DVD WHEN CIA WAS A TWINKLE IN SPY'S EYE.Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor Those of use who are spook freaks are very familiar with the name James Jesus Angleton James Jesus Angleton (December 9, 1917–May 12, 1987), known to friends and colleagues as Jim and nicknamed "the Kingfisher", was a long-serving chief of the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) counter-intelligence (CI) staff (Associate Deputy Director of Operations for . The Yale graduate ran the CIA's counter-intelligence program for 20 years, from 1954-74, and during that time was convinced that there was a high-level mole in the organization. His probings and paranoia are seen as detrimental today, but during the height of the Cold War there were ample reasons for suspicions in light of the school-boy spy scandal that had rocked Britain. Matt Damon's character, the solemn Edward Wilson, in Robert De Niro's ambitious film "The Good Shepherd" seems to have Angleton-like qualities. Recruited from Yale in the 1930s as a spy, Wilson is sent to London to learn espionage from the Brits, led by a spymaster spy·mas·ter n. One who directs clandestine intelligence activities. Noun 1. spymaster - someone who directs clandestine intelligence activities master - directs the work of others played by Michael Gambon. The story, which ends with the Bay of Pigs The Bay of Pigs (Spanish: Bahía de Cochinos, also known as Playa Girón) is an inlet of the Gulf of Cazones on the south coast of Cuba. fiasco in 1961, then follows Wilson as his obsessions destroy his life. (There are weird echoes of Michael Corleone in "Godfather II" here.) Married to a beautiful wife (Angelina Jolie, who seems too hot for the tamped-down spy to have won), Wilson ignores her and his son in pursuit of his great white whale. At 2 hours, 37 minutes, "The Good Shepherd" will push some people's patience. This is a story about shadowy men in a secret organization -- not like Damon's violent killer spy, Jason Bourne Bourne, town (1990 pop. 16,064), Barnstable co., SE Mass., crossed by Cape Cod Canal; settled 1627, inc. 1884. Bourne Bridge (1935), across the canal, made the town an entry point to Cape Cod and a resort and commercial center. . A number of good performances give the film some life. Billy Crudup has a mysterious air as Arch Cummings, a dandy who seems modeled after the notorious Kim Philby, the British traitor who rocked England's espionage world, while De Niro, as one of the CIA's founders, Alec Baldwin as an FBI agent and William Hurt add gravity to the film. Detailed and handsomely shot, "The Good Shepherd" attempts to bring into the light the birth (officially 1947, although it was the O.S.S. before) of an agency whose decisions back then are still affecting us today. It is too vast a story for any one film to tell, although there is much to admire about it, even as it lumbers at times. For those of us fascinated by the world of espionage (fact or fiction), though, we know that in any story there is always something more to tell. (Or is that just paranoia?). By the way, there are a couple of deleted scenes on the disc, but, as expected, De Niro ain't talking. 'Volver' Pedro Almodovar returns to the subject of women in "Volver," which means "to return" in Spanish. The director also brings along his favorite actress, Penelope Cruz, who received an Oscar nomination for her role as Raimunda, a woman concealing the murder of her husband -- who gets a knife in the gut early on -- but not by her. This is hardly a thriller, though. Almodovar's world is more a mix of magic realism and Fellini. Ghosts are as alive as the living. What comes through, though, is the gentle humor and the humanity of the community of women -- Carmen Carmen throws over lover for another. [Fr. Lit.: Carmen; Fr. Opera: Bizet, Carmen, Westerman, 189–190] See : Faithlessness Carmen the cards repeatedly spell her death. [Fr. Maura, Lola DueIllegal 'X-value' for character STYLs voided void·ed adj. Heraldry Having the central area cut out or left vacant, leaving an outline or narrow border: a voided lozenge. here as, Blanca Portillo and Yohana Cobo -- in Raimunda's life. "Volver" is colorfully shot, as you expect in an Almodovar film, and Cruz is luminous, put to much better use than in any American movie. Check out Almodovar's commentary. Family fare The new film version of "Charlotte's Web," goes far toward capturing the delightful spirit of E.B. White's classic kid's book. Directed by Gary Winick from a script by Susannah Grant and Karey Kirkpatrick, this "Web" uses CGI CGI in full Common Gateway Interface. Specification by which a Web server passes data between itself and an application program. Typically, a Web user will make a request of the Web server, which in turn passes the request to a CGI application program. and real animals and people (including Dakota Fanning) to tell the tale of a spider, Charlotte (voiced by Julia Roberts), who saves the life of a pig named Wilbur (Dominic Scott Kay Dominic Scott Kay (born May 6, 1996 in Los Angeles, California), is an American child actor. He is the son of actor Scott Kay. Filmography
Personal life n 1992, he made his first TV appearance on It's Showtime at the Apollo. (as geese) and Robert Redford (as a horse). "Charlotte's Web's" witty intelligence is a welcome change from most kids' films these days. "Jump In" is the popular Disney Channel movie about a young boxer who finds a passion for jumping rope. "The Naked Brothers Band -- The Movie" is a mockumentary comedy about a kids' rock band featuring two real-life brothers Nat and Alex Wolff. TV David Lynch's "Twin Peaks -- The Second Season" remains as trippy as ever. HBO's "Entourage -- Season Three, Part 1" has amusing moments, but I find too much inside-Hollywood stuff off-putting. "Galapagos" is an engaging documentary about the islands Darwin and dodos made famous, while "The Lost Room" is a fairly nifty miniseries that ran on the Sci Fi Channel Sci Fi Channel may refer to:
