By RANDY WILLIAMS
Tyrone Power: Matinee Idol Collection The charismatic screen legend of the ‘30s and ‘40s and one of Hollywood’s enduring icons, returns to DVD with a five-DVD package of 10 titles: “Cafe Metropole,” “Girls Dormitory,” “Johnny Apollo,” “Daytime Wife,” “Luck of the Irish,” “I’ll Never Forget You,” “That Wonderful Urge,” “Love Is News,” “This Above All” and “Second Honeymoon”). This follow-up to last year’s five-title release, finds the dashing actor teamed up with a glamorous group of co-stars that includes Loretta Young, Anne Baxter, Gene Tierney and Dorothy Lamour. (Fox) ‘La Chinoise’
Famed French director Jean-Luc Godard assembled one of his most contentious and politically-charged works here by focusing on a small group of French students planning to change the world by using any means necessary. After studying Mao and the growth of communism in China, the militants decide they must use terrorism to ignite their own revolution. The 1968 picture, re-released theatrically in 2007, won the Venice Film Festival Special Jury Prize. The movie is digitally restored and presented in French with English subtitles. (Koch Lorber) ‘The Suffragettes’
Here is a compelling documentary presenting the story of women in the late 19th century who waged the war for social and economic equality. Insightful, the hour-long program chronicles both the complete Suffragettes story and provides insights into gender politics, human rights, and the struggle for equality. (Kultur) ‘Making Of’
Winner of Best Screenplay and Best Actor at the Tribeca Film Festival, here’s a movie that illustrates how “terrorists arent born, they’re made.” Lotfi Abdelli is the star as a jobless Tunisian breakdancer recruited by a group of fundamentalists and educated in the violent and dangerous world of terrorism. (Koch Lorber) ‘The World’s Greatest Railroads’
Filmed in high definition this fast-paced five-DVD lavish production takes you on a steel-wheel journey like never before. From Texas to New Zealand from Cuba to Washington riding steam trains of yore and modern diesel locomotives, here is a beautifully photographed brilliant collection. (Discovery) ‘Charlie Bartlett’
A darker, edgier version of the late ‘80s popular comedy,“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off," this film features a fine performance by Anton Yelchin in the title role where a rich kid becomes the self-appointed psychiatrist to the student body of his new high school. It is one of the better “teenagers know everything, adults don’t have a clue” films that often come down the pipeline. (Fox)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 23, 2008. Read the original PDF.