The Monuments Men

Posted on February 6, 2014 at 6:00 pm

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for some images of war violence and historical smoking
Profanity:	Some mild language ("SOB," etc.)
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, references to drinking problem
Violence/ Scariness:	Wartime violence, peril, guns, explosions, characters injured and killed, some disturbing images
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	February 7, 2014
Date Released to DVD:	May 19, 2014
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00DL48CN4

Many years ago, my husband and I attended an art auction at which one item was a pencil drawing of a peaceful river setting, made by an Austrian art student in the early 20th century: Adolf Hitler. The bidding opened at $10. There were no takers. Hitler retained his appreciation for art as he became a dictator and the man responsible for the most devastating war in world history and the Holocaust that killed six million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Slavs, Romany, gays, and disabled people. A part of his plan to take over the world and remake according to his dream of a Thousand Year Reich was to own the greatest art masterworks of all time, many to be displayed in a “Furher Museum” in his own honor. He ordered his army to take art from Jewish collectors, from churches, and from museums, and he hid them until they could be retrieved at the end of the war. When it appeared that he was going to lose the war, he ordered many of them to be destroyed.

In a little-known part of the Allied war effort, an international group of 345 art historians, scholars, curators, and architects served in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section, to seek out the missing art treasures and, where possible, to prevent the battles going on in Europe from collateral damage of historic buildings and artworks. Writer-director-star George Clooney has turned this story into an exciting and entertaining film, but by no means a great one. At times it feels like “Oceans 11 Goes to War.” In fact, Clooney not only gave himself the same line he has in “Oceans 11,” he gives it the same line reading. It is one thing to make a heist film set in Las Vegas cuddly, with a bunch of pretend adorable crooks. It is another to try to make that work in the midst of a devastating real war, especially when every one of the clearly fictionalized and composite characters is always the essence of dignity, courage, honor, dedication, and dashing gallantry, quips included.

In this Hollywood-ized version, there are six primary operatives: Clooney plays the leader, Frank Stokes, who rounds up his non-dirty half-dozen, including recovering alcoholic Brit Donald Jeffries (“Downton Abbey’s” Hugh Bonneville), dashing Frenchman Jean Claude Clement (“The Artist’s” Jean Dujardin), MMoA curator James Granger (Damon), sculptor Walter Garfield (John Goodman), architect Richard Campbell (Bill Murray), and Preston Savitz (Christopher Guest regular Bob Balaban). Cate Blanchett is sincere but misused as a French woman working for the Germans who are taking paintings from Paris so she can give information to the Resistance.

Clooney can do better (“Goodnight and Good Luck”) than this script, which feels like a Robert McKee formula special, all the beats and plot points laid out according to the formula. As a result, it works. The sad casualties are balanced with the sentimental pauses (a nice moment when a character gets a recorded message from home is clumsily juxtaposed with a soldier dying on a table in the medical tent) and the bro-banter. But the breadth and brutality of the crimes and the humility and devotion of the heroes cannot help but move us and, I hope, inspire us to treasure the masterworks they saved and the heroes who saved them.

Parents should know that this film includes wartime peril and violence, with characters injured and killed, some graphic and disturbing images, sad deaths, explosions, shooting, land mine, constant smoking, some drinking and references to a drinking problem, and mild references to adultery.

Family discussion: Should people risk their lives to save art? Who should decide?

If you like this, try: “Is Paris Burning?” and The Train and the documentary about Nazi art theft, The Rape of Europa — and look into the history of some of your favorite artworks

Lone Survivor

Posted on January 9, 2014 at 6:00 pm

Director Peter Berg is as good as it gets when it comes to putting a particular kind of male chemistry on screen. If he was writing instead of filming, he would dunk his pen in testosterone, beard stubble, and sweat. Whether it is the small town Texas football community of “Friday Night Lights,” the disastrous bachelor party of “Very Bad Things,” or the aliens and explosions of the under-rated “Battleship,” Berg understands the rhythms of guy-talk that circles around the still core of pure masculinity. There are nearly as many f-words per minute in this film as in the record-breaking “Wolf of Wall Street.” But there the language was used to show off, to convey bravado, for shock and awe. Here the heirs to a long tradition of colorful military argot almost have air quotes around the language. It’s almost a mirror image; on Wall Street, they use bad words to seem tougher. These Navy Seals use bad language with irony — they know that no words can be as tough as they really are or express what they have really seen and done. For them, the inadequacy of even the most provocative language is the joke.

