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Michael Giltz
Freelance writer and raconteur
Posted: February 7, 2011 04:56 PM
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THE TILLMAN STORY ($30.95 BluRay or $24.95 regular DVD; Sony) -- What makes a true patriot?
Is it blind devotion? My country right or wrong? Or is the true -- or rather, the better patriot, the one
that helps their country grow and be true to its principles -- the one who supports but questions,
challenges and cherishes? The one who trusts, but verifies? The more valuable patriot of course is the
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later and an excellent example of that is the late Pat Tillman, a journeyman player in the NFL who
became a national symbol of pride when he left his team to join up after 9-11. Tillman was eagerly seizedupon by the Bush Administration as a potent symbol. That was only one of the many mistakes Bush made
during the lead-up to the Iraq War. Tillman served bravely but he also kept questioning and eventually
this free-thinking atheist decided the continued occupation of Iraq was misguided. Unfortunately, he was
killed by friendly fire before he could come home and probably act on those beliefs. Ironically, the Bush
Administration covered up Tillman's death, lied repeatedly to his family and rode the wave of sympathy
for a fallen hero to re-election. This documentary charts the fascinating life of Tillman and his family's
unceasing quest for the truth about how he died. Bush and the Pentagon certainly are shown as cynicallyand unforgivably in the wrong. But the movie's strength is that it is not a diatribe but a simple search fortruth. The family is inspiring. Tillman is fascinating. And as a bonus the movie contains some of the most
inventive and memorable use of the F word this side of The King's Speech.
THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE ($39.95 BluRay; Criterion) -- Krzysztof Kieslowski is one of
my favorite directors and this beguiling movie starring Irene Jacob is the perfect introduction to histalent. The Colors Trilogy contains his masterpiece Red but is flawed. The Decalogue is brilliant but is
rather sprawling -- it is, after, a 10 part TV miniseries with each episode centered around one of the Ten
Commandments. So Double Life is where you should begin. Its story remains a mystery: two women
(both played by Irene Jacob) live somewhat parallel lives, one in France and one in Poland. They are also
both haunted by the idea, somewhat wonderful and somewhat unsettling, that they're not alone. That isessentially it. And if you're willing to watch a gorgeously shot, beautifully acted, curious film that neverexplains itself but creates a mood of wonder and suspense (helped immeasurably by a great score by
Zbignew Preisner) then you're in for a treat. Criterion has duplicated almost all of the extras on the
standard DVD (two essays are missing from the slimmed down booklet -- why not scan them and includethem on the disc?). The BluRay itself has wonderful extras like a documentary about Kieslowski, shortfilms, video interviews, audio commentary and more. A classic of modern cinema.
NEVER LET ME GO ($39.99 BluRay or $29.99 regular DVD; FOX) -- My problems with the book by
Kazuo Ishiguro and the film Never Let Me Go that is based on it are the same. Both contain a very
elaborate sci-fi set-up: in the future, cloned people will be raised in isolation so that their organs can be
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harvested and let "real" people live much longer lives. The cloned people are ultimately harvested so
many times they die. Wow. With a weighty idea like that, you'd expect the movie and book to mine this
idea to reveal much about the human condition, about the feeling young people have that their life ismapped out for them, that they're doomed or that they're special, or simply the idea that life is too short.(Most clones die pretty young.) Nope. The movie meanders along with our cloned heroes laboring under
the delusion or dream that if they can prove they are "really" in love that they'll gain some respite or
release from the death sentence that is their lives. It's beautifully mounted and decently acted with some
affecting moments from Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and especially Andrew Garfield. (Poor casting
for the child actors who play them at younger ages -- the one playing Garfield's character looks absolutely
nothing like him.) But those moments are minimal and with such an elaborate set-up, it feels too top-
heavy to be successful.
RONALD REAGAN CENTENNIAL COLLECTION ($59.98; Warner Bros.)
RONALD REAGAN: AN AMERICAN JOURNEY ($19.98; Image)
WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS? ($24.98; Passion River) -- Even Ronald Reagan had good
fun joking about his Hollywood career as a B actor. (Bedtime for Bonzo didn't help.) But the truth is thathe appeared in a string of good to great films and while we can all be glad he didn't make Casablanca, he
has more good movies to his credit than you'd imagine. The Centennial Collection from his Warner Bros.
home proves that. Reagan's masterpiece is the smalltown melodrama Kings Row. His most iconic turn isin Knute Rockne: All American. Dark Victory with Bette Davis is another gem; Reagan's role is small, buthey he was in it. This Is The Army is good musical hokum via the great Michael Curtiz with Lt. Ronald
Reagan in a decent turn. The happy surprises are two solid dramas: the action film Desperate Journey
with Errol Flynn and the story of wounded soldiers The Hasty Heart. Throw in two programmers --Storm Warning (down with the KKK) and The Winning Team (up with Doris Day) and you've got a pretty
respectable run of films with Reagan proving he really could act. Of course, his greatest role was yet to
come. An American Journey chronicles that role -- lovable President -- with a 100 minute film that couldhave played at a Republican convention. Apparently we're too close still for a balanced but warts and all
look at the Gipper. He wasn't much for challenging his own beliefs so even if Reagan tried to watch
What's The Matter With Kansas?, he probably would have fallen asleep. He would have missed aninteresting film that charts Kansas turning from a progressive state to a center for the Religious Right
that Roger Ebert called one of the best documentaries of 2009.
