Skip to main content

Monumentally Slow

Watched a WWII era movie about a motley crew of artists, sculptors et al going into the war zone against the Nazi machine and steal back stolen art.

The entire cast is top notch but the 'Everything George Clooney' production unfortunately fell flat for me.  That it was a quiet evening with nothing much going on other than people clamoring over the highways to head out to a place that is worth a traffic jam for the Memorial Day holiday.

Side note - what jam goes well with 3 day weekends?  Traffic (not apricot you idiot).

So about this movie called MONUMNETS MEN - while it again purports to be based on a true story it did little to really sit up and take notice.  We all know Hitler was a crazy psychopath and he fostered other lesser psychos that worked for him (there are some certain parallels in corporate cutlure today).  But beyond that underlying craziness and the motivation of a gang of odd balls that get aligned behind their commander the movie did little to deliver a massive punch that one could have got from the likes of Damon, Clooney, Balaban, Goodman.  I think anything with Cate Blanchett actually ruins a film.   For some reason I cannot stand this actor.  Her general demeanor is stark and snooty.  Not just as the character in the film but I feel she comes across as pretentious and selfish (in some interviews of her that I watched).

Other than maybe a couple of funny lines in the entire 2 hour drama and some scenery (few seconds of long lens shots) of what may be parts of Northern Europe the movie is filmed in the dark and dungeony locales.

I am not sure if Clooney is now running out of ideas and milking the public for what it is worth purely on his cachet.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Presumptive Society

Today's world is hyper connected.  I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot.  It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is.  Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy.  It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff?  Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality.  So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing?  Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...

On the go(zay masta) in Japan again

Cool cat the Japanese are Tokyo at dusk  My second visit to this land of the rising sun after almost a decade. Back then clearly I was wet behind the ears product manager and likely didn’t pay attention to all (efficient) things Japanese. But today I did and of course continue to be impressed. It is as much the obvious stuff like on time travel that is both clean and comfortable and all that which makes it possible. The impressive landmark and landscapes that these humans have put together despite their cramped (or because of it) surroundings and precarious geological conditions could amaze a novice architect among us. But it’s also the little things that someone had to think about which have a phenomenal impact on day to day lives that make the Japanese stand apart. Below are few random examples- 1. Providing a very fine machined wooden toothpick in every packet of wooden chopsticks. The said chapsticks are simply set on the To Go counter of any food vendor/ convenience store wher...

Of Jims and Johns

Here is another essay on the subject of first names. As in birth names. Or names provided to an offspring at birth. While the developed world tends to shy away from the exotic like Refrigerator or Coca Cola for their new production there is a plethora of Jims and Johns and Bobs or Robs. Speaking of which I do not think there is a categoric decision point at the time of birth if a child will be hereafter called as Bob. I mean have not yet met a toddler called Bob or Rob for that matter. At some point though the parental instinct to mouth out multiple syllables runs out and they switch from calling the crawler Robert to simply Robbie to Rob. Now speaking of - it is strange that the name sounds like something you would not want Rob to do - i.e. Rob anyone. Then why call someone that? After all Rob Peter to Pay Paul is not exactly a maxim to live a young life? Is it? Perhaps Peter or Paul might want to have a say in it? Then there is this matter of going to the John. Why degrad...