ANOTHER BOY, ANOTHER PLANET

Thursday, February 21, 2013

ANOTHER BOY, ANOTHER PLANET

The Oscars are on Sunday. Along with other DVD Talk writers, I contributed write-ups of what I would have voted for. You can read our results online now.

THIS WEEK IN THEATRES...

* A truly special documentary, Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse, is playing Cinema 21 in Portland for an exclusive engagement starting this Sunday. It's an important look at a very terrible night in our town six years ago, when cops beat a mentally ill man to the point where he ended up dying in custody. Alien Boy digs through the evidence to try to figure out how things went so horribly wrong.

I reviewed the movie for the Oregonian. Keep an eye out for it at festivals around the country, and hopefully it will get a wider release in coming months. Visit the official website for more info.

* My second column for the paper also looks at the ethnic drama Bless Me, Ultima and the amazing Eddie Pepitone documentary, The Bitter Buddha.

THIS WEEK IN BD/DVD REVIEWS...

* The Hour: Season Two, the second cycle for the entertaining suspense soap from the BBC. Sadly, it has been cancelled, making this the de-facto finale.

* How Green Was My Valley, John Ford's nostalgic look at a working village in Wales at the turn of the 20th Century. Winner of the Best Picture Oscar in 1941.

* A Simple Life, a surprisingly moving portrayal of old age from Chinese director Anne Hui.