Home Media Magazine - September 16-22, 2007 - (Page 23)

www.homemediamagazine.com REVIEWS Available 9-25-07 I COMMUNE Prebook 9/18; Street 10/23 First Run, Documentary, $29.95 DVD, NR. he more things change, the more they stay the same. The vision of a utopian society is always among us. In some eras it belongs to dreamers alone; in others the experimenters strike out. And so it was with Black Bear Ranch, a Northern California commune in the late 1960s and early ’70s. It’s the same mixture of disgust and optimism that drove the westward movement. But there was no West left; pioneers were an anachronism and the world was about important business. Commune is a beautifully edited love letter to the Black Bear community. The story of Commune is told in grainy contemporary footage interspersed with present-day accounts by those who lived at Black Bear. Former residents describe begging celebrities for money, how they lived at Black Bear and what they hoped to accomplish. The modern footage is nicely shot; the old footage is degraded, unsteady and probably shot by someone who T was high. Then again, as one former resident says, drugs were consumed so quickly that most times, there weren’t any. It’s hard to capture urgency in hindsight, but over and over participants tell of their fear that the old order was destroying the world. Going back to simpler things seemed like the way to save it. Some talk about their disaffection and need for a family that the commune provided; many say it felt like coming home. One concern seems correct even now: In a world of dwindling fossil fuel resources and terrifying hurricanes, it doesn’t hurt to know how to do a few things the old-fashioned way. Many former commune denizens have since joined the mainstream. Actor Peter Coyote is among them. Others are teachers, lawyers, acupuncturists and apartment managers. Most are grandparents. So was the social experiment a success? That depends on who you ask. But it’s clear there is still a core community based on the common memory. — Holly J. Wagner Star-packed Collection! 150 Complete Episodes of Classic TV Westerns Mill Creek Entertainment is excited to introduce TV Western Classics, its second 150 episode TV western series collection. Thrilled by the response to our first collection, we have filled its companion with twenty great series including: Brave Eagle - Keith Larsen - (1 episode) Buffalo Bill Jr. - Dickie Jones - (11 episodes) The Cisco Kid - Duncan Renaldo - (22 episodes) Frontier Doctor - Rex Allen - (10 episodes) Fury - Peter Graves - (1 episode) Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans - Lon Chaney Jr. - (12 episodes) Judge Roy Bean - Edgar Buchanan - (8 episodes) The Lone Ranger - Clayton Moore - (2 episodes) Northwest Passage - Buddy Ebsen - (2 episodes) The Range Rider - Jack Mahoney - (12 episodes) Red Rider - Allen Lane - (1 episode) The Roy Rogers Show - Roy Rogers - (15 episodes) Sergeant Preston of the Yukon - Dick Simmons - (7 episodes) Shotgun Slade - Scott Brady - (13 episodes) Sky King - Kirby Grant - (4 episodes) Stoney Burke - Jack Lord - (1 episode) Stories of the Century - Various - (21 episodes) Sugarfoot - Will Hutchins (1 episode) U.S. Marshal - John Bromfield - (5 episodes) Wide Country - Earl Holliman - (1 episode) I PLAGUES & PLEASURES ON THE SALTON SEA Street 10/2 Docurama, Documentary, $26.95 DVD, NR. ew Californians would describe the Salton Sea as California’s French Riviera, but at least one does. Plagues & Pleasures of the Salton Sea is immediately, unexpectedly engaging. The filmmakers were smart to open with residents alternately praising and dissing the area. You can’t help but wonder how people could see exactly the same thing so differently, so you have to stick around to find out. John Waters, pun possibly intended, narrates how the oddity of the Salton Sea was formed. Old newsreels featuring swimsuit-clad beautiful people waterskiing beckon us to come boating or fishing. Residents tell us about what happened afterward, how the Salton City retirement community laid out 50 miles south of Palm Springs marketed with day trips, trams and golf carts. Today there are macabre accounts of the death rate, whether by natural F causes or suicide. We get a streetlevel tour of the community from those who know it best, a ragtag band of economic refugees from Los Angeles, retirees, die-hard optimist investors and free spirits, not the least being a septuagenarian nudist. We visit the local landmarks and hear from denizens new and old. The Salton Sea has seen quite a share of ups and downs — literally, economically and environmentally. The eternally optimistic residents believe that cleanup money the late Rep. Sonny Bono championed can help them turn back the tide of botulism that afflict the fish and waterfowl and any other risks in the area, creating still another boom for Salton City. But with most of the water consisting of agricultural runoff and any water a scarce resource in Imperial County, the sea may again be drained for other purposes, and the area returned to the desert. The movie is a fun walk of time that leaves room for wondering what happens next, and the Salton City eccentrics make Plagues & Pleasures a surprising charmer. The film is the first in the 10-film “Docurama Film Festival IV” series. — Holly J. Wagner MSRP $29.98 Call: (866) 410-9000 September 16–22, 2007 Home Media Magazine 23 http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Contents News Commentary TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Christian Entertainment Review

Home Media Magazine - September 16-22, 2007

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