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A Slice of Life
by Francine Brokaw
FEBRUARY 2009 DVD Selections
Bottle Shock
This is the story of the rise of the California wine making industry in the 1970s. Before Napa Valley was known around the world, it consisted of many struggling wineries. Focusing on one in particular, Chateau Montelena, and its owner Jim Barret (Bill Pullman) and his son Bo (Chris Pine), the film shows the struggle of the family as they strive to make the best Chardonnay they could. And in the 1976 blind Paris wine tasting competition, known as “Judgment of Paris,” the California wineries proved they could stand up to the French, winning both the red and the white categories. Thirty years later they won again in a rematch. Bottle Shock is a fun story, especially if you love wine, Napa valley, the United States, and especially Chateau Montelena.
Clint Eastwood: American Icon Collection
Four films comprise this set of memorable Eastwood movies. Play Misty for Me, The Eiger Sanction, The Beguiled, and Coogan’s Bluff show the actor/director in several different kinds of roles. Whether he’s a hired assassin climbing a mountain, a disc jockey who’s the object of an obsessed fan, a civil war soldier in the middle of a girl’s school, or a Deputy Sheriff from Arizona who goes to NYC to bring back an escaped murderer, Eastwood shows his range of talent. And, not only does he star in these movies, he also directed two of these films. Eastwood will be 79 this year, and has spent most of those years in show business, with classic films like these to show his talent and love for his chosen profession.
Curious George Monkey Collection Volume 1
32 features from the award-winning TV series comprise this box set that will delight children of preschool years. Nominated for several awards and winning the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Animated Program, Curious George has captured the imagination of a new generation of viewers. This loveable little monkey manages to get himself into several harrowing situations, but always finds a way out. His big heart, generous soul, and sweet disposition – and let’s not forget his curiosity – are what kids of all ages have enjoyed for decades. See how George helps create a delicious meal while experimenting in Chef Pisghetti’s kitchen. He learns that even though when hard spaghetti goes into a pot and comes out soft and bendy, that’s not true for everything he puts in the pot. Whether he’s enjoying spending the day at the zoo watching the baby panda then accidentally letting all the animals out of their cages and then figuring out where they belong, there’s no doubt his day at the zoo was a memorable one. Or take the time he accidentally let all the bunnies out of their hutch. Catching bunnies is no easy feat. And once when he was tending a bowl of tadpoles George felt the bowl was a bit confining and thought they could use a little swim in the pond. These and other delightful stories are sure to be big hits with fans of this adorable little monkey who has been entertaining young kids for well over 60 years and yet, he’s still as young as ever!
Dead Like Me: Life After Death
Most of the cast return in this new movie based on the hit TV show. It centers on George as she gets closer to the sister she hardly knew. It is against the rules to reveal her identity to a living human, but she cannot help it. Reggie needs guidance and George knows she can help her through this tough time. Also happening in this movie is a new boss for the group. Rube is gone and in his place is a reaper who has no ethics. He encourages his group to indulge and soon they are greedy with money and fame. This feature film is an extension of the series, with the characters reprising their same personna. It is as dark and comedic as the series. Ellen Muth, Callum Blue, Britt McKillip Jasmine Guy, and Cynthia Stevenson are all back and just as gloomy as they were in their weekly show.
Depth Charge
Jason Gedrick and Eric Roberts star in this intense story of mutiny aboard the first stealth submarine. With the threat of nuclear disaster hanging over the president (Barry Bostwick), he must either pay the ransom to the terrorists or rely on the two American crewmen who are left aboard the sub to take back control of the boat. And when the new Captain starts ordering cities destroyed, it looks like there might be a mutiny against the mutiny. Sure it is a bit hokey, but it also holds your interest.
Everybody Wants to Be Italian
For eight years Jake (Jay Jablonski) has remained in love with his ex girlfriend and insists they will be together again soon, even though she is married with three kids. He still considers them a couple! So his best friends fix him up with a beautiful woman hoping that he will fall in love with her and get over his ex once and for all. This being in Boston’s North End which is an Italian enclave, each one thinks the other is Italian, although neither is. Jake is Polish and Marissa is Spanish, but for the sake of their relationship they pretend to be Italian. This is supposed to be a funny film, but it lacks a lot of humor.
Gospel Hill
This small Southern town is getting ready for the 40th anniversary memorial to their slain civil rights activist. Still torn apart by the murder, the town’s folk remain divided. When a big company comes to town with the intent of displacing a longstanding community, anger roars up as the citizens are pitted against each other. Angela Basset, Danny Glover, Julia Stiles, Adam Baldwin, Giancarlo Esposito, Taylor Kitsch, and Samuel L. Jackson star in this intense ensemble film of intertwining stories about life, love, politics, and business and a 40-year old unsolved murder case that still effects the people of Gospel Hill.
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
Simon Pegg stars as an obnoxious British reporter who relocates to NYC when he’s hired by a top notch magazine. His goal is to be in the “inside” of the celebrity world, but he manages to alienate everyone until he sells out and plays their game. Instead of writing that someone is a jerk, to put it mildly, he gives in and writes a puff piece. This endears him to the celebrity world and he quickly moves up in his circle. But is he happy? Be careful what you wish for. Kristen Dunst, Gillian Anderson, Megan Fox, and Jeff Bridges also star in this very funny tale of the world of celebrity.
