Published: June 23, 2009 07:23 am      

Entertainment Picks (June 19, 2009)

4 Things to check out this weekend

Tornado Hunter

By Stefan Bechtel with Tim Samaras

Hardcover, 272 pages ($24)

Amazon 1426203020



While most people take shelter from a storm, a handful of others try to get as close as possible—especially when it involves the most violent, freakish windstorms on Earth. The United States has more tornadoes than any place in the world, and “tornado hunters” are passionate in their quest to learn more about them. Come along for the windy ride with these wild tales of close encounters with funnel clouds, a look at the men who chase them and an explanation of what makes tornadoes so destructive, deadly…and fascinating.

—Neil Pond, American Profile





Live at the

Meadowlands Frank SinatraCD

($18.98)Amazon B001RTCOZ2



One of Ol’ Blue Eye’s most sought-after live recordings, never commercially available until now, has finally been re-discovered, re-mastered and released by his estate. Taped in 1986 in front of a revved-up “homecoming” crowd inside New Jersey’s legendary Meadowlands arena, it’s a tuxedo-smooth, jazzy-snazzy swagger through “You Make Me Feel So Young,” “New York, New York,” “For Once in My Life,” and 16 other tunes spanning a career that by then had stretched across four decades—a Sinatra smorgasbord!

—Neil Pond, American Profile





American Originals

DVD ($99.95)

Amazon B001IB2ZB2



They’re part of a new breed of hero—men whose “extreme,” dangerous jobs have made them stars on reality TV. This muscular box practically oozes testosterone with 14 DVDs featuring the entire first seasons of the History Channel’s “Ice Road Truckers,” “Ax Men” and “Tougher in Alaska,” plus eight episodes of “Dangerous Missions,” which profiles rescue swimmers, hostage negotiators, U.S Marine Raiders and others who put their lives on the line for the greater good. As the tag line says, America’s frontier never closed—it just got tougher.

—Neil Pond, American Profile





The Norman Lear Collection

DVD ($159.95)

Amazon B00227A7V6



What do “All in the Family,” “Good Times,” “The Jeffersons,” “Maude,” “One Day at a Time,” “Sanford and Son” and “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” have in common? They were all created by legendary producer Norman Lear, whose master’s touch broke new prime-time ground with controversial subjects, unforgettable characters and some of TV’s most memorable moments of the ’70s. This television treasure trove includes all first-season episodes of all seven of those Emmy-winning shows, plus six hours of interviews and featurettes, and the never-released “All in the Family” pilot. Those were the days, indeed.

—Neil Pond, American Profile