Listing of Described Videos - May 2004 Update

May 2004 Update

To order any videos on this list, just contact the Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library, 175 North Beacon Street, Watertown, MA 02472. Phone: 617-972-7240 or 1-800-852-3133, or e-mail: library@perkins.org.

DV000494
BLUE PLANET: SEAS OF LIFE – CORAL SEAS
Narrative Television Network Presents Assignment Discovery – 2003 NR 60 min
Extraordinary footage and eloquent narration by David Attenborough highlight the BBC’s remarkable wildlife series The Blue Planet: Seas of Life. In ‘Coral Seas,’ miles-long reefs of living coral are explored, from deep within (requiring brief computer animation) to the surrounding environs, where you’ll see white-tipped sharks in a feeding frenzy while beautiful harlequin shrimp wrestle with a starfish.

DV000483
BOB THE BUILDER – G
Bob the Builder and his friends are featured in four cartoons: A “Special Delivery Spud,” “Spud Gets Packing,” “Sneezing Scoop” and “Spud Goes Apple Picking.” Original Title on video container reads “Narrative Television Network presents Bob the Builder.”

DV000491
BRUCE ALMIGHTY – 2003 PG-13 101 min
Bruce Nolan is a discontented TV reporter who believes the entire universe is stacked against him. After a bad day, Bruce flies into a rage and blames God for making his life so miserable. God responds by endowing Bruce with all of His divine powers and challenges him to take on “The Big Job” to see if he can do it any better.

DV000482
CHICAGO – 2003 PG-12 113 min
At a time when crimes of passion result in celebrity headlines, nightclub sensation Velma Kelly and spotlight-seeking Roxie Hart both find themselves in Chicago’s famed Murderess Row. They also share Billy Flynn, the town’s slickest lawyer with a talent for turning notorious defendants into local legends.

DV000478
THE COLOR PURPLE – 1985 PG-13 154 min
Based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “The Color Purple” is the richly-textured, decades-spanning story of Celie, an uneducated woman living in the rural American south. Forced to marry a brutal man she calls “Mr.,” Celie turns inward and shares her grief only with God. But she is transformed by the friendship of two remarkable women, acquiring self-worth and the strength to forgive. Stars Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Adolph Caesar, Margaret Avery, Rae Dawn Chong. Directed by Steven Spielberg.

DV000479
DAREDEVIL – 2003 PG-13 103 min
By day, blind attorney Matt Murdock toils for justice in Hell’s Kitchen. By night, he’s Daredevil, a man without fear. He’s a masked vigilante stalking the dark streets with an uncanny “radar sense” that allows him to see with superhuman capabilities. When the love of his life is targeted by New York City’s ruthless Kingpin and his deadly assassin, Bulls Eye, Daredevil may be about to meet his match. Starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Michael Clarke Duncan and Colin Farrell.

DV000489
FINDING NEMO – 2003 G 100 min
This animated film tells the story of Nemo, a curious young clownfish who is taken from his home in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and winds up in the office fish tank of a dentist in Sydney.

DV000487
“THE FUTURE OF THE MILKY WAY” Presented by Narrative Television Network and the Discovery Channel – 2003 60 min
Scientists from around the globe probe to find clues about the origins of our galaxy. See how they attempt to pinpoint the location of a strange and dangerous presence – a massive black hole – hidden at the core of the galaxy. Watch the dramatic animation of the birth and life of the Milky Way Galaxy and learn what the future holds for the cosmos. Grades 9-12.

DV000477
GANGS OF NEW YORK – 2003 R 167 min
In 1846, waves of Irish immigrants poured into the New York neighborhood of Five Points. “Billy the Butcher” bands his fellow “Native Americans” into a gang to take on the Irish gang “The Dead Rabbits”, organized by Priest Vallon. After a bloody clash Vallon is dead and his son ends up in a brutal reform school. In 1862, that boy returns to seek vengeance against the man that killed his father. Stars Leonardo Decaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, and Henry Thomas. Directed by Martin Scorese.

DV000474
HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS 2002 PG 161 min
Finds young wizard Harry and his friends Ron and Hermoine facing new challenges during their second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as they try to uncover a dark force that is terrorizing the school. Stars Kenneth Branagh, John Cleese, Robbie Coltrane, Richard Harris, Jason Isaacs, Fiona Shaw, and Maggie Smith. Directed by Chris Columbus.

