In career Army officer Hank Deerfield’s worldview, the American military exists to bring order to the world, and honor and dignity to every one of its soldiers. As played by Tommy Lee Jones, in a layered performance that will haunt the viewer long after the film is over, Deerfield wears the Army life like he does his standard-issue white T-shirts–unconsciously making a cheap motel bed with crisp inspection-ready corners. Yet if war is hell, the purgatory for the relatives of damaged soldiers can cause far more anguish, and Paul Haggis’ quietly devastating In the Valley of Elah tells this story through Deerfield, who is desperately trying to piece together the fate of his adored son Mike, a soldier in Iraq.

Mike’s company has returned from duty, but he is missing; Hank flies from Tennessee to Fort Rudd in the Southwest, to conduct his own investigation into the disappearance. There he meets a smart but put-upon police officer (Charlize Theron, glammed-down but still showing a bit too much sexy collarbone for a cop) who also smells something off in the Army’s official story of the disappearance. The two form an unlikely team, but as a friend tells Deerfield early on, “You gotta trust somebody sometime, Hank,” and Mike’s vanishing is Hank’s tipping point.

As Hank pieces together the horrifying story of Mike’s fate, the incremental pain becomes etched in Jones’ ragged features, and the camera captures all of it–far more powerfully than could a million words of reportage from the front lines. Theron’s performance is also strong, and Susan Sarandon is moving if underutilized as Hank’s grief-stricken wife, robbed of the simple nuclear family life she so wanted. “They shouldn’t send heroes to places like Iraq,” says one of Mike’s buddies late in the film, and it’s the viewers’ collective sorrow–and the film’s great achievement–to feel that at the deepest human level. –A.T. Hurley

Director:  Paul Haggis
Blu-ray:  AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Company: Warner Home Video  (2008-02-19)
List Price: $35.99
Amazon Price: $21.95

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I hear so many retirees say they are bored. This sentiment also takes the form of, 0I don0t have enough to do to fill my time.0 If you are bored or you find yourself with far too much spare time, you are not alone.
There are two main types of responses to boredom or lack of purposeful activity: depression or intentional effort to try new things. I always encourage people to try to come up with a combination of activities that are fun, good for you and good for others. As you know, I have a strong commitment to becoming involved in helping others. One of the reasons is that when we help others we are doing something that is good for them and good for us.
I suggest you try some things that are growth experiences for you, some things that are just plain fun, and some things that help others. You will want to give some thought to the ways you fill your time. It is important to choose things that are right for you.
To help you think about rewarding and enjoyable activities, here is a list of fifteen great things you might do with your time in retirement.
1. Volunteer […]

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Houston, TX 0 Black History Month has an added poignancy this year, as it is almost 40 years to the day, since Martin Luther King delivered his 0I Have Been to the Mountaintop0 speech. In the four decades since that momentous occasion, there have been great strides in civil rights and racial relations 0 the fact that there is a Black History Month at all would have been unthinkable in 1968.
Some of the progress includes Senator Barack Obama winning a presidential caucus in a predominately 0White0 state like Iowa. Conversely, there have been recent reminders of America0s deep racial divide with cases like the Jena 6 in Louisiana. So how far has America really come since MLK declared on April 3, 1968; 0I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land0?
0I was 19 when Dr. King made that speech,0 recalls Willie Alexander, former NFL Cornerback and author of 0Entering the Promise Land.0 0Three years later I was in the NFL and I thought I0d escaped discrimination. Turns out I was wrong.0
Raised in segregation-era Montgomery, Alabama, Willie had first-hand experience of the problems caused by racial strife. Being a Houston […]

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