Older films There is a music edition of Bob Fosse's 1979 "All That Jazz." And while the musical aspects of the film are eye-opening -- such as the "Air Erotica erotica - pornography " number -- the film is a wild, stylized styl·ize tr.v. styl·ized, styl·iz·ing, styl·iz·es 1. To restrict or make conform to a particular style. 2. To represent conventionally; conventionalize. meditation on life (well someone's life). Roy Scheider plays Joe Gideon, a womanizing wom·an·ize v. woman·ized, woman·iz·ing, woman·iz·es v.intr. To pursue women lecherously. v.tr. To give female characteristics to; feminize. , self-destructive film/stage director with a heart condition who seems modeled on Fosse's own life. Seeing himself as a song- and-dance man in the negative sense (feeling self-loathing), Fosse has no soft spot for Joe, as a scene of graphic open-heart surgery shows. "All That Jazz" is not easy to take at times, but it is more often than not brilliant. Dudley Moore and Peter Cook, whose Beyond the Fringe Beyond the Fringe was a British comedy stage revue written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller. It played in Britain's West End and on New York's Broadway in the early 1960s, and is widely regarded as seminal to the rise of satire in comedy troupe set the stage for Monty Python, achieved near perfection in their 1967 "Bedazzled," directed by Stanley Donan. Moore played the schlub schlub also shlub n. Slang A person regarded as clumsy, stupid, or unattractive. [Yiddish, from Polish short-order cook Stanley Moon, and Cook is George Spiggot (really Satan). In a Faustian bargain, George gets Stanley's soul for a few wishes. The jokes come when George still manages to frustrate Stanley, using up his wishes, in his plan for a life of bliss with a waitress (Eleanor Bron) he fancies. Just remember the words "Julie Andrews" if you're ever in the same predicament. Richard Lester's 1975 "Royal Flash," based on George MacDonald Fraser's very funny series of "Flashman" books, doesn't quite measure up to the director's rollicking rol·lick·ing adj. Carefree and high-spirited; boisterous: a rollicking celebration. rol "The Three Musketeers," but it's fun. Malcolm McDowell is perfect as the cowardly Flashman, who spends his time avoiding getting killed during some of the European upheavals of the late 19th century (yes, this is a comedy). And the late Oliver Reed is a kick as the ultimate Prussian, Otto von Bismarck. Barry Levinson's 1984 "The Natural" met with disfavor by some for turning Bernard Malamud's dark-edged novel into a mythical take on good and evil. I basically enjoyed it as a baseball movie that captured the magical nature of the game, something that happens only when you're a kid (or feel like one). Much of this was achieved by Randy Newman's majestic song, and the icon performance by Robert Redford, as the mysterious aging ballplayer Roy Hobbs, who appears -- seemingly from nowhere -- to lead a team of misfits to the National League pennant. Rob Lowman (818) 713-3687 robert.lowman@dailynews.com NEW FILMS "The Good Shepherd" (Universal; $29.98 and $39.98 for HD) "Volver" (Columbia; $28.95 and $36.98 for Blu-ray) "Black Christmas -- Unrated Edition" (Dimension; $29.95) "Copying Beethoven" (Fox; $27.98) "Death of a President" (Lionsgate; $27.98) "Aurora Borealis" (Liberation; $19.95) "3 Needles" (Wolfe; $24.95) FAMILY/KIDS "Charlotte's Web" (Paramount; $29.99) $17.99 "Jump In!" (Disney; $26.99) $16.99 "The Naked Brothers Band -- The Movie" (Paramount; $16.99) "Opal Dream" (Universal; $29.98) "The Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection, Volume 5" (MGM MGM in full Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. U.S. corporation and film studio. It was formed when the film distributor Marcus Loew, who bought Metro Pictures in 1920, merged it with the Goldwyn production company in 1924 and with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1925. ; $14.98) TELEVISION "Twin Peaks -- The Second Season" (Paramount; $54.99) "Entourage -- Season Three, Part 1" (HBO Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) A form of oxygen therapy in which the patient breathes oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Mentioned in: Ozone Therapy ; $39.98) "Law & Order -- The Fifth Year" (Universal; $59.98) "Galapagos" (BBC/Warner; $19.98) "Roseanne -- Season 7" (Anchor Bay; $39.98) "The Lost Room" (Lionsgate; $19.98) OLDER FILMS "All That Jazz -- Music Edition" (Fox; $19.98) "Bedazzled" (Fox; $19.98) "King Arthur -- Extended Director's Cut" (Disney; $29.99) "Royal Flash" (Fox; $19.98) "The Natural -- Director's Cut" (Columbia; $24.94 and $28.95 for Blu-ray) "The Mario Bava Collection, Volume 1" ("Black Sunday"/ "Black Sabbath"/ "The Girl Who Knew Too Much"/ "Kill Baby Kill"/ "Knives of the Avenger") (Anchor Bay; $49.98) "S*P S*P Something Positive (webcomic) *Y*S" (Fox; $19.98) MUSIC/CONCERTS "The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour is a stand-up comedy tour featuring Middle-Eastern comedians Ahmed Ahmed, Aron Kader, Maz Jobrani, and occasionally Dean Obeidallah. The Tour started in November of 2005, and was named after George W. " (Image; $14.99) CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Matt Damon's college student, left, enters the embryonic world of espionage with the help of Robert De Niro Noun 1. Robert De Niro - United States film actor who frequently plays tough characters (born 1943) De Niro in "The Good Shepherd." |
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