Documentary

Beautiful Planet – Germany & Austria / England & Low Countries (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 14th, 2012

Living here in Texas, I have to be blunt and admit I do not spend much time outdoors. This is mostly due to the fact that it seems to be summer for almost ten months out of the year and somehow I just don’t dig 90 and 100+ degree temperatures. When I can afford it, I would love to go somewhere with respectable temperatures and be able to walk around in decent weather. Perhaps the Beautiful Planet set is for me, where I get to see beautiful high definition video of some of the planet’s most wonderful places.
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Earth From Above – Preservation of Water and Forests/Food and Wildlife Conservation

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 6th, 2012

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Earth From Above is a French nature documentary series dubbed into English for its American and British Blu-ray release. The host, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, garnered international attention with his renowned photography. He’s best known for his best selling coffee table book, Earth From Above, chronicling his world travels with stunning photos from a bird’s eye view. He then branched into filmmaking, using his unique aerial photographer’s eye to draw attention to world’s conservation and preservation needs. This resulted in an Earth From Above full length feature and eventually this running French series of the same name.
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Shark Divers – Documentary Collection (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 2nd, 2012

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“It’s one thing to see a great white shark on television or from the safe confines of a boat. It’s another experience entirely to see the animals in their natural element. There simply is not a single creature on Earth that we’re more afraid of.”

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
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The Weight of the Nation

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on July 31st, 2012

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“More than two out of three U.S. adults are overweight or obese. During the past 30 years, adult obesity rates have doubled.”

After watching this documentary — developed with the Institute of Medicine, in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the National Institutes of Health, and in partnership with Kaiser Permanente and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation — I feel like I should be typing this review while walking on a treadmill instead of planted on my couch like a lazy lump.
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Brad Meltzer’s Decoded, Season 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 12th, 2012

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“I’m Brad Meltzer. I’ve spent my life collecting stories. The best include signs, symbols, and coded messages that are hidden in plain sight. Some have become the basis for my novels. But I’ve only scratched the surface of what’s out there, and now History has given me the resources to investigate the rest. This is Decoded.”

What if I told you there was an author out there who was known for writing novels that include historical conspiracies, secret societies and buried treasures, and that this author has found a way to parlay his moderate writing success into a television series for History?
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42nd Street Forever (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on May 24th, 2012

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“His name is Samson. He’s big with his cat, with mama and with his stick. Black Samson… he’s mean and clean and rules the scene.”

In the 70s and 80s, filthy little theaters littered New York’s 42^nd Street, sandwiched between adult bookstores, porn theaters, and peepshows. These dens of celluloid sin hosted an endless loop of “B” movies affectionately known as grindhouse films. They ran exploitation films, drive-in double features, and European softcore of every subgenre, ranging from Blaxploitation to Sexploitation, from Euro-crime to Sci-Fi and Horror. Some theaters projected these movies 24 hours a day, seven days a week
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The Universe: The Complete Season Six (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 16th, 2012

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“In the beginning there was darkness. And then bang, giving birth to an endless expanding existence of time, space, and matter. Every day new discoveries are unlocking the mysterious, the mind-blowing, the deadly secrets of a place we call The Universe.”

The History series has lasted for six seasons to date. The show uses modern space photography, computer-generated images, and demonstrations along with respected scientists to explore the various aspects of our universe.
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Planet Egypt

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 18th, 2012

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Egypt has always been known as paradise on earth to its people and the many visitors it gets each year. The land is often described as a strong, fertile land with an emphasis on history and rich tradition. Personally, I find myself in a general state of knowledge about the country but wished to know more. My curiosities peaked when I received a copy of “Planet Egypt” on DVD at my doorstep thanks to the History Channel. Let us see what rich history is held inside.
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Into the Abyss (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 17th, 2012

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As a nation, the United States is pretty evenly divided on most of the larger issues of the day. Nowhere is that more evident than the opinions on capital punishment. If you took a poll today, you’d likely still find a slim majority of Americans continue to support the death penalty. Unless, of course, you were to take that poll in Texas. The Lone Star State has pretty much led the way in dealing out death sentences since the practice was resumed in the 1970’s. For a time in the 80’s and 90’s
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Titanoboa: Monster Snake (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2012

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“In the pantheon of predators, it’s one of the greatest discoveries since the T-Rex: a snake 48 feet long, weighing in at 2,500 pounds. Uncovered from a treasure trove of fossils in a Colombian coal mine, this serpent is revealing a lost world of giant creatures. Travel back to the period following the extinction of dinosaurs and encounter this monster predator.”

With a title like Titanoboa: Monster Snake you might be expecting the latest huge monster mash-up from Roger Corman
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Chasing Madoff (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 5th, 2012

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Thankfully, I have never been scammed out of any large amount of money unless you count my ex-wife. *drum roll*. I think of myself as fairly intelligent but sometimes intelligence is not enough when a large enough pyramid or ponzi scheme walks across your front lawn. Furthermore, when somebody you trust tells you it is a sure thing, it is hard to look the other way. Let us proceed with a documentary on one of the most famous ponzi schemes of them all with deception played by one Bernie Madoff.
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Wallace & Gromit: World of Invention (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 3rd, 2012

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Wallace and Gromit is the brainchild of animator Nick Park. The British filmmaker tried for years to bring his clay creations alive, but on his own finished a mere 10 minutes in a little over two years. When he met up with Aardman Animations, he was teamed up with the creative talents he needed to make his dream come alive, and come alive these two characters did indeed. They’ve become an overnight sensation in the UK and now all over the world. I was introduced to the characters with the full length feature Wallace And Gromit In The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit.
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Titanic: The Complete Story

