Ho ho! and woof woof! Christmas is a-comin’ and fast!  A jolly good time to check out my best picks for December, to watch or to buy as gifts.

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THE FIRST CHURCHILLS

“Rich in wit, lust, love, ambition, intrigue,” said the London Sunday Times. Who could ask for anything more? This landmark movie was the first to be shown on Masterpiece Theater, the acclaimed Brit miniseries, back in 1969. It was a wow! and holds up today as one of the finest examples of great story-telling, acting, and production values. The complete 12-part series, almost 9 hours, is on 4 discs in a handsomely boxed set. It’s the great love story of Sarah Jennings and John Churchill and the political world they lived in over five decades of intrigue through the courts of five 17th-century British monarchs from the House of Stuart. It’s all in gorgeous color, elegantly costumed and set in palaces and mansions. John Neville and Susan Hampshire star, he as John Churchill, and she in an Emmy-winning performance as the beautiful and tempestuous Sarah. Extras include an exclusive interview with Hampshire, who also won an Emmy for “The Forsyte Saga.” This is a rare treat to savor as a respite from the busy holidays or, even better, to watch afterward. From BBC-TV and Acorn Media.




A FINE ROMANCE
American television writers and producers ought to watch this comedy series to see how a show can be romantic, funny, and intelligent. Judi Dench, before she became a Dame, plays a brainy translator who falls for a working-class kind of guy who owns a failing gardening business. Her real-life-husband, Michael Williams, plays the man of her heart who just can’t seem to get into the business of romance. Judi sings the catchy old title song in the opening credits and it’s reprised throughout the series because the lyrics fit the romance. Be warned, you may not be able to get it or the series out of your head for a while, but that’s no problem. Both are worth keeping there. It’s from Granada Television and Acorn Media, all three seasons in 3 boxed sets of two discs each. Go for it all. It’s clever, witty, and wonderfully entertaining.

Foreign Films of the Month

ZHOU YU’S TRAIN

One of my favorite actresses, Gong Li (“Raise the Red Lantern”) returns to the screen after too-long an absence to star in this love triangle, playing an artist who loves a poet until she meets a young veterinarian. Follow these three diverse characters into a very moving love story from China. From Columbia Tri-Star.

 

THE GIRL FROM PARIS
A successful Parisienne quits the rat race and buys a farm, so long as the owner stays on it for a year, to help her learn how to run it. Of course a romance follows. The story is gentle and gently-moving, filmed in the spectacular Rhone-Alps, from where some mighty fine wines come. Christian Carion makes his directorial debut in the film starring Mathilde Seigner. You’ll like this one. It’s like taking a winter vacation in a warmer clime. In French with English subtitles from Koch Lorber.

 

WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

The Japanese are making a cottage movie industry out of Samurai action stories out of their nation’s history.  If you liked “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” you will probably like this new one about comradeship and honor amidst battle. The plot is kind of involved and it’s shown in language choices of English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, but you can figure it out. From Columbia Tri-Star/Sony Pictures.

Exercise, Anyone?

If your New Year’s resolution includes eating less and exercising more (the only diet that ever works), Naturaljourneys has some DVDs for you. They put out a whole series of exercise DVDs, but my favorites are these:
“Yoga for Wimps” and “Pilates for Wimps.” The yoga positions and pilate exercises aren’t too difficult, and both programs help to reduce stress and tone and strengthen muscles. For those looking to earn a few extra bucks moonlighting at cafes on Friday night, take a look at “Bellydance for Wimps.” “Learn to bellydance in 10 easy moves and feel like a goddess, and shake your way to a slimmer, sexier body while you burn calories and lose fat.” They’re worth a try, at least until January 2nd. From Naturaljourneys.

Spiritual for the Holidays

ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY

The world’s leading biblical scholars are interviewed about the beginnings and evolution of Christianity in this extraordinary 4-DVD set with 10 one-hour episodes. The documentary series was created by Gerard Modillat and Jerome Prieur who spent three years assembling experts and compiling research in this compelling combination of faith, inspiration, and history. From Facets Video.

