Movie Review: The Monuments Men

The Monuments Men 

Columbia Pictures, Fox 2000 Pictures, Smokehouse Pictures, Obelisk Productions, Studio Babelsberg, USA, Germany, 2014. 

March 1943. The Nazis are stealing art from all over Europe to be exhibited in Führer Museum. In Paris Secretary Claire Simone (Cate Blanchett) working for SS Officer Viktor Stahl (Justus von Dohnányi) secretly provides the French Resistance with information about the stolen paintings. 

Frank Stokes

Claire Simone

Professor Frank Stokes (George Clooney) struggles to save the cultural heritage. Group of art scholars are recruited to form a special group The Monuments Men. Stokes and Donald Jeffries (Hugh Bonneville) recruit James Granger (Matt Damon), architect Richard Campbell (Bill Murray), sculptor Walter Garfield (John Goodman), Jean Claude Clermont (Jean Dujardin) and Preston Savitz (Bob Balaban). Also German-born Sam Epstein (Dimitri Leonidas) joins the group. Their mission is to retrieve stolen art and mark historically important buildings so that they will not be bombed by the Allied Forces. 

Walter Garfield

Monuments Men briefing

Nazi art stash

In July 1944 the group arrives in Normandy. Stokes finds a truckload of stolen art. Granger travels to Paris alone as a secret agent. He meets Claire who is in jail for collaborating with the Germans. Granger tries to track down the rightful owners with help from Claire. However the Russians are nearing and also stealing art. When Jeffries gets killed while trying to save Michelangelo's Madonna sculpture, Stokes feels obliged to retrieve it. Then Hitler gives Nero Decree to destroy all art if Germany loses the war. 

The story is loosely based on true events and shows a less known aspect of the World War II. The films tries to mimic the style of classic lightweight war adventures and it never gets very violent. The film feels poorly structured as the story makes jumps without explanations and splits the group just as the action should begin. The various characters suffer from poor characterization and the story never picks up or gets very exciting. The good actors feel underused. Of course George Clooney is the solemn leader, Bill Murray brings some comedy and emotional depth and John Goodman plays similar jovial character as always, but rest of the cast goes mainly unnoticed. However the film makes an important point about preserving cultural treasures and honours the men who fought to save them. A message that is again topical at the time when Daesh and Taliban terrorists are destroying ancient statues and temples in the Middle East, destroying also the legacy of their own ancestors. 

Part of The 2016 Movie Watching Challenge (#35. Movie whose director's name has the same initial letters as you, blogger name that is!) 

Rating: Average

Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville, Bob Balaban, Dimitri Leonidas, Justus von Dohnányi, Holger Handtke, Michael Hofland, Zachary Baharov, Michael Brandner, Sam Hazeldine, Miles Jupp, Alexandre Desplat, Diarmaid Murtagh, Serge Hazanavicius, Luc Feit, Emil von Schönfels, Udo Kroschwald, Aurélia Poirier, Grant Heslov, Matthew Maguire, Michael Dalton, Christian Rodska, Stefan Kolosko, Thomas Wingrich, Oliver Devoti, James Payton, Lucas Tavernier, Oscar Copp, Luciana Castellucci, Declan Mills, Richard Crehan, Corin Stuart, André Hinderlich, Maximilian Seidel, Marcel Mols, Matt Rippy, John Dagleish, Andrew Byron, Nicolas Heidrich, Aidan Sharp, Xavier Laurent, Ben-Ryan Davies, Nick Clooney, Joel Basman, Andrew Alexander, Adrian Bouchet, Claudia Geisler-Bading, Joe Reynolds, Levi Strasser, Piet Paes, Audrey Marnay, Nora Sagal, Avery June Jones, James Audrey Jones 

Director: George Clooney

Movie Review: Sholay

Sholay a.k.a Flames of the Sun a.k.a Embers a.k.a Flames
United Producers, Sippy Films, Sholay Media & Entertainment, India, 1975.

Retired police inspector Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) needs help from two thieves Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan). Two years ago Thakur arrested them and found out that they were brave men. As bandits attacked the train Thakur freed the duo so that the train could be saved. Now Thakur sends jailer (Vikas Anand) to find Veeru and Jai.

Thakur Baldev Singh

Veeru and Jai

Meanwhile the rogues are having fun with their stolen sidecar motorcycle. Then they go meet greedy lumber mill owner Soorma Bhopali (Jagdeep). There is a 2000 rupee reward on them so they need Soorma to get them arrested and collect the reward money that they will share when they get out of jail. The new Jailor (Asrani) is a little Hitler (the character was a tribute to Chaplin's "The Great Dictator") whose informer Hariram (Keshto Mukherjee) the boys must fool to escape. 

Soorma Bhopali

Jailor

Thakur wants to hire the boys to catch notorious bandit Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan). Veeru and Jai travel with chatty cart driver Basanti (Hema Malini) to Thakur's mansion. After "job interview" (i.e. fighting Thakur's men) and attempt to rob Thakur's safe the boys meet Radha (Jaya Bhaduri), Thakur's widowed daughter-in-law. Veeru becomes attracted to Basanti and Jai to Radha. 

Basanti and Veeru

Radha

First Thakur and the boys scare away Gabbar's henchmen who come to demand tribute from villagers. The henchmen pay dearly for their cowardice. Then the bandits return to the village and disturb the festival of colours. After a fierce gun fight the surviving bandits escape. 

Gabbar

Festival of colours

Thakur tells his story. Gabbar swore revenge when Thakur arrested him. Gabbar escaped prison and murdered Thakur's family. He also tortured Thakur and cut off his arms. After hearing the story Veery and Jai decide to defend the village for free. But sacrifices must be made...

