walts wallow

2012-01-29T09:19:00.000-08:00

Max’s Best DVD and Blu-ray Picks – February, 2012

Hi, I’m Max. best friend of Walt Oleksy (waltmax@comcast.net), and I review new DVD and Blu-ray releases each month. We don’t care for most of the new stuff out of Hollywood. We’ve seen more than enough thrillers, car chases, men and women in their birthday suits, and comedies the critics say are “hilarious” but which just aren’t funny unless you’re two years old (I’m nine and my master admits to being “over thirty-nine.” We don’t watch anything with vampires in it, except the original “Dracula.” We like movies that tell a good story and maybe we learn something from it. We figure you can read about the new so-called blockbuster films everywhere else, so we look for flicks that are worth seeing but get little publicity and are not seen in most mall theaters.

Everyone’s so busy these days, I keep my recommendations brief. Here goes for what I think you’ll like on DVD this month.

Best Pick of the Month

DOWNTON ABBEY, SEASON 2

No question about it, the second series is as good a bone to chew on or even better than the first, which knocked a lot of socks off for its wit, drama, intelligence, and just plain great entertainment. Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Dan Stevens, Michelle Dockery, Brendan Coyle, and the rest of the terrific cast returns with some new members including longtime favorites of mine, Ian Glen and David Robb, to keep the plot pot boiling over as the “upstairs, downstairs” families get deeper into World War I and domestic action centering around the decline of the system of class and privilege in England. My master and I have been watching it Sunday nights on PBS Television’s Masterpiece series, and he just got it all on Blu-ray which is a special treat for sharpness. Extras on both the Blu-ray and DVD formats include short documentaries about the fashions and uniforms of the war period, Romance in the Time of War, about romantic relationships in the mansion, and how it was converted into a hospital during wartime. Season One won an Emmy as best television miniseries and the new season could well win another. It’s available now on both Blu-ray and DVD, nine hours of great entertainment on three discs from PBS Distribution. My tail is still wagging after watching it all and I can hardly wait for the third season which is already in production. There’s also a lot of cliff-hanging romance in the series, so since February is the month of Valentine’s Day, both season one and two on Blu-ray or DVD would make a great gift for your loved one. My master and I find that watching it on disc helps us to catch stuff we missed watching it on television. Will Lady Mary win back Matthew? Will Bates and the ladies’ maid escape the claws of his scheming wife? Will the Daisy the kitchen helper continue to encourage the soldier? DOWNTON ABBEY always keeps us guessing.

Max’s rating: Two paws up and lots of “woo! Woo’s!”

Also recommended this month:

BEGINNERS

A father (Christopher Plummer) comes out to his son (Ewan McGregor) before dying and we are taken on a very personal journey into their distant relationship. It’s a strong movie from writer-director Mike Mills that is well worth watching, not only for the story but the two lead performances (Plummer was nominated for a supporting actor Academy Award and is my favorite to win). Often stealing scenes is a Jack Russell terrier called Arthur in the film. I’d like to play with him, but since he lives in California and I near Chicago, that’s unlikely. So I’ll keep playing with Lucie, a chocolate brown Lab next door, and my new playmate, Lola, a Golden Retriever up the block. Sorry for digressing. The movie is on DVD and Blu-ray from Focus Features.

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS

This is an old-fashioned romantic melodrama going back to the 1930s that my master and I enjoyed this month. Robert Patterson took his teeth out of girls’ necks as a vampire long enough to star in this film as a would-be veterinarian who works at a traveling circus. He falls in love with the wife (Reese Witherspoon) of the circus owner (Christopher Waltz) while tending to the health needs of an abused elephant. Waltz, last year’s winner of an Oscar for best supporting actor in the war film INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, steals this show as a slightly off-kilter and very jealous husband. Talk about a temper! My only objection to the film is some violence against animals and people. The DVD and Blu-ray is from Fox Searchlight.

ZATT

This horror film was so bad it is now considered good, (sometimes this happens with dogs, too), a cult classic that took ten years to be released, in 1982. Now it was been restored and in high definition in a special DVD/Blu-ray combo pack from Film Chest on the Cultra and HD Cinema Classics labels. The story is about a man who drinks some bad water and turns into a human-sized walking catfish. He goes after anyone who laughs at him and also tries to get some women to drink the same bad water so he has a female catfish companion. Also called BLOOD WATERS OF DOTOR Z, it is not for everyone (not everyone likes fish, either), but if you’re looking for some midwinter madness, this could more than fill your plate.

THE JAZZ SINGER

You may never have known (I didn’t), that comedian Jerry Lewis also starred in a version of the 1927 classic Al Jolson film that first brought sound to the movies. In celebration of Lewis’s 80 years in show business, this rare television broadcast of Lewis as the cantor’s son who prefers to sing pop songs, is now on DVD from Inception Media Group. It was originally a 1959 special for NBC’s Lincoln-Mercury Startime television series and was never rebroadcast or distributed in any home format since it was first aired.

Documentaries

EYES ON THE PRIZE

The 25^th anniversary of the definitive Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary report on the civil rights movement, now on DVD from PBS Distribution. The 6-hour special first aired on PBS Television in 1987 and was called by the New York Times “the most ambitious documentary undertaken by black filmmakers and one of the largest television series ever undertaken,” while the Chicago Sun-Times said “This is not just superb television, it is a journey into the soul of America,” as it recounts the fight to end decades of discrimination and segregation. My master and I watched the three disc DVD set just after seeing the new film, THE HELP, on DVD, and it added greatly to our understanding of the civil rights movement. And if you haven’t seen THE HELP yes, I highly recommend it as one of the best movies of last year and a strong contender for the best picture Academy Award and its star, Viola Davis, who could be named best actress.

DEFENDING THE REALM

Honoring the 70^th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, this documentary recounts the summer of 1940 when Royal Air Force pilots saved London during intensive bombing by the Nazis before America entered World War II. It was the heroic action of the RAF that summer that Prime Minister Winston Churchill said “Never in the field of human conflict have so many owed so much to so few.” The exciting documentary is on DVD from ITV Studios Ltd. and BFS Entertainment. Must-viewing for most of us.

FRONTLINE: “A PERFECT TERRORIST,” and “DIGITAL MEDIA: NEW LEARNERS OF THE 21ST CENTURY”

Two excellent documentaries from PBS Television. The terrorist documentary from the award-winning Frontline series reports on the mysterious events that led David Coleman Headley to escalate from heroin dealer and U.S. government informant to the master plotter of the 2008 attack on Mumbai, India. The attack by a Pakistani militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the most spectacular terror attack since 9/11, left 166 dead. The other documentary tells how digital media such as smart phones and other hand-held communications gadgets for playing electronic games, social networking, texting, and blogging, is impacting the lives of American children and influencing how they learn. The hour-long documentary attempts to answer questions of parents and educators about what young people are doing with these technologies as a social and educational revolution. Both documentaries are on DVD from PBS Distribution.

NOVA: Bombing Hitler’s Dams and 3D Spies of World War II, Destroying Hitler’s Top-Secret Rockets

The award-winning PBS Television series focuses on how experts have re-created the heroic World War II events during 1943 in which British pilots bombed Nazi dams, the most audacious raids in history. The bombs destroyed two huge dams in Germany’s industrial heartland. The two-hour documentary is on DVD from PBS Distribution. The spy documentary tells how British pilots flew over Germany early in World War II to take 3-dimensional photographs of sites which housed Hitler’s top secret rocket facilities. Air photo intelligence teams in a country house near London then studied the millions of photos using 3D graphics to enable Allied pilots to bomb Hitler’s hidden rocket sites. The raids were crucial setbacks to the German rocket program and helped ensure the success of the D-Day landings and bring about an earlier end to the war. The hour-long DVD is also from PBS Distribution.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Custer’s Last Stand and Underground Railroad: The William Still Story

Two more excellent documentaries in the award-winning PBS Television series. In the Custer documentary, historians report on the June 26, 1876 massacre of U.S. Cavalry Gen. George Armstrong Custer and his men at the Little Big Horn River in Montana Territory by a large army of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. Researchers present both sides of the unsolved historical argument of whether Custer was a hero or a glory-bent military leader who intentionally sacrificed his life and those of his troops. The two-hour documentary, as exciting as any movie, is from PBS Distribution. The other documentary profiles the heroic efforts of William Still, a free-born African-American Pennsylvania abolitionist and historian, who helped slaves cross the U.S. border into Canada via the so-called Underground Railroad. It also explores the major role Canada played in the secret missions in which tens of thousands of men, women, and children, were delivered from bondage to freedom before and during the American Civil War. The hour-long DVD is also from PBS Distribution.

FRONTLINE: THE INTERRUPTERS

This exciting documentary reports on how three people known as “violence interrupters” bravely worked to protect their Chicago neighborhoods from violence they once had used themselves. The New York Times says the film “has put a face to a raging epidemic and an unforgivable American tragedy” – the violence in our cities. The three Chicagoans are shown attempting to intervene in situations in which two brothers threaten to shoot each other, an angry teenage girl just home from prison, and a young man headed toward an act of dangerous revenge. The award-winning two-hour documentary from producer-director Steve James (HOOP DREAMS) and author-producer Alex Kotlowitz (THERE ARE NO CHILDREN) is on both DVD and Blu-Ray from PBS Distribution.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: William Jefferson Clinton

Continuing its fascinating series of in-depth biographies of famous Americans including its former Presidents, this documentary focuses on former President Clinton. From draft-dodger to admired President whose administration was one of prosperity and a balanced budget, with a scandal along the way, we learn more about the man and official than we may well never have known. The portrait is of one of the most successful politicians in modern American history and one of the most complex and conflicted public figures. The three-hour DVD is on both DVD and Blu-ray from PBS Distribution.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: The Amish

The PBS Television series focuses on a year in contemporary Amish faith and life of the insular religious community that holds strict to their 300-yar-old traditions of living modestly and old-fashioned in modern America. The two-hour documentary, the first to deeply penetrate and explore is values and where the Amish may be headed, is on both DVD and Blu-ray from PBS Distribution.

FRONTLINE: The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela

An intimate portrait of one of the 20^th Century’s greatest leaders. The documentary probes into the South African leader’s character, leadership, and life’s method through interviews with friends and political allies and adversaries. Also interviewed are fellow prisoners and jailors where he spent 18 of his 27 prison years on Robben island off Cape Town, Africa, transforming from radical into mature leader and statesman. The two-hour documentary is on DVD from PBS Distribution.

ROUGH CUT – Woodworking with Tommy Mac: Season 2

Four new episodes of how to build furniture from the series that was nominated for a daytime Emmy its first season. Thirteen new projects range from a drop-leaf Shaker-like table to a turned floor lamp and veneered coffee table, all shown in half-hour how-to episodes by young woodworking expert Tommy MacDonald. Ladies, if you’re not into woodworking, you might just enjoy looking at Tommy, a blond All-American Boy from Boston who looks great in a black t-shirt. Each project is on a separate DVD which includes fold-out instructions. From PBS Distribution.

THAT SHOW WITH JOAN RIVERS, Vols. 1-3

Long before the show she hosted in the early 1990s, the comedienne’s first talk show was televised from 1968-69 on NBC. Guest stars included Johnny Carson, Carol Lawrence, Jerry Louis, Dick Cavett, and many more. Her many fans can how see this top-rated show on DVD from Film Chest.

LAWRENCE WELK

The popular band leader and accordionist, and his bouncy music and bubble machine are back in a DVD, Lawrence Welk Classic Episodes, Vo. 1-4, from Film Chest. His show, first broadcast in 1951, and which continued for 27 years, remains the longest-running American musical/variety show on television. Featured in this four-disc set are the fifth anniversary show, the “Gypsy” show, a salute to America’s military veterans, and a Mardi Gras celebration.

That’s all for February. See you here again at the same fire hydrant next month.

2012-01-04T06:31:00.000-08:00

Max’s Best DVD and Blu-ray Picks – January, 2012

Hi, I’m Max. best friend of Walt Oleksy (waltmax@comcast.net), and I review new DVD and Blu-ray releases each month. We don’t care for most of the new stuff out of Hollywood. We’ve seen more than enough thrillers, car chases, men and women in their birth-day suits, and comedies the critics say are “hilarious” but which just aren’t funny unless you’re two years old (I’m nine and my master admits to being “over thirty-nine.” We don’t watch anything with vampires in it, except the original “Dracula.” We like movies that tell a good story and maybe we learn something from it. We figured you can read about the new so-called blockbuster films everywhere else, so we look for flicks that are worth seeing but get little publicity and are not seen in most mall theaters.

Everyone’s so busy these days, and starting a new year can be even busier, so I keep my recommendations brief. Here goes for what I think you’ll like on DVD this month.

THE GUARD

Critics call it a raucous, wickedly funny Irish take on the “cop-buddy” film genre, and I liked it, too. Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle star as policemen whose work takes them into adventures including blackmail, international drug-smuggling, police corruption, and murder. It was an official selection of last year’s Sundance Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, and the Los Angeles Film Festival, and is released on DVD and Blu-ray from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Great fun for adults but not for youngsters because of some violence, drug material, and sexual content.

THE TREE OF LIFE

A strong drama about relationship pains between a father (Brad Pitt) and his adult son (Sean Penn) in Texas during the 1950s. The disillusioned son feels lost in the modern world and questions the origins and meaning of life as well as his faith. Heavy subjects treated with intelligence. It’s a little stretch to think of Pitt as Penn’s father, but otherwise it holds up. Older dogs, know, of course, that their pups may not always follow in their pawsteps. From Fox Searchlight.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

In this romantic fantasy from Woody Allen (who wrote and directed but did not appear in the film), a family travels to Paris on business, and a daughter and the young man she may marry tag along. The engaged couple is faced with questioning whether a life different from their own back in the U.S. may be better if they marry. The boy drifts into a fantasy time-travel back to the 1920s Paris where he falls in love with the mystique of the literary and art world and meets F. Scott Fitzgerald and some of the other icons of the era. He becomes convinced he would want to live in Paris with his wife, but she prefers not to move there. Since I am not a fan of the male star, Clive Wilson (I tired long ago of his nasal voice in every movie he’s in), I didn’t “tune in” to his plight, although I loved the old songs which to me were the best thing about the film, and I say this despite admitting to being a romantic. Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates co-star, but to me the best actor in the film was French actress Marion Cotillard as Picasso's mistress. From Sony Pictures Classics.

THE HELP

In a sort-of Upstairs/Downstairs American Style film, an African-American writer decides to write a book about the lives of black women who were maids to white families in Mississippi during the civil rights movement of the 1960's. She causes a minor earthquake in her home town as she interviews black women who spent their lives taking care of prominent Southern white families there. Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett, it’s a strong movie well worth your time and may well be up for Academy Award consideration as best film. From Dreamworks and Touchstone.

COWBOYS AND ALIENS

It starts out as a typical western as an outlaw wanders into a frontier town and a local war breaks out between the sheriff and a local land baron. Then it breaks from the Old West genre as aliens attack and abduct people. Harrison Ford, no stranger to Outer Space because of the Star Wars movies, plays the land baron whose son has been abducted by space aliens and leads a posse to search for him. Daniel Craig, the current James Bond, is in on the search which… well, I won’t give away any more of the plot. It’s a fun wild ride into both the past and the future, on DVD and Blu-ray from Universal. The Blu-ray has some excellent interviews with the stars.

AGE OF HEROES

If you’re looking for a World War II bone to chew on, this is a good new one. Sean Bean and James D’Arcy, two of my favorite young British actors, star in a film based on the true story of the James Bond author Ian Fleming’s book, 30 Commando Assault Unit. That was an elite special operations division that went after the Nazis in a top secret search-and-destroy mission behind enemy lines. Lots of action in this movie on DVD and Blu-ray from Entertainment One.

