Neil Young: Heart of Gold

Neil Young fans will love this concert film that celebrates the life and career of this legendary rock and roll troubadour.

The film was shot during two concerts held at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee in August of 2005.

Neil Young had just recovered from treatment for a brain aneurysm. Upon being diagnosed with this potentially fatal condition, Young sat down and wrote a series of songs that he recorded as the Prairie Wind album. Young did a lot of soul searching while writing these songs and they are some of the most personal compositions he has ever written.

Once the immediate danger had subsided, Young decided to use the album as the basis of his next stage performance, and filmmaker Jonathan Demme came on board to put the concert on film.

The result is a moving performance by Neil Young and the closest members of his musical family. And to fill out the program, Young used some of his best known songs from previous recordings, such as Heart of Gold, Old Man and even a tribute to his old pal Ian Tyson, Four Strong Winds, the only song in the concert that Young did not write himself.

The film is a beautifully shot movie that concentrates solely on the performances and the music. Demme never cuts to the audience. He focuses solely on the people on stage.

The result is a wonderful film with great sound and a rare experience of being allowed in to the concert hall to watch a once in a lifetime event. Even if youre not a Neil Young fan, this is one music film youll enjoy, as Young lets his hair down and lets you catch a glimpse of the man behind the image.

Eight Below

This is an amazing story of survival, friendship and adventure.

A scientist comes to Antarctica in search of meteor rocks and winds up injured in a near fatal accident. His guide manages to rescue the geologist and get him back to base camp. When weather conditions force the base to be evacuated, there is no room for the sled dogs and the animals are left behind to fend for themselves.

Most of the film centres on the dogs and how they manage to survive the extreme conditions of an Antarctic winter. Not only do the dogs help each other break out of their restraints, but also they protect each other and work together to beat the elements.

Eventually, the guide is able to organize a rescue mission back to the base camp and dogs and human are reunited.

This is an excellent film for the entire family, although it may be a little violent for very young children.

Starring: Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood, Jason Biggs, August Schellenberg, Wendy Crewson.

Video & DVD: Week of February 21, 2006

Animated film featuring the classic characters of Wallace & Gromit.

As the annual Giant Vegetable Competition draws near, Wallace & Gromit are pursuing their anti-pest business, which protects their neighbours vegetable patches by humanely ridding the area of rabbits trying to feed on the prize veggies. Then a huge beast begins attacking the vegetable plots, but our heroes move in to save the day and the veggies.

Starring the Voices of: Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Peter Kay, and Nicholas Smith.

Just Like Heaven

Lightweight comedy about a young man who rents an apartment only to find it is already inhabited by a young woman who cant accept the fact that she is dead. Living with a ghost turns out to create certain problems, which arent resolved until the end of the film.

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo.

Doom

From the video game screen to the movie screen as a big budget sci-fi horror film starring The Rock.

When a rapid response team is sent to check out problems on a research station on Mars, all hell breaks loose and The Rock is fortunate to escape with his life.

Starring: Karl Urban, Rosamund Pike, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

The Thing About My Folks

Semi-Autobiographical film written by Paul Reiser about a father and son who join forces to find out what happened to the mother, who has left under mysterious circumstances. The father and son get a chance to really find out about each other and to bond. A wonderful film with some great performances.

Starring: Peter Falk, Paul Reiser, Olympia Dukakis, and Elizabeth Perkins.

Separate Lies

Everything appears to be fine, but no one really knows what goes on behind closed doors.

Anne and James seems to have the perfect marriage until things begin to unravel after Anne meets another man. Then a car accident leads to revelations that threaten to destroy Annes marriage to James.

Starring: Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, and Rupert Everett.

Lie With Me

Steamy film that looks at the life of a young single woman from the perspective of the woman.

Leila and David meet at a party and immediately begin a hot sexual relationship.

Lots of full frontal nudity.