Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - (Page 24) REVIEWS I GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF HUNTER S. THOMPSON Street 11/18 Magnolia, Documentary, B.O. $1.2 million, $29.98 DVD, ‘R’ for drug and sexual content, language and some nudity. Narrated by Johnny Depp. www.homemediamagazine.com T hat wild iconoclastic writer and cultural explorer Hunter S. Thompson was before my time. But people my dad’s age smile, nod and talk about him like he’s the descendant of the great beat poets of the 1960s. Thompson worked as a sports writer, an intrepid reporter of American culture and an observer-for-hire for decades. Fans flocked to him, feeding his ego. Hell’s Angels, whom he followed for a while to write stories about, beat him up. He meant something to candidates on the national scene, his unique voice appealing to a wide swathe of Americans who felt they’d met some kindred spirit in this Thompson guy. Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney wants us to see Thompson looking for the American Dream, and in some ways finding it. Gibney chronicles the American Dream’s transformation from commercialism to virtue in the 1960s, and from virtue to corruption in the 1970s and later. By 2001, writing about the Twin Towers falling, Thompson darkly prophesies a war, many wars, against this new national supervillain of terrorism. His was a life well-lived and a bit of a life squandered by the time he took his own life. That’ll be no surprise to viewers, who’ll hear of his suicide early on. Gonzo will most appeal to those already enthralled by Thompson’s wild writing and Terry Gilliam’s brilliant semi-factual, drugaddled adaptation of Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. But even new viewers who follow Thompson’s wanderings, narrated by Johnny Depp, re-enacted audio from Thompson’s Las Vegas road trip, and more visceral experiences through Thompson’s jaded yet imaginative eyes, may find themselves enthralled, too. – Brendan Howard I DARE NOT WALK ALONE Street 11/11 Indican, Documentary, $24.99 DVD, NR. I DOUGHBOYS Street 11/18 MTI, Drama, $24.95 DVD, ‘PG-13’ for some drug-related references. Stars Louis Lombardi, Mike Starr, Vincent Pastore, Andrew Keegan, Jimmy Madio, Gaetano Iacono. L ike the baked delicacies prepared and served with love at this film’s central location, Conti’s in The Bronx, Doughboys is sweet, seriously old-school in the best sense of the phrase, warm, comforting and widely appealing. Producer-director-co-writer and star Lombardi, instantly familiar to fans of “24” and “The Sopranos,” has fashioned a heartfelt, rich and sweet cinematic love song to his hometown, the different types of people who live there and the distinctive codes of behavior by which they live their lives. Reminiscent of Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott’s Sundance favorite Big Night, the film focuses on two Italian-American brothers in the food business. The Conti brothers, Lou (Lombardi) and Frank (Iacono), inherit the family bakery that has become a neighborhood institution. But while both were born and raised in the business, they now struggle to keep it alive. Always resistant to the family business, Frank is there against his will, bound to the place by blood ties and an inherent loyalty to the Conti name, but he has to contend with Lou, a natural baker, a wizard with food and a hopelessly addicted gambler whose mounting debt to a local crime boss threatens to put them on the street. Exquisitely and lovingly produced, the film seduces viewers, drawing them into this vibrant, almost magical but distinctly down-to-earth world with a host of compelling and amusing supporting characters before it shows its true colors. Unfortunately marketed as a wacky comedy with mob overtones, the film does have its whimsical moments, but at its heart it is really a genuine drama that tackles serious issues and depicts, at the center, a surprisingly complex and difficult relationship between the two brothers. This is a drama of everyday life about a couple of regular, everyday guys learning to deal with each other in a difficult situation. – David Greenberg I DAY OF THE KAMIKAZE Street 11/11 Infinity, Documentary, $24.98 DVD, NR. n 1945, the Japanese resorted to a desperate effort to try to win World War II — training their pilots to crash into Allied carriers. This outstanding documentary from the Smithsonian Channel examines the historical and emotional ramifications of “an entirely new kind of war.” The Japanese turned to the kamikaze mindset in the war’s waning months. It worked to some extent, destroying some 150 Allied ships and killing about 4,000 sailors. The strategy couldn’t last. The Japanese ran out of planes and pilots and I stunning, first-person look at life during wartime. Young American and British men dealt with an unprecedented attack style that they couldn’t comprehend, while the Japanese’s sense of patriotism and honor prevented anyone from rebelling. “The whole country was brainwashed,” one subject explains. Military-history buffs will surely love the information and perspective offered in Day of the Kamikaze, but those same qualities make it an ideal suggestion for any fan of their mostly U.S.-stacked targets saki) sadly inevitable. Day of the Kamikaze expertly breaks informative entertainment. A halfwithstood the attacks and the acdown the military strategy while hour documentary, Eyewitness Kacompanying psychological terror. In fact, the Kamikaze mindset steering clear of academic pontifi- mikaze, is the DVD’s only notable found its way into Japan’s citizens, cating. Soldiers from both sides and extra and an excellent complement which made the atomic bomb’s de- relatives of the deceased kamikaze to the feature. but in Hiroshima (and later Naga- pilots are interviewed, providing a – Pete Croatto ocumentaries about the Civil Rights Movement are almost a genre unto themselves, with so many to choose from. Some stick to newsreel footage and historical dissection, others do more to put events in historical context. In that regard, Dare Not Walk Alone succeeds beautifully. It takes viewers to St. Augustine, Fla., one of the flashpoints of the Civil Rights Movement that has received less attention in recent years but was every bit as much a powder keg as Memphis or Selma. Segregation was deeply ingrained in the “City of the Centuries,” where the slave market still stands as a tourist attraction. After a history lesson on the attempts to integrate businesses and public beaches, the film moves forward through time to show the more subtle effects of racism in a place reluctant to let go. Present-day St. Augustine is much improved, but it still has a ghetto section where bitter poverty rules. The city and surrounding St. Johns County is one of the few in Florida that refused Section 8 housing subsidies for the poor, so some neighborhoods in West St. Augustine look like a third-world country where even the public infrastructure has been allowed to deteriorate beyond repair. It’s a microcosm of what still remains in so much of the country 40 years after the marches: poverty alongside plenty; unspoken limits on access and opportunity; few options for rising above the situation. Rap music has joined professional sports and the military as the tickets out of poverty. Efforts to heal also get special attention. Change is slow, but it’s happening, even here. This is a Civil Rights film for the modern age. It serves as a reminder of dark days past, and recognizes progress as well as the work that remains to be done. It’s especially relevant considering the United States just elected its first black president. – Holly J. Wagner D 24 Home Media Magazine November 9–15, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 Contents News High-Def News Electronic Delivery News TV DVD Cine Mercado Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Contents (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - High-Def News (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - High-Def News (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Reviews (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Reviews (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Reviews (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Reviews (Page 25) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 26) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 27) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 28) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 29) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 30) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 31) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 32) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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