Woof woof again. Most of the Academy Award winning films and stars are on DVD this month and next. There were some really good movies and performances, but you’ve read about them everywhere else, so my picks this month are for some you may not have known about, or they are new to theaters or television.
BIRDSONG
A new Masterpiece Classic for television, based on the best-selling novel by Sebastian Faulk, popular new British actor Eddie Redmayne and Clemence Poesy, of the “Harry Potter” films, star as two young lovers in England before World War I. On the eve of battle on the Western Front in 1916, Redmayne, a British lieutenant, remembers his visit to a beautiful and peaceful estate in France where he fell in love with his elderly host’s beautiful young wife, and she with him. This begins a secret though passionate love affair. The big battle the British troops face will take place at the Somme River, along which the lovers had been part of a boating party the year before. Now it is to be the scene of England suffering its worst one-day combat losses in history. Anthony Andrews and Matthew Goode are among the strong supporting cast, but I won’t tell you more so I don’t spoil your enjoyment of this really fine film, with a screenplay by Abi Morgan who wrote “The Iron Lady” and “Shame.” On both DVD and Blu-ray from PBS Distribution starting April 24, shortly after its premier showing on PBS Television.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Charles Dickens’ classic novel gets a new treatment as a Masterpiece Classic, in part to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth this year. It is a lush re-telling of the coming-of-age story in not-so Merry Olde England with newcomer Douglas Booth as Pip the young man and Oscar Kennedy as Pip boy. The formidable Miss. Havisham is played by Gillian Anderson, and the strong supporting cast includes Vanessa Kirby as Estella, and David Suchet, of the wonderful Poirot series, as Jaggers, Miss Havisham’s attorney, and Ray Winston as the fugitive Magwitch who befriends Pip and assures his great expectations as a wealthy gentleman. You may have seen other versions of the story but this telling holds its own, especially since it runs three hours and has more time to develop the long novel. Shown on PBS Television recently, it is available on DVD and Blu-ray from PBS Distribution.
Oldies on DVD and Blu-ray
THE RED HOUSE
What mystery lies behind the doors of the red shed in the woods? Only Edward G. Robinson knows (until we do at the end), but along the way it’s a spooky thriller. Lon McCallister, a 1940s teen idol, plays his young farm helper and Judith Anderson is Robinson’s devoted sister. Rory Calhoun is a handsome young cad in the film and Julie London appears before she became a pop singer and television star. It was filmed in 1947, based on a 1943 novel by George Agnew Chamberlain, now newly restored in high definition and available in a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack from Film Chest on the HD Cinema Classic label.
Documentaries
WAR HORSES OF WORLD WAR I
If you loved the new movie WAR HORSE, you will want to know more about the horses who went into action with soldiers in the First World War. This excellent and exciting documentary tells about the one million British horses that served in the war. Rare archival material and recollections of surviving soldiers as well as new historical research tell the story as horses were called to war duty from every farm in England. At war’s end, only 60,000 horses made it back home. A 45-minute DVD documentary from BFS Entertainment.
SIX STEPS TO BETTER GOLF WITH MICHAEL BANNON
My master says he could have used this advice before he gave up playing golf to walk the first of his three dogs (I’m the third), and assures me that he made the right choice. Still, he says this is excellent advice for anyone playing the sport, from beginner to pro. Bannon is coach to Rory McIlroy, winner of the U.S. Open in 2011 and No. 1 world-ranked golfer today. Bannon shows and tells his secrets of a great, winning golf swing, and promises that if you practice it for 10 minutes a day for six weeks, you will have a solid golf swing. The DVD is from BFS Entertainment.
WAKING THE TITANIC
This is the true story of fourteen young men and women from a poor community in County Mayo, Ireland, who sought a better economic life in America by sailing aboard the Titanic. They traveled in third class and all but three lost their lives in the ship’s tragic sinking. Their stories are told by the three villagers who survived, and also from their descendants. The more than two-hour documentary is on DVD from BFS Entertainment.