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ANNIVERSARY BLURAY ($39.99; Disney) --
I think the anarchic sensibility and brilliant
wordplay of the Lewis Carroll classic is basically
not filmable. And yet people keep trying. Patchesof this herky-jerky Disney animated version arequite fun. But there's an awful lot of so-so musicusing Carroll's verse for lyrics and it rarely feels
like a proper story and more like a parade of set
pieces. That said, the animation at times isstunning and this BuRay is eye-popping. Disneyreally does take exceptional care of its legacy.
Loads of extras, including the first Alice short
that Disney made (he was fascinated by the
character and books for years). Best for animation
buffs and college students, I think.
CONVICTION ($39.99 BluRay or $29.99
regular DVD; FOX) -- Hilary Swank stars in this
true story about a blue collar woman whose ne'erdo well brother is wrongfully accused of murder.
No one cares, so she decides to take on his case
herself. First of course, she needs to get a highschool degree, go to college, get a college degree,
go to law school and then get a law school degree.
I can't possibly spoil this film for you by revealingplot points because the movie moves along on
such a tried and true path. Hey, it's not their fault
that true life in this case was so predictable. It'swonderful for the real-life people but as a movie,
you keep waiting for something, anything to
surprise you. The casting is very good -- not justSwank and Sam Rockwell and Minnie Driver as
Swank's pal. All the minor and fill-in characters look like real people, not actors filling up a scene. It alsohas a nice feel for the world thanks to director Tony Goldwyn. But you won't be shaken up or surprised by
a single moment here.
MONSTERS ($29.99 BluRay and $26.99 regular
DVD; Magnolia) -- I was really looking forward to
this horror/sci-fi flick about a freelance
photographer and the wealthy daughter of his
publisher who must trek through the "infectedzone" of Mexico -- infected by aliens from outerspace, which came to earth via a crashed probe
we sent out to collect samples. Now scary gigantic
creatures are wrecking havoc and the US has builta really big wall to keep them out. Yes, the
parallels are obvious to illegal immigration, but
aren't pounded home. The movie is mostly asmart calling card for writer-director GarethEdwards, who creates tension and believable
creatures on a tiny budget. Some eye-rolling
moments abound, starting with the idea that the
daughter of a publishing magnate and a savvy photo-journalist would ever CHOOSE to go into a zone
infected with gigantic alien creatures in the first place. (Couldn't they have been stranded there or misled
into going there? Any sane person would wait the six months they were going to be trapped or, I don'tknow, hire a plane? If there was a reference to plane travel being unsafe, I missed it.) Even worse is ascene where our heroes are stripping soldiers of gas masks but leave the weapons. I'm pretty sure a
Quaker would be packing a gun if they were headed through alien monster territory. Then there's the
scene where they're in a boat in the infected zone and some giant thing of some sort is knocking around acrashed jet plane, tentacles pulling it under the swampy water and then tossing it out again. And what do
our heroes say? They say, repeatedly, "What IS that?" Uh, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess it's one
of the alien creatures that made this zone infected. What do you think? Generally, the movie is smarter
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than that by simply avoiding facts and keeping the focus on the budding friendship/romance between the
two. Action buffs will be sorely disappointed by a film that has very little action in it. Cloverfield isn't
such a bad comparison after all, though Monsters is smarter. But while the monsters are mostly off
camera a genuine if raw talent is visible.
BLUE MURDER COMPLETE COLLECTION ($99.99; Acorn) -- No, she's no Jane Tennison, but the
messed-up single mom life of DCI Janine Lewis (Caroline Quentin of UK sitcom Men Behaving Badly) isa nice counterpoint to the brutal crimes she investigates in Manchester. Abruptly cancelled after fiveseasons in the UK when ratings of 4 million+ were almost half of the debut's 8 mil+. Decent enough for
hardcore fans of UK crime shows.
LET ME IN ($39.99 BluRay or $29.99 regular DVD; Anchor Bay) -- The Swedish film Let The Right
One In is a modern masterpiece, moving and strange and scary and unshakable. Hollywood's decision to
remake it seemed puzzling; it was such a... Swedish film. Or at least European in its sensibility and
quietness. Why would Hollywood want to remake it? And how bad would they screw it up? Now that I'veseen the remake I'm more puzzled than ever. Don't get me wrong, it's crafted with care and no one could
accuse them of Hollywood-izing the movie. It's quite faithful to the original in plot and tone. But the
more similar it was, the more I kept wondering, why bother? For the folks who won't read subtitles? It'snot exactly a high concept, action-packed movie. Remaking the Korean monster flick The Host -- thatwould make sense. But this is an art film, really. By which I mean it's not a broad entertainment that will
appeal to millions. It's quiet and strange and sad and you won't be in the mood to munch down popcorn.
The leads are good, both Kodi Smit-McPhee as the boy who is bullied at school and Chloe Moretz as thegirl who moves in next door but never gets cold and won't come into your home until you invite her.
Maybe Moretz doesn't have exactly the same eeriness and substance of the original's Lina Leandersson.
But I wouldn't place my problems with the movie on her or any of the other actors, which also includeRichard Jenkins and Elias Koteas. It's been a while since I saw the original, but I think the score here ismore prominent and distracting. Maybe it begins with the title: Let Me In isn't bad, and it gets across the
same idea. But somehow, it's not nearly as subtle or memorable as the title Let The Right One In .
Exactly.
