May 2009
	by Max (with Walt Oleksy)	view previous issues here

Spring has sprung! Plant your vegetable garden, but then relax with a good DVD movie. Two of my three best picks of the month come from India, the other from England.

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JODHAA AKBAR

You probably never heard of it, but this 2008 movie from India is every bit as good as the other movie from that country that you definitely heard about (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE), and I think even better. It’s the 16th century epic adventure-romance in which a handsome young Mughal emperor marries a beautiful Rajput princess in an arranged political marriage. Surprise: they fall madly in love with each other. But lots of wars and political intrigue keep them apart for some of the movie. The wars are spectacular stagings with tens of thousands of real actors, not computerized images of warriors. The love scenes are very romantic but there is no nudity (see, Hollywood, it can be done!) The two leads are beyond good-looking, both are beautiful, and excellent actors besides. See this one because it is not only great romantic adventure but has a very timely message about freedom and tolerance among races and tribes, in this case Muslim-Hindi. In Hindi with English subtitles. It’s long, 213 minutes, but my master and I never dozed off during any of it.

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

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

This modern love story from India deserved the Best Picture Academy Award, although I don’t think the torture-brutality scenes were necessary. It’s the improbable story of an 18-year-old Muslim boy from the slums of Mumbai who wins the top money prize on a television quiz show. What makes the movie so delightful is the clever way the writer has the boy know the answer to the quiz questions because he lived them in earlier years. Dev Patel plays the boy well, and Freida Pinto is gorgeous as his love interest. Be sure to watch the closing credits because the dance and its music are even better than the movie. From 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Max’s rating: I howled with joy at this feel-good movie.

STATE OF PLAY

The new movie version of this British political thriller may get lots of attention this spring, but I suggest you see the 2003 BBC television miniseries first. It’s great, cleverly written by Paul Abbott and expertly directed by David Yates. David Morrissey stars as a John F. Kennedy-like Member of Parliament whose beautiful young researcher on an energy committee he serves on is found dead on railway tracks. Was it accident, suicide, or murder? He had been having an extra-marital affair with her before her death. John Simm, plays a newspaper reporter who heads a team to investigate and who also was the MP’s former campaign manager and is having an affair with the MP’s wife. There’s intrigue all the way through close to six hours on two DVDs and great support from Bill Nighy as the editor of paper Simm works for, and a young James McAvoy as one of the reporters working with Simm. I liked everything but the sometimes very loud “boom boom boom” rock soundtrack and Kelly Macdonald, a good actress who needs elocution lessons because my master and I couldn’t understand a word she said, and she talks a lot in the miniseries. Her Scottish accent is thicker than a London fog in January. The new movie version stars Russell Crowe in the John Simm reporter role and Ben Affleck as the MP with Jason Bateman as a poor unfortunate who gets beaten to a pulp, and Bill Nighy’s role is rewritten for Helen Mirren. How this convoluted thriller that runs nearly six hours in the miniseries will be condensed into 127 minutes for the movie is anyone’s guess. For a terrific entertainment experience, see the miniseries first, from BBC Video.

Max’s rating: Lots of woo woo woo’s and tail wags.

Also worth seeing this month:

INTELLIGENCE

Season 2, the concluding episodes of the award-winning Canadian spy and drug trade television series, combines the crime family drama of THE SOPRANOS with the cleverness of THE WIRE. Klea Scott plays a Vancouver chief intelligence officer who has an uneasy alliance with the city’s biggest drug boss, played by Ian Tracey. There are murders, moles, call girls, and all kinds of underworld underhandedness in this series about international crime and espionage. Did I mention dirty politics, sex, and greed? Yeah, lots of that, too. Fast-paced crime drama written and produced by Chris Haddock who gave us DA VINCI’S INQUEST. “Best series you’ve never watched,” says The Seattle Times, and “One of the smartest cop dramas in years,” says the Vancouver Sun.
The boxed set of 4 DVDs with 12 episodes of the TV series is distributed by Acorn Media.

THE POKER CLUB

Poker and murder are both in the cards in this suspenseful new thriller. Jonathon Schaech stars as one of four friends caught in a deadly game of betrayal and intrigue as they gather on Monday nights to play poker. One night they accidentally kill a burglar who has broken into Jonathon’s house as they play cards. What to do with the body? And of course, don’t call the police. Schaech also co-wrote and co-produced the thriller, an adaptation of Ed Gorman’s horror novel. Loren Dean and Judy Reyes co-star in this treat for suspense fans, from Sony Pictures.

