Small Town Life

The Best Years of Our Lives

Winner of seven Academy Awards, including best picture, director, actor, and screenplay, William Wyler's brilliant drama about domestic life after World War II remains one of the all-time classics of American cinema. Inspired by a pictorial article about returning soldiers in Life magazine, the story focuses on three war veterans (Fredric March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell in unforgettable roles) and their rocky readjustment to civilian life in their Midwestern town of Boone City. Capturing the contradictory moods of America in the mid to late 1940s, this three-hour drama spans a complex range of honest emotions, from joyous celebration and happy reunion to deep-rooted ambivalence and reassessment of personal priorities. A movie milestone when released in 1946, The Best Years of Our Lives still packs a punch with powerful, timeless themes. --Jeff Shannon

It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to becomea nightmare. Captain Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) is returning to a loveless marriage; Sergeant Al Stephenson (Fredric March) is a stranger to a family that's grown up without him; and young sailor Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) is tormented by the loss of his hands. Can these three men find the courage to rebuild their world? Or are the best years of their lives a thing of the past? Featuring a brilliant cast that includes Myrna Loy and Virginia Mayo, this postwar classic garnered* seven OscarsÂ(r), including Best Picture. Heart-wrenching, touching and "filled with emotional dynamite" (The Hollywood Reporter), it remains "one of the best films about war veterans ever made" (American Movie Classics). *1946: Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Writing/Screenplay, Film Editing, Music/Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture

Footloose (Special Collector's Edition)

Director Herbert Ross (The Turning Point) pulled a winning movie out of this almost self-consciously archetypal tale of teenage rock rebellion. Kevin Bacon stars as a hip city kid who ends up in a Bible-belt town after his parents divorce. An ill fit for a conservative community where rock is frowned upon and dancing is forbidden, Bacon's character rallies the kids and takes on the establishment. Between a good cast really embracing the drama of Dean Pitchford's screenplay, and Ross's imaginative, highly charged way of shooting the dance numbers, you can get lost in this all-ages confection, and you won't even mind Kenny Loggins's bubbly pop. Bonuses include one of John Lithgow's best performances (a bit reminiscent of Jimmy Stewart), and Christopher Penn (who sure doesn't look the same anymore) as a good-natured hick who learns to boogie. --Tom Keogh

A portrayal of the timeless struggle between innocent pleasure and rigid morality. City-boy Ren McCormick finds himself in an uptight Midwestern town where dancing has been banned.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG
Release Date: 2-MAY-2006
Media Type: DVD

Phenomenon

John Travolta's should've-been-nominated-for-an-Oscar performance is the best reason to see this largely moving work, which is a little reminiscent of the novel Flowers for Algernon (basis for the film Charly). Travolta plays a mechanic who sees a bright light in the sky one night and wakes up the next morning a genius, hungry for knowledge and so smart he figures out national defense secrets in his own living room (and gets in hot water for it). The more interesting drama, however, is not with the government but with the character's longtime neighbors and friends, who come to reject him for being different. Robert Duvall gives a stirring performance as a doctor who has known the hero all his life, and Kyra Sedgwick is very good as an ambivalent love interest. If you missed this one in the theaters, then you haven't seen one of Travolta's best performances since his comeback. The DVD release presents a widescreen image, optional French soundtrack, optional Spanish subtitles, and theatrical trailer. --Tom Keogh

An ordinary man experiences a piercing, bright light one night and soon begins to develop powers and intelligence beyond normal human capabilities.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG
Release Date: 4-FEB-2003
Media Type: DVD

The Last Picture Show (Definitive Director's Cut Special Edition)

Story of teenagers in a small Texas town just prior to the hero leaving for Korea and the closing of the town's movie theater.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 13-FEB-2007
Media Type: DVD

