Running With the Bulls

Although it is actually an hour-long TV special and not a feature length film, this documentary from UK journalist Jason Farrell (Sky News) does a great job of taking viewers on an adventurous ride of a lifetime without having to risk their necks on a narrow street in Spain. Farrell smartly concentrates the start of the story on the bulls that do the actual running, interviewing the family that raises them and then following them on the journey the hefty animals take from the pastoral pastureland of the farm to the narrow cobblestones streets of Pamplona. The second part of the show gives a history of the event, putting the credit/blame for its global popularity squarely on the shoulders of Ernest Hemingway whose writing on the event in The Sun Also Rises made it the challenge of young men forever after. The story wraps with Farrell putting his mike down and taking part in the run, followed by a celebration for those who made it unscathed and a final interview with those who weren’t so lucky. When it’s over you’ll either shake your head in disbelief or start booking your trip for next year’s run.

Brian Wilson – Songwriter 1969-1982

Rumor of what happened to Brian Wilson, the creative genius behind the majority of the Beach Boys hit records, are almost as prolific as the music itself. Did he go crazy? Did he lose his mind/talent to drugs? Did the other Beach Boys drive him over the edge? This fascinating documentary tackles all the rumors to get as close to the truth as anybody but Wilson could, and it does it without being judgmental about the man or his problems. That alone, the fact that the film tells the story without resorting to TMZ level mud flinging, makes it worth watching. Drugs or no drugs, mental illness or perfect sanity, Brian Wilson is the man who wrote God Only Knows and a couple dozen other classic songs, so he deserves some respect. The thoroughness of this documentary also gives fans the comprehensive story they deserve, too.

Disasters Reconstructed

Like almost all History Channel programs, the tales told in this impressive box set are fascinating to watch, although even hardcore history buffs may find it tough to sit through three separate specials on the Hindenburg disaster. The disc that explores the best, if that’s the right word, engineering disasters of the past 40 years is more varied and, as a result, more entertaining, The real treat of the set, though is the one titled Inspector America that follows host Timothy Galarnyk, an infrastructure safety inspector, as he goes around inspecting bridges and things that, according to him, are about to collapse and kill a lot of people. Ok, nothing like that really happens, but Galarnyk has a messenger of doom quality to his voice that makes you believe it will if the powers that be don’t immediately do what he tells them to do.

The Royal Bodyguard

Famed British comedic actor David Jason (A Touch of Frost) stars as Guy Hubble, a bumbling palace guard who inadvertently saves the Queen’s life and gets promoted to be her private body guard. Hubble is such a bungling mess he makes Inspector Clouseau look graceful, but his heart is in the right place and his devotion to the Queen is unrivaled. It’s enormously entertaining to watch such a talented comic perform the physical comedy of the part. Even when the stories don’t work as hard to give him a reason to do what he does, Jason manages to find the funny in the situation and milk it for laughs with style and, believe it or not, grace.

Dreamworks Spooky Stories

It’s not unusual for an animation company to do a direct-to-video spin-off of any film that’s a hit at the box office; Disney has been doing it (with mixed results) for years. What separates these Dreamworks films is the quality of the shorts included in the package. Not only is the artwork and writing extremely well done, but they go the extra mile and hire the original voice talent to recreate the roles that made the characters work in the first place. That’s the good news. The bad news is that if you are a fan of the Dreamworks short films, you already own four of the six shorts on the disc. The two new features, Shrek: The Pig Who Cried Wolf and Monsters vs. Aliens: Night of the Living Carrots, are good, but it’s debatable if it’s worth paying for stuff you already have to get them.

Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to West Virginia, those inbred hillbilly cannibals of the last four Wrong Turn movies are back, wreaking havoc on the nubile young adults attending a local rock music festival. If you’ve seen their previous culinary adventures, then you know what to expect from Wrong Turn 5 and director Declan O’Brien, who directed the last two movies, delivers it by the bucketful. The series has lasted so long – and separated itself from the pack of recent horror movies – by combining chuckles and scares in almost equal amounts. Granted, the chuckles are mainly aimed at people with a sick sense of humor, but that’s Ok, too. What makes the fifth movie special is the work of horror movie veteran Doug Bradley as Maynard, the demented uncle of the hillbillies. In less talented hands, Maynard would have been laughable, or at least played for laughs. Maynard plays it with Shakespearean seriousness, which also makes Maynard about the scariest thing in the movie.

Alcatraz

It’s a crazy idea, but somehow it works. In this Fox TV series, the men incarcerated in the infamous Alcatraz prison were not transferred when the prison was closed back in 1963. Instead they were…well, you’ll have to watch to find out. Wherever they went, they are turning up in present day San Francisco with alarming regularity and causing the modern day police some really big problems (it’s always hard to arrest a criminal that’s supposed to have died decades before the crime was committed). Thank goodness there is a shadowy government organization, lead by a guy with the clumsy moniker of Emerson Hauser (Sam Neil) to try and cover up the crimes and keep the big secret of what happened in 1963 a secret. The premise is too much to support all the twists and turns the stories take, which is probably why the show wasn’t picked up for a second season, but the ride is enjoyable enough while it lasts.