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“We’ve always had a model of care where we take care of the whole patient, not just the disease process. our model of care that was solely focused on hiV patients became a model of care that is now available to all patients. that’s a big change. What makes hopes stand apart is that we integrate mental health into primary care, and that’s not something that a lot of other people do. We want the majority of our patients to have good health outcomes. that’s what’s going to make our community strong. We take care of patients as a team. For example, the patient has a case manager, a mental health provider, a medical provider, and an r.n. if you come in for your diabetes and you cannot take care of your insulin, we’ll have social services help you with that. if you’re depressed, we’ll have mental health help you with that. it’s a very team-integrated process. i always feel like, when i come to work every day, i have really made an impact in somebody’s life. helping people and always making sure that the under-served community has resources that they can access – that’s our passion.”

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Going soft

A Good Day to Die Hard

Bruce Willis returns as trouble magnet John McClane and looks lost, tired and miserable in A Good Day to Die Hard, a real party pooper installment in an otherwise fun franchise. One gets the sense watching this disaster that Willis realized he was in a dud, and spiritually clocked out well before the shoot was over. Willis seems to have a lot of power over all Die Hard proceedings, and being that he’s the star, most of the blame falls on his shoulders. The fact that they gave directing chores to the hack John Moore (the horrifically stinky Owen Wilson yawner Behind Enemy Lines) would be the first big mistake. Allowing screenwriter Skip Wood (The A-Team, Hitman, Swordfish) to write it could also be chalked up as a big gaffe. I mean, come on now, doesn’t that creative combo just cry future suckage? They are obviously running out of scenarios for McClane in the United States, so this one sends him to Russia, where his estranged son Jack (the dullard Jai Courtney) has gotten himself into an espionage jam. McClane knows this because one of his cop friends hands him one of those files with all of the info in it, because L.A. cops have all sorts of intelligence in Russia. They are the TMZ of Mother Russia! So John hops a plane, gets stuck in traffic, and immediately finds himself in an explosive car chase, where he just happens to run into his son and join him in wrecking vehicles. They have a little spat, Jack refuses to call him dad, and John picks up a gun, smirks, and becomes part of the mission. A stupid, convoluted, drab mission you won’t give two craps about. All of the things that are expected in the Die Hard series are now gone. There’s no distinguishable bad guy going up against John, the film completely lacks a sense of humor, and it looks drab. All of the other Die Hard films had that peppy action movie look and feel. This one is shot to look like a

by Bob Grimm bgrimm@ newsreview.com 1

“What choo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”

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excellent poor man’s Saving Private Ryan, and Saving Private Ryan was actually funnier than this movie.

Why pick Russia as the locale? Perhaps they were looking for some sort of throwback vibe to the ’80s. Well, Russia has lost its luster as a place for bad guys. And you just know somebody is going to say, “You Americans all think you are so smart!” (Someone does.) You can also guess that the action will eventually wind up in Chernobyl. (It does.) I was surprised Rocky IV’s Ivan Drago didn’t pop into frame and challenge McClane to a fistfight. Anybody who whined that the previous chapter Live Free or Die Hard, which came out SEVEN YEARS AGO (You could’ve almost gotten two bachelor degrees since the last Die Hard!) will discover that film, which I happened to like a lot, was a party compared to this one. It had a great villain (Timothy Olyphant), it had comic relief (Justin Long, Kevin Smith and Willis in a good mood) and it had the mighty beautiful Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who makes a drab cameo in this one). This Die Hard is gray, somber and lifeless. Willis is shot to look worn-out and gaunt. I know for a fact he can look sprightly in movies today because he looked healthy and badass in the G.I. Joe sequel trailer that preceded the movie. And, sorry, I don’t give a rat’s ass about McClane’s relationship with his son.

A Good Day to Die Hard fared much better than buddies Sly Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent efforts. Willis has publicly stated that there will be a Die Hard 6. For the love of God, if there is another movie, make sure those participating in it remember that it’s supposed to be ridiculous and laughter is OK.

Get this franchise the hell out of Russia, and no more drama with family members. That includes pets! Ω

4Amour Man, oh man, this is a tough one to watch. From Michael Haneke, the director of the brutal Funny Games—both the foreign and the American versions—we get a film about old age so honest, it guts you. Many of us know a couple like Georges and Anne (JeanLouis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva). Seeing a couple like this dealing with terrible illness is heartbreaking, and Haneke takes a terribly honest approach to impending death. Riva’s Oscar nominated performance is one of those pieces of work you will never forget. It tattoos onto your brain. Rest assured, if you choose to see this, it’s going to knock you on your ass. Don’t watch this if the truth scares you.

2Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters This seriously had the makings of the worst, dumbest movie ever made. Hansel and Gretel, the famed gingerbread house eaters, survive their ordeal to become world-class witch hunters. The result is bad, but it’s one of those so-bad-it’s-almost-good endeavors. Jeremy Renner somehow got talked into this thing, and he gives it his best shot, as does Gemma Arterton as his sister, Gretel. Famke Janssen is on hand as a mean witch who plans to take the blood of a bunch of children and do something or other with it. I wasn’t really following, or caring. The 3-D is bad, so go ahead and opt for 2-D. It’s got Peter “Where is Pancakes House?” Stormare in it too, which is usually the mark of a bad film unless it’s Fargo. Lots of blood and curse words get this one an R-rating. Director Tommy Wirkola seems as if he’s playing it for camp at times, and that would’ve been the better move for the whole film. It really slows down when it takes itself too seriously.

