Max’s Best DVD
and Blu-ray Picks, June 2012
FATHER’S DAY
SPECIALS
I’m getting my master a nice big marrow bone for
Father’s Day. Just in time for you for Father’s
Big Day, Sunday, June 17, PBS Distribution offers four excellent DVD and Blu-Ray
ideas:
BASEBALL: A FILM
BY KEN BURNS – Hit a home run for your father by giving him this Emmy Award-winning
story of baseball from its beginnings and great players to the present,
including heroes, scoundrels, and screwballs, with the struggle for racial
justice, clashes of labor and management, and all the hits and misses and home
runs we love.
AMERICAN EXPERIENE: JESSE OWENS – The great
African-American athlete who won four gold medals, set world records, and was
the star of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Hitler hated him because he was black and an
American, but we loved him.
NOVA:
THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS – Physicist and host Brian Greene journeys to
the frontiers of physics to see how scientists are piecing together the most
complete picture yet of space, time, and the universe. A
weighty subject told so we can understand it.
CARRIER – Come aboard a U.S. nuclear
aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Nimitz, and meet the admiral of a strike group,
fighter pilots, and sailors as they navigate around their jobs, families, and
the war on terror. Not an easy
assignment but these patriots do it all.
Recommended Movies this month:
MARGIN CALL
A day at a respected New
York City investment firm whose disastrous speculation in mortgage markets
leads to the 2008 Wall Street financial crisis as one major firm after another
declares bankruptcy and Congress authorizes a gigantic bailout costing
taxpayers billions of dollars. A senior risk management analyst (Stanley Tucci) is fired in the firm’s down-sizing believes he
has discovered enough bad mortgage investments that could bring down the firm.
He tells a young analyst (Zachary Quinto) to “be careful,” and Quinto works on
his computer to discover the situation is indeed potentially fatal for the
firm. He tells his superior (Paul Bettany) of his concerns, and Bettany
notifies his boss (Kevin Spacey) which sets off an all-night meeting until
morning when the firm’s CEO (Jeremy Irons) arrives by corporate helicopter to
chair a crisis meeting. Irons must make the “margin call” ordering his company
to sell worthless holdings before word spreads on Wall Street that they are
indeed worthless. This would save the firm’s top officials from financial ruin
at the expense of their customers. Irons’ decision is in favor of escaping
personal financial ruin no matter that it causes other firms to collapse and
their officials and workers to lose their jobs. Irons is a fictional character
but typical of CEOs who gave themselves huge bonuses for leading their company
into bankruptcy. The film strikes at the heart of reasons for the Occupy Wall Street protests against Wall Street dishonesty and greed.
Irons’ business creed is: “Be first, be smart, or cheat.” Many financial
institutions either were bailed out or went belly-up, and financial reform is
still being opposed. The film tells its complex financial story without an
overdose of arithmetic and a greater focus on the human side of the debacle. Rated R for
strong language and not acceptable for children. Strong and well worth seeing.
On Blu-ray and DVD from Lionsgate.
On Blu-ray and DVD from Lionsgate.
RAKE
An oddball Australian detective (Richard Roxburgh) is
reckless, brilliant, self-destructive (like an Aussie Doc Martin) defends
cannibals, bigamists, loan sharks. His
wife says he’s unreliable but his son thinks he’s a “mate” (pal). An offbeat detective series in 3-DVD set from BFS
Entertainment.
IN DARKNESS
Oscar-nominated for best foreign language film, this
is the true story of Leopold Socha, a Polish sewer worker and petty thief who
saved a group of Jews from the Nazis by hiding them in sewers where he works in
the Nazi-occupied city of Lvov, Poland. The discs contain interviews with one of the
survivors and the director, Agnieszka Holland, who directed “Europa, Europa.” At
first, Socha cynically asks the desperate Jews for money to hide then, but soon
a friendship develops and he saves them for nothing, at the risk of his own
life. It’s an adult film rated R for violence, sexuality, nudity, and strong
language, not for young viewers. In Polish, German, Yiddish, and Ukrainian with
English subtitles. On Blu-ray and DVD from Sony
Pictures Home Entertainment.
DECISIONS
For fans of crime films, this is a good heist flick
featuring the late Corey Haim in his final screen appearance. A young man needs
money for a down payment on a house for his girlfriend and himself, but unable
to get a loan, he coaxes friends into joining him in robbing a bank. Haim is a
Los Angeles police lieutenant on the take from a crime syndicate leader who has
deposited a large amount of money in the same bank. After the robbery, the
crook wants his money back and will do anything to get it. It’s not for
children. On DVD from Inception Media Group.
ELEPHANT SIGHS
Ed Asner stars as an uptight middle-aged man who moves
to a small rural town and becomes a “replacement” for a recently deceased
beloved member of a group that meets in a small room at the edge of town. They
are all lost souls gathering strength from each other. It sounds like a downer
but has some good positive messages. From Green Apple Entertainment.
SPRINGTIME IN THE
SIERRAS
Roy Rogers and his faithful
horse Trigger ride again in this restored DVD of the 1950s film. Andy
Devine plays Roy’s sidekick and Jane Frazee replaces Dale Evans in this film. The
villain is Roy Barcroft and a villainess is played by Stephanie Bachelor. The e
DVD is from Film Chest/American Pop Classics.
