February DVDs

Last year I worked primarily on building up our collection of general release DVDs. I built up the collection by genres such as Horror, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Classics, Academy Award winners and so forth. This year I hope I can start getting caught up on non-fiction and educational support. Interest in ballroom dancing is increasing so I picked up some how-to's on dancing. I also purchased some materials on keyboard, guitar, and drums. For the next two months I will be purchasing filmed stage productions with an emphasis on Pulitzer, Tony, and New York Drama Critic Award winning plays and musicals. Most of these are general release motion pictures but a few are filmed or televised stage productions. In some cases I have purchased several different versions of the same play if I thought the actors involved warranted it. King Lear and Hamlet are two examples of plays where I thought having different productions would be useful. I now have both Lawrence Olivier and Mel Gibson doing Hamlet, Lawrence Olivier, Ian Holm and Orson Welles doing King Lear. I also got Macbeth with Ian Holm and Dame Judy Dench (M in the recent James Bond movies. Judy Dench is supposed to do a marvelous Lady Macbeth.) I wanted the Orson Welles version of Macbeth but it is currently out of print.

I have been having an internal debate with myself about how much Shakespeare on DVD to purchase. Kenneth Branagh has done some wonderful productions recently but I have not been able to purchase Henry V which I think is his best. (Its not in print.) There are also some bad productions of Shakespeare. I remember seeing a production of Julius Caesar made sometime in the late 60's early 70's with an all star Hollywood cast that was really hideous. A Midsummer's night's dream has been made a couple of times and always, it seems, badly. The 1935 version sound interesting just because of the cast, but it's out of print. The 1999 version is beautifully filmed and inspired but its not terribly faithful to Shakespeare. I will probably end up buying it but not for school support.

Many of the plays and musicals I'm buying should be entertaining on their own but I'm hoping area students and teachers will find them useful in their humanities, drama, and theater classes.

February DVD purchases.

Introduction to Ballroom Dancing
Ultimate Beginner Series: Keyboard Basics
Ultimate Beginner Series: Electric Guitar Basics
Ultimate Beginner Series: Drum Basics
Learn to Play Acoustic Guitar
John Cleese's Wine for the Confused
Christy Lane's Complete Guide to Line Dancing
Wedding Dances
Martha Stewart Cooking: Favorite Family Dinners
Glass Menagerie
Time of Your Life
Iceman Cometh
Streetcar Named Desire
Long Day's Journey Into Night (Jack Lemmon version)
Julius Caesar
Hamlet (Mel Gibson)
King Lear (Lawrence Olivier)
King Lear (Ian Holm)
Orson Welles Collection
Romeo and Juliet
Macbeth (Ian Holm Judy Dench)
Titus
Long Days Journey into Night (Katherine Hepburn version)
Pajama Game
Rose Tattoo
Crucible
Desperate Hours
Music Man
Hello Dolly!
1776
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Bye Bye Birdie
Damn Yankees
Man of La Mancha
Equus
Elephant Man
Children of a Lesser God