Last night, I mentioned in passing to a couple of friends that I would be blogging about Holocaust-related entertainment. They just stared as though there was something wrong with me. I clarified that I was referring to books and movies about WWII and the Holocaust; I was not suggesting that the Holocaust was entertaining. (And it was during intermission at a play about Sylvia Plath. It's not as though these friends demand light entertainment!)

Why I was thinking about this subject in the first place? Well, I had just learned of a new book about the heroism of some ordinary people during World War II.

The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story, by Diane Ackerman, is the story of Jan Zabinski, the Christian zookeeper of the Warsaw Zoo and his wife Antonina, who helped save the lives of hundreds of Polish Jews during WWII by hiding them — often in plain sight — at the Zoo. … continue reading

When Portrait of a Marriage was released on DVD earlier this year, it ended a 16-year quest of mine. (I'd actually gone to the extreme of buying the uncut version on VHS -- for way too much on eBay.) But my DVD collection is still incomplete, because I can't get these things (at least not easily, or not on region 1 discs):

10. Desperate Lives (1982)
An ABC After School Special in which Helen Hunt does PCP and jumps out a window. As far as I can tell, this isn't included in any of the box sets -- not even the one that looks like a little school bus.

9. Holocaust (1978)
This miniseries is traumatic and long, but everything Meryl Streep has ever done should be on DVD.

8. Only When I Laugh (1981)
Remember when Neil Simon ruled the screen and the stage? This particular Neil Simon movie has the distinction of not starring Matthew Broderick or Jonathan Silverman or another baby-faced boy of that ilk. It's very New York, and very gay-friendly, and full of quotable lines. And it can come in handy when you're playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

7. The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (1981)
I don't remember whether this movie was really so terrific. Maybe I just like the way Vicki Lawrence sings the song.

6. Shields & Yarnell (1970s)
Once upon a time, a mime/clown met an off-Broadway dancer. They decided to create their own variety show, dance the robot with Muppets, and win an Emmy. The End. … continue reading