Fair Game (DVD)

Fair Game (2010) starring Naomi Watts, Sean Penn. Based on Valerie Plame Wilson's memoir, this is an engrossing movie describing events leading up to the Iraq War. Plame Wilson (Watts) was a CIA operative who found evidence that Saddam had no program to produce weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Her husband, Joseph Wilson (Penn), wrote an op-ed column accusing the Bush administration of misleading the public to justify the invasion of Iraq; as a result, Plame Wilson's status as a covert agent was leaked to the press by administration officials. Eventually, the scandal led to the conviction of Lewis "Scooter" Libby. I found it all very interesting and involving. One problem -- when someone talks a foreign language, the subtitles are tiny and very hard to read. Also, the subtitles for the hearing impaired are only adequate. Closed captions are not available. Grade: A-

127 Hours (DVD)

127 Hours (2010) starring James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn. Directed by Danny Boyle. Rock climber Aron Ralston (Franco) falls in a crevasse and finds himself trapped, his hand pinned against a rock wall by a boulder. He calls for help, but nobody can hear him due to his remote location. His only hope of survival is to cut off his own hand. Based on a true story (you can't make this stuff up!). Only problem is, the story has been told and retold so that there is little suspense left to fuel the movie. If you've been paying attention at all, you know what he's going to end up doing. One mystery that emerges: How is he going to cut through bone with the tools at his disposal? Suffice it to say that he solves the problem in a way that was, to me, unexpected -- and hard to watch. The denouement -- the part that comes after the climax -- was very satisfying. The movie has good subtitles, plus closed captions. Grade: B+

Mad Max (DVD)

Mad Max (1979) starring Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel. In "near future," Australian cop named Max (Gibson) battles road crazies who wander around in gangs making trouble for law-abiding folks. When his best friend is brutally murdered, he gets scared and quits the force. But when motorcycle crazies run down his wife (Samuel) and son, Max goes on a personal crusade to get revenge. That's about it for the plot of this low-budget movie, which I found somewhat disappointing. It was interesting to see a young, pre-crazy Mel Gibson (this was his second film), although he doesn't do much acting in this movie. The disc has available subtitles in English, as well as closed captions -- which I found essential in trying to penetrate the thick Aussie accents. Grade: B

The River Wild (DVD)

The River Wild (1994) starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, David Strathairn. No subtitles. No closed captions. Nothing. Grade: F

Road to Perdition

Road to Perdition (2002) starring Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Stanley Tucci, Daniel Craig. After his son Michael follows him and sees him at "work," hit man Mike Sullivan (Hanks) is forced to go on the run. His surrogate father, crime boss John Rooney (Newman) hires another hit man (Law) to go after Sullivan. Set in 1931, this crime drama has plenty of gun play to spice up the action, and also a father-son story that keeps the viewer emotionally involved. I, however, found the motivations behind the gangland machinations a little hard to parse out. The revenge story was clear enough, but why did Sullivan's wife (Leigh) and other son have to die? This film leaves out some important little chunks of the story, and I think that's why it is not mentioned today as one of the great films. It does have good subtitles, as well as closed captions. Grade: B+

Doctor Zhivago (DVD)

Doctor Zhivago (1965) starring Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Tom Courtenay, Alec Guinness. Directed by David Lean. Dr. Zhivago (Sharif), his wife, Tonya (Chaplin) and his lover Lara (Christie) are all caught up in the turmoil of the Russian Revolution in the early 20th century. Based on Boris Pasternak's acclaimed novel of the same title, the movie spans decades, with many large gaps as years pass between scenes of action. At three and a half hours, the film is much too long for my taste -- I had to watch it over the course of two days. The cinematography is marvelous, and won an Oscar. The subtitles are adequate. Closed captions are not offered. Grade: B+

Summertime (DVD)

Summertime (1955) starring Katharine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi. Directed by David Lean. American spinster (Hepburn), vacationing in Venice, falls in love with a married man (Brazzi). The scenery is beautiful, but much was lost to me because the DVD has absolutely no subtitles, no closed captions, nothing. Grade: F+

Rio Bravo (DVD)

Rio Bravo (1959) starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan, Ward Bond. Directed by Howard Hawks. Sheriff Chance (Wayne) has a dangerous man in his jail, and only drunkard Martin, gimpy Brennan and (extremely) young Nelson to help him prevent the Burdette gang from busting him out. Although there's a lot to make fun of in this Western, especially some of the dialogue, it's still a lot of fun to watch. In fact, it's one of my favorite Westerns. Main flaw is overlength, at nearly two and a half hours. Subtitles are offered in several languages, including English, as well as closed captions for the hearing-impaired. Grade: A-

Riding the Rails (DVD)

Riding the Rails (1998), documentary. Interesting movie tells the story of teenagers who left home during the Great Depression to ride freight trains all over the country. It was a time when being an unemployed transient was a crime in and of itself, and many of the survivors have harrowing stories to tell. It's easily enough to make you thank your lucky stars that you didn't grow up during the Depression. The film has closed captions for the hearing-impaired. Grade: B

Ride the High Country (DVD)

Ride the High Country (1962) starring Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Mariette Hartley. Directed by Sam Peckinpah. Early in the 20th Century, two old lawmen (Scott and McCrea) team up to accompany a gold shipment from the mining camp to the bank. Hartley makes her movie debut as Elsa, a young woman who flees her tyrannical father to marry a miner who's been courting her. Only trouble is, when she gets to the mining camp and goes through with the marriage, she changes her mind after she sees how her "husband" lives. So there are two main conflicts in the film: One, the desire of certain men to get their hands on the gold, and Two, Elsa's husband's desire to get her back from the old lawmen, who are accompanying her back down the mountain. There are plenty of fist fights and lots of gun play to spice up this "modern" Western, and the ending is satisfying. It has good subtitles, as well as closed captions. Grade: B+

Ride Lonesome (DVD)

Ride Lonesome (1959) starring Randolph Scott, Karen Steele, Pernell Roberts, James Coburn, Lee Van Cleef. Bounty hunter Ben Brigade (Scott) is transporting a fugitive to face justice when they stop at a way station. There they are joined by an outlaw (Roberts) and the station master's wife (Steele). To reach Santa Cruz, they will have to avoid bloodthirsty Indians and the fugitive's vengeful brother Frank (Van Cleef). This movie is a fairly typical Western, but well-done. Nothing terribly surprising happens, but there is one minor reveal that provides the impetus for the plot. The subtitles are good, and closed captions are also available. Grade: B

Reversal of Fortune (DVD)

Reversal of Fortune (1990) starring Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, Ron Silver. Claus Von Bulow (Irons) is convicted of giving his wife, Sunny (Close), a coma-inducing dose of insulin. He hires famous lawyer Alan Dershowitz (Silver) to represent him on appeal. The movie contains a contradiction: Although we want to cheer for Dershowitz and his team as they try to prove Claus Von Bulow innocent, Von Bulow himself (as played by Irons) is not a sympathetic character. To further complicate matters, Sunny Von Bulow, as played by Close, is not really likable either. If nothing else, the film provides an object lesson in the saying, "Money can't buy happiness." Irons won a well-deserved Oscar for his performance. Silver is also excellent as Dershowitz. The film offers both English subtitles and closed captions. Grade: A-

The Fighter (DVD)

The Fighter (2010) starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo. Boxer Micky Wade (Wahlberg) is coming off a string of losses, and his half-brother Dicky Eklund (Bale), a former boxer who is supposed to be training him, is more interested in drugs. Meanwhile, his mother Alice (Leo) is acting as his manager, and she's not very good at the job. Adams plays Charlene, Micky's girlfriend, who stands up for him against his large family. The question becomes, can Micky drag himself out of the muck of his low-class family long enough to get his boxing career back on track, and maybe get a shot at the championship? This movie is based on a true story, and it takes off in a slightly different direction than I was expecting. The climactic fight was exciting, the outcome satisfying. Bale and Leo won supporting acting Oscars. English subtitles are included, as well as closed captions. Grade: A-

Return to Me (DVD)

Return to Me (2000) starring David Duchovny, Minnie Driver, Carroll O'Connor, Robert Loggia, Bonnie Hunt. Directed by Bonnie Hunt. A contractor named Bob (Duchovny) loses his wife in a car accident, and her heart is transplanted into a stranger named Grace (Driver). Naturally, Bob and Grace are destined to meet -- it's just a question of when and where. The dramatic tension arises because Grace is extremely shy about revealing that she has had a heart transplant. And the tension is ratcheted up a notch when Grace, by chance, learns that the heart she has is from Bob's dead wife. After she tells him, will Bob be able to look past the conflict and still love Grace? What do you think? Duchovny and Driver have convincing chemistry on screen. This movie has no English subtitles, but it does have closed captions. Grade: B+

A Film Unfinished (DVD)

A Film Unfinished (2010), documentary. Directed by Yael Hersonski. In the spring of 1942, German propagandists shot reels of film in the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland. What the purpose of the film ultimately was is not known. They shot the good and the bad, the prosperous and the starving, the quick and the dead. Literally, they filmed corpses on the sidewalk in the ghetto. The intention apparently was to show that the Jews had a good life in the ghetto, but that they were indifferent to the suffering of others. This was of course false. But the film is revealing, and the testimony of the few survivors who could be found to talk in this documentary shows what the true purpose of the Nazis was. The subtitles are hard to read. Grade: B

Four Lions (DVD)

Four Lions (2010) starring a cast of unknowns. Directed by comedy writer Christopher Morris. Four British Muslims fancy themselves to be terrorists-in-training, and set out to be jihadis. Only trouble is, none of them is too bright, and the result is a comical series of dumb moves and idiotic gestures. One of them has this bright idea: "Let's blow up a mosque!" Another, testing bombs, accidentally blows up a bird. The highlight of the film comes when Faisal, running through a flock of sheep with bomb components in both hands, trips and blows himself up -- along with a sheep. Maybe you had to be there, but trust me -- it's funny as hell. And that's only the beginning. As a comedy which makes fun of both the would-be terrorists and the British authorities who pursue them, I could find no fault with this movie. It has no English subtitles, but does include closed captions. Grade: A

Inside Job (DVD)

Inside Job (2010), documentary. The financial crisis of 2008, which gave rise to the current Great Recession, is shown to be the result of Wall Street shenanigans, aided by government, stretching back to the Reagan administration in the 1980s. First came deregulation of the financial markets, which led to increasingly risky investment practices, ending in sub-prime mortgages packaged into collateralized debt obligations, which could be insured by credit default swaps. The film makes sense out of these complicated instruments, and presents a rogues' gallery of men (and they were mostly men) who contributed, either actively or by failing to act, to the great crisis of 2008. Alarmingly, some of the men most responsible for the financial crisis have been appointed to positions of power by the Obama administration. In other words, nothing is being done to rectify the wrongs the were perpetrated on America and the world by Wall Street power brokers. It's not a very comforting film, but it tells the story that is important to be told. The subtitles that come with the disc are quite good. No closed captions are offered -- or needed. Grade: A

A Place in the Sun (DVD)

A Place in the Sun (1951) starring Montgomery Clift, Shelley Winters, Elizabeth Taylor. Struggling young George Eastman (Clift) lands a factory job thanks to his uncle being the owner of the company. There he meets a young factory girl named Alice (Winters) and starts an affair with her -- even though dating employees of the company is strictly forbidden. When George starts moving up in the company, he meets and falls in love with rich socialite Angela Vickers (Taylor). One seemingly insuperable obstacle looms -- Alice is pregnant. Winters begins looking extremely frumpy as Alice pursues George and insists that he must marry her. It's a situation that can only end in tragedy. I found Clift's performance oddly flat and inexpressive. Other aspects of the film fell short also, especially the trial at the end, which had an air of unreality. In general, the movie feels dated. The subtitles are poor, but the closed captions are OK. Grade: B

It's Kind of a Funny Story (DVD)

It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010) starring Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Viola Davis, Emma Roberts, Lauren Graham, Jim Gaffigan. Sixteen-year-old Craig (Gilchrist), feeling depressed and suicidal, checks himself into the hospital. The adolescent ward is undergoing renovations, so he ends up on the adult psychiatric ward. While confined for a mandatory five days, he falls for another teen named Noelle (Roberts). This is a cute story about a mental ward, and it actually seems to glamorize the experience of checking into the hospital. Many details seem a bit off or just plain wrong (the ward is unlocked and patients are free to roam about the hospital!). Although it seems well-intentioned, I think this film does a disservice to those who are genuinely mentally ill. The subtitles are OK. Grade: C+

Reservoir Dogs (DVD)

Reservoir Dogs (1992) starring Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney. Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Gang of bad guys try to pull off a diamond heist, but things go terribly wrong. Tarantino's first film is a low-budget movie with more talk than action, but it's still chock full of remarkable scenes. Although this film made Tarantino's reputation, however, it doesn't stand up very well upon repeat viewing. No subtitles, but closed captions are available. Grade: B-

Red Rock West (DVD)

Red Rock West (1993) starring Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper, Lara Flynn Boyle, J.T. Walsh. Michael Williams (Cage) drives from Texas to Wyoming looking for work, only to be turned down because he has a bum leg. On a tip, he drives to the town of Red Rock, where he hopes to find a job. Instead, he is mistaken for "Lyle from Dallas," a hired killer who has been engaged by the sheriff, Wayne Brown (Walsh), to kill his wife Suzanne (Flynn Boyle). Williams, who is basically an honest man, can't resist the down payment of $5,000 that Wayne offers him. But he has no intention of killing anyone. Unfortunately, he hits a pedestrian on the way out of town. And then events begin to spiral out of control when the real Lyle from Dallas (Hopper) arrives in town. This is a twisty, action-packed noir thriller that, unfortunately, has holes in the plot that you could drive a truck through. Still, fun to watch. Good subtitles and closed captions, too. Grade: B+

Red River (DVD)

Red River (1948) starring John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, Joanne Dru. Directed by Howard Hawks. Tom Dunson (Wayne) leaves wagon train and heads south to Texas, where he builds herd of 10,000 cattle. But Civil War intervenes, and there's no market for cattle in Texas or the South -- so he sets out with all the men he can muster to drive the herd north to Missouri. Movie could almost have been titled "Mutiny on the Prairie," as Matt Garth (Clift) and the men rebel halfway through the cattle drive and send Dunson packing. Dunson vows revenge as Garth leads the drovers toward their new destination -- Abilene, Kansas. Along the way, they encounter a wagon train being attacked by Injuns. In fact, this film has just about everything you could expect in an old-fashioned Western, including the love of a good woman and a big showdown at the end. The subtitles are pretty hard to the read, but closed captions are available. Grade: A-

The Red Pony (DVD)

The Red Pony (1949) starring Myrna Loy, Robert Mitchum, Peter Miles. A farm boy named Tom (Miles) learns about responsibility when he is given his own pony. Loy plays the boy's mother, and Mitchum portrays a hired hand on the ranch where they all live. Matters come to a head when the pony gets out during the rain and catches a fever. Based on stories by John Steinbeck, who also wrote the screenplay. Closed captions are the only option for subtitles. Grade: B

The Red Badge of Courage (DVD)

The Red Badge of Courage (1951) starring Audie Murphy, Bill Mauldin. Stephen Crane's Civil War story is brought to the movie screen by director John Huston. Yankee soldier Henry Fleming (Murphy) runs from the enemy the first time he sees action, and feels shame at himself as a coward. But a chance injury, a "red badge of courage," makes it look like he was injured in battle. He rejoins his regiment and goes into battle the next day, fighting like a "wildcat." I'll have to reread the book, but I don't remember this as being the plot of Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage." Anyway, it's a pretty good movie, with some exciting battle scenes. The closed captions are better than the subtitles that are included on the disc. Grade: B (I did reread the book, and found much to my surprise that the movie hews very closely to the plot as Crane wrote it. Go figure.)

Conviction (DVD)

Conviction (2010) starring Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Melissa Leo, Minnie Driver, Peter Gallagher, Clea DuVall. When Kenneth Waters (Rockwell) is convicted of murder, his sister Betty Anne (Swank) is convinced that he is innocent. They can't afford to hire a good lawyer, so Betty Anne goes to extremes: She gets her GED, goes to college for her BA, and then goes to law school. She becomes a lawyer with one client -- her brother. While in law school, she learns about the Innocence Project, an organization which uses DNA evidence (not available when her brother was convicted) to free innocent men. The rest of the movie is about her struggles to procure the DNA evidence from the 16-year-old trial, followed by struggles with a recalcitrant District Attorney who doesn't want to admit she convicted the wrong man. It's a pretty good, solid film, although I got the feeling that they were trying to cram four hours worth of story into 90 minutes of running time. The closed captions are better than the subtitles. Grade: B