MAX'S BEST DVD AND BLU-RAY PICKS
I'm Max, a black Lab mix, and I watch a lot of DVDs with
my master, Walt Oleksy (email: walteroleksy@yahoo.com)
I will recommend what I like best of new movies, documentaries,
and kids and puppy stuff on DVD each month. They get tail wags
and "Woo Woos!" I rarely watch anything to do with violence,
crime, nekked people, or vampires, so my reviews are
family friendly.
I won't chew on this bone any longer, so here
are my picks for this month.
Max’s Best DVD and Blu-Ray Picks -- January 2011
DOWNTON ABBEY
Masterpiece, the long-running British television series formerly called Masterpiece Theatre, launches its 2011 season on PBS Sunday nights with this new period drama by Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes (GOSFORD PARK), and it comes to DVD this month. First shown on British television in the 1970s, it became the sleeper hit of last fall’s season in repeats and my best pick of the month. It portrays the lives of a wealthy aristocratic family and the relationships they have with their servants after the sinking of the Titanic in 1914 that sets off a struggle over inheritance of wealth and an estate. It’s simply a fascinating story beautifully staged and acted, with Dame Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, and Elizabeth McGovern heading a stellar cast of supporting players. Special DVD bonus videos include the “Making of Downton Abbey” and “A House in History.” Don’t miss this one, from PBS Television.
LEBANON
A powerful film from director Samuel Maoz gives an almost too-close look at the 1982 Lebanon war, as seen from the viewpoint of four young Israeli soldiers confined to their tank during the early hours of the United Nations-led invasion. The lone tank is dispatched to search a hostile town that has already been bombarded by the Israeli Air Force. One film critic called it “the DAS BOOT of
tank movies.” Special features on both the Blu-ray and DVD versions include a director's commentary track and a behind-the-scenes featurette. From Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
MACBETH
The award-winning 2007 Broadway and London West End production of the Shakespeare classic stars Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood, shown on PBS television’s Great Performances last year and now available on DVD. Shot in
Shot in High-Definition at Welbeck Abbey in the U.K., it captures the atmosphere and tone of the stage version, heightening the classic with an edgy style.
FRAMED
A delightful British mystery based on Frank Correll Boyce’s best-selling novel stars Trevor Eve (of Heart of the Sun) as the senior curator of the National Gallery in London.
When it is flooded, he suggests that the entire collection of priceless paintings be stored in an abandoned slate mine inside a north Wales mountain, as they were during World War II. I won’t tell you what becomes of his plan, but it is a movie to keep you engaged, even if you’re a lifelong celibate like myself. From BBC Television, PBS Television, and WGBH Boston Video.
Documentaries
GOD IN AMERICA
Public Television’s Frontline and American Experience aired this comprehensive study of religion in America, past and present, and its role in shaping our nation’s culture, ideals, and democracy. One critic said “The compulsively compelling documentary manages to make our country’s religious history as thrilling as any Dan Brown novel.” Documentary films are interwoven with historical dramatizations and contemporary interviews with religious historians. The prize-winning series is on DVD from PBS Distribution.
JOHN WAYNE: BIGGER THAN LIFE
A special collector’s three-disc set of DVDs from Synergy Entertainment and Music Video Distribution) includes the Full-length western comedy McCLINTOCK! (1963), in which the Duke plays cattle baron George Washington McLintock who fights his wife (Maureen O’Hara), daughter and political land-grabbers, finally “taming” them all. Also featured are three engrossing documentaries: Bigger Than Life (1990), covering the Duke’s life and films; The American West of John Ford (1971), highlighting the career and western films of acclaimed director John Ford, including interviews with Wayne and other colleagues; and No Substitute for Victory (1970), hosted by Wayne, about the communist threat and its involvement in the Vietnam War.
GROUCHO MARX TV CLASSICS
The legendary funnyman with the funny mustache and cigar made some of the funniest movies with his brothers, but also some very funny television shows. A three-disc boxed set features 16 episodes from You Bet Your Life, a TV series that ran from 1950 to 1961. Groucho played host to contestants in a lively, unrehearsed quiz show. Also included are two episodes of The Hollywood Palace, with Groucho hosting a variety show on television in the mid to late 1960s. Great fun from Synergy Entertainment.
A MURDER OF CROWS
A NATURE documentary reveals new research showing that crows, maligned as a scavenger or a bad omen, are among the most intelligent animals in the world (after dogs, I’m sure). A group of crows is called “a murder of crows,” though they are generally not up to anything murderous at all. The hour-long documentary available on DVD and Blu-Ray, is from PBS Distribution.
TOP SECRET ROSIES: Female Computers of World War II
Another little-known secret of the war, the focus is on the pivotal role of a group of female mathematicians who helped win the war, while ushering in the modern computer age. Many American women who had worked in factories during the war sometimes took on new jobs replacing male workers who were in the military. Their work involved secret military mathematics projects. From the bombing of Axis Europe to the assaults on Japanese strongholds, they worked six days a week, around-the-clock, creating ballistics tables that proved crucial to Allied success. Rosie the Riveter in factories made the weapons, but their counterparts with computers made them accurate. When the first electronic computer (ENIAC) was developed to aid the Army’s calculation efforts, six of these women were tapped to become its first programmers. From PBS Distribution.
FRAMED
A film adapted by Frank Cottrell Boyce from his best- selling children’s novel of the same name. As first seen on PBS Television’s Masterpiece Contemporary series last month, it is the charming story of a young Welsh boy residing in the small fictional town of Manod who befriends the curator for the National Gallery in London. The curator is hiding priceless works of art in Manod for safe-keeping while the National Gallery undergoes renovations. The film stars Trevor Eve (HEAT OF THE SUN).
THE SPILL and DEATH BY FIRE
Two compelling films from the award-winning series FRONTLINE. THE SPILL takes an in-depth look at the trail that led to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and the disaster in the Gulf. “DEATH BY FIRE” questions the guilt of an executed father and the evidence presented in the case. Did Texas execute an innocent man? The chilling film examines the evidence that led to the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham – convicted for the arson deaths of his three young children. From PBS Distribution.
SLAVE SHIP MUTINY
A marine archaeologist, an historian, and a slave descendant report on the mutiny aboard the slave ship Meermin in the mid 1760s. Its cargo of slaves were to become hard labor to build a British colony at Cape Town, but one of them led a mutiny that overpowered the crew.
I won’t reveal what happened then because it makes for more fascinating adventure than most movies. From PBS Distribution.
THE SILVER PHARAOH
The long forgotten royal tomb of Pharaoh Psusennes I which some scholars say is even more remarkable than that of Tutankhamun. One of the most spectacular discoveries inside the crypt was the exquisite silver sarcophagus of the obscure ruler who governed Egypt more than 3000 years ago during one of its most difficult periods. The story of this virtually unknown pharaoh helps fill in some of the gaps in ancient Egypt’s history. From PBS Distribution.
