June 2007
	by Max (with Walt Oleksy)	view previous issues here

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LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS

Clint Eastwood scored a major double hit with these two powerful movies looking at both the U.S. and Japanese sides of World War II’s legendary battle in the Pacific. Either film can be watched separately with great impact, but they gain even more significance when seen one after the other. Adam Beach, Ryan Phillippe, and Ken Watanabe star in this rare war film experience. From Warner Home Video

Max’s rating: Two paws up and tail wags.

Also recommended this month:


LITTLE CHILDREN

If you're curious about what Hollywood thinks goes on behind the doors in upscale suburbia, this will give you a lot to think about. Reminiscent of 1957’s PEYTON PLACE, it’s full of self-absorbed and sexually unfulfilled husbands and wives being unfaithful to each other and their children. Kate Winslet stars as a housewife and mother who doesn’t fit well into suburbia and has a cheating husband. Patrick Wilson, giving an impressive performance in a rising-star role, plays a handsome father in a similarly unhappy marriage.
From New Line.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

A spy drama without many thrills, it’s a fictionalized account of the early years of the Central Intelligence Agency that evolved out of the Office of Strategic Services that began on the eve of World War II. Matt Damon stars as
A Yale graduate and member of the school’s famous or infamous Skull and Crossbones secret society who is recruited to become a founding CIA agent and spymaster. He says very little, squints through his glasses that seem to age while he doesn’t over several decades covering the Cold War, and puts patriotism over wife, son, and any semblance of home life. Damon’s character is fiction, based on the life and career of a real founding CIA agent. Main problem with the film is the endless flashbacks and flash-forwards that can be very confusing. Angelina Jolie plays the neglected wife, and Robert DeNiro, who also directed, is a CIA honcho, with Alec Baldwin and Michael Gambon giving excellent performances in small but very effective roles.
From Universal Pictures.

THE PAINTED VEIL

Based on Somerset Maugham’s novel set in China in the 1920s, it is the drama of a loveless marriage between two Britishers -- a work-obsessed medical researcher (Edward Norton) and a beautiful but idle upper-class woman (Naomi Watts). He neglects her in remote China, so she has an affair with another man. Discovering her infidelity, the husband turns iceberg. Not much can come from such a union, but it eventually does as the unlucky romance plays out against some very beautiful China scenery. It’s a slow-moving, gentle story that was first filmed in 1934 with Greta Garbo as the unfaithful wife. Maybe I was napping when they explained what the painted veil means. From Warner Home Video.

BLUE MURDER

A new contemporary British mystery with Caroline Quentin as a single mom who also is a top police detective. “Catching killers, juggling life, it’s all in a day’s work” for her.
Set One of the contemporary British detective series now in its third season across the big pond, from Acorn Media.

TYRONE POWER stars in five adventure classics from the 1940s and 1950s… BLOOD AND SAND, SON OF FURY, THE BLACK ROSE, CAPTAIN FROM CASTILLE, and PRINCE OF FOXES. Few actors did it better, playing handsome swashbuckling heroes, and these are some of the best, lavishly produced, most of them in Technicolor, and his beautiful leading ladies included Gene Tierney, Rita Hayworth, and Linda Darnell. From 20th-Century Fox.

THE THIRD MAN with Orson Welles as the mysterious Harry Lime in war-scarred post-World War II Berlin remains a major hit since its release in 1949 under Carol Reed’s taut direction.
With Joseph Cotton as his novelist friend and Alida Valli as his love, and the unforgettable zither music from Anton Karas. Previously released on DVD, this is a new 2-disc newly restored edition with extras including an introduction by Peter Bogdanovich and commentaries by Stephen Sonderbergh and others. From Criterion. 
For more information on Joseph Cotten and "The Third Man", visit The Joseph Cotten Pages.

BALL OF FIRE, Howard Hawks’ 1941 comedy masterpiece stars Gary Cooper as a stuffed shirt linguistics professor who falls under the spell of Barbara Stanwyck as a mobster moll-jazz baby dancer named Sugarpuss O’Shea. Billy Wilder wrote the hilarious screenplay. The kind of comedy they no longer make, sad to say, from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

FUNNIEST MOMENTS OF COMEDY is a six-pack of DVDs featuring some of the most hilarious movies and television sitcoms.
The Marx Brothers are seen in the legendary shipboard stateroom scene from A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, Gene Wilder meets the monster again in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and Bill Murray gets slimed again in GHOSTBUSTERS. From television, there are Lucille Ball in the famous candy factory routine from “I LOVE LUCY,” Bill Cosby as “NOAH,” John Belushi cutting up in “Samurai Deli” from SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, and dozens more.
A real laugh fest boxed set from Questar.

THE BEST OF TONY AWARDS: THE PLAYS offers 19 show-stopping performances from Broadway’s greatest plays. Among the stars are Morgan Freeman in AS YOU LIKE IT, Maggie Smith and Margaret Tyzack in LETTICE AND LOVAGE, Gary Sinise in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, and James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander in THE GREAT WHITE HOPE. All on one 65-minute DVD from Acorn Media.

CAMELOT, Lerner and Lowe’s classic musical in an early 1980s Broadway revival starring Richard Harris reprising his role as King Arthur from the 1967 movie version. Meg Bussert plays Queen Guenevere, and Richard Muenz is Sir Lancelot.
The tune-filled stage show was filmed for television by HBO and is on DVD from Acorn Media.

THE BEST OF NATURE: 25 YEARS

A treasure trove of great scenes from the television series, hosted by George Page, Lynn Sherr, and James Earl Jones. The New York Times says the disc contains “Some of the greatest nature cinematography on earth,” and I agree. From Questar.

DOGS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

A NATURE television dog treat no canine lover or owner should miss. Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham narrates the epic story of the enduring relationship between dogs and humans, filmed on exciting locations from the Arctic to the Middle East. Thanks, Questar, for this tail-wagging very special DVD.

VISIONS OF SCOTLAND is the latest in the popular aerial travel series, taking viewers to historic sites including Edinburgh‘s Castle Rock, Loch Ness where the watery monster may lurk, and the golfer’s paradise, St. Andrews golf course. With bonus material not seen on television, from Acorn Media.

WARLORDS is a four-part documentary revealing how Adolph Hitler, Josef Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill used charm, flattery, and deceit to their advantage during World War II. Based on the book by historian Joanna Potts, the documentary was filmed by Britain’s Channel 4 and broadcast on Discovery’s Military Channel, released on DVD by Acorn Media.

DR. ANDREW WEIL’S GUIDE TO EATING WELL tells everything you wanted or need to know about good carbs, bad carbs, low fat, no fat, and other often confusing aspects of eating healthy. The New York Times says Weil “Has arguably become America’s best-known doctor.” DVD special features include a printed Eating Well Pocket Guide that summarizes the nutritional advice on the disc. From Acacia and Acorn Media.

COMPLETE PREGNANCY FITNESS. No, I’m not with puppy, I’ve been neutered. But any expecting lady will find this fitness DVD very helpful. Erin O’Brien shows recommended workouts before and after childbirth, assisted by her husband actor James Denton. From Acorn Media.

BINKY GOES NUTS features four stories from the Emmy Award-winning ARTHUR television series. Kids, parents, and teachers learn important health issues for kids, including nut allergies and the benefits of exercise.

See you next month at the same fire hydrant.