Documentaries
FRONTLINE:
MURDOCH’S SCANDAL
Play Monopoly for real and
see this eye-opening documentary about the rise and fall of Great Britain’s Robert Murdoch, one of the richest and most
powerful news media giants in the world and the telephone hacking scandal that
is still going on and rocking the British government. If you like juicy scandal in high places,
this is a good one for you to see. The hour-long DVD is from PBS Distribution.
NOVA: DEADLIEST TORNADOES
It’s spring and tornado
season. Duck for cover away from windows
in the lowest place in your house if you see a funnel cloud. This documentary tells you everything about
tornadoes, how they form, where they may strike, how to hopefully survive one. The hour-long DVD is from PBS Distribution.
THE POLAR EXPLORER
A documentary studying the impact of
global warming in the Arctic
and Antarctica
affecting the speed of melting glaciers, icebergs, sea ice, and flows. The
hour-long DVD
is from PBS Distribution.
6 STEPS TO BETTER GOLF
Michael Bannon, coach to the great new
champion, Rory McIlroy, shows how to play better golf with his secret of a
great swing. Ten minutes a day over six
weeks with this DVD
and you will, as Bannon claims, develop a solid golf swing with great
fundamentals. The DVD
is from PBF Entertainment.
THE MESCHINO OPTIMAL LIVING PROGRAM
Dr. James Meschnio, lifestyle expert and
educator, invites you to follow his 8 easy steps to achieve your wellness
objectives. His system helps to minimize affects of aging on joints, the heart,
brain, bones, and immune system to reduce risks of cancer, stroke, heart
disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. Two DVD
set from BFS
Entertainment.
CRAFT IN AMERICA: THREADS
CRAFT IN AMERICA: THREADS
Interviews with nationally recognized
fiber artists show and tell of their latest work in story quilts, fiber
collages and woven textiles. The hour-long DVD
is from PBS Distribution.
VIOLIN MASTERS: TWO GENTLEMEN OF CREMONA
Two violin makers from the same town in Italy
during the 17th and early 18th centuries made some of the
world’s most sought-after violins. This
documentary takes us back to those years and the workshops of Antonio
Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri. The documentary narrated by Alfred Molina
tells how their violins are worth millions of dollars today to musicians and
collectors. The hour-long DVD
is from PBS Distribution.
NOVA:
HUNTING THE ELEMENTS
New York Times technology correspondent
David Pogue takes us on a journey to understand chemistry and all of the
materials of life. An easy arm-chair way to learn about our world and bodies
from the Big Bang to living cells within us.
Pogue tells what elements are potentially
lethal while others are vital to sustain every breath we take. The two-hour documentary on Blu-ray
and DVD
is from PBS Distribution.
NATURE: THE WHITE LIONS
My master and I loved this PBS documentary
that follows the lives in the wilds of Kruger
National Park
in Africa
of two rare white lions from just-born cubs to year-old adults with the love,
care, and protection of their mother and an aunt. The lionesses teach the cubs
to hunt prey, establish their territory, and face down hyenas who would steal
their kills. The hour-long documentary is on Blu-Ray and DVD from PBS
Distribution.
FRONTLINE: THE REAL “CSI”
Forensics can convict or free a suspected criminal.
Everything from fingerprints to bite marks may be called into evidence in the
courtroom to prosecute the most difficult crimes. A joint investigation by PBS’
Frontline. ProPublica, and the Investigating Reporting Program at the
University of California/Berkeley is examining the reliability of the science
behind forensics and this documentary from PBS Distribution reports their
findings. Some series flaws are revealed in how some of the best-known tools of
forensic sciences are used and presented at trials. A fascinating hour-long
documentary for anyone but especially those working in or interested in police
and crime.
TITANIC’S FINAL MYSTERY
Titanic detective Tim Maltin goes to the freezing
Labrador current of the Atlantic to the blazing deserts of the Mojave to shed
new light on the 1912 disaster that sent more than 1,5000 passengers and crew
to their watery deaths. Twenty years of
research with thousands of hours of testimony and reports piece together the
final hours of the ship’s sinking. A Smithsonian Channel documentary on DVD from
Inception Media Group.
AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN: SEASON 12
Many more
fool-proof home-cooked meals from the three dozen cooks at America’s Test
Kitchen. Host Christopher Kimball,
founder of the magazines Cook’s
Illustrated and Cook’s Country,
leads the cooks in showing and telling all about 51 recipes including chocolate
torte, grilled bone in pork roast, summer peach cake, beef kabobs on the grill,
New York-style thin- crust pizza, the best
homemade ice cream juicy pub-style hamburgers, glazed salmon. Season 12
is on four DVDs for a running time of 676 minutes from PBS Distribution.
For
Kids and Puppies
SUPER
WHY: AROUND THE WORLD ADVENTURE
A new entry in the poplar preschool series from Out of
the Blue to Be, seen on PBS KIDS, it
contains three episodes to help kids aged 3 to 6 with skills to learn to read. They are joined by Woofster, a new
book-loving puppy pal (I like him!) Adventures include using a computer to
contact pen pals on the Internet, another about a magic map, and learning what
cowboys do. Included are interactive
games, music videos, print activity, and coloring pages as well as recourses
for parents to join in the reading fun at home. The 90-minute DVD is from PBS
Distribution.
See you at the same
fire hydrant next month. Woo woo!
