Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 1st, 2009
Decades after their moment in the sun in 1984, Canadian heavy metal band Anvil plugs along, playing bars and releasing CDs that barely sell, still hoping for that break that bypassed them while landing on their festival cohorts Whitesnake, Bon Jovi and the Scorpions. The documentary charts their new European tour that starts off promisingly but disintegrates into a disaster of Spinal Tap proportions, their struggle to produce and promote another new album, and a climactic return to the site of their past glory. While the opening minutes might engage laughter as one expects a real-life version of This Is Spinal Tap, the laughter is choked off almost immediately and replace by sympathy and real hope that these guys catch a break. They are not clowns – they have real talent – and the beyond-all-measure optimism of lead singer “Lips” is heartbreaking. A rock documentary to rank with the best of them, and one that proves that the absence of fame can be as compelling as its presence.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 28th, 2009
No one who knows me will find it terribly surprising to hear me admit that I know very little about the fashion industry, nor do I have a particular interest in it. Having said that, I was, to my pleasant surprise, gripped by this documentary. It tracks the final year of legendary designer Valentino's career as he prepares his new line and the big celebration of his 45 years in the business. But there are clouds on the horizon, too. He and his partner Giancarlo Giammetti are no longer the owners of the Valentino company, and the pressures of the new corporate world are bearing down. The films is thus a fascinating look behind the scenes of numerous facets of the Valentino's world: his life, how he works, his explosive temper, and the sad fact that the world of design is changing in ways that are forcing individual creative artists to the margins. Well worth watching.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 22nd, 2009
“Yellowstone. Volcanic wonderland. Two million acres in the heart of North America, Yellowstone is deep in the Rocky Mountains, an isolated high plateau defended by rugged peaks; in the middle is the National Park. The park and the surrounding mountains form one of the most important and spectacular wilderness areas on Earth.”
There have been a lot of these nature shows coming to Blu-ray high definition lately. No less than two of them cover the beauty that is Yellowstone National Park. While there is a lot to learn about the natural treasure, more in fact than I suspected, it’s not going to be the facts that will drive you to watching this particular three part feature. It’s the absolutely stunning images that make this all that you could want in a travelogue documentary. You’ll soon find yourself completely mesmerized by images that look almost impossibly brilliant in color and sharpness to be real. If you’ve been to the park, this might serve as the ultimate way to recapture such a personal experience. If, like me, you’ve never witnessed the place with your own eyes, now you have. Everyone knows about Old Faithful, but Yellowstone National Park is about so much more.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 7th, 2009
“For more than 150 million years dinosaurs roamed every corner of the planet. Only a very few left evidence of their existence, their fossilized bones. And, those bones have never ceased to fascinate us.”
The box art to the new IMAX Blu-ray release of Dinosaurs Alive is more than a little bit misleading. The package elicits an image of thundering prehistoric beasts engaged in all sorts of primeval activities. And why not? It’s the stuff of our youth’s imaginations. Has there ever been a more fascinating true story than dinosaurs? But, if you’re expecting, or worse hoping, to get a high definition experience somewhat akin to the Walking With Dinosaurs specials, you’re apt to be more than a little bit disappointed. And that’s actually a bit of a shame, because there are wonders to behold here, just not that kind. Instead the documentary takes you to the places where these stories once unfolded so many millions of years ago. There you’ll encounter these beasts, though not in the flesh, but in the bone. Paleontologists invite you along to some of the most fruitful dinosaur graveyards. There the past is uncovered one brushstroke at a time. And while incredibly fascinating in itself, it’s not exactly the high drama I was expecting.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Michael Durr on August 9th, 2009
There are a handful of actors and actresses on this planet who you could say gained more by their death rather than their entire life. One of these actors was James Dean. James Dean was born on February 8th, 1931 in Marion, Indiana. In the next 24 years, he would bridge himself to stardom. But arguably, he wouldn't receive that iconic status until he died on September 30th, 1955 in a horrible car accident in his Porsche 550 Spyder in Cholame, California. The people at Hollywood Select Video decided to release a 2-disc collection of various television pieces he did before his most recognized three films: Rebel Without a Cause, Giant & East of Eden. These pieces give an interesting look at the rise of a legend.
