My Dinner With Gore

By Stephen VittoriaWith apologies to Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn.When I decided to make the film “One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern,” the person to interview at the top of my list was Gore Vidal – for a lot of reasons. First and foremost, he knew McGovern very well and one could always count on Gore to bring his razor sharp wit, his intellectual wherewithal, and his brutal honesty to any situation. For our session...

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DVD Playhouse--November 2012

By Allen GardnerPIER PAOLO PASOLINI’S TRILOGY OF LIFE (Criterion) Pier Paolo Pasolini was Italy’s last Neo-Realist, a product of post-WW II Europe who was fervently Catholic, openly gay, defiantly Marxist, and one of the most original voices of the 20th century’s second half. Before his brutal murder in 1975 (after the premiere of his still-controversial swan song, “Salo”), Pasolini directed a trilogy of films based on masterpieces of medieval literature:...

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DVD Playhouse--August 2012

By Allen GardnerA SEPARATION (Sony) This drama from Iran won the 2011 Best Foreign Film Oscar, telling the story of a couple who file for a legal separation, with the wife pushing for a divorce. He won’t leave his Alzheimer’s-afflicted father behind, while she is wanting to take their young daughter with her to the United States. After a series of misunderstandings, threats and legal actions, the couple find that there is more than just their marriage...

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