Entertaining

John Cleese - Wine for the Confused

Monty Python alums have made good second careers hosting documentary programs, such as Terry Jones's Crusades. Now John Cleese turns his attention to the subject of wine in Wine for the Confused, originally broadcast as a special on Food Network.

Listen to our interview with John Cleese.

"Don't let anyone ever try to tell you what wine you like, because people have different tastes and we shall honor that," he heralds at the start. The point of the program is clear and simple: to help you find and describe wines you like; to show how to buy wines at a good value; and to provide tips on how to get the most enjoyment from the wines you do buy. With this attitude, his considerable charm, and his gentle wit, Cleese is the perfect host for this material, and right off the bat he strikes just the right tone--instructive, but light-hearted. The result is delightful.

First covered are the six major varieties of wine-producing grapes (first the whites, then the reds, just as at a tasting), the fermentation process, and tasting notes to help you learn what you like and how to describe it ("Quality should be judged by your own taste."). Next is "Buying Wine." Now that you know what you like, learn how to find it at a good value for the money. Finally there is "Storing and Serving Wine," with simple tips for savoring your purchase.

Novice wine lovers will find Wine for the Confused helpful and reassuring as well as inspirational; don't be surprised if you find yourself turning off the DVD and heading straight to the wine shop with newfound confidence... and that's just what Cleese would want for you. --Dan Vancini

Raise a Glass with John Cleese

Monty Python Store	Starring John Cleese	Life after Monty Python
Wine on DVD and Beyond	Wine Accessories	Why watch wine when you can drink it?

Wine is confusing…overwhelming even. So where do you start if you want to learn more about it? Join John Cleese on an entertaining and personal look at the world of winemaking and discover: how to find wines that taste good to you, how to make sure you get the best value and how to keep and serve wine at home.

Sound&Vision Home Theater Tune-Up

Whether you've just purchased your first surround sound system or you've been fiddling with A/V wires since you were 13, Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up is an easy-to-follow tutorial for connecting today's complex digital and analog equipment. The DVD features an articulate couple exchanging barbs as they lead viewers through 80 minutes of instruction on everything from loudspeaker phase checks to video calibration. Scriptwriter- producer Rob Sabin does a superb job targeting novice consumers with non-techy dialogue. The disc incorporates excellent audio test signals, along with an impressive demonstration for adjusting subwoofer crossover settings. The TV calibration section (with supplied blue color filter) enables viewers to easily adjust contrast, brightness, sharpness, and color levels. Extras include six Dolby Digital sound demos, a DTS surround music sample, and a THX theater trailer. Although home theater aficionados may find the couple's banter fatiguing, the audio/video tests should leave a favorable impression. --Eric K. Gill

Sound & Vision, the world's largest audio/video magazine, has teamed with Ovation Software, the leading authority on A/V equipment calibration, to bring you this comprehensive, entertaining, and simple-to-use guide to hooking up, operating, and adjusting your home theater for the absolute best performance! Whether you're a novice or enthusiast, you'll find step-by-step instructions, exclusive video patterns and audio tests, and helpful tips for hooking up, adjusting, and operating your system! Exclusive, user-friendly video test patterns, Audio Tune-up with exclusive test signals designed by Sound & Vision Technical Editor David Ranada, including speaker ID/balance for 5.1-channel and 6.1-channel systems, speaker phase, and subwoofer level S-Video/ composite video test, DVD aspect-ratios explained, Jack-by-jack set-up & installation advice. 90 minutes.

Video Essentials

The Martha Stewart Holiday Collection - Martha's Classic Thanksgiving

The Martha Stewart Holiday Collection: Martha's Classic Thanksgiving is a most pleasant and entertaining way to find inspiration for a Thanksgiving less ordinary. Taken from past episodes of Stewart's television programs, Classic Thanksgiving presents five ways to cook a turkey, beginning with "Turkey 101," in which Martha prepares a fairly traditional meal while revealing the story of her Thanksgiving from Hell. (Her soon-to-be-ex-husband set the oven on broil and inserted the soon-to-be-unrecognizable bird.) Other shows focus on a rotisserie-baked turkey, a deep-fried turkey (with Creole spices), a boned, broiled, and rolled turkey (very nifty), and most provocative of all, a "black-lacquered" turkey, in which one of Stewart's bankers--who knows exactly two dinner recipes and is so naive in the kitchen she calls a grater a "scraping thing"—demonstrates how a turkey browns beautifully beneath a paste of yummy ingredients that blacken in the heat.

Also on the disc are guides for making several fantastic stuffing dishes, the most dazzling of all a pumpkin challah bread stuffing and a fruit-and-nut stuffing recipe that begins with the soaking of apricots and prunes in bourbon--and just gets better from there. Side dishes include a mouth-watering garlic-horseradish mashed potato dish, and the fascinating "Native American Succotash," a brilliantly colored dish that requires little but veggies themselves. As for desserts: the rustic apple tarts are spectacular and look easy to make in Stewart's kitchen, but the cranberry-pistachio biscotti could be enough to make a grown man weep. There are sections, too, on settings and centerpieces (the gourd candle holders sound silly but look great) as well as kids' crafts. Fun to watch, learn from, or just dream by, The Martha Stewart Holiday Collection: Martha's Classic Thanksgiving is a good thing. --Tom Keogh

Let Martha Stewart make your Thanksgiving the most special one yet. This DVD covers the traditional Thanksgiving basics plus offers more ideas for those interested in trying something new. Includes turkey, stuffing, side dish and dessert recipes, centerpiece, table setting and decorating ideas and Thanksgiving crafts for kids.

