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Doggy Daycare DVD
I may be a bit prejudiced, but my favorite DVD of the month is this one-hour disc to keep me, and other dogs, entertained, relaxed, and happy while we’re home alone. I went nuts when my master first played this on his big-screen home theater set-up in the living room. I saw dogs I’d never seen before, not even at the park where I play with a dozen of them every Sunday morning. They were running and rassling and barking and having a great time in the woods, on the beach, and up mountain roads. I felt like I had a vacation without leaving the house. And all the profits from sale of the disc goes to animal charities, to help less fortunate animals. It makes a great Christmas gift for any dog in your life. From Big Imagination Group and the web site www.doggydaycareDVD.com

Max’s rating: Two paws up and lots of tail wags.

HEIMAT
My “people” Pick of the Month is this extraordinary movie. More than just a movie, it is an experience. “Heimat: A Chronicle of Germany” is the 15-hour saga of a family in the fictional village of Schabbach from 1919 to 1982. Like the rest of the German people after World War I, the Simon family struggles with postwar poverty and the rise and fall of Nazism and World War II. Edgar Reitz’s monumental 1984 film has been likened to the American family saga, “Roots,” but it is its own masterpiece. My master saw “Heimat” on the Bravo cable channel about 20 years ago and can hardly believe how great it is to see it again, this time in a beautiful digitally restored 6-disc DVD edition. If you only see one movie this month or the rest of the year, see this one. It will remain with you forever.  From Facets Video.     Max’s rating: Two paws up and howls of appreciation.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS
I guess, to my master and me, the penultimate film version of Emily Bronte’s beloved gothic romance will always belong to Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier, who played the tragic lovers in the 1939 movie. The story has been retold on film more than a few times since then, but the newest, released on DVD by WGBH Boston Video, is one of the best of them. Orla Brady plays Cathy and Robert Cavanah is Heathcliff. Maybe it’s unfair to judge different film versions of this tale, which is probably anyway best read than watched. In any case, this version is far superior to most new movies offered today.





THE MOONSTONE

Wilkie Collins, the British crime novelist, wrote this mystery thriller that is considered to be the first detective story ever published, in 1868. It comes to DVD in another excellent Masterpiece Theatre production from WGBH Boston Video. The Moonstone is a sacred Hindu diamond that was stolen from the head of the Moon God. A curse befalls its thief, and then his niece who is given the mysterious yellow stone on her eighteenth birthday. I won’t tell more, but it’s a dandy mystery starring Keeley Hawes as the beautiful young lady and Greg Wise as her handsome young suitor who become enmeshed in both mystery and murder.

THE MASK OF ZORRO
Zorro is back again, in this deluxe edition of the 1998 hit starring Antonio Banderas as the masked cut-up, and Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins as daughter and father. But wait, there are two Zorros in this rousing adventure. Who’s the other one? We’ll never tell. Lots of fun from Sony Tri-Star.

 

INSPECTOR LYNLEY MYSTERIES 3
More suspenseful Brit sleuthing by Scotland Yarders Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, in four new murder mysteries that they discover have parallels to their own lives. Nathaniel Parker and Sharon Small are again excellent as they do not always agree on how to discover who did it. From WGBH Boston Video.

 

A CERTAIN JUSTICE
Roy Marsden reprises his role as Scotland Yard Commander Adam Dalgliesh heading a team of investigators trying to learn who murdered a top criminal attorney, stabbed to death in her office with her own paper knife. A bloody good mystery from WGBH Boston Video.

BATMAN – THE 1943 MOVIE SERIAL
A real treat, to see the first movie about the Caped Crusader. Lewis Wilson played Bruce Wayne and Douglas Croft played Robin in this “chapter play” from early in World War II. All 15 segments of the Saturday matinee cliff-hanger were restored for this 2-DVD collection from Columbia Pictures. Get ready for electronic zombies, a deadly alligator pit, and a radium-powered death ray as the Dynamic Duo are literally pitted against Dr. Tito Daka, as played by veteran character actor J. Carrol Naish.

 

Comedy Tonight
Three DVDs that showcase diverse faces of classic British comedy. “Beyond the Fringe” is the gala 1964 farewell performance of the West End and Broadway hit revue that made international comedy stars of Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller. “Not Only But Always” stars Rhys Ifans as Peter Cook and Aidan McArdle as Dudley Moore in this comedy telling about the turbulent relationship they had while reinventing modern British comedy in the 1960s. “Butterflies, Series 2” is a 2-DVD set of one of the most popular British sitcoms ever. Wendy Craig and Geoffrey Palmer star in this comic marital mix-up. Three very funny shows from Acorn Media.