Like Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, The Wild Bunch, and The Graduate, The Last Picture Show is one of the signature films of the "New Hollywood" that emerged in the late 1960s and early '70s. Based on the novel by Larry McMurtry and lovingly directed by Peter Bogdanovich (who cowrote the script with McMurtry), this 1971 drama has been interpreted as an affectionate tribute to classic Hollywood filmmaking and the great directors (such as John Ford) that Bogdanovich so deeply admired. It's also a eulogy for lost innocence and small-town life, so accurately rendered that critic Roger Ebert called it "the best film of 1951," referring to the movie's one-year time frame, its black-and-white cinematography (by Robert Surtees), and its sparse but evocative visual style. The story is set in the tiny, dying town of Anarene, Texas, where the main-street movie house is about to close for good, and where a pair of high-school football players are coming of age and struggling to define their uncertain futures. There's little to do in Anarene, and while Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) engages in a passionless fling with his football coach's wife (Cloris Leachman), his best friend Duane (Jeff Bridges) enlists for service in the Korean War. Both boys fall for a manipulative high-school beauty (Cybill Shepherd) who's well aware of her sexual allure. But it's not so much what happens in The Last Picture show as how it happens--and how Bogdanovich and his excellent cast so effectively capture the melancholy mood of a ghost town in the making. As Hank Williams sings on the film's evocative soundtrack, The Last Picture Show looks, feels, and sounds like a sad but unforgettably precious moment out of time. --Jeff Shannon

Hud

Based on a Larry McMurtry novel, this Martin Ritt film was a testament to the sex appeal of the young Paul Newman. Playing the title character--a total rotter who, by the end of the film, has double-crossed or screwed over everyone he knows, including his hard-working father and brother--Newman turns him into an intriguing antihero. Things are tough on the ranch and Hud's dad (Melvyn Douglas) needs help, but Hud is too busy looking out for number one, even as things fall apart. And guess who's going to land on his feet? Beautiful black-and-white cinematography by James Wong Howe won an Oscar, as did performances by Douglas and Patricia Neal. --Marshall Fine

Newman plays a man at odds with his father, tradition and himself. His father is an old-line cattle rancher and Newman is the son whose only interests are fighting, drinking, hot-rodding and womanizing.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 2-DEC-2003
Media Type: DVD

The Trip to Bountiful

A "richly textured" (Leonard Maltin) and triumphant tale of an elderly woman's journey home The Trip to Bountiful stars Geraldine Page in "the performance of a lifetime" (Variety) and a role that won* her an Academy Award®. "Funny adventurous suspenseful but ultimately uplifting as a demonstration of the human spirit" (Los Angeles Times) The Trip to Bountiful is "perfect on just about every level" (Boxoffice)!Carrie Watts (Page) is an elderly woman with a weak heart but of strong determination. Trapped in a tiny apartment under the care of her cowardly son and his shrewish wife Carrie is determined to escape and return to her girlhood home. Seizing her chance and her meager Social Security check Carrie sets out on an unforgettable quest to make peace with her past and the secrets of her heart that draw her ever homeward.System Requirements: Running Time 108 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 027616921888 Manufacturer No: 1008150

Malena

When 12-year-old Renato, riding through his small Italian town on his new bicycle, sees the voluptuous Malèna, little does he know he's launching on an infatuation that will carry him through the tumultuous days of World War II. Malèna begins as an enraptured depiction of Renato's adolescent mind--the way he stares, hypnotized, at Malèna's garters pressing through the material of her tight skirt, or his frustrated rebellion against the indignity of wearing short pants--but soon transforms into a portrait of small-town prejudice. Malèna's looks spark lust and envy in the townspeople; when her husband dies in combat, the gossip only intensifies, to the point that Malèna is dragged into court to defend herself against accusations of adultery. When the women of the town refuse to sell her edible food at the market, Malèna has little choice but to become what she's been unjustly accused of being. At the end, a twist of fate turns this tale of longing and jealousy into a heartbreaking love story. Monica Bellucci exudes the can't-help-it eroticism that makes Malèna such a lightning rod for everyone's desires; she's like a more zaftig Isabelle Adjani. The movie seems to wander at times, but the ending has a powerful emotional impact. From the director of Cinema Paradiso. --Bret Fetzer

The latest triumph from Giuseppe Tornatore, the writer and director of the Academy Award(R)-winning CINEMA PARADISO, MALENA is an utterly unforgettable story of a boy's journey into manhood amid the chaos and intolerance of World War II. In a sleepy Italian village, the most beautiful woman in town, Malena (Monica Bellucci), becomes the subject of increasingly malicious gossip among the lustful townsmen and their jealous wives. But only her most ardent admirer, young Renato Amoroso (Giuseppe Sulfaro), will learn the untold true story of the mysterious and elusive Malena! In a captivating motion picture nominated for two Academy Awards, the eventual struggles and hardships that Malena must bravely endure serve to inspire Renato to new heights of compassion, courage, and independence!

