MBR: The Library DVD Shelf
- From: Midwest Book Review <mwbookrevw@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:50:53 -0700 (PDT)
The Library DVD Shelf
Depeche Mode: The Dark Progression, limited collector's edition
Sexy Intellectual
c/o MVD Entertainment Group (distribution)
PO Box 280, Oaks, PA 19456
$19.95 www.MVDb2b.com 1-800-888-0486
Unauthorized by (and therefore completely independent from) Depeche
Mode themselves or their record company, Depeche Mode: The Dark
Progression is a new documentary following the development and career
of popular electronic band Depeche Mode, from their interest in New
Romanticism at the start of their career through the darkness and
urban industrial themes that permeated their albums, to the departure
of Alan Wilder in 1995 and more. Packed with interviews with all the
band members, contributions from their friends, colleagues, and
contemporaries (including Gary Numan, Thomas Dolby, band biographer
Jonathan Miller, and many more), rare performances by Depeche Mode,
archive footage, video clips, location shots, and news reports,
Depeche Mode: The Dark Progression is a "must-have" for Depeche Mode
fans. Some tracks are also included, such as "Just Can't Get Enough",
"People Are People", "Stripped", "Never Let Me Down Again",
"Strangelove", "Personal Jesus", "Enjoy the Silence", "Walking In My
Shoes", "I Feel You", and more. Highly recommended. 97 minutes, 4:3
screen format, stereo.
Life on Mars Series 1
Acorn Media Group
8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 620, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3403
$59.99 www.acornmedia.com
Life on Mars Series 1 is a four-DVD thinpack set collects the first
season of the exciting time-bending detective series originally shown
on BBC America. Police detective Sam Tyler (played by John Simm) was
closing in on a murderer when he was struck by a passing car. He wakes
up in the past, in 1973; the procedural tools he is used to have
disappeared, and he finds himself on a near-alcoholic homicide squad
where forensics takes weeks and his boss has no compunctions against
using violence on his subjects - or his workers! Sam does his best to
solve crimes in the past while searching for a way back to his home
time; yet he is also increasingly intrigued by sympathetic policewoman
Annie Cartwright (played by Liz White). An enthralling saga
recommended for mystery and time-travel fans alike! DVD bonus features
include audio commentaries for every episode with cast and crew, a
"Take a Look at the Lawman" hour-long documentary with cast and crew
interviews as well as behind-the-scenes footage, an interview clip
with director Bharat Nalluri, a "The Music of Life on Mars"
featurette, a "Get Sykes" featurette, and an outtakes reel. 4 DVDs,
466 minutes, widescreen.
Agatha Christie's Poirot Set 4: The Movie Collection
Acorn Media Group
8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 620, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3403
$49.99 www.acornmedia.com
Poirot Set 4: The Movie Collection is a three-DVD thinpack set of two
feature-length mystery adventures starring Agatha Christie's
legendarily fastidious Belgian detective, plus a bonus DVD documentary
"Super Sleuths" about the Poirot series featuring its stars, producer,
and director. The DVD movie adaptations of classic Christie novels are
"Mrs. McGinty's Dead", in which Poirot teams up a mystery novelist
colleague to save a man from hanging for a murder he may not have
committed, and "Cat Among the Pigeons", in which Poirot must
investigate murders among the Meadowbank School for Girls, which has
recently become embroiled in turmoil since once of its new students is
a princess and a political refugee hiding from revolutionaries in her
homeland! An excellent gift especially for mystery lovers;,Agatha
Christie's Poirot Set 4: The Movie Collection makes for a superb
introduction to Christie's brilliantly crafted mysteries. 3 DVDs, 186
minutes plus 47 minutes bonus program, widescreen, color.
