Kelly's Heroes (1970)

Ok, yet another week without a movie, so I fear that I'll set a shortness record for this entry. Since two weeks ago I was close to bashing "Monuments Men", and I was ending with a recommendation for "Kelly's Heroes" as a WW2 movie, I thought it might be a good subject. If "Monuments Men" is pretty undecided about what it wants to be, "Kelly's Heroes" is well defined as action/comedy = 100% entertainment purpose. The subject is simple: some members of the allied troops are establishing a "private enterprise" in the middle of the war after they find out that a German bank has gold, lots of gold. The problem is the location behind enemy lines. Which leads to an entire adventure filled with issues that range from logistics problems up to face-to-face meetings with enemy tanks. About the casting, Clint Eastwood is Kelly - the organizer of the gold freedom operation, but the most memorable character is Oddball, Donald Sutherland in probably one of his best roles. Since I don't have any more time left for writing, check out the clips & enjoy the movie ;)

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Escape Artist (2013)

Since again I didn't have time to see much this week, I'm constrained to go for the last made-for-TV production I watched, "The Escape Artist". Let's dig in it quickly ...

We're talking about a BBC mini-series, that as genre qualifies as thriller. The subject in brief: Will Burton, a successful lawyer in the English bar (never lost a case), manages to save a serial killer from being convicted. Despite the result though, the killer is not happy that the defense doesn't include handshakes (or in other words, gets frustrated by the lawyer's impersonal approach). And since it's not a very good idea to upset a serial killer, what comes after ... you'll see in the movie ;)

As pretty much all productions made in UK, the cast does its job extremely well. Except that though, I have no idea how the British judicial system works, but the story seems highly unrealistic. Without spoiling much, the murder acquittals in the movie defy the most basic common sense. In the end it gets a bit close to normality (in a sort of ironic way, given the story development). Overall, for the moments when is impossible to find enough time for a full movie, it's an ok option to see piece-by-piece - 3 1-hour episodes - sufficiently well split not to lose you before the next and to allow you a break before conclusion ;)

Rating: 3 out of 5

The Monuments Men (2014)

I've had low expectations for "The Monuments Men" after I've seen a couple of not so favorable reviews. And I guess somewhere in the back of my mind I was expecting to like it exactly because I wasn't expecting too much. Unfortunately I have to confirm what others wrote. Bland.

It's a movie centered on a less known WW2 episode. The activity of an American-British-French squad of art experts, with a mission to steal back what the German army stole first, and in direct competition with the Russian threat of moving the art objects further into the East. The movie is a relatively chaotic depiction of the sequence of heroic actions taken to completion, more or less successfully, by "the monuments men" on the poster. I'm sorry for the light irony, but the way the story is presented asks for it. You don't have something clearly defined in front of your eyes. Sometimes is a real war drama, sometimes moves to a comic side, sometimes starts to look like a WW2 spy thriller, and you have also a thin romance thread to complete the mixture. Maybe all of these could work together, but I don't know .. not here. It's actually not a mix, all sides are quite separated from each other, and passing from one to another is done too often and too swift. It has its moments here & there but .. the final result doesn't impress in any way.

The story itself is interesting, and the movie has some documentary value (although it neither inspires much credibility on how accurate it is, but I didn't do a proper check so I can't tell). As a fiction though, for a WW2 behind enemy lines treasure hunt story, I would strongly recommend "Kelly's Heroes". Old but waaaaay better ;)

Rating: 3 out of 5 (at the bottom limit)

La grande bellezza (2013)

After 2013's European Film Awards, for one year I decided to skip the winner, since the synopsis suggested something too likely to be depressing. In a very "inspired" moment, I've chosen then from the nominees list another Italian production ("La Migliore Offerta") that proved to be a total disaster for "my daily mood" (although a very good movie on its own). Anyway, after getting also the Globe, BAFTA & finally the Oscar for best foreign movie, I've decided I should find a couple of hours to finally check out "La grande bellezza" aka "The Great Beauty" (running international title). The result: mixed feelings ...

I'm not getting too much into the subject, because there is no subject. A concise summary would be: reflections over life, more or less disconnected, through a 65 years old writer's eyes. Living in Rome ... where pretty much all the movie takes place. And which location contributes a lot to one of the best cinematography I've seen lately (I could place it on par with "Inside Llewyn Davis", although it's in a total different tone). The movie is gorgeous visually, from the start scene, up to the final credits. It's so good on this part, that for me managed to overshadow almost everything else. Because overall, the visuals, I don't know .. bring something warm near some of the life snippets which are somewhere between harsh cold and pure hypocrisy. Maybe it's just my own interpretation, but probably a sense would be that when something's getting really bitter, to throw a look around and check out the view .. either behind you, close to you, or towards the horizon .. you might find something looking sweet enough to keep going, while caring more or less - choice is yours, but reaching out a bit further ...

It's a movie that 10 years ago I would have found terribly boring. 5 years ago I would've been probably terribly depressed after seeing it. Today, neither happened. I didn't like it, I didn't dislike it - as I said, mixed feelings :) Guess I'm right when I say I'm getting old :))) ...

Rating: 4 out of 5