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Max’s Best Blu-ray and DVD Picks –
August 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.
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 Picks for August
Two
Middle-East movies you probably never heard of, but far above most films you
have.
A SEPARATION
A SEPARATION
A drama set in Iran today, a
middle-class wife and mother of an 11-year-old girl wants to leave Iran and move to
another country where life might be better, but her husband wants to remain and
says it’s because his father has Alzheimer’s disease. The conflict goes to a
divorce court where we learn what life is like in Iran today, from
it being a male-dominated society to class, religion, and other divisions. Not
a “feel good” movie but well worth seeing and it won last spring’s Academy
Award for best foreign language film. Several critics have called it the best
picture of the year and I think it comes close. On Blu-ray and DVD from Sony
Pictures Home Entertainment.
Max’s rating: Lots of tail wags and “woo woo’s!”
FOOTNOTE
In Israel today, a
father and son, both professors of Talmudic studies, are at odds over which is
getting the most recognition. The father feels that the establishment has never
adequately appreciated his work, yet he is to be awarded the Israel Prize, the
highest honor for scholarship, and the son is conflicted because he has
received considerable recognition from the establishment for his work. Feuding
professors bring out deep conflicts in a film that is both funny and smart. It
was nominated last spring for an Academy Award as best foreign film. On Blu-ray and DVD from Sony
Pictures Home Entertainment.
Two fine films from Korea
SUNNY
A celebration of sisterhood, with heart, soul, and
it’s also very funny. On DVD from CJ
Entertainment. Seven Korean women
remember their girlhoods as friends and the years since then. One of them, a
new girl in school who is shunned by many of her classmates, is ironically
nicknamed “Sunny.” Together they survive the terrible 80s in Seoul and vow to
remain friends forever. There are sad periods, but the overall joy in their
friendships is what makes this a special movie.
In Korean with English subtitles.
HINDSIGHT
An action romantic drama in which a once leader of
organized crime in Korea dreams of
becoming a chef in his own restaurant. A young woman comes into his life who
also has a passion for cooking and they soon discover they like each other, a
lot. But she has a secret that may derail their romance. For once, a crime
drama that has some intelligence. In Korean with English subtitles. On DVD from CJ
Entertainment.
THE TAKE
The popular British television detective
film starring Tom Hardy and Brian Boxer has them in a gangland drama shown in
four episodes of a total of three hours on 2 DVDS, from BFS
Entertainment. An interesting crime film set in contemporary London. Reviewers
call it “a taut and classy gangland drama.”
EXILE
A British psychological drama about a
jobless London journalist (John Simm) returning to Lancashire after 18 year and finds his father
(Jim Broadbent) has Alzheimer’s disease and being cared for by a younger
sister. The story unravels why Simm left home which involves a crime the father
cannot remember. An interesting drama on
2 DVDs from BFS Entertainment.
FAMILY OF FOUR
The secrets, hidden lives of four family
members living in the same house are explored in this drama. A wife is a secret
alcoholic, the husband secretly desires another woman, a son is ignored and has
an imaginary friend, and a daughter is experimenting with sex, drugs, and
drinking. Maybe not your typical dysfunctional American family, but it will
do. The DVD is from
Osiris Entertainment.
RASPBERRY MAGIC
A charming film about the coming of age of an
11-year-old girl who thinks she has to win a science fair competition in order
to bring her father back after he runs out of the family. She blames herself
for her parents’ problems and takes charge when her mother falls into a deep
depression. The girl uses “touch therapy”
to help raspberries grow faster and it helps her to find some solutions to her
problems. The comedy-drama is on DVD from Osiris
Entertainment.
From TV to DVD
FEDERAL MAN
The popular television series
(1950-1955) has been restored for DVD from Film Chest
on the American Pop Classics label. True government stories from the files of
the U.S. Treasury
Department in which of fraud and deception are dramatized. “The Chief” (Walter
Greaza) and his agents pursue counterfeiters, loan sharks, gamblers, bootleggers,
swindlers, smugglers and confidence men.
BOMBER BOYS
Winston Churchill said during World War
II, “The fighters (planes) are our salvation, but the bombers alone provide us
the means of victory.” This documentary tells the story of the Royal Air Force’s
Bomber Command, with former RAF pilot Colin McGregor and his actor brother Ewan
McGregor. It’s an exciting replay of
history on an 89-minute DVD from BFS
Entertainment.
New on Blu-ray for August
THE GRAPES OF WRATH
One of the best American movies ever
made, the1940 film of John Steinbeck’s great novel about the 1930s Dust Bowl
during the Great Depression stars Henry Fonda in his finest performance among
dozens. Not to be missed, and wonderful to see again in super-sharp Blu-ray,
from Fox.
THE 39 STEPS
One of the best spy thrillers ever made,
the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll on a
race to save the world before World War II. The Criterion Blu-ray DVD makes it
come to life again in a wonderful restored print.
Documentaries
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: JESSE
OWENS
While we’re in the Olympics mode, this
is the story of the 1936 black American Olympic Games legend. He became a hero
to most of the world but not to racially prejudiced Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. Returning
home after winning five gold medals, racial prejudice continued to haunt him
and he could not find a hotel in New York
City that would rent him a room, nor could he ride in the
front of a bus. The biography follows him from his boyhood as the son of a
sharecropper to his Olympic heights. What makes this biography special is it
goes deeper to show the fleeting quality of sports and how Americans and those
in other countries idolize athletes when they suit their purpose and forget
them once that passes. As seen on PBS Television, the hour-long DVD is from PBS
Distribution.
