Every day people walk by something that is a direct result of Richard Pimentel's efforts: wheel chair ramps, parking spaces for the disabled, handicapped bathroom stalls, etc. Pimentel is a deaf Vietnam veteran who pioneered training people in how to work with the disabled, which eventually led to what is known today as the Americans with Disabilities Act. A new film, Music Within, covers Pimentel's difficult battle for acceptance and equal rights for the disabled community. The film documents his own experience going to jail for being out in public with his best friend Art Honneyman, who was wheelchair-bound, violating "Ugly Laws," ordinances that were in effect as late as the 1990's that punished the disabled community. Those laws have since been recanted thanks to Pimentel's efforts. Larry talks with Pimentel and the film's director, Steven Sawalich.
Plus, Larry and critics Henry Sheehan of henrysheehan.com, and Lael Loewenstein of Variety, discuss the week's new releases including the feature films Things We Lost in the Fire, Rendition, Reservation Road, Gone Baby Gone, and Broken, and the documentaries The Price of Sugar, and The Unknown Soldier.