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?

Max's Picks from Previous Months email Max

New Movies on DVD for Mature Dogs Like Me

Click on small photos for larger views
"The Rookie"
One of Hollywood's most underappreciated actors, Dennis Quaid (Jeff Bridges is another) hits a homerun out of the park in this baseball movie even those who aren't baseball fans will love.
He plays a pitcher kept in the minor leagues because of a shoulder injury who then teaches science at a smalltown high school and coaches its baseball team, still with a dream of one day making it to the roster of a major league team. I won't tell more of the plot, but it's a good one.
Max's rating: two paws up and lots of tail wags. Based on a true story, it's from Disney/Buena Vista .

"In the Bedroom"
Both critics and audiences rated this drama about a family in a small town in Maine one of the best of last year, and now I can see why. Sissy Spacek plays the leader of the high school choir and her husband (Tom Wilkinson) is the town doctor. Their normal and relatively peaceful life changes drastically when their college-age son dies (I won't tell you how and why). It's about living with the tragic and probably senseless loss of a loved one. Wilkinson won a supporting Oscar for his riveting performance.
Max's rating: two paws up. From Miramax.

New on DVD for Puppies and Children

"Monsters, Inc." Spin-Offs
We said we liked this new Disney DVD release in our August edition, so we won't review it again. But you might like to know there are some pretty neat spin-offs of the movie. Such as a read-along DVD in five languages and a manga. A what, you ask? Manga is the Japanese word for comic book. The movie story of "Monsters, Inc." comes to life on a computer monitor when the read-along, sing-along DVD is inserted, plus there are other interactive fun features kids will enjoy and learn from. The manga or comic book is not the comic magazine we're used to, but a similarly illustrated 104-page paperback novel based on the movie. It's from Tokyopop and Disney/Pixar.

Other Disney DVD read-alongs are based on "Toy Story 2," "Tarzan," and "The Little Mermaid." Yeah, sure, it's a lot of merchandising, but the discs and mangas are fun and also get kids reading, and that's a good thing. Except when it keeps them from walking or tossing a ball to their best friend.

"Mad Monster Party"
Puppies (and small children) will find good old Halloween fun watching this new DVD restored edition of the 1967 animated feature film that has achieved classic status. Boris Karloff is the voice of Baron von Frankenstein who holds a monster convention to announce his retirement from monsterhood and name his successor. Attending are Count Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Mummy and other monstrous notables.
The revolutionary stop-motion of "Animagic" is by the team of Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, creators of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman" films. Max's rating: two paws up. From Anchor Bay.

"Best of The Muppet Show"
Those lovable, wacky Muppets who gave us so many laughs on television are back in special 25th anniversary DVDs. Three full-length shows and bonus material are on each disc. One features guests Elton John, Julie Andrews, and Gene Kelly funning with Jim Henson's Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and the rest of their wonderful fuzzy crowd. Another has guest stars Mark ("Star Wars") Hamill, Paul Simon, and Raquel Welch. It's great fun to see again Julie Andrews yodeling the tale of a lonely goat herd to Kermit, and Paul Simon dueting "Scarborough Fair" with Miss Piggy.
Max's rating: the highest. From Columbia Tri-Star.

"Kermit's Swamp Years"
Want more Muppets? Check out this new DVD that tells "His true story, warts and all." It's the never-before-told story of how the world's most famous frog left the swamp for the very first time and began an adventure that would change his life -- and ours -- forever. Great fun for puppies, kids, and the entire family. And the disc is loaded with special extra features including "On the set with Kermit."
Max's rating: two happy paws up. From Columbia Tri-Star.

"Salty's Secret & Other Thomas Adventures"
Young fans of award-winning Thomas & Friends, the smiling, buck-toothed railroad engine, will meet three new friends in this also new DVD from Anchor Bay. Six stories on the disc teach preschoolers how to be a loyal friend and the importance of teamwork. Bonus features include a read-along story, two games (Paint My Color and Learn to Count), a sing-along music video, and more.

