Turner Classic Movies kicks off its salute to the Golden Boy Thursday, Feb. 1. Consider this a DVR/TiVo/VCR alert. Here are a few of the selections that will get my VCR humming:

Feb. 1 Thurs.

10:30am Brief Encounter (1945) A classic love story, considered an all-time tearjerker in its day, starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard.

4:30pm The Garden of Allah (1936) Never seen it but the cast dictates that I record it—Marlene Dietrich, Charles Boyer, Basil Rathbone.

10:30pm The Professionals (1966) Exciting western starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin and Robert Ryan.

12:30am Detective Story (1951) A superb performance by Kirk Douglas highlights this police drama that can’t quite hide its stage origins. Look for Lee Grant in her film debut.

Feb. 2/3 Fri/Sat

11:30am Arrowsmith (1931) Never seen it, but stars Ronald Coleman, Helen Hayes, and Myrna Loy, directed by John Ford.

4am Two For the Seesaw (1962) I haven’t seen this drama about an illicit affair in ages starring the odd couple of Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine.

Feb. 3/4 Sat/Sun

2am A Passage to India (1984) David Lean’s last movie featuring brilliant performances by Judy Davis, Victor Bannerjee and Dame Peggy Ashcroft.

9:30am The Dark Angel (1935) Another flick I’ve never seen, about friends during WWI starring Fredric March, Merle Oberon and Herbert Marshall.

8pm Cinema Paradiso (1990) A love letter to the power of the movies.

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If you aren’t an animal lover, it is hard to explain how the death of a horse you never met can make you weep. Animal people understand. We appreciate that Barbaro’s owners were willing (and had the money) to try and save Barbaro’s life, against the steepest of odds. It was Barbaro’s ability to battle his setbacks when most horses would refuse to put up with casts and slings and activities that were not natural for a horse that made us appreciate his courage. For anyone that has ever had a pet that needed expensive medical care they couldn’t afford, Barbaro represents what we would have done if we could afford it. Thanks to owners Gretchen and Roy Jackson, Dr. Dean Richardson and his staff at the New Bolton Center learned and developed treatment techniques that might save a horse down the road. That is the only good news about Barbaro’s passing. Pictured, above left, is Barbaro with Dr. Dean Richardson.

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Four years ago, I signed up for a free tryout of a new DVD-by-mail service called Netflix. You went on-line to set up your list of movies, and the first three available were sent to your home. You watched them at your leisure, with no late fees. When you sent back a movie in a pre-paid envelope, the next movie on your list was sent to you. Despite the fact that the local Blockbuster had tons of movie titles available, I found myself relying on Netflix for all my video needs. Why? Well, the no late fee aspect was attractive, and the $20 a month fee was reasonable. I usually averaged 12 to 15 movies a month. Even at the then $3-a-title rental price at the Blockbuster, that meant I was getting $39 to $45 worth of movies for the monthly fee. (These days the fee is $18 and movies at the local video store are $4.50 a title so the savings are even greater.)

However, the best part about Netflix was the selection of titles. The service offered a ton of independent features, foreign films and documentaries. They also had a fabulous search engine. You could look up all the latest Australian movies, for example, not just by title or actor. As you rate movies, you received excellent tips on what you might like, although as a film critic, I have a pretty good idea of what I want when I add titles to my queue.
My loyalty to Netflix has been tested the last two weeks. After being bombarded by the TV ads for Blockbuster’s new mail service, I had to check out the free two-week trial. Blockbuster had Little Miss Sunshine available immediately (Netflix had me on the “long wait” for that title), and when I was done watching the movies, I could take them over to my local Blockbuster and trade them in for three titles from the store. The instant gratification was nice. This was on top of the store sending my mail titles back allowing me to receive my next three titles from my online list. In other words, getting six movies, instead of three. Of course, it had been so long since I had been in a Blockbuster, I had to sign up again to get the in-store flicks.
One drawback in the Netflix system is that sometimes it has been so long since you selected a movie for your list, you’re not in the mood to watch it when it arrives three months later.
So, I bet you’re thinking that I’m switching to Blockbuster. Wrong, Carnack-breath! The biggest reason I preferred Netflix to the local Blockbuster was their selection of titles beyond the big name flicks everybody wants. The local Blockbuster is carrying more indie flicks and foreign titles, but as usual they only have one or two copies of the less popular movies. The outside walls of the local Blockbuster are dominated by multiple titles of the same hot button movies.
Yes, the Blockbuster system gives you twice as much to watch, but I sometimes have trouble watching three movies in a week, let alone six movies. Netflix was there for me four years ago, and old-school movie fan that I am, I’m not switching sides.
Next up for me is a visit to the Blockbuster site to give them the bad news.
Later

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Forest Whitaker will win the Academy Award this year for his performance as Idi Amin. Amazingly, enough it is his first nomination. For some inexplicable reason, his first breakout performance, as Charlie “Bird” Parker in Clint Eastwood’s film Bird (1988) did not receive a nomination. I’m sure I was outraged at the time. Whitaker won the best actor prize that year at the Cannes Film Festival. For the record the five nominees for best actor in 1988 were Dustin Hoffman (winner) in Rain Man, Gene Hackman in Mississippi Burning, Tom Hanks in Big, Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver and Max von Sydow in Pelle the Conqueror. Whitaker deserved a nod ahead of Hackman and von Sydow.

