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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.