ALL ABOUT EVE ($34.98; FOX)
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER ($34.98; FOX) -- Two beloved classics available on DVD in nice slim
hardcover cases with loads of extras. Eve is a towering masterpiece, one of the wittiest and coldest movies
about fame and backstabbers ever made. Affair is not really my cup of tea in any version, but if you love ityou love it dearly. But a couple problems. One, Blurays should not be higher-priced than regular DVDseven though even to my casual eyes they can offer a significantly sharper, better picture. Two, theseparticular DVD releases do NOT offer a significantly sharper, better picture. Why put something out on
BluRay in nice new packaging if you're not going to take care with the image and make it look better than
ever? No reason to upgrade and if you're buying them for the first time, no reason to pay a $20 premiumfor the BluRay at all. Not the way to treat such valuable films.
SNL: THE BEST OF JOHN BELUSHI ($14.98; Lionsgate)
SNL: THE BEST OF CHRIS FARLEY ($14.98; Lionsgate) -- He died more than a decade ago but it
still feels a little rude to say that Chris Farley is the very poor man's John Belushi. It's not just a
superficial comparison -- it's also apt. Farley is similar in style and approach to Belushi but far lessinteresting. And nothing on these two DVDs changes that opinion. Belushi feels genuinely dangerous and
exciting. Farley seems like the frat brother who makes other dudes laugh with his relentless gross-out
dumbness. It's the difference (oh, I'm on thin ice, here) between The Three Stooges and the MarxBrothers. Can I save myself if I caveat that statement by saying the Three Stooges are much funnier thanFarley ever was? Both discs are reissues that include about 20 minutes of new sketches. It's sort of
annoying that they didn't just overstuff these DVDs in the first place. But they're cheap and if you're a
fan, well worth it.
YOU'VE GOT MAIL BLURAY ($19.98; Warner Bros.) -- Talk about putting the cart before the horse?
I actually don't mind You've Got Mail, the Tom Hanks Meg Ryan comedy set in the world of bookstores.
(It's even a little sad to see them in the Barnes & Noble store on the Upper West Side that just shut
down.) But the "extras" in this set include the standard DVD of The Shop Around The Corner, the Jimmy
Stewart masterpiece that it's based on and which just happens to be one of my favorite films of all time.Watch You've Got Mail first because nothing can match the original.
A WOMAN, A GUN AND A NOODLE SHOP ($38.96 BluRay or $28.96 regular DVD; Sony) -- Grat
director Zhang Yimou followed his eye-popping Opening Ceremony for the 1998 Chinese Olympics with
this curio, a remake of the Coen Brothers film Blood Simple set in the past.
10 ($19.98 BluRay; Warner Bros.) -- It hasn't aged as well as some other Blake Edwards comedies and
certainly doesn't match Dudley Moore's masterpiece Arthur. But it's an interesting comedy about middle-
age and how that scares the hell out of men and Bo Derek fulfilled her task of looking gorgeousadmirably. I'm sure hairdressers and the sellers of those little beads in her hair are forever grateful.
LUCKY LADY ($19.93; Shout) -- I have a soft spot for this would-be screwball comedy which was
played at a juvenile level even for a little kid seeing it in 1975. But Liza Minnelli and Gene Hackman and
Burt Reynolds have great chemistry in this lark of a tale about bootleggers who have a blast while
outsmarting the law during Prohibition. A welcome debut for a movie I haven't seen since it was on HBOback in the 1970s after its misfire at the box office. Silly and it knows it.
HIGHLANDER 25TH ANNIVERSARY 2 FILM SET BLURAY ($29.99; Lionsgate) -- This BluRay
of the director's cut of Highlander (a personal B movie favorite) and the sequel looks crisp to my eyes.
But it comes out a few weeks after Highlander alone came out on BluRay and neither one has the extras
you'd expect for a franchise that has spawned movies, tv shows, books and more. But if you've never seen
the movie, it's good fun.
HATCHET II ($27.98; Dark Sky/MPI) -- The second in a hoped-for franchise starring Victor Crowley
(like all horror film monsters, he lives!) who likes to push the boundaries on gore and dismemberment.
Went to theaters unrated in a bid for attention that did not break the MPAA's stranglehold on exhibition,
unfortunately.
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA SEASON FOUR VOL TWO ($39.98; FOX) -- This
family friendly series just beat out Star Trek to be the first prime-time sci-fi series in the US that wasn't
an anthology series but an ongoing show with recurring characters. The final half of the final season, thisincludes the unaired pilot and the broadcast version complete with vintage commercials, which is great
fun.
PLEASANTVILLE BLURAY ($19.98; New Line) -- This clever drama about people living in a black
and white world but longing for color is elevated by an excellent cast, including Tobey Maguire, Reese
Witherspoon and Joan Allen among others. Good transfer with all the extras of the standard dvd.
DISCOVERING HAMLET ($39.99; Athena) -- Fascinating hour-long documentary about Kennth
Branagh tackling the role of Hamlet in 1988 with Derek Jacobi at his side working with Branagh every
step of the way. Yes, it has 3 and a half hours of bonus material, but $40 still seems steep. Loads of
interviews but not the one element you want most of all: a film of the complete production to see how it
turned out. Still, for actors and theater buffs this is absorbing stuff.
BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA 2 ($39.99 BluRay or $29.99 regular DVD; Disney) -- Hey, I'm just
as surprised as you that this was made. But the original cost $20 million to make and grossed $140
million worldwide, so the only surprise I guess is that this went straight to DVD.
