When the script by writers Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner first started making the rounds in Hollywood, Senator John Glenn hadn’t made his historic return to space. “Space Cowboys” met with interest but for a while, inevitable rejection. Warner Bros. bought the script all the same. Then Senator John Glenn was approached about a return to space, accepted, and was strapped into the space shuttle. A history maker remade history once again, becoming the oldest man (at age 77) to go to space. “Space Cowboys” suddenly had an even greater following and push to get to the big screen. Clint Eastwood was selected to direct the film and star as Frank Corvin, an engineering designer whose knowledge becomes a pivotal piece in the plot that unfolds. Eastwood has been in front of the camera for over five decades, but he’s truly come into his own while behind it. Over the past few films ...

  “Crash” is a compelling, energetic effort that proves as mesmerizing as waiting for a snake to strike or the inevitable pile-up of cars on a freeway. Not a story, in a sense (although it won an Academy Award for Best Picture), “Crash” is a string of vignettes that are so tightly woven together that you can’t extricate them from each other without losing structural integrity. They play off each other again and again, sharpening the final acts of each piece throughout 36 hours of nearly non-stop pressure. Not only is the film daring from the storytelling aspect, but it meets the race issues of Los Angeles head-on, earning its name. It even starts out with a crash that promotes the racial tension, then segues right into a murder scene that happens to be at the side of the road. Also, each of the characters really gets revealed onscreen. No one is simply the ...