Clocking in at just over 70 minutes, music doc Led Zeppelin: The Origin of the Species recounts the events leading
up to the formation of the famous titular group, from Jimmy Page’s session work
with Dave Berry and the like to the modest success of ’60s outfits The
Yardbirds and Band of Joy, which helped give he and other members their starts.
For hardcore devotees of the group as well as casual music fans who enjoy VH-1’s Behind the Music-type specials, this
title is an utter gem.

Deftly mixing together rare, vintage performance footage
with discerning commentary and criticism, The
Origin of the Species charts the details of the group’s legendary first two
albums — the first recorded in under 30 hours, the second released a mere nine
months after the January 1969 bow of their debut — but also shines a light on
the bluesy inspiration for many of the songs. “Whole Lotta Love,” for instance,
finds its roots in the Small Faces’ own spin-off of Willie Dixon’s “You Need
Love,” while “Black Mountain Side” can be traced to Anne Briggs’ interpretation
of the folk tune “Black Water Side.” These revelations don’t tear down the accomplishment
of the music, however, but rather show how Led Zeppelin, like many bands
before them and since, drew heartily upon their inspirations and fused it with an
inimitable style to form a sound inarguably their own.

Interviewees include the aforementioned Berry,
authors Alan Clayson and Phil Sutcliffe, former Melody Maker journalist Chris Welch, ex-NME editor Keith Altham, Yardbirds guitarist Chris Dreja and era session
players like Clem Cattani. The result of such an intimately knowledgeable but often
less-than-famous roster is a fascinating tapestry, full of behind-the-scenes
minutiae that paints a fuller picture of the times and setting that helped
birth the band. (Sample nugget: it was Scotty Moore’s guitar playing on Elvis Presley’s “My Baby Left Me” that initially inspired Page to pick up the axe.) It doesn’t hurt, either, the superlative featured recordings — both
live and of the studio variety — of “Dazed and Confused,” “Communication
Breakdown,” “Rock and Roll,” “Good Times Bad Times” and “Whole Lotta Love.”
This would be a great document merely for some of these segments, but the stories
only further enrich the performances.

Presented on an all-regions disc, the program comes in
widescreen, enhanced for 16×9 televisions, with a solid, hiccup-free stereo
sound mix. Bonus features include a separate, 20-minute history of the Yardbirds,
obviously dominated by the insights and anecdotes of former member Dreja, whose
recollections of Page and Jeff Beck’s sometimes contentious guitar battles are
involving and amusing. There are also text biographies of the contributors herein, as well
as an interactive slate of questions billed as “the hardest Led Zeppelin quiz
in the world ever.” A (Movie) B- (Disc)

Shiloh debuted on the big screen in 1997, and Shiloh Season followed two years later. The third film based on Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s award-winning book series drops this year, and it continues in fine fashion the phenomenon of the Newberry Medal-winning series.

The story centers around young Marty Preston (Jason Dolley), his beloved, titular beagle and Marty’s neighbor (as well as Shiloh’s previous abusive owner) Judd Travers (Scott Wilson), an outsider who’s shunned by much of the otherwise close-knit rural community. Marty and his parents (Gerald McRaney and Ann Dowd), though, have believed Judd could change his ways. Their belief is tested, however, when Judd becomes the prime suspect in a local murder, leading Marty to believe that both he and Shiloh could be in danger.

The peril herein is all of the PG variety, mixing junior-level investigative titillation with animal pic bon homie, family flick meat-and-potatoes tropes and a pinch of domestic drama. Saving Shiloh isn’t really eye-opening on any level, but it falls solidly within the parameters of both expectation and skilled execution previously established by films like Lassie, Black Stallion, My Dog Skip, Flicka and the like. There’s a consistency, too, that benefits the series; writer-producer Dale “Chip” Rosenbloom is
back for his third tour of duty, and director Sandy Tung, back from Shiloh Season after picking up for Rosenbloom, knows the tone
and pitch of the material. Wilson, Dolley, Dowd et al also all do a good job of bringing a proper amount of reflection and built up thoughtfulness to their characters; when they act, you can see (or feel, if you haven’t seen) the weight of past considerations, both right and wrong. McRaney, meanwhile, steps in nicely for Michael Moriarty, who played Marty’s father in the first two films.

That’s all to say that though an extremely detailed familiarity with the Shiloh franchise isn’t necessary, it certainly doesn’t hurt; the fact that they’re all now available on video and DVD enables this chronological viewing. (In addition to solo discs, The Complete Shiloh Film Collection is available from Warner Bros. for a SRP of $28.98.) DVD bonus features on this dual-sided disc — which includes both 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and full screen presentations — consist of the music video for Dayna Lane’s “Open Your Heart,” a 17-minute featurette driven by interviews with the cast and behind-camera players, a trailer gallery, and an amusing, three-minute discussion with the canine star of the film, in which she “talks” (with the help of a little girl’s voiceover) about how she came to be involved in the movie. B (Movie) B- (Disc)

The
delineation between actor and movie star is one often lost on general
audiences who maybe only trip to actual, honest-to-goodness theaters
for six or eight movies a year. To wit: Arnold Schwarzenegger, despite
the (arguable) ability to carry both brawny action flicks and comedies,
is a screen personality. Ditto Woody Allen, even though his persona is
actually even more narrowly defined. See also: movie star Harrison
Ford, Julia Roberts, et al. Actors, on the other hand, are typically a
bit more chameleonic and adventurous in their choices. In you
concentrate, you’re able to erase your public recognition of them and
truly see them as the character they’re portraying.

Four new titles from the Famous
series, as seen on the Biography Channel, capture this distinction with
acuity and aplomb, if not necessarily much in the way of new material.
Among the 90-minute, individually released compendiums are Best Actors, Best Actresses, Hollywood’s Leading Ladies and America’s Finest Comedians. Each disc then focuses in on a quartet of talents, serving as celebratory mini-biographies of their subjects.

In an arena and era with such a seemingly voracious appetite for
celebrity news, gossip and minutiae, these titles would seem to be
perfect fodder for entertainment junkies. But they’re awfully heavy on
repackaged tidbits, and light on the sort of canted perspective that
makes a small screen hit out of something as fluffy as VH-1’s Best Week Ever.
It’s a catch-22; if you’re a slavishly devoted fan of one particular
actor — or screen personality — you probably already know everything
contained herein, and if you’re looking for an in-depth examination of
said talent, the division here accommodates only 20-odd minutes, far
less than a regular Biography episode or sit-down chat with James Lipton on Inside the Actor’s Studio.

For the record, Best Actors focuses on Russell Crowe, Tom Hanks, Robert DeNiro and Kevin Spacey; Best Actresses
zeroes in on Jodie Foster, Nicole Kidman, Hilary Swank and Charlize Theron, who’s still struggling somewhat to define herself in the public
eye as something more than a one-hit critical wonder. On the latter
disc, a case could made — not by me, but surely someone — for the
inclusion of Renee Zellweger, who instead turns up on Hollywood’s Leading Ladies alongside rightful focuses Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan and girl-next-door-emeritus Sandra Bullock. America’s Finest Comedians,
meanwhile, ignores hotter and/or ascendant talents like Jim Carrey, Ben
Stiller, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn (perhaps the “Frat Pack” dropped
a media blackout) in favor of old hands Robin Williams, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin.

Available separately in their own Amray cases, each 90-minute flick is available at www.mpihomevideo.com. While neither authoritative nor vital in any sense of the words, their $10 price tags do make these releases attractive options as stocking stuffers or complementary birthday gifts alongside a larger care package. C (Movies) C- (Discs)