Video

Confessions of Chefs and a Restaurateur. 15 min. ISBN 978-1-57175-444-8.

In Confessions of Chefs…, Brenda Langton, chef restaurateur and owner of Café Brenda, Minneapolis, takes us through part of her day, explaining what chefs and restaurateurs do. Other chefs and managers confess what they like the most and least about their jobs and why they love the profession. DeBora Rachelle, Fashion Designer, imparts what it takes to be a successful fashion designer: business sense as well as creative drive. Interior designer Brandi Hagen gives us an inside tour of several design showrooms in Confessions of an Interior Designer as she explains the difference between an interior decorator and an interior designer. All the DVDs give a clear picture of the educational requirements, starting salary, and job market outlook for each profession. Recommended for young adults in either high school or public libraries.—Margaret B. Miller, Univ. of South Dakota, Vermillion

Homework can be a dreaded task for both children and their parents. Setting the Stage for Homework Success addresses this parental responsibility and the four basic steps to ensuring homework success: creating a positive homework environment; establishing homework routines; guiding, monitoring, and overseeing the homework process; and forging a working relationship with the teacher. Vignettes of four families and expert advice from school psychologist Eric Rosen, assistant principal Aaliyah Mitchell, and Pamela Lutgen, an elementary school teacher with 30 years' experience, lay the groundwork. More specific guidance concerning various homework problems is addressed in Homework Solutions. Using the information presented, parents can help their child overcome many of the common battles with homework, for example, they learn how to help a child become responsible for bringing homework home and returning it to school and how to show procrastinators how to manage their time with a timer. Both DVDs illustrate problems and solutions clearly, with good, practical suggestions. Recommended for parents using school or public libraries.—Margaret B. Miller, Univ. of South Dakota, Vermillion

A group of scientists and university professors gathers around a table in this film by biologist-turned-filmmaker Olson to discuss how to teach origins responsibly. Creationism, evolutionism, and intelligent design are all set out for scrutiny. The table is a poker table. This scenario sets the tone for a serious though lighthearted look at an old yet contemporary issue. Darwin started the perennial, perpetual debate with his book now called Origins of the Species (first published in 1859); the Scopes trial (1925) popularized it; and school boards all over the country (including the one serving the town this reviewer calls home) continue the discussion. Flock of Dodos mixes cartoons and archival footage with scholarly interviews and moms' opinions to provide lively perspectives with minimal bias. Leaving the viewer with more questions than answers, this program is recommended as an excellent discussion starter for college and some high school audiences.—Diane Kazlauskas, Univ. of North Florida Lib., Jacksonville

SustainLane currently rates Portland, OR, as the greenest of the 50 major U.S. cities. This DVD looks at organizations that have helped Portland attain this rating through the Natural Step framework, their guiding principle, developed by Karl-Henrik Robert. The production visits Nike world headquarters as well as various small businesses/owners: a builder with a demonstration LEED-certified home, a fashion designer, an auto repair garage, a pizza maker, a fine furniture producer, and an urban developer. Each entrepreneur or representative notes how sustainable materials and practices have been integrated into the operation. A Portland city engineer and a local water district spokesperson also have their say. The DVD concludes with a brief review of Natural Step (see www.naturalstep.org/com/nyStart). Recommended wherever there is interest in sustainable business.—David R. Conn, Surrey P.L., BC

This 13-episode British series first aired in 1985 and was broadcast on Showtime in the United States. A follow-up to a popular series that featured the character of Robin of Loxley, wherein Robin dies at the end and his band of outlaws are scattered, this program is based on an alternative story in which Robert Huntingdon, the earl's son, is chosen by the forest deity Herne to become the new Robin Hood, played by Jason Connery, son of Sean Connery. These final episodes bring back all the familiar characters: Lady Marion, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and the band of Merry Men. After a two-part introduction, each episode recounts an individual story. The series departs from the historical setting to feature strong elements of the "sword and sorcery" genre: mystical pagan cults, monsters, and conflicts between good and evil. Robin and his band always come to the aid of the downtrodden, and along the way we see the slow development of a romance between Robin and Marion. The fifth disc includes two retrospective documentaries and a segment on the music scoring by the Irish group Clannad. While very popular in its day, the series seems dated by today's standards, and as each episode tells an individual tale, there is a certain sameness to how each plays out. Still, fans of the original series and of swashbucklers in general will find it entertaining. Recommended for all ages, particularly for public library collections.—Tom Budlong, Atlanta