BAD BOYS BLURAY ($19.99; Lionsgate) -- Bad Boys should have been a routine B movie about
juvenile delinquents behind bars. But Sean Penn is so invested in his role he gives the movie a weight and
immediacy it never would have achieved otherwise. Lightning in a bottle.
SKIN ($24.98; E One) -- This true story about a dark-skinned child born to two white parents in racist
South Africa is based on a true story. Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo, Sam Neill and Alice Krige head
the talented cast in a film that came and went but which Roger Ebert singled out as one of the best of the
year.
RAY BLURAY ($26.98; Universal) -- This biopic already feels a little dated and TV movie-ish but
Jamie Foxx's mimicry/inhabitation of Ray Charles is still magnetic, the movie looks terrific and the
extras are copious.
GARROW'S LAW SERIES 1 ($39.99; Acorn) -- When reading the paperback introduction to the
Robert Louis Stevenson book Kidnapped, I stumbled across a reference to William Garrow, the star
barrister at the Old Bailey whose court transcripts read like terrific mysteries. My God, here's the perfect
basis for a crime novel series or even a TV show! I plunged into everything I could find out about
him...which unfortunately included the fact that they'd already made a TV series about him in 1996. I'm
too bitter to see my meal ticket already on television, but fans of British drama might want to check it
out.
BUTCH & SUNDANCE: THE EARLY DAYS/ DEATH HUNT ($14.93; Shout) -- Here's as silly a
double feature as you're likely to find. Death Hunt is a routine, forgettable Charles Bronson entry. Butch
& Sundance: The Early Days is the prequel to the classic Western. It's not nearly as bad as it should be,
but there's still no good reason it was ever made. At least this odd duck of a DVD is cheap.
11 HARROWHOUSE ($19.98; Shout) -- Here is a much better use of Shout's time. It's an offbeat
comedy spoof of a jewel heist scripted by Charles Grodin and co-starring Candice Bergen in her
pre- Murphy Brown Days. Too bad Grodin didn't do a commentary: God knows from his talk show we
realize he can hold forth.
DEAD SPACE AFTERMATH ($34.99; Anchor Bay) -- A spin-off from the video game, this animated
film is notable for switching directors and even animation styles when telling the story from a different
character's point of view. That doesn't make this satisfying for anyone other than hardcore gamers, but it
was an interesting experiment.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also
available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and
reviews .
NOTE: Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs to consider for review. He typically does not
guarantee coverage and invariably receives far more screeners and DVDs than he can cover each
week. Also, Michael Giltz freelances as a writer of DVD copy (the text that appears on the back ofDVDs) for some titles released by IFC and other subsidiaries of MPI. It helps pay the rent, but does notobligate him in any way to speak positively or negatively of their titles.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
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"The Tillman Story" contribute s to restoring Pat's legacy by honoring the man, not the myth. As his
mother said, “Pat would have wanted to be remembered as an individual , not as a stock figure or
political prop. Pat was a real hero, not what they used him as.”
However, the film ended too soon, with the 8-01-07 Congressio nal hearing. Last July, I sent the
director a letter arguing the film would have more impact if it also described the “untold story” of
how President Obama and the Democratic Congress continued the Bush administra tion cover-up of
Tillman's friendly-f ire death.
Instead, the film was ignored since it didn't reveal much "news" about the Tillman story. It wasn'tcontrovers ial and threatened no politician s. Gen. McChrystal , who personally led the cover-up, was
barely a footnote and is making $50,000 on the lecture circuit ... meanwhile, the film is no longershowing after peaking at only 28 screens.
Just before the 2006 mid-term elections, Kevin Tillman published his eloquent letter, “After Pat’s
Birthday”. Kevin had hoped a Democratic Congress would bring accountabi lity back to our country.
But, just as with warrantles s wiretappin g and torture, those responsibl e for the cover-up of his
brother’s friendly-f ire death have never been held accountabl e for their actions.
To learn more, I'd suggest Mary Tillman's "Boots on the Ground by Dusk" (revised paperback at
blurb.com) , Jon Krakauer's paperback edition of "Where Men Win Glory", and http://www
.feralf irefighter blogspot.c omRecency | Popularity
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5 FansThanks for the info. By the way, any idea why the Tillmans soured so much on Jon
Krakuer? I never could discover the deal on that.
In her book, Mary Tillman wrote that in spring 2006, "Over several months Jon hasmet the whole family, and we have come to consider him a good friend." (p. 280hardcover) .
Obviously something happened over the next couple of years. I don't have acitation but I recall seeing/hea ring an interview (CSPAN Fall 2009?) where
Krakauer said that the family wasn't happy after seeing a draft of his book. Afterthat, Marie continued to work with Krakauer, at least to some degree, but the restof the family declined. Krakauer's book has some good detail on the friendly-f ire
and the Army cover-up (revised paperback) but I don't have confidence in thebiographic al sections.
Personally , I think JK's got some ego problems. JK used the material my Aunt
handed to him at a book signing to revise his book (he wrote in his foreward "hediscovered " it) and yet continued to whitewash the Democratic Congress role in
continuing the Bush cover-up. If you're interested , I'm in the middle of documentin
g this, should have something out within the next week, hopefully.