"G.I. Stooge"
The Three Stooges continue their reprised antics on DVD in this digitally remastered collection of six of their maddest madcap adventures from World War II, made between1938 and1946. Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard don Army, Navy, and Air Force uniforms in both Europe and the Pacific to deal with not only the Nazis and Japs but several top sergeants.
Max's favorites, rating two paws up and lots of tail wags, are "No Dough Boys" and "Dizzy Pilots." From Columbia Pictures.

New on DVD for Foreign Breeds

Some British DVD imports are worth spending some time with this month.

"Love on a Branch Line"
Here's a movie only the Brits could make and pull off so delightfully. Its comedy is whimsical (sadly, American filmmakers know nothing about whimsy) and its plot offbeat and not very exciting, but you come to care about the people and what becomes of them.

It's about a young London civil servant (wide-eyed winningly played by Michael Maloney) whose boring routine is interrupted when he is assigned to investigate the continued usefulness of a long-forgotten government research station in remote East Anglia. Delightfully oddball smalltown characters enter his life, including three beautiful sisters each of whom has eyes for the handsome but unwomanly-wise bachelor.

The London Daily Express says of it: "Utterly charming, exquistely acted and directed -- the nearest thing we've got to perfect." The Sunday Express says: "An unmitigated triumph... funny, sexy, eccentric and quite beautiful."
Max agrees, rating it two paws up, a tail wag, and two "woo woo's!" A two DVD set from DLT Entertainment and BFS Video.

"The Last September"
This is a filming of an acclaimed British novel by Elizabeth Bowen, set mainly in rural southern Ireland during that country's struggle for independence from Britain in 1920. The cast is impeccable, headed by Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon and one of my favorites who is lesser known but just as fine an actor, Fiona Shaw. Vogue's movie critic called it "As finely crafted as a Vermeer," while The Boston Globe said it's "Gorgeous! Seductive!" Max's rating: two paws up

"The Wives of Henry VIII"
An engrossing new docudrama following the marital misadventures of the British monarch (1491-1547, but you knew that from History 101) who had a habit of either divorcing or beheading his wives. Although the same number of wives weave their way through this historical re-enactment, it is not to be confused with "The Six Wives of Henry VIII," the1971 British television miniseries with Keith Michell as the wayward king.
Max's rating: two paws up. The two-disc set is from British Channel Four Television and BFS Video.

Classics Back Again on DVD

Some of the best television and movie fare of recent and past years is now on DVD, each of them digitally restored in both picture and sound.

"The Civil War"
Some critics call it "Ken Burns' Civil War," but he wasn't in it, he just made a television miniseries about it that many of them call the best historical movie ever made. The monumental 11-hour documentary is now out on DVD, digitally remastered in both picture and sound. (And no commercials; PBS pledge breaks or otherwise.) Even Burns loves the return to the battlefields, saying he was unprepared for "how powerful the material I thought I knew was when I went back and watched it." Extra features include Burns' and several Civil War scholars' commentary, interactive maps, and a trivia quiz.
Max's rating: the highest. From PBS Home Video and Warner Home Video.

"Blue vs. Gray: Killing Fields"
Another look at the Civil War - over 10,000 present-day Civil War re-enactors dramatize some of the most vicious fighting of the war. They show how General Grant sacrificed 50,000 Union soldiers in the Spring of 1864 at battles such as the Battle of the Wilderness and Cold Harbor. Extras on the disc include newsreel footage of a 1938 reunion of Gettysburg survivors, both Union and Confederate.
Max's rating: two paws up. From the Military Network and BFS Entertainment and Multimedia.

"Brideshead Revisited"
The mesmerizing PBS British miniseries that kept millions glued to their television sets in 1984 has been digitally remastered for DVD in an 11-episode three disc set, and it is, as the Brits say, "smashing." It is, of course, the dramatization of Evelyn Waugh's 1945 novel of a fading aristocratic British family in pre-World War II England and Venice, focused mainly on the friendship between the family's painfully sensitive young heir apparent (Anthony Andrews) and a lower-class Oxford University classmate (Jeremy Irons) that evolves over a decade. Fascinating story-telling, beautifully dramatized by the two actors who became stars from their incredible performances, supported by Claire Bloom, Diana Quick, and others including cinema legends Sir John Gielgud and Sir Laurence Olivier who won an Emmy for his performance as the head of the declining family.
The discs come with photo extras and a Brideshead Revisited Companion Guide booklet containing a retrospective introduction by the film's director, Charles Sturridge, episode descriptions, a biography of Waugh, and more.
Max's rating: the highest. From Acorn Media.

