RE: VIEWS (LOOK) - tastes like chicken

This Academy Award winner for Best Documentary from 1957 showcases a man that most of us are probably not familiar with: Albert Schweitzer. Schweitzer was a humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize winner, and he had a hospital in French Equatorial Africa where he helped the poor and sick either gain their health back, or die with some amount of dignity. The film is narrated by the amazing Burgess Meredith (also known as The Penguin from the old Sixties Batman TV show) and actor Fredric March. And this newly revamped release adds an extra 40 minutes of footage that was previously unavailable. Because of the time it was filmed, it doesn't have the fast-paced storyline that most of us are now used to, but overall it's still a good film about an interesting man.

Unfortunately, iconic characters tend to get ruined over time and, oddly enough, the fans are almost always to blame. Need proof? Look at the facts: white trash ruined every single Looney Tunes character, dorks have ruined The Simpsons, and stoned slacker losers ruined Beavis and Butt-Head. Still, the show did have its share of both humor and charm, and this three-disc set proves it. Collected here are forty skits, eleven music videos, and a handful of special features, including promos, special appearances, and a featurette. Not bad. This set reminded me of the fact that no matter what stereotype you are-- a stoner, a slacker, a jock-- when Beavis pulls his shirt over his head and screams, "I'm Cornholio!", you just can't help but laugh.

One live show featuring twenty-five songs in a single set! Hot, sweaty punk rock balls! The Bouncing Souls play the cream of their music to a house full of their most devout, tattooed fans. Bonus footage includes fans talking to the camera after the show: one girl lost a shoe, one guy lost a tooth-- you know, the usual stuff. Also, more bonus footage of the day and night leading up to the concert.

McLintock! is for people who can appreciate the fun Westerns of yesteryear. It’s the type of movie you can watch with your dad and granddad, and everyone can enjoy the lighthearted storyline without thinking too much. John Wayne shows off his best comedic feathers, but is almost shown up by his wife in the film played by actress Maureen O’Hara. The comedy follows cattle baron George McLintock as he clashes with his wife and reunites with his daughter. It’s a recipe that results in a slapstick Western at its best.

On the other side of the coin is Hondo, the film that defined Wayne in his role as an independent, hard-as-nails, stand-up guy. Adapted from the best-selling novel, the movie is a bit more progressive in its treatment of Native American characters than films from a decade earlier. It was filmed in 3-D (to appeal to the movie-going audience of the time), which seems pretty pointless considering it’s a story about a dispatch rider for the cavalry, a woman he meets, and a restless Apache tribe. But the film does have some brilliant colors and is restored to do them justice, even though it isn’t presented in 3-D.

This is serious sci-fi for serious sci-fi fans. The BBC’s television mini-series begins with an investigation into a UFO crash, and the realization that two alien races are at war, and that Earth is right smack in the middle. The human characters, which include a pretty scientist and handsome pilot, are fighting to save their home planet. Invasion Earth has interesting plots, some gross special effects, and the fourth dimension to make good sci-fi. Bonus features include alien investigation documentaries and bios.

Not only does this wonderful collection of short stories entertain, it is an extremely creative book as well. This book can be enjoyed by both preteens and adults alike, with its slightly sophisticated, yet slightly deranged children’s stories. The book starts off with a great introduction by Lemony Snicket, who writes about various tedious children’s stories out there and promises that the following stories are far from tedious. Snicket also writes an unfinished story on the underside of the jacket which the reader can finish themselves and send in for review, strange prizes, and possible publication! The tales range from hilarious to very strange, with such plots as a boy whose mother is an ogre and only loves cats, a rampaging monster in a campsite, and a piece of New York City that floats to Antarctica. This brilliant book also contains many fine illustrations, including a cute graphic story and a map of old New York. If the longest, funniest title to ever grace a book cover didn't grab your interest, then hopefully I have.

Ten years ago, three eight-year-old boys were murdered on the muddy banks of West Memphis, Arkansas. Shortly after that, three other boys-- now infamously known as The West Memphis Three-- were accused and subsequently and unjustly convicted of the three heinous crimes. Their true crime? Being a bit different from the norm, liking heavy metal music, and having an interest in the Wiccan religion. If you are looking for a film that will fill you with angry frustration and make you curse your television, this is it. It brilliantly turns accused monsters into innocent victims of an intolerant and uneducated town and court system, and it will make you sit in disbelief that a whole group of people can be so blind, ignorant, and brutally mean to three kids, one of whom has an IQ of 72. The film even makes you feel guilty, as you grow to truly resent and hate the victims, the parents of the children who were murdered. But all it takes is a few minutes of footage of one of the stepfathers shooting holes into a pumpkin while he refers to them as "the boys on trial", and you'll become fully aware that he has become the exact evil that he hates in who he believes to be his son's murderers. It's hard to watch, about as pitiful as you can get, and more frustrating than the Bush Administration. Watch it.

Guess what? I hate Drew Carey, Patricia Heaton, Ben Stein, and Vincent Gallo! Unfortunately for this documentary, though, I felt that way before I even put the DVD into my player. While I was truly interested in a film that focused on vocal celebrity conservatives in Hollywood, the idea ended up being much better than the final product. Directed and written by Jesse Moss-- a former Democratic speechwriter-- this film is more about Arnold Schwarzenegger's ridiculous run for governor of California than it is about anything else, and that ass-clown is simply too easy a target to even laugh at. I was hoping for something more in-depth than just having surface interviews with celebrities saying, "I'm a Republican and I'm proud." Sadly, that's about all it offers. And believe me when I say that I'm not letting my liberal nature affect the way that I interpreted this disc. After all, I'm a proud Communist, not a Democrat.

Rather than make an extremely slanted film about the ever-complicated, ongoing Balkan conflicts, filmmaker Klaartje Quirijns instead chooses to focus on one man’s story: businessman Florin Krasniqi. The Kosovo-born Albanian uses the personal wealth he earns here in America to arm the guerrilla army fighting in his homeland. Klaartje takes her place behind the camera, and lets that alone be the catalyst in letting Krasniqi tell his own story. Throughout the film’s fifty-three minutes, Krasniqi’s state of mind paints him as both hero and madman, never leaving you sure of which one he truly is. And the entire film itself is worth seeing, simply to experience a mindset and lifestyle that most of us will never see or know.

This classic horror movie is restored and put on DVD for your viewing pleasure. Children from a small town have been turned into life-sucking zombies after riding a bus through a nuclear waste haze. The children begin their attack on all adults, smothering the life from them (as if kids don't already do that) with the touch of their hands. This is definitely for all horror movie lovers, and bonus features include commentaries and interviews with the filmmakers.

This two-disc set collects the three performances that Ray Charles made on Dick Cavett's show back in the early Seventies. In addition to the performances, you get the shows in their entirety, including guest appearances by Tony Randall and Margaret Mead, among others. The set is pretty amazing all the way around, but the truly golden moment comes during Charles' second appearance on the show, when he is the sole guest for the entire hour. You get eight live songs, including a cover of "Eleanor Rigby" and a duet of "Am I Blue" as sung by Charles and... Dick Cavett?!? The extras aren't that plentiful, and they probably could have squeezed all three and a half hours onto one disc, but still it's a damn fine collection of musical history captured on DVD for you to enjoy forever. Or at least until you're dead, as chances are the DVD will outlast you.

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Bing Crosby on the same DVD? That’s a whole lot of legend. Too bad it’s this particular DVD they’re on. In all my years, I’ve never seen a product of such poor quality for such legendary figures. The film transfer hasn’t been restored at all, so you feel like you’re watching the 1958 special through a broken, black-and-white television set. And the cover? Did someone send preteen Jimmy down to Kinko's to make Xerox copies of a crappy film still? Yep. So, if you’re a die-hard Frank, Dean, or Bing fan who absolutely must own everything they appear on, get this. Otherwise, save your money.

In a handful of seasons, The Kids in the Hall quintet were responsible for more laughs than the entire run of Saturday Night Live. The show was far more irreverent, way more bizarre, and took more comedic chances than anything else at that time. And now you can add the third season of that original show to your DVD shelf. The four-disc set features classic sketches featuring The Chicken Lady, The Queen, The Bigot, and of course, The Cops. With twenty episodes, audio commentary by The Kids, and thirty minutes of never-before-seen live performances, this set is another perfect addition to the previous two season collections.

It only took the Pixies about a decade to get back together for their amazing reunion tour. Now you can have proof with Sell Out, which features their performance at the Eurockeenes Festival in Belfort, France. You will have performances of such Pixie classics as "Wave Of Mutilation", "Hey", and "Where Is My Mind”, plus much, much more. The DVD’s bonus features include a section where you choose your own camera angle during a performance, which is cool, except none of the camera shots are on Kim Deal. Even so, Sell Out is a great addition to your Pixies collection.

Get ready to have your intelligence insulted. It's Wizards Of The Demon Sword! Get ready for bad acting (so bad the actors receive cues from each other while the camera is rolling), bad plot lines (There are plot lines?), bad everything in this Conan The Barbarian-type adventure movie. I recommend renting this movie with a bunch of your most sarcastic friends and watching it Mystery Science Theater 3000-style.