PS Bad link in my post. Should be http://www .feralfire fighter.bl ogspot.com
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Michael Giltz
Freelance writer and raconteur
Posted: February 7, 2011 04:56 PM
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Pat Tillman Story , Vampires , Entertainment News
THE TILLMAN STORY ($30.95 BluRay or $24.95 regular DVD; Sony) -- What makes a true patriot?
Is it blind devotion? My country right or wrong? Or is the true -- or rather, the better patriot, the one
that helps their country grow and be true to its principles -- the one who supports but questions,
challenges and cherishes? The one who trusts, but verifies? The more valuable patriot of course is the
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later and an excellent example of that is the late Pat Tillman, a journeyman player in the NFL who
became a national symbol of pride when he left his team to join up after 9-11. Tillman was eagerly seizedupon by the Bush Administration as a potent symbol. That was only one of the many mistakes Bush made
during the lead-up to the Iraq War. Tillman served bravely but he also kept questioning and eventually
this free-thinking atheist decided the continued occupation of Iraq was misguided. Unfortunately, he was
killed by friendly fire before he could come home and probably act on those beliefs. Ironically, the Bush
Administration covered up Tillman's death, lied repeatedly to his family and rode the wave of sympathy
for a fallen hero to re-election. This documentary charts the fascinating life of Tillman and his family's
unceasing quest for the truth about how he died. Bush and the Pentagon certainly are shown as cynicallyand unforgivably in the wrong. But the movie's strength is that it is not a diatribe but a simple search fortruth. The family is inspiring. Tillman is fascinating. And as a bonus the movie contains some of the most
inventive and memorable use of the F word this side of The King's Speech.
THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE ($39.95 BluRay; Criterion) -- Krzysztof Kieslowski is one of
my favorite directors and this beguiling movie starring Irene Jacob is the perfect introduction to histalent. The Colors Trilogy contains his masterpiece Red but is flawed. The Decalogue is brilliant but is
rather sprawling -- it is, after, a 10 part TV miniseries with each episode centered around one of the Ten
Commandments. So Double Life is where you should begin. Its story remains a mystery: two women
(both played by Irene Jacob) live somewhat parallel lives, one in France and one in Poland. They are also
both haunted by the idea, somewhat wonderful and somewhat unsettling, that they're not alone. That isessentially it. And if you're willing to watch a gorgeously shot, beautifully acted, curious film that neverexplains itself but creates a mood of wonder and suspense (helped immeasurably by a great score by
Zbignew Preisner) then you're in for a treat. Criterion has duplicated almost all of the extras on the
standard DVD (two essays are missing from the slimmed down booklet -- why not scan them and includethem on the disc?). The BluRay itself has wonderful extras like a documentary about Kieslowski, shortfilms, video interviews, audio commentary and more. A classic of modern cinema.
NEVER LET ME GO ($39.99 BluRay or $29.99 regular DVD; FOX) -- My problems with the book by
Kazuo Ishiguro and the film Never Let Me Go that is based on it are the same. Both contain a very
elaborate sci-fi set-up: in the future, cloned people will be raised in isolation so that their organs can be
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harvested and let "real" people live much longer lives. The cloned people are ultimately harvested so
many times they die. Wow. With a weighty idea like that, you'd expect the movie and book to mine this
idea to reveal much about the human condition, about the feeling young people have that their life ismapped out for them, that they're doomed or that they're special, or simply the idea that life is too short.(Most clones die pretty young.) Nope. The movie meanders along with our cloned heroes laboring under
the delusion or dream that if they can prove they are "really" in love that they'll gain some respite or
release from the death sentence that is their lives. It's beautifully mounted and decently acted with some
affecting moments from Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and especially Andrew Garfield. (Poor casting
for the child actors who play them at younger ages -- the one playing Garfield's character looks absolutely
nothing like him.) But those moments are minimal and with such an elaborate set-up, it feels too top-
heavy to be successful.
RONALD REAGAN CENTENNIAL COLLECTION ($59.98; Warner Bros.)
RONALD REAGAN: AN AMERICAN JOURNEY ($19.98; Image)
WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS? ($24.98; Passion River) -- Even Ronald Reagan had good
fun joking about his Hollywood career as a B actor. (Bedtime for Bonzo didn't help.) But the truth is thathe appeared in a string of good to great films and while we can all be glad he didn't make Casablanca, he
has more good movies to his credit than you'd imagine. The Centennial Collection from his Warner Bros.
home proves that. Reagan's masterpiece is the smalltown melodrama Kings Row. His most iconic turn isin Knute Rockne: All American. Dark Victory with Bette Davis is another gem; Reagan's role is small, buthey he was in it. This Is The Army is good musical hokum via the great Michael Curtiz with Lt. Ronald
Reagan in a decent turn. The happy surprises are two solid dramas: the action film Desperate Journey
with Errol Flynn and the story of wounded soldiers The Hasty Heart. Throw in two programmers --Storm Warning (down with the KKK) and The Winning Team (up with Doris Day) and you've got a pretty
respectable run of films with Reagan proving he really could act. Of course, his greatest role was yet to
come. An American Journey chronicles that role -- lovable President -- with a 100 minute film that couldhave played at a Republican convention. Apparently we're too close still for a balanced but warts and all
look at the Gipper. He wasn't much for challenging his own beliefs so even if Reagan tried to watch
What's The Matter With Kansas?, he probably would have fallen asleep. He would have missed aninteresting film that charts Kansas turning from a progressive state to a center for the Religious Right
that Roger Ebert called one of the best documentaries of 2009.
