Actors & Directors
- Erik Barnouw
- Pretty Boy Floyd
- Howard Zinn
- Mario Cuomo
- Calvin Coolidge
Run time: 200 min.
Creator: Charlie Maday
List Price: $59.95
Price: $249.99
Review The Great Depression (History Channel - 4 video set) / A&E Home Video:It was a time of dashed dreams and lost fortunes. But it also proved America's resilience hardship was met by hope, and tragedy answered with daring plans. From the stock market crash of 1929 to the recovery spurred by the coming of WWII, THE GREAT DEPRESSION is an illuminating look at a difficult age. See how Americans united in the face of despair escaping their troubles with dance marathons, helping each other out on the hard road from the Dust Bowl to California's promised land, and rallying behind the revolutionary policies of FDR's New Deal. Remarkable photos and footage capture the culture of hobos, mass media and radical politics that arose practically overnight, and friends, family and scholars examine the era's most influential figures, from Huey Long to "Pretty Boy" Floyd. Join host Mario Cuomo for the definitive portrait of THE GREAT DEPRESSION. Necessity, as the saying goes, is the mother of invention, and at no point has a cliché been so prescient as in the 1930s. During that era, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal took documentation to new heights in U. S. history, turning artists and artisans into government-sponsored vehicles for reportage and representation of both American ideals and the harsher set of realities citizens were dealing with. [+]And this four-volume set, narrated by the instantly recognizable Mario Cuomo, leverages many of the Great Depression's own media-savvy documentary advances to tell the period's varied stories. Volume 1 covers the pre-New Deal era, as desperation hit farm hands and businesses and bank patrons, bringing the U. S. economy to its knees. Latter-day celebs chime in on the period, with James Michener's tales of his own rail-riding striking powerful bolts through the episode. Volume 2 spotlights the spotlight, the way mass media developed around themes of escape and promised lands-some rising from earlier historical eras-that somehow managed to both cornerstone pop culture and elude the vast majority of radio listeners and filmgoers. Here is the place where the era's media is so integral to this set, offering that great historical lifeblood: primary documents. Of course, not everyone bought the media meal, and the theme for Volume 3 is popular resistance. From the riots that infamously bookended the Harlem Renaissance to bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd, discontent was grounds for wide upheaval. Of great interest here is the worker-led organizing that so clearly lies in the vanguard of contemporary labor history. Finally, Volume 4, "Desperate Measures" centers on a trio of events: the "Battle of Washington," where President Herbert Hoover ordered the vaunted Douglas MacArthur to forcibly remove World War I veterans who had marched on the capital; the rise of Louisiana's firebrand populist Huey Long into the state governor's mansion; and the onset of World War II. By far the most comprehensive treatment of the period, this set is also exhaustively long, making it a delight for patient viewers-and educators. It's also painstakingly organized and produced and warrants repeated viewings. -Andrew Bartlett.
Actors & Directors
- Wisdom of the Dream
- Cg Jung
Run time: 156 min.
Price: $59.95
Review The Wisdom of the Dream: C G Jung (Life of Dream/ Inheritance of Dream/ A World Of Dreams) / Home Vision:
Release date: 1995-04-04
Run time: 240 min.
List Price: $69.98
Price: $70.00
Review Voices & Visions Vol 01 Box Set / Unapix Consumer Products:
Release date: 1996-03-06
Run time: 403 min.
Price: $99.98
Review Planet Earth Box Set / Unapix Consumer Products:
Release date: 1994-07-15
Run time: 689 min.
List Price: $199.95
Price: $69.93
Review Star Trek - The Star Fleet Collection (Limited Edition) / Paramount:
Release date: 1997-02-07
List Price: $99.99
Price: $69.99
Review Eastern Europe Box Set / International Video Network:
Release date: 2002-08-27
Run time: 150 min.
Price: $29.98
Review Colonies of Condemned (3pc) / Bfs Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Patricia Blair
- Johnny Crawford
- Chuck Connors
- Otto Lang
- Bill Quinn
- Paul Fix
Run time: 520 min.
Creator: John Wilder
List Price: $79.98
Price: $69.99
Review The Rifleman (Volumes 9-12) / Mpi Home Video:
Release date: 1999-10-19
Run time: 144 min.
