July 16, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I & III • Page 23 John Wayne, Montgomery Clift star in ‘Red River’ by Dennis Seuling “Red River” (The Criterion Collec- tion) is one of the finest Westerns turned out by Hollywood. John Wayne stars as Tom Dunson, who heads west in 1851 with a wagon train. He then continues south to Texas to start a cattle ranch. Accompanying him is wagon driver Groot (Walter Bren- nan). Tom’s girl, Fen (Coleen Gray), wants to go along, but he promises to send for her later. From a distance, Tom and Groot see smoke from an Indian attack that destroyed the wagon train. A young boy, Matt Garth, has survived the attack and is adopted and raised by Tom as the heir to his ranch. Matt goes away to school, and returns in 1866 (Montgomery Clift) just as Tom is prepar- ing a drive to take 9,000 head of cattle north to Missouri. Though the film is based on a novel that dramatized the real life of 19 th cen- tury expeditions along the Chisholm Trail, director Howard Hawks emphasizes the codes of masculinity and honor that have become myths of the American West. Tom is a complex character who can be viewed as both hero and villain. He is constantly being told he is making bad decisions, and these warnings become prophetic. The screen chemistry between Wayne and Clift is excellent and is an interesting contrast in acting styles. Wayne, the technical vet- eran actor, knows how to turn on a per- formance when the director yells “action.” Clift, a Method actor, is more cerebral, ever searching for motivation and drawing upon his own background to connect with Matt. Hawks managed to get first-rate perfor- mances from both. Extras on the dual-format, Blu-ray/DVD John Wayne and Montgomery Clift in a scene from ‘Red River.’ edition include a new interview with Peter Bogdanovich about “Red River;” audio excerpts from a 1976 interview with Howard Hawks; a Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of “Red River” from 1949 starring John Wayne, Joanne Dru, and Walter Brennan; and a booklet containing a critical essay. “Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa.5” (Paramount) is an unrated hidden-camera feature starring Johnny Knoxville as 86- year-old Irving Zisman on a cross-country journey with his eight-year-old grandson, Billy (Jackson Nicoll). The film creates edgy scenarios as Irving introduces Billy to folks who would make child protection agencies wince. The two encounter male strippers, unhappy child beauty pageant contestants and their angry mothers, funeral home mourners, biker bar patrons, and an assortment of unsuspecting citizens. Though Knoxville’s makeup is entirely believable, the set pieces are often tepid in their payoff and many seem overly famil- iar, such as Irving flirting suggestively with young women or encouraging Billy to drink beer in public. Nicoll is a perfect straight man for Knoxville’s antics, without a hint of artifice. He is very good at knowing how to sustain a bit and escalate it into greater outrageousness. This “.5” Blu-ray edition contains considerable footage not shown in the theatrical version, a round-table inter- view with cast and crew, and a featurette on the casting of Billy. Additional bonus scenes feature Catherine Keener as Irving’s wife, Ellie. “A Day Late and a Dollar Short” (Lion- sgate) is a Lifetime movie that combines cheap sentimentality with a less-than-per- fect family’s bad decisions. When can- tankerous matriarch Viola Price (Whoopi Goldberg) discovers that her next asthma attack will probably kill her, she makes it her goal to fix her dysfunctional family before she dies. This includes her relationship with her husband, Cecil (Ving Rhames), and her four children and grandchildren. She must face assorted obstacles to fence mending: sibling rivalry, teen pregnancy, and drug addiction. Her incarcerated son has to learn (continued on Crossword page)