Max's Best DVD Picks

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"Love for Lydia"

Oh boy, oh boy, I can’t recommend this high enough. It’s a new DVD restoration of one of the best things Britain’s Masterpiece Theater and PBS-Television ever put out (in 1977). The four-disc set follows the romantic adventures of a young heiress in a British rural town from the late 1920s into the early 1930s. Based on the novel by H.E. Bates, it stars Mel Martin as Lydia and Christopher Blake as one of three or more suitors. In supporting roles are Jeremy Irons before he reached stardom in “Brideshead Revisited,” and Peter Davison before he did the same in “All Creatures Great and Small.” Lydia is a temptress and a tease, working her charms on every young man who falls under her spell, as you will when you rent or buy this treasure. The complete 13-episode boxed set is from London Weekend Television, Granada, and Acorn Media.

Max’s rating: Two paws up and enough loud “Woo Woo!”s to have the neighbors call the cops. If you only see one movie on DVD this month, make it this one.

Pick to Skip This Month

“Gangs of New York”
My master and I decided to start something new this month: let you know about a DVD movie we think you could easily skip. We were turned off by the almost three-hour movie after the first five minutes when two gangs of about a hundred guys each started hacking each other to death with butcher cleavers. We hadn’t seen so much violence on screen since the unwatchable blood-soaked Al Pacino version of “Scarface" (which "Gangs" director Martin Scorcese loves).

We like the review George Parker of Orange County, California, gave it: “’Gangs of New York’ mixes real American history with a weak fictional human drama and a thick coat of Hollywoodization resulting in an over-wrought behemoth wannabe epic misfire. Scorcese pulls together bits and pieces of the Civil War conscription act, Irish potato famine immigration, Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed corruption, race/slave issues, slum gangs, etc., and creates a milieu which has an off-target post-apocalyptic sort of feel and then tries to cram Leonardo DiCaprio down our throats as a hero though he does nothing particularly heroic. The flick features blood and guts street riots reminiscent of “Braveheart,” a romance which doesn’t work, an evil guy over-acted by Daniel Day-Lewis, and little else save a whole bunch of filler to give us a taste of the times (1863), and milk the extravagance for all its worth.” Rated R for intense strong violence, sexuality/nudity, and language.

Max’s rating: Okay, so don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Best Golden Oldie of the Month

“The Adventures of Robin Hood”
Errol Flynn gave us the definitive Robin Hood in this 1938 classic that has never been bettered or even remotely equaled. Warner Brothers gives the acclaimed movie a royal DVD treatment with gorgeous restored picture (in a process called Ultra-Resolution) and sound in a two-disc set that includes behind-the-scenes footage, outtakes, bloopers, interviews, and a documentary “Robin Hood Through the Ages,” surveying other screen adaptations of the story. When they say today, “They don’t make ‘em like that anymore,” they mean movies like this one. From Warner Home Video.

Max’s rating: Two paws up, “woo woo!s”, and Hooray for a romp in Sherwood Forest!

Best Musical of the Month

No, it isn’t “Chicago!” which won the Best Picture Oscar last spring and is out on DVD this month. That’s a good little musical about some hoofers and a murder, but my master and I liked the 1942 unglitzy black-and-white version with Ginger Rogers as Roxie Hart better. Called "Roxie Hart" and only available on video, it was, simply, more fun. Our pick of best musical of the month is:

“Cover Girl”
Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly sing and dance to the tunes of Jerome Kern and lyrics of Ira Gershwin in this 1944 musical that won an Oscar nomination for best song, the hauntingly beautiful “Long Ago and Far Away.” For the first time in a movie musical, songs were vital elements in forwarding the story. It set the pace for future musicals in many ways, but seldom did it all come together as well as in this romantic, danceable, singable romance with comedy by Phil Silvers and Eve Arden. And to boot, there are “the Cover Girls,” a bevy of some of the most beautiful models ever to appear on screen. Dance, don’t run, to rent or buy this gem, lovingly restored by Columbia Tri-Star.

Max’s rating: Two paws up and dancing twirls like Snoopy.

Also Recommended This Month

“CAUSE CELEBRE”
A beautiful middle-aged upper-class wife and mother goes on trial for the bludgeoning death of her ailing husband. She also faces public damnation for loving a handsome teenage boy half her age who may have killed him. It all happened in London in 1935 and is excitingly dramatized by two of Britain’s top actors in mysteries –- Helen Mirren and David Suchet. A really good who-dunnit from Lance Entertainment and Wellspring.

“UNDER SUSPICION”
Liam Neeson and Laura San Giacomo star in this “brilliant thriller” (L.A. Magazine.) He plays a private eye who sets up phony adultery cases with his wife who just happens to get murdered. Did he or his mistress (Laura) kill her? Worth a watch, from Columbia Tri-Star..

"DICK FRANCIS MYSTERIES"
Three mysteries on two DVDs from the pen of Dick Francis, British author and ex-jockey who writes about murders among the horsey set. Ian McShane plays David Cleveland, the Jockey Club investigator in these three stories of “inventive menace” by “a master of suspense.” From Lance, DLT Entertainment, and Wellspring.

“RUBY”
Danny Aiello plays Jack Ruby, the Dallas strip club owner who on live television fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who assassinated President John F. Kennedy, in this taut dramatization of what might have happened. “Powerful and enlightening!,” said the New York Daily News. From Columbia Tri-Star.

