“Flags of Our Fathers”
*** 1/2 “Flags of Our Fathers” follows the three surviving flagraisers made famous by Joe Rosenthal’s photo “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.” Bereft of their three other comrades, they climb an ersatz Mount Suribachi. They traverse the nation selling war bonds. They flash back to the carnage that has them proclaimed heroes. Few directors capture America’s contradictions the way Eastwood does. With a sturdy ensemble that includes Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford and a breakout performance by Adam Beach as the Pima Indian Ira Hayes, he compassionately engages themes of heroism (real and imagined), patriotism (earnest and manipulated), duty to country and love of battlefield comrades.|R|132 minutes|Released today|Lisa Kennedy
“Flicka”
** Directed by Michael Mayer, this reshod version of Mary O’Hara’s classic novel about a boy who befriends a horse but can do little to please his dad, focuses on Katy McLaughlin, the daughter of a Wyoming rancher played by country star Tim McGraw. Flunking out of prep school, 16-year-old Katy (Alison Lohman) returns home for the summer to face an aggravated dad, a wise mom (Maria Bello), and indulgent ranch hands and a supportive bro, champing on his own bit. When she discovers a mustang she wants to train, a battle of wills ensues. Dad thinks the wild horses are equine vermin. A movie about the call, the whinny, the ornery buck of the wild should have something mildly unruly at its core. Yet “Flicka” remains tame from the giddyap.|PG|94 minutes|Released today|Lisa Kennedy
“Hollywoodland”
*** In this atmospheric noir mystery, Ben Affleck plies the alchemy of the personal and professional to conjure a portrait of an actor whose entanglements help, then hamper, then destroy him. And who better than a man once known by the moniker “Benifer” to tussle with the tribulations of George Reeves, the TV “Superman” who becomes vulnerable to his public’s demands with nothing but his own decisions to blame? Diane Lane and Bob Hoskins have fire and force as the married woman Reeves has an affair with and her movie mogul husband. Inspired by Reeves’ death in 1959, ruled a suicide, “Hollywoodland,” with Adrien Brody as a detective, “Hollywoodland” does a compelling job of teasing lasting doubts into a rumination about Lalaland and celebrity.|R|96 minutes|Released today|Lisa Kennedy
“Running With Scissors”
** 1/2 Director-writer Ryan Murphy’s version of Augusten Burroughs’ tart, best- selling memoir hits its highest highs and its most brooding lows thanks to Annette Bening’s engaging, hurting portrayal of Augusten’s mother. When her marriage ends (Alec Baldwin does fine work as Augusten’s flummoxed, drinking dad), she leaves young Augusten in the care of her highly unethical shrink and his bent family. “Running With Scissors” suffers a bit from comparisons to other movies about families too mad for words. But Bening has delivered another “for your consideration”-worthy performance.|R|121 minutes|Released today|Lisa Kennedy
TV ON DVD
“Dallas: Season 6″| In an age of sky-high gas prices, it’s good to have the wholesome Ewing family to remind us that not everyone in the oil industry is a vicious back-stabber. A five-disc set packs all 28 episodes of the prime-time soap opera about the clan of conniving oil robber barons.|$39.98| Released Jan. 30|
David Germain, Associated Press
MORE RELEASES DVDs available today
Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure (PSP) Mastiff, will be released Monday
Wii Play (Wii) Nintendo, Monday
College Hoops 2K7 (PS3) 2K Sports, Monday
Ghost Rider (PS2) 2K Games, Feb. 13
Rocky Balboa (PSP) Ubisoft, Feb. 13
Test Drive Unlimited (PC) Atari, Feb. 13
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas (PSP) Ubisoft, Feb. 13
Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner (PSP) Atlus Software, Feb. 13
GAMERMETRICS.COM
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING | Top DVDs
SALES
1. Gridiron Gang
2. Employee of the Month
3. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
4. The Protector
5. The Illusionist
RENTALS
1. Employee of the Month
2. Gridiron Gang
3. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
4. Crank
5. The Illusionist
-BILLBOARD.BIZ
