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Dunkirk,
directed by Christopher Nolan (PG-13, 1 hour, 46 minutes) Dunkirk is a remarkable suspense film that sustains its tension for nearly the entirety of its 106-minute running time, relenting only for a few moments of relief at the end. It is as much of a thrill ride as any of Michael Bay’s Transformers toss-abouts.
It’s also a very smartly positioned product in that it doesn’t require its audience to do any intellectual heavy lifting. You don’t need to know a thing about World War II, and there are no boring expository scenes of politicians talking about the stakes. Hitler is unmentioned. The word “German” is seldom heard. Dunkirk is not a history lesson.
For the record, in 1940, after
Hitler’s invasion of Poland caused England and France to declare war on Germany, Hitler’s armies blitzkrieged through the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg and began rolling into France.
Beginning in September 1939, the British had sent its Expeditionary Force to guard the French-Belgian border. While its members prepared to engage the Germans at the border, they were cut off from the main French forces by the Germans, who then drove north along the beach, isolating the outflanked British in the northernmost tip of France and stranding some 400,000 British and French soldiers in a northern seaside town. Around 700 small vessels, commanded by British civilians, struggled to evacuate them.
Director Christopher Nolan puts viewers in the middle of the action, waiting on the beach for rescue, struggling against the waves to be of service, squashed into the cockpit of a Spitfire. It’s an attempt to reproduce the visceral experience of the battle from the perspectives of those caught up in it. As Nolan has said, it’s not a war film; it’s a survival film.
With Fionn Whitehead, Kenneth Branagh, Harry Styles, Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, James D’Arcy.
Mother! (R, 2 hours, 1 minute) A polarizing horror mystery by Darren Aronofsky, Mother! is uncompromising in its unpredictabity, which leads it down some very uncomfortable rabbit holes. Don’t bother trying to figure
out what’s going to happen next; your imagination does not compare to that of the writer/director who gave us Pi, Requiem for a dream, The Fountain and The Wrestler.
Aronofsky enters a realm with no boundaries or rules as he subjects the wife (Jennifer Lawrence) in a May/December marriage to inexplicable distress caused by her writer-blocked author of a husband, who just can’t say no when uninvited guests arrive at their creepy monstrosity of a house. Bizarre situations ensue, some horrible, but so fantastical it’s hard to take any of it seriously.
Not for everybody, that’s for sure. With Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson. The 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Combo packs in 35 minutes of bonus content such as a discussion with Aronofsky and cast members and details about film’s unique makeup effects.
Stressed to Kill (not rated, 1 hour, 43 minutes) A pokey, ineffective and overly violent crime comedy in which a perpetually angry guy, who has a heart attack after being severely stressed, finds that violent acts aid his rehabilitation much more than high blood pressure medicines. With Armand Assante, Bill Oberst Jr., Lance Tafelski, Sonia Curtis; directed by Mark Savage.
Blood Money (R, 1 hour, 40 minutes) Dark, sometimes funny, and capable of veering from irritating to compelling, this actioner involves three pals wandering around in wooded wilderness who get crosswise with a criminal searching for a stash of cash. Pretty soon it’s every man for himself. With John Cusack, Ned Bellamy; directed by Lucky McKee.