Reminders and Reviews

Hi everyone! Since there are limited things to post about this week, I thought it would be a good time to compile a list of important upcoming events before mentioning a few more reviews of Pride and Glory.

• Dec 29: Firstly and most importantly, Jennifer Ehle will turn 30 + 9 next Monday! We all wish her a very happy birthday and a healthy and happy New Year in advance.



• Jan 16 - Feb 1: For those of you who live in the New York area (or who have the means of getting there), be sure to start the New Year off right by going to see Rosemary Harris reprise her role(s) in Oscar and the Pink Lady at Florence Gould Hall. Playbill has all the deets.



• Jan 27: On the one-year anniversary of The Russell Girl's airing, Pride and Glory will be released on DVD (Region 1), and we will have three options to choose from when making our purchases. Option number one is the single disc edition which includes both the widescreen and full screen versions of the film. The second option is the two-disc Special Edition featuring the documentary The Source of Pride, and the third option is the Blu-ray version, which includes the same features as the Special Edition. All three can be pre-ordered at Amazon.com.



• March 2: Quickly following the Region 1 release of Pride and Glory is the Region 2 release, which can also be pre-ordered at Amazon.co.uk.



• March 9: While the Region 2 DVD of Before the Rains was formerly scheduled to be released on Dec 26, it looks like it will not become available until the spring. Patience is a virtue.

Pride and Glory continues to make its way around the globe (see IMDB for release dates), prompting more critics and fans to add their two cents to the review bucket. Their two cents greatly resemble those that have come before them.

• South Africa's Mail & Guardian Online claims that the movie is a seat-sticker:

  [...] Pride and Glory is cinematically aware of the rough, snowed-under streets and cityscapes. Simultaneously raw and tender, alternately slow and fast-paced, it comes out as a grimy, somewhat truthful portrayal of the streets and the cops who prowl them. Although it runs at just more than two hours the action is gritty and arresting enough to keep you stuck to your seat.

• Channel NewsAsia thought the film was "just your average cop flick," giving it three out of five stars, but happily, the quality of the performances did not go unrecognized:

  [...] The script and story fails the acting prowess available and undermines the great performances put in by Norton, Jon Voight as the patriarch and Jennifer Ehle as the sick sister-in-law. [...]

• Steve Vineberg of The Christian Century, like many others, regrets that the characters and plotlines involving Abby Tierney & co. were not developed further:

  [...] It's a shame the film doesn't develop the women: Megan, who suspects what Jimmy's into but keeps it to herself; Abby (Jennifer Ehle), Frank's wife; and Maureen (Leslie Denniston), the mother of the family. Ehle is a talented actress, but her character is defined by the cancer that's eating away at her, a subplot that adds more weight to the film than it needs. Denniston has a lovely moment with Voight when she slides a glass of whiskey out of his hands without making a big deal out of it. Her deft, practiced handling of his drinking makes us want to see more about how this couple interacts—but that's all we get. [...]

• The bloggers have weighed in, too. Ivantypes thought it was "a great cop film with a comfortable balance between action and drama." A Nutshell Review, on the other hand, felt the movie lacked the "it" factor: "That doesn't mean that it's a bad film, but lacked that particular x-factor in making it memorable."

Lastly, here is a book you might like to add to your collection: Theatre World: Volume 63 2006-2007. It's a pictorial and statistical record of the theater season, featuring The Coast of Utopia, and it's available at Amazon.com.

Happy holidays everyone!