A bevy of new documentary films are well worth a look, starting with one tailor-made for Brigham Young University football fans.
— "Last Miracle for LaVell" (Excel, 2003, not rated, $23.99). This TV-style documentary is a slick two-hour look at LaVell Edwards' final season as coach of BYU's football team — a season that turned out to be rather disappointing. But BYU fans won't care, as the video follows the team, interviews players and looks at times like a "Real World" episode . . . albeit cleaner.
Edwards' charisma comes through, and it's a nice tribute to his stature as a local legend, but at two hours it feels rather long (although die-hard fans may disagree). But the bonus features — four short films about Edwards' four Holiday Bowl championships from 1980-84 (starting with the "Miracle Bowl") are worth the price of admission, and much more worthy of repeat viewings.
Extras: Full frame, short films, etc.
— "Naqoyqatsi" (Miramax, 2003, PG-13, $29.99). This is the third in a trilogy, after "Koyaanisqatsi" ("Life Out of Balance") and "Powaqqatsi" ("Life in Transformation"). With "Naqoyqatsi" ("Life as War"), Godfrey Reggio again asks the question: What price progress in our industrialized world?
This one is a bit different, however, as it uses digital animation and altered imagery to explore the buildup of wars around the world and their threat to human existence. It's also more hyper than its antecedents, a bit too MTVish, and somewhat less fulfilling than the earlier films. But it gets a huge boost from Philip Glass' mesmerizing score and those wonderful Yo-Yo Ma cello solos.
Extras: Widescreen, interviews, panel discussion, trailers.
— "Mary Cassatt: A Brush With Independence" (Home Vision, 2003, not rated, $19.95). This 57-minute Art Institute of Chicago profile looks at the life of American artist Mary Cassatt, referred to as the "first American Impressionist." Her work in the late 19th and early 20th century often concentrated on mothers and children in domestic settings, though she herself was unmarried and childless. This is a highly entertaining and most enjoyable documentary, narrated by Anne Archer.
Extras: Widescreen/full frame, photo gallery.
— "I.M. PEI" (Home Vision, 1997/1998, not rated, $24.95). The life and work of Chinese architect I.M. Pei is explored in the 84-minute "First Person Singular," which examines his singular work in Hong Kong, Japan, Paris and the United States. There's also a shorter (50-minute) documentary, "The Museum on the Mountain," about Pei's Miho Museum in a remote mountain area near Kyoto, Japan.
— "Revolution OS" (Wonderview, 2002, not rated, $29.99, two discs). Interesting documentary about computer experts (or, perhaps, genius Internet geeks) who fought Microsoft over "free" software, and those who established GNU, Linux and the Open Source movement, told from their point of view. Some of this gets rather complicated, but the film is entertaining and lays out the issues quite logically for the non-computer-literate viewer.
Still, this will mean more to those who are really into the subject and have an understanding of the — still-ongoing — proprietary software issues under discussion. Loads of extras.
Extras: Widescreen, audio commentary, trailers, additional interviews, music video, photo gallery, etc.
E-MAIL: hicks@desnews.com