Six Picks: Recommendations from the Monitor staff
'The Waltons' movies in a new three-disc set, OK Go's lastest album, eco-conscious 'No Impact Man'
out on DVD, and more.
Warner Home Video
A family in hard times
The iconic American family that inhabited Walton Mountain for nine seasons on CBS also managed to reunite for six TV movie specials that aired between 1982 and 1997, celebrating everything from weddings to Thanksgivings and marking a somber moment in US history, the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Now, those reunion films are available as a three-disc set, "The Waltons: The Movie Collection," out on Jan. 26. Fans of this popular TV series, which was sincere, lovingly acted, and perfectly cast, will appreciate both the history and life lessons embodied by such small-screen stars as Ralph Waite and Richard Thomas.
Peanuts lovers
Charles Schulz's beloved, "Peanuts" characters have inspired many animated TV specials over the years, but perhaps none so basic as "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" (Deluxe Edition), available Jan. 26, one that itself is based on the Tony Award-winning off-Broadway musical of the same title. The whole gang is there to sing the title song as well as others from the show. This is the first appearance for this special on DVD, and it has been remastered with enhanced audio and visuals as well as a featurette on the challenges of animating "Peanuts."
Princely touches
Chicago pop band OK Go gets off the exercise treadmill that made it a YouTube favorite and into a more serious regimen in its latest CD, "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky" (Capitol): marking its transition from an arena rock band with psychedelic undertones and a hard funk backdrop. Prince is the major touchstone on this third album; On a song like "White Knuckles," you'd swear lead singer Damian Kulash Jr. was channeling the Purple One himself.
