DVD Reviews

The Soloist:
A true story about a mentally ill homeless man in L.A. who also happens to be a brilliant cellist. He is befriended by a local newspaper columnist who writes about and becomes personally involved in the man’s life. Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx pair up well together.
Recommended

Gran Torino:
Clint Eastwood is still the man. Who better to play an embittered, alienated senior citizen who resists change and no longer recognizes the world in which he lives.
Recommended

The Great Buck Howard:
John Malkovich plays a mentalist performer well past his peak of popularity. An amusing look at fleeting fame.
Recommended

Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seasons 1-6:
Larry David (co-creator of “Seinfeld”) stars in this hilarious comedy series about himself. The show has a continuous stream of fresh characters, each one seemingly more hysterical. There is no script. The actors instead follow a detailed plot outline and spontaneously provide the dialogue. The choicest confrontations are when old buddies David and Richard Lewis go after each other. It’s going to be a long, excruciating wait for Season 7 to be released.
Recommended

John Adams:
Superbly written and acted HBO miniseries that examines the life of the founding father. It was a pleasure to see the dialogue was not dumbed down to accommodate the ignorant masses of the present. The contrast is so clear between the highly educated, intellectual debate of that time with the clueless jokers who now inhabit Capitol Hill. The attention to period detail is excellent, right down to the swarming flies and moist, sweating brows on a hot, July, 1776 Independence Hall. Paul Giamatti is beyond brilliant as Adams and Stephen Dillane is his equal as Thomas Jefferson, the quiet, soft spoken revolutionary.
Recommended

Shooting War:
A comprehensive look at the film makers and still photographers of World War II.
Recommended

Goodbye Solo:
A taxi driver befriends one of his fares who seems intent on committing suicide.
Recommended

Be Here to Love Me- A Film About Townes Van Zandt:
A documentary that examines the life of the gifted songwriter. Some writers and poets seem to have that rare gift of channeling thoughts and emotions from some unknown, spiritual place. Townes Van Zandt was one of the few.
Recommended

Howard Zinn- You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train:
This is a biographical documentary of the writer and anti-war activist’s life. I’ve never read any of Zinn’s books, just a couple articles. Though his analysis of the obscenity and uselessness of war is as accurate and eloquent as any writer’s, his continuing belief in a benevolent state is very disturbing.
Recommended

The Golden Boys:
Good acting from several veterans of the craft, but a weak story.
Not recommended

The Peace!
This 2003 documentary, made during the troubled months leading up to the Iraq War, examines the peace movement through interviews with activists, historians, and intellectuals. It makes you wonder where are all these people are six years later.
Recommended

12:
The Russian version of 12 Angry Men. Great dialogue and animated acting. Make sure you can read subtitles quickly- the words come at you fast and furious.
Recommended
　
Retribution Road:
Within 30 seconds of viewing I could detect this was going to be a grade-B western. Not bad acting, but uneven enough to downgrade it to that status. Some of the audio sounds like it was recorded with an I-Phone.
Not recommended

Amexicano:
A nice independent film about two day laborers in Queens- one a second generation Italian, the other a recent illegal Mexican immigrant. An enjoyable film about friendship, integrity and humanity.
Recommended