C2 - THE JOURNAL, Thursday, April 8, 2010
Entertainment
PICKS OF THE WEEK
"Apollo 13" (15th Anni-
versary Edition) (Rated
PG) -- It was 40 years ago
when astronaut Jim Lovell
uttered those five fateful
words: "Houston, we have a
problem." Less than a year
since Nell Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin captured the
world's attention, Apollo
13's mission was barely
a blip on the pop-culture
radar -- until the news broke
that the three astronauts
were stranded in a crippled
spacecraft nearly a quarter
million miles from home.
Directed by Ron Howard,
"Apollo 13" is the compel-
ling story of those men's
struggle to repair their ship
and get home alive. The
performances' of the cast
(Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise,
Kevin Bacon, Ed Harris
and Kathleen Quinlan) are
riveting; the special effects
top-notch, and I have to
say this is probably the
best film Ron Howard has
ever made.
This DVD release is
the first time the film has
been available in Blu-Ray
format. Special features
include commentary by Ron
Howard, Jim Lovell and his
wife, Marilyn; a "Dateline"
segment about the mission;
the documentary "Lost
Moon," which chronicles
the making of the film; and
the featurette "Conquering
Space," a retrospective of
the past 45 years of manned
spaceflight.
"Faces of America" (Not
Rated), In this entertaining
and informative PBS series,
Harvard scholar Henry
Louis Gates Jr. tells the
story of America by using
genetics and genealogy to
trace the family history
of 11 celebrities. Among
those profiled are Stephen
Colbert, Eva Longoria,
Meryl Streep, cellist Yo-
Yo Ma, chef Matin Batali
and figure skater Kristi
Yamaguchi. Through their
families' stories, we see
the triumphs and tragedies
of our nation's history.
"Pirate Radio" (Rated
R) -- Written and directed
by Richard Curtis ("Four
the North Sea in 1966 and
the attempt by a politician
(Kenneth Branagh) to shut
them down. It's not one of
Curtis' best films, but the
cast he's assembled (Bill
Nighy, Emma Thompson,
Nick Frost, Philip Sey-
mour Hoffman) take the
often-flimsy material they
have to work with and belt
out some memorable per-
formances.
"Nightmare on Elm Street
Collection" (Rated R) --
From 1984 to 2003, in eight
great (and not-so-great)
films, Freddy Krueger has
been a horror icon to two
generations of filmgoers.
This boxed set contains all
eight films: "A Nightmare
on Elm Street," "Freddy's
Revenge," "Dream War-
riors," "The Dream
Master," "The Dream
Child," "Freddy's Dead:
the Final Nightmare," "Wes
Craven's New Nightmare"
and "Freddy Vs. Jason."
TV SERIES
"The Donna Reed Show:
Family Favorites"
"Emergency!" Season Six
"Dallas" The, Complete
Weddings and a Funeral," Thirteenth Season
"Love, Actually,""Notting "Alias Smith & Jones"
Hill"), "Pirate Radio" is the Season 2 & 3
story of a group of misfits (c) 2010 King Features Synd.,
aboard.a pirate radio ship in Inc.
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