THERE BE DRAGONS

My master and I enjoyed this unusual film a lot. A journalist, Robert Torres, researches a book he is assigned to write about the late Rev. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, in hopes that it will bring him closer to his own father who was Escriva’s boyhood friend. As he learns more about his father’s past, Torres learns secrets that will change his life. Opus Dei, a predominately laypersons’ organization of the Catholic Church, was founded in 1928 by Eschiva, a priest who has been sainted. It teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that our ordinary life is a path to sanctity. There are more than 90,00 members today including 2,000 priests. Besides personal charity and social work, members are involved in running universities, university residences, schools, publishing houses, and technical and agricultural training centers. Inspired by actual events, the film stars Dougray Scott as Torres and Charlie Cox as Escriva, with Wes Bentley, Derek Jacobi and Geraldine Chaplin. Written and directed by Roland Joffe, Oscar nominated director of “The Killing Fields” and “The Mission,” the DVD and Blu-ray is from 20^th Century Fox.

THE YEAR DOLLY PARTON WAS MY MOM

This is a delightful comedy for the whole family, about an almost teenage girl’s heartwarming coming-of-age adventure that is set to the songs of Dolly Parton. Set in 1976, a daughter runs away in search of her birth mother while her adoptive mother searches for her. Both are really searching for themselves in this poignant film, on DVD from Osiris Entertainment.

Classics on Blu-ray

It’s really wonderful that more classic films are being restored in image and sound and available at last on DVD. Two of the most recent releases on Blu-Ray are WINGS, the World War I flying epic that won the first Academy Award for best picture in 1927. Stars of the silent film were Clara Bow, Charles “Buddy” Rogers and Richard Arlen, and launched the career of Gary Cooper in a small but memorable role as a doomed flier. Also available on DVD, both discs from Paramount Home Entertainment include a new making-of documentary while the Blu-ray also contains two featurettes about early aeronautics and the film’s restoration process. The other classic new to Blu-ray is MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, a family musical comedy-drama that depicts America in the early 1900s. Judy Garland and Margaret O’Brien star as sisters and made movie history in a song-and-dance number. If you long for a kinder, gentler time, see this movie on Blu-ray and see America how it may never really have been, but as we’d love to think it was. From Warner Home Entertainment.

Documentaries

YOUNGER NEXT YEAR: THE NEW SCIENCE OF AGING.

Based on the international best-selling books co-authored by Dr. Henry Lodge and Chris Crowley, Lodge explains that everyone, no matter how old, can take control of their biology and reverse the process of aging through the biological impact of exercise and emotion on the body and mind. It’s an hour-long documentary well worth the time watching. As seen on PBS television, the DVD is from PBS Distribution

JANE’S JOURNEY

Animal behaviorist Jane Goodall, now 77 years old and still very active, takes us on a journey of 300 days to tell how we can solve natural problems such as deforestation and climate change. Along the way, she returns to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to revisit the place where she spent years studying chimpanzees. It’s a wonderful film for anyone, but especially those who love animals. The DVD is from First Run.

NOVA: ICEMAN MURDER MYSTERY

Five thousand years ago a man died on an Alpine glacier. He remained frozen there until about 20 years ago when his mummified corpse was found. Scientists defrosted the incredibly intact body, called the man Otzi, and learned how and why he died there. They concluded that he had been murdered. It’s a riveting documentary unraveling the mystery of life and death in prehistoric times. The hour-long documentary was shown on NOVA on PBS television and

THE TITANIC DISASTER

Honoring the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912, this hour-long documentary tells new information about the tragedy that includes insight into why more Americans were among the survivors than those from Great Britain. There will be other documentaries on television and DVD about the event, but this one is a very good summary, from Southport Productions.

NATURE: THE ANIMAL HOUSE

I’m of course especially fond of dogs, but also love to learn about other animals and really liked this documentary from PBS Television’s NATURE series. It takes us to the homes of many different species of animals, from ants and beavers to prairie dogs who build homes, towns, and even great cities complete with heating, cooling, and intersecting highways. A really interesting and fun nature documentary on both DVD and Blu-ray from PBS Distribution.

FRONTLINE: LOST IN DETENTION: THE HIDDEN WORLD OF IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

A very hot political issue as the 2012 national and Presidential elections approach, immigration enforcement in the United States is a complex one, and this DVD from PBS Television’s FRONTLINE helps us to understand it. Members of American University’s Investigative Reporting Workshop and FRONTLINE correspondent Maria Hinojosa take a penetrating look at the vastly expanded immigration program, exploring the controversial Secure Communities enforcement program and going inside the hidden world of immigration detention. The hour-long documentary is from PBS Distribution.

AMERICA IN PRIMETIME

A very entertaining four-hour documentary exploring the beginnings of the biggest television hits of today and yesterday. Segments focus on series about the man of the house, the independent woman, the misfit and the crusader, among others. Featured are more than 100 interviews with the creators, writers, and actors of the best-loved television shows and series. Those interviewed include Julianna Margulies, Sarah Jessica Parker, Roseanne Barr, Bill Paxton, Ray Romano, Ron Howard, David Chase, Jon Hamm, Alan Alda, Hugh Laurie, and Danny DeVito. On DVD and Blu-ray from PBS Distribution.

NOVA: FINDING LIFE BEYOND EARTH

Scientists take us on a journey to the far reaches of the solar system to explore the possibilities of life on other planets. They now believe that life can not only exist but thrive in environments more extreme than previously thought. Are we alone in the universe? This two-hour documentary on both DVD and Blu-ray from PBS Distribution has some intriguing answers to that big question.

FRONTLINE: THE ANTHRAX FILES

Late in the autumn of 2001, envelopes containing deadly anthrax were delivered to U.S. Senate offices, network television news offices, and a tabloid newspaper. Five people died and many more were infected, and the nation became terrified. Who sent them? The F.B.I. insists they found the sender, but new questions are being raised about the case. FRONTLINE investigators tell about the anthrax experience in an hour-long documentary on DVD from PBS Distribution.

ELUSIVE JUSTICE: THE SEARCH FOR NAZI WAR CRIMINALS

During the Nuremberg Trials following World War II, about 1,000 Nazi officials were convicted of crimes against humanity, but hundreds of thousands of others suspected war criminals evaded prosecution by concealing their war records, assuming false identifies, fleeing Europe, or by serving the Allies as spies or scientists. Thousands of Nazi criminals are still believed to be alive. This new documentary tells about efforts both official and unofficial to locate, prosecute, and punish fugitive Nazis around the world. Candice Bergen narrates the documentary, on DVD from PBS Distribution.

Those are quite a few documentary bones to chew on, and they may keep you busy until next time.

Lots of “woo woo’s” and tail wags from your friendly movie and documentary reviewer, Max. See you at the same fire hydrant in February.

2011-12-01T06:00:00.001-08:00

Max’s Best DVD and Blu-ray Picks – December 2011

Hi, I’m Max. best friend of Walt Oleksy (waltmax@comcast.net), and I review new DVD and Blu-ray releases each month. We don’t care for most of the new stuff out of Hollywood. We’ve seen more than enough thrillers, car chases, men and women in their birth-day suits, and comedies the critics say are “hilarious” but which just aren’t funny unless you’re two years old (I’m nine and my master admits to being “over thirty-nine.” We don’t watch anything with vampires in it, except the original “Dracula.” We like movies that tell a good story and maybe we learn something from it. We figured you can read about the new so-called blockbuster films everywhere else, so we look for flicks that are worth seeing but get little publicity and are not seen in most mall theaters.

Everyone’s so busy these days, I keep my recommendations brief. So here goes for what I think you’ll like this month.

Let’s start by recommending our favorite movie on DVD this past year:

DOWNTON ABBEY

The British television miniseries won lots of awards and we agree. It has everything… drama, comedy, great performances, sets, costumes, cars, and always keeps you guessing. It’s a new take on the classic old “upstairs, downstairs” story, taking place in a country manor house just before the start of World War 1. I won’t tell you more if you haven’t already seen it, because you’ll enjoy discovering its many charms as you watch it. From PBS Distribution in both DVD and Blu-ray. If you have seen it, see it again to prepare for Downton Abbey 2 which is coming on PBS Television in January.

Others I think you’ll like:

THE COMPLETE INSPECTOR LEWIS

Mystery fans will welcome this boxed set of all 20 episodes of the series through series four which were all spun off from the Inspector Morse novels by Colin Dexter. From PBS Distribution.

THE LEGACY COLLECTION: KIRK DOUGLAS

Kirk made some great movies and was named one of the 25 greatest male American screen legends of all time by the American Film Institute. Inception Media Group has put together a DVD tribute to Douglas with some of his lesser films and television appearances. Films on the 3-disc set include “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” (1946), “My Dear Secretary” (1948), “The Big Trees” (1952).

DAHLING: A TRIBUTE TO ZSA ZSA GABOR

Merv Griffin called her “glamour personified,” the beautful Hungrian actress who graced dozens of films and television shows. Inception Media Group has compiled some of her films and television appearances in a disc that her fans will love. Included are full-length movies “Mooch Goes to Hollywood” (1971) and “Frankenstein;s Great Aunt Tillie (1984). Granted they are not classics, but lots of fun anyway. Also seen are her appearances on the Milton Berle Show (1950), and The G.E. True Theater feature “The Honest Man (1956).

Documentaries

DOGS

Forgive me for recommending this series of PBS Television specials on my favorite subject, but it’s the best thing about us adoreable, loyal, loving, man’s and woman’s best friends. The boxed set of four DDs includes “How Smart Are Animals,” “Dogs Decoded,” “Through a Dog’s Eyes,” and “Dogs and More Dogs.’ From PBS Disdtribution.

RADIOACTIVE WOLVES

My ancestors are the stars of this documentary about some packs of wolves and other wildlife that are (thankfully) thriving today in the “dead zone” that still surrounds the remains of the devastating nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, Soviet Union, 25 years ago. In Blu-ray and DVD from PBS Distribition

LIDIA’S CHRISTMAS KITCHEN: Nonna Tell Me a Story

Just in time for the holiday, Lidia Bastianich delights us with a mix of Christmas storytelling, and cooking instructions, sharing special family moments in her home, especially the kitchen. On DVD and Blu-ray from PBS Distribution.

FRONTLINE: FAITH AND DOUBT AT GROUND ZERO

The award-winning television series explores how the spiritual lives of Americans who are both believers and nonbelievers have changed sine the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Most wonder how God could have allowed such a disaster, some gaining strength from their faith and others doubting the existence of a higher being. The thought-provoking two-hour DVD is from PBS Distribution.

COAST

A wonderful armhair journey along Britain’s coastline and inland, an award-winning documentary in 16 episodes, hosted by experts on history, architecture and other subject. The adventure following relationships between the coastal communities and their neighbors goes from prehistoric times to World War II and later. My master especially enjoyed the section tht helped him remember catching a ferry from Belgiu and crossing the English Channel to Dover when he was a G.I. in Germany in 1957. See the complete coastal journey all in a few evening gulps or ration the 16 hours to one or two a night. From BFS Entertainment.

TOO IMPORTANT TO FAIL

Television host Tavis Smiley reports on the alarming nearly 50 percent high school dropout rate among young black males in America in this segment of Tavis Smiley Reports. He suggests the root cause of the problem and what can be done to reverse it. From PBS Distribution.

WOMEN, WAR & PEACE

This documentary focuses on the untold stories of women’s strategic roles in global conflict and peacemaking. The women focused on will give you new insight into women today in modern warfare. Narrating the stories are movie stars Alfre Woodard, Matt Damon, Geena Davis, Tilda Swinton. The DVD is fom PBS Distribution. “This ground-breaking series must be seen,” says one critic, and I agree.

H.M.S. PINAFORE

On the lighter side, I loved this new staging of the Gilbert and Sullivan classic operetta in the Guthrie Theater production. Ite’s a fresh comic treatement of the show loved for its songs, story, and satire. Nearly four hours of musical joy on a DVD from PBS Distribution.

For Puppies and Kids

FIZZY’S LUNCH LAB: FRESH FOOD 101 teaches kids about good nutrition and eating right in this new animated DVD. Professor Fizzy and his friends prepare tasty snacks and tell kids the difference between healthy and bad food. Kids also learn what happens once the food they eat goes into the body. The learning segments are short and sometimes funny, an easy way for kids to digest the information. From PBS Distribution.

See you next month at the same fire hydrant, and have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Max's Best DVD and Blu-ray Picks, November 2011

2011-10-30T12:44:00.001-07:00

Max’s Best DVD and Blu-ray Picks – November 2011

Hi, I’m Max. best friend of Walt Oleksy (waltmax@comcast.net), and I review new DVD and Blu-ray releases each month. We don’t care for most of the new stuff out of Hollywood. We’ve seen more than enough thrillers, car chases, men and women in their birth-day suits, and comedies the critics say are “hilarious” but which just aren’t funny unless you’re two years old (I’m nine and my master admits to being “over thirty-nine.” We don’t watch anything with vampires in it, except the original “Dracula.” We like movies that tell a good story and maybe we learn something from it. We figured you can read about the new blockbuster films everywhere else, so we look for flicks that are worth seeing but get little publicity and are not seen in most mall theaters. So here goes for what we think you’ll like this month.

Good grief, where did the long, hot summer go? Now Halloween’s over and we’re thinking about turkey and then Christmas. Well, one holiday at a time, I always say. Here are a few movies and documentaries that are not mindless, like most of the new films from Hollywood again this month, but are on strong subjects worth spending your time with.

Max’s rating for the first three films: Two paws up and several loud “Woo woo’s!”

GLORIOUS 39

Not new but recently released on DVD, a very interesting 2009 British television movie about how British aristocracy was divided on whether to appease Hitler as the Nazi dictator began to gobble up Europe at the start of World War II. Some hoped he would leave England alone, or at least them. The story starts in 1939 when an upper-class family enjoyed its last idyllic summer. Then a young adopted daughter’s discovery of some phonograph records in the great house leads to revelations about the family’s secret political sentiments. That in turn leads to catastrophy. This one will keep you guessing and intrigued, as do all the other works by British writer and director Stephen Polikoff . It stars Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Northam, David Tennant, and in small parts in the ensemble, Julie Christie and Jenny Agutter. I love movies about lesser-known aspects of the war. The DVD is from EI Entertainment. And if you haven’t seen it yet, do see Polikoff’s ALMOST STRANGERS which takes another look at a family impacted by many things including World War II.

LAND OF THE BLIND

Everyone is in euphoria over the populist movement in the Middle East that is overthrowing political tyrants. We all hope things will be better in those countries after decades of authoritatian rule, but what if they aren’t? This film, though no romp in the park off-leash on a sunny day, tells what happens when one such tyrant is exterminated in a revolutionary coup. Ralph Fiennes, to me the best actor working today, stars as a prison guard loyal to the political establishment who gradually aids the revolution’s leader, played by Donald Sutherland. The despot, played by Tom Hollander, is killed, and then the revolutionary leader becomes as bad or worse. Food for thought, from writer-director Robert Edwards. Critics virtually ignored the film and it showed on only a few screens when it was released in 2006, but it is well worth seeing. On DVD from Vivendi Visual Entertainment.