Price: $49.95
Review Genius / Cromwell Productions Ltd.:
Actors & Directors
- Michael Haigney
- Rachael Lillis
- Philip Bartlett
- Madeleine Blaustein
- Eric Stuart
- Veronica Taylor
- Kunihiko Yuyama
Creator: Takeshi Shudo
List Price: $52.98
Price: $69.99
Review Pokemon Movie Collection (The First Movie/The Movie 2000/Pokemon 3) / Warner Home Video:
Actors & Directors
- Bill Melendez
- Bill Melendez
- Karen Mendelson
- Phil Roman
- Ann Altieri
- Chris Doran
- Sally Dryer
Creator: Charles M. Schulz
List Price: $34.95
Price: $69.83
Review Peanuts Holiday Collection (A Charlie Brown Christmas/A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown) + Inflatable Chair / CBS Television:Two of the all-time cartoon classics It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) and A Charlie Brown Christmas (a Peabody and Emmy winner from 1965) highlight this three-disc, six-episode set. Although the DVDs contain no extras (good grief!) and could have been combined on a single disc (drat!), the collection looks and sounds wonderful on DVD. The content is the same on the VHS and DVD sets, with two episodes per tape or disc. Accompanying Pumpkin is You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, a cute spin on politics that has aged very well since its 1972 release. Christmas sports a lackluster sequel of sorts, It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown (1992) that has Sally dwelling on getting (instead of giving), Charlie Brown facing a spending dilemma, and everyone suffering stage fright before the annual school play. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) also won an Emmy but is not as well known as others; it also suffers from not having the original cast. Snoopy is foremost in helping to put on an impromptu feast (toast and popcorn) as the gang keeps forgetting the true meaning of the holiday. Also on the disc is a better Thanksgiving venue, The Mayflower Voyages (1988), part of the This is America, Charlie Brown series that breathed new life into the franchise. Mostly narrated by Linus, the show traces the Pilgrims' plight and doesn't talk down to youngsters on the hardships they faced. It's a treasure of a gift (for others or yourself), all nicely packaged. [+]-Doug Thomas.
Actors & Directors
- Vanessa Redgrave
- Illeana Douglas
- David Greene
- Jennifer Tilly
- Dennis Farina
- Nastassja Kinski
Creator: Lynda La Plante
List Price: $14.99
Price: $89.60
Review Bella Mafia (2pc) / Vidmark / Trimark:
Release date: 2001-03-06
Creator: Alfred Hitchcock
List Price: $99.98
Price: $69.95
Review The Best of Hitchcock - Volume 1 (Psycho, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Topaz, Rope, Shadow of a Doubt, Family Plot, Alfred Hitchcock Presents #1) / Universal Studios:
Actors & Directors
- Diane Lane
- Robert Urich
- Simon Wincer
- Danny Glover
- Tommy Lee Jones
- Robert Duvall
Run time: 870 min.
Price: $99.98
Review Lonesome Dove Gift Set / Cabin Fever:Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones star as Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call, aging cowboys and former Texas rangers and who organize a 2,500 mile cattle drive for one last great adventure in this excellent 1989 miniseries adaptation of Larry McMurtry's novel. The best friends, who steal the herd from a gang of Mexican cattle rustlers, drive their herd from Texas to Montana, battling horse thieves, angry Indian tribes, and a renegade half-breed killer named Blue Duck (Frederic Forrest) on a mission of revenge. The excellent cast also includes Robert Urich as cardsharp and former Ranger Jake Spoon, Anjelica Huston as McCrae's old flame Clara Allen, Danny Glover, Ricky Schroder, Diane Lane, Chris Cooper, D. B. Sweeney, Steve Buscemi, and even a small role for author Larry McMurtry. Australian director Simon Wincer shows a tremendous capacity for balancing sweeping drama and intimacy against the gorgeous landscape of the American Southwest, giving a grandly epic feel to the film despite its small-screen target and limited budget, and for forging memorable characters of even the smallest supporting parts. The heart of the drama belongs to McCrae and Call, memorably etched by Duvall and Jones as the last of the range romantics. In the age of revisionist Westerns, this excellent cattle-drive drama nicely maintains an old-fashioned feeling while still showing the dark side of the American West. Winner of seven Emmy Awards and responsible for two miniseries sequels (Return to Lonesome Dove and Dead Man's Walk) and a TV series. -Sean Axmaker.
Release date: 1994-12-06
List Price: $69.99
Price: $69.95
Review Project A-Ko Pre-Pack / U.S. Magna Corp/Wea V:
Actors & Directors
- Kenneth Benda
- Pauline Collins
- John Alderton
- James Berwick
- Bill Turner
Run time: 30 min.
Price: $39.99
Review No, Honestly - Set 2 / Acorn Media:Real-life spouses John Alderton and Pauline Collins return as C. D. and Clara, the Burns and Allen of Hampstead, in the final six episodes of this beloved, albeit a tad dated, 1975 British comedy. The first seven episodes, collected in the first set, recalled the comically confused courtship of this mismatched but star-crossed couple. In these episodes, C. D. , an actor, and Clara, a children's book writer, flash back on their first year of marriage. Not to worry: unlike, say, Mad About You, this is no parsing of the minutiae of husband-wife relations. Clara is even more daft a wife than she was a girlfriend. In the episode "Everything in the Garden," Clara recalls the newlywed couple's first "sage and sorrel" over her insistence on painting everything in the house-and, improbably, the garden-white (except for the ground, which she leaves brown "for contrast"). [+]And while the other episodes don't win any awards for originality (the couple host a disastrous dinner party, Clara is cast in C. D. 's avant-garde film, the couple suffer a series of surprises on their first anniversary), Alderton and Collins have a winning chemistry that gives even the less-inspired episodes a lift. Still, when Clara tearfully bids farewell at the end of the series, it's apparent that they got out while the going was good. At 13 episodes in all, No, Honestly never wears out its welcome. -Donald Liebenson.