UP HEARTBREAK HILL
A terrific documentary about coming of
age today in America’s Native
American world. The film focuses on the lives of three Navajo teenagers about
to graduate from high school on a reservation in New Mexico. One of
them, a young man, is a cross-country running athlete, a girl is an academic
superstar, and another girl is an aspiring professional photographer. We learn
what their world is like as Indians and what their futures might behold in
modern America. As seen on
PBS Television, the hour-long DVD is from PBS
Distribution.
INSPECTOR MORSE’S OXFORD
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of this popular British detective series that starred John Thaw, PBS Television has brought out this special which takes a tour of the places and buildings in and around Oxford University that played background roles. Kevin Whately who played Inspector Lewis and then continued in that spin-off series goes along with Morse scholar Antony Richards in this 84 minute travel documentary from BFS Entertainment.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of this popular British detective series that starred John Thaw, PBS Television has brought out this special which takes a tour of the places and buildings in and around Oxford University that played background roles. Kevin Whately who played Inspector Lewis and then continued in that spin-off series goes along with Morse scholar Antony Richards in this 84 minute travel documentary from BFS Entertainment.
GOLF’S
GRAND DESIGN
Golfing fans will like this documentary
about the history of the American golf course and its architecture from the
1880s to today. It explores the unique relationship between those who play the
game and the places where they play it, including some of the most famous
courses. It also includes interviews with some of sport’s greatest pros such as
Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw as well as golf course designers George Bahto
and Ron Whitten. As seen on PBS Television, the hour-long DVD is from PBS
Distribution.
GUILTY PLEASURES
Fans of romantic novels will like this
documentary about the global world of that genre of fiction. Every four seconds
a romance novel is sold somewhere in the world from just one of the many
publishers. Five people involved in romance publishing are interviewed,
including authors from India, Japan, the United
Kingdom, the United
States. As seen on PBS Television, the
86-minute DVD is from PBS Distribution.
AT HOME WITH THE GEORGIANS
A very entertaining documentary showing
how Britons lived during the Georgian era of the 18th Century.
Prize-winning author Amanda Vickery is the host, delving into private diaries,
intimate letters, and artifacts of that period which provided background to the
novels of Jane Austen. As seen on PBS Television, the 3-hour documentary is on
3 DVDs from BFS Distribution.
COUNTRY DIARY OF AN EDWARDIAN
LADY
If you want more about how Britons lived
in another age, this tells of Edwardian England. Upon the
death of Queen Victoria, her son
became King Edward VII but his
reign was short, from 1901 to his death in 1910. It focuses especially on each
month of the year 1906. The 12-part TV dramatization from Edith Holden’s book,
plus watercolors from the book, is on four DVDs from BFS
Entertainment.
AMERICA AND
THE CIVIL WAR
Five fascinating documentaries from the Battle of Gettysburg. John
Brown’s Holy War, The iron-clad war ship the USS Monitor, the Massachusetts 54th
Colored Infantry, to reconstruction in the post-Civil War years, this
collection of two DVDs from PBS Distribution runs a total of 450 minutes.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: THE
PRESIDENTS
Just in time for viewing during the 2012
Presidential election season, this is a series of comprehensive biographies of
American Presidents. A boxed set of 17 DVDs from PBS Distribution running a total
of 2,310 minutes. Those profiled are Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson Franklin
Delano Roosevelt,
Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy
Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton. A terrific series and
especially of interest to students and teachers.
THE FIRST LADIES
Lives of five wives of U.S. Presidents
and their places in American history. Profiled are Dolley Madison, Eleanor
Roosevelt, Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, and Nancy Reagan. On 2 DVDs running
420 minutes from PBS Distribution.
THE BARNES COLLECTION
Art lovers will like this documentary
about Dr. Albert C. Barnes’ priceless more than 3,000 piece art collection,
among the world’s greatest, and the design and construction of the new Barnes
building in Center City Philadelphia. The hour-long DVD is from PBS
Distribution.
E2: INTERVENTION ARCHITECTURE
Of special interest to architecture
lovers, this film explores five winners of the AGA Khan Award
for Architecture. Narrated by actor Brad Pitt, it focuses on those architects
who best revitalized sick communities thoughtful intervention. The documentary
takes us on a world tour to Saudi
Arabia, Tunisia, China and other
lands. The hour-long DVD is from PBS
Distribution.
9/11: DAY
THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
The Smithsonian Channel and Inception
Media Group’s documentary with defining moments and untold stories about the
tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, narrated by Martin Sheen and featuring
interviews with Rudolph Giuliani, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Chaney and others. The
documentary takes us inside Smithsonian’s National Museum of American
History’s Sept. 11 collection with displays some of the items recovered from New York, the
Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pa. The DVD runs 138
minutes.
STORY OF WALES
Thirty thousand years of history of the
country and its heroes and triumphs from prehistoric times to a modern nation.
A 6-part series of dramatic reconstructions narrated by BBC newsman Huw
Edwards on 3 DVDs running a total of six hours, from BFS
Distribution
Now I’m going to take my master for another
walk.
See you at the same fire hydrant next
month. Woo woo!
