HBO isn’t often accused of being a great source of patriotic material, but their 2008 mini-series John Adams should required viewing. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a great one to rent.

It deals with the first fifty years of the United States and the life of our second President. John Adams, played with his usual panache by Paul Giamatti, wasn’t the most loved, best looking or even heroic of our founders. But he was a brilliant man and an important part of the forging of this nation and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

Based on David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize winning book and starring a host of great actors like Giamatti, Laura Linney, David Morse, Tom Wilkinson, Danny Huston, it shows is how fragile the nation was in its infancy, the forces that drove the founders to revolt against the English crown, the politics that threatened to tear the country apart afterward, how the country was treated by the Europeans then. It’s very eye opening.

John Adams was lawyer who believed in the rule of law. He served two terms as George Washington’s vice president and one as president. He had to make some tough decisions in his one term, which meant he was vilified in his time, much like the last president. John lived to a ripe old age and saw a lot of changes come to this land. He even lived to see his son John Quincy become president. (more…)

Friendship. Love. Dreams. All good stuff in life. 

“Inside Moves” is a little gem of a film, director Richard Donner knocked out back in 1980 between, among others, “Superman” and “Lethal Weapon.” Working from a solid script by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson, “Inside Moves” tells the story of a young man named, Roary, (beautifully portrayed by John Savage) who, after a failed suicide attempt, sets out to put the pieces of his life back together again. Along the way, he finds a motley group of friends, who accept him for the man he is, as he discovers just how sweet life can be, when you’re willing to risk, willing to go for your dreams. 

Shortly after being discharged from the local hospital, Roary, moving along like some sort of sand crab as a result of his injuries, finds himself among the slightly ‘crippled,’ yet not-so-broken souls of Max’s Bar (a wonderful ensemble of actors, including casting director turned actor, Bert Remsen, jazz great, Bill Henderson and Harold Russell, the Academy Award winner from “The Best Years of Our Lives,” add to the joy and spirit of the film.) 

Roary immediately strikes up a friendship with bartender, Jerry Maxwell, (the fine David Morse) who invites him to watch the San Francisco Warriors, play some round ball later that night. At the game, Jerry is all over hot shot rookie, Alvin Martin, (Harold Sylvester) who, while clearly a talented player, seems to lack the killer instinct to be a truly great player. After the Warriors lose the game, due to Alvin’s freezing under pressure, the mouthy Jerry confronts him, challenging him to a game of one-on-one. Alvin accepts. Put up. Shut up.  (more…)

I jumped at the opportunity to join “The Hurt Locker” press junket. The film’s director, Kathryn Bigelow (“Point Break,” “Strange Days,” “Blue Steel”), has been a favorite of mine since catching a 3 a.m. Cinemax screening of “Near Dark” some twenty-five years ago. No director — not the Scott brothers, not Michael Bay or even Clint Eastwood understand or are able to get inside the skin of driven men of action like Bigelow. This makes even her rare misstep like “K:19 The Widowmaker” much more watchable than it deserves to be (actually, I watch it all the time).

The junkets are simple. You sit in a hotel room with other writers and one by one the film’s participants stop by for a few minutes. So, in no particular order, as a group we had the chance to interview Bigelow, screenwriter Mark Boal (“In the Valley of Elah”), who researched the film in Iraq, and actors Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty.

All were charming and personable to be sure, but whenever politics or previous Iraq War films came up, things would get a little tense and surreal as each responded by assuring us they weren’t worried because “Hurt Locker” wasn’t at all political. Again and again, the film was described as a straight-forward war picture that just happened to be set in Iraq. (more…)