Directed by Sidney Lumet (Serpico) and penned by Joel Schumacher (Batman and Robin), this lavish 1978 adaptation of the Broadway hit The Wiz was the biggest production filmed in New York City up to that point, utilizing the newly revamped Astoria Studios and locations around the city. Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross (reprising his Tony-winning role as the Lion) star in this Academy Award-nominated musical for the whole family. The Wiz is probably the grandest take on L. Frank Baum's classic tale The Wizard of Oz. The production team created sets with a sense of urban magic and spectacle: a New York subway station literally comes to life, and the massive plaza between the World Trade Center towers is transformed into the Emerald City, featuring nearly 400 dancers with three costume changes. Like all good musicals, the Quincy Jones arrangements are highly hummable long after viewing (especially the funky Ease On Down the Road and the inspirational Brand New Day). In an era before MTV, the camera stays nearly stationary as Ross and Lena Horne vocally soar through their numbers. Their stage-like performances successfully make the leap to film, making The Wiz a testament to their singing talents and star presence. The then-thirtysomething Ross raised some eyebrows playing the traditionally teenaged Dorothy, but she and her supporting cast (including Richard Pryor as the Wiz) carry the tunes with an infectious verve that will appeal to folks of all ages. --Shannon Gee

Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes star in The Hours director Stephen Daldry's haunting period drama concerning the relationship between a 15-year-old German boy and a mysterious woman twice his age, and the way that it grows doubly complex when the man reencounters the woman years later and discovers a shocking truth about her past. Based on author Bernhard Schlink's best-selling novel of the same name, the film opens on the character of Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) in middle age -- cold, remote, and emotionally withdrawn. It then moves back in time to 1950s Berlin, where ailing teenager Michael (now played by David Kross) has fallen ill with fever, and is discovered in the street by Hanna, a woman in her thirties. After Michael recovers, the two immediately lapse into a torrid affair and Michael falls prey to the confusion of his own burgeoning sexuality. Their liaisons are often marked by Hanna's request that Michael read to her (hence the title). Later, when Michael returns to Hanna's flat and finds it deserted, her absence becomes an emotional blow for which he is completely unprepared, and indeed, scarred for life. The film then moves forward in time by eight years. Michael -- now a law student -- walks into a courtroom and comes across Hanna, one of a series of Nazi prison guards being tried for murderous war crimes during World War II. As he watches her on the witness stand, memories of their past experiences together bring him to the point of realization concerning a startling, long-buried truth about Hanna -- and Michael knows that if he divulges this information, it could modify the prison sentence handed out and dramatically alter her fate. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

THE HOMEFRONT tells the story of the American people during WWII: how they lived, what they thought, and how they were forever changed. This 90 minute film, widely regarded as a classic, does an exceptional job of recreating the panic, the pressures, the unity and the pride of America during this crisis period.Photo albums, 1940s newsreels, cartoons, snippets of Hollywood films and evocative period music bring history to life. The music is particularly infectious, from Billy Holiday’s plaintive “I’ll be Seeing You” to the toe-tapping “Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition”. These cinematic elements are blended with dramatic personal reminiscences of a wide cross-section of Americans, to whom these were the worst or the best years of their lives, but in every case the most memorable. Viewers will be fascinated and moved by the memories of a Gold Star Mother, defense plant workers, Japanese internment victims, soldiers called up, and others.We are reminded how nearly we came to losing that war and how near it came (one ship was sunk by German submarines within one mile of the mouth of the Mississippi), and the almost superhuman effort involved in turning a country just emerging from the Great Depression into one in wartime production around the clock.THE HOMEFRONT also brings to light the changes, mostly dramatic but often subtle, that the war brought to American society: the movement of many from small towns to cities, the rise of the military-industrial complex, increased prosperity and the rise of suburbs, the massive entry of women into the paid labor force, the stirrings of the modern Civil Rights movement. The film communicates a straightforward message: WWII represents a major turning point, of watershed magnitude, in the life and times of America and her people. Students of the period will find this film exceptionally worthwhile.Top recommendation of the week...a model of its kind. TV Guide, National ReviewA superb documentary film, and a reminder that wars are often fought as much in the heart and mind as on the battlefield Chicago Sun-TimesA warm, marvelous, illuminating job. LA TimesAn astutely conceived and superbly crafted work, not only the best documentary film I have seen on Word War II, but among the most intelligent and impressive such films I have seen on any topic. Perspectives, AHA newsletterViewers will be fascinated and moved by the memories of a Gold Star mother, Japanese internment victims, soldiers and former war workers CHOICE magazineWhat a tremendous documentary! We relived so much--the good and the bad memories; we laughed and we cried and all throughout we were so proud. We hope this film will be shown in our public schools all over the country and abroad to show the younger generation what America was doing during WW2. Carmen Travesina, PBS viewerHOMEFRONT earns an 'A' The Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, FLFrom the days preceeding the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor to the raucous homefront celebrations following Japanese surrender in 1945, the impact of WW2 on America is traced in this ambitious, informative production. BOOKLISTIt is impossible not to be moved FILMEXThis product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.