Pompeii - 1 smile

Director Paul W.S. Anderson doesn’t know if he wants “Pompeii” to be a disaster flick, a gladiator actioner or a Titanic-type romance. I suppose he could have taken two of these elements and be okay, but to mix all three results in an unfocused mess. And, to top it off, SPOILER ALERT, everyone dies at the end. Our hero Milo (Kit Harington) is the last member of a Celtic tribe of equestrians who are massacred by Roman soldiers led by Corvus (Keifer Sutherland) and his right-hand man, Proculus (Sasha Roiz). Milo manages to escape his parents’ fate at age 6, but he’s enslaved and, years later, becomes a killing machine who can enter an arena unarmed and take out three sword-wielding opponents. Because he’s so good, he’s sent to Pompeii. Along the way he meets Cassia (Emily Browning), the daughter of a powerful politician and Corvus and Proculus, who also happen to be in town.

Anderson creates effective simulations of the disaster although there are times when some of the images are so clearly computer-generated that the drama loses its tension. Harington gained fame as Jon Snow in HBO’s series, Game of Thrones and he’s going to be in several upcoming movies. However, the script for “Pompeii” doesn’t showcase his acting skills though he transformed his body for the role (like those six-pack abs) and there’s very little chemistry with Browning. In fact, there’s better chemistry between Harington and his gladiator friend, Atticus (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). “Pompeii” is a film that will appeal to no one – not historians, not action fans and certainly not romantics. 2/27/14

The Monuments Men - 3 smiles

“The Monuments Men,” written, directed by and starring George Clooney, is unabashedly old fashioned. There is no cynicism here; the leading characters are genuinely heroic. Clooney and his writing partner, Grant Heslov, based their screenplay on a historical book by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter, but have used dramatic license in creating many of their characters, an unlikely group of overnight soldiers drawn from the ranks of art historians, curators and architects played by Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville and Jean Dujardin. They are assisted by Claire Simone, a French art historian. They bicker and tease but they never lose sight of their mission, whether it’s rescuing a Michelangelo-carved Madonna from Bruges or locating a stash of art already looted by Hitler’s troops. Every one of them is willing to lay down his life rather than see the civilized world lose so much of its priceless heritage.

The film is episodic, a series of vignettes, by turns dramatic, comedic and poignant. We never get to know the characters very well because they’re walking, talking symbols of humanity, fighting on the right side of this war. If the roles weren’t filled by such talented performers, it would be hard to become involved with the narrative. Fortunately, Clooney and company has enough charisma and skill to make up for the superficiality of the material. And the ending reverberates with humanity. I think you’ll like “The Monuments Men.” 2/7/14

Gloria - 1 smile

The previews led me to expect a feel-good movie and, so, when a movie doesn’t meet expectations, there’s disappointment. “Gloria,” a Chilean film that looks at middle age is not quite a comedy, not quite a drama and not really feel good. Gloria (Paulina Garcia) is a middle-aged divorcee trying to remain vibrant, but it’s hard when no one really seems to notice her. Her children, Pedro (Diego Fontecilla) and Ana (Fabiola Zamora) are grown and leading busy lives. She’s lonely, but not desperately so and she keeps busy with dancing, yoga, self-improvement classes and other social activities. She eventually forms a steady relationship with Rodolfo (Sergio Hernandez), but he is unable – or unwilling – to extricate himself from his daughters, aged 27 and 31, and his ex-wife, who constantly call him.

Not a whole lot happens in terms of story so the movie never quite picks up a head of steam. Director Sebastian Lelio paces the action as a series of sketches, and the hit-or-miss quality of the material makes for a bumpy ride. Rodolfo’s woes become increasingly repetitive, as does Gloria’s seemingly acceptance of this behavior. In the end, Gloria might be wiser, but I was disappointed. Subtitles. 2/12/14 

2014 Oscar Nominated Short Films

Animated (the score for each short is listed before the summary)

4 – Get a Horse! – If you saw Frozen, the Disney megahit out in theaters now, you saw this eye-popping 3D short. Mickey and Minnie Mouse and their friends Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow enjoy a hayride until Peg-Leg Pete tries to run them off the road. As Mickey and Horace fight with Pete, these hand-drawn, black-and-white animated characters are forced through the screen, emerging as colorful CGI versions of themselves. A frantic battle ensues as a raft of Disney characters jump in and out of the screen and chase one another in circles.

4 – Possessions – Visually impressive, this short is set in 18^th century Japan and is a parable of healing in which a man, lost in the mountains, enters a world of discarded umbrellas and kimonos and proceeds to mend them. The story is inspired by a myth that after 100 years, tools and instruments attain souls and trick people.

3 – Mr. Hublot – Mr. Hublot lives in a surreal world dominated by old-fashioned, artfully designed heavy machinery. Its inhabitants are made partly of salvaged mechanical parts. The title character is an agoraphobic metal man whose hermetic existence is upended with the arrival of a metal dog.

2 – Room on the Broom – An overlong (30 minutes) nursery rhyme about a witch, her cat and the menagerie of friends she brings along on her increasingly crowded broomstick.

1 – Feral – A wordless tale of a wild child discovered by a hunter in a forest and brought back to civilization, where he doesn’t fit in. Drawn in a wintry palette of white and gray, its characters are featureless and abstract.

Live Action

4 The Voorman Problem – A psychiatrist (Martin Freeman) visits an inmate (Tom Hollander), who makes increasingly persuasive arguments that he’s god.