Kennedy: The Complete Series
Martin Sheen stars as JFK in this 1983 television mini-series which was nominated for several awards. The film begins the night of the election in November 1960 and concludes with the assassination of the president in November 1963. During the three years JFK confronted several obstacles in his presidency including the Bay of Pigs, The Cuban Missile Crisis, Kruschev in Russia, Civil Rights upheaval in the South, the mafia, and his inner demons which were his health which included his painful back and his liaisons with other women. Always on his back was J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI. With his brother RFK firmly at his side, President Kennedy managed to successfully navigate his three years in the spotlight. This is a good lesson in the events of the early 1960s. It is frank and honest. Yes, it is a dramatization, but for the most part it is historically accurate. Blair Brown is exceptional as Jacqueline Kennedy.
 
The Natalie Wood Collection
What do you think of when you hear the name Natalie Wood? Beauty? Talent? The selection of these six films shows off both of those traits. This box set includes the memorable classic Splendor in the Grass, which introduced a very young Warren Beatty as Wood’s teenage boyfriend. This tale of a turbulent young love is engaging, as is the incredible beauty of the star. Wood co-stars with Rosalind Russell in the musical Gypsy, which is filled with wonderful songs and a delightful story of a wanna-be star who takes the role of backstage mom to her two daughters. Wood plays the real-life burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee. In Sex and the Single Girl, from Helen Gurley Brown’s best-selling book, Wood plays a sex researcher who is pursued by a tabloid editor played by Tony Curtis. James Garner, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr, Karl Malden, Christopher Plummer and Robert Redford costar along with Wood in Cash McCall, Bombers B-52, and Inside Daisy Clover, which round out the collection. A separate purchase is Brainstorm, Natalie Wood’s final film. This is a troublesome story of a scientist (Christopher Walken) who develops a gadget that reads the brain’s thoughts, sights, feelings, smells and tastes and relates them to another person. When one of the scientists puts it on while having a heart attack and consequently dying, the entire experience is captured by the machine, which Walken later plays back to discover what happens during and after death. Natalie Wood died at the young age of 43. Had she lived there would have undoubtedly been more memorable films to her credit.
Nights in Rodanthe - Special Edition Blu-ray
The Special Edition Blu-ray disc has some great features. First, there is the love story by best-selling author Nicholas Sparks starring Diane Lane and Richard Gere, about two people in different stages of their lives who meet and fall in love over four days. As she says later, they saved each other. Included in this edition is a digital copy as well as the Blu-ray so you can play it on your computer (without a Blu-ray player) or transfer it to your iTunes player. Bonus features include a look at the author and his writing and life away from his computer, deleted scenes, and a featurette about how the house, the surroundings and the weather played an important role in the film. This is a love story that appeals to both men and women and this Special Edition is loaded with great insight into the story and the movie.
The Secret Life of Bees
Dakota Fanning stars as 14-year-old Lily who accidentally killed her mother when she was a young girl. She longs to know about the mother she misses, and her father is abusive and distrustful. When her caregiver Rosaleen is beaten, Lily and Rosaleen take off to a town which she believes holds the clues to her mother’s past. There she meets the Boatwright sisters who take them in. August Boatwright (Queen Latifah) has the answers Lily is looking for and this new family bonds in a way Lily has never known. In the south of 1964, it is not common for a young white girl to live with a bunch of black women, but Lily is finally at home and at peace there. This is an interesting story of life in the past, and of several characters who learn to live and love.
Space Buddies
They’re baaack. Those loveable pooches return for an out of this world adventure that might be their best yet. When the five sibling pups follow “their kids” on a school field trip to the space center to watch the launch of a new space ship that will travel to the moon, the curious little fellows wander onto the vehicle and get trapped. When it is launched into space, the furry dogmonauts get the ride of their lives. The five little Golden Retriever puppies encounter zero gravity, supersonic speed, and make a new friend with Spudnick, a bull dog that has been living on the Russian space station and helps them all return safely back to earth, but not without a few steps on the moon first! Rosebud, Buddha, Mudbud, Budderball, B-Dawg, and Spudnick get help from Gravity, a little ferret on earth who tells them how to work the spacecraft. Bonus features include a look at how the pups prepared for their zero-G scenes, and how real astronauts train for their own missions.
Yentl
The 2-disc Director’s cut edition of this entertaining story contains an abundance of bonus features. The story of a young Jewish girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to study the Talmud is touching, inspirational, and humorous. Yentl is not a girl that sits on the sidelines and lives to cook meals for her man. She longs for knowledge and has the intelligence to make it in a man’s world. But the problem is, it is a man’s world, and in the turn of the century Eastern Europe, women are relegated to cooking, cleaning, and the like. Barbra Streisand directed and starred in the film, and this set includes the director’s cut edition, the way she wanted it to be, along with the theatrical release. Plus there are plenty of features about the making of the film, the original concepts, rehearsals, storyboard sequences, and introductions by Streisand. This is a great way to experience the entirety of Yentl.
© 2009 Francine Brokaw
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