SCOTLAND HIGHLANDS and SCOTLAND ISLANDS
A fine travelogue to the mountains of Bonnie Scotland by way of air travel. The journey covers the geography and history of the highlands, covering 200 years of history, visiting castles, battlefields, abandoned villages and other sites. A companion DVD takes viewers to the islands of Scotland, again by aerial view. Both are available on DVD from BFS Entertainment.
AMERICA REVEALED
Now that you’ve been to Scotland, how about an aerial view of America, focusing on its transportation, food, energy, and manufacturing industries. It’s a rare opportunity to see how our country works. Ever wonder how electricity works? You’ll learn a lot about that and other things. I did. On both DVD and Blu-ray from PBS Distribution.
SURVIVING HITLER: A LOVE STORY
The true story of a teenage girl in Nazi Germany who discovers she is Jewish and joins the German resistance movement. She meets an injured German soldier, they fall in love, and become co-conspirators in the final plot to assassinate Adolph Hitler. A fascinating documentary with narration by the girl herself and 8mm film footage shot by the boy. Fortunately, it has a happy ending for the young lovers. The DVD is from Osiris Entertainment.
INSIDE NATURE’S GIANTS: MONSTER PYTHON and SPERM WHALE
I wouldn’t want to get close to either of these two species, two of the largest on the planet, but it was good to learn about them from the safety of my master’s couch. Each is on an hour-long DVD from PBS Distribution.
NOVA: ICE AGE DEATH TRAP
Who was the man whose frozen body was found to be 100,000 years old, when mastodons and saber tooth tigers roamed the planet? He was discovered during construction of a Colorado ski resort, and archeologists are studying it to find out how the man lived and died, suspecting he was murdered. Who done it, way back when, and why? The story is told on an hour-long DVD from PBS Distribution.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: JESSE OWENS
The great American athlete and Olympic champion is profiled in advance of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London that begin on July 27. The star of the 1936 Olympic Games was despised by Adolph Hitler and his Nazis, but loved by the rest of the world. The 22-year-old son of a sharecropper won four Olympic gold medals, but when he returned home, he couldn’t even ride on a bus. The hour-long biography is on DVD from PBS Distribution
SECRETS OF THE MANOR HOUSE
If you got hooked on DOWNTON ABBEY as my master and I were, you’ll like this DVD about the British mansions and their upstairs-downstairs occupants from the Edwardian period 100 years ago to the end of World War I and the present. In 1901 there were more than 1.5 million servants in Britain and grand estates occupied half the land. Many of them have closed, too expensive to maintain. Some remained open because their aristocratic owners married wealthy Americans, such as Jennie Jerome, who married the seconds son of the Duke of Marlborough and became the mother of Winston Churchill. In The hour-long DVD, seen on PBS television, is available from PBS Distribution. And don’t spill the gravy or forget to feed the dog.
SIMPLY MING: COOKING WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Emmy-award winning chef Ming Tsai and guest chefs show how to fillet a fish and cook veggies kids will love (dogs, too). They cooked both in the studio and on the road, never with a recipe. Almost three hours of gourmet cooking tips from some of the best. The DVD is from PBS Distribution.
LIDIA CELEBRATES AMERICA: Weddings.
Popular Italian chef Lidia explores traditions and recopies of American weddings in this hour-long program. Locations include New Orleans with Mardi Gras Indians dancing in colored feathers and where the fare is jambalaya, crawfish, and pralines. In Chicago, an East Indian wedding menu includes seafood kebabs and traditional Indian breads. Weddings in Flushing, N.Y. and Manhattan conclude the wedding journeys. As seen on PBS Television, the DVD is from PBS Distribution.
SING-A-LONG BEATLESONGS
That old favorite in movie theaters on New Year’s Eve, the bouncing ball sing-a-long, is revived for this musical featuring the songs of The Beatles. Lead and background vocals are sung by Bobby Cowsill, whose family band inspired television’s The Partridge Family series. Historic footage of the Beatles is featured in this nostalgic DVD for the whole family to enjoy. From MVD Entertainment Group and Synergy Entertainment.
See you again at the same fire hydrant next month. And keep those doggie biscuists coming.