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 23rd, 2012

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Most of the people when they hear the name Titanic think of the ship that sank almost one hundred years ago to this day. Well, except for James Cameron who thinks of the oodles and oodles of dollar bills that he bathes in on a daily basis. Regardless, the people at A&E and the History Channel decided to bring us three documentaries and five hours of knowledge on perhaps the most famous ship of them all. The RMS Titantic.
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Senna

Posted in No Huddle by J C on March 12th, 2012

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I like to think I know more than a little bit about sports. I wake up to Mike and Mike in the Morning, drive to work while listening to The Dan Patrick Show and rush home to catch Pardon the Interruption. I’ve played organized football, baseball, basketball and soccer throughout my life, and I always make the playoffs in my fantasy football leagues. (Let’s skip the part where I’ve never actually won.) Unfortunately, I have somewhat of a blind spot for sports that are more popular outside the United States. As a result, I know very little about Formula One racing and I knew absolutely nothing about Brazilian F1 champion Ayrton Senna until I watched the engrossing and spectacularly thrilling documentary about his life.
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Queen – Days of Our Lives

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 9th, 2012

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It has not been over 40 years since the inception of the band Queen, but it and its members Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon, continue to be one of the most popular bands in the world, despite losing lead singer Mercury to AIDS some 20-odd years ago and not creating new material since then. This documentary tells their story in two episodes, spanning nearly 4 hours.
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Project Nim

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 8th, 2012

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An infant chimp is taken out of his natural environment to be raised like a human by a family of curious, rich folk. Upon learning that this chimp, now named Nim, is capable of learning sign language, this family turns to professional educators to research and experiment with this concept further.
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History of the World in Two Hours

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on February 27th, 2012

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What takes 13.7 billion years.? The history of the world. This History Channel special takes two hours to cover everything. Of course, Earth is only 4.5 billion years old, so when we talk about the history of the world, we are really talking about the history of the universe and everything that led up to where we are now. Little things like a gigantic planetary collision which then shoots off molten debris which forms into our moon.
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Knuckle

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 23rd, 2012

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Looking over my sports dvd library, one might notice a lot of contact type titles. From Wrestling to MMA to high intensity action films, I have my fill of male testosterone fueled viewing. The question remained what would I think of some bare knuckled fist fighting in the documentary that took over ten years to make: Knuckle. Would it be simply too barbaric or would I crave more?
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Ancient Aliens: Season Three

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 14th, 2012

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“Millions of people around the world believe we have been visited in the past by extraterrestrial beings. What if it were true? Did ancient aliens really help to shape our history? And if so, what if there were clues left behind, something hiding in plain sight? What if we could find that evidence?”

Ever since Eric von Daniken released his speculative book and its subsequent 1970 film Chariots of the Gods, there has been an entire field of study created around something commonly called Ancient Astronaut Theory. The idea is that extraterrestrials have visited many of our ancient civilizations.
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The Doors – Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 8th, 2012

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Some music due to my age and music exposure, I just do not quite get. Led Zeppelin, Eagles (once I got out of college) or Black Sabbath, I love. Rush? I can not stand them. Pink Floyd? Way over-exposed to the point where I just do not want to listen to them except one in a while and only to certain songs. The Doors? Hrmmm, well I do like some of their songs. As it just so happens, the Blu-Ray review I have for you today involves my favorite Doors song, L.A. Woman.

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The Love We Make

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on February 1st, 2012

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The title of this documentary stems from the quote “In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” In this film, said “love” refers to the love and support Paul McCartney, and other major celebrities, give to New York in the immediate wake of 9/11. Starting from early rehearsals and finishing with McCartney’s closing performance at the “Concert for New York” benefit, we watch one of the most famous people on the planet demonstrate his uncanny sense of humility and humanity as he proves he is a “man of the people.”
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King Arthur & Medieval Britain

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 23rd, 2012

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King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table has always been an interesting subject for me to research and learn about. It is a story of chivalry, adventure, and fantasy. It has great characters and even though it is hard to pinpoint an actual person in history that this legend could be assigned to, nobody can neglect the impact it has had on English culture. The History Channel decided to give us a collection of specials on the subject entitled: King Arthur and Medieval Britain
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Frozen World: The Story of the Ice Age

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2012

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Frozen World is a four-part History Channel mini-series about the Ice Age. The History Channel tends to have a sensationalistic bent to a lot of its programming. That’s one way of saying that they like history to come alive. This series begins with the battle between Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal human cavemen 40,000 years ago in Clash of the Cavemen. It outlines the differences between these totally different kinds of humans. The Neanderthal is stronger. The Cro-Magnon is smarter
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Vietnam in HD (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 23rd, 2011

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“This film documents the Vietnam War in the words of Americans who served there. It features home movies and rare archival footage collected during a worldwide search and now presented in HD. Many scenes are graphic in nature. Viewer discretion is advised.”

A while back History brought us one of the best war documentaries I’ve seen for television. That was called WWII In HD and put you as close to the real battlefield as any American has come since the brave soldiers who fought there so many years ago. The images were stunning and the descriptions came from the words of several people who were actually there.
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God Bless Ozzy Osbourne (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 1st, 2011

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My parents were always an oddball lot when it came to music. My mom liked the crooners and if she ever did touch rock and roll, it was something very light and airy. My dad however was a totally different animal. He listened (and still does) to Led Zeppelin, the Moody Blues and Queen. But perhaps one of his favorite albums of all time is Paranoid by Black Sabbath. The front man for Sabbath is the one and only Ozzy Osbourne. I find myself in a fortunate position where I get to review his documentary, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne.
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