The SunBreak
posted 01/31/11 11:47 PM | updated 01/31/11 11:42 PM
Featured Post! | Views: 0 | Comments : 1 | Film & TV

This Week's DVD Releases

By Audrey Hendrickson
Film & TV Editor
Recommend this story (0 votes)
Share

I'm back from Sundance, back to reality--which means movies of fair to middling quality out on DVD. Let's take a look at the newest releases, care of our good friends at Scarecrow Video. Some of the biggest recent releases include AARP action flick Red, glorified Lifetime movie Conviction, and what is hopefully truly the final chapter of Saw. There's also the original Swedish version of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the adequate American take on vampire moodpiece Let the Right One In, Let Me In, and a lifeless Never Let Me Go. In happier news, you can now see Gareth Morris' DIY post-alien apocalyptic romantic road trip Monsters.

Get ready for the Academy Awards with Greece's offbeat Best Foreign Film entry Dogtooth. Do yourself a favor and skip the nearly three hours of Gasper Noe's arthouse masturbation Enter the Void. But see a young Aaron Johnson play a young John Lennon in Nowhere Boy or Andy Serkis (that's right, Gollum) as Ian Dury in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. Gerard Depardieu bloats it up for Claude Chabrol's final film, Inspector Bellamy. And two from last year's Sundance: Kristen Stewart as a bored lip-bitey stripper with James Gandolfini in Welcome to the Rileys and Philly black power in Night Catches Us.

In documentaries, resign yourself in disgrace to watch Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer. Almost as harrowing is the plight of children migrating from Mexico in the Oscar-nominated Which Way Home, or a look at Portland roller derby in Brutal Beauty: Tale of the Rose City Rollers. Meanwhile, Eric Bana (yes, the Hulk) really likes his car in Love the Beast, Thomas Frank once again tries to figure out What's the Matter with Kansas?, and Bill Withers writes great songs (including "Lean on Me") in Still Bill. And be sure to catch one of the finest films of 2010, the moving portrait of mixed emotions around football player/Afghan war soldier Pat Tillman in The Tillman Story.

New to TV on DVD is season 2, volume 1 of Glee, and season 8 of British intelligence drama MI-5. You can also pick up the complete series of Zorro , and the complete collection of seminal '80s Civil War miniseries North and South. And you've got your pick of ripped-from-the-headlines made-for-tv movies: Jennifer Love Hewitt as a brothel madam in The Client List or mucho knocked-up high school in  The Pregnancy Pact. 

Criterion has a big ol' box set out as of last week, with Eclipse Series 25: Basil Dearden's London Underground, featuring four post-war films from Criterion’s Eclipse series: All Night Long (1962), Victim (1961), Sapphire (1959), and League of Gentlemen (1960). Criterion also just released classic James L. Brooks' classic Broadcast News, and their version of The Double Life of Veronique is now available on Blu-ray. Also new to Blu-ray: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Color Purple, All About Eve, Pleasantville, and An Affair to Remember. Disney's (animated) Alice in Wonderland celebrates its 60th anniversary with a two-disc set, and while there can only be one, there are two Highlander films in that set. Meanwhile, TCM has several new entries from their Greatest Classic Film Collection: Legends, with Errol Flynn, John Ford, Jean Harlow, and--yes--Lassie.

In the grab bag, the plot of Alligator is fairly self-evident.  But I'm not sure what to make of air-drumming quirkfest Adventures of Power with Jane Lynch and Michael McKean. And while Open Season 3 can be considered a semi-respectable release, unfortunately the same cannot be said for Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2.

Save and Share this article
Permalink
Tags: dvd releases, scarecrow video, foreign films, documentary, red, conviction, saw, the girl who kicked the hornets nest, let me in, never let me go, monsters, dogtooth, enter the void, nowhere boy, sex & drugs & rock & roll, inspector bellamy, welcome to the rileys, night catches us, client 9, eliot spitzer, which way home, brutal beauty, rose city rollers, love the beast, whats the matter with kansas, stll bill, the tillman story, glee, mi-5, zorro, north and south, the client list, the pregnancy pact, criterion, eclipse series 25, broadcast news, the double life of veronique, alice in wonderland, highlander, alligator, adventures of power, open season 3, beverly hills chihuahua 2 + add tags
savecancel
CommentsRSS Feed
Remember the Iconoclast, Not the Icon
"And be sure to catch one of the finest films of 2010, the moving portrait of mixed emotions around football player/Afghan war soldier Pat Tillman in 'The Tillman Story'"

In 2005, I was angered the truth about Pat’s life and death had been buried by the media and government. Tillman was enshrined as an icon while the man fell by the wayside, his family used as props at his funeral for war propaganda. Pat’s family still don’t have the meager consolation of knowing the full truth about his death. “The truth may be painful, but it’s the truth,” his mother said. “If you feel you’re being lied to, you can never put it to rest.”

Amir Bar-Lev's film “The Tillman Story” contributes to the restoration of Pat Tillman’s legacy by honoring the man, not the myth. The iconoclast, not the icon. 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.”

Bar-Lev tells three stories that interweave together throughout his film: a biography of Pat Tillman (growing up, playing in the NFL, joining the Army Rangers with his brother Kevin after 9/11), how he was killed in Afghanistan in 2004 and his friendly-fire death covered up by the Army, and his family's battle to learn the truth after smokescreens were thrown in their face by the highest levels of the Army and government (both Republicans and Democrats).

“The Tillman Story” is an apt title. The film follows the outline of Mary Tillman’s 2008 memoir, “Boots on the Ground by Dusk,” the interviews center around the Tillman family (mother, father, brother, and wife) and their experience of the aftermath of Pat Tillman’s death. The Tillman’s are a loyal, close-knit family who display more honor,loyalty, and integrity than their country’s leadership.

The film uses nicely selected news clips and interviews that portray an iconoclastic Pat Tillman not widely known to the public – a fiercely independent thinker, an avid reader, and critic of the Iraq war (“…this war is so ----ing illegal”). Pat was a remarkable man who was driven by a core of honesty and integrity, led by personal example, and lived his life intensely.

See the film. Nearly everything most people think they know about Pat Tillman, his family, and the story is wrong. And the film has more humor and laughs than you would expect, especially if you don't mind a few f-bombs; the original title of the film was "I'm Pat ----ing Tillman!" which fits better in some respects: those were Pat Tillman’s last words, the Tillman family drops F-bombs where appropriate (or not) and it suggests that Pat Tillman was more complex than the media’s iconic image. The beginning and end of the film, with Pat just looking at the camera was especially poignant for me.

The film is a good introduction to the story. However, Amir Bar-Lev tried to cover a lot of ground in only 94 minutes (he cut the film down from 2 1/2 hours). At times the film rushes through the material passing over details.

To fill in the details, I’d suggest starting with Gary Smith’s profile “Remember His Name” (si.com 9-11-06), Mike Fish’s “An Un-American Tragedy” series (2006 espn.com), and the most recent profile by Mick Brown “Betrayal of an All-American Hero” (The Telegraph 10-07-10).

For books, I’d suggest Mary Tillman's memoir "Boots on the Ground by Dusk" (at blurb.com website with a preview) which the film was largely based upon, or Jon Krakauer's "Where Men Win Glory" (revised paperback has more on Army cover-up). But, although Krakuaer has the best account of the actual friendly-fire incident and the Army’s cover-up, his book is a flawed work since Krakauer lost the trust and cooperation of the Tillman family (except for the widow Marie) and failed to describe how President Obama and the Democratic Congress continued the Bush administration & Army cover-up to protect Gen. Stanley McChrystal).

For blogs, try John T. Reed’s Tillman posts (see his “military articles” at johntreed website) and my “The [Untold] Tillman Story” at http://www.feralfirefighter.blogspot.com
Comment by Guy Montag
1 day ago
( 0 votes)
( report abuse ) ( )
Add Your Comment
Name:
Email:
(will not be displayed)
Subject:
Comment: