Enjoy Life
Winter DVD's
Great new home entertainment releases for long winter evenings, suggested by Simon Evans
Dalgliesh Series Three
(Acorn Media International, DVD)
Cerebral detective Adam Dalgliesh, played by the inimitable Bertie Carvel, returns to tackle more complex murder mysteries in this third series of the Seventies-set crime show based on the novels by PD James. On the cusp of Margaret Thatcher’s 1979 election victory, Dalgliesh has to solve the gruesome murder of a senior churchman at a scandal-engulfed seminary, investigate a murder involving a wealthy and influential family and look into a series of killings that may or may not be linked to anti-nuclear campaigners. A box set collecting together all three seasons is also available.
Hitchcock: The Beginning
(StudioCanal, Blu-ray)
Marking the 125th anniversary of the great film director’s birth, this eleven-disc Blu-ray set includes ten of Alfred Hitchcock’s early films, with new restorations and scores, as well as a specially-commissioned documentary, Becoming Hitchcock, which explores the legacy of his first sound film, Blackmail.
The box set includes the silent films The Ring (1928), The Farmer’s Wife (1929), Champagne (1928) and The Manxman (1930), as well as the hugely inventive 1929 Blackmail, regarded as the first British sound feature.
It was followed by adaptations of two high profile plays, Juno And The Paycock (1930) and The Skin Game (1931), two more
thrillers Murder! (1930), Number Seventeen (1932), and an odd marital drama, Rich And Strange (1932).
Numerous extras include newly-filmed introductions, interviews and mini-documentaries.
Ellis Series One
(Acorn Media International, DVD)
After a mysterious leave of absence DCI Ellis (Sharon D Clarke) is called in to solve a series of complex cases in rural Northern England. She has to contend with prejudice, suspicion and resentment among her colleagues but has, for support, the equally meticulous DS Harper (Andrew Gower). It’s an interesting twist on a much-used formula and each of the three feature-length episodes will have you guessing right to the end.
All Creatures Great and Small Series Five
(Acorn Media International, DVD)
One of the few instances when a reboot comes close to actually improving on the original series, All Creatures, in its new iteration, benefits from an excellent cast, strong storytelling and of course the glorious Yorkshire dales, which look even better, albeit digitally enhanced, than they did in the slightly washed-out Seventies and Eighties version. The shadow of war continues to loom large in this latest series, and it is a time of reunions and farewells, as Skeldale House adapts to having a baby around. Always just the right side of sentimental, the show is one of the best things on television at the moment and long may it continue. The Series Five DVD includes the 2023 Christmas special, and there’s also a box set available collecting all five seasons and associated specials.
Laurel and Hardy: The Silent Years
(Eureka!, Blu-ray)
A fascinating insight into the enduring genius of Laurel and Hardy is provided by this collection of the comic duo’s earliest screen collaborations. Their first films together – The Lucky Dog and 45 Minutes to Hollywood – feature, alongside 13 shorts produced throughout 1927, including Duck Soup, Sailors Beware!, Sugar Daddies and The Battle of the Century. All have been restored from the best possible available sources and the two-disc set includes commentaries and interviews with silent film experts as well as a collector’s booklet featuring notes on each film.
In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon
(Altitude, Blu-ray)
Clocking in at more than three hours this two-part documentary, directed by Alex Gibney, provides an excellent, if flawed, overview of the distinguished career of this great singer-songwriter. Filmed during the making of Simon’s last album, Seven Psalms, at a time when Simon was battling hearing loss in one ear, the film constantly switches between revealing scenes of the musician at work in his home studio and archive footage, some of it previously unseen.
