Some Mother’s Son:  Terry George, the cowriter of In the Name of the Father, wrote and directed this 1996 drama based on actual events from 1981, when Irish Republican Army prisoners in Belfast's Maze Prison staged a hunger strike to protest against British prime minister Margaret Thatcher's political policies. Led by IRA prisoner Bobby Sands, the hunger strike eventually lead to the deaths of 10 prisoners, who had refused to wear prison uniforms to emphasize their identity as political (and not criminal) prisoners. But this fictionalized account is not about the hunger strikers as much as the moral dilemma faced by two of the strikers' mothers, played by Helen Mirren and Fionnula Flanagan in an emotional drama that gets right to the heart of the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland. While Annie (Flanagan) understands her son's political motivations and supports his readiness to die, Kathleen (Mirren) is a pacifist who cannot comprehend how any mother could sacrifice her own son to a political principle. The women become friends despite their opposing views, and desperately hope for a compromise in Irish-British negotiations while the hunger strikers continue to wither away. By keeping the Northern Irish conflict on such a purely personal level, Some Mother's Son both clarifies and complicates the difficult issues involved, making clear arguments for both mothers' actions in the context of a milestone event in Northern Ireland's history. The film doesn't pretend to hide its anti-British position, but the cause of death on both sides is deeply acknowledged. Through Helen Mirren's richly layered performance, Some Mother's Son asks if any belief is truly worth dying for, and poses the question on powerfully personal terms.  This film is currently unavailable on DVD but consider it on VHS.

Globe Trekker—Ireland:  Also known as the Emerald Isle, for it's lush green landscapes, Ireland is the land of a thousand welcomes. Although it has been ripped apart by years of political conflict, it is renowned for its hospitality and is proud of its strong spirit of a good time. Ian Wright begins his travels at the spectacular Antrim coast in Northern Ireland. He then travels to Belfast before crossing the border and heading to Dublin, the capital of the republic. Passing through Cobh and Kerry, he then sails on to the Aran Islands, hikes in Conemara and Donegal and finally ends his journey on the wild and remote Tory Islands. Along the way... · Explore Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney stone · Join thousands of pilgrims in the footsteps of St Patrick to climb Croagh Patrick · Wander through the landscapes of Kerry, where the scenery is dotted with Celtic ruins · Live it up in Dublin - the republics largest cosmopolitan city · Meet the famous king of Tory Island who makes it his duty to welcome visitors off the boat as they arrive

The Quiet Man:   Blarney and bliss, mixed in equal proportions. John Wayne plays an American boxer who returns to the Emerald Isle, his native land. What he finds there is a fiery prospective spouse (Maureen O'Hara) and a country greener than any Ireland seen before or since--it's no surprise The Quiet Man won an Oscar for cinematography. It also won an Oscar for John Ford's direction, his fourth such award. The film was a deeply personal project for Ford (whose birth name was Sean Aloysius O'Fearna), and he lavished all of his affection for the Irish landscape and Irish people on this film. He also stages perhaps the greatest donnybrook in the history of movies, an epic fistfight between Wayne and the truculent Victor McLaglen--that's Ford's brother, Francis, as the elderly man on his deathbed who miraculously revives when he hears word of the dustup. Barry Fitzgerald, the original Irish elf, gets the movie's biggest laugh when he walks into the newlyweds' bedroom the morning after their wedding, and spots a broken bed. The look on his face says everything. The Quiet Man isn't the real Ireland, but as a delicious never-never land of Ford's imagination, it will do very nicely.

In America:  Stars the incandescent Samantha Morton and Paddy Considine as two young Irish parents who have lost their only son. Trying to run away from their grief, they move (illegally) to a junkie-infested apartment building in New York City with their two daughters, Christy (Sarah Bolger) and Ariel (Emma Bolger). Though they struggle with meager jobs and suffocatingly hot weather, a friendship with an artist in an apartment below them (Djimon Hounsou, Gladiator) becomes a catalyst that allows them to rebuild their family. In America is splendidly acted throughout--of particular note are the two girls, real-life sisters whose on-screen charisma is clearly a family trait. But it's Morton who anchors the movie; her every emotion seems to glow from her skin. The commitment of the actors keeps the movie compelling, despite some dangerously sentimental patches.

Rick Steves’ Ireland and Scotland  2000 -2007:   This is the only DVD that includes all six half-hour “Rick Steves’ Europe” TV shows on Ireland and Scotland, produced from 2000 to 2007: Dublin, The Best of South Ireland, The Best of West Ireland, Belfast and the Best of Northern Ireland, Scotland’s Islands and Highlands, and Edinburgh. The running time is three hours. Filmed on location by America's most popular travel guidebook writer, Rick Steves' DVDs offer one great escape after another, from Europe's most thrilling cities to its charming, little-known villages. These DVDs are of the highest broadcast quality (NTSC format, all region compatible), with closed-captioning. Each DVD is packaged in a durable Amaray case with on-location cover photos and complete program details.

Oscar Wilde—Biography:   The life of the legendary writer and wit who was the toast of London in the 1890s, but who ended his days alone after a homosexual affair led to his imprisonment. Using a surprising wealth of archival material, including hundreds of photos, readings from Wilde's letters, and period cartoons and drawings, we recall the literary giant who delighted the highest rungs of society with his brilliance, charm, and aesthetic dress.

The Oscar Wilde Collection:  "Wilde" about witty dialogue, scandalous secrets and ingenious intrigue?

Let the BBC transport you back to the decadent aristocratic drawing rooms of 1890's England. Lovingly restored, these plays feature a who's who of great actors of the British stage & screen including stars like Sir John Gielgud, Joan Plowright, Jeremy Brett, Susan Hampshire, Margaret Leighton and Gemma Jones.  Rediscover the charm and delight of Wilde's masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest - "To loose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune...to lose both seems like carelessness." - Lady Bracknell.  Unleash the chilling and ruthless melodrama of Wilde's notorious novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which disturbed the very foundations of Victorian society.  ndulge yourself in the scandalous gossip and intrigue of An Ideal Husband and Lady Windermere's Fan.  "I can resist everything but temptation" - Lord Darlington.  Treasure the genius of Oscar Wilde in this complete collection of his major works.  "I have nothing to declare but my genius" - Oscar Wilde  The Importance of Being Earnest 1988, The Picture of Dorian Gray 1976, An Ideal Husband 1969, Lady Windermere's Fan 1985