Lone Star

This complex and rich film by John Sayles stars Chris Cooper as the contemporary sheriff of a Texas border town still under the sway of his late, legendary lawman father (Matthew McConaughey, seen in flashbacks). The discovery of a skeleton and crusted-over badge--buried some 40 years--initiates an investigation into an old crime no one wants to talk about but which will determine for Cooper's character, once and for all, various truths about his father's life. Sayles ingeniously sets this mystery against the backdrop of a developing, multicultural community losing its economic base while haggling over a history of racism. The overall effect is of a complicated American tragedy mitigated by the possibility of personal redemption. A terrific experience. --Tom Keogh

One of the most acclaimed movies of the 90's! The more a lawman probes into a long-ago murder the more he uncovers layers of family and racial strife that divide this Texas border town.Year: 1996 Director: John Sayles Starring: Chris Cooper Kris Kristofferson Matthew McConaughey Elizabeth PenaRunning Time: 135 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 053939251524

Normal

As Roy (Tom Wilkinson, In the Bedroom) and Irma (Jessica Lange, Cape Fear, Tootsie) celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, Roy passes out. While meeting with their pastor, Roy reveals that he's a woman trapped in a man's body, and he wants to get a sex change--setting in motion a complex and emotionally fraught conflict between husband and wife, individual and community, and parent and child. Normal explores Roy's gender dysphoria with empathy, but also has an eye for the social and familial absurdities that come up. The humor, far from trivializing the issue, steers it away from cloying sentiment or politically correct sanctimony. The movie captures the confusion of Roy's friends and coworkers with realism and without judgment, and the stressful changes of Roy and Irma's relationship aren't sugarcoated or made into a moral lesson. Both Lange and Wilkinson are superb, as are the skillful script and direction. --Bret Fetzer

Ray and Irma are a devoted couple living a normal life in rural Illinois, until Roy decides that his life must change and confesses to Irma that he's a woman trapped in a man's body. Now Roy must face their friends, his coworkers and his own children with the whole new way of life he has planned - and they must face him. What happens to a town, a factory and a loving marriage when confronted with such a transformation is all about being who you are, being in love, and simply being normal.

The Messengers

Lithe and tomboyish Kristen Stewart (Panic Room, The Safety of Objects) anchors the derivative but potently atmospheric horror movie The Messengers. The story--a troubled family moves into one of those creepy farmhouses that scream "serial murder site" and find their lives disturbed by unearthly occurrences--is a puree of plot elements from The Sixth Sense, The Birds, The Amityville Horror, The Shining, the recent spate of Japanese horror remakes, and more. Despite this, the movie may get under your skin; between the bleached sunlight, the effective ambient sound, and scenes that linger unexpectedly on quiet suspense, The Messengers creates a vivid and unsettling mood. There are still plenty of the abrupt jolts that make teenager girls clutch their dates, but this artful creepiness--combined with Stewart's engaging presence--will have a longer effect. Also featuring Dylan McDermott (The Practice), Penelope Ann Miller (Carlito's Way), and John Corbett (Northern Exposure, Sex and the City). Directed by the Pang Brothers, the duo responsible for Hong Kong hits like The Eye and Infernal Affairs. --Bret Fetzer

Beyond The Messengers at Amazon.com

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Small Town Life on DVD

Stills from The Messengers (click for larger image)

An ominous darkness invades a seemingly serene sunflower farm in North Dakota and the Solomon family is torn apart by suspicion mayhem and murderRun Time: 90Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG - 13 UPC: 043396148505 Manufacturer No: 14850