Books and DVDs to keep your interest up in the down-low winter chill.
Like sands through
the hourglass...
Days of Our Lives 45 Years:� A Celebration in Photos ( www.amazon.com; $29.99 ) offers a rare glimpse of more than 500 behind-the-scenes photographs connected to the long-running daytime serial. This hardcover, full-color coffee table book will take eaders on a journey starting with the first cup of coffee in the morning through the production day, until the director says, "It's a wrap!" or "You're fired!"although it's more likely to be the first one.
'Free' to be
Hannah Free ( www.hannahfree.com; $19.95 ) the award-winning lesbian-themed film starring Sharon Glessis now out on DVD ( and as a book ) . The moviedirected by Wendy Jo Carlton, written by Claudia Allen and filmed in Chicago, is about the enduring love affair between two women.
Movie time
What do All About Eve, Miracle on 34th Street, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Hustler, Cleopatra, The Sound of Music, Planet of the Apes, Poseidon Adventure, Star Wars, Alien, Cocoon, Working Girl, Mrs. Doubtfire, Boys Don't Cry, X-Men, Moulin Rouge!, The Devil Wears Prada and Juno all have in common? They're just some ( yes, some ) of the movies in the 20th Century Fox: 75th Anniversary Collection ( www.amazon.com; $357.49 ) , a 75-film, three-volume set. That's a lot of classicsand a lot of popcorn-eating.
Art and soul
In the retrospective Frida Kahlo: Face to Face ( www.amazon.com; $40.95 ) Judy Chicago and Frances Borzello hand-picked a selection of Kahlo's worka hundred portraits that speak to the full spectrum of women's experience. Designed to evoke a Mexican retablo, or altarpiece, this volume reframes Frida Kahlo for a contemporary audience.
President and accounted for
In the book Obama and the Gays: A Political Marriage ( www.obamaandthegays.com: $17.99 ) , Windy City Times Publisher Tracy Baim presents an in-depth look at Obama's trajectory on gay issues. The book contains items by highly acclaimed writers such as Wayne Besen, Lisa Keen, Michelangelo Signorile and Phill Wilsonand think how smart you ( or your gift recipient ) will sound at the next dinner party by quoting this book.