Congo

CHICAGO – If you’re going to see a Sean Penn action movie, I guess “The Gunman” would be appropriate. As he and the filmmakers inject some reality in the usual motivations, the puzzle pieces don’t connect well and in the end are not that interesting. That is not to say that the film is bad.

CHICAGO – There were basically two careers for Pierre Morel, before he directed the mega-hit “Taken,” starring Liam Neeson, and afterward. The French-born cinematographer, camera operator and now director is releasing “The Gunman,” an action film that stars Sean Penn. Like “Taken,” the motivations for the action are based in the real world, and “The Gunman” travels to Africa, London and Barcelona on his way to redeeming his soul.

CHICAGO – The summer of 1960 was another time, on another planet. And Paris was another planet itself, with everyone blissfully smoking cigarettes. All of the oddness, alienation and personality of this peculiar time and place comes alive in the Blu-ray release of Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin’s French new wave documentary, “Chronicle of a Summer.”