movies
Big Releases on March 13: The Gunman; The Divergent Series: Insurgent
Big Picture: Ever wondered what Sean Penn would be like as a poor-man’s James Bond? The Gunman is your chance. Penn plays a greying, craggy-faced, snaggle-toothed exmilitary contractor forced to go on the run and play a dangerous game of spy vs. spy to save his impossibly fetching 20-something girlfriend — and clear his name. Guns are fired. Grenades are thrown. Missiles are launched. Damsels are distressed. Thugnecks are snapped. And all the way through you’ll keep thinking to yourself: this is the same man who brilliantly played Harvey Milk? Meanwhile, the poor man’s Hunger Games continues in The Divergent sequel. Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) are on the run from Kate Winslet (it must be scary to be hunted by a performer who can act circles around you). Winslet plays the leader of the Erudite clan. So essentially our plucky heroes are battling a clan of nerds and bookworms.
Forecast: Javier Bardem as Penn’s frenemy — leaning toward the latter — will play scene stealer in The Gunman. Your mental grocery list or daydream of being an astronaut will play scene stealer in The Divergent sequel. Yawn ... Katniss can’t be back too soon.