PAGE EIGHT

An exciting new British thriller from a screenplay by David Hare who wrote THE READER, THE HOURS, PLENTY, and DAMAGES. Bill Nighy plays an MI5 intelligence officer who has to take over an explosive foreign relations investigation when his boss and best friend (Michael Gambon) dies. It involves a top secret MI5 file regarding the alleged U.S. government’s policy of using torture to get “the truth” from terrorist suspects. I’ve wondered why anyone would believe anything someone says when they’re tortured. Didn’t we learn anything from the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem witch hunts? The film’s title refers to that page of the file. Does the British Prime Minister (played by Ralph Finnes) know of the file, or is the U.S. government keeping it a secret from him? Exposure of the file could endanger the entire MI5 organization and be very damaging to British-U.S. diplomatic relations, not to mention endangering Nighy’s own life. The poilitical drama is played out simultanerously with Nigy’s personal life which is in a shambles because of two divorces and a grown daughter who paints very emotionally disturbing pictures he can’t stand. I couldn’t either. Can he trust anyone, including his beautiful political activist neighbor (Rachel Weiss) who may have her own agenda? He doesn’t even have a dog, so he can’t trust it. The strong supporting cast also includes two great actresses of recent years, Judy Davis, Marthe Keller. It’s an intelligent, tense drama straight out of today’s headlines and typically a British television “good show.” My master suggests that afterwards, just watch something lighter before bedtime or you may not get to sleep. In both DVD and Blu-Ray from PBS Disdtribution, made by HeyDey Films, Carnival Films and being shown this month on U.S. television on PBS’s Masterpiece Contemporary.

FATHER VS. SON

A screwball comedy in which a father and son compete for the love of the same woman. Paul Wolff plays a newly-divorced father and Josh Dean his easily-embarrassed son, both smitten by Heather Stephens (she could walk my leash anytime). Adding laughs is Eric Stonestreet of the tv series Modern Family. From Osiris Entertainment.

Documentaries

PROHIBITION

Ken Burns’ new documentary, this one with Lynn Novick, tells more than you ever thought you would ever know about the banning of alcohol in the U.S. in the 1920s. The three-part series tells how the movement began, impacted the nation, and finally ended with repeal of the 18^th Amendment to the Constitution. The journey will remind you of modern parallels including the influence of big business on government and politics, and dangers of one issue dominating politics. Filled with photos and film clips and interviews with those who lived through the era. It was all new to me, but my master says his parents were among those who bought “bathtub gin” from friends who profitted from the liquor ban. It’s a good reminder that whatever the government bans will only make people want it more, and no good can come from legislating morality. A fascinating docmenteary from PBS Distribution.

ROYAL UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS

If you enjoyed the British television miniseries Upstairs, Downstairs (and most of those in the world with a television set did, including my master and me), you will also like this documentary series that captivated audiences on BBC last spring. An antiques expert couple visited country houses or castles which had been visited by Queen Victoria in the 1800s, and tell how a royal visit affected both those living upstairs and their downstairs servants. All 20 episodes of the series about the queen’s visits are included in a new DVD from PBS Distribution. Jolly good entertainment from our British cousins. Did I tell you my best friend, Annie, is an English Lab? Beautiful, smart, and as playful as a puppy even though she’s now nine.

THESE AMAZING SHADOWS: THE MOVIES THAT MAKE AMERICA

A wonderful documentary seen on PBS Television exploring the history of the National Film Registry and the powerful influence of movies on American and even world culture. It includes clips from the most-beloved American films, with Library of Congress and other archivists and guest stears telling how they reflected our culture and even changed lives. On both Blu-ray and DVD from PBS Disdtribution. The 550 films already inducted into The National Film Registry have been deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and must be at least 10 years old to even be considered for possible induction. The current list of films includes selections from every genre – documentaries to home movies, Hollywood classics, avant-garde, musicals, newsreels, silent films and even commercials felt to be culturally significant. The documentary includes footage from classic films such as “Star Wars,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “The Deer Hunter,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Blade Runner,” and “The Wizard of Oz,” among many, many others. Film lovers will love this documentary and the special features not shown on television, such as a deeper look into film restoration and preservation and how the music score for the documentary was made. On both Blu-ray and DVD from PBS Distribution.

ROUGH CUT, Woodworking with Tommy Mac, Season 2

Tommy MacDonald, the fine craftsman woodworker is back showing how he makes 13 new projects including a mirror and coat rack and a clock and potting station. The amiable and capable hunk is also eye candy for ladies who like handsome blond young men in black T-shirts showing biceps most men would die for. If I wasn’t a dog, I could go for him, too. Woof, woof! Each half-hour episode shows him building a project and offering tips on techniques. Woodworking, that is. The DVD is from PBS Distribution.

THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS

Physicist and author Brian Greene hosts an exploration of space, time, the universe, and the nature of reality in this new NOVA television special. Wow, that’s quite a bone to chew on, isnit it! The PBS television series was shown recently in four one-hour segments. The programs are now on two discs in both Blu-ray and DVD from PBS Distribution. This is heavy stuff for me, and since my doggie head does not have a science degree, I’ll just qute from the publicity release: “THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS lets viewers in on a secret: we’ve all been deceived. Our perceptions of time and space have led us astray. Much of what we thought we knew about our universe – that the past has already happened and the future is yet to be, that space is just an empty void, that our universe is the only universe that exists – just might be wrong.: Greene takes viewers on a journey to the frontiers of physics to see how scientists are piecing together the most complete picture yet of space, time and the universe. With each step, audiences will discover that just beneath the surface of our everyday experience lies a world we’d hardly recognize – a startling world far stranger and more wondrous than anyone expected.” This one can really space you out.

NATURE: “MY LIFE AS A TURKEY”

Before you have your Thanksgiving dinner, be sure to see this NATURE documentary. A man named Joe Hutto tells how he raised some wild turkey hatchlings in Florida’s Flatwoods and how he learned more from them than he ever expected. In fact, they changed his life, and for the better. He became so involved that he began speaking with them even before they hatched, and bonded with them as they emerged from their shells. Then, day after day, he lived as a turkey mother, taking on the fulltime job of raising 16 turkey chicks. He learned their individual idiosyncrasies and voices, and became especially fond of two he named Sweet Pea and Turkey Boy. Based on Hutto’s illustrated book, Illumination in the Flatwoods, the documentary is from Passion Pictures, Thirteen, BBC Television, and the Blu-ray and DVD are from PBS Distribution.

NATURE: JUNGLE EAGLE

Another terrific NATURE documentary, this one focuses on Harpy eagles, the most powerful birds of prey. Until recently, scientists knew very little about them. Wildlife filmmaker Fergus Beeley and his team of cameramen locted a nest and documented the lives of these elusive birds in Venezuela’s Orinoco River jungle. The hour-long documentary is from PBS Distribution.

FRONTLINE: TOP SECRET AMERICA

FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Dana Priest investigate the question, “are we any safer after all of the changes that have taken place throughout the country (after the 9/11 tererorist attacks)?” They reveal the little-known creation of a vast maze of clandestine government and private agencies designed to hunt terrorists and prevent future attacks on the United States. Over one hour, the film examines the history of the dark side of America’s “war on terror.” From the creation of black site prisons abroad and super-secret facilities here in America, to targeted killings and covert wars waged by special forces, to a multibillion-dollar terrorism industrial complex, the researchers ask how a decade of fighting terrorism has reshaped the country and whether it has made us any safer. The fascinating DVD is dfrom PBS Distribution.

FRONTLINE: THE MAN WHO KNEW

This documentary explores the life and death of former FBI top counterterrorism agent John O’Neil who insisted on doing away with Osama Bin Laden before the devastating attack was launched on the US by Al Qaeda. O’Neill investigated the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Africa and the attack on the USS Cole, and joined then-national security counterterrorism co-coordinator Richard Clarke in believing that the United States should kill Osama bin Laden before Al Qaeda launched a devastating attack on America. Speaking in his first major interview, Clarke talks about O’Neill’s battles with the FBI top brass who took objected to O’Neill’s James Bond style job performance. Forced out of the job he loved, O’Neill took a new position in the private sector — as head of security at the World Trade Center, where he was killed on September 11, 2001. The story of O’Neill’s life and death provides a rare glimpse inside the FBI and helps answer the question: What did the government know? The DVD is from PBS Distdribution.

LIDIA CELEBRATES AMERICA:

HOLIDAY TABLES & TRADITIONS”

and “THE BEST OF LIDIA: PASTA”

Enough about war and terrorism, already. Let’s think about food. I always find that thinking about food is one of the best things I can do for myself. Chef, restauranteur, and cookbook author Lidia Bastianich knows how to dish up some tasty meals, some especially for Christmas, in these two delicious DVDs from PBS Distribution. Actor Stanley Tucci joins Lidia in New York as they take part in a traditional Christmas Eve feast. Then she travels to San Antonio, Texas, to be with four generations of an Hispanic-American family as they celebrate Christmas. She then goes on to San Francisco and the largest Chinese New Year outside of Asia. Finally, she returns to New York to celebrate Passove with two of Manhattan’s most traditional and historic families. The disc on pasta contains more than a dozen of Lidia’s favorite dishes from her book Lidia’s Italy in America. Are you ready for some

spaghetti alla carbonara, linguini with white clam sauce, and spaghetti with garlic and oil? I sure am!

For kids and puppies

WINNIE THE POOH

The lovable teddy bear is back in his first feature film after 35 years. Christopher Robin is in danger so his friends Pooh, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga-Roo, and Eeyore go to his rescue in this wonderful 73-minute animated film. The DVD is from Disney.

PBS KIDS:

PBS Distribution has released DVDs of two top-rated PBS KIDS’ television programs, "Arthur: Hooray for Health," "Arthur: The Good Sport," both teaching pre-school kids about health and good sportsmanship. Arthur the aardvark tells about chicken pox and how to eat right, not just pigging out on hot dogs and candy. In the sports DVD, kids learn about being good sports playing baseball and bicycle-riding. PEEP: AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD: “Star Light, Star Bright," and "Seasons of Adventure." Pre-school kids learn about science subjects in this Emmy award winning series, and have fun at the same time. They’re all on DVD from PBS Distribution.

“Th-th-th-at’s All, F-f-f-olks!”

See you next month at the same fire hydrant.

Max's Best DVD and Blu-ray Picks, October 2011

2011-10-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

Max’s Best DVD and Blu-ray Picks, October 2011

The best movies I can recommend this month are oldies. Both the complete Star Wars series (first episodes shown in 1977), from 20^th Century-Fox, and Ben-Hur (1959) are out on Blu-Ray and they are wonderful adventure films as you’ve never seen them before on your home television. There are enough extras on the Star Wars Blu-ray set to keep you watching the whole fall and winter ahead. Some purists are critical of the Star Wars Blu-ray discs because George Lucas made some changes to some parts of the original films and they think he should have kept them as they were first seen and remembered. Now they’re in spectacular high definition with the purest digital sound in the galaxy!

Ben-Hur (originally from MGM but now from Warner Bros.) looks great in Blu-ray but the wide-screen ratio is still too condensed. There are lots of extras, especially on the Blu-ray sets. For Charlton Heston fans (I’m not one of them) there is a 78-minute documentary with home movies of the actor taken at the time of the Ben-Hur filming. Just what I always wanted!

More oldies released this month: The Caine Mutiny (1954) on Blu-ray with Humphrey Bogart going bananas as a naval commander faced with mutineers Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, and Jose Ferrer, and (wow!) Cobra Woman (1944) on DVD with Maria Montez fang-vamping Jon Hall and Sabu on a South Seas island.

Some other oldies released this month are also among my master’s and my favorites:

Genevieve

A British comedy about two couples, classic car lovers who take part in the annual London-to-Brighton classic car rally. One of the couples challenges the other by racing them in a 1904 roadster they call Genevieve. What starts out as friendly sometimes turns more intense, but it’s still really all in fun and a great movie for anyone in need of some laughs, and today that means everyone. John Gregson and Dinah Sheridan play the couple with Genevieve. Their friendly rivals of the road are played by Kenneth More and Kay Kendall. Those four could tickle anyone’s funnybone. The movie won the Best British Film of the Year award in 1953. It’s released on DVD and Blu-ray by VCI.

The Incredible Shrinking Man

One of the best sci-fi films ever, about a young man who gets an accidental dose of nuclear radiation on a boat and begins to physically shrink. He gets so small that even a cat looks like a hungry giant to him as his home world shrinks to the size of a dollhouse, then a matchbox. Grant Williams plays the unlucky hero and you’ll never forget him or his plight. On DVD but not Blu-ray, from Universal.

New releases recommended this month:

Justice

A new British television crime series in which a new judge weighs justice in a tough town in Liverpool in northern England. Robert Pugh stars in cases involving violence, drugs, anti-social behavior and other contemporary issues in cases that are often very surprising. When you think you’ve figured out a case, a new development can make you think again. Fans of modern detective work will enjoy this fast-paced series from PBS Distribution that avoids visual brutality of most American crime films.

A Passionate Woman

In the 1950s, a bored British housewife falls in love with her neighbor, a charming (read “hot”) Polish fellow. His wife finds out and does him in with a handgun. But the housewife is carrying his baby, so what does she do? She keeps the passionate affair to herself for thirty years, then tells it to her son (he’s her child by her husband) as the young man is about to be married. How this is all resolved makes for what some critics call “brilliant, fantastic, fabulous.” From BFS Entertainment.

First Light

The true story of the experiences of the youngest Spitfire pilot to fight in combat in the Battle of Britain in 1940. Geoffrey Wellum, only 18 at the time, recalls at age 89 the harrowing adventure that still haunts him. If you’re looking for reality television, this fills the bill. Sam Heughan plays Wellum who went to war as a boy and came back a battle-scarred man. Powerful drama from PBS Distribution. I also recommend a new documentary marking the 70^th anniversary of that historic air war, titled The Battle of Britain in which Colin McGregor recalls his experiences as a Royal Air Force pilot who was one of “the Few” who flew in that battle. Aerial films from the sky war enhance the powerful documentary.

Wuthering Heights

More about the creepy British moors. A new British television Masterpiece Theatre version of the Emily Bronte gothic love story that tells more of it than previous versions. Charlotte Riley and Tom Hardy star as the tragic lovers, beautiful and willful Catherine Earnshaw and brooding Heathcliff. My master showed me the 1939 version with Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier which most viewers consider the best, as I do, but I still found myself engrossed in the new and longer version. On Blu-ray from PBS Entertainment.

Mansfield Park

A new version of Jane Austen’s novel stars Fanny Price as a young woman who goes to life with wealthy relatives at Mansfield Park and finds intrigue and romance in the mansion there. It would spook me out. Not everything is as it seems to her, and we wonder if she will ever understand its occupants or her place with them, not the least of which is will she find her true love there? A Masterpiece Theatre production on Blu-ray from PBSW Distribution.

Northanger Abbey

Another Masterpiece Theatre re-telling of the Jane Austen novel about a girl who reads so many gothic novels or romance and murder, she has trouble not concluding that both are at the bottom of a mystery at a medieval country mansion. Is the young son of the master of Northanger Abbey part of a plot to cover up a murder in which his father may be the murderer? I’ll never tell, but recommend you see this excellent mystery-romance on Blu-ray from PBS Distribution.

Masterpiece Mysteries: The Complete Inspector Lewis

My master and I have faithfully watched this new British television series and are very glad that it is now on DVD. Inspector Robert Lewis (Kevin Whately) and his partner, Detective Sergeant James Hathaway (Laurence Fox) pit their wits against the top criminals of Oxford, England. All twenty mysteries through series four are on a 10-disc boxed set from PBS Distribution.

Documentaries

I look everywhere for old bones in the back yard, but also love watching with my master Antiques Roadshow on television where people bring their treasures to experts who tell the what they’re worth. Now the best of the series is in a three-disc set from PBS Distribution. Some are found in attics or basements of old houses, some at garage sales, while others are family heirlooms. Items range from a 1795 Massachusetts-made pair of Federal-style side chairs valued up to $50,00, a rare 1800s Rhode Island rifle and power horn values up to $120,00, to posters from the American women’s suffrage movement valued at up to $15,000. One disc focuses solely on political treasures while another shows those rescued from rubbish heaps, dumpsters and demolition sites that are valued now at up to $100,000. Fun antiquing from PBS Distribution.

