“WWII In HD” is an excellent 10-hour, five part series narrated by Gary Sinise of “Forrest Gump” and “CSI: New York. “  Three episodes air tonight on the History Channel.

The series shows the war through the eyes of 12 Americans who fought in the war or contributed to it in some way. Using diaries, journals, and new interviews, it follows these Americans as their personal journeys intersect with one another throughout the war effort. Hollywood actors, including LL Cool J of  “NCIS: Los Angeles,” Rob Lowe, Amy Smart, Jason Ritter, and Steve Zahn, portray the young voices of the Americans. The original Americans include a war reporter, an Army nurse, a young African American from Toledo who became a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, a second-generation Japanese American, and a Jewish immigrant from Austria who wound up in the Pacific Theater. (more…)

I went to see Management because Steve Zahn is in it, and I’ll see him in anything. Steve Zahn turns out to be pretty much the only reason to see Management, and then only if you’re a big Steve Zahn fan, and then only if there’s nothing else to do, because even his always-fun appearance cannot rescue this picture, ostensibly an arthouse vehicle for Jennifer Aniston. (And if you needed any more proof that people don’t go to see Jennifer Aniston in a movie but go to see movies that just happen to have Jennifer Aniston in them, Management is Exhibit A. This weekend, the Aniston picture made only a little more money than Taken, which was released 16 weeks ago and is now available on DVD.)

Zahn plays a slacker (Yeah, what else is new, but he’s so good at it!) wasting away as the night manager at his parents’ rural motel. Aniston sells motel owners the painted-in-bulk art you find in motel rooms. For reasons that are never made clear, she doesn’t try to sell Zahn and his parents any art. She’s in the tiny town to sell to someone else — which made me wonder… (more…)

The Great Buck Howard is a funny, knowing gift for anyone who loves old-fashioned show business: It celebrates the entertainer who is in it for the fun of putting on a good show, and for bringing a little pleasure to anyone who cares enough to come out and watch. 

Buck Howard the man is an old-fashioned show-business type: He is a mentalist—a magician who does mind-reading tricks. But he is preternaturally good at what he does (in contrast to his complete lack of self-awareness), and he was once a pop-culture fixture, a regular on The Tonight Show. (“The real one—with Johnny Carson,” he constantly reminds—this will have its intended melancholy effect only on those over 40 or so.) Now he plays half-empty halls in third-tier markets. Not that this tempers his enthusiasm, or that of his fans. Which is exactly the point. (more…)