But enough about history. Whitaker, an actor of remarkable range, is not the type of performer to sell himself. He has a humble approach in a profession that rarely cultivates humility. His quiet, introspective personality was favorably displayed during a session with James Lipton on Inside the Actor’s Studio.
His career began with small roles in episodic TV, then he made his film debut as a jock (he is a former high school football player) in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). His first performance that caught my attention was the small but important role of a pool shark who out-hustles Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) in The Color of Money (1986). He was part of the ensemble in Platoon (1986) as Big Harold, and had a couple of earn-a-paycheck roles in Stakeout (1987) and Bloodsport (1988). Forest had a more substantial supporting role in Good Morning Vietnam (1987), followed by his mesmerizing impersonation of Bird.
While this should have led to more starring roles, those aren’t easy to come by for a large black man with a lazy eye. He soldiered on in roles as a cop or criminal in Downtown (1990), A Rage in Harlem and Diary of a Hitman (1991). In 1992 along came another breakout role in Neil Jordan’s gender-bending drama The Crying Game. He joined the ensemble in Robert Altman’s Pret-A-Porter (aka Ready to Wear, 1994) as a flamboyant fashion designer. After more by-the-book supporting roles, he found an indie film that offered more, the film festival hit Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, directed by Jim Jarmusch. In it he plays a mafia hitman who follows the code of the Samurai. I hope Forest earned a pile of money for his participation in the worst movie ever made, Battlefield Earth (2000).
Whitaker made his directorial debut with the well made chick flick Waiting to Exhale (1995), and two other female-oriented films Hope Floats (1998) and First Daughter (2004). One suspects his Oscar juice will allow him to find a film of his own choosing to direct. In the meantime before and after his filming schedule for Last King of Scotland, he found juicy story arcs in the TV series The Shield and this season on ER.
Whitaker has several projects completed or in post-production, a couple of indie projects The Air I Breathe and Ripple Effect, and a larger scale assassination thriller Vantage Point. The latter’s cast includes Matthew Fox, William Hurt, Dennis Quaid and Sigourney Weaver.
Hopefully, the big fella will be able to sustain the buzz when he picks up his golden boy on Feb. 25.

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This year’s Oscar nomination announcement went pretty much by the book, which made for a boring announcement. About the only shock wave was generated by the nine nominations for Dreamgirls, but not for best picture or best director. Of course the predictability of the nominations made me look as good as Medium’s Alison DuBois.

I picked all five best actresses, all five best actors (except DiCaprio was nominated for Blood Diamond not The Departed), and four of five for the supporting ranks. I was glad Jack Nicholson’s performance did not get a nomination; Mark Wahlberg deserved the nod and got it. Since I’m not a fan of Little Miss Sunshine, I didn’t predict either Alan Arkin or child star Abigail Breslin, although both were excellent in the movie. What fun it would have been if Catherine O’Hara had slipped in for playing an actress desperate for a nomination in For Your Consideration. Oh, well.
In the best picture category, the Dreamgirls slot was apparently taken by Letters From Iwo Jima. When it became clear that Flags of Our Fathers did not have enough juice to earn Oscar consideration, Warner Bros. had the brilliant idea of releasing Letters in 2006, rather than waiting to release it 2007 as planned. Obviously, the plan worked. I had though that Eastwood would earn the nod, but not for best picture. The other surprise was no nomination for Dreamgirls’ Bill Condon. Instead Paul Greengrass was nominated for United 93. That gives me a four for five in both the director and best picture category. While Children of Men did not get picture or director nods, it did earn an adapted screenplay nomination, plus nominations for film editing and cinematography. Click here for the complete list; vist here for my predictions in AC Weekly.
You can bet the house that Forest Whitaker, Helen Mirren, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson will win Feb. 25. So will Martin Scorsese at last. The only decision up in the air is best picture. My feeling at the moment is that it will be The Departed vs. Little Miss Sunshine, and that Scorsese’s film will take it.

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A San Diego treat has arrived at Bally’s Palace Theater. Il Circo is a demonstration of athletic prowess wrapped up in Commedia dell’arte packaging. It is on a much smaller scale than the elaborate Cirque du Soleil extravaganzas that for my money are too much spectacle and not enough humanity.

