| |  In This Issue:August 2010What's New on DVDAbe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)Drama. Moving/Wholesome. Black & White. 110 mins. Unrated. Directed By John Cromwell. Starring Raymond Massey, Gene Lockhart, Ruth Gordon and Mary Howard. Based on a Pulitzer-winning play, but never less than cinematic thanks to James Wong Howe's gorgeous camerawork, "Abe Lincoln" is a gripping account of the making of a great man. Reprising his stage ... Read More > | |  |
Alice Neel (2006)Documentary. Brainy. Color. 82 mins. Unrated. Directed By Andrew Neel. Truth really is stranger than fiction, and Andrew Neel's revealing documentary ably follows the twists and turns of Alice Neel's fascinating life. From time spent in Cuba to her bohemian early years ... Read More > | |  |
That Hamilton Woman (1941)Drama/Romance. Moving. Black & White. 128 mins. Unrated. Directed By Alexander Korda. Starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Classic Hollywood romance doesn't get much better than this sweeping tale! Director Korda skillfully balances his tender love story against a vast historical canvas that spans years and nations in a ... Read More > | |  |
The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)Drama/Foreign/Mystery/Suspense. Fast-paced/Intense/Spine-tingling. Color. 144 mins. Rated R. Directed By Uli Edel. Starring Moritz Bleibtrau and Martina Gedeck. Edel's Oscar-nominated "Complex" is an edge-of-your-seat political thriller exploring the European counterculture's darker undercurrents, when the Red Army gang instilled fear in the general public ... Read More > | |  |
The Wedding Song (2008)Drama/Foreign. Moving/Scenic. Color. 100 mins. Unrated. Directed By Karin Albou. Starring Simon Abkarian, Lizzie Brochere and Olympe Borval. Albou's intimate, affecting film combines a vivid coming-of-age tale with an engrossing drama of jealousy, alienation and oppression. First, both Miriam and Nour are blossoming into beautiful young ... Read More > | |  |
The White Ribbon (2009)Drama/Foreign. Brainy/Intense/Scenic. Black & White. 144 mins. Unrated. Directed By Michael Haneke. Starring Christian Frediel, Burghart Klausner and Leonie Benesch. This disturbing, highly evocative film scores as both first-rate whodunit and riveting psychological study- one that paints a disturbing portrait of repressive mores in one very dysfunctional German ... Read More > | |  |
Tokyo Sonata (2008)Drama/Foreign. Brainy/Moving/Spine-tingling. Color. 120 mins. Rated PG-13. Directed By Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Starring Teruyuki Kagawa, Yu Koyanagi, Kai Inowaki and Kyoko Koizumi. This oddball slice-of-life drama had the potential to be a dour slog, but director Kyoshi Kurosawa's lightly surreal touch ensures that "Tokyo Sonata" glows with an inner warmth. The quietly empty ... Read More > | |  |
Theme of the Month: Our National ParksLast month President Obama took his family to Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine, one of several national parks he plans to visit on vacation this summer. The First Family's visits are an effort to promote America's stunning natural preserves, but also to experience the wilderness and scenery like many Americans during an August vacation. We want to make it easy for you to share the same kind of experience from your armchair by recommending movies filmed in these parks. So, kick off your hiking boots, relax, sit back and enjoy the sights! Ansel Adams: A Documentary Film (2002)Documentary. Scenic/Brainy. Color. 90 mins. Unrated. Directed By Ric Burns. Starring David Ogden Stiers and Josh Hamilton. A captivating entry in the "American Experience" PBS series, "Adams" vividly brings to life the biographical details and working methods of this groundbreaking 20th-century photographer. An ... Read More > | |  |
Badlands (1973)Mystery/Suspense. Blood-curdling/Scenic. Color. 93 mins. Rated PG. Directed By Terrence Malick. Starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. Loosely based on the 1958 Starkweather-Fugate murder spree that left 10 dead in Nebraska, Malick's astonishingly beautiful and accomplished debut marked him as a filmmaker with a unique artistic ... Read More > | |  |
Baraka (1993)Documentary. Brainy/Scenic/Wholesome. Color. 104 mins. Unrated. Directed By Ron Fricke. Juxtaposing scenes of incredible natural beauty with the corrosive detritus of our "civilized" world, this feature employs a technique similar to "Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance," and meets that ... Read More > | |  |
Dances with Wolves (1990)War/Westerns. Fast-paced/Moving/Scenic. Color. 180 mins. Rated PG-13. Directed By Kevin Costner. Starring Graham Greene, Kevin Costner and Mary McDonnell. Long but engrossing Western is staggeringly beautiful as it details the tragic outcome of our expansion westward: the virtual annihilation of a proud society and culture. Costner has never been ... Read More > | |  |
Into the Wild (2007)Action/Adventure/Drama. Intense/Scenic/Spine-tingling. Color. 148 mins. Rated R. Directed By Sean Penn. Starring Hal Holbrook, Emile Hirsch, Jena Malone and Marcia Gay Harden. Adapting Jon Krakauer's fact-based, bestselling book for the big screen, Sean Penn wowed audiences with this Oscar-nominated tale of a young man who turns his back on his family and future in pursuit ... Read More > | |  |
Never Cry Wolf (1983)Action/Adventure/Family. Fast-paced/Scenic. Color. 105 mins. Rated PG. Directed By Carroll Ballard. Starring Charles Martin Smith and Brian Dennehy. Under-rated family adventure film (best for older kids) is not only stunning to look at, with Ballard's superb on-location photography, but delivers a cautionary tale about the importance of ... Read More > | |  |
No Country for Old Men (2006)Mystery/Suspense. Blood-curdling/Intense/Spine-tingling. Color. 122 mins. Rated R. Directed By Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem. Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, the Coen brothers' multiple Oscar winner is their darkest movie yet, featuring an outstanding performance by Bardem as an enigmatic madman whose weapon of ... Read More > | |  |
Shane (1953)Family/War/Westerns. Spine-tingling/Scenic/Moving. Color. 118 mins. Unrated. Directed By George Stevens. Starring Alan Ladd, Van Heflin and Jean Arthur. Exciting, heart-warming and stunningly directed by veteran George Stevens, "Shane" also features a smart, lean script and inspired performances throughout. It ranks as one of our top westerns ... Read More > | |  |
Spotlight
• August 5th - As part of the Movies and Mojitos film series, John will be introducing "The Buena Vista Social Club" at the Katonah Museum of Art. Tickets are $20 for members, $25 for non-members. Call (914) 232-9555, ext. 0. 7:00 pm with a rain date on August 6th.
• August 22nd – John will introduce "His Girl Friday" at the newly renovated Ocean House Hotel in Watch Hill, Rhode Island at 6 pm. Call (401) 584-7000 for details.
• September 9th – At a private club in New York, John introduces a sneek preview of "Kings of Pastry," a documentary directed by D.A. Pennebaker that follows three chefs competing in the prestigious Meilleur Ouvrier de France. The movie will be followed by a Q&A with Director Pennebaker.
 | | | |
