DVD REVIEWS NO CASTING DOUBTS FOR 'IN AMERICA'.Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor The casting of the two young girls who played the daughters in his film ``In America'' was easy for director Jim Sheridan (``My Left Foot''). The decision was made for him. During the auditions he had seen 5-year-old Emma Bolger and thought that she had looked like one of his own daughters. The film is loosely based on the family's experiences when they moved to New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. from Ireland in the '80s, when Sheridan was a struggling theater director. After seeing Emma read for the role of the younger daughter, Sheridan says he thought she ``was too good almost, and I thought she'd be like a movie brat.'' So he had another girl read for the part. While this was going on, ``Emma pulled me by the coat from behind, and when I turned around she was looking at me like I crossed some line of etiquette. She said, 'Jim, is she reading my part?' I wanted to say, 'This is an audition, kid. Get use to it.' But I just couldn't, 'cause her face was so big ... and I found myself saying, 'No, nobody's reading your part. You're cast.' And she immediately said, 'My sister's downstairs in the car.' '' A short time later, Sheridan had the older sister in Sarah Bolger. Both girls are wonderful in the film, which tells the story of a family not only struggling to adjust to America while living just above the poverty level, but also coping with the loss of a child. The film is dedicated to Frankie, who was Sheridan's younger brother but who becomes the lost son in the film. So while ``In America'' is not strictly autobiographical, Sheridan says he found himself ``upset at moments, and (I) didn't know why.'' Most times it had to do with ``scenes involving children and protecting the kids, and I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what that was about.'' Sheridan never lets ``In America,'' for which he and his daughters received an Oscar screenplay nomination, get maudlin maud·lin adj. Effusively or tearfully sentimental: "displayed an almost maudlin concern for the welfare of animals" Aldous Huxley. See Synonyms at sentimental. . This lyrical character study benefits from some fine acting from Paddy Considine as the father Johnny and Samantha Morton as the mother Sarah. Djimon Hounsou got an Oscar nomination for his role as a reclusive re·clu·sive adj. 1. Seeking or preferring seclusion or isolation. 2. Providing seclusion: a reclusive hut. neighbor in their rundown apartment. His seeming anger at life becomes a key to the family's healing process. The director says he'd like to do another film about America - a political one - because he sees this country in a ``defining state. ... It's a more dangerous time than Vietnam.'' ``In America'' (Fox; $27.90) includes commentary by Jim Sheridan, nine deleted scenes with optional commentary, a making-of featurette and an alternate ending. `The Fog of War' There are some who felt that ``The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara'' let the former secretary of defense during the Vietnam War Vietnam War, conflict in Southeast Asia, primarily fought in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and guerrilla forces aided by North Vietnam. off easy. Errol Morris' piercing, Oscar-winning documentary portrait of McNamara - who is considered the architect of the war during his tenure under Presidents John F. Kennedy "John Kennedy" and "JFK" redirect here. For other uses, see John Kennedy (disambiguation) and JFK (disambiguation). John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to early 1968 - lets him have his say in a series of interviews shot when he was 85. They make up most of the film. The documentary is organized, as the title suggests, into 11 parts in which McNamara lays out a sort of warning about war and its consequences. Accompanied by an ominous, insistent score by Philip Glass, the documentary incorporates archival audio tapes of conversations about Vietnam that McNamara had with both presidents, along with film footage from World War II (McNarmara had a hand in the plans for the bombing of Japan) and Vietnam. Occasionally from off-camera, Morris will ask the erudite er·u·dite adj. Characterized by erudition; learned. See Synonyms at learned. [Middle English erudit, from Latin , well-mannered former corporate executive a question, but mostly McNamara strings out his own rope. Whether you see it as enough for him to hang himself with likely depends on your feeling about the Vietnam War. What is evident, though, is the former secretary's myopic my·o·pi·a n. 1. A visual defect in which distant objects appear blurred because their images are focused in front of the retina rather than on it; nearsightedness. Also called short sight. 2. view of what he has done. His lessons are almost delivered in an analytical corporate manner - why certain strategies failed or why the administration couldn't anticipate a certain turn of events or how they miscalculated or, worse, didn't understand the nature of the enemy. While McNamara clearly had given much thought to what he said (otherwise why participate in the documentary?), it's also clear that he wasn't going to confess to any moral failings or admit to feeling guilty about Vietnam, which took the lives of some 58,000 Americans and perhaps as many as 3.4 million Vietnamese. What he does say, though, is both telling and unsettling un·set·tle v. un·set·tled, un·set·tling, un·set·tles v.tr. 1. To displace from a settled condition; disrupt. 