SEVEN BEAUTIES
A real roller-coaster ride of a movie from Italy, it is one of six controversial films by Lina Wertmuller from the 1970s that have been digitally restored and released by Koch Lorber Films. Giancarlo Giannini won a best actor Oscar nomination playing a small-time crook who will do anything to support his seven unbeautiful sisters who are all unlikely to ever find husbands. The other films in The Lina Wertmuller Collection six-DVD set from Koch Lorber are “Swept Away” and three others available for the first time on DVD. The boxed set also includes a 16-page collector’s booklet.

 

Documentaries

SADDLES AND SILKS
It’s a jockey’s story, taking you behind-the-scenes of the thoroughbred racing sport of kings from the jockeys who risk life and limb in every race. A bonus disc, The Thoroughbred, traces its evolution through centuries of selective breeding. From BFS Entertainment.

JOURNEY TOWARD CREATION
Astronomer Hugh Ross takes us through the solar system, past stars, galaxies, and quasars, back to the moment when light first cut through the darkness to the beginning of time. It’s a fantastic voyage for the whole family, from Questar Entertainment.

ECHO OF THE ELEPHANTS
Elephant expert Cynthia Moss, who has spent 20 years studied the species in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, is our guide to the daily dramas in the lives of grand matriarch Echo and her elephant herd. Exciting natural history on DVD from Questar Entertainment.

Teen Corner

 

DEGRASSI JUNIOR HIGH – Season 3
The critically-acclaimed television series for and about teenagers continues on DVD with all 16 episodes from the third season. It’s the final year of junior high for some of the gang as they face new challenges including puberty, rumors, friendship, drugs, and cultural differences, besides competition in sports, and studies. The boxed set includes printable materials for teachers. From WGBH Boston Video.

For Puppies and Kids

 

We just love this new series of award-winning, classic children’s picture books brought to life on DVD in the Scholastic Video Collection and are happy to recommend two new discs. One disc contains Syd Huff’s “Danny and the Dinosaur,” Steven Kellogg’s “The Island of the Skog,” and Tomi Ungerer’s “The Beast of Monsieur Racine,” plus two extra stories. The other holds Karma Wilson’s “Bear Snores On,” Lois Ehlert’s “Waiting for Wings,” and Karen Hesse’s “Come On, Rain!” plus two extra stories. Kids, parents, and teachers all love this series, and so do I. From Scholastic Entertainment.

The Baby Society
In a child’s first three years, they learn to speak, communicate, and recognize and interact with the world around them and become a part of it. This exciting new educational DVD series by a pediatric speech and language pathologist, Wayne Williams, enables parents to share in their child’s formative years and guide their children’s educational evolution. Sounds heavy, but the series does this with playful images and music children and parents can enjoy together. This first disc in the series is aimed at infants from three months to three years old. From The Baby Society of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. For more information, visit their web site: www.thebabysociety.com

Peep and His Pals
This excellent educational DVD series teaches science to preschoolers. Joan Cusack narrates the Emmy award-winning animated series with music from Taj Mahal. The animation is very simple, perhaps so as not to distract from showing real kids doing science experiments related to the theme of three projects. From WGBH Boston Video.

Between the Lions

The lovable lion family that runs a library takes preschoolers on three more adventures in this excellent fun and educational DVD series from WGBH Boston Video. The latest entries are “The Popcorn Popper,” “To the Ship, To the Ship!”, and “Farmer Ken’s Puzzle.” The award-winning public television series with funny songs and sketches is a good way to help kids learn key reading skills.

Don’t Miss These Classics on TV This Month

 

In a new feature starting this month, I would like to recommend a few of the best classic movies on satellite and cable TV. Many of them are not yet on DVD and it may be years, if ever, that they will be. I choose them only from Turner Classic Movies and the Fox Movie Channel because they show them without commercials, unlike American Movie Classics. I won’t list dates and times they show, because if you have satellite or cable TV, you can find that information in your monthly guide.

On Turner Classic Movies in October: “The Major and the Minor,” “Red Dust,” “The Night of the Hunter,” “Cry Havoc,” “The Yearling,” “Private Lives,” “Night Must Fall,” “The Pawnbroker,” “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” “Fahrenheit 451,” “Waterloo Bridge,” “Going My Way,” “The Seventh Victim” (very scary for Halloween), “The Court Jester” with Danny Kaye in one of the funniest movies ever made, “Rebecca,” “Suspicion,” “The Heiress,” “The Best Years of Our Lives,” and “The Uninvited,” my favorite ghost story movie. Also “Bright Victory” (a World War II survivor movie for our GI survivors in Iraq who not only should be brought home today, they should never have been sent there in the first place.) And most certainly “The Search,” with Montgomery Clift in an Oscar-nominated performance as a GI in post-World War II Berlin befriending a war orphan. A great, beautiful movie.

On Fox: “Julia,” “State Fair,” “The Rains Came,” “Breaking Away,” “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Patton,” “The Lodger” (1944), “Inn of the Sixth Happiness,” “Phar Lap,” “The Snake Pit,” “Laura,” “The Leopard,” “The Man from Snowy River,” “All About Eve,” and “The Longest Day.”

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