The Monuments Men
I have always liked George Clooney as an actor but I do prefer him as a director - he really has been behind some terrific movies in recent years.
The Monuments Men will see him return to the director’s chair for the first time since the success of The Ides of March back in 2011, he will also star in the film.
Clooney has once again teamed up with his producing partner Grant Heslov to pen the screenplay for the film: which is based on the book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter.
As you may imagine with a George Clooney movie a fantastic cast has been assembled; it really is one of the ensemble casts of the year.
Clooney is joined by Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin and Hugh Bonneville.
The Monuments Men focuses on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners.
It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys - seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1 - possibly hope to succeed?
But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind’s greatest achievements.
The one thing that Clooney does best as a director is go back in time as he really can capture the feel of the past; something that worked so well with Good Night and Good Luck, and he is going to get to do it all over again with The Monuments Men.
The Monuments Men was tipped as a possible Oscar contender but the film is no longer in contention as it was pushed back - the release date means it is not out in time to be eligible for Oscar nomination.
This is a real shame as with Clooney in the mix the Best Director category would have been a hotly contested one.
The Monuments Men is a movie that I have been looking forward to for some time as the all-star cast and the directing talent behind the camera make it a film that is not to be missed.
The Monuments Men is released 21st February 2014.