The first part focuses on Simon and Garfunkel and Paul’s often troubled relationship with his oldest friend. It ends on a rather sour note (the pair appear to have now been reconciled) but is perhaps the most rewarding, as the second part, ranging over Paul’s solo career has perhaps a little too much of his work for Saturday Night Live in the Seventies and the well-trodden story of Graceland while ignoring some important work altogether, most notably his brilliant There Goes Rhymin’ Simon LP (although American Tune is performed in full, a particularly moving moment). However, previously unseen footage of the moment Paul had his John Lennon moment at the Central Park Simon and Garfunkel concert, as well as rarely seen clips from the ill-fated early Eighties S&G reunion tour, will on their own have long-time fans salivating and, for all its flaws, this is a worthy portrait of one of the most important artists of our time.
Midsomer Murders Series 23
The Brokenwood Mysteries Series 10
(Acorn Media International, DVD)
They may be half a world away geographically but these two long-running detective series have in common an alarming number of murders committed within a very small and unlikely area, namely the English county of Midsomer and the New Zealand town of Brokenwood. Viewers have been willing to cast aside this fundamental implausibility such is the charm of both shows and the strong leading cast members, in Midsomer Murder’s case Neil Dudgeon as DCI John Barnaby, cousin of Midsomer’s original ‘tec, Tom Barnaby (played by John Nettles from 1997 to 2011) and his sidekick DS Jamie Winter (Nick Hendrix).
In this latest season they contend with more weird and wonderful cases involving artisan bakeries, drag shows and police retirement villages. Guest stars include This Country’s vicar Paul Chahidi and the great Tom Conti.
Neil Rea, as Detective Mike Shepherd, and Fern Sutherland playing Detective Kristin Sims, have been with The Brokenwood Mysteries from the start, using all manner of methods to combat the booming murder rate in the rustic town of Brokenwood. In this latest series they investigate a brutal murder with a Jurassic twist, a lovestruck dental patient and someone claiming to be Jesus Christ. All in a day’s work for the unflappable detectives.
Black Tuesday
(Eureka!, Blu-ray)
Riding the revival of the gangster picture in the Forties and Fifties was this gritty nourish drama, one of the finest from a period that also included such key films as Key Largo, White Heat and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. It stars Edward G Robinson as a ruthless gangster, Vincent Canelli, serving time on death row but determined to avoid the electric chair. Helped by his moll Hatti (Jean Parker) he orchestrates a jailbreak, taking several hostages in the process, and is joined by fellow death row inmate Peter Manning (Peter Graves). Manning has a secret stash of loot and Canelli is determined to get his hands on it at all costs. Peter Graves is perhaps best-known as Jim Phelps, head of the Mission Impossible team for the TV series that ran from 1967 to 1973, and again from 1988 to 1990.
Dark Winds Season 2
(Acorn Media International, Blu-ray and DVD)
Executive-produced by Robert Redford and Games of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin, and based on Tony Hillerman’s best-selling mystery novels, the new series of this excellent detective series heralds the return of Navajo crime-fighting duo – tenacious Lieutenant Joe Leaphron (Zahn McClarnon) and FBI agent turned private investigator Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon). Reunited when their separate cases bring them together chasing the same suspect, the intrepid duo find themselves mixed up in a conspiracy involving an ancient cult, and a killer with a dark connection to Leaphron. A box set combining the first and second seasons is also available.
Watership Down
(BFI, Blu-ray)
With a building project threatening their home a group of rabbits decide to abandon their warren and find a new home. Fiver, the smallest of the rabbits, has a sixth sense and has experienced visions of destruction should the rabbits stay where they are, so Hazel, Fiver and Bigwig tackle the brutal realities of the rural world – and mankind’s devastating impact on it – as they lead their colony to the utopian Watership Down.
This 1978 British animation was not as hard-hitting as its source material, Richard Adams’ best-selling novel, but it still packed a punch, aided by an esteemed voice cast that included Richard Briers, Ralph Richardson, Hannah Gordon, John Hurt and Denholm Elliott, a powerful score by composer Angela Morley and the hit single Bright Eyes by Art Garfunkel.
Newly restored and available as a limited edition Blu-ray, extras include a featurette on the film’s aesthetic, an archive conversation with the film-makers, and a selection of short films on the subject of rabbits and our often devastating relationship with them.
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