American Experience: Houdini

Harry Houdini was perhaps the world’s greatest illusionist (not sure if he was a Republican or a Democrat) and escape artist, freeing himself as he tempted fate by performing acts involving drowning or suffocating. His greatest escapes are brought to life through archival films and dramatic recreations performed by Bob Fellows, a modern-day Houdini. The hour-long documentary is from PBS Distribution.

PBS Explorer: Ancient Marvels

A fascinating trip back in time to some of the world’s most amazing ancient wonders.
Ghosts of Machu Picchu takes us to the “Lost City of the Incas,” discovered in 1911, the most famous archaeological ruin in the Western hemisphere. “Riddles of the Sphinx” is a visit to Stonehenge in southern England, perhaps the best-known and most mysterious relic of prehistory. “Secrets of the Parthenon” is a NOVA special about the Greek government’s restoration project that takes us into the minds of the ancient Greeks. “Easter Island/China Bridge” complete the five disc set from PBS Distribution.

The War of 1812

Most of us know little about it, but it is called the war that helped shape the destiny of North America. Next year will be its 200th anniversary, so it’s a good time to watch this fascinating documentary. From 1812 to 1815, Americans battled against the British, Canadian colonists, and native warriors. This two-hour documentary from PBS Television uses re-enactments, animation, and commentary of historians to reveal little-known sides of an important war that reassured America’s freedom and expanded its boundaries.

Jacques Pepin: Essential Pepin

The famous American chef with the French-sounding name shares more than 125 recipes from his long and legendary career that included 26 episodes on television. The three-disc set includes his “The Complete Pepin” and “Jacques Pepin: Fast Food My Way,” from PBS Distribution. Julia Child called Pepin “the best chef in America,” and now you can learn his secrets for a perfect apricot and pistachio soufflé or basic french fries, chocolate truffettes, and simple chicken with tarragon butter. My mouth is watering.

Cook’s Country, Season 4

Filmed in a renovated 1806 New England farmhouse, family-friendly recipes back then are re-imagined for today’s home cook. All 13 episodes from the fourth season of the television series are in a two-disc set from PBS Distribution. Recipes include banana pudding, apple dumpling, Nashville Hot Chicken, and St. Louis BBQ Pork Steak. A bonus feature are printable versions of 27 recipes.

History Detectives: Season 9

My master and I love this television series as people with something old ask experts to find out their history and authenticity. This new three DVD set shows again how modern technology and search methods can shed new light on historical objects. Included are objects from the American Civil War and the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

NOVA: Engineering Ground Zero

The award-winning science series explores the rebirth of the World Trade Center in New York City after the 9-11 terrorism disaster. The site has become one of the largest and most complex restoration objects on the planet. NOVA crews capture behind-the-scenes struggles of architects and engineers to make the buildings safe and highly secure. The program includes interviews with architects, Mayor Michael Bloomberg who is chairman of the 9-11 Memorial Foundation, and Michael Arad, creator of the concept for the 9-11 Memorial.

Craft in America: Family

Four craft artists discuss their creativity. Former President Jimmy Carter meets Philip and Matt, son and grandson of Ed Moulthrop, a Georgian known as the “father of modern woodturning,” who are both carrying on the family tradition. In another segment, Paul Marioni and his son Dante tell about their sculptural and kinetic glass making,. Other segments show Cliff and Holly Lee showing their two sons their craft combining traditional Chinese techniques with modern in creating porcelain vessels and metal art. Lis Sorrell creates fine-crafted custom cowboy boots, one of the few women in this field, and shows her two teenage daughters her skills so they can carry on the craft as a family tradition. Excellent arts and crafts documentary from PBS Distribution.

The Craft in America Collection

All three seasons of the Peabody-award winning television series dedicated to the exploration, preservation, and celebration of craft and its impact on American cultural heritage. The three-disc set tells of the origins of the American craft movement and then advances to how crafts artists tell a story, prove a point, or bring attention to social, political, or historical issues. A wonderful exploration of the many facets of craft artwork in America, from PBS Distribution.

For puppies and kids

RIO

My master and I watched this animated film with some neighbor kids and we all laughed and loved it. If you don’t know, Blu is the hero, a Macaw who never learned to fly while living with his owner and best friend Linda in a small town in Minnesota. Linda thinks Blu is the last of his kind, but then learns there is a female macaw living in Rio de Janeiro, so they go there to find her. Their adventures are exciting and fun for kids and the whole family to watch together. From 20^th Century-Fox.

Spooky Buddies

Don’t you just love puppies? I do! These talking puppies are back in an all-new movie that takes them far across town to a mysterious mansion where something very spooky is going on. In a race against a no-good hound, the Buddies and their new friends, Pip, Zelda, Rodney and Skip, must stop Warwick the Warlock and save the world from his dastardly deeds. It’s a fun doggie adventure for kids and the whole family from Walt Disney.

That’s all for October, movie fans. See you next month at the same fire hydrant.

Woo! Woo!

Max's Best Picks on Blu-ray and DVD, September 2011

2011-08-30T06:47:00.000-07:00

We hope you survived Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene, but if you are suffering from it, our prayers are with you.

Where did summer go? It was fun but went too fast, even though my master and I had lots of outings to parks and daily walks. Now the neighborhood kids are back in school, but we get to see them after school and on weekends. I saw some good movies on DVD with my master but we skipped most of the new ones because most of them are for dumb dogs. Once again, as in most previous months, we recommend a few foreign films, mainly because so many of them tell good stories.

IN A BETTER WORLD

“Magnificent. Exceptional. Richly humanistic Extraordinary!” These are some of the critics’ raves for this Danish drama that won this year’s Academy Award and Golden Globe for best foreign language film. It’s a powerful story of two ten-year-old boys and their fathers who are all victimized one way or another by others and have to decide between revenge and forgiveness. A theme seldom explored in films and a very contemporary dilemma in this often violent world. I don’t want to give away the plot but highly recommend this film which keeps you guessing and in suspense up to the very end. Directed by Susanne Bier from her story and the screenplay by Anders Thomas Jensen, with a cast that is unfamiliar to American audiences but which is perfect. The boys are especially terrific actors. In Danish with English subtitles. A Blu-ray/DVD combo pack from Sony Pictures Classics.

Max’s rating: Two paws up and lots of “Woo woo’s!”

THE HARMONISTS

I missed this when it came out a few years ago, but highly recommend it. It’s based on the true story of six men who formed a singing group called the Comedian Harmonists in Germany in 1927. With their blend of humor and harmony, they quickly became national favorites and a kind of Beatles phenomenon, their fame spreading all over Europe. Then the rise of Hitler’s Nazi regime forced them into being banned in 1934 because three of the Harmonists were Jewish. It’s a fascinating film and has some great music, German-Austrian-made, in German with English subtitles, the DVD from Miramax. All the singing is from remastered recordings of the original Harmonists concerts. The film won awards at several film festivals when audiences cheered it as it smartly captures the details of a jazzy, uneasy age of European cabaret and theater in the shadow of a dark history. A real surprise for DVD watchers, with its message that “friendship is the most cherished gift of all.”

Max’s rating: Two paws up and lots of tail wags.

Also recommended:

INSPECTOR LEWIS 4

Four new mysteries to be solved by the masterful inspector:

one involves murders at an all-female college, another about the poisoning of a bishop, a third is about a clinical trial, and the fourth involves a sinister blackmail plot. Inspired by the Inspector Morse novels of Colin Dexter, they will be seen this month and next on PBS Television’s Masterpiece Mysteries series and are on both Blu-ray and DVD from PBS Distribution.

A Blu-Ray Treasure:

CITIZEN KANE

It’s in black and white, but what a picture, and even more terrific in Blu-ray. The 1941 Orson Welles classic, which tops the American Film Institute’s list of greatest films of all time, has been remastered from the original nitrate elements. The boxed 3-DVD set of the 70th Anniversary Collector’s Edition includes three hours of bonus content including deleted scenes, interviews with film critics, one of the film’s stars, Ruth Warrick, and editor Robert Wise. Also, a 48-page photo book, a 20-page reproduction of the original 1941 souvenir program, lobby cards, and reproductions of rare correspondence related to the film. This is a classic you must see on Blu-ray. From Warner Home Video.

Documentaries:

3-D SAFARI AFRICA

Hosted by Emmy award winner Hunter Ellis (of television’s reality series SURVIVOR), this is an amazing travelogue of up-close encounters with the lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes and other wildlife of the African Savannahs. See it in Blu-ray or Blu-ray 3D all on one disc, from Wild Eyes Productions and Millennium Media. This is a 90-minute adventure for the whole family.

DOGS AND MORE DOGS

My favorite subject stars in four DVD specials from the PBS Explorer Collection, first seen on television as NOVA science specials. DOGS: MAN’S BEST FRIEND tells of the origins and history of dogs and their many varieties. DOGS DECODED tells how dogs respond to human emotions. DOGS AND MORE DOGS tells how dogs evolved from wolves to playful pets. HOW SMART ARE ANIMALS? introduces a dog with a vocabulary of more than 1,000 words! THROUGH A DOG’S EYES shows how dogs are helpmates to people with disabilities. These four DVDs cover just about everything you ever wanted to know about dogs. Each disc is an hour long and of course I highly recommend you see the complete collection. Watch it with your dog. If you don’t have one, what are you waiting for? The collection is from PBS Distribution.

NOT IN OUR TOWN, LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

This strong documentary about a hate crime killing traces a New York state community’s reaction to a fatal attack on a local immigrant resident. Stunned by the violence, diverse citizens openly confront the crime and the divisive atmosphere, and take actions to prevent future hate crimes and intolerance. The film provides a message of hope, as civic leaders, students, grandmothers, librarians and store owners take action to repair a culture that has been torn apart by bigotry and fear. A strong subject worth viewing, from PBS Distribution.

SCOTLAND EXPLORED

Tom Weir takes armchair travelers on a wonderful walking journey in Scotland, visiting scenic villages, historic monuments, beautiful lochs and landscapes. A bonnie good 2-DVD set from BFS Entertainment.

OZ & JAMES’ BIG FRENCH WINE ADVENTURE

James May, a beer drinker, knows zilch about wine, so award-winning wine writer Oz Clarke gives him an education about the grape. You’ll learn more about wine too, following the odd couple as they travel through France’s most beautiful wine regions. A 2-DVD set from BBC and BFS Entertainment.

For puppies and kids:

ARTHUR’S MAGIC JAMBOREE

Arthur the aardvark, a favorite of millions of children watching PBS Kids on television will enjoy this 100-minute DVD of eight fun-filled episodes from the series that helps kids develop an interest in reading and writing, and encourage positive social skills. Special features on the DVD include printable coloring pages and activities. The DVD comes just in time for back-to-school. From PBS Distribution.

See you next month at the same fire hydrant, and stay dry!

Max's August Best Picks

2011-07-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

Max’s Best DVD and Blu-Ray Picks – August, 2011

I too have been living in the “dog days” of summer, so I know how you folks have been suffering from one of the hottest, wettest, and wildest summers in anyone’s memory.

My master and I have found some relief watching classic movies on TV and from his DVD collection, and also some new movies and documentaries we recommend this month. Two of the movies are from the British and one, our best pic of the month, is from France.

MY BEST FRIEND

One of the top French stars, Daniel Auteuil, plays an antique collector in Paris who seems to have it all, except nobody likes him. In fact, his business partner, played by Julie Gatet, bets him he can’t produce even one friend in ten days or forfeit an expensive Greek vase he just bought. Desperate to find even one person to stand in as his friend, he seeks help from a taxi driver who is a walking encyclopedia of trivia facts. Dany Boon plays the taxi driver, and he and Auteuil play against each other so well, they make a great new comedy team. It’s a heartwarming comedy from French director Patrice Leconte (The Man on the Train and Intimate Stranger). The movie is a delightful surprise as we follow Auteuil as he learns the meaning of friendship. Why can’t Hollywood make movies as clever, intelligent, and funny as this gem? On DVD in French with English subtitles from IFC (Independent Film Channel).

JOE MADDISON’S WAR

Robson Green (of the British TV series Wire in the Blood) and Derek Jacobi (of I, Claudius), two of my favorite British actors, team up to star in this drama that takes viewers back to Newcastle, England, in 1940. Kevin Whately (of the Inspector Morse British TV series) plays Joe Maddison, a shipyard worker too old to fight in World War II. He and his friend played by Green, decide to help the war effort by joining the Home Guard, headed by the local pharmacist, played by Jacobi. Their lives take a major turn in an unexpected journey of self-discovery. An off-beat story of World War II that my master and I both enjoyed very much. The DVD is from BFS Entertainment.

THE STREET

Season Two of the British award-winning television series further explores the lives of everyday working-class people on a street in Manchester, northern England. Actors including David Thewlis, Timothy Spall, and Gina McKee portray people there today who struggle with moral choices involving poverty, drug and alcohol addiction, sexuality, unemployment, and crime. It’s a Brit version of reality television worth looking into, from BFS Entertainment.

Documentaries

WIKISECRETS

A hard-hitting documentary about the biggest intelligence breach in American history. You know it from the news… the WikiLeaks website sent more than a half-million classified documents over the Internet in the spring of 2010,and the event rocked the world. This documentary focuses on two of the men behind the leaks, Julian Assange, the Internet activist and hacker who published the documents, and Bradley E. Manning, a U.S. Army intelligence analyst who is charged with handling the documents over to WikiLeaks. Both men maintain the leaks were made in the hope of inciting “worldwide discussion, debate, and reforms.” This is very exciting stuff from PBS Television’s Frontline series, the DVD from PBS Television.

BREAKING NEWS BREAKING DOWN

A fascinating documentary exploring the work of two journalists who covered two of the biggest disaster stories of the century… the 9/11 terrorism and Hurricane Katrina. It’s an exciting personal report on how the disasters impacted their lives as journalists and citizens and also how the events impacted the lives of others. Mike Walter tells about 9/11 and John McCusker about Katrina. My master, a former Chicago Tribune reporter, says covering major events can be harrowing for the journalist, and this documentary proves it. The award-winning 40-minute documentary is from PBS Distribution.

AN AMERICAN FAMILY: ANNIVERSARY EDITION

The most controversial and talked-about television program of its time, “An American Family” knocked socks off in 1973. Filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond took viewers into the homes and lives of a perhaps typical American family, a couple with five children, and recorded how they lived over a periods of seven months. Events included the wife asking for a separation from her husband, and the Bohemia New York life of their gay son. The twelve episodes are now on DVD in a 40^th-year anniversary special from PBS Distribution. Talk about real life television, it doesn’t come much more alive than this two-hour special.

STARGAZING

From the PBS Television Explorer Collection and NOVA, a close look at 400 years of the telescope including its past, present, and future. Both serious and amateur star-gazers will be in cosmic heaven with this exciting documentary. My master and I especially liked the segment where NASA sent a shuttle crew on a dangerous spring 2009 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope for the last time that required the most intensive NASA spacewalk ever.

A five-hour, five DVD set from PBS Distribution.

MARS: THE RED PLANET

Another documentary in the NOVA-PBS Explorer Collection, this one takes a close look at Mars, one of the planets closest to Earth. Is there life on the red planet? These and other questions are probed in the four-hour, four disc set is from PBS Distribution.

LOOPDIVER: THE JOURNEY OF A DANCE

The award-winning international dance company, Troika Ranch, is seen creating its next work, called Loopdiver.

It’s an avant-garde, multimedia dance work interweaving looped choreography, music, interactive visuals, and lighting that should appeal to music and dance lovers.

