Collecting Movie Reviews

Famed Irish tenor Frank Patterson, who died in June 2000, is remembered in World of Music, which features concert performances as well as brief interview segments with friends and family members. His widow, Eily O'Grady Patterson, provides personal anecdotes, as does Patterson's son Eanan, who is also seen accompanying his father on violin. In concert, Patterson sings with orchestral accompaniment as well as with an Irish folk group, the Cassidy Brothers. He showcases his classical training by singing a Bach cantata, and his popular appeal is demonstrated with Irish songs such as "Farewell My Derry Love" and even the American country standard "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain." Patterson himself recalls performing in John Huston's final film, The Dead, explaining the significance of "The Lass of Aughrim" in the story by James Joyce before he performs the song. This is a fitting tribute to "Ireland's Golden Tenor," who carried on the tradition of the great John McCormack and reached a worldwide audience.

God Bless America: An Irish Salute was conceived to give a sampling of Irish music to an American audience. Videotaped before an adoring audience in New Jersey in September 1999, Patterson sings such standards as "The Rose of Tralee," "Mother Machree," "Danny Boy," and a medley that includes "Galway Bay" and "The Town I Loved So Well." Also participating is a harp orchestra (led by Eily O'Grady Patterson), son Eanan playing violin, a bagpipe and drum band, and what's billed as "hundreds of Irish-American dancers." Indeed, the stage and even the aisles of the theater become so packed with children step dancing in colorful costumes that it makes Riverdance look like a neighborhood ceilidh. Though the theme of the concert is overwhelmingly Irish, Patterson also dons a cape to perform "The Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera, and he pays homage to his adopted home with "God Bless America" and a flag-waving finale performance of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." --Robert J. McNamara

The Gene Kelly Collection is an unbeatable selection of DVDs showcasing the marvelous Gene Kelly, the Pittsburgh kid whose ballet shoes burst with muscle and ambition. Singin' in the Rain (1952) is everybody's favorite musical, a sarcastic spoof of the early days of talking pictures directed by Kelly and longtime collaborator Stanley Donen. (Ah, the joys of DVD: to be able to zap into the blissful title number or Donald O'Connor's "Make 'Em Laugh" at the touch of a button. Plus, the 2002 special edition is exceptional.) An American in Paris (1951), a dream project for Kelly and director Vincente Minnelli, is at its best in its glorious Gershwin numbers. Kelly's lengthy fantasy ballet, drenched in all the Technicolor MGM could muster, may have you thinking that this, after all, is why movies were invented.

Kelly and Donen forced MGM to let them shoot on location in New York for the exteriors of On the Town (1949), the movie that took musicals into the open air (and remained Kelly's favorite of his films). The spirited dancing and the wisecracking Comden-Green script make this an ebullient tale of three sailors on a 24-hour leave. The choreography plays multiple variations on the triangular team of Kelly, Jules Munshin, and a still-gawky Frank Sinatra. Finally, Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer (2002) is a terrific American Masters documentary, with oodles of superbly chosen (mint condition) film clips and interviews with many of Kelly's friends and colleagues. The emphasis is on how Kelly changed the image of the male dancer, complementing the aristocratic Fred Astaire with a more blue-collar, regular-Joe approach. It's an unblinking portrait, acknowledging the taskmaster behind the pearly grin. Those revelations make perfect sense when you see the astonishing dances: how could anyone this great not be a perfectionist? --Robert Horton

The first volume of a three-disc survey of the films of the innovative Hubley Studio offers two of their best known shorts: the Academy Award-winning "Moonbird" (1959) and the Oscar-nominated "Windy Day" (1967). In these shorts, independent animators John and Faith Hubley explored new ways of presenting a child's world through film. They recorded their children's voices as they spun out fantasies to create a giggling, rambling soundtrack. In "Moonbird," two brothers prowl their backyard by night, seeking to capture the shy moonbird. Two sisters spend an summer afternoon at the seashore, playing games and speculating about what the future may hold for them in "Windy Day."

The upbeat "People, People, People" (1975) examines the history of human habitation in North America, from 17,760 B.C. to A.D. 1976. Benny Carter's genially propulsive score helps the filmmakers present even unpleasant aspects of history with imagination and good humor. In "Enter Life" (1981), carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen atoms assemble to form the molecules essential to all life in a series of chemical reactions that suggest a microcosmic dance. "Amazonia" (1989) draws on indigenous myths to present a plea to save the rapidly vanishing Brazilian rain forest. --Charles Solomon

Justy Ueki Tylor is an outstanding example of an odd anime type--the endearing dolt. Just as war is erupting between Earth and the Raalgon Empire, Tyler enlists in the United Planets Space Force because he wants "an easy life." Through plain dumb luck, he ends up in the wrong place at the right time and wins a promotion to captain of the Soyokaze ("The Gentle Breeze"), a broken-down battle cruiser manned by a crew of losers and misfits. Tylor's lack of interest in the crises at hand astounds and appalls his more serious subordinates, especially Lieutenant Makoto Yamamoto, a caricature of a dedicated anime hero, and the impatient Lieutenant Commander Yuriko Star. Tylor's fumbling success brings him to the attention of the 16-year-old Raalgon empress, who orders Captain Ru Baruba Dom to observe, then capture this puzzling enemy. The resulting misadventures are very silly and often funny, especially when they play as satires of the military mindset. Captain Tylor falters when the title character appears less irresponsible than stupid. Akito in Martian Successor Nadesico and Gawl in Generator Gawl are all improbable, comic heroes, but they command real abilities and share a dedication to their duties. Tylor's blithe disinterest in anything but "an easy life" (and the occasional pretty girl) veers between hilarious and irritating, which explains the divided opinions this series generates among fans. Unrated; suitable for ages 12 and up: sexual humor, minor nudity, violence, alcohol and tobacco use. --Charles Solomon

As this zany space adventure continues, title character Justy Ueki Tylor undergoes something of a transformation, becoming less careless and more appealing: in episodes 8 and 14, he wins over Raalgon android-agent Harumi with his low-key charm. But he's still no poster boy for the United Planets Space Force. The scheming admirals at UPSF Headquarters plot what they hope will be the end of Tylor by downgrading the Soyokaze--the greatest shame a crew can endure. Even the thuggish Marines are upset, but Tylor remains oblivious. Yuriko finds a way for him to challenge the order, which he blows while his crew members consult tealeaves and pluck petals off daisies. Tylor, who attracts trouble the way a magnet attracts iron filings, destroys the fleet of the vengeful Raalgon admiral Donan through sheer dumb luck--and earns an upgrade. The thread of the narrative gets lost in episode 12, when Tylor, Yuriko, Harumi, and Lieutenant Yamamoto find themselves in a strange ghost story involving the last captain of the Soyokaze. The filmmakers never really explain what's going on, although they suggest that Admiral Fuji has been indulging in dirty tricks for a long time. A new threat emerges in episode 14, when the Frazetta-esque Shia-Has decides she will be the one to capture Tylor for the Raalgon empress. Unrated; suitable for ages 12 and up: sexual humor, minor nudity, violence, alcohol and tobacco use. --Charles Solomon