"Sholay" is one of the best loved movies in India. When published in 1975 it ran for more than five years at Mumbai's movie theatres. In 1999 it was declared "Film of the Millennium" by BBC India. Many Indians know quotes from the movie. There are also numerous horses in India named after Basanti's horse Dhanno.

Sholay was heavily inspired by Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns and Kurosawa's samurai films. In the mix are thrown Indian traditions and some slight critique against strict rules about social norms (Veeru with criminal past is not given acceptance to marry Basanti before he threatens to kill himself). Also the film suggests a liberal view of remarriage of widows. In the India of the 1970s Basanti as a self-employed cart driver was also surprisingly strong and career-oriented female character.

The curry western is much like spaghetti westerns but with more comedy, romance and Bollywood musical numbers, having something for everybody. Especially the dramatic scene where Thakur returns home and finds his family murdered is much like the corresponding scene in "Once upon a time in the West." Amjad Khan's sadistic villain is like Indian version of Gian Maria Volontè's villains. Also the length is on par with Leone's epics as the director's cut is 204 minutes (there are two DVD editions of this film, the original aspect ratio is 4:3 but there is a shorter wide-screen cut running 198 minutes). The story culminates in epic duel between Thakur and Gabbar that is slightly different in the cut version. The main actors were all legendary Bollywood stars or future legends. The characters are all given their story arcs, making them interesting. The dialogue is great although some jokes must have been lost in translation. Also the songs were untranslated.

Cover of Sholay director's cut DVD

This is essential piece of As an Indian cinema and also must see for fans of Western movies and Asian movies.

Part of The 2016 Movie Watching Challenge (#43. Movie that is over 3 hours long)

Rating: Very good

Starring: Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri, Amjad Khan, A.K. Hangal, Satyendra Kapoor, Iftekhar, Leela Mishra, Vikas Anand, Mac Mohan, Keshto Mukherjee, Sachin, Alankar Joshi, Viju Khote, Major Anand, Bihari, Bhagwan Sinha, Arvind Joshi, Baby Bhanumati, Mushtaq Merchant, Mansaram, Mamaji, Jerry, Birbal, Raj Kishore, Habib, Rajan Kapoor, Darshan, Maula, Kedar, Saigal, D. Jyothi, Rajeshwari, Krishna , Vinni, Girija, Surendra, Rajesh, Asrani, Gita Siddharth, Helen, P. Jairaj, Jagdeep, Jalal Agha, Om Shivpuri, Sharad Kumar, Jullian

Director: Ramesh Sippy

Shameless Pile Keeps on Growing: 270 Movies and Other Stuff

(Sorry about some bad pictures) 

It is again the time to report about the best findings from second-hands shops, post-Christmas sales or from teh Internets.

First the DVDs:

Nightmare 2 Painajainen jatkuu (teen horror spinoff of Finnish soap opera "Salatut Elämät"), Lovemilla movie, Mad Max Fury Road, Nylon Beat Fun Pack Tavastia Live + Nylon Beat Historiaa (Finnish girl band of the 1990-2000s), Gregorian Master of Chant Chapter III DVD, Entourage The Movie, Sword of Honor, The Big Wedding, Matchstick Men, The Little Cars 3 (Video Brinquedo production)

Dingo Productions cheapo animations:
Notredamen kellonsoittaja (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), Pocahontas (Legend of Pocahontas), Mulan, Leluelämää (Toys), Camelot, Dalmatialaiset (The Dalmatians), Hercules, Pikku Possu (Babe), Leijona eläinten kuningas (King of the Animals), Wabuu (Wabuu The Cheeky Raccoon), Balto 

Mill Creek collections:
B-Movie Blast 50 Movie Pack, The Nifty Fifties 50 Movie Pack, Family Holiday Film Collection 20 Movie Pack, Action Classics 100 Movie Pack (combination of Action Classics 50 Movie Pack & Suspense Classics 50 Movie Pack)

More cartoons (mostly Don Bluth) and Muppets
The Secret of NIMH, The Secret of NIMH 2 Timmy to the Rescue, Tom Sawyer, Prancer, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, All Dogs Go to Heaven 2, The Great Muppet Caper, Muppets from Space, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Elmo in Grouchland, Kermit's Swamp Years 

Breakout Kings Season 1 (was Season 2 ever published on DVD?), American Horror Story Season 2, (I don't have the other seasons), Blondie 10 Movie Collection*, Ma & Pa Kettle Complete Comedy Collection 

*

Soundtrack CDs:
Braveheart, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, The Bodyguard, Tarzan (Disney), Mob Life 16 Great Tracks From The Films Of Martin Scorsese, High School Musical 1,2 & 3. 

Then the books  (mostly scifi and pulp):

Hey, this is useful for getting a crash course in Marvel's characters:

Marvel Avengers (Sankarit ja Viholliset Kaikenkattava hahmo-opas (Marvel The Avengers: The Ultimate Character Guide) 

Rock Brynner: Yul: The Man Who Would Be King, Steven Spielberg: Kolmannen asteen yhteys (Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Alan Dean Foster: Mustan Lordin paluu (Splinter of the Mind's Eye: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker), George Lucas: Tähtien sota (Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker), Michael A. Stackpole: (Star Wars) I, Jedi, Jerry Cotton 3 Liian nuori kuolemaan (Nicht zu jung zu sterben), Jerry Cotton 11 Operaatio kivikasvo (Ein Toter kam nach Holywood), Simon Hawke: Star Trek TNG Kunnian hehku (Blaze of Glory)