On December 13th, 1950, a Pepsi commercial aired with the curious slogan of “More bounce to the ounce”. It featured a young James Dean at 19 years of age who was hired because he looked like a typical teenager. A few months later he played a role in Hill Number One, a family theater production that played out like a Bible recreation. It recounted events that happened after the death of Jesus. Here James plays the youngest of Christ's Apostles: John.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 6th, 2009
This is a 6-part series presented by the Discovery Channel, documenting the different devices created so that America could reach the moon by a deadline that then US president Kennedy had promised the nation.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Michael Durr on August 5th, 2009
This week we get a little more mayhem from those great people at Smithsonian Networks: Pandas Gone Wild. Witness the spectacle of Pandas flashing tourists for just a few shoots of bamboo. Okay, that isn’t what this is about. It’s much more tranquil and peaceful than that and takes place in the mountains of China in a secluded sanctuary. The next forty five minutes will produce a lot of oooo and even more awwww moments than I can write about in the next several paragraphs.
Deep in the Shaanxi region (pronounced “Shensi”) along the Qinling Mountains of China is a wondrous sanctuary of wildlife including rare plants and even rarer animals. There is the majestic Golden Monkey, an endangered species that is a glimpse into the old world. There is the Crested Ibis which is so rare that only 70 are still thought to be in existence. Other creatures exist solely because of the dense bamboo that covers the region such as the Golden Pheasant, the Golden Takin and the namesake Bamboo Rat.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2009
It just wouldn’t be summer without The Discovery Channel’s Shark Week extravaganza. What started back in 1988 as a themed week of specials has turned into the longest running annual series of programming on cable. Every year The Discovery Channel gives up its normal collection of educational shows to concentrate on that feared predator of the deep. Man’s always had a rather natural, and healthy, fear of sharks, but it was perhaps the 1975 film Jaws that brought all of those primordial fears bubbling to the surface of our pop culture. Since then sharks have taken an almost mythic position in our culture. They invade our fears, but more importantly they fascinate the heck out of us. Young or old, it doesn’t matter. Sharks are the new dinosaurs, and they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. As Discovery plans out yet another annual invasion of these perfect killing machines, you get to have an encounter of the high definition kind. Come face to face with some of the most dangerous creatures on the planet, with a level of clarity and detail that was once reserved only for those who shared their waters.
It’s quite nice to have a collection of these shows on Blu-ray and in high definition. There are some downsides, however. The shows aren’t necessarily the best I’ve seen on the series. Most of them are pretty recent. I suspect many of the classics aren’t going to be as easily available in HD. The second problem is redundancy. I’ve always been a big critic of editing shows for home release. Here I think it might have been a good idea. Many of these shows do rather extensive recaps each time they come back from an anticipated break. Of course, here there are no breaks, so we have to watch some material several times in the same 40 minute segment. The point really gets driven home. I have to ask myself if it is really that necessary to recap so often. Are the breaks so long that we can so easily forget what we were watching? I’d suggest that Discovery give a little more credit to their viewer’s intelligence.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Michael Durr on August 3rd, 2009
This week, we are continuing to give small reviews to a range of discs from the Smithsonian Network. The next disc is entitled: The Big Blue. This documentary goes into Southeastern Australia and tells us the unique tale of the blue whale, the largest creature in the world. The whale has a heart the size of a small car and a tongue that weighs several tons but is more elusive than a cunning criminal. In the next 45 minutes, I hope to uncover a little more of those mysteries and other odd facts.
A fisherman off the southeastern coast of Australia has spotted a rare occurrence. He has seen a whale twice the size of the boat. He has seen what is known as a blue whale, the largest of the animals on the planet Earth. The spectacle is due to a yearly event called the Bonney Upwelling which is when nutrient rich cold water wells up the shelf and triggers an explosion of life from December to April.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Michael Durr on August 1st, 2009
The people at Smithsonian Networks decided to send us a few documentary discs in the last week. The discs were presumably made to show off a few of their network shows on the Smithsonian HD channel which is starting to crop up on many satellite outfits including DirecTV and Dish Network. It is also listed on some of the cable companies lineup including TimeWarner and Charter Communications. The first disc is called Sky View and subtitled “Soar like an Eagle; A Unique View that will take your breath away.” Hopefully the proceedings won't be too high, I just might get airsick.
In splendid picture quality and sound, we are introduced to four different episodes in Sky View.
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