The Best of Sesame Street Spoofs Volume 1 & 2

Even if you’re too embarrassed to admit you own it, you will still have a lot of fun watching the gang from Sesame Street skewer everything from Mad Men to Grey’s Anatomy in their quest to teach viewers how to add, spell or just learn good manners. The classics from the Jim Henson era of the show work best, mostly because their humor is more free-wheeling and border-line surreal. Along with TV shows and movies, there is a selection of Muppet-style music videos, including a clever send up of Madonna’s Material Girl and Bruce Springsteens’s Born to Run. It’s a fun DVD to share with kids or watch as an adult.

Sound of the Sky

Although it’s set in a post-apocalyptic future where the world is teetering on the brink of destruction, this series from director Mamoru Kanbe is not all doom and gloom. In fact, it’s the story of a young recruit name Kanata Sorami who joins the army not to battle bad guys or fight for her country, but to learn how to play the bugle. Assigned to the all-girl 1121st Platoon of the Helvetian Army, Kanata and her crew have a series of mini-adventures, but the fact that the single tank in their tank corps doesn’t even work lets you know that the series is family friendly and a lot of fun. The addition of a plotline involving the past of one of the members in the last few episodes of the series comes along just in time to add some intrigue to the girly adventures add some depth to the story.

White Lightnin'

Jesco White never had a chance for a normal life, at least not since that first day he discovered that inhaling gasoline fumes made you feel like the pain of everyday existence in the Appalachian Mountains never existed. After years of bouncing between juvenile halls and mental institutions, Jesco discovers that he has a talent, passed down from his daddy: The talent to dance. So he hits the road seeking fortune and fame, but it isn’t too long before his personal demons return with a vengeance. It’s an intense and frightening story, featuring some terrific performances, particularly from Edward Hogg as Jesco and Carrie Fisher as the love of his life, Cilla.

Underwater Universe

Killer Shockwaves, Predators of the Deep, Fatal Pressure, Tides and Currents of Death … not since Jaws first hit the big screen has a single DVD done more to make you fear going into the ocean than this fascinating History Channel series. The fact that a lot of the disasters depicted in the series are being played out in the daily news only underscores what you see. Like the majority of History Channel series, the information in Underwater Universe is presented in an entertaining way that makes even the driest details feel exciting.

Tetsuo: The Bullet Man

You think the Hulk had problems when he got angry? All that happened when Bruce Banner got upset was that he got big, green and strong. That’s nothing compared to what happens to Anthony, the lead character of this twisted tale from writer/director Shinya Tsukamoto. When Anthony gets mad he turns to metal…literally. Tsukamoto’s aggressive style of movie making may be too much for most audiences to sit through, but if you get beyond the frantic editing and industrial soundtrack, you’ll discover a cool sci-fi story with heart

Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubins Story

It’s ever mother’s nightmare. When her ex-husband asks to bring his son to Disney World for a bonding vacation, Tiffany Rubin (Taraji P. Henson) reluctantly agrees. When she finds out that her ex lied to her and instead of going to Florida actually took her son back to his homeland of South Korea, Tiffany springs into action to get her boy back. Directed by Gary Harvey, the movie has plenty of tense moments, but never really plays itself out to be an adventure film. It’s a straightforward drama about the lengths one mother is willing to go to to make sure her son is safe, even if it means taking on both the US and South Korean governments. And Henson is brillant in making it come to life.

Rideback

When her career as a prima ballerina is cut short by injury, young Rin Ogatagoes back to school to see what life has to offer her after dance. She finds her answer when she joins a club for people who enjoy ridebacks, a motorcycle/robot fusion vehicle that she soon learns to master. The story of Rin and her riding habits is just a cover for this series, though, and it is soon replaced by a political action thriller involving shadow governments, terrorists, freedom fighters and world domination. It is as the world she knows crumbles around her that Rin starts to find out just what her place in the world can be, and she goes after it at top speed.