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Home (Re) Viewing: Capes and Flags of our Fathers
Today’s best video releases look back at two very different pieces of history.
Flags of Our Fathers: Clint Eastwood’s World War II drama was supposed to be the heavy hitter at the Oscars this year. Instead, its companion movie, “Letters from Iwo Jima,” took the slot - and deservedly so. “Flags” is certainly a very powerful in places, particularly in telling the story of Ira Hayes (Adam Beach), a Native American trooper scarred by his experience. Unfortunately, the film is not as good as it should have been, with a jarring flashback structure and an annoying tendency to overstate What it Means. For the best experience, I would wait until the inevitable box set with the greatly superior “Letters,” which details the experiences of the Japanese soldiers. That’s in theaters now. GRADE: B. Buy it/Rent it
Hollywoodland: This movie got the story of Superman’s death half-right. The scenes with an excellent Ben Affleck as George Reeves, who played Superman on TV, are quite compelling, and Diane Lane adds more than a little zest as his adulterous paramour. However, the section with Adren Brody as a detective trying to solve the mystery of Reeves’ death (was he murdered?) flags because Brody’s character is so steadfastly unappealing. GRADE: B Buy it/Rent it
Also out today
Flicka: Alison Lohman, the 20-something that specializes in playing or looking like a teenager, stars in this horse drama. Buy it/Rent it
The Grudge 2: Does anyone still find this series scary? Buy it/Rent it
Running with Scissors: This movie version of the Augusten Burroughs memoir was supposed to be an Oscar contender too - until critics cut it to shreds. Buy it/Rent it
From the Catalog
The Clock: Just in time for Valentine’s Day comes the DVD release of one of my favorite romances. Judy Garland is wonderful in one of her rare non-singing roles as she falls in love with a soldier on leave in New York (Robert Walker, who’s strikingly effective here, especially when you remember him as the villain in “Strangers on a Train.”) The movie is also a lovely Valentine to New York City, even though it wasn’t shot there. Vincente Minnelli (“Meet Me in St. Louis”) directed. GRADE: A Buy it/Rent it
Going My Way: This beloved chestnut is still entertaining because it’s fun to watch Bing Crosby match wits with Barry Fitzgerald as priests with different philosophies. (Both won Oscars, and were deserving). But the Best Picture of 1944? Maybe at the time it seemed so, but today it doesn’t hold a candle to “Double Indemnity,” “Meet Me in St. Louis” or “The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek.” GRADE: B+ Buy it/Rent it
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