Tuesday, September 23, 2003

DVD Review: Door to Door - 3 stars Usually I avoid videos based on television series, but this one finally caught my eye. Door to Door is engaging, well acted, and moving. Helen Mirren plays an important role. It's billed as a drama, but there's some humor here too. And the slogan, while applied to a sales career in the film, applies equally well to every artist. Patience and Perseverance! There's an unforgettable sack lunch in the film. The hero unwraps his sandwich to find his mother has inscribed in neat red letters on one side: PATIENCE. He turns the sandwich over and laughs. Sure enough, the other side reads PERSEVERANCE. Now why not pack a sandwich for myself like this? I just can't figure out what she used. Time for some technical experiments.... 10:12:04 PM    comment []

DVD Review: The Good Thief - 2 stars If you're looking for a film to teach your kids that cleverness and being kind to other people makes up for honesty, look no further. The Good Thief shows this from start to finish. Lies? Sure. Thieving? Sure. Showing up the equally good hearted but all too honest policeman? Sure. There's a little bit of moral ambiguity in the film, but not enough to be thought provoking. Somehow I never really got fully engaged with the main characters. In some films, the "bad guys" are completely engaging and I'm quickly on their side against the law. Nick Nolte and his crew just never made it into my heart in this film. I don't think you'll be glad you saw this one. 2 stars. 10:05:52 PM    comment []