One might think twice before engaging Rosemary Boxer (Felicity Kendal) and Laura Thyme (Pat Ferris) as garden designers, because a dead body or two seems to come with each landscaping project. Rosemary is formerly a university plant biologist. Laura, a former policewoman, is an avid gardener recently separated from her husband. The women have an honest relationship that makes good use of their professional skills and natural curiosity. Their clients are sometimes rich and famous, often feuding with members of their inner circle, and someone always has an itch for homicide. The mysteries are of the "cozy" kind, and the views of rolling hills, the English countryside, and formal gardens both domestic and foreign are a bonus. Acorn Media has repackaged the three seasons into one nine-disc set (22 episodes) at a cost savings over purchasing each of the three separately (still available), although 22 episodes may be a bit daunting all at once. This entertaining series, which originally aired in the UK from 2003 to 2005, is highly recommended for fans of British mysteries.—Joan Greenberg, Warminster, PA

The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States provoked France's StudioCanal to charge each of 11 filmmakers with directing a short film inspired by the events of that day. The resulting vignettes represent wildly diverse personal and political reactions from the international film community. Some directors (Egypt's Youssef Chahine, UK's Ken Loach) use 9/11 to bookend a heavy-handed denunciation of what they perceive as morally inexcusable global U.S. interventionism. Others (France's Claude Lelouch, Bosnia-Herzegovina's Danis Tanovic) somewhat eerily present personal human interaction set against the backdrop of national tragedy. Lelouch portrays the experience of a deaf woman who is too engrossed in the thought of leaving her boyfriend to notice the nearby collapse of the Twin Towers—only vibrations on the dining room table and the frantic but unheard barking of her dog hint at the horrific events displayed on her TV. Melodrama aside, the film tells a "where were you when…" story with plaintive irony. Mexico's Alejandro González Iñárritu delivers the most straightforward yet abstract work, a largely black-screen collage of 9/11 audiovisual footage ending with the question, "Does God's light guide us or blind us?" September 11 is recommended as a supplement to the many documentaries on the topic.—Eric Pasteur, Peoria P.L., IL

Americans have been escaping to Canada since the American Revolution, when Nova Scotia and New Brunswick became a haven for refugees. In June 2003, when the Ontario courts allowed for the decriminalization of marijuana use for medical purposes and sanctified same-sex marriages, Canada became a haven for gays and lesbians, marijuana smokers, and military personnel seeking freedoms not available in the United States. This film offers many opinions and stories of the disaffected and displaced Americans who escaped to Canada not out of desire but out of perceived necessity. In truth, Escape to Canada is a poorly crafted political commentary demonstrating the differences between the Canadian and U.S. governments on these specific issues. Unfortunately, the visual quality is inconsistent, the material is redundant, and the editing is disjointed, jumping from one scene to another as the story is repeated or changed. Accounts of gay and lesbian marriages; Marc Emery, the Prince of Pot, traveling the country flaunting marijuana; and A.W.O.L. U.S. soldiers fleeing to avoid service in Iraq are the recurring themes. An interesting concept that might be of interest to those studying these issues but not a necessary library purchase.—Ada Con, Fraser Valley Regional Lib., Port Coquitlam, BC

Writer, producer, and director Ferguson here takes on the difficult task of explaining what went wrong in the early days of the American occupation of Iraq. He filmed hundreds of hours of interviews with journalists, U.S. officials, and Iraqis and juxtaposes excerpts of the interviews against news reports of the occupation. The documentary is critical of the American strategy for the post-Hussein presence, indicating that planning was inadequate and based more on wishful thinking than reality. The film explains that because of that poor planning, at the beginning of the occupation Iraq fell into a period of chaos, with widespread looting, violence, and failed public services, which alienated the Iraqi people. The documentary also criticizes early U.S. policy decisions such as the disbanding of the Iraqi army at a time when it might have been useful in keeping order. Ferguson's clear and concise examination of these and other missteps contributes markedly to an understanding of post-Hussein Iraq and is essential for all libraries. His new book, No End in Sight: Iraq's Descent into Chaos (2008), updates the film.—Lawrence R. Maxted, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA

These three "Impact" series titles purport to showcase songs from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s that, as they say, "changed the world." Unfortunately, these vapid, low-budget videos do no such thing. Rather, they provide pedestrian overviews of each artist's career via familiar archival footage and seemingly endless streams of interview sound bites while offering very little insight into the titular songs. Admittedly, the Presley disc does provide some illuminating background into the writing and recording of "Heartbreak Hotel," Presley's first hit single, but it leaves viewers wanting more. The sound bite providers, as in all three programs, include the expected (Carl Perkins, Sam Phillips) and the unexpected (Levon Helm, Wink Martindale). The highlight is interview footage with Presley guitarist Scotty Moore and "Heartbreak Hotel" co-songwriters Thomas Durden and Mae Boren Axton. This song, undoubtedly, was a hallmark 1950s achievement, but this film fails to convey why it was so important in the evolution of pop music, pop culture, or even Presley's career.

I Want to Hold Your Hand is even worse. Neither surviving Beatle is interviewed, leaving the inane, predictable, and/or bland sound bites to university professors, music historians, contemporaries such as Mickey Dolenz and Mike Love, and, of course, fawning fans. The archival footage of the Fab Four is as mediocre as the comments. Unforgivably, the titular tune receives only a few cursory mentions, although a maddening Muzak version plays in the background. Rather than placing any particular Beatles song in historical context, this video instead merely summarizes the early days of Beatlemania, and there are dozens more informative and entertaining documentaries on this phenomenon.

Stayin' Alive is the most informative and interesting of the trio. Peppered among the predictably banal comments is some valuable material about the recording and writing of what became a surprise crossover hit. The disco era is dissected and analyzed, and interviewees convincingly explain the song's role in the development of this misunderstood and disrespected genre. There is some good content here, especially the "Disco Demolition Night" footage, but not enough to warrant sitting through the entire disc. It is worth noting that all three titles claim to be 36 minutes in length, but in fact they are each 23 minutes long, just long enough to put knowledgeable viewers to sleep. Serious fans or researchers will find nothing new here; students or adult viewers with little prior knowledge of Elvis, the Beatles, or the BeeGees might find these introductory videos useful.—Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia

According to this documentary, more than 20 million dogs and cats are born each year in the United States. Of these, ten million are euthanized or abandoned. Many are left to wander and die as strays. This film emphasizes the need to spay and neuter our pets to prevent this tragedy. The average life span of shelter animals is only five to ten days if they are not quickly adopted. After moving testimony from veterinarians saddened at having to put so many wonderful animals to sleep, we see examples of pet rescue alternatives, which include both individuals and organizations, mostly in Connecticut and New York, working to solve this problem. Some stories of individual rescues feature heartwarming footage. Other options include no-kill shelters and agencies that pick up, spay, and release feral animals so that they won't continue to reproduce. The overriding message is the importance of spaying and neutering pets as part of responsible pet ownership. All cats and dogs deserve loving homes. This moving and inspirational film belongs in all pet collections. Winner of several film awards, it is appropriate for all libraries.—Tom Budlong, Atlanta

Mr. Vig is a reclusive old man living in a castle in a remote area of Denmark alone with his books and his memories of a long and lonely life. He has a dream—to create a Russian Orthodox monastery on the site in order to "make something enduring." Sister Amvrosija is the nun sent to work with Mr. Vig to make the plan come to fruition. The two butt heads, argue, pester each other, and, in the end, find a respect and affection for each other that is quite remarkable. Interviewer and director Grnkjaer gently draws Mr. Vig out and has him explain his feelings on his life, his lack of love, and his growing affection for Sister Amvrosija and her compatriots. The viewer quickly falls in love with the old curmudgeon and comes to understand his dreams of making the monastery a reality. A truly lovely, touching film; a "must see" for all libraries.—Kathleen Loomis-Sacco, SUNY at Fredonia Lib.

These two films deal with marriage and family relationships. Our Families, Ourselves is composed of interviews with experts interspersed with clips of ordinary people giving their opinion on such topics as the differences in cultural situations affecting mate selection or how early family experiences influence and shape the self-image children grow with into adulthood. Specifically tied to lesson plans, 18 formally structured chapters are aligned with a corresponding textbook, Nijole V. Benokraitis's Marriages and Families: Changes, Choices and Constraints (Prentice-Hall. 6th ed.). Subjects include family history, marriage and commitment, family violence, and growing older.