This is the true story of a disastrous Navy SEAL mission in Afghanistan, based on the book Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell. We know from the title and from the earliest moments of the movie that Luttrell, played by Mark Wahlberg, will be the only one still around at the end of the movie. And so, we steel ourselves, knowing we will spend just enough time with the characters to become attached to them before they are sent off on a doomed mission to take out a ‘bad guy” in Afghanistan and start getting killed.

As in most military dramas, real and fictional, there are archetypal characters. There’s a new addition and a hardened vet. And there is Luttrell, a medic, a witness, like Ishmael in Moby Dick the survivor who carries the stories of the others with him.

This is not “action violence,” with super-effective weapons on our side and endless just-misses from the enemy, along with exciting explosions and instant death. This is messy, dirty, blood-gushing and agonizing wartime violence. Berg pays tribute to these men by showing us that their courage, dedication, and skill were unparalleled and the tragic stupidity of war presented them with a series of awful choices and unthinkable danger. At one point, when they have been spotted by (apparent) civilians, including a young boy, they stand there and discuss their options — let them go and risk having them tell the enemy where they are, tie them up and risk having them die of predators or starvation, or kill them, preserving the mission but putting into question the larger issues, from what happens when it gets reported on CNN and what we are fighting for if that is who we’ve become. That may be the most heartbreaking moment of the film — until the end, when we see the real faces of the brave young men who died. They knew what they owed us. Perhaps this movie will help remind us what we owe them.

Parents should know that this movie includes constant wartime peril and violence with many characters injured and killed, children in peril, guns, explosions. There are very disturbing and graphic images of characters being hit with bullets, many sad deaths, as well as constant very strong and sometimes crude language.

Family discussion: What elements of the training and briefings were important to helping the SEALS do their job? What more did they need? Who was right in the discussion of what to do when they were “compromised” in being spotted by civilians?

If you like this, try: “Act of Valor,” with real-life Navy SEALS playing fictional versions of themselves and “We Were Soldiers,” about the early days of the American involvement in the Vietnam War.

Civil War Movies to Commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg

Posted on June 29, 2013 at 7:58 pm

This week is the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, still the greatest loss of life in American history, the turning point of the war, and the inspiration for one of the greatest speeches in history, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, three simple paragraphs that connected our future to the visions that fueled our past.

The struggles of that era continue to resonate through today’s debates about the essence of the American character. Many movies that focus on the Civil War, and of course Ken Burns’ acclaimed documentary series for PBS is a masterpiece. These are also especially worthwhile:

Gettysburg Michael Shaara’s award-winning book The Killer Angel is the basis for this two-part saga produced by Ted Turner and starring Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen, and Richard Jordan.

The Blue and the Gray This 1982 miniseries starring Gregory Peck, Stacy Keach, Kathleen Beller, Lloyd Bridges, Geraldine Page and Colleen Dewhurst is based on the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning Bruce Catton.

The Red Badge of Courage Real-life WWII hero Audie Murphy stars in this story of a frightened young soldier, based on the classic book by Stephen Crane published in 1895. (Remade in 1974 with Richard Thomas)

The General Buster Keaton loves Annabelle and he loves his train engine, called The General. When both are captured by the Union,he must come to the rescue in a masterpiece of exciting action and comic genius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTnuJo8_D4Y

Lincoln Daniel Day-Lewis won a much-deserved Oscar for his performance in this outstanding Steven Spielberg film about the last days of the life of the 16th President.

For Memorial Day: Two Outstanding Short Films

Posted on May 25, 2013 at 12:22 pm

For Memorial Day, Sundance is making available online two outstanding short films about the military. Please take time to watch them with your family.

For aviation fans, get ready for a ton of wonderful archival footage coming your way in William Lorton’s Spitfire 944. A true-life story, Lorton has discovered rare 16mm footage of a 1944 spitfire crash and tracks down the pilot, now an 83-year-old World War II veteran to show him the footage. The early parts of this film consists of wartime remembrances and nostalgia for days gone by. The elderly pilot recalls his time spent with his comrades and explains the basic information involved with his aircraft. What he doesn’t know is that he is about to see, for the first time in his life, footage of his own crash. When the camera captures the man’s honest reaction to what he’s viewing, the greater theme at work is suddenly revealed in a flash. The result is an affirming, honest portrait of a man confronted with his past.

