Movie of the Week: The Monuments Men

[jacey]

OK, Catching up with Movies of the Week from a few weeks ago.

Nice to see a war movie without too much gung-ho testosterone and a bit of feelgood factor. George Clooney stars and directs. It's not fast-paced but it held my interest. Yes, sure, it's not action-packed, so don't expect a lot of flashbangwallop. Nice to see Jean Dujardin in a speaking role (after The Artist, of course, which was brilliant!). Interesting turns from veteran thesps: Hugh Bonneville, Bill Murray and John Goodman. Matt Damon is the only non-geriatric member of the team of art experts sent to find the looted cultural treasures of several nations as the Second World War is drawing to a close. This is almost exclusively a male biddy movie with Cate Blanchett as the only major female member of the cast. That's understandable, given the storyline.

It's not going to set the world of cinema on fire, but it's worth a look. My knowledge of the art woirld and the true story that this is film based on is minute, so maybe I know a tiny bit more about art than I did before. Maybe...

Comments

[del-c.livejournal.com]

If you like art, and war movies without testosterone, you might like the made-for-television movie Varian's War with Willliam Hurt and Julia Ormond, based on a true story. Hurt plays playboy aesthete Varian Fry, who smuggles 2,000 artists out of Vichy France. It's like Schindler's List with artists.

[saare-snowqueen.livejournal.com]

Had not heard of that one. Will look for it. Thank you.

[saare-snowqueen.livejournal.com]

Don't know if this was a typo or if you meant it, but 'male biddy' gave me such a SPLURF I almost sprayed my coffee. It's perfect - keep it.

This is one of the few new movies I want to see, Am not a blockbuster watcher. I like good ensemble playing from actors that can deliver dialogue with panache and get the timing of jokes right.

Probably why I like UK TV series so much more than US.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I'd like to say it was deliberate because, you're right, it'd perfect for this movie. So: of course it was deliberate. Any movie with Hugh Bonneville, Bill Murray and John Goodman has to be a 'biddy' movie. :-) I will not alter it!

[saare-snowqueen.livejournal.com]

AHhhhhhh.... the power of our unconscious minds. LOL