PICK OF THE WEEK:
This Sporting Life
(Criterion)
British director Lindsay Anderson made the jump from documentaries to features with this 1963 Richard Harris film; a second disc includes two of his docs, along with in-depth bonus features and interviews.
Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park
(WGBH)
Jane Austen fans who don’t need the umpteenth Pride and Prejudice adaptation can choose instead two new releases from public TV’s WGBH: Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park, two of her least-adapted works, feature casts who are mostly new faces for American viewers (except those who’ve watched the new Doctor Who; they will recognize the Doc’s sidekick Billie Piper).
Discovering Cinema
(Flicker Alley)
Boutique DVD label Flicker Alley offers a two-part trip through archives of early film, with over four hours of clips emphasizing European contributions to experiments in getting sound and color into the movies.
Indie Sex
(IFC)
NAUGHTY DOCS: IFC’s Indie Sex miniseries on illicit cinema makes a level-headed lead-in for 42nd Street Forever Vol. 3, a proudly prurient comp of trailers for vintage grindhouse flicks; Midnight Movies lovingly chronicles the phenomenon of cult film from El Topo to Eraserhead; Feed, though not at all sex-centric, gets its kicks by showcasing the “that camera’s not on, is it?” moments that politicians would rather keep under wraps. •