"Cosmos"
The late Carl Sagan's incomparable Emmy and Peabody award winning television series has been available on DVD for several years, but is out again in a digitally-restored, remastered seven-disc collectors edition running 13 hours. It is playable in seven subtitle languages and accompanied by a 2-CD set featuring the most memorable musical pieces from the television series. Max's rating: the highest. From Cosmos Studios and Koch Vision.

"Singin' in the Rain"
Perhaps everyone's favorite movie musical has been available on DVD for several years, but now it has been digitally remastered in both picture and sound for a 50th anniversary special edition release. As even every pup knows, the 1952 classic stars Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Cyd Charisse, and Jean Hagen hilariously helping the movies evolve from silents to talkies.

The two-disc set also holds film clips on the making of the movie, a 36-minute interview with Debbie, a documentary on producer-songwriter Arthur Freed, another on the impact the movie had on future filmmaking, plus photos and an outtake number, "You Are My Lucky Star." Max's rating: the highest. From Warner Home Video (although the movie was made by MGM).

How Long Is a Good Movie?
A dog could take several long naps during parts of today's movies. A recent New York Times article by film writer David Thomson agrees, complaining that too many new movies take too long to tell their story. An example is "The Green Mile" which could have been told in thirty minutes but stretched into three interminable hours. I could also commend another Tom Hanks movie to the "too long" category, since watching his stay on a desert island in "Castaway" seemed as long as the two years he was on it. Or if it wasn't two years, it seemed at least that long.

Thomson says, rightfully so, that many of the best movies ever made were only about an hour and half long, such as Howard Hawks' 1940 comedy classic, "His Girl Friday." I add that the adventure classic "Gunga Din" was only 117 minutes long, and "From Here to Eternity" was only one minute longer. The new "Pearl Harbor," which was nowhere near as good telling about that tragedy of history, was a buttocks-wearying 183 minutes long. The hilarious "Father of the Bride" was over in just 93 minutes. Why do so many new films take an eternity to watch?

Maybe film editors need to take a look at the classics again and do some judicious cutting of scenes that don't move the story forward. Not to sound puritanical, but does every movie today have to have a scene with the lead couple coupling in the nude? Did Bogie and Bergman have a nude scene in "Casablanca"? (which was only 102 minutes long). Oh, heck, it's taking too long to tell this, and I'm way overdue for another nap.

Westerns used to be the mainstay of the movies (even though they seldom featured dogs), but they've been absent from the screen for much too many years. Even as late as 1995, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, two actors most closely associated with westerns, were ranked first and second respectively in a poll of the nation's most popular male stars. And Wayne had been dead for sixteen years! About a decade ago, the westerns "Dances with Wolves" and "Unforgiven" won Best Picture Oscars. Movie columnist Graham Fuller says the demise of the western may be because "Our gunfighters have been emasculated, and our Indians have been politically correct."

You got it wrong, Pilgrim. I think the real reason westerns have ridden off into the sunset these past few years is because of critics such as Fuller. He said, "Although 'Unforgiven' was probably not intended as an allegory of America's righteous war against Saddam Hussein in 1991, it may certainly be construed as a justification of necessary violence." Say what? I saw 'Unforgiven' and all I got out of it was, it was about the most violent western I'd ever seen. I didn't see anyone in it that remotely reminded me of Suddam Hussein.
Maybe more westerns would be made today if they were just reviewed for what they are... movies about the good guys vs. the bad, both in western clothes and settings. Leave the westerns off the analyst's couch and let us enjoy a good old-fashioned shoot-em-up at the O.K. Corral or the open range cattlemen vs. the sodbusters. And I have no objection to the hero smooching the pretty school marm at the end.

I don't think the western is dead, and believe John Ford and John Wayne would agree. As the Duke said more than once in "The Searchers," "That'll be the day!"

		October 2002

	by Max (with Walt Oleksy)