Mazda Motivations
c/o Wendy Brickman (publicity)
Brickman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Three fitness DVDs created and hosted by exercise physiologist Debra
Mazda prove that women of all shapes and sizes can enjoy the benefits
of a good workout. Mazda once weighed over three hundred pounds;
deciding that diets were not the answer, she devised a fitness regimen
and succeeded in losing one hundred forty pounds. She remains
curvaceously shapely (with noticeably more meat on her bones than a
rail-thin Hollywood model), yet immensely improved and healthy, and
her workout DVDs are sure to appeal to viewers of all backgrounds and
body sizes. "Let's Get Moving! Low-Impact Cardio" ($19.95, 52 min.) is
a beginner to intermediate exercise DVD featuring a basic warm up, a
solid cardio routine, and cool down exercises, with a bonus floorwork
track. "Let's Get Moving! 2: Cardio Toning With Weights" ($19.95, 56
min.) incorporates simple weights into its cardiovascular routine and
rates the viewer's progress with the "ShapelyGirl Intensity Scale". In
"Let's Get Stepping! Beginner Step-Cardio" ($19.95, 82 min.) viewers
are introduced into a step-cardio workout suitable for beginners,
complete with a toning bonus track and step tutorial. All three DVDs
have the bonus special feature "Debra Mazda's Circle Time", which is
all about working out when one is a plus-sized woman. An excellent DVD
set for anyone, female or male, interested in beginning a fitness
regimen - especially those who are new to regular physical workouts
and need a user-friendly start.
Home: A Film by Mary Haverstick
Monterey Video
566 St. Charles Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360-3901
9781569946633 $26.95 www.montereymedia.com 1-800-424-2593
Starring Academy Award winning actress Marcia Gay Harden in the role
of Inga, Home: A Film by Mary Haverstick follows Inga, a mother with
the soul of a poet at a crossroads. Her estranged husband Hermann
(played by Michael Gaston) is bereft of emotional support for her in
the wake of her recovery from breast cancer, let alone her passion for
buying and restoring and house that reminds her of her childhood home.
She shares a close bond with her eight-year-old daughter, and though
she is troubled by her decaying marriage, she retains a strong spirit
of optimism, as expressed in her own writing. A dramatic and moving
saga, highly recommended; bonus features include deleted scenes,
storyboards, and poems. 84 minutes.
The Art of Block Printing
Larry Withers
On Air Video Inc.
8203 Westminster Rd., Elkins Park, PA 19027
$14.95 www.onairvideo.com
Hosted by expert fine arts instructor Larry Withers, The Art of Block
Printing is a DVD how-to guide to partaking in the centuries-old art
of block printing. From the necessary materials and tools, to creating
one's design, carving a printing block, producing one-color or two-
color prints, to appropriate color registration, safety tips for block
cutting, an introduction to various techniques, and much more, The Art
of Block Printing walks viewers of all backgrounds and skill levels
through the process. A back-cover checklist of the inexpensive tools
one needs to get started rounds out this user-friendly teaching guide,
enthusiastically recommended for anyone intrigued to dabble in this
art form to create distinctive artworks, handmade cards, or other
beautiful projects. 42 minutes.
Ana Brett & Ravi Singh
411 Video Information
PO Box 1223, Pebble Beach, CA 93953
$15.95 each www.411videoinfo.com
New DVDs from fitness teachers Ana Brett and Ravi Singh - whose
clients include Olympic athletes and celebrities such as Madonna,
Sting, and The Red Hot Chile Peppers - guide the viewer through easy-
to-follow, yoga-based workouts. "Yoga for Beginners & Beyond" (90
minutes, $15.95) includes strengthening techniques to improve one's
total fitness, chair exercises, a posture primer, and much more. The
segments guide one through using Yoga to promote flexibility in one's
entire body as well as build up muscle tone. In "Kundalini Yoga
Cardio, Stretch, & Strengthen" (90 minutes, $15.95) viewers experience
a more high-energy style of Yoga along with catchy music to go along
with the cardio. Both DVDs have a special "Matrix menu" option that
allows the viewer to customize his or her workout, and make excellent,
long-lasting additions to physical fitness and flexibility DVD
libraries.
