FROM ALBERT BROOKS TO BETTY GRABLE: A SURVEY OF DVDs AND BLU-RAYS

I am back on an exercise bike every morning, which gives me an opportunity to catch up with DVDs and Blu-rays. Obviously, I’m not going to screen Lawrence of Arabia this way, so I choose my discs carefully: in some cases I revisit movies I haven’t seen in years, or check out bonus features on new releases. One thing is clear; if I enjoy what I’m watching I don’t think so much about the drudgery of exercising. I devoured every moment of the extra material on Criterion’s new release of Lost in America (1985): Bob Weide’s relaxed, informative conversation with filmmaker and star Albert Brooks, plus interviews with costar Julie Hagerty, Brooks’s longtime manager Herb Nanas, and admirer and Broadcast News director James L. Brooks. I’ve been an Albert Brooks fanatic for…

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