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ANNIVERSARY BLURAY ($39.99; Disney) --
I think the anarchic sensibility and brilliant
wordplay of the Lewis Carroll classic is basically
not filmable. And yet people keep trying. Patchesof this herky-jerky Disney animated version arequite fun. But there's an awful lot of so-so musicusing Carroll's verse for lyrics and it rarely feels
like a proper story and more like a parade of set
pieces. That said, the animation at times isstunning and this BuRay is eye-popping. Disneyreally does take exceptional care of its legacy.
Loads of extras, including the first Alice short
that Disney made (he was fascinated by the
character and books for years). Best for animation
buffs and college students, I think.
CONVICTION ($39.99 BluRay or $29.99
regular DVD; FOX) -- Hilary Swank stars in this
true story about a blue collar woman whose ne'erdo well brother is wrongfully accused of murder.
No one cares, so she decides to take on his case
herself. First of course, she needs to get a highschool degree, go to college, get a college degree,
go to law school and then get a law school degree.
I can't possibly spoil this film for you by revealingplot points because the movie moves along on
such a tried and true path. Hey, it's not their fault
that true life in this case was so predictable. It'swonderful for the real-life people but as a movie,
you keep waiting for something, anything to
surprise you. The casting is very good -- not justSwank and Sam Rockwell and Minnie Driver as
Swank's pal. All the minor and fill-in characters look like real people, not actors filling up a scene. It alsohas a nice feel for the world thanks to director Tony Goldwyn. But you won't be shaken up or surprised by
a single moment here.
MONSTERS ($29.99 BluRay and $26.99 regular
DVD; Magnolia) -- I was really looking forward to
this horror/sci-fi flick about a freelance
photographer and the wealthy daughter of his
publisher who must trek through the "infectedzone" of Mexico -- infected by aliens from outerspace, which came to earth via a crashed probe
we sent out to collect samples. Now scary gigantic
creatures are wrecking havoc and the US has builta really big wall to keep them out. Yes, the
parallels are obvious to illegal immigration, but
aren't pounded home. The movie is mostly asmart calling card for writer-director GarethEdwards, who creates tension and believable
creatures on a tiny budget. Some eye-rolling
moments abound, starting with the idea that the
daughter of a publishing magnate and a savvy photo-journalist would ever CHOOSE to go into a zone
infected with gigantic alien creatures in the first place. (Couldn't they have been stranded there or misled
into going there? Any sane person would wait the six months they were going to be trapped or, I don'tknow, hire a plane? If there was a reference to plane travel being unsafe, I missed it.) Even worse is ascene where our heroes are stripping soldiers of gas masks but leave the weapons. I'm pretty sure a
Quaker would be packing a gun if they were headed through alien monster territory. Then there's the
scene where they're in a boat in the infected zone and some giant thing of some sort is knocking around acrashed jet plane, tentacles pulling it under the swampy water and then tossing it out again. And what do
our heroes say? They say, repeatedly, "What IS that?" Uh, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess it's one
of the alien creatures that made this zone infected. What do you think? Generally, the movie is smarter
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than that by simply avoiding facts and keeping the focus on the budding friendship/romance between the
two. Action buffs will be sorely disappointed by a film that has very little action in it. Cloverfield isn't
such a bad comparison after all, though Monsters is smarter. But while the monsters are mostly off
camera a genuine if raw talent is visible.
BLUE MURDER COMPLETE COLLECTION ($99.99; Acorn) -- No, she's no Jane Tennison, but the
messed-up single mom life of DCI Janine Lewis (Caroline Quentin of UK sitcom Men Behaving Badly) isa nice counterpoint to the brutal crimes she investigates in Manchester. Abruptly cancelled after fiveseasons in the UK when ratings of 4 million+ were almost half of the debut's 8 mil+. Decent enough for
hardcore fans of UK crime shows.
LET ME IN ($39.99 BluRay or $29.99 regular DVD; Anchor Bay) -- The Swedish film Let The Right
One In is a modern masterpiece, moving and strange and scary and unshakable. Hollywood's decision to
remake it seemed puzzling; it was such a... Swedish film. Or at least European in its sensibility and
quietness. Why would Hollywood want to remake it? And how bad would they screw it up? Now that I'veseen the remake I'm more puzzled than ever. Don't get me wrong, it's crafted with care and no one could
accuse them of Hollywood-izing the movie. It's quite faithful to the original in plot and tone. But the
more similar it was, the more I kept wondering, why bother? For the folks who won't read subtitles? It'snot exactly a high concept, action-packed movie. Remaking the Korean monster flick The Host -- thatwould make sense. But this is an art film, really. By which I mean it's not a broad entertainment that will
appeal to millions. It's quiet and strange and sad and you won't be in the mood to munch down popcorn.
The leads are good, both Kodi Smit-McPhee as the boy who is bullied at school and Chloe Moretz as thegirl who moves in next door but never gets cold and won't come into your home until you invite her.
Maybe Moretz doesn't have exactly the same eeriness and substance of the original's Lina Leandersson.
But I wouldn't place my problems with the movie on her or any of the other actors, which also includeRichard Jenkins and Elias Koteas. It's been a while since I saw the original, but I think the score here ismore prominent and distracting. Maybe it begins with the title: Let Me In isn't bad, and it gets across the
same idea. But somehow, it's not nearly as subtle or memorable as the title Let The Right One In .
