What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:30:48 -0700

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the titles below you can now rent the Diane Lane thriller Untraceable, Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth, and Mad Money.

The Great Debaters
The Great Debaters stars Denzel Washington (who also directs), Forest Whitaker and newcomer Nate Parker in a movie that is maybe formulaic but also poignant and powerfully acted. As I pointed out in my review, the film borrows the the same elements of storytelling you find in underdog sports movies and inspirational teacher movies. However the film, based on a true story, is no less inspiring thanks to some moving performances.

The movie takes place in Texas circa 1935 when schools were segregated and economic times were hard all around. A group of young black college students work to become a debate team worthy of challenging Harvard. Washington plays the hard-driving debate team coach who encourages his students to succeed. You've definitely seen this all before in one form or another, but it's a great family rental with an inspirational message. The movie was honored earlier this year with an NAACP Award to boot.

Special features include deleted scenes and featurettes titled, "The Great Debaters: An Historical Perspective," and "Learning the Art: Our Young Actors Go to Debate Camp."

One more release to go so read more

Autism: The Musical
I have been curious about this documentary ever since it showed at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and I'm so glad it's out on DVD now, as I missed its airing on HBO a couple of months ago. The film has earned high praise and was even one of the Academy's 15 documentaries considered for an Oscar nod.

As Netflix puts it, the documentary follows "five autistic children as they develop and rehearse The Miracle Project, an original musical about autism." Between this flick and The Great Debaters I'd say you've got yourself a great family movie night here.

Special features include deleted scenes, a featurette called, "About Autism Speaks" and a filmmaker biography.

The Academy Chooses 15 Possible Best Documentaries

BuzzSugar — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:30:00 -0800

Curious to find out which documentaries may be competing for the little gold statuette at the 2008 Oscars? The Academy has narrowed down the possibilities to 15, from mainstream titles like Michael Moore's Sicko to festival favorites like Autism: The Musical. Clearly war is of particular interest to documentary filmmakers and Academy members alike, as six of the 15 films deal with the subject.

As Variety notes, the list does not include certain audience favorites like King of Kong and In the Shadow of the Moon. This list of 15 will be further whittled down to five and these final candidates will be announced January 22.

To check out the list of this year's top 15 documentaries (according to the Academy), read more

Body of War (Phil Donahue, Ellen Spiro)
Autism the Musical (Tricia Regan)
Sicko (Michael Moore)
No End in Sight (Charles Ferguson)
Taxi to the Dark Side (Alex Gibney)
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience (Richard Robbins)
White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Steven Okazaki)
The Rape of Europa (Richard Berge and Bonni Cohen)
Nanking (Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman)
War/Dance (Sean Fine and Andrea Nix)
Lake of Fire (Tony Kaye)
Please Vote for Me (Weijun Chen)
For the Bible Tells Me So (Daniel G. Karslake)
The Price of Sugar (Bill Haney)
A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman (Peter Raymont)