SHE FELL AMONG THIEVES

Eileen Atkins and Malcolm McDowell star in this entertaining thriller, a classic BBC drama that aired as the very first episode of MYSTERY! on PBS Television in 1980. Set in a Pyrenees chateau in the 1920s, Atkins will inherit a fortune if she forces her wealthy kidnapped stepdaughter to marry. McDowell tries to stop her in this drama based on the novel by Dornford Yates. It’s an old-fashioned thriller with lots of unpredictable plot twists and turns and even some subtle humor, all beautifully filmed in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain.
A very off-beat mystery drama distributed by Acorn Media.

RUTH RENDELL MYSERIES, SET 4

My master and I love this British television series because of the unusual plots and great story-telling, based on the fiction of best-selling British crime-writer Ruth Rendell. Unlike earlier sets with shorter stories, this one stars George Baker and Christopher Ravenscroft in two feature-length Inspector Wexford mysteries. SIMISOLA takes them on a search for a missing young woman that leads to two murders in a case involving racial and class differences.
ROAD RAGE has them involved with environmentalists opposing construction of a highway bypass. Discovery of a murdered German tourist who has been strangled and sexually assaulted leads to Wexford’s wife being among those taken hostage as protests escalate into violence. The 2-DVD boxed set runs 353 minutes, from Acorn Media.

COME HELL OR HIGH WATER

An exciting new western of frontier revenge set in a post-Civil War Missouri town. The story involves a former Confederate prisoner of war whose fellow prisoner brother dies while in custody. The surviving brother seeks revenge on a Union Army officer who had been in charge of the
incarceration. Not your typical western, written and directed by Wayne Shipley, and starring Mark Redfield and Mike Hagan. From North American Motion Pictures.

Two classic films from Peter Bogdanovich: THE LAST PICTURE SHOW and NICKELODEON. He won the 1972 Best Director Academy Award for the former social and sexual drama, set in a decaying 1950s Texas town, based upon Larry McMurtry’s novel. The director’s cut expands our experience with characters brilliantly played by Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms and two who won Best Supporting Oscars for their work in the film: Cloris Leachman as an unhappy housewife and Ben Johnson as owner of the movie house that will close because of competition from television. NICKELODEON, about the early days of silent moviemaking, stars Burt Reynolds and Ryan O’Neal in a story based upon reminiscences of veteran directors Raoul Walsh and Allan Dwan. The DVD contains both the color and black and white director’s cut.
Among the extras are a new audio commentary with Bogdanovich on both films. Great to see these two again. A DVD double feature from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Two “sand and sandal” epics: MAGNIFICENT GLADIATOR and REVOLT OF THE BARBARIANS. These 1960s adventures, filmed in Italy with lots of sword-fighting, barrel-chested handsome young men and slim, veiled beautiful palace girls, are fun to see again, if only for their campyness. Mark Forest wears the loincloth in the former film, and Roland Carey in the latter. The stories involve a corrupt Roman army commander overthrowing the emperor Attalus, and barbarians invading Rome. Both cult classics (of a sort) are on DVD for the first time, from Infinity Entertainment Group and Retromedia Entertainment.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS, a new British Masterpiece television treatment of the classic love story by Emily Bronte.
Tom Hardy stars as Heathcliff and newcomer Charlotte Riley as Cathy in this handsome production that doesn’t surpass the 1939 Laurence Olivier-Merle Oberon movie, but is nonetheless worth watching for new concepts to the classic drama. From WGBH Boston Video.

THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF WYATT EARP, season one of the television series from 1955-56 starring Hugh O’Brien as the most celebrated lawman of the Old West. All 35 half-hour programs are on five DVDs in a boxed set from Infinity Entertainment Group, Falcon Picture Group, and SFM Entertainment. It’s fun to follow the dashing lawman from one lawless town to another, battling dangerous men in his quest to keep the peace. Earp may never have looked like
O’Brien or did all these daring deeds, but who cares? Guest stars include Angie Dickinson, Mike Conners, John Carradine, Andy Clyde, Louise Fletcher and others.

