'ELVIS PRESLEY: THE SEARCHER.' Legendary 1968 TV "comeback" special (50th anniversary, Dec. 3) frames this revelatory study of the oft-thwarted artist trapped inside the show-biz property and icon. HBO's moody three-hour docu-portrait explores Presley's creative soul through 1950s musical influences (black blues, gospel), cultural impact (rock and roll, civil rights), film acting (serious ambitions dashed) and legacy. No narration, just archive footage, sensitive stills, atmospheric Graceland filming, plus comments from ex-wife Priscilla Presley, other confidants, producers like Sam Phillips, fellow artists-admirers Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen. Bonus 40-minute discussion with Priscilla and director Thom Zimny. (Film's interviews also serve as oral history in expanded 50th anniversary CD set, due Nov. 30.) List price: $30 DVD+digital, new from Sony.
'THE SOURCE: BEATS AND THE BEAT GENERATION.' Counterculture renegades after World War II include friends Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, whose kinetic poetry, novels, lives energize Oscar winner Chuck Workman's 1999 feature. It interweaves archive footage, interviews and dramatic readings (Johnny Depp as Kerouac); $30 DVD+digital, Kino.
