Max's Best DVD Picks

Hi. I'm Max, a Lab-shepherd.
I've been around the block more than a few times and seen lots of movies with my master.

Welcome to my new and different web site recommending movies on that fantastic format, DVD.
It's different because I only review movies of quality, not the "dogs."

I drink out of a water dish, but too many movies today are like drinking out of the toilet. Or they walk you down some dark alley among the trash cans with a serial killer who is supposed to be the hero.

I prefer strolling the sidewalk with a responsible, mature master.
Not always just on the sunny side, but never in the gutter.
My rating system is one paw up for very good movies and two paws up for really good movies.
I don't recommend movies that rate less than two paws up.
If a movie is really terrific, I give it two paws up, a tail wag, and my highest praise: "Woo woo woo!"

Okay, I'm not going to chew on this bone any longer.
What's new on DVD this month that's worth renting or buying?

email Max

New Movies on DVD for Mature Dogs Like Me

For January, there aren't any. Sorry, but try as I may, I can't recommend a single new film being released on DVD for January.

I hear the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences is having a similar problem. Rumors are it may not be able to find enough quality movies released in 2002 to justify holding an Oscars ceremony this year. Maybe a solution would be to hold an "inverse" Oscar show giving awards to the movies of the past year that had the most violence, gratuitous sex, stupid plot, and amateur acting and directing.

For sound, there should be a new award: The noisiest. And not only for explosions and car crashes. Most movies for kids today, including the Disney animated films, could win that award every year for their frenzied musical scores. No wonder kids today are so hyper, bombarded by Disney’s new computer-generated canned songs for yellers, not singers, and amplified-at-full volume orchestrations. They’re a far cry from the music of past Disney movies that deservedly won Oscars. For instance, why do they spoil a fairly decent kids’ movie like “Spirit,” the horse story, with a stupid song every two minutes?
So this month, while I can’t recommend any new DVD releases of new films, I can heartily recommend these classics restored on DVD:

Click on small photos for larger views
"Singin' in the Rain"
Okay, so you’ve seen the 1952 Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and Debbie Reynolds musical about how silent films began to talk in 1927 a hundred times in TV repeats. But you’ve never seen it so sharp and clear or sound so great as in this 50th anniversary restored DVD. And the two-disc set has a feature-length audio commentary by O’Connor, Reynolds, and Cyd Charisse, as well as co-director Stanley Donen and screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Plus two documentaries, outtakes, a stills gallery, and more. From MGM via Warner Home Entertainment.

"Sunset Boulevard"
Billy Wilder’s gothic 1950 take on Hollywood past and present, starring William Holden as a gigolo screenwriter and Gloria Swanson as a faded silent film star, is lovingly restored on DVD. Extras include the making of the movie, photo gallery, featurette with Paramount studios’ dress designer Edith Head, commentary by Ed Sikov about director-screenwriter Wilder, and other features.

Now take a second look at my picks for December.

December 2002 - Best of the Month

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"The Thief of Bagdad"

Oh boy oh boy. Finally, they've restored one of my very favorite adventure movies. This is the live action, not animated, film version of the classic Arabian Nights fable. A boy thief (Sabu) befriends a young prince (John Justin) whose kingdom and lady love (June Duprez) are stolen from him by an evil grand vizier (Conrad Veidt). Originally released in 1940, the five-star movie is now restored to its breathtaking Technicolor beauty and exciting sound in a new MGM DVD release. I couldn't put a review any better than my good friend Jay Robert Nash who wrote in his multi-volume Motion Picture Guide, "A marvelous and inventive spectacle. There is no doubt that this film is the best fantasy film ever made, with great performances and astounding special effects." And of course this was achieved without computers or digital technology which was unknown back then. Simply put, this movie is the very best of its genre and great holiday or anytime viewing for children and the whole family. They don't make them like this anymore and, except for this one, they never did.

Max's rating: two paws up, lots of tail wags, and happy "Woo woo woos!"

New Movies on DVD for Mature Dogs Like Me

There aren't any. If any of you movie-loving dogs out there can recommend a new movie released on DVD this month worth seeing, email me about it.

New on DVD for Puppies and The Family

Santa Specials

"Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas"

Not to sound like Scrooge, but if they can tolerate singing candlesticks and mantle clocks (which I can't), the kids might enjoy this Christmas spin on the classic fairy tale, now on DVD from Disney. While still imprisoned in the castle by the beast she has not yet come to love, Belle throws the place into topsy-turvy by throwing a Christmas party despite his objections.
Okay, we all know how that turns out. Santa Beast? I won't tell!

"Thomas' Christmas Wonderland"
Young fans of Thomas, the friendly railroad engine, are in for a Christmas treat in this new DVD in the series. There are six jolly or exciting holiday musical tales in this 2-disc set told by storytellers Alec Baldwin and George Carlin. They include how the train gets snowbound in a blizzard, Thomas's search for a missing Christmas tree, and how Thomas and their friends work together to rescue villagers trapped in a Christmastime blizzard. From Anchor Bay with a music CD sampler included with the DVD package.

"The Magic School Bus Holiday Special"

Hop onboard the Emmy award-winning Scholastic series' holiday special with three stories about the adventures of the magic school bus at Christmastime. The DVD includes interactive adventures with DVD-Rom games and extras. Country and western singer Dolly Parton is aboard the bus as a special guest star.
From Anchor Bay.

Doggie Treats

Don't forget most of the best Christmas movies are on DVD to rent or buy this holiday season. My "best Christmas movie DVD Picks" are "It's a Wonderful Life," "Miracle on 34th Street," "A Christmas Story," and my personal favorite
version of Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" which was made in 1938 with Reginald Owen as Scrooge, although it's still only available on video cassette.

Christmas is past in this new full-length Pooh adventure as Rabbit, Piglet, and Tigger and their friends from the Hundred Acre Woods make New Year's resolutions, then try to stick to them, and each other. From Disney with sing-along and game fun as DVD bonus features.

"Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man"

What better way for the family to spend New Year's Eve at home than watching this amazing DVD in which the incredible troupe of acrobats, singers, and dancers take us on an odyssey from the birth of the Universal Child, through adolescence and adulthood, then on to maturity. As the astounding light and action and musical show unfolds, in the background are natural and historical landmarks around the world. And if you want more, there are two more Cirque du Soleil DVDs to keep you in a holiday spirit: "Dralion" and "Quidam." All from Sony Pictures Classics.

Wishing you all (and your doggies or kitties or goldfish or parakeets or other pets -- and don't forget us when you give out Christmas presents) a very Merry Christmas and peaceful and Happy New Year!

		January 2003

	by Max (with Walt Oleksy)