A Good Day to Die Hard

In theaters: Fatherland

Much has changed in the action-pic genre since Bruce Willis first played daring and heroic cop John McClane 25 years ago. The Mission: Impossible and Bourne franchises, driven by Tom Cruise and Matt Damon, respectively, hadn't made their bazillions yet. But their influence can surely be felt in A Good Day to Die Hard (20th Century Fox), the fifth installment in Willis's Die Hard series.

McClane has a reputation for unfortunate vacations and his trip to Russia is no exception. He travels to Moscow, where his son Jack (Jai Courtney) is in prison. Of course, father and son have a tenuous relationship at best. Jack is none too thrilled when John shows up as he and fellow inmate Kamarov (Sebastian Koch) are on the run from ruthless Russian killers (are there any other kind?), led by Alik (Radivoje Bukvic), having just escaped from a courthouse following a massive explosion. Kamarov is being hunted down by powerful, politically connected Chagarin (Sergei Kolesnikov), a shady former business partner from the Chernobyl days.

This is when the chain of revelations (not to mention unreal car chases, ear-splitting explosions, double and triple crosses) begins. Jack is a CIA operative (something that earns a chuckle from dear old dad) whose mission it is to bring Kamarov safely to the U.S. But Kamarov has a few dark secrets of his own (including one involving weapons grade uranium), as well as a reunion of sorts with his child, daughter Irina (Yuliya Snigir).

Not your typical parent and child reunion movie by anyone's standards, A Good Day to Die Hard suggests apples not falling far from trees. Of course, the movie plays out like an NRA-endorsed bloodbath, with automatic weapons galore shredding flesh and scenery. The bombastic conclusion, featuring a helicopter functioning as a guillotine, is more than a little over the top. Additionally, the McClane family fireworks never ring true for a moment. With jokes and references to Reagan and the ‘80s, in the final analysis, A Good Day to Die Hard's most far-reaching message is that it's all right to hate Russians, again.

Lore (Music Box Films) - When her Nazi war criminal parents are taken into custody following the fall of Germany to the allied forces, the 14-year –old titular character Lore (Saskia Rosendahl) is suddenly put in charge of her four younger siblings. Completely unprepared for the task, Lore is determined to get Liesel (Nele Trebs), Günther (André Frid), Jürgen (Mika Seidel) and baby Peter (Nick Holaschke) safely to their grandmother's house in Hamburg.

As brainwashed as a young and sheltered teen/Hitler Youth can be by her parents, Lore tries to maintain her unflagging loyalty to the Fuhrer on her journey. But it doesn't take long for that to wear thin as she encounters the horrors on her path. First, she and her siblings come face-to-face with the hatred of the country locals in the town where her parents relocated, prior to their captivity. They are virtually shunned and their requests for staples are met with disdain.

Realizing they are unwelcome there, the quintet embarks on a journey in which they get to discover firsthand the horrors and results of the war their parents believed in wholeheartedly. One encounter, in particular, with concentration camp refugee Thomas (Kai Malina), has the greatest and most unexpected impact on Lore. Unable to decide if she despises or desires Thomas, who identifies himself as a Jew, Lore is ultimately grateful to him for the companionship he provides and the worldliness he utilizes in a variety of treacherous situations.

In Lore, director Cate Shortland provides a different perspective on the Holocaust movie genre. She introduces us to a desperate and unforgettable character who alternately elicits feelings of compassion and hatred from the audience. That's no easy feat.

North Sea Texas (Strand): In late 20th century coastal Flanders, on the North Sea, young Pim (Ben Van den Heuvel) lives with his accordion playing single mother Yvette (Eva van der Gucht) and their dog Mirza. Pim, who appears to have a touch of OCD, takes off his clothes in his mother's room, wraps himself in her bedspread like a cape, and plays dress up at his mother's make-up table. He puts on his mother's beauty pageant sash and crown, perfume and lipstick. When Yvette catches him, she's not angry. But Pim is startled and embarrassed and runs away to his friend Gino's house, where Gino lives with his kid sister Sabrina and dying mother Marcella (Katelijne Damen).

Gino's house is the closest Pim has to a home. Yvette, who has a reputation as the town pump and works nights at Texas, a bar, isn't exactly a proper mother figure. A few years later, when Pim (Jelle Florizoone) is 14, he hides her crown and sash, along with other mementos in a shoebox in his room. Pim is also completely in love with Gino, who's a few years older. They jerk off together and Pim keeps the cum rag to add to his souvenir collection. On his 15th birthday, with his itinerant mother at an accordion festival, Pim stays over at Gino's house. The teens have sex in a tent on the dunes, but Gino tells Pim that no one has to know about it.

To complicate things, Sabrina is in love with Pim, becoming the third side of the triangle. Meanwhile, Gino, who continues to have sex with Pim, has also taken an interest in Francoise (Ella-June Henrard), leading to all sorts of jealousy. Emotions run high when Gino moves in with Francoise in Dunkirk. Gino tells Pim, now 16, that it's time for him to move on because he has. But the return of Yvette's boarder Zoltan (Thomas Coumans) provides a respite for Pim. However, the distraction of Zoltan is short-lived when Yvette runs off with him, abandoning Pim.

North Sea Texas is as erotic and fearless as any gay coming of age tale you are likely to see. The exploration of sexual experimentation is treated respectfully and with taste. The movie is also about family and where we find it. Florizoone shines as Pim, making him believable enough to strike a chord with those who remember the first bloom of young, gay love. In Dutch with English subtitles. (North Sea Texas shows exclusively at the Music Box.)