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Updated January 31, 2012

The War of 1812 ***
(2011) 120 min. DVD: $24.99 ($54.95 w/PPR). PBS Video (tel: 800-344-3337, web: www.pbs.org). ISBN: 978-1-60883-495-2.
Joe Mantegna narrates this PBS-aired documentary about America’s “forgotten war,” one that tested the young nation and is now remembered chiefly for the creation of the national anthem and the fact that British forces torched the White House. Filmmakers Lawrence Hott and Diane Garey’s The War of 1812 weaves together dramatic re-enactments, CGI animation, archival materials, and expert commentary, tracing the origins of the conflict to a number of British issues, including that nation’s desire to cut off world trade to France during the Napoleonic campaigns, her penchant for impressing deserting British sailors off American ships, and her perceived role in inciting Native Americans to resist the U.S. government’s attempts to extend influence to the Western territories. At first, American conduct of the operation was a far from glorious campaign, often relying on aging and incompetent commanders and leading to three disastrous invasions of Canada. The documentary does a good job of explaining the tactics, battles, and colorful personalities of the heroes and scoundrels on all sides of the hostilities, which ended in a stalemate. Ironically, the most memorable American victory was Andrew Jackson’s rout of the British troops at the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, which occurred after a peace treaty was signed in Europe. The big losers were the Native American tribes, who paid dearly in land loss for siding against the American cause. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)


Pablo Francisco: They Put It Out There **1/2
(2011) 76 min. DVD: $14.98. eOne Entertainment (avail. from most distributors). ISBN: 1-4172-3604-3.
An observational comedian with a gift for rapid-fire mimicry, sound effects, and celebrity impressions, Pablo Francisco delivers an off-the-wall, standup performance with few highlights but some solid material. The show kicks off with a clever routine about club DJs who become so engrossed in trying to make beats out of any kind of wild sound that they forget their audience has come to dance. From there, topics include aging fans of the ’70s rock band KISS; Latino laborers outside Home Depot; a pornographic version of the interactive video game Guitar Hero; and the challenges of trying to pick up girls while working out on a treadmill. Not surprisingly, the most sparkling parts of Francisco’s show involve impressions of famous people, including his funny take on various stars (Bill Cosby, Tom Cruise, Sarah Silverman) ordering a Subway sandwich, and his version of a movie trailer starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a tortilla vendor. DVD extras include outtakes, fan comments, an infomercial, and a photo shoot. A strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (T. Keogh)


Paganini’s Daemon: A Most Enduring Legend **1/2
(2009) 79 min. DVD: $29.99. Allegro Films (dist. by Naxos of America tel: 615-771-9393, web: www.naxos.com).
The latest in Christopher Nupen’s series of films on musicians and composers focuses on Niccolo Paganini (1782–1840), the greatest violin virtuoso of the 19th century (and perhaps most famous ever). Nupen interweaves chatty narration, artwork montages, and observations—some critical but most tending toward the extravagantly complimentary—from contemporaries who attended Paganini’s concerts, as well as footage of master violinist Gidon Kremer and others performing brief snippets from his compositions. The conventional presentation proceeds chronologically from Paganini’s childhood, during which he was forced to continually practice by his father, through his celebrated performances across Europe that won him iconic status, and finally to the declining years in which his reputation for rapacity and womanizing sapped his popularity. A recurring motif is the legend that supposedly originated with a vision seen by his mother, in which a demon and an angel hovered over the newborn Paganini—an image seized upon by the artist’s detractors to suggest that his extraordinary skill was a result of a Faustian bargain. But Nupen also includes a more down-to-earth analysis of Paganini’s technique by a German conductor, cataloging the tricks the violinist employed to flabbergast his audiences. While adding nothing new to the subject’s life story, Paganini’s Daemon nevertheless provides a solid overview of a man who in many respects was a forerunner of modern celebrity culture. DVD extras include a bonus clip from Nupen’s film on Kremer. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)


Sea Rex: Journey to a Prehistoric World 3D **
(2010) 58 min. Blu-ray: $39.98. Universal Studios Home Entertainment (avail. from most distributors).
Made for IMAX screens—and capable of being viewed in the 3D format at home with the proper equipment (a 3D-capable TV, compatible glasses, and a Blu-ray 3D player)—filmmakers’ Pascal Vuong and Ronan Chapalain’s quasi-documentary Sea Rex focuses on the period in Earth’s prehistory when dinosaurs roamed the seas before migrating to land. Starting with an anecdote about a strange fossilized skeleton unearthed in France in the 1700s, the film quickly moves to the present, where a girl named Julie (Chloe Hollings) is visiting an aquarium. As she marvels at the exhibits, the ghost of a French paleontologist, Georges Cuvier (Richard Rider), appears and converses with her about the evolution of the dinos (including the Liopleurodon, the Elasmosaurus, and the Shonisaurus) during the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. Animation is employed to visualize the beasts, while brief narratives—highly speculative, to be sure—describe various aspects of their behavior, including mating rituals. Periodically, actors playing scientists offer supposedly authoritative statements. Young viewers may well be entranced by CGI scenes of the creatures in action, but they’re also likely to find the more verbose segments tedious. Older audiences will wonder what’s fact and what’s fiction here. Extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette, and brief filmmaker interviews. Not a necessary purchase. Aud: P. (F. Swietek)