It’s only a half-hour long, but packs a lot of entertainment in a short documentary, from PBS Distribution.

SONGS OF THE 70’S

Marvin Hamlisch hosts a musical love letter DVD to the pop music of the 1970s in a special called THE WAY WE WERE, which of course you know was the title of his hit song from the movie with Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. The DVD contains performances by stars of that decade singing the songs they made famous, including BJ Thomas, Three Dog Night, Debby Boone, Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr., Ray Stevens, Freda Payne, Guy and Ralna, Bobby Goldsboro, Billy Joe Royal, Peaches and Herb, Jonathan Edwards. Of course I have a special fondness for Three Dog Night. It’s the first time they all appeared on stage together, and it’s a real hoot. Or should I say howl. From PBS Distribution, available both on DVD and CD.

BRITISH TRAVEL: WAINWRIGHT WALKS, THE LAKE DISTRICT

Julie Bradbury, a novice mountain-climber, takes us on ten of the most popular walking routes taken years earlier by the late travel guide and author Alfred Wainwright in northwest England’s Lake District rich in mountains and lakes. A very special travel adventure in a 3-DVD set from BFS Entertainment.

Stay cool, and see you at the same fire hydrant next month.

2011-07-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

Max’s Picks July 2011

My best picks of the month:

OF GODS AND MEN

This is another excellent film you may not know about. It is based upon the true story of the faith and courage of a brotherhood of eight French Christian monks in a mountain monastery in North Africa whose lives were endangered when a crew of foreign workers was massacred by Islamic extremists during the Algerian Civil War of the 1990s. They had been living harmoniously with their Muslim brothers, but when the insurgents arrive they are conflicted as to whether to flee or stay and try to fulfill their spiritual mission and also continue to provide medical care and other services for the Muslims. It won the Grand Prix at the 1010 Cannes Film Festival and was named the Best Foreign Language Film from the National Board of Review. Richard Corliss, Time Magazine critic, called it “A luminous tale of faith and heroism,” and Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal said it is “Nothing less than sublime.” The film stars Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale, available on a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack from Sony Pictures Home International. Extras include how the film was made.

Max’s rating: Two paws up and lots of “Woo woo’s!”

WINTER IN WARTIME

In a wintry village in Nazi-occupied Holland in 1945, a thirteen-year-old girl becomes involved in the resistance movement when she aids a British paratrooper. This leads to danger and also worries about who she can trust in the village. It’s excellent World War II drama based on the book by Jan Terlouw, produced by Isabella Films, with a stand-out performance by Martijn Lakemeier. In a Blu-ray and DVD combo pack from Sony Pictures Entertainment. Extras include a featurette on the making of the movie.

We agree with the Hollywood Reporter’s review: “Superb filmmaking, beautifully crafted,” and Rex Reed in the New York Observer who said “Haunting, a powerful and touching film.” Treat yourself and see it.

Also recommended:

A WOMAN’S GUIDE TO ADULTERY

Now that I have your attention with that title, I’ll explain that it’s a new British movie. Theresa Russell plays a university photography student who falls for her lecturer, played by that always watchable Sean Bean.

Based on the novel by Carol Cleweon, it also stars Adrian Dunbar and Amanda Donahue, from Hartswood Productions for Carlton Television. Seen on BBC Television, it’s sexual but not X-rated material and adults will probably enjoy it.

The DVD is from BFS Entertainment.

JUST WILLIAM

My master and I really enjoyed this family film about an 11-year-old boy who tries but can’t seem to stop causing mischief. Daniel Roche is perfectly cast as William, leader of a bunch of pals called “The Outlaws” in England in the 1950s. Based on humorous stories by Richmal Crompton, it’s excellent family entertainment from BBC Television and BFS Entertainment.

LAND GIRLS, SERIES 2

Further adventures of British women on the rural homefront during World War II. Sophie Ward and Liam Garrigan star in this delightful second series from the popular BBC Television shows. The the-two DVD set is from BFS Entertainment.

THE STREET, SEASON 2

The second installment of the award-winning British television drama series recalls life among working-class families on a street in Manchester, northern England.

Stories involve crime, poverty, drug and alcohol addiction, unemployment, to keep viewers engaged. Seen on BBC Television, the DVD is from BFS Entertainment.

A GOLDEN OLDIE: CENTENNIAL

You may have missed the DVD set of CENTENNIAL, a fantastic television mini-series seen on NBC in late 1978 and early 1979. The DVDs came out in 2008 from Warner Bros. Television and Turner Program Services. It’s an engrossing saga of history of the American West from the mid 18^th century in what became Colorado to the 1970s, based on the novel by James A. Michener. A galaxy of stars mainly from television include Robert Conrad, Richard Chamberlain, Gregory Harrison, Lois Nettleton, Lynn Redgrave, David Janssen, and many others, with a truly memorable performance by Barbara Carrera as an Indian woman whose life touched many of the people in the story. It’s long, at 26 hours, in 12 episodes on 6 DVDs, but well worth spending some evenings with. It’s truly an epic and we learn a lot about pioneer-Indian relations, among other aspects of America’s growth from then to now. It’s something the entire family could watch together and discuss.

GOLDEN OLDIE ON BLU-RAY

Not really a classic but very entertaining, NIGHT FLIGHT, this 1933 “thriller” stars some of the top actors at MGM that year: John and Lionel Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Robert Montgomery in a drama about the mail going through at a South American airline, bad weather or not. Although it has its share of drama and adventure, it finds its place in movie history mainly because it was the first time a film’s producer put his name on the movie. Movie historian Jay Robert Nash says David O. Selznick took the honor, after its real producer, Irving Thalberg, declined it (as was to be his habit), whether out of modesty or he didn’t think that much of the movie, we’ll never know. It’s worth seeing, but there are other movies in the MGM archives worth the Blu-ray treatment. One of them is THE SEARCH with Montgomery Clift trying to help a war orphan find his mother in Berlin after World War II. An ignored true classic still only available on VHS tape.

Documentaries

NATURE: BEARS OF THE LAST FRONTIER

Bear ecologist Chris Morgan takes us on a 3,000-mile motorcycle journey deep into the wilds of Alaska to document the lives of three bear species –- black bears, grizzly bears, and the mighty polar bear. All are endangered because of human encroachment into their habitats and also from global warming. As seen on Public Television, it’s a wonderful three-hour adventure on DVD but even better on even sharper Blu-ray in this combo set of two DVDs from PBS Distribution.

FRONTLINE: KILL/CAPTURE

The U.S. military strike targeting Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters that killed Osama Bin Laden was one of America’s best kept secrets. After a six-month investigation, the PBS series Frontline gives a full report on the mission.

Gen. David Petraeus and his senior commanders are interviewed about the raid and answer the question of whether such raids will help end the war in Afghanistan.

From PBS Distribution.

CHRONICLE OF THE THIRD REICH

Many movies aren’t as engrossing as this four-hour documentary about Nazi Germany’s Third Reich which began in 1933 and ended in 1945 with the end of World War II in Europe. It marks the 65^th anniversary of the downfall of Adolf Hitler’s regime, using some previously unpublished films. Historian Michael Kloft, aided by three other historians, describes the politics, day-to-day life, the war years, and the crimes of the Nazi state. This is important history to know about and remember, from Spiegel TV and PBS Television Distribution.

IRENE SENDLER, IN THE NAME OF THEIR MOTHERS

A compelling documentary about the Polish social worker who helped rescue more than 2,500 Jewish children from the Nazi Gestapo during World War II. She did it by forging identification papers and placing the children in Catholic safe houses and orphanages in Warsaw and the Polish countryside. Ms. Sendler was interviewed about the experience when she was in her 90s, but she still vividly recalled them, including her brush with death in a Gestapo prison and harassment in post-war Communist Poland. Fascinating, exciting, from 2B Productions, KQED Presents, and PBS Television Distribution.

REMOTE CONTROL WAR

A revealing documentary on how ongoing campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan comprise the world’s first robotic war. When the U.S. invaded Iraq ten years ago there were almost no remote control weapons, but that has since grown to 7,000 robots in the air and 12,000 on the ground. Some 43 other countries also now are using robots in combat. This documentary surveys the present and future of robotic warfare, from today’s CIA drone strikes to the next generation of armed autonomous robot swarms, killer robots that are about to change our world. From SaskFilm,

Canadian Television, and PBS Television Distribution.

LETHAL LANDSCAPES

Soldier artists at the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Maryland, are trained to paint, sketch, and draw the intense moments of battle. This documentary introduces several combat artists who tell their experiences in conflicts from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, and how they illustrated them. Fascinating first-hand reports on the battlefronts today, from MPT and PBS Television Distribution.

BAD BLOOD: a Cautionary Tale

A report on how a miracle treatment for hemophilia in the 1960s became instead an agent of death. Derived from human blood, the treatment transformed the often fatal genetic disease into a treatable chronic condition. But using it infected 10,000 with HIV and 15,000 with hepatitis before it was pulled from the market in 1954, having caused the worst medical disaster in U.S. history. The documentary takes a look at six families impacted by the tragedy, and the doctors, nurses, and scientists who cared for them.

From PBS Television Distribution.

OUTBACK PELICANS

Surprisingly, the Australian Outback, the driest place on the driest continent on the planet, has some water birds.

Once every ten years or so, rains flood into dried-up river beds and create an oasis in the scorching heart of the desert where 100,000 pelicans arrive for a fantastic gathering, coming from coasts and harbors, and give birth during the short wet spell. A fascinating Nature documentary from Cabnon, WNET Org. 13, and PBS Television Distribution. In both DVD and Blu-ray formats, but see it in crystal-sharp Blu-ray if you can.

SURVIVORS OF THE FIRESTORM

Bush fires that ravaged the state of Victoria in Australia in February 2009 incinerated more than a million acres of land including vital mountain ash forest ecosystems. Kangaroos, koala bears, wombats, wallabies, endangered possums, lizards, and many bird species and fish were overcome by the flames. Millions of them died, but survivors were nursed back to health at wildlife hospitals and showed a remarkable ability to bounce back to health. The hour-long documentary is from Nature, Canon, WNET Television, and PBS Television Distribution.

JOURNEY OF THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER

Opera lovers are treated to this documentary that follows the creation of the San Francisco Opera’s production of the opera, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, based on Amy Tan’s best-selling novel. The behind-the-scenes hour-long documentary brings together artists from China and the U.S. to tell about the opera, a story about the difficult but unbreakable bond between mothers and daughters, inspired by Tan’s own family history. The DVD is from KQED, Art Works, and PBS Television Distribution.

FRONTLINE: FOOTBALL HIGH

My master sometimes stops on our walks and we watch school boys playing football. Ouch! Some of them really look like they get hurt. How safe are boys playing high school football? This hour-long Frontline-PBS documentary looks at the safety and other factors in high school football. The special reports on a school where two plays collapsed from heatstroke last year while practicing during one of the hottest summers on record and suffered extensive damage to their internal organs. One died, the other survived. At another school, 60,000 players suffered concussions each year. A report of special interest to parents, coaches, and players, from PBS Distribution.

SAVING THE OCEAN; SHARK REEF AND THE SACRED ISLAND

A PBS Television documentary on environmental dangers in the oceans, focusing on sharks around the world and also the fishing threats to the Sacred Island of Pemba, part of Zanzibar in East Africa. Two starting episodes of a new series, SAVING THE OCEAN, reporting on marine environmental dangers. The DVD is from PBS Distribution.

CRAFT IN AMERICA: MESSAGES

How many craft artists express personal and political ideas to tell a story, prove a point, or bring attention to issues. A Wisconsin glass artist explores the symbolism of 17^th century still-life to show the fragility in nature. A New Mexican artist uses authentic materials to combine historic religious subject matter with contemporary culture. A Baltimore bead artist uses bead and quilting to focus on issues such as race and stereotyping. A New Orleans sculptor created a series of wall panels that document the destruction after Hurricane Katrina. Through craft, messages help us to gain a greater understanding of our nation’s complex heritage. From PBS Distribution.

TYPEFACE

Typography is a seldom explored form of art. This documentary explores graphic design and how old and new techniques are converging. It tells of artists from the Midwest who meet in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, to attend printmaking workshops one weekend each month and utilize both traditional techniques and modern design in their work. The DVD is from PBS Distribution.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: THE DUEL

The American Revolution was over, but a war was not ended between two leading politicians of the time. The most famous duel in American history is recalled in this documentary between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr on the morning of July 11, 1804. From first-person documents, interviews with historians, and historical re-enactments,

the duel tells of the bitterness between the two political giants, Hamilton one of the framers of the U.S. Constitution, and Burr, a rival for political power.

Another excellent entry in the American Experience series seen on PBS Television, the hour-long DVD is from PBS Distribution.

NEW YORK STREET GAMES

Before there was television, computers, video games, the Internet, and Facebook and Twitter, boys and girls like my master played non-electric games in the streets. This delightful documentary takes a look back at those “kinder, gentler days” on New York’s streets in early to mid years of the 1900s. Celebrities, politicians, businessmen, and average New Yorkers recall their childhoods playing games such as Spaldeen, Stoopball, Tingoleavio, Skully, and others, played with everything at hand from a ball to a broomstick. The 90-minute DVD comes with a booklet with rules for 13 of the most popular games. It’s a real hoot back in time from PBS Distribution.

FRONTLINE: WIKISECRETS

If you want to know about how the biggest government-political breach in American history happened, this is the DVD for you. PBS Television’s Frontline examines the hoopla in “Wikisecrets: Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, and Wikileaks.” The hour-long documentary reports on the leaking of more than a half million classified documents on the Wikiuleaks Internet website, and includes interviews with Assange and Manning’s father. Manning, a U.S. Army intelligence analyst, has been charged with handing over the classified documents to Assange who released them on the Wikileak Internet website. A very important DVD documentary from PBS Distribution.

NOVA: POWER SURGE

The PBS science series examines whether new technology can defeat global warming in this hour-long documentary. Included are what roles coal and nuclear energy may play in solving the environmental problems they create. From PBS Distribution.

SECRETS OF THE DEAD: World’s Biggest Bomb

A documentary about the race between the United States and Soviet scientists to build and detonate the world’s largest bomb. The U.S. won the race on March 1, 1954 when it exploded its first hydrogen bomb, in an operation known as “Castle Bravo,” at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific. It’s still America’s biggest bomb, although concentration then shifted on smaller, more precise bombs. But the Soviet Union continued building massive devices capable of destroying entire cities. Their efforts reached their peak on October 30, 1961 when they exploded the “Tsar” above the north European island of Novaya Zemlya. The 50-megaton bomb was equal to ten times the entire amount of explosives used in World War II. The hour-long DVD about the super bomb race is from PBS Distribution.

AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN: Season 11

The most-watched cooking show on public television, it just keeps going and is always a good way to learn new recipes worth cooking up. Christopher Kimball and kitchen helpers show how they make some of their favorites from Cook’s Illustrated magazine. The dishes include indoor pulled pork, simple pot roast, bread pudding, and Chicago-style deep dish pizza (I love it when my master gives me a little of the crust). A boxed set of 4 DVDs from PBS Distribution.

3 KEYS TO HEART HEALTH

Dr. Lori Mosca, professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and a leading preventive cardiologist, offers practical steps to preventing heart disease. She addresses her advice to women because it is the number one killer of women, but the keys also apply to men. She answers common questions about heart disease and gives a prescription for exercise and nutrition. Healthy viewing from PBS Distribution.

MUSIC OF THE 70s

If your master remembers the songs “Nobody Does it Better,” “You Light Up My Life,” and “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” he or she will probably love this new DVD of some of the favorite songs of the 1970s. It’s called MARVIN HAMLISH PRESENTS THE 70s, THE WAY WE WERE. The award-winning composer and conductor hosts this television special bringing together on-stage for the first time the singers who made the songs favorites. A companion to the DVD is a CD that includes bonus songs. From PBS Distribution.

