Our Picks Reviews - Page 2

"Our Picks" provides reviews of new DVDs, CDs and books that our readers would enjoy.

Barns of Illinois
Photos by Larry Kanfer / Text by Alaina Kanfer
Hardcover, 120 pages ($39.95)

Barn lovers, this one's for you. The husband-and-wife team of Larry and Alaina Kanfer takes you on a tour of the many structures across Illinois that continue to stand as a connection between the present and the past of America's heartland. From weathered shells to proudly restored structures now used as schools, businesses and, yes, even for agriculture, they're an enduring tribute to the land, people and traditions of the Midwest. (Available at press.uillinois.edu)
—Neil Pond, American Profile

posted on: 11/8/2009

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Travelin' Man: On the Road and Behind the Scene with Bob Seger
By Tom Weschler and Gary Graff
Hardcover, 192 pages ($27.95)

For more than a decade beginning in the late 1960s, Tom Weschler was Bob Seger's tour manager—and, wielding his 35mm camera, a photographer with unrestricted access to the grueling formative stages of a Detroit-based career that would eventually go nationwide with hits like "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man," "Night Moves" and "We've Got Tonight." With a foreword by John Mellencamp, an afterword by Kid Rock, commentary by noted rock journalist Gary Graff and more than 150 photos, 'Travelin' Man' presents a unique insider's view of one of rock 'n' roll's hardest-working, hit-making musical icons on his trajectory to superstardom.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

posted on: 11/8/2009

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Ally McBeal—The Complete Series
DVD ($199.98)

Calista Flockhart's award-winning portrayal of an eccentric, neurotic young New York attorney was a TV smash during its five-season run from 1997 to 2002, with hilariously quirky characters, a swingin' pop soundtrack and—lest we forget—a computer-generated dancing baby that recurred as a hallucination to represent the ticking of Ally's biological clock. This lavish 32-DVD set includes every episode plus several bonus features, including a retrospective with the outstanding cast, which also featured Robert Downey Jr., Lucy Liu and Jane Krakowski.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

posted on: 11/1/2009

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Otis Redding—The Best See + Hear
CD / DVD ($19.98)

Ready for some tuneful, tasty '60s R&B? Hear the greatest hits of the late, great Otis Redding, who died in a 1967 plane crash just before the song that would become his signature, "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," was released. Groove along to "Try a Little Tenderness," "I've Been Loving You Too Long" and the original version of "Respect," which would go on to become a career-maker for Aretha Franklin. Then pop in the DVD, which documents two roof-raising concert appearances by Redding, Booker T. and the MGs, and Sam & Dave. It's easy to see and hear why, as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame notes, Redding's name "is synonymous with the term 'soul.'"
—Neil Pond, American Profile

posted on: 11/1/2009

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Fawlty Towers Remastered
DVD ($49.98)

Originally airing on the BBC and finding an adoring American audience—and TV immortality—through near-continuous PBS syndication, this British comedy of manners starred Monty Python's John Cleese as a hotel owner with a continuous cavalcade of comedic problems. About the only thing missing from this deluxe set, with every episode from the show's 1975-79 run, commentary from Cleese, cast interviews and other bonus features, is a room-service order of tea and crumpets.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

posted on: 11/1/2009

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Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
DVD ($28.98)

Matthew McConaughey stars in this ribald comedic revamp of "A Christmas Carol" as Conor Mead, a bachelor photographer forced to revisit the many romantic misdeeds of his playboy past. Jennifer Garner is his now-grown, moved-on childhood friend, and Michael Douglas drifts in and out as the spirit of Conor's randy uncle, warning about where a life without real love can lead. Can Conor be scared away from his skirt-chasing ways before it's too late?
—Neil Pond, American Profile

posted on: 10/25/2009

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Gil Cohen: Aviation Artist
Hardcover, 144 pages ($49.95)

In an ongoing career that began in the 1950s, Gil Cohen illustrated all kinds of pulpy covers for men's "adventure magazines" and paperback books. But his heart was always in the air—he loved painting airplanes. This stunning collection of his widely acclaimed, mostly war-themed "aviation art," from canvas biplanes of World War I to weightless Russian cosmonauts in space, both celebrates the engineering marvels of flight and depicts the human emotions of dramatic moments captured in time by his talented brushstrokes.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

posted on: 10/25/2009

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Word of Promise Audio Bible
CD ($129.99)

More than 600 actors—including Jon Voight, Richard Dreyfuss, Jason Alexander, Gary Sinise, Marisa Tomei, Lou Diamond Phillips and Kimberly Williams-Paisley—participated in this dramatic all-star "audio theater" production of the Bible. With 79 CDs and more than 90 hours of dialogue, narration, music and sound effects, you'll feel like you're really there for the parting of the Red Sea, Jonah's adventure in the belly of the whale, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and the many other stories in the Old and New Testaments.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

posted on: 10/25/2009

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An American Werewolf in London
DVD ($19.98)

The full moon shines anew on this 1981 cult classic from director Jon Landis about an American tourist whose visit to England leaves him howling for more than tea and crumpets. With a mix of dark humor, award-winning makeup and numerous bonus features on two discs, it's still the reason why an entire generation can't hear "Bad Moon Rising" without thinking of the memorable scene in which David Naughton (the "I'm a Pepper" guy from the era's Dr. Pepper TV commercials) painfully watches his own body morph into that of a soon-to-be-rampaging beast.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

from Amazon.com

posted on: 10/18/2009

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The Weiser Field Guide to Ghosts
By Raymond Buckland
Softcover, 189 pages ($14,95)

You'll be a big hit at the Halloween party with all the nifty info in this handy-dandy compendium about things that go bump in the night. With a thorough rundown of all sorts of apparitions, wraiths and other assorted boogymen, plus tales of spooky encounters, legendary spirits and haunted places throughout history, it's perfect candlelight reading for a dark, stormy night!
—Neil Pond, American Profile

from Amazon.com

posted on: 10/18/2009

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