3 ½ – Just Before Losing Everything – An anxious thriller about a department-store worker fleeing her abusive husband. There’s taut drama in every breath as embattled mother and her two children weave through a maze of domestic drama and impending violence.

3 – Helium – A hospital janitor tells a dying boy a comforting tale about the world just beyond the clouds. It’s a little manipulative in its effort to tug at the heartstrings.

2 – That Wasn’t Me – Concerns two Spanish doctors in an African war zone where their fate s in the hands of armed, unpredictable child soldiers. The subject is undeniably suspenseful, but the ending seems like wishful thinking.

1 – Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? – A comedy of errors following a flustered family racing off to a friend’s wedding and contending with every imaginable hurdle on the way.  Pretty much just a string of sight gags and slapstick. 1/31/14

Winter's Tale - 3 smiles

You’re either going to love or hate “Winter’s Tale,” starring a very effective Colin Farrell. It’s a romance with fantastic elements, utterly lacking in cynicism, heading for the grandest emotions and deepest issues in life: love, death and time. It is partly a failure, but mostly it succeeds because of Farrell’s performance. He holds the emotional heart of the film together. Though a crook, his Peter is a character of complete honesty and purity and it’s a pleasure to watch how Farrell plays that. Whether speaking to a child, or to William Hurt as the sick girl’s father or to Eva Marie Saint as an old friend from days past, you can see Farrell striving to illustrate the purest emotions possible. The movie’s one problem is that writer-director Akiva Goldsman seems unable to balance all the story’s disparate elements – fantasy, fairy tale, supernatural morality fable and saga of old New York, especially in the last third of the film.

Peter (Farrell), good-natured thief in 1916 New York falls in love with Beverly (Jessica Brown Findlay), consumptive heiress, while attempting to rob her father’s mansion. Their romance upsets Peter’s employer (Russell Crowe), a centuries-old demon posing as an Irish crime boss, who was already angry with Peter. There are other unique developments, such as flying horses, conversations with Lucifer and the premise that true love can lead to immorality. Goldsman presents these elements with conviction and they seem almost natural given the movie’s lush tone and look. And there’s real chemistry between Brown Findlay and Farrell. “Winter’s Tale” is shamelessly romantic and ultra sentimental and that’s rare in today’s often-cynical times. 2/14/14

Robocop - 2 smiles

The original Robocop, directed by Paul Verhoeven in 1987, was about social forces turning us into automatons and at its heart was a powerful satire. And it provided numerous villains whose comeuppance was so very satisfying. Director Jose Padilha’s “Robocop,” looks impressive and the cast is talented, which includes Gary Oldman, Abbie Cornish and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. The script is an honest effort to address our current anxieties of total surveillance and police state overreach. But there’s no sense of fun and the pace is ponderous. Plus there’s the predictability problem. Been there, seen that.

The film opens in a near-future news program with Samuel L. Jackson as the opinionated host. He propagandizes on the merits of a fully mechanized police force patrolling American’s cities, an idea met with much public skepticism. The film’s many opening chapters detail the efforts of military contractor Omnicorp to overcome its political opponents in Washington and sway public opinion. Omnicorp CEO Raymond Sellers (Michael Keaton) decides the way to get his robots in the US is by putting a man in a machine. One bomb blast later and he has his man, Detroit detective Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman). After several surgeries, Alex peers out of the newer, sleeker robo-suit and he goes after the villains, a colorless and unengaging lot that end up as so much bullet fodder. After awhile, “Robocop” looks like a shoot-em-up video game and you have to wonder why the remake. 2/13/14

Lone Survivor - 3 smiles

I finally saw “Lone Survivor,” the true story about Marcus Luttrell who was the only survivor of Operation Red Wings that resulted in a death toll of 19. The film is based on events that occurred in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Kunar province in June 2005 as related in the book co-authored by Luttrell. The movie starts out by introducing us to the four main characters, all Navy SEALs who will end up involved in a firefight against vastly superior numbers. In addition to Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg), we’re presented with mission leader Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) and Matt ‘Axe’ Axelson (Ben Foster). The overall commander of SEAL Team 10 is played by Eric Bana. The objective of Operation Red Wings is the capture or elimination of a high-value Taliban leader. Four SEALs are placed on the ground to target him. The first problem they encounter is that neither their radio equipment nor their satellite phone works with regularity, leaving them cut off when a key decision needs to be made. Then, while they’re hiding, their position is approached by three goat herders. In a compelling sequence, the SEALs must make a life-and-death decision: abide by the rules of engagement and release their unarmed prisoners or kill men they believe could be Taliban spies. In a move that has led to much soul-searching by Luttrell and second-guessing throughout the military, the SEALs release the goat herders. Less than two hours later, they are ambushed and three of them don’t survive. Even worse, a rescue helicopter is shot down, greatly increasing the death toll.

Director Peter Berg’s use of hand-held cameras proves effective in capturing the tension and chaos of the battle. The Americans suffer injuries not only because of the weapons of their attackers but because, in their retreat, they fall down steep slopes littered with rocks and other devastating debris. The film’s treatment of battle is realistic and graphic in its depiction of what happened to these men and is not for those who like their war movies sanitized. The acting is solid. Mark Wahlberg is the film’s central protagonist and he’s believable as a man who, despite taking an incredible amount of physical punishment, continues to struggle along. However, none of the other actors is given sufficient time to develop their characters, especially Eric Bana. In countless interviews, Luttrell has said that it was important to him that the book and movie pay tribute to the brotherhood of the SEALs and to honor the bravery of his comrades. “Lone Survivor” does both, but it’s a hard movie to watch. 2/3/14