Release date: 2000-03-14
Run time: 260 min.
List Price: $59.98
Price: $109.98
Review Super Structures of the World Boxed Set / Allumination:
Release date: 1999-09-28
Run time: 300 min.
Price: $99.95
Review The Impressionists Box Set / Kultur Video:
Actors & Directors
- John Davies
- Morag Hood
- Alan Dobie
- Sylvester Morand
- Rupert Davies
- Angela Down
Creator: Leo Tolstoy
List Price: $99.98
Price: $99.99
Review War & Peace / BBC Warner:Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace towers over most novels. It isn't merely the length that impresses-over 1,200 pages-but the number of characters. This BBC/Time-Life serial spans the Napoleonic Wars (1805-20) and incorporates 52 principals and 110 supporting players (a 44-page booklet proves indispensable with identification). Chief among them is Pierre (a bespectacled Anthony Hopkins), an illegitimate idler who becomes Count Bezuhov upon his father's death. Pierre admires Napoleon (David Swift), and chooses not to fight. Cousins Nikolai Rostov (Sylvester Morand) and Andrei Bolkonsky (Alan Dobie) harbor no such reservations. The Yugoslavia-filmed battle sequences convince with their cavalcade of extras, but the drawing-room scenes serve as the heart of the series. (The soft exteriors were shot on film; the crisp interiors on video. ) In these sequences, the other Rostovs, Bolkonskys, and Bezuhovs-notably Nikolai's impetuous sister, Natasha (Morag Hood)-emerge as complex individuals. Occasional inner monologues distinguish them further. [+]There's some overacting from a few cast members, like the splenetic Anthony Jacobs (Prince Bolkonsky), but Dobie, Angela Down (Andrei's sister, Maria), and especially BAFTA winner Hopkins, give three of the more nuanced performances. Dramatized by Jack Pulman (I, Claudius) and directed by TV veteran John Davies (Germinal), this 20-part series follows a black-and-white silent, a Hollywood production (with Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn), and an Oscar-winning Russian epic. The British edition, however, stands as the most complete adaptation. As Pulman stated at the time, "Part of the novel's effect is achieved by its sheer weight of detail, the piling up of incident upon incident. " After 15 increasingly compelling hours of marriages, affairs, births, duels, and deaths, it's hard not to feel a kinship with these fatefully entwined families. -Kathleen C. Fennessy.
Actors & Directors
- Gilbert Mack
- Sonia Owens
- Billie Lou Watt
- Hal Studer
- Ray Owens
Run time: 800 min.
Price: $89.98
Review Kimba the White Lion - Box Set 2 / A.D. Vision:
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The Great Depression (History Channel - 4 video set), The Wisdom of the Dream: C G Jung (Life of Dream/ Inheritance of Dream/ A World Of Dreams), Voices & Visions Vol 01 Box Set, Planet Earth Box Set, Star Trek - The Star Fleet Collection (Limited Edition), Eastern Europe Box Set, Colonies of Condemned (3pc), The Rifleman (Volumes 9-12), Genius, Pokemon Movie Collection (The First Movie/The Movie 2000/Pokemon 3), Peanuts Holiday Collection (A Charlie Brown Christmas/A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown) + Inflatable Chair, Bella Mafia (2pc), The Best of Hitchcock - Volume 1 (Psycho, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Topaz, Rope, Shadow of a Doubt, Family Plot, Alfred Hitchcock Presents #1), Lonesome Dove Gift Set, Project A-Ko Pre-Pack, No, Honestly - Set 2, Super Structures of the World Boxed Set, The Impressionists Box Set, War & Peace, Kimba the White Lion - Box Set 2Top headlines: Mantyhose: Not your moms pantyhose: A growing number of men from construction workers, to athletes and businessmen have found a passion for pantyhose, claiming it's for support, comfort and aesthetic purposes. Luckily, there are now pairs made specifically for men so that they don't have to ravage their wives or girlfriends' dressers to nestle into a pair of nylons. ›23:33 6 Jan, Tue Volkswagen Baja Race: Paris to Ensenada: Volkswagen and its Touareg 2 head to Mexico for the Baja 500. ›07:00 16 Oct, Tue Rip Torn faces drunken driving charges in Conn.: Actor Rip Torn has pleaded not guilty to drunken driving charges in Connecticut, nearly two years after being fined and losing his license for similar charges in New York. ›14:21 6 Jan, Tue House, Senate convene for 111th Congress: The House and Senate have convened for a new Congress that will immediately confront the country's struggling economy. ›22:46 6 Jan, Tue Its another girl for Garner and Affleck: This is the second child for the couple, who already