It's Ronald Reagan day at DVD Savant, where he has a 'supporting role' in both a docu and a cable feature. Both end up as great entertainments, for opposite reasons.

First Run Features' Berkeley in the Sixties is a vastly educational look at 60's 'radicalism' that makes one think about the strange state of affairs today, when any group that demonstrates is assumed to be troublemakers, and the press and elected officials maintain a false sense of consensus by pretending the country is all in agreement. They made a lot of foolish choices, but the activists interviewed in this exceedingly fair docu come off as world-class patriots, as idealistic as the men who founded our country.

Paramount's The Day Reagan Was Shot is a real surprise, a cable movie that's the equal in writing and execution of most feature fare. An excellent script details the often hiliarious truth about the the back stage maneuverings and petty power plays that occurred when the President was incapacitated by a bullet in 1981. Richard Dreyfuss and Richard Crenna top a cast that impersonates famous people without lampooning them. (Note, 11/22: I've amended the review with a note from 'Hank' about this film's falsification of historical facts ... yes, I was 'had'.)

A free weekend looms to try and catch up with more reviews, including the Criterion SOLARIS which just arrived. Thanks for hanging in there! Glenn Erickson