In contrast, Inlaws & Outlaws is a beautifully produced film offering insights into why couples marry. Couples recount the experiences that contribute to the longevity of their unions, regardless of their sexual orientation. In the interviews, each person is encouraged to reconstruct the initial meeting with and attraction to his/her mate and to include childhood memories, which might bring up parental alcoholism and religious constraints. Also featured are interviews with those deliberately single and the rationale behind that choice. Archival images and video clips often illustrate these very personal stories, reflecting the societal conditions of the times. Both films thoroughly investigate their topics and would be appropriate for academic libraries supporting courses in the social sciences.—Marianne Eimer, SUNY at Fredonia Lib.

This program focuses on the urban exodus to the suburbs and emphasizes how "living in a subdivision is not a neighborhood." Featuring interviews with urban studies experts, homeowners, and others, Subdivided traces the isolation and lack of a sense of community in subdivisions. Interspersed with newsreel footage touting the advantages of country living is aerial footage illustrating the separateness of subdivisions and the endless cookie-cutter homes. A car culture with greater commutes, smaller yards, and security concerns are cited as reasons for this detachment. The new urbanist movement that bases urban development on humans rather than traffic designs is also discussed. The last section of the program focuses on one Texas neighborhood that is trying to preserve its uniqueness in architectural style and cohesiveness through community involvement. DVD extras include interviews with architect Andres Duany, cofounder of the Congress for the New Urbanism, and political scientist and professor Robert Putnam. Recommended for public and academic libraries.—Beth Traylor, Univ. of Wisconsin Milwaukee Libs.

Not limited to elite athletes, marathons also attract many thousands of ordinary people seeking the challenge of completing a grueling 26.2-mile run. In this informative and often inspiring documentary, the NOVA production crew followed 13 participants on their path to completion of the 2007 Boston Marathon. Chosen from a group of interested applicants, the 13 new runners underwent a well-designed and monitored 40-week program with doctors, coaches, and trainers from Tufts University. Varying in age, gender, and overall health but, like many Americans, generally overweight and sedentary, the runners in Team NOVA were also a representative cross section of adults who might decide to undertake the demands of a long-distance race. Throughout the program, viewers are given a glimpse into some of the psychological struggles and physiological injuries the novices face, as well as seeing the progress and triumphs they experience. The film skillfully combines running footage, interviews with the participants, and computer graphics showing how the heart, muscles, and blood work during an endurance event. The DVD includes scene selections, closed-captioning, and video descriptions. Recommended for general audiences and students in grades seven and above.—Linda Frederiksen, Washington State Univ. Vancouver Lib.

If you love TV, you'll love this program. Through interviews, clips, and a few reenactments, we are witness to the birth of the late-night talk show, the growth of game shows, the evolution of sitcoms, and the lost art of variety shows featuring all manner of entertainment. The real pioneers in each area—Bob Barker, Merv Griffin, Steve Allen, Phyllis Diller, Sid Caesar, Jonathan Winters, Dick Cavett, Betty White, Mary Tyler Moore, Tim Conway, and many, many others—offer opinions and memories that explain and illuminate. Each one-hour segment includes a bit of history and some highlight clips and then an in-depth look at some of the most popular examples of the genre in chronological order, interspersed with interviews with the people who were there. Television history is treated with the seriousness and weight usually reserved for the less ephemeral, but the overly dramatic tone doesn't distract too much from the fabulous clips and charming conversations. Viewers will want more! Where are the Westerns, kids' shows, cartoons, and soaps? Highly recommended for public libraries.—Ellen Druda, Half Hollow Hills Community Lib., Dix Hills, NY

The latest installment in the prolific "Visions of" series of scenic helicopter footage of individual countries makes clear the limitations of this approach. Most of the sites in this video of Scotland are unidentified, something easily rectified by printing the place name on the screen as is done approximately 25 percent of the time. Also, there is no logic to the order of the footage as the photographers jump from different areas of the country in a completely arbitrary way. A map of Scotland would have been useful, as would the inclusion of some hugely important and beautiful spots such as Glencoe, Skye, Culloden, and the hundreds of islands that add so much to the intense Scottish culture. Narration is limited but adds welcome doses of humor, something that Scots are unfairly thought to be lacking. Background music is continuous, either Scottish folk and traditional music or Mendelssohn's "Scottish Symphony." Despite its obvious flaws, this DVD makes one want to pack a suitcase and visit Scotland. For larger travel collections.—B. Allison Gray, Palmdale City Lib., CA