have a daughter, Violet ›02:01 Gov. Jeb Bush won't run for Senate in 2010: Former Gov. Jeb Bush says he won't run for the U.S. Senate in 2010 to replace the retiring Mel Martinez. ›20:55 6 Jan, Tue Seasoned road warrior shares lessons learned: All the travel chaos this past year does have the proverbial silver lining: You learn stuff. Here are five things Joe Brancatelli of Portfolio.com learned this year. ›20:24 30 Dec, Tue Boy, 6, misses bus, tries to drive to school: Having missed his bus, a 6-year-old Virginia boy tried to drive to school in his family's sedan and crashed. ›18:27 6 Jan, Tue Newsweek: Why Obama picked Panetta: Among Obama's reasons for choosing Panetta, sources said, were his reputation as a "first-rate manager," his White House experience handling issues related to "intelligence support" and his history of establishing cooperative relations between the executive branch and Capitol Hill. ›23:20 5 Jan, Mon Florida town embraces Travolta during tragedy: Following the death of their 16-year-old son Jett, Ocala, Fla., is where the Travoltas have come to grieve. The city is welcoming them quietly and respectfully. ›22:03 6 Jan, Tue Five ways to turn your film into Oscar bait: Lots of movies try to give the Academy what it wants, but few succeed. But if you're a studio head, think about giving us a history lesson in an easily digestible bite or adapting a prestigious play or novel. ›01:01 6 Jan, Tue What field still has jobs and rewards? Ask Kitty: Nurses were in short supply during World War II, when Kitty became one. Its a demanding occupation, but there are great rewardsmonetary and otherwise. And even in this era of layoffs, the demand for nurses is still growing. ›19:28 2 Jan, Fri Party hard? Try the morning-after panini: After a long night of imbibing and questionable activities that you may wish to forget, you're going to be hungry. Skip the long lines at the brunch spot and try making this delicious panini courtesy of Curtis Stone. ›18:24 31 Dec, Wed Slide show: The week in celebrity sightings: Ashlee, Pete and many more celebs ring in the New Year, Lindsay heads to the beach, Cloris is rosey and more. ›12:28 6 Jan, Tue Coleman sues over Minnesota Senate recount: Republican Norm Coleman is suing to challenge Democrat Al Franken's apparent recount victory in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race, he said during a news conference on Tuesday. ›21:30 6 Jan, Tue Michael Jackson leases Bel Air mansion: Jackson reportedly wanted the property so he could be where all the action is, his manager told the paper. ›23:43 6 Jan, Tue 10 parenting resolutions for the new year: From reclaiming your home to planning a long weekend getaway, resolve to live a happier and saner life in 2009! Parenting expert Stacey Boyd shares easy ways to transform your habits and provide a healthier environment for your little ones. ›21:05 6 Jan, Tue Indian airline fires 9 overweight crew members: Nine flight attendants who couldn't meet the weight standards of India's national airlines have been fired, an official said Tuesday. ›17:15 6 Jan, Tue Bush familys 18-year-old cat dies: The first family, who are leaving the White House this month, will be without one of their longtime members: their cat India. The 18-year-old black American shorthair, which was namedafter pro ballplayer Ruben Sierra, died Sunday at the White House. ›16:46 5 Jan, Mon Swayze faces cancer bravely: Patrick Swayze says his yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer put him through hell while he pushed ahead on his new TV series. ›22:29 6 Jan, Tue Obama girls' first day at new school: Malia and Sasha Obama begin classes at Sidwell Friends under watchful eyes of, well, everyone. ›12:19 6 Jan, Tue Is your sofa toxic? Switch to eco-furniture: Your couch may look harmless, but theres a good chance that its emitting harmful chemicals into your home. If you're ready to bring safe, green design home, GreenDAY's Marisa Belger advises you to start slowly. Here's how. ›22:10 5 Jan, Mon Oprah adds Holocaust story disclaimer: Oprah has yet to comment on the debunked story of a Holocaust survivor who claimed to have met his future wife in a Nazi concentration camp. But a brief disclaimer on the story she featured prominently on her show has been added to her Web site. ›19:44 6 Jan, Tue Prosecutor: Ex-Calif. sheriff cheated to get job: A former Orange County sheriff gave power and influence to those who helped him win his first election through bribes and kickbacks, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday in closing arguments. ›02:23 |
