American Tragedy (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a tape of the made for television movie about the behind the scenes activities of the defense in the OJ Simpson trial. This movie spares no one and paints a very unfavorable view of all the lawyers. The movie is based on Robert Cardasians (sp?) book. No one at the end of the trial has any doubt that OJ is the murderer or a violent person as evidenced by Johnny Cochrans comment to one of his colleagues after OJ becomes enraged with him "I was just glad I didn't have long blond hair". The defense often views Judge Ito as a dunce, laughing after he becomes outraged with their antics. The most interesting thing is the lawyers at one point realize OJ is in many ways smarter and more talented than all his lawyers at formulating strategy and getting a team to work together. However, OJ is portrayed as a very violent and dispicable individual.

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The Other Woman (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)I like Laura Leighton and she is good.
The rest is easy to watch - easy to
forget. Peter

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J. Edgar Hoover and the Great American Inquisitions (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)There is nothing wrong with this documentary as a documentary. It's just that Hoover and the tactics he favored were so awful, unfair, shady, and unjust that I couldn't leave this work in a good mood.
This work consistently proved how conniving Hoover was. Still, it took more than luck to work under eight presidents. Unlike fellow red-baiter Senator McCarthy, Hoover did not have a downfall. The work highlights his bad acts, but is upfront in saying, "America let this man rise to power and stay there." It repeats that the government has at times overstepped its boundaries since the Sedition Acts of the second president. Sometimes homophobic people are the first to shout out, "J. Edgar Hoover was gay!" This work does not fall into that. One interviewee quickly says, "Hoover and Tolson were rumored to be lovers" and then the subject is not brought up again. Sources on the Internet say Hoover will his estate to Tolson and Tolson chose to be buried next to Hoover.
This work has diverse interviewees in terms of race and gender. A few interviewees had classical, Japanese art work behind them. I'm not sure if the documentary makers planned that as a background motif or not.
I do wonder if young students will get bored watching so much old black-and-white footage. Perhaps teachers showing this work could remind viewers that the controversy surrounding Hoover's tactics have similarities to the controversies surrounding the Patriot Act of this decade.

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This scathing documentary chronicles the career of J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI for more than 40 years. His lifelong obsession with communists that began with the "Red Scare" of the early 1920s and manifested itself into a mission hell-bent on eradicating anyone suspected of engaging in anti-American activities, be they actors, politicians or protest groups. A masterful propagandist, Hoover took every opportunity given him to create a public atmosphere of outsider paranoia – and his fears ran deep. By the time of his death in 1972, Hoover’s FBI had compiled thousands of individual secret files and completed countless illegal operations.

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Homeless to Harvard - The Liz Murray Story (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)I saw this one when it first came out (on Lifetime) and am delighted it is finally available on video/Dvd. Thora Birch does an exceptional job playing a girl whose family life is chaotic (her mother is a drug addict, her father is mentally ill).
She's the butt of jokes at school because she has had no training in normal social behanvior and her home is so cluttered and messy that finding clean clothes to wear is a major challenge.
Somehow she manages to rise above her circumstances, beating the odds and going to Harvard. Credit the filmmakers for being honest and staying away from saccharine solutions. THis is a gritty but riveting film. A must-have in my colletion..should be in yours.

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Liz Murray was raised in poverty by drug-addicted parents. Though they loved her, they were unable to care for her and Liz ended up living on the streets by the age of 15. Profoundly affected by her mother's AIDS-related death, Liz forced herself to look at her future and make some significant changes. Her prospects were dismal, yet she turned her life around by going back to high school. After earning her diploma in just two years, while still homeless, Liz won a New York Times scholarship for needy students, which enabled her to attend Harvard University. DVD Features:Interviews:Interview with the real Liz MurrayOther:Inspirational message from Liz Murray

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Texas Justice (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was surpised at how good this movie was. I vaguely remember the events, since I live in Houston. Heather Locklear was great as Priscilla Davis.

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The Killing Secret (True Stories Collection TV Movie) (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)Greg Dunleavy (Mark Krassenbaum) and Nicole Voss (Ari Meyers) are the usual high school senior power couple: he the handsome, wealthy, and popular jock and she the beautiful, well-to-do, cheerleader. Greg and Nicole have been dating for two years now and have plans to attend the same college, after graduation, and eventually get married. But, Greg has a little secret: he is cheating on Nicole with a girl named Emily Decapprio (Soleil Moon Frye AKA tv's Punky Brewster) who just happens to be from the "wrong side of the tracts".
Sweet, trusting, but misguided, Emily eventually gets pregnant by Greg and actually believes that he will marry her, that they will raise the baby in the same town, and live happily ever after. Greg has other ideas, he sees only the rath of his father, and all of his future plans with Nicole going down the drain. When Emily, in no uncertain terms, informs Greg that she will not have an abortion and will indeed have the baby, Greg decides that Emily has got to go and maniacally strangles her to death with his bare hands. Greg then proceeds to zip Emily's body up in a bag and dumps her out into the middle of a local lake, then goes on about his life as though nothing has happened.
Nicole has since become friends with Emily's mother, Tina (Tess Harper) and tries to help her to find out what has happened to Emily. Eventually, Emily's body is found on the shore by Nicole's friends during a party held at the lake. It is soon brought out that Greg was "dating" Emily and the heat is on for Greg. Nicole is furious that Greg has been lying to her, beginning to have her doubts about his innocence, and breaks up with him. Another young man, who was obsessed with Emily, is arrested for the murder. Nicole now feels badly about suspecting Greg, and the two get back together.
Unfortunately for Greg, his days of freedom are numbered as a tiny piece of evidence, overlooked by Greg, but found and kept by Nicole (not realizing at the time what she has)comes to light and Greg is starting to get panicky. Anyone who has anything on Greg at this time better watch their back, and that includes Nicole and Tina!
This little gem of a Lifetime movie has wonderful and convincing performances by the entire cast and is a very worthwhile viewing experience, I have this DVD in my movie library. Try it, you'll like it!


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Homeland Security (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)Television pilots that fail to be picked up as series are showing up on the shelves as movies and the transition is all too apparent. HOMELAND SECURITY was supposed to be a series for TV, a form of explaining how the Department of Homeland Security came into being after the tragedy of 911. The 'film' version is mildly instructive, mildly entertaining, and in the end it is a hodge podge of ideas of how a long series might run crammed into 87 minutes.
What begins as a diatribe against the lack of cooperation and interaction among the CIA, FBI, and military intelligence (lower case intended!) suggesting that had their been centralization of information, perhaps 911 could have been prevented, ends up as a sprawling mélange of ill-connected pieces. The problems arise in attempting to explain the intricacies of the schisms in Afghanistan (a lot of pyrotechnique footage for this confusing section) along with the preludes of terrorist sub rosa influx into the country, footage from the 911 events, and personalization of some of the perpetrators and victims - all in compressed time broken by obvious black screen moments where TV commercials were placed.
The cast (Tom Skirett, Scott Glenn, Grant Show, Marisol Nichols, et al) tries hard to make the fuzzy script (written by Christopher Crowe) work, but the direction by Daniel Sackheim is jittery and ultimately seems to sell out to the political Right - probably at the demand of the non-cable TV network. Probably at the inception of the idea of tracing the evolution of Homeland Security as a force more intelligent in centralization of information was a good idea. It just gets too watered down and relies on the repetition of the line 'it was all there in front of us waiting for us to connect the dots'. Still, some food for thought. Grady Harp, August 05

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HOMELAND SECURITY - DVD Movie

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