SUSPENSE, the spooky television series from the 1950s starring Boris Karloff as Master of Horrors, is now on DVD in a 12-disc boxed set from Infinity Entertainment Group and Falcon Picture Group. The bizarre and terrifying are the real stars of the series, but actors include Paul Newman, Bela Lugosi, Charlton Heston, Anne Bancroft, Jack Lemmon, Art Carney, Lloyd Bridges, Jackie Cooper, Walter Matthau, and many others. The dramas were broadcast live on CBS from 1949 to 1954 after a long-running show from “the Golden Age of Radio.” Really fun to see these oldies that are “well-calculated to keep you in suspense.”

SERGEANT PRESTON OF THE YUKON: Season One, the 1950s television adventures of stalwart Northwest Mounted Policeman Preston, played by Richard “Dick” Simmons who looks great in his scarlet coat. And for canine fans like me, he’s often with his lead sled dog, Yukon King. Lots of outdoor adventure as Preston tracks down evildoers in the northern Alaskan wilderness during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. All 33 episodes of the first season of the classic television series are digitally remastered for picture and sound, in a 5-disc boxed set from Infinity Entertainment Group and Falcon Picture Group.

HOLLYWOOD: THE DARK SIDE explores the death and scandal of some of the greats of Hollywood including James Dean, Natalie Wood, John Lennon, George Reeves, San Mineo, Bob Crane, Elvis Presley, and others. A second disc reports on Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe, while a bonus section features the lives, deaths and/or scandals of Jean Harlow, Lana Turner, Carole Lombard and others. Gossipy stuff from Little Dizzy Home Video.

A CLASS APART: A Mexican-American Civil Rights Story, documentary from PBS Home Video highlights the landmark 1950s Supreme Court case involving a murder in Edna, Texas that redefined civil rights for Mexican Americans in this country.

THE ASCENT OF MONEY explores fundamentals of the history of money and the world’s current financial crisis. Best-selling author Niall Ferguson examines America’s increasing debts and the dangers this can bring. From PBS Home Video.

THE JILL AND TONY CURTIS STORY delves into the efforts of the popular actor and his equestrian champion wife Jill Vandenberg Curtis to rescue tens of thousands of horses being slaughtered each year for human consumption overseas. Their Shiloh Horse Rescue and Sanctuary is visited in this very humane documentary from SKD USA, a Synkronized Company, and distributed by Koch Entertainment.

TROUBLED MARINE MAMMALS and IS THERE LIFE ON MARS are two
fascinating documentaries from WGBH Boston Video this month. The first follows a team of wildlife veterinarians in efforts to save injured ocean sea lions and their weak harbor seal pups. The Martian documentary reports from NASA’s Phoenix Lander twin robot explorers that add to man’s knowledge of whether or not there is life of any kind on the red planet.

CHINA’S FORBIDDEN CITY takes us to Beijing and the emperors’ city that for centuries was off-limits to most Chinese and all of the outside world. The docudrama reveals the mysteries and legends of the largest palace ever built. From Smithsonian Networks and Infinity Entertainment Group.

DECODING CHRISTIANITY, from the same companies as above, is helpful in revealing the hidden codes of the Christian faith and its signs, symbols, myths, and miracles. The six-part series offers insight into both the artistic and spiritual worlds of Christianity. One subject explored is about angels; what they are, where they come from, and why people believe in them.

JERUSALEM, CENTER OF THE WORLD and THE JEWISH PEOPLE, A STORY OF SURVIVAL are two documentaries from PBS Home Video that cover more than 4,000 years of the Holy City’s Christian, Jewish, and Muslim heritage and present life, and a second disc the story of Jewish survival from slavery to the Holocaust and present-day.

SECRET SOCIETIES is a docudrama exploring “the dark mysteries of power” through groups such as Freemasonry, Skull and Bones, and Illuminati. Why do some of the most famous and powerful men in the world meet behind closed doors and what do they do and plan? Do they control the social, political, religious, and economic fate of the world? Intriguing questions explored in this DVD from BFS Entertainment and Multimedia Ltd.

BOMBS, BULLETS, AND FRAUD looks into the physical threats sent through the U.S. mail. The documentary about The Postal Inspectors Unit, the oldest yet least known federal law enforcement agency, founded in 1772, ranges from the capture of train robbers in 1923 to capturing the Unabomber in 1995, and how agents put their lives on the line every day to deal with serial killers, bootleggers, and con artists. From Smithsonian Networks and Infinity Entertainment Group.

