Archive for category DVD
Who Do You Think You Are? S2: DVD review
Posted by Amy Steele in DVD on April 20, 2012
This enthralling series co-produced by Lisa Kudrow and writer/director Don Roos and originating in the UK, follows celebrities as they work with genealogists, historians and researchers to investigate their family histories. It’s heartfelt and uplifting. In finding out about their familial background, the stars inevitably uncover aspects about themselves in the process. Who Do You Think You Are? captivates and educates.
Vanessa Williams [Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives], Gwyneth Paltrow [Iron Man, Shakespeare in Love], country singer Tim McGraw, actress/ talk show host Rosie O’Donnell, Kim Cattrall [Sex and the City], Steve Buscemi [Boardwalk Empire, Reservoir Dogs], Ashley Judd [Missing, Come Every Morning] and Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Lionel Richie all take fascinating journeys to trace their roots.
Tracing her ancestors prior to the Civil War, Vanessa Williams, the first black woman crowned Miss America, discovers trailblazers. Born a free man in 1845, her great-great grandfather married a white woman in 1861 and served in the Civil War. Her great-grandfather served in public office in Tennessee. Tim McGraw researches his pre-Revolutionary War American relatives and finds connections to George Washington and Elvis Presley. An activist herself, Ashley Judd learns about a female relative who labored for women’s votes as part of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Lionel Richie’s great-grandfather served as editor of the Knights of Wise Men, an organization that provided insurance to black men and women in the late 1870s. Gwyneth Paltrow gathers information about her truly disparate ancestors. Rosie O’Donnell travels to Ireland to learn about relatives who escaped the Irish Potato Famine. Her episode proves especially moving.
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media
DVD Release Date: May 1, 2012
Run Time: 335 minutes
–review by Amy Steele
purchase at Amazon: Who Do You Think You Are: Season 2
purchase at Acorn Media
Share this:
Forks Over Knives: DVD/netflix streaming
Posted by Amy Steele in DVD, Film, vegan/ vegetarian on October 4, 2011
Forks Over Knives is one of the most effective documentaries about going vegan that I’ve seen [better than Food Inc. and Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead]. It provided me with more arguments to use when someone wonders why I’m a vegan and if I’m truly getting all the proper nutrients etc. Yes I am. I feel better than I would if eating dairy or fish and I’ve not eaten meat since I was 18. Forks Over Knifes shows how doctors made a link between some of the most serious chronic conditions [diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease] and the consumption of a whole foods plant-based diet. Some of these conditions get completely reversed by changing one’s eating habits.
–40% of Americans are obese
–The U.S. spends $2.2 trillion on healthcare, which is 5x the defense budget
–Per person, Americans consume 222 lbs of meat, 147 lbs of sugar and 605 lbs of dairy annually
–increased dairy consumption leads to increases incidences of osteoporosis and hip fractures
for more info: Forks Over Knives website
Share this:
Notable Documentaries on DVD
Posted by Amy Steele in DVD, Film on August 27, 2011
–In this eco-friendly experiment a writer and his wife and young daughter attempt to have the smallest carbon footprint possible. The New Yorkers shop the farmer’s market, go vegetarian, ride bikes around the city and stop using electricity. It’s a struggle and some things work and some things don’t. It’s thorough and thoughtful.
–This is one of the creepiest and most engrossing documentaries I’ve ever seen. Just see it. I don’t want to give anything away. Okay, I’ll say that two guys who grew up on Staten Island investigate an Urban Legend.
–A film about a parking lot and its attendants? Yes! It’s a parking lot near University of Virginia. It’s totally absorbing.
–Large cross-section of screenwriters interviewed for this documentary, at various stages of their careers. It’s fascinating and eye-opening.
–Stand-up comedy may look relatively easy but it’s not. This film shows what it takes to work out jokes, to play to different audiences and to keep the momentum over time.
Share this:
in the realm: Quotes
Posted by Amy Steele in Books, DVD on July 28, 2011
From what he’d seen of Denver in the entire half an hour he’d been there, he wouldn’t be staying. It was too clean, too hard to breathe, too white. Sure, the mountains were pretty, but he didn’t require beauty in a city—he needed edge, funkiness, diversity, and at least one superior Chinese restaurant that delivered
—Patchwork by Dan Loughry
It is said that sesta is one of the only gifts the Europeans brought to South America, but I imagine the Brazilians could have figured out how to sleep in the afternoon without having to endure centuries of murder and enslavement.
—State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Sometimes it’s us, nudging people back on plan.
—The Adjustment Bureau
Share this:
WIRED: DVD review
Posted by Amy Steele in DVD on July 6, 2011
Exciting, heart-pounding and twisty financial thriller. After Louise Evans [Jodie Whittaker], a cash-strapped single mom, receives a promotion at her London bank, she’s propositioned by a criminal ring to do a “job” for them. She’s hesitant at first but does it after some pressure. She even opens the new bank account from her own computer during regular business hours. I’m not so sure how smart that is. And undercover fraud squad police officer [Toby Stephens] befriends her and eventually reveals his true identity. She thinks she’s done but the bad guys have more plans for Louise. This time they blackmail her and once she gets involved she’s in deeper and deeper as the plans grow increasingly complex and confusing. The music increases the intrigue and danger particularly as much of it occurs on computer screens. As Louise, Whittaker plays her perfectly and uses her face to ultimate effect—from frightened to bothered to sad to angry. And whose side is she really on? While I never really understood who the people were, what was going on or why they wanted to recruit Louise, WIRED is an enjoyable and exceptional miniseries.