Exactly.
ALL ABOUT EVE ($34.98; FOX)
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER ($34.98; FOX) -- Two beloved classics available on DVD in nice slim
hardcover cases with loads of extras. Eve is a towering masterpiece, one of the wittiest and coldest movies
about fame and backstabbers ever made. Affair is not really my cup of tea in any version, but if you love ityou love it dearly. But a couple problems. One, Blurays should not be higher-priced than regular DVDseven though even to my casual eyes they can offer a significantly sharper, better picture. Two, theseparticular DVD releases do NOT offer a significantly sharper, better picture. Why put something out on
BluRay in nice new packaging if you're not going to take care with the image and make it look better than
ever? No reason to upgrade and if you're buying them for the first time, no reason to pay a $20 premiumfor the BluRay at all. Not the way to treat such valuable films.
SNL: THE BEST OF JOHN BELUSHI ($14.98; Lionsgate)
SNL: THE BEST OF CHRIS FARLEY ($14.98; Lionsgate) -- He died more than a decade ago but it
still feels a little rude to say that Chris Farley is the very poor man's John Belushi. It's not just a
superficial comparison -- it's also apt. Farley is similar in style and approach to Belushi but far lessinteresting. And nothing on these two DVDs changes that opinion. Belushi feels genuinely dangerous and
exciting. Farley seems like the frat brother who makes other dudes laugh with his relentless gross-out
dumbness. It's the difference (oh, I'm on thin ice, here) between The Three Stooges and the MarxBrothers. Can I save myself if I caveat that statement by saying the Three Stooges are much funnier thanFarley ever was? Both discs are reissues that include about 20 minutes of new sketches. It's sort of
annoying that they didn't just overstuff these DVDs in the first place. But they're cheap and if you're a
fan, well worth it.
YOU'VE GOT MAIL BLURAY ($19.98; Warner Bros.) -- Talk about putting the cart before the horse?
I actually don't mind You've Got Mail, the Tom Hanks Meg Ryan comedy set in the world of bookstores.
(It's even a little sad to see them in the Barnes & Noble store on the Upper West Side that just shut
down.) But the "extras" in this set include the standard DVD of The Shop Around The Corner, the Jimmy
Stewart masterpiece that it's based on and which just happens to be one of my favorite films of all time.Watch You've Got Mail first because nothing can match the original.
A WOMAN, A GUN AND A NOODLE SHOP ($38.96 BluRay or $28.96 regular DVD; Sony) -- Grat
director Zhang Yimou followed his eye-popping Opening Ceremony for the 1998 Chinese Olympics with
this curio, a remake of the Coen Brothers film Blood Simple set in the past.
10 ($19.98 BluRay; Warner Bros.) -- It hasn't aged as well as some other Blake Edwards comedies and
certainly doesn't match Dudley Moore's masterpiece Arthur. But it's an interesting comedy about middle-
age and how that scares the hell out of men and Bo Derek fulfilled her task of looking gorgeousadmirably. I'm sure hairdressers and the sellers of those little beads in her hair are forever grateful.
LUCKY LADY ($19.93; Shout) -- I have a soft spot for this would-be screwball comedy which was
played at a juvenile level even for a little kid seeing it in 1975. But Liza Minnelli and Gene Hackman and
Burt Reynolds have great chemistry in this lark of a tale about bootleggers who have a blast while
outsmarting the law during Prohibition. A welcome debut for a movie I haven't seen since it was on HBOback in the 1970s after its misfire at the box office. Silly and it knows it.
HIGHLANDER 25TH ANNIVERSARY 2 FILM SET BLURAY ($29.99; Lionsgate) -- This BluRay
of the director's cut of Highlander (a personal B movie favorite) and the sequel looks crisp to my eyes.
But it comes out a few weeks after Highlander alone came out on BluRay and neither one has the extras
you'd expect for a franchise that has spawned movies, tv shows, books and more. But if you've never seen
the movie, it's good fun.
HATCHET II ($27.98; Dark Sky/MPI) -- The second in a hoped-for franchise starring Victor Crowley
(like all horror film monsters, he lives!) who likes to push the boundaries on gore and dismemberment.
Went to theaters unrated in a bid for attention that did not break the MPAA's stranglehold on exhibition,
unfortunately.
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA SEASON FOUR VOL TWO ($39.98; FOX) -- This
family friendly series just beat out Star Trek to be the first prime-time sci-fi series in the US that wasn't
an anthology series but an ongoing show with recurring characters. The final half of the final season, thisincludes the unaired pilot and the broadcast version complete with vintage commercials, which is great
fun.
PLEASANTVILLE BLURAY ($19.98; New Line) -- This clever drama about people living in a black
and white world but longing for color is elevated by an excellent cast, including Tobey Maguire, Reese
Witherspoon and Joan Allen among others. Good transfer with all the extras of the standard dvd.
DISCOVERING HAMLET ($39.99; Athena) -- Fascinating hour-long documentary about Kennth
Branagh tackling the role of Hamlet in 1988 with Derek Jacobi at his side working with Branagh every
step of the way. Yes, it has 3 and a half hours of bonus material, but $40 still seems steep. Loads of
interviews but not the one element you want most of all: a film of the complete production to see how it
turned out. Still, for actors and theater buffs this is absorbing stuff.
BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA 2 ($39.99 BluRay or $29.99 regular DVD; Disney) -- Hey, I'm just
as surprised as you that this was made. But the original cost $20 million to make and grossed $140
million worldwide, so the only surprise I guess is that this went straight to DVD.
BAD BOYS BLURAY ($19.99; Lionsgate) -- Bad Boys should have been a routine B movie about
juvenile delinquents behind bars. But Sean Penn is so invested in his role he gives the movie a weight and
immediacy it never would have achieved otherwise. Lightning in a bottle.
SKIN ($24.98; E One) -- This true story about a dark-skinned child born to two white parents in racist
South Africa is based on a true story. Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo, Sam Neill and Alice Krige head
the talented cast in a film that came and went but which Roger Ebert singled out as one of the best of the
year.
RAY BLURAY ($26.98; Universal) -- This biopic already feels a little dated and TV movie-ish but
Jamie Foxx's mimicry/inhabitation of Ray Charles is still magnetic, the movie looks terrific and the
extras are copious.
GARROW'S LAW SERIES 1 ($39.99; Acorn) -- When reading the paperback introduction to the
Robert Louis Stevenson book Kidnapped, I stumbled across a reference to William Garrow, the star
barrister at the Old Bailey whose court transcripts read like terrific mysteries. My God, here's the perfect
basis for a crime novel series or even a TV show! I plunged into everything I could find out about
him...which unfortunately included the fact that they'd already made a TV series about him in 1996. I'm
too bitter to see my meal ticket already on television, but fans of British drama might want to check it
out.
BUTCH & SUNDANCE: THE EARLY DAYS/ DEATH HUNT ($14.93; Shout) -- Here's as silly a
double feature as you're likely to find. Death Hunt is a routine, forgettable Charles Bronson entry. Butch
& Sundance: The Early Days is the prequel to the classic Western. It's not nearly as bad as it should be,
but there's still no good reason it was ever made. At least this odd duck of a DVD is cheap.
11 HARROWHOUSE ($19.98; Shout) -- Here is a much better use of Shout's time. It's an offbeat
comedy spoof of a jewel heist scripted by Charles Grodin and co-starring Candice Bergen in her
pre- Murphy Brown Days. Too bad Grodin didn't do a commentary: God knows from his talk show we
realize he can hold forth.
DEAD SPACE AFTERMATH ($34.99; Anchor Bay) -- A spin-off from the video game, this animated
film is notable for switching directors and even animation styles when telling the story from a different
character's point of view. That doesn't make this satisfying for anyone other than hardcore gamers, but it
was an interesting experiment.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also
available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and
reviews .
NOTE: Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs to consider for review. He typically does not
guarantee coverage and invariably receives far more screeners and DVDs than he can cover each
week. Also, Michael Giltz freelances as a writer of DVD copy (the text that appears on the back ofDVDs) for some titles released by IFC and other subsidiaries of MPI. It helps pay the rent, but does notobligate him in any way to speak positively or negatively of their titles.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
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"The Tillman Story" contribute s to restoring Pat's legacy by honoring the man, not the myth. As his
mother said, “Pat would have wanted to be remembered as an individual , not as a stock figure or
political prop. Pat was a real hero, not what they used him as.”
However, the film ended too soon, with the 8-01-07 Congressio nal hearing. Last July, I sent the
director a letter arguing the film would have more impact if it also described the “untold story” of
how President Obama and the Democratic Congress continued the Bush administra tion cover-up of
Tillman's friendly-f ire death.
Instead, the film was ignored since it didn't reveal much "news" about the Tillman story. It wasn'tcontrovers ial and threatened no politician s. Gen. McChrystal , who personally led the cover-up, was
barely a footnote and is making $50,000 on the lecture circuit ... meanwhile, the film is no longershowing after peaking at only 28 screens.
Just before the 2006 mid-term elections, Kevin Tillman published his eloquent letter, “After Pat’s
Birthday”. Kevin had hoped a Democratic Congress would bring accountabi lity back to our country.
But, just as with warrantles s wiretappin g and torture, those responsibl e for the cover-up of his
brother’s friendly-f ire death have never been held accountabl e for their actions.
To learn more, I'd suggest Mary Tillman's "Boots on the Ground by Dusk" (revised paperback at
blurb.com) , Jon Krakauer's paperback edition of "Where Men Win Glory", and http://www
.feralf irefighter blogspot.c omRecency | Popularity
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5 FansThanks for the info. By the way, any idea why the Tillmans soured so much on Jon
Krakuer? I never could discover the deal on that.
In her book, Mary Tillman wrote that in spring 2006, "Over several months Jon hasmet the whole family, and we have come to consider him a good friend." (p. 280hardcover) .
Obviously something happened over the next couple of years. I don't have acitation but I recall seeing/hea ring an interview (CSPAN Fall 2009?) where
Krakauer said that the family wasn't happy after seeing a draft of his book. Afterthat, Marie continued to work with Krakauer, at least to some degree, but the restof the family declined. Krakauer's book has some good detail on the friendly-f ire
and the Army cover-up (revised paperback) but I don't have confidence in thebiographic al sections.
Personally , I think JK's got some ego problems. JK used the material my Aunt
handed to him at a book signing to revise his book (he wrote in his foreward "hediscovered " it) and yet continued to whitewash the Democratic Congress role in
continuing the Bush cover-up. If you're interested , I'm in the middle of documentin
g this, should have something out within the next week, hopefully.
PS Bad link in my post. Should be http://www .feralfire fighter.bl ogspot.com
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