Thursday, November 5, 2009

New DVD highlights 11/5/2009

Simon Schama's Power of art
written and presented by Simon Schama










Beautiful. Fascinating. Emotional. Art is all of the above. But only a few are powerful. These are the works that not only lift you off your feet in their sheer artistry, they forever alter the human psyche. Focusing on eight iconic works of art, Power of Art reveals the history of visual imagination through the ages, from the murderous world of baroque Rome to paranoid, revolutionary Paris; from the carnage of civil-war Spain to the paradox of 1950s New York, caught between Cold War jitters and Manhattan glitter. A combination of dramatic reconstruction, spectacular photography and Simon Schama's unique, personal style of storytelling transport the viewer back to the intense moments that great works were conceived and born. The eight works of art profiled in this series are: Caravaggio's David and Goliath; Bernini's The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Rembrandt's The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis; David's Death of Marat; Turner's The Slave Ship; Van Gogh's Self-Portrait; Picasso's Guernica and Rothko's Seagram Building Murals.







Planet Earth, The complete series
David Attenborough









With an unprecedented production budget of $25 million, and from the makers of Blue Planet: Seas of Life, comes the epic story of life on Earth. Five years in production, over 2,000 days in the field, using 40 cameramen filming across 200 locations, shot entirely in high definition, this is the ultimate portrait of our planet. A stunning television experience that captures rare action, impossible locations and intimate moments with our planet's best-loved, wildest and most elusive creatures. From the highest mountains to the deepest rivers, this blockbuster series takes you on an unforgettable journey through the daily struggle for survival in Earth's most extreme habitats. Planet Earth takes you to places you have never seen before, to experience sights and sounds you may never experience anywhere else.


The Decalogue
Krzyzstof Kieślowski










Krzysztof Kieslowski has fashioned a cinematic masterpiece. This collection of ten films is a work of supreme daring, imagination, and sheer brilliance, riveting and profound. Each of the films uses one of The Ten Commandments as a thematic springboard. As the films in "The Decalogue" were completed, they awed audiences at film festivals worldwide. The best actors, cinematographers and film technicians joined Kieslowski and his co writer and long time collaborator Krzysztof Piesiewicz in these extraordinary stories. The experience of watching "The Decalogue" is so compelling and powerful that film critic Kenneth Turan wrote that to see it was "nothing less than a privilege."


Fantasia [videorecording]
Walt Disney Pictures











Alice [videorecording] : Darkness light darkness
designed & directed by Jan Švankmajer
New York, NY : First Run Features, [2000]



Griffiti an archive of George Griffin animation
George Griffin