■ “Bonnie & Clyde: The Real Story”
Driven by passion and poverty, the legendary Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow embarked on a murderous two-year crime spree during the Great Depression. In the A&E Channel documentaries on this DVD, the couple lived by stealing, maintained close family ties, heaped contempt on authority and enjoyed their role as celebrity outlaws. With a fast V-8 Ford and an arsenal of Browning automatic rifles, they outran and outgunned the law—until their luck finally ran out.
■ Cinco de Mayo: La Batalla
Cinco de Mayo is celebrated as one of Mexico’s national holidays. This film by Mexican director Rafa Lara shows the campaign leading to the defeat of the invading French on May 5, 1862. The heroics are reminiscent of old-time Hollywood and the French are boo-hiss villains, but La Batalla captures the battlefield back-and-forth of combat in the age of single-shot rifles and the difficulty of defeating a determined opponent fighting for their own land.
■ Stan Getz, Live at Montreux 1972
Holding forth from a sparse stage in an intimate setting, saxophonist Stan Getz led a small combo at the 1972 Montreux Jazz Festival. Plenty of turns were given to solos from the all-star lineup of Chick Corea (keyboards), Stanley Clarke (bass) and Tony Williams (drums). Getz’s cool playing brushed against the busy backing musicians, with the best moments occurring when the band settled into the groove and let the star set the mood.