Michael Bacon

The two-part PBS documentary special Adirondacks explores the massive, six million acre Adirondacks National Park throughout the year, with one portion devoted to each season. The program thus demonstrates how and why the upstate New York park beckons millions of tourists each year with its appeal in radically different climates. Taking as its thesis the notion that the people of the region continue to impart it with a unique and special character, the miniseries hones in on some of the more colorful and region-specific residents of this geographic area, including an Olympic skier diligently training around Lake Placid, a craftsperson attempting to restore one of the Great Camps, and deejay Brian Mann of North Country Public Radio. The program also underscores the way in which many Adirondacks residents continually explore the connection between man and the landscape through their unique lifestyles, be they sports figures, hoteliers, painters, or any number of other varied workers. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Eve Ensler's theater piece The Vagina Monologues has become an international phenomenon and a source of empowerment for women of all walks of life. However, in 2005 Ensler became involved in a special production of The Vagina Monologues for a group of women whose story was not dealt with in the play -- women who used to be men. A group of transsexuals were interested in staging a version of the show that was unique to them, and Ensler not only gave her blessings to the project, but worked with the cast of transgendered performers to give the text a voice that was appropriate to their circumstances. Filmmakers Josh Aronson and Ariel Orr Jordan were on hand to witness the gestation of this unique performance, and Beautiful Daughters is a documentary which not only chronicles the writing and rehearsals for the transsexual Vagina Monologues, but explores the lives and experiences of the women performing the play, who run the gamut from a respected computer science instructor to a exotic dancer turned real estate salesperson. Produced for broadcast on the premium cable channel Logo, Beautiful Daughters was also screened as part of New York City's 2006 NewFest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Explore the live of the woman whose name has become synonymous with the French monarchy as filmmakers explore just how one wanton sovereign set into motion the wheels of the French Revolution. From her early childhood in the powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire to her grim final hours in a French prison cell, this two-hour portrait of Marie Antoinette paints a vivid portrait of a historical figure that was as tragic as she was courageous. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This documentary explores Robert Kennedy's life and his search for a purpose to devote it to both before and after his legendary brother's death. Sympathetic and tragic, the perspective of this program is that Robert Kennedy's true voice was suppressed over and over again until it was silenced forever with an assassin's bullet. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

Michael Bacon and his actor brother Kevin comprise The Bacon Brothers, a country act that has established a fan base independent of Kevin's fame. The No Food Jokes Tour is a concert film that showcases their guitar playing and songwriting. ON the set list are "Woman's Got a Mind to Change," "OldGuitars," "Sooner or Later," and in a nod to Kevin's other career, a cover of "Footloose." ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

An outgrowth of historian Donald L. Miller's massive City of the Century, this three-part, 270-minute series traces the history of Chicago from a settlement of only 300 or so transients in 1830, to the heavily populated site of the 1893 Columbian Exposition. After synopsizing Chicago's roots as a stopping-off point for explorers Marquette and Joliet in the 17th century, the series focuses on that era of the city's past that has been meticulously chronicled in print and on camera: the Great Fire of 1871, the Haymarket Riot of 1886, the ascension of the meatpacking "barons" to Gold-Coast aristocracy, the dominance of such high-profile figures as Cyrus McCormick, George Pullman, and Marshall Field (described in the narration as "buccaneers"), and the seeds of the social-consciousness movement sown by Jane Addams and her Hull-House. It is shown how the "landed gentry" of Chicago not only scorned the incoming Irish, Polish, and African-American immigrants, but also did everything in their power to expunge these minorities from the social mainstream (for example, the myth that "Mrs. O'Leary's cow" sparked the Chicago Fire is debunked as anti-Irish propaganda); it is also shown how those minorities ultimately battled their way to predominance in Chicago's political machine. Narrated by actor David Ogden Stiers, Chicago: City of the Century was produced for the PBS anthology American Experience in association with Chicago's Historical Society and the city's powerful public-TV outlet WTTW. The series originally aired on January 13, 14, and 15, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"The Revolution Has Begun" is part two of American Experience: Chicago - City of the Century, based on the book by Don Miller. David Ogden Stiers narrates. After the Chicago Fire of 1871, the city began to rebuild. Marshall Fields opens his dream department store on State Street and Cyrus McCormick rebuilds his reaper plant. But the big industry becomes cattle dealing, led by butcher Gustavus Swift. Immigrants from Eastern Europe flock to the city to work as meatpackers. The immigrants bring socialism with them, helping to jump-start the American labor movement. In 1886, a labor activist rally becomes violent in Chicago's Haymarket Square. Workers on strike from the reaper factory are killed by police during a riot, leading to a bombing. This program was originally broadcast on PBS in January of 2003. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

"Mudhole to Metropolis" is part one of American Experience: Chicago - City of the Century, based on the book by Don Miller. David Ogden Stiers narrates. The story begins in 1673, when French explorers took a canoe up the Illinois River and found a smelly marshland that the Indians called Chicagoua. The French chose not to settle there and the area was used as a fur trading post until the 1800s. When the Erie Canal was finished, the marsh was a good way to link the Mississippi to the Great Lakes. By 1833, the Potawatomi tribe was forced out and white men from New England bought up the land. Then the Irish immigrants who had dug the Erie Canal arrived looking for work. The city's first mayor, William Butler Ogden, helped make Chicago the world's largest railroad hub, lumber market, and grain port. The city experienced an economic boom until the great Chicago Fire of 1871. Over three miles of the city was destroyed. This program was originally broadcast on PBS in January of 2003. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

This is the final part of a three-video, six-hour program that originally aired February 19-21, 2001, as a presentation of the acclaimed PBS series The American Experience. The program focuses on the marriage of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln, and is one of the first documentaries to do so. In the third part, a series of tragedies overwhelms Mary. Lincoln's urgent need to manage the war hurts the marriage, leaving Mary feeling isolated, especially in light of the death of their son Willie. Often accused of being a Confederate sympathizer, Mary ultimately loses three brothers in battle against the Union. After the president is assassinated, she's devastated. Six years later, after her son Tad dies young of tuberculosis, she loses her sanity and spends the last 17 years of her life institutionalized. Narrated by David McCullough, the program also features interviews with scholars and readings by actors David Morse and Holly Hunter. Highlights include period photographs. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide