'Monuments Men' leads week's releases

This week's releases cover a wide range of time periods.

The Monuments Men, B: George Clooney's latest directing effort takes a look at the handful of out-of-shape artisans tasked with saving the great art of Europe stolen by the Nazis during World War II.

It isn't a masterpiece, but it's a fitting tribute to the men who put their lives on the line in the name of saving culture. It's based on a true story, but takes artistic license. A simple story about looking for art would have been cerebral if not for the heart this production shows.

In Secret, C-minus: Director Charlie Stratton's screenplay reflects the scandalous elements of Emile Zola's original work. The message about the often treacherous path taken because of lust plays out in grand moralistic fashion. Unlike a modern screenplay about infidelity, where consequences are often blunted, Zola's work embraces the cold and fatalistic view of such improprieties.

It's just the delivery of the elements that fails.

About Last Night, B: Couple deal with ups and downs of their relationship. Kevin Hart stars.

This is not so much a remake of 1986's About Last Night, with Rob Lowe and Demi Moore, as a return to the source material, David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago. The film is already strides ahead of most comedies because of the witty, brilliant writing of Mamet.

Hart can be a little manic, but in this case that energy works because Regina Hall matches him beat for beat. This movie would have been just as entertaining had it focused on them. Having two solid story lines that work in such harmony is a rare find.

3 Days to Kill, C-minus: Dying hired assassin agrees to one more job. Kevin Costner stars.

Writers Adi Hasak and Luc Besson have given director Joseph McGinty Nichol (McG) three distinct elements to work with : an espionage tale, a family drama, and '40s film noir. The problem is the three go together about as well as speedskating and a sandy beach. Generally the parts of this film just don't add up.

Pompeii, C-minus: Slave turned invincible gladiator finds himself in a race against time to save his love.

Director Paul W.S. Anderson fails because his story of the love between Milo (Kit Harington) and the high-spirited Cassia (Emily Browning), daughter of a wealthy merchant, has all the explosiveness of a high school volcano science project.

Their actions mimic the kind of heat and intensity that should come with a great love story, but it ends up as a weak representation.

Also new on DVD:

Call the Midwife, Season Three: The midwives search for a new location.

 Nosferatu the Vampyre: Werner Herzog's 1979 film is now on Blu-ray.

L.A. Law: The Complete Second Season: Features 20 episodes in a five-DVD set.

The Revengers: William Holden plays a Civil War veteran who seeks revenge for the death of his family.

The First World War, The Complete Series: Ten-part series based on the book by Hew Strachan.

Happy Days, The Fifth Season: Includes the "jumped the shark" episode.