"THE SEARCH FOR PAUL” has lightweight ABC Newsman Peter Jennings interviewing religious scholars to examine the apostle Paul’s role in the birth of Christianity, mainly turning it into a religion that was separate from Judaism. In “JESUS, MARY, AND DaVINCI,” another ABC News special, Elizabeth Vargas explores the theories in the controversial best-selling novel, The DaVinci Code, which I believe is much more fiction than fact. But if revisionist religion is your bone, you might like to chew on this one. Both DVDs are from Koch Lorber.

 

Best Documentary

HERMITAGE MASTERPIECES

Some of the greatest art treasures in the world are in the State Hermitage Museum in Russia, originally a palace built in 1754 for Empress Catherine II. It occupies six magnificent buildings and houses 3 million masterpieces collected over two and a half centuries from every school of art. Take an 8-hour tour of the Hermitage and its treasures in this 18-part 3-DVD set digitally remastered from the acclaimed television series. From Koch Vision.

Think Spring DVD

 

 

BOBBY JONES: STROKE OF GENIUS

If you live in the Northern climes and are a golfer, winter can be a bummer. You can dream about spring and fairways or watch the Golf Channel, or take a look at this new DVD. 
Jim Caviezel comes down from the Cross to play the great golfer in this biopic about the lawyer who won all the major tournaments in the 1920s, then retired from the sport after winning the grand slam in 1930. It’s kind of short on plot and action, but you’ll like the green grass. Jim parts his hair in the middle in this one, doesn’t look as pretty, and doesn’t get whipped (by other golfers). From Columbia Tri-Star.

Oldies and Goodies

 

 

GUNGA DIN
One of the great adventure movies of all time, George Stevens’ classic finally gets the restored treatment on DVD. Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Victor McLaglen are perfectly cast as Brit soldiers in an unnamed Middle Eastern desert country fighting a murderous cult called Thugee whose devotees worship the “True love is to hate everyone” goddess, Kali. Yes, there are modern comparisons in this 1939 colonialism classic from which we didn’t seem to have learned a thing. Originally made by RKO and released on DVD by Warners.

Other George Stevens classics released on DVD this month from Warners are the two-disc special edition of “GIANT” with Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean; Katharine Hepburn in “ALICE ADAMS” and Irene Dunne magnificent in “I REMEMBER MAMA.”

For Puppies and Kids

 

SHREK 2
The further adventures of the ugly guy who is all heart.  It’s pretty hyper stuff, with dumb computerized songs, but it does have a good if simple message, one that my master’s old Uncle Stash told him long ago: “You can’t tell a book by it’s cover.” In this case, it means that beauty is inside of us, not necessarily in our faces or bodies. From Dreamworks.

 

Bones to Pick

 

I may never see another Tom Hanks movie. Doesn’t that fellow and the studios he makes movies for, like Dreamworks, make enough money from our tickets and DVD and video purchases?  Do they have to shove products and brand names in front of our eyes and ears in every scene in every movie they make? I gave up watching “THE TERMINAL” after the first ten minutes because I couldn’t concentrate on the very thin story and Hanks’ dreadfully bad foreign accent because of the commercials injected into the movie. If it wasn’t hearing the airport loudspeaker calling out the name of an airline (commercial), it was Hanks asking where he could buy a specific brand of running shoe (commercial).

It was “CASTAWAY” all over again, which was one very long commercial for a brand of basketball and a famous delivery service. They’re also making us sit through commercials before the movies start in theaters. Enough, already!

I bet you didn't know, but besides reviewing movies, I sing opera. Click here to see and hear me rehearsing the Barcarolle from "Tales of Hoffman."

Maybe you would like to visit my master's web site with highlights of his huge collection of old movie magazines, Bijou Follies
Two more web sites I recommend are: Errol Flynn and Jeffrey Hunter