DV000493
LEWIS & CLARK: A SCIENTIFIC JOURNEY
Narrative Television Network presents Assignment Discovery 60 min
At the turn of the 19th century, most Americans lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. The United States grew in size with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, but the country’s vast wilderness remained uncharted until Meriwether Lewis and William Clark embarked on their 4,000-mile expedition. Follow archeologists as they trace the remnants of the historic journey. Grades 7-9.

DV000488
MATRIX RELOADED – 2003 R 138 min
Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus continue to lead the revolt against the Machine Army. In their quest to save the human race from extinction, they gain greater insight into the construction of The Matrix and Neo’s pivotal role in the fate of mankind. (Prequel Matrix DV000416).

DV000476
MINORITY REPORT – 2002 PG-16 146 min
Washington, D.C. has been murder-free thanks to astounding technology which identifies killers before they commit their crimes. But when the chief of the pre-crime unit is himself accused of a future murder, he has just 36 hours to discover who set him up. Stars Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton and Max Von Sydrow. Directed by Steven Spielberg.

DV000490
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL – 2003 PG-13 143 min
The roguish yet charming Captain Jack Sparrow’s idyllic pirate life capsizes after his nemesis, the wily Captain Barbossa, steals his ship, the Black Pearl, and later attacks the town of Port Royal. Captain Barbossa kidnaps the governor’s beautiful daughter, Elizabeth. In a gallant attempt to rescue her and recapture the Black Pearl, Elizabeth’s childhood friend Will Turner joins forces with Jack. What Will doesn’t know is that a cursed treasure has doomed Barbossa and his crew to live forever as the undead.

DV000472
RUNAWAY UNIVERSE – 2000 NR 60min
Presents the dramatic quest to unlock the secrets of the universe as two rival astronomy teams search for exploding stars, map gigantic cosmic patterns of galaxies, and grapple with the ultimate question: What is the fate of the universe?

DV000492
SEABISCUIT – 2003 PG-13 141 min
Based on a true story. A half-blind ex-prizefighter and mustang breaker team up with a millionaire and his rough-hewn, undersized horse, Seabiscuit. The men bring Seabiscuit to incredible heights, helping to turn a long shot into reality.

DV000471
SIGNS – 2003 PG-13 106 min
In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a five-hundred-foot crop circle is found on the farm of Graham Hess, the town’s reverend. The circles cause a media frenzy and test Hess’s faith as he journeys to find out the truth behind the crop circles. Starring Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix and Rory Culkin. Directed by M. Night Shyamalon.

DV000484
TITANIC – 1998 PG-13 194 min
Two people from different worlds meet and fall in love on the brief, tragic maiden voyage of the grand ocean liner Titanic.

DV000481
TOUCHING LIVES: PORTRAITS OF DEAF-BLIND PEOPLE – 2002 NR
A film about modern-day deaf-blind people. Narrator Susan Haijar, a woman with three deaf-blind siblings, introduces us to five deaf-blind individuals and their families, communities, jobs, worship, hopes, dreams, and frustrations. The film reveals the full lives of these people who are not able to hear or see, as well as the almost insurmountable obstacles they face.

DV000475
TWO WEEKS NOTICE – 2002 PG-13 102 min
Lucy Kelson works as Chief Counsel for the Wade Corporation, one of New York City’s top commercial real estate developers. She’s a brilliant lawyer with a sharp, strategic mind. She also has an ulcer and doesn’t get much sleep. It’s not the job that’s getting to her. It’s her millionaire boss, George Wade. Handsome, charming and undeniably self-absorbed. He treats her more like a nanny than a Harvard Law grad and he can barely choose a tie without her help. Starring Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant.

DV000480
WILD DISCOVERY: CLEVER CRITTERS NR
Shows how animals have adapted to life with humans, and even trick and astound humans from time to time with their clever behavior. Original title reads “Narrative Television presents Wild Discovery: Clever Critters.”

DV000485
WUTHERING HEIGHTS AND TALES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE
Presented by Narrative Television Network, Discovery Channel – 2003 60 min
On the cold, damp moors of England burned a love that transcended death. Emily Bronte’s novel of thwarted passion and cruelty was considered immoral when it was first published. The central character, Heathcliff, became an archetype for the modern antihero. Horror tales by Edgar Allan Poe. Grades 9-12