New on DVD

Many music legends age poorly, riding the reputation they earned as youngsters into an unfortunate twilight of nostalgia and sentimentality. Still others turn their backs on the glory days and try to find dignity as elder statesmen pursuing non-musical interests (politics and yachting are popular options). Then there's Pete Seeger, a man in his 80s who lives today by the same principles of commitment, inclusion and integrity that he embraced 50 years ago. The living embodiment of folk music, Seeger appears to have a simple life, surrounded by a large family, playing community concerts and tending to the forests on his humble estate. But look a little closer at this fine documentary, and you see how hard won that simplicity was, and the many sacrifices made by Seeger, and by his family, to get there.

Unsurprisingly, the film is full of Seeger's music, which spans most of the 20th century, from his bright college days as a troubled young communist (the league opposed racial prejudice; it cost him his scholarship to Harvard) to his work as Woody Guthrie's right (or should I say left) hand man, to the blacklisting of his group the Weavers (hard to imagine a less inflammatory pop folk quartet) and their triumphant return to the Carnegie Hall stage, to his epochal performance of "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" on the Smothers Brothers' TV show, and onward, at benefits and rallies all around the world. The footage and the songs are inspiring, and Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, Dixie Chick Natalie Maines and other usual suspects are on hand to testify to the man's importance. But the most telling sections are when his wife and children discuss their admiration for the patriarch while lamenting the fact that his success deprived them of time together. It's a gentle irony, not overplayed, and it runs right through the heart of the film, and the man.

It's tricky with a band like ZZ Top. On the one hand, they're a bit silly with their beards and their hand gestures -- the gimmickry is their signature element at this point. In 30-odd years of being a band, they don't appear to have evolved in the slightest. On the other hand: They don't appear to have evolved in the slightest in 30 years, because, frankly, it ain't broke. Frank, Billy and Dusty are every bit as raunchy and rocking now as they were way back then. And as this live DVD -- their first -- proves, they may not look pretty, but they don't need to when they sound this good.

In a real sense, this is ZZ Top by the numbers: open with "Got Me Under Pressure," close with "Tush," hit "Gimme All Your Lovin," "Sharp Dressed Man," "Legs" (all in a row!), "Cheap Sunglasses," "Pearl Necklace" and "Tube Snake Boogie" (among several other classics) in between. Still, you don't come to ZZ Top expecting surprises. Banter is minimal, solos are effusive and musical chemistry is effortless. Few bands can pull off music this close to straight blues without falling off the cliff into total cliché, but ZZ Top keeps it shockingly fresh. Bonus features include a not-massively-revealing-but-interesting band history session over a game of poker, a short doc that shows the guys preparing for show day, a photo shoot (!) and a rendition of Hendrix's "Foxy Lady."

The seriousness with which the Rolling Stones still take their claim that they are "the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band" is undoubtedly the biggest question posed by this behind-the-scenes documentary by that greatest of rock show documentarians, Martin Scorsese. Other questions--Why them? Why now? Why him?--arise throughout but are answered in the film's kinetic course. Why them: They remain Mick, Keith, Charlie, Ronnie and the other 37 people who play behind them onstage; the best of the songs ("Loving Cup," "Sympathy for the Devil," the title track and many other great ones) are indisputably among the best music of the 20th century. Why now: Because it's not the 20th century anymore, to see these geezers (in the British and American senses of the word) continue to move -- and in Mick's case -- to never stop moving -- is inherently fascinating, even if they look quite bizarre and at times (Keith) unpleasant. Why him: Scorsese approaches rock as the consummate fan/outsider given unlimited access, though the conceit of this film is that the access is limited by the band's fundamental slipperiness. So we see him fume and plan. And then we see the results and I guess the best one can say, cameos by Jack White, Christina Aguilera, Bill and Hillary Clinton (!) and others notwithstanding (or withstanding), is that at least you didn't have to pay $200 for a seat. DVD bonus features are similarly slick (more songs, more behind-the-scenes stuff), but not essential unless you're still a Stones completist, in which case you're probably exhausted by now.

Director Grant Gee is best known for his stunning Radiohead tour documentary "Meeting People Is Easy," one of the best deconstructions of the rock star myth ever committed to film and tape. Given his mastery of the alienation end of the British rock spectrum, it stands to reason that he would turn his attention now to Joy Division, one of the most alienated bands in the history of popular music, but one whose songs of emotional displacement echo not only in the ears of its fans, but also in their hearts, nearly 30 years later.

Exploring the same autobiographical corners as "Control" (Anton Corbijn's biopic of singer Ian Curtis) did earlier this year, Gee expands the color palette and draws on the memories of Curtis' band mates, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris, who continued making music as New Order after Curtis committed suicide in 1980 on the eve of Joy Division's first American tour. The survivors' reminiscences -- and those of their former manager, label owner and girlfriend -- along with a heroic array of early photos, live footage and music fragments, don't so much illuminate the band's story, which is already legendary, as sanctify it, matching pictures to words and sounds in the most authoritative and evocative way imaginable. If you're a fan, this masterful documentary is essential. But even if you're just interested in music, or film, or modern pop culture history, it's well worth seeking out.