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

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.