“IN COLD BLOOD”
Truman Capote made literary history with his “is it fiction or is it nonfiction?” best-selling book that became this tense movie about two ex-convict drifters on Death Row charged with the murders of a Kansas farm family. Even more interesting today since one of the stars playing one of the accused is Robert Blake, now under suspicion of having murdered his wife in real life. From Columbia Tri-Star.

“BURNED BRIDGE”
Cate Blanchett stars in this 3-DVD set about an Aboriginal girl who was murdered in a remote Australian town against a backdrop of racial tensions. It’s a taut drama in which Cate plays a young radio producer who gets caught up in solving the crime involving tensions between the town’s black and white communities. Included is a documentary about Aboriginal issues in Australia today. It could give you deju vu about our Native Americans. From BFS Video.

“JOHN DENVER AND THE MUPPETS IN ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOLIDAY”
Likeable country singer John Denver joined the Muppets in this television special a while back that is reprised on DVD by Columbia Tri-Star. It’s a song- and laugh-filled camping trip in the Colorado Rockies; a 47-minute vacation. Hard to believe life was so normal and simple just so few anti-terrorist years ago.

“THREE STOOGES IN HISTORY”
Moe, Larry, Curly, and Shemp are at it again in restorations of five of their classic short comedies with historical settings from 1935 and the 1940s including “Squareheads of the Round Table,” “I’m a Monkey’s Uncle,” “Restless Knights,” “Matri-Phony,” and “Fiddler’s Three.” From Columbia Tri-Star.

Best Foreign Film of the Month

"Russian Ark"
Video This deservedly-acclaimed movie from Russia is totally different than any other ever filmed. You enter the Hermitage art museum in St. Petersburg with a contemporary artist and follow him into paintings in various galleries that open into adventures of Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and other people and events over centuries of the city’s history. Yes, it’s unusual, and also wonderful. From Wellspring.

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

Best DVD Documentary of the Month

"Victory at Sea"

The legendary World War II television series comes to DVD for the first time in another new category we introduce this month. Every major naval engagement is shown in the historic films, each introduced by Peter Graves. From The History Channel, distributed by New Video.

As it happens, we have two Best Documentary Picks of the Month. The other is:

"THE ENDURANCE”
Liam Neeson narrates this exciting documentary about the heroic expedition of Ernest Shackleton and his crew to the Antarctica in 1914. They sought to become the first explorers to cross the icy continent. The docudrama draws on extensive archival material including diaries, ships logs, and film and photographs from the expedition’s photographer. This is not the excellent television miniseries that A&E aired last year with Kenneth Branagh, but a new look at the heroic if tragic expedition that reviewer Laura Tiffany calls a “finely crafted document of humanity at its bravest.”

For Pre-Teens

“Jim Henson’s The Storyteller”
“Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings” get all the media attention, but for my dog bones, kids can hardly have a better time than watching the highly imaginative nine episodes of Muppet creator Jim Henson’s television series. Classic folk tales, fables, and legends are retold with humor, intrigue, and magic starring Sean Bean, John Hurt, Miranda Richardson and others, directed by Anthony Minghella.

From Columbia Tri-Star.

For Puppies and Kids

“BINGO”
No, not the Bingo kids learn about in a kindergarten song, but a runaway circus dog who has adventures that will make them laugh and feel good. He helps a boy named Chuckie who can’t fit in with his friends. David Rasche and Cindy Williams play Chuckie’s parents in this delightful family feature film from Columbia Tri-Star.

Max’s rating: Two paws up for a new canine star.

“ALL BY MYSELF: TAKING CARE OF MY PET”
A good video for anyone with a new pet or just thinking about getting one. Kids learn responsibility by caring for a pet in this half-hour video from Ladybug Productions.

“EARTH STORIES: Paleontology”
Chip, a playful rock hammer, takes kids on two animated and live-action fossil hunts into South America to learn about rock-embedded remains of animals that lived 320 million years ago. Kids interested in dinosaurs (aren’t they all?) will like and learn from this half-hour video from Mazon Productions and Aberle Films.

“MAKE BABY LAUGH”
“Giggle Together” is a 75-minute interactive video that helps parents learn new ways to make their baby laugh. I guess there’s more to it than just rubbing its tummy, which is usually enough for me. From the Make Baby Laugh Company.

Bones to Pick

Bone One: Entertainment Weekly’s capsule review of one of the best American movies ever made, “The Best Years of Our Lives,” which showed on Turner Classic Movies one night last month, was this mishmash: “I’d like to think they’re still ahead of us. But then again, maybe I should check the schedule to see when the next shuttle departs for Planet Reality.” Can anyone decipher what that means? And how it in any way relates to the story of World War II veterans returning to their homes and loved ones after the war?

Bone Two: Hundreds of environmentally-concerned college students around the country have told Michael Eisner, Disney CEO, loud and clear: Disposable DVDs are a trashy idea. They caution that the studio’s self-destructing EZ-D discs manufactured by Flexplay Technologies will lead to more waste. (You buy the DVD movies but can’t keep ‘em – they go blank after a short time and have to be tossed out.) Buena Vista will test the disposable disc venture this month in several parts of the country. If you too think disposable DVDs are a bad idea, learn more about it at the web site of GrassRoots Recycling Network in Madison, Wisconsin: www.grrn.org.

		September 2003

	by Max (with Walt Oleksy)