I’m always enticed by movies that are “true”
stories. When I saw the previews for “The
Monuments Men” starring George Clooney and Matt Damon – I knew I wanted
to see the movie not for the big name actors, but for a story I knew nothing
about. I’m not a history buff, so I was
really surprised to learn about The Monuments Men and to know why
they risked their lives for art. The
movie told the story of a group of men, who believed in saving the masterpieces
from the countries which Hitler had ravaged, for the generations to come and
for the people that had lived and died.
These men, portrayed by Clooney, Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean
Dujardin, Bob Balaban, and Hugh Bonneville are curators and historians of art
who have been tasked with the unfathomable job of finding missing pieces that
Hitler has stolen to use in a museum he was to create after the war. To be honest, there were parts of the movie
that dragged on, that weren’t needed, and sometimes the action was rushed, but, the story itself of the
self-sacrificing commitment these men had was what really moved the movie
along. The end of the movie was very
interesting as they told how many pieces of artwork were stolen and the
incredible places they hid most of it. The more I read about this story, the
more I appreciate what they did and how they saved historical pieces that are
still in museums today. (The more
in-depth story can be found in the book with the same title as the movie by
Robert Edsel).
Her
Posted by
Eric
This
movie was different. I should have known with Joaquin Phoenix, you
never quite know what you’re going to get.
I’m not sure if it was a look into our future, if it was a desperate,
heartbroken man looking for some companionship, or if it was just weird and
creepy. It may be all of them! Phoenix plays a lonely man whose long
relationship has just ended. He makes
his living writing caring, personal letters for others and sees a new computer
operating system that says it’s unique and learns from you and is its own
unique entity. When he starts it up, he
meets “Samantha” – who seemed like a futuristic, high-tech version of Apple’s
Siri. She talked exactly like a human,
had feelings, and understood his jokes – she just didn’t have a body – since
she’s a computer! The more they talked,
the more she learned, and the closer they became – so close that she became his
“girlfriend” and he considered it an exclusive relationship. That’s when it started getting weird for
me! It was nice that he was able to find
something to make him happy and help him move on in his life, but it just felt
almost uncomfortable to me at times – but hey, maybe that’s where we’re
heading??? You would definitely have to
be in the mood for this one…
Nebraska
Posted by
Eric
I loved this movie! It’s about an old man
who is sure he has won a million dollar prize and is going to Lincoln, Nebraska
to collect his winnings, even though he has some dementia and shouldn’t be
making a trip like that alone. He’s a
little out of touch and doesn’t realize it’s just a magazine marketing letter,
so in order to try to get to know his dad better and spend some time with him,
one of his sons offers take him there. I
don’t know if it was meant to be as funny as it seemed to me – I was laughing
the whole movie – but it was just that I could recognize people I know in
almost every character and they were hilarious!
It could change from one moment to the next and be incredibly serious
and thought-provoking, too. It's quietly
poignant and still very powerful. I
laughed, I cried, I was worn out, yet still exhilarated when I was finished
with this one. I don’t know if everyone
would connect with it the way I did, either.
Not sure what else I can say about this film - it was just one of the
best movies I’ve seen in a very, very long time.
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