Based on a frightening true story that you won’t believe until you see, Rosso Fango details the ways in which a simple act of compassion can alter the entire course of human history.

Related Tags:

Documentary Shorts War

The Sapphires

Posted on March 28, 2013 at 6:00 pm

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for sexuality, a scene of war violence, some language, thematic elements, and smoking
Profanity:	Strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, smoking
Violence/ Scariness:	War violence
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	March 22, 2013
Date Released to DVD:	August 15, 2013
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00D2UMHQ0

A very conventional story of a 60’s Australian girl group gains extra power from its context and setting in this fact-based story set to the beat of Motown soul. Co-written by the son of one of the real-life singers and directed by Wayne Blair, who starred in the play based on their story, “The Sapphires” is clearly a labor of love for all involved and a touching tribute to four women for whom success as performers was just the beginning.

Before it begins, we learn two stark, devastating facts. Until 1967, the native Australians dubbed “Aborigines” by the British settlers were not classified as humans by the Australian government. They were considered “flora or fauna.” And the government had the authority to remove light-skinned native children from their families as part of the program depicted in “Rabbit-Proof Fence” to make them part of the white community.

We meet the future singers as children, three sisters and their cousin, performing at a family celebration in 1958. The light-skinned cousin is taken to become part of what is now known as the “Stolen Generation,” with no contact with her family.

A decade later, as young women, the sisters still sing together. Gail, the feisty oldest (Deborah Mailman of “Rabbit-Proof Fence”), the ambitious Julie (pop singer Jessica Mauboy), and the flirty Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell) enter a local competition singing American country and western. Braving the bigotry of the audience, they sing a Merle Haggard song.

The accompanist/master of ceremonies is Dave (“Bridesmaids'” Chris O’Dowd) is a broken-down mess who seems to have burned every possible bridge that once linked him to music, a job, his home in Ireland, or any semblance of self-respect. But he still knows the real deal when he hears it. As amateurish as they are, Dave sees what the sisters can become. They ask him to come with them to try out for a chance to perform for American GIs in Viet Nam for $30 a week. Soon they have reconnected with their cousin Kay (Shari Sebbens), switched from country to Motown, and passed the audition under their new name, inspired by a ring — The Sapphires. O’Dowd’s shambling charm plays well against Mailman’s protective ferocity and the wartime background and struggles against bigotry add some heft what might otherwise seem like a lightweight jukebox musical.

A girl group with four members under high-stress touring conditions far from home means many opportunities for romance, adventure, and power struggles, plus the inevitable rehearsal montages. “Can you make it sound blacker?” Dave asks. He switches lead singers, guides them on stage presence, and suggests some different songs. Both country and soul music are about loss, he tells them, but in country music the singer has given up. “With soul, they’re still struggling.” Dave’s passion for the music and his belief in the girls are scary but exhilarating. So is being away from home for the first time.

The girls learn that performing is about more than great songs and tight harmonies as they are touched by the valor of the American soldiers. It is not just that the GIs expect a show; they deserve one. So, The Sapphires add spangles, go-go boots, rump-shaking and a lot of attitude.

That gives them the freedom to open themselves up to new experiences and new ways of looking at themselves. And it means that we get to enjoy quite a show as well. When the storyline starts to feel too close to the familiar “VH1 Behind the Music” soapy sagas of backstage tensions and heartache, those fabulous classic soul songs of the 60’s ring out, thoughtfully matched to what is happening off-stage. “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “What a Man,” “I’ll Take You There,” “Hold On! I’m Coming,” and many more add tremendous energy and spirit. They are every bit as entertaining as they were nearly half a century ago. Equally entrancing is a touching moment when they sing a native song called “Ngarra Burra Ferra.”

The credit sequence updates us on what happened after The Sapphires came home, with an extraordinary record of achievement, photos of the beautiful women who inspired the film, and a concluding line of piercing sweetness. It would be great to have a sequel, but they deserve a documentary.

Parents should know that this movie includes strong language, sexual references, smoking, drinking, and wartime violence.

Family discussion: How do the racial conflicts portrayed in this film compare to those of the same era in the United States? What makes them different? Are you surprised by what the Sapphires did after their tour?

If you like this, try: “Rabbit-Proof Fence” and “Dreamgirls”