Updated January 17, 2012
Hood to Coast ***1/2
(2011) 102 min. DVD: 2 discs, $21.95; Blu-ray: $27.95. Film for Thought (web: www.hoodtocoastmovie.com).
Christoph Baaden’s inspiring and entertaining documentary relates the stories of four sets of participants in the Hood to Coast competition, a 24-hour relay-team marathon in which some 12,000 runners travel 197 miles from Oregon’s Mount Hood to the beach in the town of Seaside. Over its 27-year history, the race has evolved from a hardcore athletic contest to an event involving a cooperative community of self-described “adrenaline junkies” and assorted thrill seekers. Those profiled here include a 67-year-old woman who’s returning to compete after nearly dying when her heart stopped following the previous year’s event; a family preparing to run as a tribute to their son, who died suddenly from a rare, undetected heart condition several years earlier; a team of long-time participants who call themselves “dead jocks in a box,” lugging around a mock coffin but seriously dealing with issues of aging; and a group of film animators who race while wearing colorful costumes. In addition to dealing with the rigors of the course geography, the competitors battle against fatigue and the dark of night, although camaraderie helps them to the finish line. Reflecting later on their experience, most hope to return the following year to do it all again. DVD extras include a director’s audio commentary, a “making-of” featurette, deleted scenes, follow-up interviews, a panel discussion, and more. Boasting exceptional camerawork, editing, and music, this rousing film is highly recommended. Aud: P. (S. Rees)


Lee & Grant **1/2
(2011) 94 min. DVD: $24.95. The History Channel (avail. from most distributors). PPR. Closed captioned. ISBN: 1-4229-4238-4.
Producer-director John Ealer’s History Channel-aired documentary examines how Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant—the most admired military leaders of the Civil War—came to define America’s most destructive conflict. Narrated by Jonathan Frakes, Lee & Grant film combines dramatic re-enactments, CGI animation, archival materials, and interviews with historians and other experts—as well as descendants of both men—to explore aspects of their personal lives and careers in the armed forces. Viewers learn that while Lee was from a distinguished Virginia family, with roots deep in Revolutionary War history, Grant’s forebears led a hardscrabble existence. Both men attended West Point, where Lee was a good student, and Grant was an indifferent scholar. When the Civil War broke out, Lee turned down an offer to lead federal troops, saying he could not fight against his “country” of Virginia. After several unsuccessful business ventures, Grant felt himself drawn back to the military, where an early triumph led to his gaining the nickname of “Unconditional Surrender.” The documentary provides considerable coverage of Grant’s role in the siege of Vicksburg and the events leading up to Lee’s fateful gamble at Gettysburg (both campaigns coincidentally climaxing in July 1863). Surprisingly, however, the film then speeds to Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, almost completely ignoring the last two years of the war—a major omission that mars an otherwise solid production. DVD extras include bonus footage. A strong optional purchase. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)


Lessons for the Living ***
(2011) 55 min. DVD: $19.95 ($200 w/PPR). ThinPlace Pictures (tel: 631-804-2747, web: www.lessonsforthelivingfilm.com).
A diverse group of volunteers at a New York City hospice—a rabbi, a high school student, a corporate personal assistant, and even a patient who serves double duty in aiding others at the final stage of their lives—are the focus of Lily Frances Henderson’s documentary. Each person here offers a poignant and unusually in-depth description of their experiences working in hospice, providing remarkable insights on what it means to follow someone on their journey toward death. While all of the interviewees are engaging—particularly the uncommonly articulate teenager—Henderson does not provide a great deal of footage of the actual hospice and patients, which leads her to pad the production with an excess of artsy shots of her subjects and a surplus of travelogue-worthy views of New York’s towering skyline and boisterous pedestrian traffic. Although this creates a visual approach at odds with the subject matter, the serious substance at the center of Lessons for the Living ultimately trumps the less-than-remarkable style. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)


Liszt: The Pilgrimage Years **1/2
(2011) 62 min. DVD: $24.99. EuroArts (dist. by Naxos of America, tel: 615-771-9393, web: www.naxos.com).
Although the title might lead one to believe that this documentary only covers the specific years in Franz Liszt’s long life related to his composition of Les années de pèlerinage—specifically, the two-volume set of piano pieces published in 1852, more than three decades before his death—filmmaker Angelo Bozzolini’s Liszt: The Pilgrimage Years is a full biography. Of course, Liszt’s varied life and career—which included extensive tours and numerous, sometimes scandalous romances—could be seen as a long pilgrimage to his final position as a member of the Catholic clergy. Bozzolini does, however, highlight Liszt’s relationship with Italy, subject of the second book of the Années. Overall, the documentary serves up an adequate but unexceptional account—combining mediocre re-creations featuring stiff actors, excerpts from interviews with musicians (including pianists Charles Rosen and Evgeny Kissin, and conductor Antonio Pappano) and scholars offering mostly trite observations, and montages of scenery and artwork—to cover Liszt’s colorful career as a virtuoso and composer. Where the film is particularly effective is in showing Liszt’s transformation of keyboard technique and in illustrating the innovative character of his compositions. But the best moments here are clips of pianists playing (and discussing) bits of Liszt’s music—the sequences featuring Leslie Howard (who has recorded Liszt’s complete piano works) and the black-and-white archival footage of the astonishing György Cziffra are especially noteworthy—although most are so brief that they barely register. A rather rudimentary overview of a complicated artist, this is an optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)

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