February 16, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES I, II, III & IV • Page 19 Classic of the 1970s comes to Blu-ray disc formances from an all-star cast, and neatly balances satire and traditional comedy. William Holden plays an old-school newsman willing to compromise his profession, Robert Duvall is a network hatchet man, and Beatrice Straight is a betrayed wife. Finch, Dunaway, and Straight won Oscars for their performances, and the film was nominated for Best Picture. Bonuses include a six-part making-of documentary, a vintage interview with Chayefsky, commentary by Lumet, and the Turner Classic Movies program “Private Screenings with Sidney Lumet.” “All the President’s Men” (Warner Home Video), another gem from the 1970s, told the story of how hard journalism unraveled the Watergate scandal and led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon. “Washington Post” reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) follow leads after a burglary at Washington’s Watergate building seems to suggest far more than a routine break-in. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the movie is based on the Woodward/Bernstein book and explores a working newspaper where the goal is to get the story and get it right. The film received eight Oscars, including Best Supporting Actor for Jason Robards as Ben Brantley, editor of “The Washington Post.” Peter Finch won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in ‘Network.’ by Dennis Seuling The 1970s was a rich period for American films. It was the decade that gave us “The Godfather,” “Serpico,” “The French Connection,” “Jaws,” “Star Wars,” “Annie Hall,” “American Graffiti,” “Cabaret,” “Chinatown,” “The Deer Hunter,” “M*A*S*H,” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” to name just a few. One of the best and most memorable films of that decade is “Network” (Warner Home Video), now available in a Blu-ray edition rich in special features. Peter Finch plays Howard Beal, a national news anchorman whose ratings have been declining. Hearing that his job will be axed, Beal announces that he will commit suicide on the air in one week. The network’s producers go into a tailspin, but ratings for the show soar. Taking advantage of Beal’s broadcasts, career-hungry programming executive Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) creates a sort of reality TV by pairing them with unedited footage of a terrorist organization’s bank robbery “Network” is extremely timely in that the Paddy Chayefsky script forecasts the transformation of hard news programs into sensationalism and puff pieces. Under Sidney Lumet’s direction, the film is fastpaced, contains uniformly first-rate per- Bonuses include a making-of documentary, the featurettes “Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire” and “Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat,” commentary by Robert Redford, a 36-page book with extensive background on Watergate with an investigative timeline, and a vintage Robards interview from the TV show “Dinah!” “The Twilight Zone: Season 3” (Image Entertainment), available on Blu-ray for the first time, contains many of the classic show’s most memorable episodes. “The Shelter” is the story of a family with a bomb shelter being besieged by desperate neighbors when nuclear war breaks out. “Nothing in the Dark,” starring a young Robert Redford, deals with the fear of death as an elderly woman (Gladys Cooper) barricades herself indoors so Death cannot rush in and claim her. “The Jungle” is a cautionary, creepy tale about ancient superstitions and those who scoff at them when a man undergoes a frightening nighttime journey in a big city. “It’s a Good Life” is a superb adaptation of the James Bixby short story about a child (Billy Mumy) with the ability to will things, some horrible. Other episodes deal with a post-apocalyptic world (“Two”), Nazi concentration camp ghosts (“Death’s Head Revisited”), aliens with a sinister (continued on Crossword page) C • O • R • T• I • N • A R I S T O R A N T E Fine Dining For Lunch & Dinner Lunch Starts at $7.00 • Mon-Fri 11:30AM–2:30PM Dinner Starts at $12 • Mon-Thurs 5PM–9:30PM • Fri & Sat 5PM–10PM Dine & Dance - Live Entertainment Wednesdays: Ray La Rovere-Piano, Emil Rizzo-Mandolin Saturdays: Mike Constantino-Piano Private Party Room For Up To 60 People • Call for Reservations - 973-942-1750 118 Berkshire Ave., Paterson, NJ (Totowa Section) • www.cortinarestaurant.com Charge Top German-American Restaurant in North Jersey 2-2-11 Beers ester/janine On Tap Dinner Starting CortinaRestaurant3x3(2-2-11) at $8.95 • 3 pm - 10 pm Entrees starting at $8.95 • Noon - 6 pm 3 xEarly Dining Menu with 23Monday - Saturday 3” Sauerbraten, Schnitzels, German Sausages, Goulasch, Spaetzel, Dumplings, Potato Pancakes and more. 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