Every Picture Tells a Story (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)These 8 episodes of "Every Picture Tells a Story" peer deeply into masterpiece art works in a fresh way. Superior to anything I (and my wife) have seen. My M.S. & B.S. art degrees and over 2 decades of art teaching helps me grant this new Athena DVD set 5 colorful stars. This DVD set also rates "2 paint brushes UP-WAY UP."
THE PRESENTER, Waldemar Januszczak, U.K., is an art critic who never learned to be sophisticatedly boring, dull, & lifeless. He will even make you laugh by finding a lighter side to masterpieces of art. He provides his opinion alongside the findings of other authorities, so you can decide for yourself. He does this in a manner somewhat similar to a European travelogue. Enjoyable. Scenic.
Individual episodes are less than 25 minutes, a perfect length for classroom use at universities and High Schools. 1 or 2 episodes touch on language and/or sexual topics that might want to be previewed and opted upon by "conservative" schools. Probably just a PG rating if it were to be rated, however.
INTERDISCIPLINARY TEACHING: Each painting episode touches not only on the art itself, but on history, geography, and literature related to the piece. This is true educational integration, highly sought by state-of-the-art school curriculum.
WHAT DOES IT INCLUDE?
"Mr and Mrs Andrews", Gainsborough, England. A mystery of the unfinished masterpiece.
"The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp", Rembrandt, Dutch. The artist's haunting of death. Painting is compared to TVs "E.R."
"The Tempest", Giorgione, Venice. Giorgione means 'Big George'. This is a mysterious painter of even more mysterious art. Is Homer's "Odyssey" a clue?
"The Birth of Venus", Botticelli, Florence. Venus' voluptuous vulnerability vexing the virile. Not birth, so where does this painting's meaning spring from?
"Boy Bitten by a Lizard", Caravaggio, Rome. Finding the why from a lizard bite which was painted by a Roman artist and murderer.
"Mona Lisa", Leonardo da Vinci, Paris. Don't bother with "The Di Vinci Code" book. Episode is about solving the real Leonardo mystery.
"Le dejeuner sur l'herbe", Manet, France. The naughty, naked, picnic lady leaves behind illegal, immoral, impressionism--immortally.
"The Arnlfini Marriage", Jan van Eyck, Bruges, Belgium. A 15th century mystery in oil on an oak panel.
WHAT IS BONUS/extra?
For each episode: "The Rest of the Story"
For each episode: "Artist Biographies"
For each episode: SDH subtitles
A viewer's guide booklet with:
Featured painting reproduction
Questions to consider (individually or in a classroom)
List of other artistic work featured on each episode
Bibliography of 4 options for additional learning related to each episode's painting
This DVD 2-disc set truly brings masterpiece wonder to the masses.
Every High School, College, and Public Library should own this.
8 very affordable lesson plans for art teachers and professors.
Hours of enjoyment for the art lover. YES, a perfect gift.

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The Librarian - Quest for the Spear (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)Noah Wyle is charming as Flynn, a professional student turned reluctant hero when he finds himself named The Librarian, and is charged with guarding a number of priceless artifacts he previously thought were only the stuff of myth. Flynn's race to recover the stolen section of the Spear of Destiny and prevent the Brotherhood of the Serpent from finding the remaining sections is Indiana-Jones-esque action and adventure at its light-hearted best.
Jane Curtin and Bob Newhart display their usual dry wit, with Newhart's scene with the bad guys near the end of the movie alone worth watching the movie for. Olympia Dukakis plays Flynn's mother, who wishes her boy would just find a good woman and settle down.
This is entertaining fare, a nice mix of action, adventure, brain teases and yes, a bit of romance. It isn't a big-budget Raiders of the Lost Ark production, but for a made-for-TV movie it does a fine job, and holds up on repeat viewing.

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To be a librarian, you must master the Dewey Decimal System, ace internet research and, if you're new librarian Flynn Carsen (Noah Wyle), save the world! Wyle (ER) heads a sterling cast in a fun, fantastical, special effects-laden adventure that soars around the world from the Metropolitan Library to the Amazon jungle to the Himalayas. Geeky Carsen lands a job as the Librarian, keeper of such top-secret Met treasures as Excalibur and Pandora's Box. Then the Serpent Brotherhood, seeking world domination, steals one of three parts of the magical Spear of Destiny from the library. Only Flynn, aided by a gorgeous bodyguard, has the knowhow to thwart their plan. But does he know how to be a hero? He will - even if he has to gouge, kick, punch, brave Mayan death traps and plunge off icy precipices every inch of the way!DVD Features:Additional Scenes:15 minutes of unaired bonus footage and special effectsEaster Eggs:Hidden interviews with castFeaturette:Behind-the-scenes featurette including never-before-aired interviews with cast and crew Special effects featurette narrated by director Peter Winther Introduction:Introduction by Noah WylePhoto gallery

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