FRACTALS is a science report on mysterious hidden shapes that may have a great impact on science and technology.
It’s a fascinating look into the world of fractal geometry, irregular repeating shapes that are found in cloud formations, tree limbs, even in the human heart that have an impact on subjects as diverse as movie special effect, the stock market; heart attacks; the ecology of the rainforest, even fashion design. You have to see this one to believe the new world it explores. From WGBH Boston Video.

TRIBUTE TO HEATH LEDGER is an excellent look into the life and career of the late young movie star who died from an accidental overdose of medication. His spirit and legacy are captured in this appealing documentary through interviews with him, his family, and friends and from off-screen videos. From Infinity Entertainment Group.

FROM THE TOP AT CARNEGIE HALL, season 2, offers more engaging personal stories of some of America’s best young classical musicians. Host concert pianist Christopher Oriel captures the excitement and artistry of these young stars of tomorrow. From WGBH Boston Video.

U2: A ROCK CRUSADE documents the story of the famous band and its place in rock music as well as its commitment to social causes. What began as a “kitchen band” in Ireland in 1976 has grown over the past 33 years into a financial success with more than $170 million in album sales and winner of more Grammy Awards than any other group in history. Its lead singer, Paul “Bono” Henson is a tireless worker for social and economic change in Third World countries. From Infinity Entertainment Group.

Stuart Little, the mouse who could charm us, was lots of fun in the movies, and the fun is captured in the HBO Family Series, STUART LITTLE: the Animated Series, now on DVD from Sony Pictures. Two new entries in the series, GOING FOR THE GOLD! and A LITTLE FAMILY FUN! take Stuart and his “big” brother George on a model truck race that spins into an unexpected adventure, together they build the world’s tallest penny stack, try to find money to buy Mrs. Little a birthday present, and do the housekeeping when she comes down with a cold. This is good entertainment for kids, unlike too much else on DVD that is mindless and overly violent.

LOOSE AT THE ZOO takes kids to Washington, D.C.’s National Zoo to see baby lions, tigers, and bears from Africa to Brazil and India and beyond. Excellent educational films that also entertain, from Smithsonian Networks and Infinity Entertainment Group.

GOOSEBUMPS, the spooky book series transported to DVD in two new adventures, is fun for older kids. Monster mysteries, creepy tombs, an ancient mummy, and a scary attic are explored in THE SCARECROW WALKS AT MIDNIGHT and RETURN OF THE MUMMY. Most kids like to be scared, at least a little, and these two DVDs do their best, from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

PLAYTIME PALS has many of preschooler kids’ favorites –
Thomas & Friends, Barney, Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam and others in six new adventures. This ought to keep the kids from pulling dogs’ tails for at least an hour. Sixty-two minutes, to be exact. From Lionsgate.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE and her friends return in BERRY BIG JOURNEYS as they take a road trip full of unexpected excitement. The very young set will enjoy these further adventures of the pint-sized doll. From Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Two bones this month, first Warner Brothers for charging so much for their new release of 1,200 vintage films from the 1930s and 1940s that previously have not been available on DVD. Each movie can be computer downloaded for $14.95 or as a DVD for $19.95 that arrives by mail. It just seems to me that these oldies, most of which can be seen free on TV on Turner Classic Movies and recorded onto blank DVDs, should only cost about $5 each. But apparently Warner’s is in desperate need of cash, so it has joined The Greed Parade.

MARLEY AND ME was a huge disappointment and I do not recommend it. Was this movie supposed to be a comedy?
I didn’t hear my master laugh even once. He wasn’t going to let me watch it, lest I get bad behavior ideas from “the worst dog in the world,” but I convinced him I could handle it. What I decided after watching it last night was, Marley didn’t deserve his bad reputation, he just had the misfortune of having the worst master in the world. If the author of the book about Marley upon which the movie was based was as self-centered and immature as Owen Wilson portrays him, I feel really sorry for Marley. I even wonder if Marley’s owner didn’t encourage his bad behavior, because it could make good copy for his newspaper column. We finally turned the sound off during the last 15 minutes of the movie because we couldn’t take any more of Wilson’s constant whining, talking through his Cyrano nose, and speaking so many lines in that very annoying “precious” way some people talk. Was the director asleep, letting him get away with that? The title says MARLEY & ME, but the movie is more about “ME” than Marley, and in this case, “ME” is not very interesting and an egotistical jerk. The last part with Marley dying is maudlin and seems almost endless. Marley, I hope you’re treated better in Doggie Heaven and hope to see you there someday.