Frontline: Country Boys (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)I first saw "Country Boys" one evening after groggily scrolling through the channels until I got to PBS. There, I found an "docudrama" about two appalachian boys called Cody and Chris, following their trials and tribulations while attending a private high school. So engrossed was I, I watched the next two "installments," staying up past my "bedtime" to do so. Now, of course, I won't have to stay up beause I just ordered this beautiful film on DVD.
"Country Boys" had all the fixin's for being a "pitying" film. That is, it is a film about two poor boys attending a school for the academically struggling in Eastern Kentucky. Cody does not have parents (his father murdered his mother when he was very young.) Chris had an alcoholic father and a mother trying to make it any way she can. But far from pitying its subjects, we get to see not only the dark side, but the bright side, of each boy's life. We get to see not only failures (there are some of those), but successes. You will think about these boys and this town long after the 6 hours of film is over.
What really affected me about the film was that you get a real sense not only of who these boys are, but what the community is like. From the close-knit family that is the David School (the private high school for the acedemically challenged) to Cody and Chris's respective support "networks," you see both the ugliness and beauty that is Appalachia.
This is one of the few films that I have had trouble not thinking too much about after it was over. Now, all I have to do is wait for the DVD to come.


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Filmmaker David Sutherland ("The Farmer's Wife") returns to PBS with a moving portrait of the trials and triumphs of Chris Johnson and Cody Perkins, two teenaged boys coming of age in eastern Kentucky's Appalachian hills. Filmed over three years (1999-2002), the six-hour documentary tracks the dramatic stories of Chris and Cody from ages 15 to 18.

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Justified: The Complete First Season (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)As a heartbroken fan of Nip/Tuck, which just ended its 6 season run, I was keeping an eye out for another FX show I could enjoy. With FX, original series can be either hit (Nip/Tuck, Dirt) or miss (The Riches). Justified is a show I normally wouldn't have looked at even once. Being a city girl at heart, I'm not a fan of westerns or anything country. One thing I am a fan of is Timothy Olyphant. When I saw one of my favorite actors (brilliant in "Hitman") was going to be in a new show, I of course had to watch. A pleasant surprise awaited me.
It's as if Timothy Olyphant was born to be US Marshal Raylan Givens, a good ol' country boy with personal issues. After shooting a man in Miami old west style ("It was justified"), Raylan is punished by being sent back to his old home town in Kentucky to work the local cases, many involving people he knows. His estranged father, former best-friend-turned-criminal, an old flame and a complicated ex wife round out the engaging cast of colorful characters. Raylan has a reputation for being a bit trigger-happy, a branding he hardly thinks is fair ("only if it's justified"). He is never without his 10 gallon hat (unless someone steals it), he can talk down a hostage situation with whiskey and a bucket of fried chicken, or shoot a guy for "taking one more step". It's all in a day's work for Raylan.
Justified is one of those shows that makes you forget you're watching a show being acted by actors. It's as though you are observing actual people live their lives. I feel like I'm in the scene, watching everything unfold before me. The dialogue is fresh, gritty, real and absolutely hilarious. The characters bounce between utterly ridiculous and completely relatable. And the actors, everyone from the main stars to the day players are right on the money.
If you haven't yet seen Justified, do yourself a favor and catch it when it re-airs on FX. Watch it On Demand. Or wait for the DVD's to come out. If you don't give this show a chance, well, that ain't civilized.

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Timothy Olyphant (Damages and Deadwood) stars as a modern-day Western hero based on the character created from legendary crime novelist Elmore Leonard from his short story, \'Fire in the Hole." Deputy Marshall Raylan Givens (Olyphant) is exiled to his hometown of Harlan County, Kentucky after the shooting of a Miami drug cartel hit man raises debate over his renegade style of law enforcement. Unfortunately it isn\'t long before the people he left behind begin to surface in the most unexpected ways. Raylan\'s new job pursuing prison escapees, fugitive con men, and a corrupt local sheriff has never been more intense. Find out what makes Raylan\'s Wild West, gun-slinging actions Justified in this thrilling first season.

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