1Identity Thief Cashing in on her Oscar-nominated turn in Bridesmaids, Melissa McCarthy gets a headlining role alongside Jason Bateman in Identity Thief. While both performers are talented and make the best of the crap heap of a script they are handed, it’s not enough to make this anything more than a desperate misfire. From the director of Horrible Bosses, this is just another riff on Planes, Trains & Automobiles minus much of the fun. Bateman plays a sorry sap who has his identity stolen by a free shopping weirdo (McCarthy). He gets into some legal troubles, and vows to capture the thief and bring her back to his hometown. So it’s another odd couple road movie, and pretty exploitive when it comes to McCarthy. She’s a talented woman, and she deserves much better than this.

5Les Miserables This is a grand, beautifully shot adaptation of the legendary musical, directed by Tom Hooper and starring Hugh Jackman in the heavy-lifting role of persecuted bread thief Jean Valjean. Set in 19th century France, the musical calls for nearly every word to be sung, and it’s a major undertaking. Hooper had his cast sing live on the set rather than prerecording in a sound booth, and this results in a moving musical experience. Jackman has a spectacular voice, and you get at true sense that he and his costars are acting these songs, rather than lip-synching. Anne Hathaway will probably win an Oscar for her work as Fantine, singing her big number in one take and summoning honest, heart-wrenching tears. Russell Crowe, as Valjean’s lawman nemesis Javert, doesn’t have half of Jackman’s voice, but there’s something about his interpretation that’s appropriate and amplifies the character’s loneliness. Every number is treated with a majestic grace that makes this one of the greatest movie musicals I’ve ever seen.

3Mama This genuinely chilling haunted fairytale comes from producer Guillermo del Toro and writer/director Andrés Muschietti, and is based on Mushcietti’s original short film. Two little girls are abandoned by their demented father in the forest. They are discovered years later and adopted by their uncle (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend (Jessica Chastain). The little girls have taken on the characteristics of feral beasts and are convinced they are being watched over by a force they call “Mama.” As it turns out, Mama is very real, and a decent CGI creation that is both scary and just the right touch of funny. The film works well not just because Muschietti knows how to construct a good scare, but also because he does a great job getting you to care for the little girls and the Chastain character. Chastain, looking rather gothic in this one, delivers another good performance, even though she isn’t very convincing as a bass player in a punk band. I was scared throughout much of this movie.

4Quartet Some little known actor named Dustin Hoffman makes his directorial debut with this sweet movie about aging musicians in a retirement home. (Hoffman was supposed to direct Straight Time many years ago, but he gave up the gig a couple of days into shooting). The film stars Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly, Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins and Michael Gambon, all of whom are wonderful. Hoffman shows he has a deft touch with performers, which comes as no surprise. His movie isn’t terribly original, but it is heartwarming and entertaining throughout. Smith and Courtenay are especially good as former lovers who get a chance to make up and become friends again. This movie makes me wish Hoffman had gotten going on the director thing a long time ago. I hope he has some more films in him.

3Side Effects The first half of director Steven Soderbergh’s alleged feature film’s swan song is excellent, while the second half is only passably good. Jude Law stars as a doctor treating a depressed patient (Rooney Mara) who is given an experimental drug with some nasty results. The film is at once a mystery and an indictment of the worldwide pharmaceutical industry, and it hums along nicely for a good chunk of the running time. Then, it suddenly becomes a mediocre Brian De Palma movie as the mysteries are solved, and it gets a little hokey. Good things happen before it unravels, with Mara doing some nice work alongside Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Soderbergh says this is it for him. Hopefully, he just takes a couple of years off and finds himself back behind the camera someday. This movie is OK, but I would like to see him go out on a better note.

4Silver Linings Playbook Bradley Cooper is on fire as Pat, a troubled man recently out of a mental institution and obsessed with his ex-wife. He’s so obsessed hat he can’t see the value in Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a recently widowed neighbor trying to befriend him. Directed by David O. Russell, the movie is a funny, slick treatment of people with real problems that works because Russell and his performers find the right balance. Robert De Niro does his best work in years as Pat’s obsessive father, and Chris Tucker gets big laughs as Pat’s former mental institution buddy. Cooper and Lawrence make for one of the year’s most interesting screen couples. They are certainly unique. Russell is establishing himself as one of the industry’s most reliable and innovative directors.

5Zero Dark Thirty Director Kathryn Bigelow getting snubbed by Oscar for this taut, scary, intelligent movie about the war on terror and hunt for Bin Laden is a travesty. Well, it’s a travesty when it comes to movies and stuff, not so much in the grand scheme of things. Still, Bigelow deserves praise for putting together a movie that is both exciting political thriller and terrific action movie. Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain is deserving of the accolades as Maya, a composite character of CIA agents who managed to find Bin Laden in Pakistan and end his life. The film contains scenes of torture, but it doesn’t feel “pro-torture” by any means. It’s a great movie that will only get greater with time, and yet another reason to call Bigelow one of the best in the business.