We Shall Remain
PBS Home Video
c/o SSA Public Relations (publicity)
15260 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 1730, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
0793670268 $49.99 www.ssapr.com shopPBS.org
We Shall Remain is a three-DVD thinpack set collecting five
documentaries from the acclaimed PBS history series "American
Experience", about Native American leaders including Massasoit,
Tecumseh, Tenskwatawa, Major Ridge, Geronimo, and Fools Crow, all who
did everything they could to resist being forcibly removed from their
land and preserve their culture. Their strategies ranged from military
action to diplomacy, spirituality, or even legal and political means.
The stories of these individual leaders span four hundred years;
collectively, they give a portrait of an oft-overlooked yet crucial
side of American history, and carry the highest recommendation for
public library as well as home DVD collections. Special features
include behind-the-scenes footage, a thirty-minute preview film,
materials for educators and librarians, four ReelNative films of
Native Americans sharing their personal stories, and three Native Now
films about modern-day issues facing Native Americans. 7 hours.
Murdoch Mysteries Season One
Acorn Media Group
8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 620, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3403
$59.99 www.acornmedia.com www.murdochmysteries.com
Set in 1890's Canada, Murdoch Mysteries Season One is a four-DVD
thinpack set collecting the first thirteen episodes of this popular
mystery series following Detective William Murdoch (played by Yannick
Bisson), a sleuth whose genius leads him to discover and use modern
techniques such as "finger marks" to catch criminals. His antagonistic
boss (Thomas Craig) derides his methods at every turn, but he has
willing allies in a beautiful pathologist (Gemini-winner Helene Joy)
and an intrepidly inquisitive constable (Johnny Harris). Famous
brilliant minds of the era also make appearances, such as Nikola
Tesla, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Prince Alfred. Based on the hero of the
enjoyable and widely beloved Murdoch novels, Murdoch Mysteries Season
One is an excellent adventure sure to please mystery fans, and is
especially notable for winning two Geminis and being nominated for
twelve more. Special features include episode commentary by stars
Yannick Bisson and Jonny Harris, production designer Sandra Kybartas,
and executive feature Cal Coons; interviews with the author and cast;
a photographic gallery; cast filmographies; and brief cast
biographies. 598 minutes, 16:9 widescreen, subtitles.
Inside the Meltdown
PBS Home Video
www.pbs.org
0793670659 $24.99
Inside the Meltdown is an episode of the popular "Frontline"
television series, giving the behind-the-scenes stories of the Bear
Stearns and Lehman Brothers business collapses that kicked off the
present day economic crisis, followed by efforts to support insurance
giant AIG and a 700 billion dollar bailout. Inside the Meltdown
especially focuses upon the sudden, catastrophic dilemma thrust upon
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke, whose fear of "moral hazard" - the concept that bailing out
a failing business will only promote and encourage more failure on
their part - had to give way to the larger, possibly economy-
destroying threat of a resounding ripple effect stemming from the
collapse of giants. An absorbing documentary that presents the
downfall of multigenerational institutions in plain terms for viewers
of all backgrounds, Inside the Meltdown is especially recommended to
public library DVD collections. 60 minutes, color.
Combat Knife Throwing
Ralph Thorn
Paladin Press
7077 Winchester Circle, Boulder, CO 80301
www.paladin-press.com
CKTDVD, $49.95, 1-800-392-2400
Thanks to television and the movies, we've all seen that knives and
other hand weapons can be thrown with deadly accuracy and effective in
personal combat. Ralph Thorn is an expert in this area and with his
step-by-step instructional video "Combat Knife Throwing: The Video",
demonstrates a combative style of weapons throwing that showcases a
'no spin' knife throw that is practical, effective, and something
anyone can learn how to do given a few knives and some practice.
Utilizing computer graphics, slow-motion videography, and clear
instructions, "Combat Knife Throwing" demonstrates the sidearm throw,
the shuriken throw for long-distance attacks, the underhand half-spin
throw, blindfolded throwing, behind-the-back throws, and throwing a
knife accurately while running. With a total running time of 100
minutes, "Combat Knife Throwing" is a very highly recommended
instructional video suitable for personal and professional Martial
Arts reference collections and personal combat training programs.
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