By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

To Life! opens tomorrow in neighborhood theaters. A German movie (Auf das leben!) with English subtitles, To Life! is about two misfits who are separated by generational gaps, but united by personal pain and loss.

Ruth (Hannelore Elsner) is a troubled senior with a past. A victim of the Nazi Holocaust, Ruth was a popular cabaret singer in post-war Berlin. After a rocky start, Ruth befriends Jonas (Max Riemelt), a troubled man on the run. As these two lost souls confront their problems, both individuals find simple healing.

At 86 minutes, To Life! feels epic, especially during some clever flashback scenes featuring young Ruth (Sharon Brauner). Once the climax is reached, the film wraps up with sweet denouement that will make one toast “L’Chaim!”

It has been 16 years since Bryan Singer directed the first X-Men movie, a film hailed as the most realistic comic book movie of all time. Now Singer has closed out the second X-Men trilogy, and there is a sense of diminishing returns.

There is an attempt to make X-Men: Apocalypse a stand-alone movie, but the weight of five X-Men movies, two Wolverine movies and one Deadpool film constricts the narrative momentum. With X-Men: Apocalypse, the production staff reaches back to Biblical times to create a villain, En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac), an ancient one who recruits the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Of course, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are mutants, most notably former X-Men teammates Storm (Alexandra Shipp, replacing Halle Berry) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender).

While running the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, wheelchair bound Professor X (James McAvoy) attempts to prevent the end of the world in 1983. Professor X reunites with Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), who served on the X-Men team during the Cuban Missile crisis and end of the Vietnam War.

With Hugh Jackman providing a cameo to set up his final Wolverine movie, X-Men: Apocalypse is a montage of superheroes performing their own unique talents: Mystique is a chameleon, Magneto controls metal and Professor X thinks.

Despite a critical drubbing, this film was the Memorial Day weekend box office champion. It is not a bad film, but it simply feels tired.

By Dave Montalbano

The Bucks Class of ’81 has been reminded of another milestone with the release of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. X-Men: First Class featured the Cuban Missile crisis of Oct. ‘62, and now the third Transformers flick reveals the secret reason why President John F. Kennedy insisted that America land on the moon by the end of the decade.

Using planet Earth as the arena, the intergalactic feud between the good guys, Autobots, and the bad guys, Decepticons, continues. In the middle of this mess is Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeof) and U.S. Army Lt. Colonel William Lennox (Josh Duhamel), two characters who save the world in the previous two Transformers movies.

Sam and William are aligned with Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen), who awaits the second coming of his mentor, Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy). Feeling snubbed by this reunion, the menacing Megatron (Hugo Weaving) plots mass destruction, beginning in Chicago.

Heeding my criticism about attention deficit disorder editing, this new Transformers movie is easy on the eyes, making the action sequences the most thrilling of the three movies. The characters are less cartoony and there is a sense of danger in the science fiction violence. The humor is situational, with many in-jokes for science fiction aficionados. On a six-story IMAX screen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is Saturday matinee popcorn-eating fun.

For those seeking similar entertainment minus the budget of a Spielberg production, Kurt Donath’s locally-made Lucky Streak and the Crime Fighters will be screened and discussed tomorrow at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 11:15 a.m. at the Florida Supercon (www.
floridasupercon.com). Lucky Streak (Darlene Dinges), teenage daughter of Amazing Grace (Rachel Galvin), joins crime fighters to foil Dr. Dragon’s plot for world domination. If one can get over theatrical acting, the dialog is quite funny. Anthony Espina’s musical score carries the film.

For those seeking to renew the roots of American culture, Boston’s on the Beach will present their 2nd Annual Red, White and Blues Festival on A1A off Atlantic Avenue, from July 1-4. Much like the late Don Cohen’s Riverwalk Blues Festival, Red, White and Blues will host a three-ring circus of musical performers, such as Joey Gilmore, Iko Iko and Matt “Guitar” Murphy.

Best known as Aretha Franklin’s henpecked husband from the two Blues Brothers movies, Murphy brings Blues authenticity to Delray Beach. Support this Blues legend this Saturday
at 4 p.m.