tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857882.post5872389717113810997..comments2023-11-17T11:08:31.857-06:00Comments on Michael May: The Monuments Men and the importance of artMichael Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12514945570212261283noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857882.post-79375191962564546552014-02-19T15:37:22.689-06:002014-02-19T15:37:22.689-06:00You're right on about the characters. The acto...You're right on about the characters. The actors are so good that they made me care about what happened to the team and I love how they pair off and go on side missions. I agree that there's a lot to like about the movie.<br /><br />I think though that if it had been simply a fun heist movie, I would've enjoyed it a lot more. It was all the speeches about the <i>importance</i> of the mission that distracted me from simply enjoying the mission itself. <br /><br />Like, if in <i>Oceans 11</i> they had spent half the movie trying to convince me what a bad guy Andy Garcia is. That movie didn't hit me over the head trying to get me to accept that Garcia deserved ripping off. It just showed me that in some quick, but powerful ways and then got on with the caper. I wish <i>Monuments Men</i> was more like that.Michael Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12514945570212261283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857882.post-40316839437823355162014-02-19T13:36:18.057-06:002014-02-19T13:36:18.057-06:00Damon's response to Cate Blanchett was that he...Damon's response to Cate Blanchett was that he was hired to return stolen art and that's what he's going to do. This was as good a place to start as any.<br /><br />I just saw this movie this past weekend. I loved the movie more than I expected to.<br /><br />I see what you're saying, but it clearly didn't bother me as much as it did you. First of all, they were rescuing hundreds of thousands of art pieces and we can't be convinced of the importance of every single piece. Besides, what connected me to the movie wasn't the art, but the team itself. Seeing their connection to the cause, to each other and their overcoming of obstacles was, to me, the heart of the movie. They could have been rescuing old wooden hope chests and it wouldn't matter because I was invested in the team itself. The whole team felt sincere in its purpose and that is what made me feel for the movie.<br /><br />Plus, I don't really need to be convinced that the Ghent altarpiece was important. These guys convincingly believed it was, so I believed it as well. I bet if we read the book, we'd learn more about that piece's history. As well as Rembrandt's Portrait of a Young Man which the team searched for and is seen briefly in the movie but is still missing to this day (as I found out during research afterwards). <br /><br />I fell in love with the characters and, by proxy, their mission.<br /><br />Great movie.<br /><br />PaxPaxtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04883124901219059661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857882.post-29774499752331748702014-02-19T08:42:06.753-06:002014-02-19T08:42:06.753-06:00I had been looking forward to this film as well, a...I had been looking forward to this film as well, and was just as disappointed by the lukewarm reviews. Erik Johnson Illustratorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com