2. To make uneasy; disturb. v.intr. . Lesson 11, for instance, is ``empathize em·pa·thize v. To feel empathy in relation to another person. with your enemy,'' which McNamara, says he learned from the 1962 Cuban missile crisis Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962, major cold war confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the USSR increased its support of Fidel Castro's Cuban regime, and in the summer of 1962, Nikita Khrushchev secretly decided to but failed to apply to Vietnam. The DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. of ``Fog of War'' contains 24 additional scenes, many of them extended versions of what's in the documentary. The original film, however, stands alone as something that should be shown in schools and as a valuable viewing experience for anyone. ``The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara'' (Sony Pictures Classics; $26.98) contains 24 additional scenes and McNamara's 10 lessons from his life in politics. TV on DVD There are plenty of TV shows out this week, from last week's series finale of ``Friends'' to the opening ``Survivor'' salvo. Having seen the last episode of the long-running NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. sitcom, I thought much of it was flat, but the DVD offers a slightly longer version with unseen footage. Why anybody would be interested in ``Survivor - The Complete First Season'' is beyond me. The suspense is over - Richard Hatch won. The five- disc set offers some commentary in which one of the losers refers to Hatch as ``evil incarnate in·car·nate adj. 1. a. Invested with bodily nature and form: an incarnate spirit. b. Embodied in human form; personified: a villain who is evil incarnate. .'' But like the show, that's a bit much. Oldies Oldies is a generic term commonly used to describe a radio format that usually concentrates on Top 40 music from the '50s, '60s and '70s. Oldies are typically from R&B, pop and rock music genres. but goodies include ``The Waltons - The Complete First Season.'' Will Geer led the Walton clan as Grandpa, and the cast also included Ralph Waite (the father John), Michael Learned (the mother Olivia), Ellen Corby as Grandma and Richard Thomas as John-Boy, the aspiring writer. The series, which was a strong force in television during the '70s, won five Emmys for its first season and is still a benchmark of family entertainment. The fine actor Richard Boone starred as Paladin Paladin archetypal gunman who leaves a calling card. [TV: Have Gun, Will Travel in Terrace, I, 341] See : Wild West in the western``Have Gun Will Travel.'' It was never clear if the professional gunfighter had a real name, since paladin means a sort of knight errant or champion. And indeed Paladin had the white knight White Knight falls off his horse every time it stops. [Br. Lit.: Lewis Carroll Through the Looking-Glass] See : Awkwardness White Knight invents clever objects that never work. [Br. Lit. chess-piece symbol on his business card, which read, ``Have Gun - Will Travel. Wire Paladin, San Francisco.'' Paladin, however, always dressed in black. ``Have Gun Will Travel'' is an intelligent series from the golden age of television. Also out are ``The X-Files - The Complete Ninth Season'' and ``The Jetsons - the Complete First Season.'' Much of ``The X-Files' '' last year is a mishmash mish·mash n. A collection or mixture of unrelated things; a hodgepodge. [Middle English misse-masche, probably reduplication of mash, soft mixture; see mash. , but the series did get a lift at the end when David Duchovney returned as FBI agent and paranormal paranormal, adj 1. outside the realm of normal experience or scientific explanation. n 2. collective term for anomalous phenomena. freak Fox Mulder and the creators of the sci-fi show try to tie up loose ends. As for ``The Jetsons,'' Hanna-Barbera Studio created the animated series in 1962 after its success the previous year with ``The Flintstones.'' In some ways the Jetsons were the primitive Flintstones in space, except without as many laughs. ``Friends - The Series Finale'' (Warner; $14.97). ``Survivor - The Complete First Season'' (Paramount; $49.99) includes all 12 episodes plus the grand finale and post-show meeting; commentary on two episodes by host Jeff Probst, Richard Hatch and other contestants; two featurettes and the previously released ``Survivor Season One: The Greatest and Most Outrageous Moments Most Outrageous Moments (originally titled Most Outrageous TV Moments for the first season) was a show that aired on NBC in which video footage of humorous events from various functions were shown. .'' ``The Waltons - The Complete First Season'' (Warner; $49.90). The five discs includes all 24 episodes. ``Have Gun Will Travel - The Complete First Season'' (Paramount; $49.99). The six discs include all 39 episodes from the 1957-58 season and behind-the-scenes episodic information. ``The X-Files - The Complete Ninth Season'' (Fox; $99.98). The seven discs include all 19 episodes, deleted scenes, commentary and a number of featurettes. ``The Jetsons - The Complete First Season'' (Warner; $64.94). The four discs include remastered versions of all 24 shows, some commentary and featurettes. Rob Lowman, (818) 713-3687 robert.lowman(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: PADDY CONSIDINE, EMMA BOLGER, SAMANTHA MORTON and SARAH BOLGER in ``In America.'' |
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