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Conway Twitty: A Documentary -
As the most popular country and western star of the 1970s and 1980s, balladeer Conway Twitty (1933-93) arguably obtained his greatest popularity for two key accomplishments: an ability to subtly weave seductive and slightly suggestive lyrics into country songs (witness "Slow Hand" and "I Can Tell You've Never Been This Far Before," and an ability to merge the country genre with such genres as r&b, rock and pop yet retain a no-holds-barred classification as a country singer. Ironically, Twitty (born in 1933 as the son of a riverboat captain) kick-started his career as a rock vocalist in the 1950s, issuing a series of singles prominently featured on the soundtracks to Hollywood B movies. By the late 1960s, however, he had switched to the genre that would elevate him to superstardom through his death at age 59 in the summer of 1993 with an unprecedented number of hit albums and singles. This very brief documentary provides a cursory overview of Twitty's life and career. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
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Jackie & Joe -
Includes:The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) The Joe Louis Story (1953) The Jackie Robinson Story Despite its lack of production values and box-office "names," The Jackie Robinson Story is one of the best and most convincing baseball biopics ever filmed. Brooklyn Dodgers second baseman Jackie Robinson plays himself, and quite well indeed. The film traces Robinson's career from his college days, when he excelled as a track star at Pasadena College and as UCLA's All-Sports record holder. Upon his graduation, Robinson tries to get a coaching job, but this is the 1940s, and most doors are closed to black athletes. After serving in the army, Robinson plays with the Negro Baseball League, where his uncanny skills attract the attention of Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Anxious to break down the "color line" that exists in major-league baseball, Robinson is chosen in 1946 to play for the Brooklyn farm team in Montreal. In a harrowing sequence, Rickey lets Robinson know what he's in for by bombarding him with insults and racial slurs. The manager is merely testing Robinson's ability to withstand the pressure: he wants a black ballplayer "with guts enough not to fight back." Robinson agrees to ignore all racial epithets for the first two years of his Brooklyn contract. Despite the unabashed hatred to which he is subjected during his year with Montreal, Robinson steadfastly continues to turn the other cheek, and in 1947 he graduates to the Dodgers lineup. After a slow start, Robinson justifies the faith put in him by Rickey. The Dodgers win the pennant race, and slowly but surely the ban on black players vanishes in the Big Leagues. Though a model of restraint by 1990s standards, The Jackie Robinson Story is surprisingly frank in its detailing of the racial tensions of its own era. It falters only in a couple of silly vignettes involving comic-relief ballplayer Ben Lessey. The cast is uniformly fine, including Louise Beavers as Robinson's mother, Ruby Dee as his wife Rae (Dee would later play Robinson's mother in the 1990 TV movie The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson), Joel Fluellen as his brother Mac, Minor Watson as Branch Rickey, and best of all, Richard Lane as Montreal manager Clay Hopper. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi The Joe Louis Story Coley Wallace plays the title role in The Joe Louis Story. Told in flashback, the film recounts the pugilistic career of "the Brown Bomber" from the early 1930s to his misguided comeback attempt opposite Rocky Marciano in 1951. The film's high point is Louis' defeat of Germany's Max Schmeling; its low point (dramatically, not quality-wise) is the breakup of Louis's marriage. Evidently for legal reasons, most of the character names in the film are fictional. Many of the fight scenes are culled from footage of the real Louis in action. Though the "race" angle in The Joe Louis Story is downplayed, Louis is treated on an equal par with the white characters, which resulted in the film being banned in certain S
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The Potty Movie for Boys -
The pleasant animated short Potty Movie: Boys features the adventures of a toddler who slowly learns the importance of leaving behind diapers and using the toilet on a regular basis. This program has been designed to help parents and children achieve this important developmental milestone in a healthy way. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
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Brain: Brain Has Made the Worst Drum Instructional DVD Ever -
Brain: Brain Has Made the Worst Drum Instructional DVD Ever -
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The True Glory -
British filmmaker Carol Reed and American playwright Garson Kanin team up to direct the war documentary The True Glory. The movie was assembled from actual footage of the WWII allied invasion of Europe, captured by thousands of different camera operators. Starting with D-Day, the documentary covers the major battles all the way to the fall of Berlin, along with personal vignettes. The prologue is read by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, with Robert Harris and Peter Ustinov providing narration. The True Glory won an Academy award for Best Documentary in 1945. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
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