That’s all, folks. See you at the same fire hydrant next month. And if you want to social network with me, I’m not on Facebook or Twitter (I’m a more independent dog than that), email me at waltmax@comcast.net.)

Max's Best DVD and Blu-ray Picks June 2011

2011-05-28T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hi, I’m Max. best friend of Walt Oleksy (waltmax@comcast.net), and I review new DVD and Blu-ray releases each month. Here we go again…

Max’s Picks June 2011

My master and I have found some films to recommend this month that you may not know about because most of them got little attention when released or come via British television. They’re worth a lot more than a sniff at a passing fire hydrant. Two of them, the first two reviewed here, are especially recommended.

THE PLOT AGAINST HARRY

They say every dog has its day. For some dogs, and people, the day takes a while to come. That’s true with this off-beat crime comedy. When it was first shown to audiences in 1970, they didn’t laugh. The writer-director, Michael Roemer, could not find a distributor, so it was shelved. Twenty years later he had it transferred to video to show his children. The video technician thought it was funny, so Roemer submitted it to several film festivals where audiences saw its humor and laughed. He finally got his movie into commercial distribution and it is now available on DVD from New Video. You may not get the humor right way, but then it really starts to get to you. It’s about Harry Plotnick, a small-time Jewish crook and his adventures after being released from a spell in the slammer. Martin Priest plays Harry straight-faced, adding to the humor. He’s a banker for a numbers racket in a New York neighborhood that once was Jewish but when he gets out of prison is now mainly Hispanic and black. He wonders if his numbers enterprise is dissolving because of a plot against him. I won’t say more except that he doesn’t understand why his life has gone haywire as crime marches on almost without him. Maybe the film was ahead of its time, but it’s really fun to watch now. I hope you see it.

It’s in black and white, but don’t let that stop you. You can buy the DVD or rent it from Netflix.

THE ILLUSIONIST

Another off-beat gem. Not to be confused with the 2006 drama of that name with Edward Norton, excellent though that was, this is an equally excellent animated film that almost won an Oscar last spring. It isn’t really a children’s film because its themes are more for grown-ups. Originally an unproduced 1956 screenplay by the French comic genius of pantomime, Jacques Tati (Mr. Hulot’s Holiday and Mon Oncle), it was adapted by Sylvain Chomet, director of the incredibly wonderful 2003 animated movie, The Triplets of Belleville. It tells the adventures of a dying breed of entertainer, the music hall magician, who in 1959 is up against the public’s new loves – television and rock and roll stars. With his magic tricks and performing rabbit he winds up in Edinburgh, Scotland. There a deep friendship grows with a poor orphan girl who believes his magic is real. From there the story takes us into realms of comedy and drama Tati was noted for. In fact, the story is based on his own life experiences. I won’t give away any more of the plot because you should see this unusual film, created not by computers but in beautiful hand-drawn animation which, as one critic said, adds to the film’s charm and its theme of old giving way to new. The DVD is from Sony Pictures.

Also recommended this month:

CHRISTOPHER AND HIS KIND

British author Christopher Isherwood’s memoirs of coming of age in decadent 1930s Berlin at the time of cabarets and rise of Nazi Germany becomes a very watchable movie, especially for those who enjoyed the movie, CABARET, or his novel and TV miniseries of BRIDESHEAD REVISITED. Matt Smith plays Chris and Lindsay Duncan again proves she is one of the Brits’ best young actresses. On DVD from BFS Entertainment.

FALLING FOR A DANCER

It’s 1937 Ireland and a young woman has a fling with a young man and is with child. Shamed, her parents exile her to remote Beara Peninsula to marry an older widower with four children of his own. The girl meets a handsome young man at a dance, and it ignites a chain of tragic events.

Not a bunch of laughs but good drama worth seeing. It was a British-Irish television movie in 1998, now on DVD from Minotaur and BFS Entertainment. The only actor you’d probably recognize is a young Colin Farrell as the boy at the dance, but the entire cast is excellent.

BORDERTOWN

Immigrants from England and Europe resettle in a migrant camp in an isolated region of Australia after World War II. We learn about them before they arrived and their struggle to make new lives in this engrossing television miniseries from 1995. One of the stars is Cate Blanchette. It’s sometimes slow-moving, dramatic, and also funny, nearly 10 hours long in a 3-DVD boxed set from BFS Entertainment.

SERGEANT CRIBB

In foggy Victorian London, wearing a bowler hat, deep black sideburns, squeaky boots, and a sly wit, Police Sergeant Daniel Cribb of Scotland Yard’s newly-formed Criminal Investigation Department looks for perpetrators of dastardly deeds from the brothels to the luxury apartments near Windsor Castle during the time of the Jack the Ripper murders in 1888. Without much help from his superiors, he relies on a lot of patience and painstaking investigation of a wide range of crimes. Episodes are often based on real historical events of the era ranging from the sale of the London Zoo’s famous elephant, Jumbo, to spiritualism and Irish terrorism. Adapted from the novels by Peter Lovesey, the series stars Alan Dobie as Cribb, the very popular British television series ran from 1980 to 1981.

The complete series of 14 episodes, two of them previously unreleased, is available in a 7-disc set from ITV Home Entertainment and BFS Entertainment. Extras include a history of Scotland Yard.

DR. BELL AND MR. DOYLE

Or, THE DARK BEGINNINGS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, this is a “clever and Gothic and sinister” (New York Times) mystery about the origin of the great detective. Ian Richardson plays the brilliant doctor Bell who puts medicine aside to enter the new (in Victorian England) world of crime investigation. Teaming with young Mr. Doyle, played by Robin Laing, they assist local police in solving their most gruesome murder cases. Charles Dance is also in the mystery which is fun to follow. First seen on British television in 2000, the DVD is from BBC television and BFS Distribution.

Documentaries

NOVA: JAPAN’S KILLER QUAKE

A terrific documentary about the March 11, 2011 earthquake that hit Japan, the world’s fourth largest quake since keeping began in 1900 and the worst ever to shake the island, followed by the tsunami with ocean waves 30 feet high that was equally as devastating and destructive. Tens of thousands of people died and homes and businesses were destroyed by the seismic shock wave that released more than 4,000 times the energy of the largest nuclear test ever conducted. The documentary combines on-the-spot reporting, personal stories from survivors, eyewitness videos, and the science behind the catastrophe. The hour-long documentary is on DVD from PBS Television and BFS Entertainment.

BLACK IN LATIN AMERICA

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University professor of black history, uncovers Latin America’s African roots in this four-hour documentary seen on PBS Television.

Descendants of more than ten million men and women who were taken from Africa to six Latin American countries – Brazil, Cubs, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, and Peru – are interviewed on subjects about their roots ranging from colonialism to slavery. The study is a discovery of how Africa and Europe combined to create the vibrant and diverse cultures of Latin America. The two-disc set is available on DVD and Blu-ray from PBS Home Video.

THE KING SPEAKS

The true story behind the movie, THE KING’S SPEECH, reveals more about British King George VI’s stuttering. The 50-minute documentary follows his lengthy efforts to overcome his disability with the help of unorthodox Australian speech therapist, Lionel Logue. Included is archival film of the king’s public speeches and, for the first time, interviews with Logue’s former patients that demonstrate how the king courageously found his voice and rallied his country through World War II. The DVD is from BBC Television and BFS Entertainment.

WILLIAM & KATE: PLANNING A ROYAL WEDDING

If you were among the 3 billion people worldwide who watched the royal wedding of British Prince William and Kate Middleton on television last April 29, you can see how it was all planned by watching this new documentary. We go inside the social event of the new millennium to meet the royal couple’s friends, schoolmates, and designers, chefs, and stylists who tell about how the big event came to be.

The 45-minute documentary is from Simply Media and PBS Distribution.

GEORGE WASHINGTON: THE MAN WHO WOULDN’T BE KING

The father of our country comes to life in this hour-long documentary that reveals him as more than a general who won America’s independence or wore wooden false teeth (or did he?) The real man is seen in this study that makes use of impressionist photography, rare paintings, etchings, and prints from museums, libraries, and private collections.

The revealing documentary is from WGBH Boston and PBS Distribution.

NATURE: BEARS OF THE LAST FRONTIER

Bears are almost as cuddly as dogs, don’t you think? My master and I saw some of this wildlife documentary on our PBS station recently and now we’ve seen the whole NATURE special on Blu-ray. It’s even more gorgeous and exciting in this startlingly sharp format, a three-hour series in which bear lover Chris Morgan studies three of the eight bear species in the world – brown bears, black bears, and polar bears in Alaska. For various reasons including climate change and human encroachment on their habitats, they are forced to demonstrate their survival and adaptability strengths. Morgan and his camera crew follows the bears in a 3,000 mile journey across Alaska, from the coastal areas to the urban, mountain, tundra and ice pack. We see bears are complex social animals whose survival are endangered. The DVD-Blu ray combo pack is from PBS Distribution.

SALMON: RUNNING THE GAUNTLET

Few creatures have a harder time in life than the Pacific Northwest salmon. You’ve probably seen them leap over waterfalls on their hazardous journey to spawn and then die, hopefully before they’re eaten by hungry bears. But this new documentary tells us how scientists are working to save their environment. Millions of salmon once thrived in the Pacific Northwest, but in recent years their alarming absence on the Columbia River is a sign that many salmon species including the Idaho sockeye, are endangered, due not only to over fishing but to habitat loss and dams. The hour-long documentary on DVD and Blu-ray is from PBS Distribution.

SECRETS OF THE DEAD: LOST IN THE AMAZON

Eighty-six years ago, three adventurers set out to find “Z,” a supposed ancient lost city of gold in the uncharted jungles of Brazil. All three vanished without a trace. A new hour-long documentary follows explorer Niall McCann’s attempt to learn what became of explorer Col. Percy Fawcett, his son Jack, and the son’s lifelong friend, Raleigh Rimmell. McCabb’s expedition found two clues. Fawcett’s signet ring and a map with a secret code McCann’s wife deciphered. The expedition causes speculation that a pristine Amazon rainforest with towns and cities existed before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World. Part adventure and detective story, the fascinating documentary seen on Public Broadcast Television is from PBS Distribution.

SECRETS OF THE DEAD: CHINA’S TERRACOTTA WARRIORS

This documentary tells of the clay army of 8,000 life-sized terracotta warriors of China that were discovered a few years ago by farmers digging a well near the city of Xian that date back more than two thousand years. They are believed to have been ordered built and placed there by a conqueror named Qin Shihuangdi, the first emperor of China. After unifying seven warring kingdoms, it was his command that in death, he would be protected by a monumental army. The documentary suggests how and why the colorfully uniformed and fully armed statues were built. Also amazing is, not one of the warriors’ faces are alike. On DVD from PBS Distribution.

BRAIN FITNESS

PBS Explorer television delves into our minds in this documentary on how to train your brain to increase your smarts and memory. The four-disc DVD set runs four hours in telling how the brain works and how to make it work better for you. Older viewers will get tips on how to get the most of their vision and hearing as they age. From BFS Distribution.

SECRETS OF THE DIVINE: THE ALTARPIECE OF CIUDAD RODRIGO

Art, history, and religion come into play in this beautiful documentary about paintings of the 15^th century that adorned an altar at a cathedral in west central Spain. A discovery project on the altar artwork that spanned five years resulted in a stunning documentary that has equal parts historical art, mystery, and scientific exploration. The hour-long special is on DVD from PBS Television, the University of Arizona, Arizona Public Media, and PBS Distribution.

NOVA: VENOM: NATURE’S KILLER

Just hope you’re never bitten by a poisonous snake. This hour-long documentary tells a good side of it, reporting that chemicals in snakes that can kill you could also contain the keys to a new generation of advanced drugs that could treat heart attack, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cancer. NOVA followed scientists as they tracked down, captured, and samples the systems of the world’s most venomous animals to learn how they kill us, but also how they can save us, too. The DVD is from WGBH Boston, PBS Television, and PBS Distribution.

Max's Best DVD and Blu-ray Picks May 2011

2011-05-01T14:09:00.001-07:00

Hi, I’m Max, best friend of Walt Oleksy (waltmax@comcast.net), and I review new DVD and Blu-Ray releases each month at this web site. Here we go again…

Max’s Best DVD Picks – May, 2011

Before naming my best picks of the month I want to urge you to see the Blu-ray editions of two of the greatest movies ever made… GONE WITH THE WIND and THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Both released the same year, 1939, and both directed by Victor Fleming. The restored clarity of the films is simply astonishing both visually and in sound, and the extras are wonderful in understanding the difficulties of making both films and their ultimate triumph. Although David O. Selznick and MGM gave us both films, the Blu-ray and DVD releases are from Warner Bros. If you consider yourself a movie lover, see both of these in Blu-Ray and be sure to watch all of the extras. Thank you. Woo woo!

Two of my best picks of the month are both foreign films, one from England that you’ve heard and read a lot about, and one from Finland that you probably have never heard of.

The top film critics rarely review movies like the one from Finland because they don’t even appear on the pop charts, they just quietly win audiences when they’re given a chance to see them. That’s the kind of movie I like to tell you about.

THE KING’S SPEECH

King George VI of England can hardly speak because of stuttering, so he gets help from a self-styled speech therapist and is able to talk by radio to the people of his realm about being brave as World War Two begins between the United Kingdom and Germany. It’s grand story-telling and film-making, both dramatic and at times humorous, and deserved the Best Picture Oscar and a Best Actor award for Colin Firth as the king. He and Geoffrey Rush give wonderful performances as they first clash and gradually become good friends as the king slowly gains mastery of his public speaking. My master and I also enjoyed seeing the stellar supporting cast. Jennifer Ehle (who played Jane Austen's heroine to Firth's Mr. Darcy in the classic BBC Pride and Prejudice, plays Rush's wife in this film, while Anthony Andrews of Brideshead Revisited plays a prime minister. Also in the cast are Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi, Claire Bloom, Michael Gambon, and Guy Pearce. Each one a star in their own right, playing supporting roles. I highly recommend it. The Blu-ray and DVD from Anchor Bay both have extras on historical background on the events and the film.

Max’s rating: The highest. Paws up, tail wags.

SECRETARIAT

A housewife and mother, the daughter of racing horse farm owners, assumes responsibility for the farm and its horses after her mother’s death and father’s debilitating illness.

She believes in the future greatness of an unlikely foal and together they prove they are the stuff of champions.

Based on true events, this is great filmmaking and very moving entertainment, one of the best sports dramas in many years. The horse owner is Penny Chenery Tweedy and the horse is Secretariat who won the Triple Crown of horse racing in 1973 and remains the greatest racing horse of all time. Diane Lane is marvelous as Mrs. Chenery-Tweedy and

John Malcovich is almost likeable (a rarity for him in films) as the veteran horse trainer she hires. You’ll cheer for owner and horse in this wonderful film from Walt Disney Pictures.

Max’s rating: Two paws up and lots of “Woo woos!”

AMBUSH

This 1999 war drama from Finland is one of the best war movies my master and I have seen in years. Finland chose to side with Germany early in World War II, and during the summer of 1941 the Finnish army has been mobilized along the border with Russia. A young lieutenant is the leader of a platoon of soldiers waiting for orders to go on the offensive. He receives orders for a reconnaissance mission through the wilderness around a large lake to search for possible Russian defensive positions. While resting temporarily in a village taken from the Soviets, the lieutenant and his fiancé are reunited briefly while she is serving in the Finnish Women's Auxiliary Corps. When the platoon continues with its mission, the unit the young woman is in is attacked and we’re not sure if she escaped. Later the lieutenant receives a report that she was among those killed. How this affects the lieutenant personally and as leader of his platoon I’ll leave for you to learn when you see this exceptional film. It stars a very charismatic Peter Franzen, a handsome young new light of Finnish and European films who could quickly become a new international superstar. So too could his real-life wife, Irina Bjorklund, who plays his fiance in the film and is both beautiful and gives a very moving performance. They’ve co-starred in several other Finnish films and moved to Los Angeles after AMBUSH was filmed. It is in Finnish with English subtitles, but don’t let that keep you away. It’s beautifully written, directed, filmed, acted, and scored. Don’t miss this one. From Vanguard Cinema.