DVD Features:
DVD ROM Features:Printable recipes and how-to instructions Raffia Cornucopia Thanksgiving Planner 6 Gravy Tips Turkey Trivia Place Card Thanksgiving Clip-Art Place Cards
Other:Bonus video: How to Carve a Turkey Classic Turkey Platter Presentation Cranberry Bog Field Trip 10 Helpful How-To Demonstrations

Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up

Whether you've just purchased your first surround sound system or you've been fiddling with A/V wires since you were 13, Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up is an easy-to-follow tutorial for connecting today's complex digital and analog equipment. The DVD features an articulate couple exchanging barbs as they lead viewers through 80 minutes of instruction on everything from loudspeaker phase checks to video calibration. Scriptwriter- producer Rob Sabin does a superb job targeting novice consumers with non-techy dialogue. The disc incorporates excellent audio test signals, along with an impressive demonstration for adjusting subwoofer crossover settings. The TV calibration section (with supplied blue color filter) enables viewers to easily adjust contrast, brightness, sharpness, and color levels. Extras include six Dolby Digital sound demos, a DTS surround music sample, and a THX theater trailer. Although home theater aficionados may find the couple's banter fatiguing, the audio/video tests should leave a favorable impression. --Eric K. Gill

Fun to Know: Mixing Drinks and Cocktails

Thomas Bitler a professional bartender 11 years at Waldorf Astoria in NY presents the magic of drinks san explaining how to professionally create 50 of the most popular drink and cocktails, at home.

System Requirements:

The Entertainer

The second release in the series from Cocktail Art Productions, Kyle Branche continues his journey in preparing a wide variety of the world's best libations, "Live and Close-up" from his custom-built stealth bar. Digitally shot and directed by Cable Ace award nominee Steven Antoniou. 140 minutes - 55 cocktails in 9 drink categories - 3 bonus features and a shopping list.

The following cocktails prepared "Live" on The Entertainer:

CLASSICS -
57'T-Bird
Sex on the Beach
Whale's Tail
Mint Julep
Mojito
Sazerac
Scarlett O'Hara
Planter's Punch
Old Fashioned
Blade Runner

MARTINI LOUNGE -
Topaz Pear
Cosmopolitan
Diamond Head
Gibson
Lemon Drop
Cider House Martini
The Sour Apple
Manhattan
Chocolate Martini
Knickerbocker

SHOOTERS -
Gingerbread Man
Starburst
Lavender Gravity
Surfer On Acid
Cold Apple Pie

LONG ISLAND TEAS -
Georgia Peach
Electric Lemonade
Hawaiian Island
Texas Tea
Purple Rain

CUSTOM BLENDS -
Chocolate Pineapple Colada
Rainforest
Moonlight Margarita
Organic Cherry Daiquiri
Berryetto

COFFEE COCKTAILS -
London Fog
Nutty Dubliner
Tennessee Mud
Milano Coffee
Montego Bay Dream

CREAM DRINKS -
Rootbeer Float
Tradewinds
Rocky Road
Ambrosia
Roasted Toasted Almond

PREMIUM SPECIALTIES -
The Universe
Lynchburg Lemonade
Pink Floyd
Caribbean Moondance
Rockaway Beach

DRINKS for the HEAT of the DAY -
Sunburst
By The Pool
Summer Breeze
Watermelon
Riviera Sunset

BONUS FEATURES -
Glasswares
Bar Tools
Garnish Extravaganza

Queer Eye For the Straight Guy - The Best of Ted's Food and Wine

Ted Allen has co-authored several hilarious guides acquainting men with all things cultured and refined. In this special highlight DVD, Queer Eye's food and wine connoisseur sets you straight on the fundamentals of cuisine. From cooking with herbs to choosing wine, Ted teaches you the expert tricks to create the finest fare. Bonus CD

Jancis Robinson's Wine Course - Fizz and Grape Invaders

Bubbles in bottles, grapes, and gas, the first half of this video covers everyone's favorite party drink: champagne. This, the last video in the five-tape series, Jancis Robinson's Wine Course, is perhaps the most fun as Robinson demonstrates how winemakers get the bubbles in bubbly. You'll also learn how to open these bottle without putting an eye out! The last course in the series, "Grape Invaders" shows how Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are taking over the wine industry (as she says, the "chocolate and vanilla" of the wine world), and she introduces us to some of the indigenous wines of Spain. As always, Robinson focuses as much on the people of the wine industry as the wine itself, and this is a delightful end to an informative series. --Jenny Brown

Jancis Robinson's Wine Course - Syrah, Shiraz and Riesling

Pulling the cork out of a wine bottle is frequently no easy feat, and Jancis Robinson looks into the situation in the third installment of her wine course, "Syrah, Shiraz and Riesling." Riesling, one of the most misunderstood (and most mispronounced--it's rees' ling) wines, is a superb dry wine with a bland reputation. Learn how "noble rot" can actually create a lovely sweet wine. Germany's wine situation--which is a disaster--is examined, and Robinson also shares with us the Austrian antifreeze scandal. --Jenny Brown