Il Circo presents the simple premise of a child entering a dream world, using that storyline to present its impressive line-up of acrobats, aerialists, clowns and remarkable 12-year-old contortionist Sasha Pivaral. There is music in the show, adding dramatic flair to the gymnastics, but the power of the human body in graceful motion is always center stage. For total flexibility, strength and balance, you can’t beat the amazing Vladimir Malachikhin (the man in white). If you are looking for a show that overwhelms with elaborate costuming and production design, this is not it. If you like the idea of skilled athletics demonstrating their strength, body control and flexibility, plus a couple of laugh-worthy clowns (Aaron Easterbrooks, James Maltman), Il Circo will provide a delightful evening of family-friendly entertainment.
The Il Circo Web site has a cool feature. You can visit the site and connect with a link that lets you leave comments for the cast about the show.

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Duane Hopwood, an engaging low-key look at a man whose life is spinning out of control due to his alcoholism, recently came out on video. Starring David Swimmer and written and directed by Matt Mulhern (who grew up in Longport and co-starred in the TV series Major Dad), the film is set in Atlantic City and was filmed there in Feb., 2004. If you rent the DVD (Roger Ebert put it in his top 10 for 2005), look closely at the coffee table during a scene when Duane’s friend Gina (Susan Lynch) drops by Duane’s home in the rain. Sitting on the table is a copy of Atlantic City Weekly (the Feb. 5, 2004 issue to be exact), featuring a rodeo rider on the cover.
Rent the movie and also read my interview with Swimmer from the Nov. 17, 2005 issue about this underrated little gem.

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This year’s Academy Award presentations will not include Oscar swag, those gift-laden thank-you bags given to Oscar attendees in years past that the IRS threatened to tax. The Academy decided it was better to lose the bags that get involved in an IRS nightmare.
Well, I received some Oscar swag last week. An impressive box arrived from Turner Classic Movies to announce their annual 31 Days of Oscar event from Feb. 4 to March 3. So it wasn’t an expensive watch or a spa coupon, but I’ve been enjoying my bag of red twists (for plot twists) and candy kisses (favorite kisses). Anyway, for this type of payola they get a nice blog about my favorite TCM event.

I was sweet on it long before they sent this candy-loving diabetic the sweet treats. This is the 13th year TCM has been honoring the month the Oscars are presented by opening up their vaults and presenting a bunch of movies that have earned Academy Awards and/or nominations. The movies on tap include On the Waterfront, From Here To Eternity, Cinema Paradiso, Comes A Horsemen (an underrated western), The Maltese Falcon, The Dirty Dozen, and too many more to mention. Check out the TCM Web site http://www.tcm.com/index.jsp for all the choices. The best actor line-up on Wed., Feb. 7 is particularly strong starting with The Hustler at 6am, This Sporting Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Anatomy of A Murder, Starman and The Last Detail. Thursday, Feb. 22 at 8pm, the big guns come out with a 72-hour best picture winners’ marathon that begins with Ben-Hur and ends with Casablanca at 6pm on Oscar night, Sunday, Feb. 25.
However, my biggest TiVo alert takes place on TCM on January 25 at 2:30am when Billy Wilder’s The Big Carnival (a.k.a. Ace in the Hole) is being presented. This cynical look at a reporter (Kirk Douglas) who exploits a mine cave-in for his own glory is a lot better than plenty of Oscar-winning films and has never been released on tape, let alone on DVD.
P.S. Check out my Oscar nomination predictions

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AC Weekly graphic artist Rich Downs competed in the media race at the Gambler’s Classic Midget auto races I wrote about in the current issue. He has provided a guest blog about his experience. Check it out.

When the national anthem was sung Friday night in Boardwalk Hall I did not stand. Nor did I remove my headwear. Truth is, I couldn’t. I was strapped into a rear-engine slingshot midget auto with a crash helmet surrounding my head for the press race to begin the full slate of racing at the Gamblers Classic.

Myself and four other impulsive media representatives were graciously welcomed into the racing community by the behind-the-scenes personnel and the various racing teams that daringly volunteered the pride and joy out of their racing trailers. These were lightweight speed machines that they painstakingly tuned up to compete in themselves. They came from all over the country. Lee, the real driver of number 34, hails from Alabama. He gave me a rundown of vital information to get the most out of his slingshot. His team members welcomed me into the team, snapping pictures and wishing me luck, so I felt like part of the family.
By the time I was pushed out to the Pepsi coated oval in a sheet metal and roll bar cocoon, I was snug and secure. Three practice laps, and then go to green for five laps were our instructions. The start was not the tight formation you see real drivers form. We were spread out all over the track. My main objective was to keep off the wall. In the straight-aways I gained on the car in front of me. I managed to squeeze in between it and the third turn wall. I couple of bumps and I passed it. By the time I was in head-to-head competition, the yellow flag came out and the race was halted abruptly due to a crash in the outside fourth turn concrete barrier. Good thing that racing team brought a spare car. The front frame was badly bent and the driver, Veronica Dudo from TV-40 was visibly shaken.
Someone reached in and turned off the ignition key with a smiley face key chain and the race was done. I climbed out of the car and conferred with a race official in the infield. “It’s a little different than driving to work!” he joked. I replied, “It’s a lot more fun!”