Max’s rating: Two paws up and lots of tail wags.

Also recommended this month:

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Charles Dickens’ classic novel of love and self-sacrifice has been adapted for the screen many times, and my master and I still rank the Ronald Colman 1935 version as our favorite. But the 1989 Masterpiece Theatre television mini-series comes close, not only because a longer visit to the story can tell more of it, but the performances and production values are also so excellent. James Wilby plays British Sydney Carton who loves beautiful Lucie Mannette and willingly takes the place of her lover on the guillotine during the French Revolution. Serena Gordon plays Lucie and the cast also includes John Mills and Jean-Pierre Aumont. The mini-series is available in a two-disc set from BBC Television and BFS Distribution. I agree with The Boston Globe reviewer who said “If you’re looking for an intelligent adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, this one is for you.”

MOLL FLANDERS

Daniel Defoe’s lusty story of an 18^th Century British girl who is a lover, a criminal, and a master of disguise follows her from birth in a prison to (perhaps) death on the gallows. Along the way, she romps with royalty and others but always remains steadfastly in love with one man, played by Daniel Craig in a ludicrous wig and several years before he became James Bond. Moll is played by Alex Kingston who was Dr. Elizabeth Corday on television’s ER. It’s grand-scale drama and fun on DVD, originally shown on Masterpiece Theater in 1996 and now on DVD from PBS Distribution. It’s not the greatest Masterpiece Theater outing, but very entertaining.

THE TRENCH

A group of British soldiers, most of them in their late teens, face the Germans at the Battle of the Somme in France in the summer of 1916 during World War I. Daniel Craig is a sergeant who must lead them out of trench warfare to their tragic death in what became the worst defeat in British military history. Heavy war drama made in 1999, it is on DVD from PBS Distribution. Lest we forget.

PARTY ANIMALS

Four young researchers and advisers try to navigate though the world of British politics in this dramatic series seen on BBC Television. Their adventures involve power plays and sexual intrigue, always staples of politics everywhere.

This is entertaining while offering glimpses into what goes on in Brit politics. A 3-DVD set from BFS Entertainment.

Documentaries and Specials

ERNIE KOVACS COLLECTION

An unique and hilariously funny comedian, Kovacs set a standard for comedy that has rarely even been approached.

This is a six-DVD set of the best of his television shows as well as a “life and career of” features collection,

From his appearances on local television in 1951 to network stardom and his untimely death in an automobile accident in 1962. Included are essays from friends and others who knew and worked with him and many vintage videos. We owe a special thanks to his widow, actress-singer Edie Adams who

was largely responsible for putting this tribute together before her own death, and to their son Joshua Mills. Here again for those like my master who saw Kovacs on television and for those who never heard of him, are his signature creations… The Nairobi Trio of almost musical chimps, Percy Dovetonsils the martini-drinking poet, Leena, Queen of the Jungle, and the many nonsensical but side-splitting routines for which he was one-of-a-kind. Don’t miss this great set that brings back one of the truly great comedians.

FRONTLINE: Post Mortem

Coroners’ and forensic pathologists sometimes make errors that cause guilty suspects to go free and also the innocent to be accused of crimes they didn’t commit. If you’re fans of television crime investigation shows such as CSI: Miami and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, you will see the reality side of death investigators whose work sometimes lets murderers go free and the innocent are sent to jail. This Frontline television documentary reveals a dysfunctional system with few standards and little oversight that can lead to mistakes which also can be literally buried, and deeper than I put the bones in my master’s back yard. The hour-long documentary is from PBS Distribution.

THOROGHBRED: Born to Run

A timely documentary to watch before or after you watch SECRETARIAT. The beauty and courage of the thoroughbred race horse and “the sport of kings” is explored in this documentary directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Wagner (The Stone Carvers). He travels from Kentucky to Dubai and the Arabian desert to trace the breed’s fascinating history and meet the people who breed, sell, race, and love them. The documentary runs 105 minutes and has more than an hour of extras including segments about the breed’s unique bond with humans. From PBS Distribution.

FRONTLINE: REVOLUTION IN CAIRO

This excellent hour-long documentary is about the youth movement that ignited the April 6 uprising in Egypt to depose dictator-president Honi Mubarak, and of the Muslim Brotherhood, the most organized and powerful of the country’s opposition groups. The uprising was only the beginning, as a new fight for power in Egypt unfolds.

The DVD is from PBS Distribution.

FREEDOM RIDERS

The historic civil rights bus rides of 1961 are retraced in this hour-long documentary from American Experience. From May until November that year, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives, some were savagely beaten and put in prison for traveling together in the deep South in what became known as the Freedom Rides that ignited the civil rights movement. A two-hour documentary in both Blu-ray and DVD from PBS Distribution.

WIILLIAM AND KATE: Planning a Royal Wedding

If you were among the more than a billion people last month who watched the royal wedding of Britain’s Prince William and his bride Kate Middleton in Westminster Abbey In London, this 45-minute DVD will tell you how it all was planned. It covers everything from what was served at the wedding feast at Buckingham Place to where they newlyweds went on honeymoon. Friends, schoolmates, and former staff as well as fashion designers, chefs, and hair stylists are interviewed, as well as several journalists who watched the prince grow into the man he is today. The DVD is from PBS Distribution.

THE GREELY EXPEDITION

A harrowing American Experience adventure more exciting than most movies, this tells the true story of a scientific expedition from Newfoundland into the high Arctic Ocean in 1881. Led by Lt. Adolphus Greely, twenty-five men set off to collect scientific data from a vast area that a British admiral had described as “sheer blank.” Three years later, only six survivors returned, telling of shipwreck, starvation, mutiny and cannibalism. The hour-long documentary from producer Rob Rapley (Wyatt Earp)draws upon scientific accounts, diaries, photographs, and letters to tell the story of the expedition which shows how poor planning, personality clashes, questionable decision, and bad luck created a tragedy. Not fun, but very watchable, from PBS Distribution.

Kids and Puppies

No movie to recommend this month for kids, but something to share with you. A 9-year-old boy in Mesa, Arizona, has become a hero for helping save the life of his 2-year-old sister who wandered off and fell into the family’s backyard swimming pool. He alerted his mother who pulled the girl out of the pool, then told his grandmother to call 9-11, and while waiting for paramedics to arrive, he applied cardiopulmonary resuscitation to his sister which started her breathing. Paramedics got her breathing back to normal and asked the boy how he learned to give CPR. He said, “From watching the movie, Black Hawk Down.” Thanks, Ridley Scott, for making that excellent 2001 film about the U.S. in Somalia in 1993. It wasn’t a kids movie, but it was lucky that boy saw it.

Bones to Pick

I suggest, as hard up as many of us may be financially, like my master, that we all send money immediately to Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway and the producers of LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS. The two superstars who earned millions for appearing in the film are stark naked in about half of the movie. In their contracts, they both agreed as to how far their nudity would go. I’m not prude, but the movie is about as close to a porn film as a major production can get. It’s a modern romance with a subplot of how the trillion-dollars-a-year pharmaceutical industry influences doctors and others in the medical profession to buy their drugs. This came home to me first-hand when a few weeks ago a neighbor said her doctor couldn’t figure out the source of her back pain so she gave her a big paper grocery bag full of samples that drug salesmen had given her. How the pharmaceutical companies operate is a worthy subject for a film, but the producers must have decided it would appeal to audiences more if it was heavily laced with nudity. Jake plays a pharmaceutical salesman who, among other things, learns the hard way, pardon the pun, that a sex-desire-enhancing drug can hurt.

Watching the film, I kept thinking that the trend toward nudity in movies is a far cry from the restraint of some of the most romantic movies ever made, from CASABLANCA to AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER and LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING. The lovers in those and many other classic romantic films made love with their clothes on, and rarely even kissed. It was more a matter of romance than of sexual desire.

Which reminds me of another new film, I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS, in which Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor are gay lovers. Okay, no problem with that, except why does Carrey have to hump McGregor all the time? And those scenes are not fleeting, they’re long. It annoyed me almost as much as Carrey’s constant facial mannerisms which always turn me off. No, I am not a fan of his type of comedy, which I see as mainly an ego trip. I am a fan of McGregor, a fine actor who I thought was wasted in this movie.

DOWN THE ALLEY AND OVER THE FENCE

2007-12-30T10:56:00.000-08:00

DOWN THE ALLEY AND OVER THE FENCE
An American Family, Chicago Style
1936 - 1951

by Walter Oleksy

Introduction

“Down the alley and over the fence.
I've got the can. Who’s got ten cents?”
(old beer-drinking song)

My sister Mary Jane, at the age of seven,
was a professional mourner. This was back in
1936 when we lived on the South Side of Chicago.

Rain, snow, or sunshine, Sis went to one of the
neighborhood funeral parlors and stood out front.
Lanky and with long dark hair, clutching a prayer
book and string of Rosary beads, she bowed her
head and sobbed. For this she was rewarded with
pennies from the bereaved who came to pay their
last respects to the deceased.

We were Catholic and Democrats, but Sis was the
first real liberal I knew. She never knew the
religion, occupation, or anything else about the
person lying in their casket inside the chapel.

Sis only got a hint as to who they were in life
because of the color ribbon on the crepe, the white
wicker basket of fresh-cut flowers that stood
outside the chapel door. A light purple ribbon was
for a man, white for a woman, pink for a baby or
child, and silver for an elderly man or woman.
Years later, purple became the standard color
ribbon for anyone deceased.

It didn't matter to Mary Jane who was in their
box inside the chapel. They got the best cry
she could send them off with for a penny.

During the school year, Sis had great hours.
She only worked after school on Fridays and also
on Saturday mornings. When school was out for
summer vacation, she made the rounds of the
chapels almost every day.

Fridays after school, she took up work outside the
Jewish funeral parlor in our neighborhood.
She found that, for some reason, the Jewish
bereaved gave her more pennies than Catholics or
Protestants.

Sis taught me resourcefulness and helped me learn
how to survive in hard times. Fifty years later,
after beating bladder cancer -- through sheer
determination not to let it lick her -- she’s still an
inspiration.

She drew upon her strong faith that the Lord
would help heal her. A mother with three kids,
she also looked up to heaven and told her late
husband John, “I’m not ready to play poker with
you up there. I want more time down here to
raise the kids.”

Our older brother Johnny Boy used to call her
“Saxophone Sis,” but I never knew why; she never
played the sax or any other musical instrument.
He also called her “Booth,” short for phone booth,
but I never knew why he gave her that moniker
either. She was always just "Sis" to me.

For younger readers who may not know what a
phone booth was, every drug store had one or
more little rooms like closets where you could
make a phone call in privacy. Like the British
police call booth in "Doctor Who."

We didn’t have a telephone in our apartment during
The Great Depression of the 1930s and until
World War II, so Mom used to give me some nickels
to go to the corner drug store phone booth and call
the gas and electric companies that we’d be late with
our payments. I also called the L. Fish furniture store
and said we’d be late paying for the furniture in our
apartment that we bought on time payments. It was
usually worn out before our folks made the final
payment.

We had a used car for a couple of months, until we fell
behind in payments and a man came from a finance
company and repossessed it.

A year and a half younger than my sister, my job was
to go around our block to aunts or neighbors and ask
for their empty soda or milk bottles. Johnny Boy and
Sis took them to the corner grocery store and redeemed
them for their deposits of one or two cents each.

When we pooled our pennies, we had enough for show
money. It only cost a dime to go to a neighborhood
movie palace and see two features straight from their
run in the downtown Chicago theaters. Maybe an
Errol Flynn adventure or a Sonja Heine ice-skating
musical. Or we went to a second-run theater and saw
three movies a few years old, for only a nickel.
There we saw a Tim McCoy or Buck Jones western,
maybe a Johnny Weissmuller "Tarzan," and a Boris
Karloff or Bela Lugosi "spooky." We seldom said
“Let’s go see ..." a movie by its title. It was always,
“Let’s go see the new Gary Cooper” or “Let’s go see
the new Bob Hope.”

Johnny Boy's job was to take all three of us to the
movies, stopping in the five-and-ten-cent store on
the way to buy a pound of licorice or butter kisses
for a dime. Then we entered the dark world of the
movie house and sat with our legs curled up under
us. We didn't take our eyes off the screen for four
or six hours while Johnny Boy divided up the candy
from a big bag. He sat between us and doled out
the goodies: One butter kiss for Mary Jane,
one for me.

There in the dark, was that when I began not to trust
my big brother? I was sure he took two for himself
every time.

Mom and Dad both worked and rarely went to the
movies with us. In 1936, my Austrian-born mother
ironed shirts in a Chinese hand laundry. She always
got there an hour early on hot summer days, so she
could get an ironing board near an open window.
Dad, an out-of-work master auto mechanic, drove a
trolley for the old Chicago Surface Lines. They didn't
have much time for going to the movies.

Millions of people lost their jobs during The Great
Depression. People survived the hard times by
their resourcefulness and sheer determination not
to cave in under adversity. Today, in times of
recession and job loss, many people are faced with
the same challenges we had over half a century ago.
But we made it and, if people today keep at it and
never give up faith or trying to survive, they can too.

My sister's and brother's grandchildren have a much
easier life than we did. To them, the 1930s and l940s
are ancient history, somewhere after the Ice Age and
before the invention of computers, I-pods, and the cell
phone. Our trials and tribulations in those distant
years are foreign but somewhat curious to them,
and they've asked many times, "Tell what it was like,
when you were a kid?"

To answer them, and to tell a story of our survival,
I decided to write about my boyhood, my mother and
father, and sister and brother in the "good old days"
when we were young.

You might ask, who cares? My folks and nobody else
in the family ever became famous or even infamous
for anything.

They just got born, worked usually not at what they
did best but what they could earn a living at, got
married or stayed single (as I did), had kids or didn't
(I stuck with dogs), lived ordinary lives and
sometimes did stupid things before they died and
left almost no footprints in the sand but often
imprints in our hearts.

No, they weren't very important. The thing is, you'll
probably see yourself in them or us, and others you
knew or know as well.

My memoirs’ title refers to an old beer-drinking song
my father and his brothers and sisters used to sing
after poker parties that lasted from after work on Fridays
to late Sunday nights at Grandma's house on the South
Side of Chicago before the men went off to fight in
World War II.

In among “On The Banks of the Wabash,” “My Gal Sal,”
“In the Evening by the Moonlight,” “Show Me the Way
To Go Home” and other songs they harmonized to,
they always sang:

"Down the alley and over the fence. I've got the can.
Who’s got ten cents?"

In the 1930s, you could take a tin pail to the corner
tavern and get it filled with tap beer for a dime.
Or, for the children, a pail or pitcher of root beer
also for only ten cents.

Back then, people sat on their front porches or door
steps on hot summer nights and talked while they
drank their beer, and maybe listened to someone
up the block play their piano in the parlor.

They say we can learn a lot from history, so maybe
we don't make the same mistakes twice. I believe
that's true. I also tend to believe it's true about
a person's family history.

Children today hardly get to know their parents
before they divorce. It's too bad, because
everything else aside, it's important to know
who your folks are, or were. It helps a person when
they grow up, to get to know who they are.

