In This Issue:

May 2009

What's New on DVD

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1977)

Comedy/Foreign/Romance. Offbeat/Scenic/Witty.
Color. 110 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Bruno Barreto. Starring Jose Wilker and Sonia Braga.
Based on the magical-realist novel by Jorge Amado, Barreto's sexy "Dona Flor" features then-model Sonia Braga in a steamy role opposite Wilker's blond (and buck naked) Bahia stud. Barreto handles the ... Read More >
 

El Norte (1983)

Drama/Foreign. Intense/Moving/Scenic/Spine-tingling.
Color. 140 mins. Rated R. Directed By Gregory Nava. Starring David Villalpando and Zaide Silvia Gutierrez.
Bringing into focus both the plight of illegal U.S. immigrants and the persecution of Indian peasants in Central American nations, Nava's "El Norte" is an eloquent, honest, and sobering testimony ... Read More >
 

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2007)

Documentary. Offbeat/Witty.
Color. 120 mins. Rated R. Directed By Alex Gibney. Starring Hunter S. Thompson and Johnny Depp.
Coming off his celebrated doc on torture, "Taxi to the Dark Side," Gibney turns his attention to the crazed energy and demented insight of Thompson, whose first-person reporting style boldly rejected ... Read More >
 

Le Plaisir (1952)

Drama/Foreign/Romance. Moving/Witty.
Black & White. 92 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Max Ophuls. Starring Jean Galland, Madeleine Renaud, Simone Simon and Danielle Darrieux.
Set in ornate ballrooms, bawdy brothels, and at a country estate in late-19th-century France, this jaunty, sophisticated three-part film by the great Max Ophuls studies the myriad effects of pleasure ... Read More >
 

Richard III (1956)

Drama/War/Westerns. Brainy/Intense.
Black & White. 158 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Laurence Olivier. Starring Laurence Olivier, Cedric Hardwicke, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Claire Bloom.
Olivier's perversely wicked turn in Shakespeare's "Richard III" ranks as one of the legendary British thespian's most riveting screen roles. Outfitted in a black wig and prosthetic makeup, he is the ... Read More >
 

The Odd Couple (1968)

Comedy. Farr-cical.
Color. 105 mins. Rated G. Directed By Gene Saks. Starring Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon and Monica Evans.
Paramount's new "Centennial Edition" features re-mastered audio and wonderful backstory interviews. Based on Neil Simon's award-winning Broadway play (in which Matthau also starred), "The Odd Couple" ... Read More >
 

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Mystery/Suspense. Scenic/Spine-tingling/Witty.
Color. 106 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.
Paramount's new two-disk "Centennial Edition" has re-mastered audio and crystal-clear color. Filmed in VistaVision by Oscar winner Robert Burks, Hitchcock's swanky, breezy suspense film takes a ... Read More >
 

Theme of the Month: Mommie Dearest

With Mother's Day fast approaching, it seems like a good time to examine how a range of popular films have portrayed mothers - and motherhood - over the decades. Here are 10 recommendations featuring the most wonderful (or the most twisted) mothers on screen.

A Patch of Blue (1965)

Drama. Moving.
Black & White. 105 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Guy Green. Starring Sidney Poitier, Shelley Winters and Elizabeth Hartman.
The gifted Poitier shines in Guy Green's tender parable about the meaning of friendship, notably one of the first studio films to take on the charged subject of interracial love. Leisurely paced and ... Read More >
 

All About My Mother (1999)

Foreign Language/Drama. Moving/Offbeat.
Color. 101 mins. Rated R. Directed By Pedro Almodovar. Starring , Penelope Cruz and Cecilia Roth.
A splendidly absorbing, character-driven drama with lots of twists and turns, Almodóvar's "Mother" is an homage to female actresses and anyone with a maternal instinct. With his trademark visual ... Read More >
 

I Remember Mama (1948)

Drama. Moving/Wholesome.
Black & White. 134 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By George Stevens. Starring and Barbara Bel Geddes.
Based on a hit play adapted from Kathryn Forbes's autobiographical story collection, this precious, poignant film is suffused by an aura of nostalgia. Narrated in flashback by younger daughter ... Read More >
 

Mildred Pierce (1945)

Mystery/Suspense. Spine-tingling.
Black & White. 109 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Michael Curtiz. Starring Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Joan Crawford and Ann Blyth.
Here Curtiz the master creates a diabolical murder yarn. Crawford resuscitated her fading career with the driven Mildred, a part she was born to play. The Oscar- nominated Blyth grates as the hateful ... Read More >
 

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

War/Westerns/Drama. Moving.
Color. 133 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By William Wyler. Starring Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson.
Distinguished by superb acting from Garson, Pidgeon, and Best Supporting Actress Wright, Wyler's glossy, multiple-Oscar-winning homage to the nobility and fortitude of average Britons still feels ... Read More >
 

Now, Voyager (1942)

Romance. Moving.
Black & White. 117 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Irving Rapper. Starring Paul Henried and Bette Davis.
Sentimental and sometimes gloriously soapy , this film still tugs mightily at your heartstrings all these years later. Given the full-blown Warner Brothers treatment-- with Max Steiner score, and ... Read More >
 

Terms of Endearment (1983)

Romance/Drama. Intense.
Color. 131 mins. Rated R. Directed By James L. Brooks. Starring Jeff Daniels, Jack Nicholson, Debra Winger and Shirley MacLaine.
Brooks's poignant "Endearment" makes us laugh and cry in roughly equal measure. MacLaine netted a richly deserved Oscar playing Aurora, and Winger holds her own as long-suffering Emma. In truth, ... Read More >
 

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Mystery/Suspense. Intense/Spine-tingling.
Black & White. 126 mins. Rated PG-13. Directed By John Frankenheimer. Starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury.
Set at the height of the Cold War, John Frankenheimer's tingling psychological thriller has lost little of its impact. This story of a soldier brainwashed by Communists to strike at the heart of the ... Read More >
 

Tumbleweeds (1999)

Drama. Intense/Moving.
Color. 100 mins. Rated PG-13. Directed By Gavin O'Connor. Starring and Janet McTeer.
A familar mother-daughter tale receives refreshingly uncompromising treatment in "Tumbleweeds", buoyed by a stellar performance from McTeer, who was Oscar-nominated. Young Brown also shines as a ... Read More >
 

White Heat (1949)

Action/Adventure. Fast-paced/Intense.
Black & White. 114 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Raoul Walsh. Starring James Cagney and Virginia Mayo.
Raoul Walsh's dynamite gangster picture is so much more than a re-tread of the early thirties gangster classics that made Cagney a star. Here we are less concerned with the cat-and-mouse aspects ... Read More >
 

Spotlight

• May 13th – John hosts a Q&A and book signing with film critic Molly Haskell at the Avon Theatre. For tickets, contact the box office at (203) 967-3660.

• June 1st – John leads a discussion with actor Matthew Broderick following a screening of "1918" and a celebration of playwright and screenwriter, Horton Foote at a private club in New York City.