The Library DVD Shelf
Amazing Grace
Bill Moyers, host
Elena Mannes, producer and director
Athena
c/o Acorn Media Group
8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 620
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3403
9781598285642 $29.99 www.acornonline.com
Hosted by distinguished journalist Bill Moyers, Amazing Grace is a DVD
documentary of the incredible true story behind the widely beloved
hymn "Amazing Grace", written by English clergyman (and ex-slave ship
captain) John Newton, and first published in 1779. The hymn's power
and beauty of the hymn would earn it an enduring place in American
spiritual culture. Twenty-four renditions and performances of the
hymn, from singers including Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Marion
Williams, the Boys Choir of Harlem, and even prison inmates, enhance
this captivating true story behind a song that has resonated in
people's hearts and souls throughout the generations. Bonus features
include biographies of Bill Moyers and features performers, a 54-min.
portrait of folk singer and activist Pete Seeger, and a 12-page
viewer's guide. Highly recommended. 80 min. plus bonus, full screen,
SDH subtitles.
Hawaii: Roots of Fire
Bullfrog Films, Inc.
PO Box 149
Oley, PA 19547
1937772039 $195.00 www.bullfrogfilms.com
Ideal for viewers in grades seven through college, Hawaii: Roots of
Fire is an extraordinary documentary about the geology underlying the
Hawaiian islands and their amazing volcanoes. From the revolutionary
invention of the theory of plate tetonics, to the latest findings
about the age of the Hawaiian islands and their natural history, to
the potentially life-threatening efforts that cutting-edge researchers
undertake to gain invaluable data, Hawaii: Roots of Fire is as
educational as it is fascinating. Highly recommended especially for
public and school library DVD collections. 27 min.
Poirot Series 1
Based on stories by Agatha Christie
Acorn Media Group
8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 620
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3403
www.acornonline.com
9781598287356 $49.99 Blu-ray
Now in a newly remastered rendition restored to their original U.K.
broadcast order, Poirot Series 1 kicks off this "must-have" set for
fans of Agatha Christie and British mysteries. Available in both a 2-
disc DVD Blu-ray and 3-volume DVD renditions, Series 1 features ten
full-length mysteries starring award-nominated David Suchet as the
titular Belgian genius Poirot, as well as Hugh Fraser as the kindly
Captain Hastings, Philip Jackson as Chief Inspector Japp, and Pauline
Moran as Miss Lemon. A superbly memorable viewing experience, Poirot
Series 1 brings the time, place, and very feel of Christie's novels to
vivid life. Highly recommended. The episodes are "The Adventures of
the Clapham Cook", "Murder in the Mews", "The Adventure of Johnnie
Waverly", "Four and Twenty Blackbirds", "The Third Floor Flat",
"Triangle at Rhodes", "Problem at Sea", "The Incredible Theft", "The
King of Clubs", and "The Dream". 519 min., full screen, SDH subtitles.
Dr. Willoughby
Starring Joanna Lumley
Chad Campbell
Acorn Media Group
8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 620
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3403
9781598285611 $29.99 www.acornonline.com
Dr. Willoughby is a smartly written British comedy about an aging
actress stuck in a dead-end career yet fighting ferociously to hang
on. Onscreen, she plays the role of compassionate surgeon Dr.
Willoughby; offscreen, she is on aggressive-at-best terms with her co-
stars in her daytime hospital soap opera. Her efforts to secure her
diva's position range from nasty, witty repartee, to stabbing fellow
actors in the back (mostly metaphorically) to threatening her producer
and lying to escape a charity gig. Starring selfish, borderline
sociopathic, and utterly hilarious anti-heroine, Dr. Willoughby is a
biting black comedy not to be missed. 6 episodes, 144 min.,
widescreen, SDH subtitles.
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