WCBE 90.5 FM: "The War Tapes," "Talladega Nights," "The Heart of the Game"

WCBE 90.5 FM: It's Movie Time:
Co-hosts, writers & producers: John DeSando & Clay  Lowe
Reviews: “The War Tapes,” “Talladega Nights” “The Heart of the Game”
Air  Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, August 11, 2006
Streaming live on the  web at http://www.wcbe.org .

The script:

Clay

"The War Tapes” should be seen by everyone who cares about America . .  .

John

“Talladega Nights” is a comedy racing on full satire. .  .

Clay

“The Heart of the Game” is a great film built on bad metaphors . . .

MUSIC UP THEN UNDER  FOR:

Richelle Antczak

"It's Movie Time" in Columbus with  John DeSando and Clay Lowe . .

MUSIC BRIEFLY UP THEN SLOWLY DOWN  AND OUT

John

I'm John DeSando

Clay

And I'm  Clay Lowe

John ("The War Tapes" 128 words)

Clay, in The War Tapes, one soldier says, "A good  American will always love his country and be suspicious of his government." This  statement isn’t a criticism of neocons but a self-protective code of behavior  devoid of politics.

Three National Guardsmen were given cameras in 2004 to film their personal points of view one year after the beginning of the Iraq conflict. The result is a mixture of grunt  humor, often better than anything scripted, and unsettling danger, such as the  cry of one narrator, ''This is the most helpless feeling you've ever had,''  about the awful omnipresence of improvised explosive devices they never see  coming.

Ditto the enemy. The documentary brings to the screen the reality of all war from those who know it best, the foot soldiers.

Clay ("The War Tapes" 133 words)

Folks, the screen reality we’ve seen from Iraq has become increasingly graphic and violent.  Not so the early years of the war when images of dead bodies were verboten and cheerleading was expected from imbedded reporters.

But despite the Iraqi elections, and despite the continued promises of hope, the daily violence continues.   So, not surprisingly, more graphic images of that violence have gradually found their ways on to our screens.  But, none so dramatic nor graphically violent than those taken by those three National Guardsman who documented their year in Iraq.

There’s boredom, anger, humor and fear, all mixed in together with images galore of bloodshed and gore that Americans haven’t seen on the screen since the Viet Nam war.

Folks, The War Tapes, like it or not, have brought the war home.

John ("Talladega Nights" 126 words)

Talladega Nights is funny  because of redneck dumbing down and Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as  believable race car drivers with slow wits and big hearts.

Ferrell screams, “Help me, Jesus! Help me, Tom Cruise! Tom Cruise, use your witchcraft to get the fire off me!” after an accident, and his wife is a hot blonde who goes where the earning potential is greatest. I frequently laughed out loud as they confirmed my best Jeff Foxworthy insights about rednecks.

Ferrell’s motto is “If you’re not first, you’re last.” Nights is not my first-ranked comedy of the summer (Little Miss Sunshine is), but it stands with Clerks II as a humorous look at a prominent subculture  whose political clout is approaching the status of “soccer moms.”

Clay ("The Heart of the Game" 130 words)

Folks, the new documentary The Heart of the Game manages to not only capture the passion and the energy of a high school girls’ basketball team, it also captures the eccentricities of its male coach.  You know,  the kind of guy who shouts out “kill ‘em” and “rip out their throats” in order to keep them fired up.

There are tears, joys, disappointments and fights with the powers to be who wouldn’t let one of the girls come back to play after she  had dropped out of school to have a baby.

Filmed over a period of six seasons, the filmmakers of The Heart of the Game have proven, most of all, that they have as much heart as their subjects.

But enough of exploding Hummers, hard charging race cars, and snarling high school girls, John, because its grading time.

John

Holy Halliburton, Hooray!

“The War Tapes” earns an “A” for being AUTHENTIC and without ARTIFICE . . .

Clay

"The War Tapes” gets an “A” because ALTRUISM is not ALWAYS rewarded . . .

John

“Talladega Nights” earns a BE for BODACIOUS fun at the  expense of red-state Americans. . .

Clay

"The Heart of the Game” gets a B because BEING aggressive is not the only way to play a game . . .

John

Clay, I wonder if NASCAR enthusiasts listen to our  show?

I’m outta here.

Clay

You’ll have to ask my two daughters, they love racing, but I’m not sure they're that high on our show.

I'm outta here, too

See you at the movies, Folks.

HIT MUSIC

Richelle:

The Award Winning  "It's Movie Time" with John DeSando and Clay Lowe is written and produced  by John DeSando and Clay Lowe in conjunction with 90.5 FM, WCBE in  Columbus, Ohio.

MUSIC UP AND  OUT

© 2006 John DeSando and Clay Lowe