks in and film makers start pumping out Nazi schlock as fast as they can.