Most of the people in the stories that will follow have
gone to that big poker game in the sky. You
probably know or miss people like them.

Anyway, these are the stories I tell when the new
generation in the family ask, "Tell what it was like,
when you were a kid?"

These reminiscences are kind of a confession,
and I'm going to do my best to be honest about myself
but, of course, I'm not going to tell you everything.
As Holden Caulfield said in Catcher in the Rye,
the rest of the family would have two hemorrhages
apiece if I told anything too personal about them.

Mainly, It’s my wish that these memoirs will give
courage and hope to those today who are in hard times
or are scared for one reason or another.

For instance, lots of people today are scared of terrorism.
Sure, that’s something to be scared about. But let’s not
cave in about it.

Terrorism is not new to America. We had terrorism here
while I was growing up during World War II. Enemy
agents of the Nazis and Japanese infiltrated America to
blow up our airports, naval bases, and train stations,
or factories making planes or tanks. They just weren’t
called terrorists, maybe because our country’s leaders
wisely thought that was too scary a name. They were
called “Fifth Columnists,” but they were just as scary.

Some politicians today play on our fears -- intentionally --
in order to gain high office, claiming they more than any
other candidate will protect us from terrorists.
But making us fearful is not only un-helpful and
un-healthy, it‘s downright Un-American.

During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
instead played on our courage when he said,
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

If we keep that in mind, we not only can lick terrorists,
we can lick anything.

I hope you’ll come along with me down the alley and
over the fence in future installments to read more about
how we licked joblessness, illness, divorce, war,
terrorism, scratched knees, bloody noses, deaths in
the family, and all the rest of what life throws at us.

We not only have to learn to duck, but to hit the ball back.
Hard and often. Or, most certainly, to bounce back.

Pollyanna? I don't think so.

THE LADIES' ROOM

2007-12-28T07:03:00.000-08:00

First post: GONE TO THE DOGS...
AND LOVING IT

Second post: CLASSIC MOVIES

Third post: THE LADIES' ROOM

THE LADIES’ ROOM

Wit and Wisdom from
367 World-Famous Modern Women

Edited by Walter Oleksy

These are just a few of the hundreds of wise and witty
things famous modern women say in this compilation
of quotes about women, marriage, divorce, relationships,
sex and sexuality, fitness, fear and courage, beauty and
fashion, success and money, coping with age and aging,
beating housework, attaining happiness, combining
marriage with motherhood and career and, last but not
least, everything you ever wanted to know about men.

“The best smell in the world is that man that you love.”
-- Jennifer Aniston

“Making love is like hitting a baseball. You just gotta
relax and concentrate.”
-- Susan Sarandon

“Big girls need big diamonds.”
-- Elizabeth Taylor

“The only time a woman really succeeds in changing
a man is when he is a baby.”
-- Natalie Wood

“I married a German. Every night I dress up as
Poland and he invades me.”
-- Phyllis Diller

“The main problem in marriage is that for a man,
sex is a hunger like eating. If the man is hungry
and can’t get to a fancy French restaurant,
he goes to a hot dog stand. For a woman,
what is important is love and romance.”
-- Joan Fontaine

“Marriage is not just spiritual communion.
It is also remembering to take out the trash.”
-- Dr. Joyce Brothers

“Sometimes I need to learn to bite my tongue.
And that’s the whole give-and-take about marriage
– you don’t always get your way. And let’s face it –
until you get married, you get your way. Once you
get married, you suddenly have to think of
somebody else before you make decisions, before
you speak. That’s about putting your ego in check,
about growing up and about putting someone else
in front of you.
-- Madonna

“Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy
is the same.”
-- Gloria Swanson

“My husband and I didn’t sign a pre-nuptial agreement.
We signed a mutual suicide pact.
-- Roseanne Barr

“The trouble with some women is that they get all
excited about nothing – and then marry him.”
-- Cher

“When I attained a certain advanced intimacy with
a man, and I don’t just mean sex, I married him.”
-- Hedy Lamarr

“Husbands are like fires – they go out when
unattended.”
-- Zsa Zsa Gabor

“I am a committed wife. And I should be committed,
too for being married so many times.”
-- Elizabeth Taylor

“It is better for a woman to compete impersonally
in society, as men do, than to compete for
dominance in her own home with her husband,
compete with her neighbors for status, and so
smother her son that he cannot compete at all.”
-- Betty Friedan

“Men should keep their eyes wide open before
marriage, and half-shut afterwards.”
-- Madeleine de Scudery

“In a marriage, you’re promising to care about
everything. The good things, the bad things,
the terrible things, the mundane things. All of it,
all of the time, every day. You’re saying ‘Your
life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it.
Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will
be your witness.”
-- Susan Sarandon

“He’s the kind of man a woman would have to
marry to get rid of.”
-- Mae West

“Now, I think that I should have known that he
was magic all along. I did know it – but I should
have guessed that it would be too much to ask to
grow old with and see our children grow up
together. So now, he is a legend when he would
have preferred to be a man.”
-- Jackie Kennedy

“What has the women’s movement learned from
Geraldine Ferraro’s candidacy for vice president?
Never get married.”
-- Gloria Steinem

“Now, look, baby, ‘Union’ is spelled with five letters.
It is not a four-letter word.”
-- Dorothy Parker

“Marriage is too interesting an experiment to be
tried only once.”
-- Eva Gabor

“Marriage is a series of desperate arguments people
feel passionately about.”
-- Katharine Hepburn

“All married couples should learn the art of battle
as they should the art of making love. Good battle
is objective and honest – never vicious or cruel.
Good battle is healthy and constructive, and brings
to a marriage the principle of equal partnership.”
-- Ann Landers

“Why does a woman work ten years to change a
man’s habits and then complain that he’s not the
man she married?”
-- Barbra Streisand

“'What’s for dinner?' is the only question many
husbands ask their wives, and the only one to
which they care about the answer.”
-- Mignon McLaughlin

“There are some who want to get married and others
who don’t. I have never had an impulse to go to the
altar. I am a difficult person to lead.”
-- Greta Garbo

“In Hollywood, all marriages are happy. It’s trying to
live together afterwards that causes the problems.”
-- Shelley Winters

“When two people marry, they become in the eyes of
the law one person, and that one person is the husband.”
-- Shana Alexander

“I think every woman is entitled to a middle husband
she can forget.”
-- Adela Rogers St. John

“I don’t want to be married to someone who feels
inferior to my success or because I make more money
than he does.”
-- Grace Kelly

“I try to remember, as I hear about friends getting
engaged, that it’s not about the ring. It’s a grave
thing, getting married.”
-- Gwyneth Paltrow

“I’d marry again, if I found a man who had fifteen
million dollars and would sign half of it to me before
the marriage, and guarantee he’d be dead within
the year.”
-- Bette Davis

“Marriage is like a phone call in the night: first the
ring, and then you wake up.”
-- Evelyn Hendrickson

“For marriage to be a success, every woman and
every man should have her and his own bathroom.
The end.”
-- Catherine Zeta-Jones

“Remember if you marry for beauty, thou bindest
thyself all thy life for that which perchance,
will neither last nor please thee one year:
and when thou hast it, it will be to thee of no
price at all.”
-- Virginia Woolf

“A woman asking ‘Am I good? Am I satisfied?’
is extremely selfish. The less women fuss about
themselves, the less they talk to other women,
the more they try to please their husbands,
the happier the marriage is going to be.”
-- Barbara Cartland

“Single women have a dreadful propensity for
being poor, which is one very strong argument
in favor of matrimony.”
-- Jane Austen

“Forty for you, sixty for me. And equal partners
we will be.” -- Joan Rivers

“I was married for thirty years. Isn’t that enough?
I’ve had my share of dirty underwear on the floor.”
-- Martha Stewart

“Marrying a man is like buying something you’ve
been admiring for a long time in a shop window.
You may love it when you get it home, but it
doesn’t always go with everything else in the house.”
-- Jean Kerr

“I married the first man I ever kissed. When I tell
this to my children, they just about throw up.”
-- Barbara Bush

“For years my wedding ring has done its job.
It has led me not into temptation. It has reminded
my husband numerous times at parties that it’s
time to go home. It has been a source of relief
to a dinner companion. It has been a status
symbol in the maternity ward.”
-- Erma Bombeck

“Frank is a better husband to me than I am
a wife to him.”
-- Kathie Lee Gifford

“Just because I have rice on my clothes doesn’t
mean I’ve been to a wedding. A Chinese man
threw up on me.”
-- Phyllis Diller

“I wish someone would have told me that just
because I’m a girl, I don’t have to get married.”
-- Marlo Thomas

“Marry Prince William? I’d love that. Who wouldn’t
want to be a princess?”
-- Britney Spears

“Being a princess isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
-- Princess Diana

(Want more of these? Comment or email me at
waltmax@comcast.net)

GONE TO THE DOGS -- And Loving It!

2007-12-27T09:22:00.000-08:00

This is the beginning section of my new book about my nearly forty years with three dogs. The manuscript is finished and I’ll add chapters from it regularly to this blog. Please don’t steal it, but if you can help get an agent or publisher interested in it, I’d be eternally grateful.

GONE TO THE DOGS
-- And Loving It!

by Walter Oleksy

Introduction: That’s Love

Why is it when I kiss someone’s puppy, I feel like I'm cheating on my dog? It must be because I love my dog so much, and she loves me even more. A gooey answer? Yes, but true.

Some years ago I told my older brother, who was not a dog person, that my beloved dog Max, a big black Lab mix, loved me so much, he often licked my face. I took that as his way of kissing me.

“He’s not kissing you, he’s licking the salt off your face,” my skeptical brother replied.

So I asked my veterinarian about it, and he asked, “Does Max sniff you first, and then lick you?”

“No, he licks me without sniffing.”

Dr. Jim replied, “That’s love.”

And I believe it.

When Max died four years ago, my second dog to live to more than 16 years, I took care of a neighbor’s dog for six weeks while they were out of the state. It was another big black Lab mix, but with a longer coat than Max’s. Would you believe? Its name was Maxine.

I would wait until I finished caring for that dog before looking for another dog of my own. I would definitely get another dog, because my philosophy is, when your dog dies, you can’t do any more for them. But you can get another dog and pour all the love from the dog who died into a new dog. They get my love running, without proving themselves, without earning it. They get my love as unconditionally as dogs give us their love.

When the six weeks were up and I returned Maxine to her owner, friends asked if I would take care of their dog for a week while they were away. I said yes, and postponed a search for my own new dog for yet another week.

Meanwhile, I had asked local police where I could look for a stray or abandoned dog. They said they take those to an animal hospital near my home. I thought I’d go there in another week, after taking care of my friends’ dog, a tall black standard poodle. He was called Valentino because they got him on Valentine’s Day.

Driving home to my empty house after feeding and walking Val, I heard a message in my head. I’ve never had a more intense message come to me from out of nowhere in my whole life. More than a message, it was a command:

“Go to the animal hospital now. There’s a dog there that needs you, and you need that dog.”

Where was the intense message coming from? I had no idea then, but did later.

I passed up the block where my small ranch house is, and drove on to the animal hospital just a half mile away.

A sign on the hospital’s front window said: CLOSED FOR LUNCH. I was about to turn away and come back later, but some girls working at the front desk waved to me to come in,
so I did.

“My dog died recently after sixteen and a half years,” I told them. “And my dog before that also had lived to sixteen and a half years. They were both black Lab mixes. I want to get another dog. Do you have a stray or abandoned dog for adoption?”

“Yes,” a clerk replied.

“Do you have a puppy for adoption?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have a black Lab for adoption?”

“Yes. Would you like to see her?”

Her? A female black Lab puppy? My first two dogs had been females and they were wonderful. How could I get so lucky, my first time looking for a new dog?

I said yes eagerly.

As I waited and lunch break ended, a young couple came into the reception room with two healthy, active golden retrievers who were going to be boarded for a few days. Then the puppy who was up for adoption was brought into the
room.

It was a good-sized puppy; I thought maybe not quite a year old. Her short black coat was so shiny, she looked like a panther cub.

The puppy immediately began playing with the two golden retrievers and also with the girl clerks. With other dogs and women around, she didn’t know I was in the room.

“Wilmette police found her wandering the streets a few months ago, without any tags,” one of the girls told me. “No one has claimed her while we’ve cared for her here.”
Another girl said, “She’s healthy and has had all her shots. We’ve even had an IV chip put inside her, in case she gets lost.”

I could see the puppy was friendly with both people and other dogs. She finally came to me easily and without fear. And she was beautiful, with big expressive eyes.

“I’ll take her,” I said, making my mind up faster than I’ve bought a pair of penny loafers, and those shoes all look alike, so it’s a no-brainer to buy them. It was a no-brainer to take this new dog into my life.

Thus began new doggie adventures with my fourth darling. But what would I name her?

When I was caring for my neighbor’s dog for six weeks, while walking it I thought about what I would name my new dog. I decided if it was a male, I’d call him Charlie, after a friend’s golden retriever who loved to play with my first dog.

If my new dog would be a female, I’d call her Annie.

As it turned out, Annie was a most fitting name. Having been abandoned and adopted, she was a rescue dog. She was my Little Orphan Annie.

This book is not about one dog, it’s about the four dogs I’ve had for nearly forty years. And it’s about their dog and people friends, and even some cats. At times, you will probably see yourself in me. It is even more certain you will see your dogs in mine.

I write books, but am not a famous author. I also am not a veterinarian or dog trainer, nor do I hold a degree in human or animal psychology. I just happen to be a dog lover who has owned four dogs over nearly forty years, so I think I know some poop about dogs.

None of my dogs ever had a chance to be a hero, such as save a baby from a burning building, although I’m sure they would have been up to the job. They dug in the back yard, but never struck oil. They were just dogs, doing things dogs do, sharing their lives with me, and mine with them.

My dogs guarded me and our house, fetched tennis balls and sticks, wagged their tails for treats or play, barked at the postal carrier and all delivery persons, caught tennis balls and Frisbees on the fly, turned in circles before bedding down for a nap or the night, and their hind legs walked a little sideways.

Most important, they did what all dogs do best... give us their never-ending and unconditional love. Each of them, more than once, rescued me by being there for me with their love when things weren't going well.

Without question, I admit I love dogs. I go to garage sales every weekend and if a dog’s there, it’s the first thing I go to. I’ve never met a mean one, always a loving one.

Of course, I’m not alone in the world for loving dogs. About 52 million dogs live in 35 million homes in the United States alone, and I’m sure the owners love their dog or dogs to one degree or another.

I love some people, too, but you can wonder about people, even those you love most. You wonder if their love is going to be there for you, every day or tomorrow.

With your dog, you never wonder about that. You need only to look it looking at you to know that you have its love not only every day, but every moment of every day. And you’ll have it tomorrow and the day after that and all the years after that you will be together.

You can never lose your dog's love, because you never earned it in the first place. It is a gift to you, from your dog and whoever created them and us and this planet.

about me

2007-12-27T08:17:00.000-08:00

I'm Walt Oleksy, a freelance writer in the Chicago area.
A bachelor, I live with my dog Annie in a suburb near
woods and a river where we walk together every day.
She's 5, a black English lab, and as good as she is
beautiful. She was abandoned at age one and I adopted
her from a shelter after my previous dog Max, a black
lab mix, died after 16 years.

My dog before him, Chelsea, also a black lab mix,
lived to 16 and a half years. My blog will be about me,
my books both published and unpublished, my thoughts
on current events, and other stuff.

I call my blog Walt's Wallow because I had a column by
that name in the student paper at Michigan State
University when I was going to Journalism School there
and was one of the editors. That's many moons ago.

I hope you will want to read chapters of some of my
books, both published and as-yet unpublished,
and I invite you to email me good or bad at
waltmax@comcast.net.