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GAY IE ENTERTAINMENT:
"Milk" on DVD

“Milk,” the Harvey Milk biopic featuring Sean Penn’s Academy Award winning performance as the gay rights leader, is worth a second look now that it’s out on video, or a first look if you didn’t find the movie in theaters late last year.

Penn disappears into the role of the San Francisco supervisor, who was assassinated in 1978 by fellow supervisor Dan White, played by Josh Brolin, also nominated for an Oscar. I’m among those who, as Penn says himself, sometimes finds the actor difficult to appreciate, but I was won over by his performance here. He deserved the awards season honors.

The movie’s screenwriter, Dustin Lance Black, won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The film was also nominated for eight awards, including Best Picture and and Best Director, Gus Van Sant.

The movie is particularly relevant as it follow’s Milk’s efforts against a statewide proposition that would allow firing gay teachers.

Extras with the DVD include interviews with members of the ensemble cast, Emile Hirch, Diego Luna and James Franco. But an interview with Penn is missing on the extra reel. Other extras include three deleted scenes, interviews with people who worked with Milk and a feature on how street marches were recreated for the film

One of the notable devices in the movie is how historical footage was used. As a companion to “Milk,” see the documentary “The Times of Harvey Milk.” Putting the films side-by-side, viewers will notice that the attention to detail in “Milk” is obvious, right down to what Penn/Milk wore to the Pride parade.

BOX OFFICE: “Milk” made less than $32 million domestically in its 19 week theatrical run – its widest release was in about 880 theaters. It ranks No. 12 on Box Office Mojo’s list of the top 100 gay films released since 1980. (Check the complete list at http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=gay.htm)

RUNNING TIME: 2 hours, 9 minutes.