Starring: Jodie Whitaker, Toby Stephens, Charlie Brooks, Riz Ahmed
Studio: Acorn Media
Running time: 134 minutes
Release Date: June, 2011
Share this:
in the realm: QUOTES
Posted by Amy Steele in DVD, Film, Music on June 26, 2011
The present’s a little unsatisfying because life is a little unsatisfying
—Midnight in Paris
You’re old when you learn that needs are to be eclipsed by civility. You’re old when you join the sticky, stenchy morass of concealed neediness that is society. You’re old when you give up trying to change people because then they might want to change you too.
–Anthropology of an American Girl: a Novel by Hilary Thayer Hamann
When we came up we were paranoid about stardom and that was a good thing . . . you keep a watchful eye to protect your music, your band, your internal life . . .
–Bruce Springsteen on Spectacle: Elvis Costello with . . .
You never stop needing your parents. They’re part of who you are.
—SKIN
Share this:
Spectacle: Elvis Costello with . . . S2: review
Posted by Amy Steele in DVD, Music, TV on June 22, 2011
The Emmy-nominated Spectacle: Elvis Costello with . . . finds talented singer/songwriter Elvis Costello querying various musicians about the craft. He then performs with them or collaborates on various songs of his own as well as their songs or a mish-mash of both. S2 includes guests The Edge, Bono, Neko Case, Ron Sexsmith, Sheryl Crow, Lyle Lovett and Bruce Springsteen. As an interviewer, Costello is affable, comfortable and an astute listener. Most talk is of production and admiration between Costello and whomever his guest happens to be. In Episode 4, Mary-Louise Parker interviews Costello. Apparently she’s a music writer according to Costello’s intro of the Emmy and Tony-award winner. “You made so many uncool things cool,” gushes Parker. “All my learning was just from listening,” Costello remarks. He also says he doesn’t read much or read much literature (only history) because “there’s too much music to hear.”
The two-disc set includes behind-the-scenes documentary and four bonus songs from Elvis and The Imposters.
Studio: SpyBox Pictures
Running time: 350 minutes
Release Date: June 7, 2011
PR: MVD visual
Share this:
in the realm: QUOTES
Posted by Amy Steele in Books, DVD on June 20, 2011
Marshall: I’ve got a lot of problems.
Sam: How many problems can you have Marshall? You’re 25 years old.
–from film Ceremony
Our country, still the world’s only superpower, has the power to bomb or to heal.
From Think by Lisa Bloom
Share this:
Breaking and Entering: DVD review
Posted by Amy Steele in DVD on June 20, 2011
Starring: Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright, Martin Freeman, Vera Farmiga
Written and Directed by: Anthony Minghella
Breaking and Entering lyrically addresses the intertwining lives of people in London who might normally never interact-landscape architect, a Bosnian immigrant, a cleaning lady, a prostitute, a rebellious teenager. It is the meshing of those that live in posh areas of North London and those that live in the notoriously “dicey” area of King’s Cross that makes for this provocative and insightful portrait.
Will [Law] is a partner in a landscape architect firm located in King’s. While his professional life is booming, his personal life is withering. When his firm suffers mysterious series of break-ins, Will decides to investigate it. This causes his long-term relationship with his Swedish girlfriend Liv (Wright) and their autistic daughter to suffer and the emotional chasm between them grows as does the couple’s inability to communicate.
After a break-in, Will follows one of the thieves home and becomes intrigued by the teenager’s mother, Amira (Binoche). Their lives become entangled and deception lingers amidst the passion. Breaking and Entering focuses on the effect a crime has on someone personally whether to destroy or to mend. Minghella uses the break-in as a tipping point for tearing down metaphoric walls and for shattering preconceived notions about people.
This is Law’s best role to date. He simultaneously exudes compassion and self-doubt. Binoche is brilliant in showcasing the nuanced difficulties of being an immigrant. Through simply a look or mannerism, Wright silently screams disconnected woman so remarkably. Once again, Minghella wrote a lovely and compelling film.
Share this:
in the realm: QUOTES
Posted by Amy Steele in Books, DVD on June 14, 2011
A kiss can be an IOU, or the end of a love affair. A kiss can last for eons. A kiss can be longer and stronger than a fuck. A kiss has a history and a future.
–Erica Jong
I am a 37-year-old unemployed loser.
–Bobby Walker [Ben Affleck]
I’m a highly qualified applicant for that position!
–Bobby Walker
Glad I got that PhD.
Verisimilitude is the truth of art, and any convention which hinders the illusion is obviously in the wrong place.
Length, naturally, is not so much a matter of pages as of the mass and quality of what they contain. It is obvious that a mediocre book is always too long, and that a great one usually seems too short.
–Edith Wharton, The Writing of Fiction
Share this:
-
You are currently browsing the archives for the DVD category.
About Me
covering mostly music and books. focus on alternative/indie and women in music, literature and the arts. feminist. vegan. mostly alternative, a bit bohemian. Masters in journalism from Boston University. BA from Simmons College.
Entertainment Realm by Amy Steele is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at entertainmentrealm.comCopyright © 2009. All writing, unless otherwise noted, by Amy Steele.
ENTERTAINMENT REALM 
You must be logged in to post a comment.