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This is normally the time of year that becomes a dumping ground for movies. Once the big holiday movies had shot their wad, what’s left for the first month of the new year are movies that have been sitting on a shelf somewhere, or were deemed not worthy of release during a prime movie-going season. Sometimes it is considered a good spot to slip in an indie film, or a horror film that might get more attention when there is nothing else to go see.
Of course the movies we are talking about this time of year are not the brand new 2007 films, but the 2006 flicks that have Academy Award aspirations. Since the Atlantic City region is not exactly a prime movie locale, there are 2006 movies that have not yet trickled down to our area, playing only in major cities until the Academy Award nominations come out on Tuesday, Jan. 23.

Those movies include Clint Eastwood’s companion film to Flags of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima; Steven Soderbergh’s The Good German and Notes On A Scandal. The Painted Veil, which has received some Oscar buzz, is opening locally this Friday (Jan. 12), as is a 2006 release with foreign language Oscar aspirations, Curse of the Golden Flower.
If I had been able to see Children of Men on Christmas day when it opened in a few markets, it would have made my Best Ten List published in Atlantic City Weekly on Jan. 4. Instead, ten years from now I’ll look at my 2006 list and say, “How the hell could I put Over the Hedge on my Best Ten List and not Children of Men?”
Speaking of the Oscars, make sure you check out my annual Oscar Tour Sheet in the Jan. 18 issue of ACW. I’ve been predicting the Oscar nominations in the form of a handicapping “tout” sheet for nearly thirty years, inspired by my late father Harry Hoffman, who did horseracing handicapping for many years as a sportswriter for the Press of Atlantic City. It’s a lot more fun and more challenging to predict the nominees prior to the announcement than it is to pick the winners once the nominees are known.
I’m going to give away a secret. One of my most helpful on-line tools for Oscar research is: http://www.oscarwatch.com/
Check it out.
Later

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The NASCAR Nextel Rookie of the Year, Denny Hamlin, will be at the Motorsports 2007 show at the Atlantic City Convention Center this Saturday to sign autographs from 1-3pm. Autographs are free with admission to the show. Although it arrived too late to make my AC Weekly cover story http://www.acweekly.com/index.php on the Midget auto races and the Motorsports Show, I’ve included my E-mail exchange with Denny Hamlin here.

ACW: I understand you very young when you decided you wanted to be a race driver. Was there a particular moment that triggered your interest and how young were you?

Denny Hamlin: I was two or three years old when according to my mom I first started speaking complete sentences and all I said was that I wanted to be a racecar driver. I used to watch races on television with my father when I was very young and that was what sparked my interest in the sport and my career dream.

ACW: How thrilled were you winning Rookie of the Year honors and being in the Chase for the Cup? How do you top that this season?

DH: Our goal last year was to finish in the top fifteen in points and win the rookie of the year honors. We felt that if we could beat out a very strong rookie class of drivers in 2006, which included JJ Yeley, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson and David Stremme, the FedEx #11 team would have had a very successful year. Obviously, to win not only rookie of the year honors, but two races, as well as the Bud Shoot Out, qualify for the Chase, and finish third in the point standings, surpassed all of our expectations. It definitely was an awesome rookie season that in my wildest dreams I never would have thought could be as good as it turned out. At Joe Gibbs Racing, we are given everything we need to compete for race wins and the Championship, so I think we’ll top our rookie season by continuing to achieve consistent results, win races and qualify for the Chase. The Nextel Cup Series is very competitive and I think you top your prior season by not only having the chance to win races, but continuing to improve week in and week out.

ACW: Who will be your toughest competition this year?

DH: We know that we are going to have extremely difficult competition from at least 35 different teams this year. And the addition of the Toyota teams in 2007 will bring even greater competition. Of course, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, all of the usual guys in the top 15 in points, are going to be consistently very tough, but there will probably be drivers such as Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, and others who will exceed expectations this year and battle for spots in the Chase.

ACW: Have you ever been to Atlantic City and are do planning to do any gambling while here?

DH: Not yet, so I am really looking forward to coming. I heard that Lenny Samons Motorsports show is always great and as I enjoy coming to places like Atlantic City, I expect to have a lot of fun. Unfortunately, my stay in Atlantic City will be short as I have an appearance in Cincinnati that evening.

It sounds like racecar drivers have a hectic schedule even in the off-season.

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