Just off Fifth Avenue on East 70th Street is the Frick Collection. Housed in Henry Clay Frick’s former home, the imposing mansion houses the city’s best small art museum—if by “small,” you mean three Vermeers, several Goyas and Rembrandts, and works by Titian, Bellini, El Greco,and so on.

The building itself is worth entering just to see how the .01 percent once lived, and in addition to its own collection, the Frick also features pointed exhibitions, like the just-closed Renoir, Impressionism, and Full-Length Painting, which brought together nine of the French Impressionist’s largest canvases, like the Frick’s own La Promenade,  Chicago’s Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando and Washington D.C.’s The Dancer. Seeing these oversized Renoirs in a single gallery was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Pride of place remains Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emmanuel Leutze, whose monumental patriotic canvas—which takes up an entire wall in Gallery 760, flanked by the two paintings hung near it at an 1864 exhibition, Frederic Edwin Church’s Heart of the Andes and Albert Bierstadt’s The Rocky Mountains — has been cleaned so it looks sparklingly beautiful, and sits within the glittering gilded frame reconstructed from vintage photographs of the painting.

One of the best Met exhibitions in recent memory, The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso and the Parisian Avant-Garde (through June 3) recounts how writer Gertrude, brothers Leo and Michael and Michael’s wife Sarah created one of the most impressive collections of then-modern art in the first half of the 20th century.

When they first came to Paris in the early 1900s, they were able to purchase dozens of Picassos, Matisses, Bonnards, and other cheap-to-buy painters before their name recognition and value skyrocketed. Picasso’s famous portrait of Gertrude, already a cornerstone of the Met’s collection, is complemented by his portraits of Leo and his son Allan.

Many of the exhibit’s paintings are familiar, but seeing them in a new context simply awes us by the family’s discerning taste. Letters, photographs and other ephemera help to form a portrait of an American family in Paris that collected art as they rubbed shoulders with the artists who created the works they bought.

Perhaps the reviewers thought that giving wife Linda credit for co-writing half the songs was going too far...who knows?

The glorious five-minute soundscape—and Paul's first post-Beatles Number One—“Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” is another example of Paul’s genius for elaborate symphonic mini-suites, as are the phenomenal “Long-Haired Lady” (which opens with Paul’s “well, well, well, well, well” lovingly aping Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band primal scream) and the joyous closer, “The Back Seat of My Car.” There’s also delightful English absurdity in “3 Legs” and “Monkberry Moon Delight,” while “Smile Away” and “Eat at Home” are among Paul’s most infectious rockers.

A second disc, comprising singles and outtakes, includes the instantly hummable hit “Another Day,” the rocking B-sides “Oh Woman Oh Why” and “Little Woman Love,” and the galvanizingly epic “Rode All Night.” Ram “special editions” include a DVD with a 10-minute Paul reminiscence of the album’s creation, as well as vintage video clips for “Heart of the Country,” “3 Legs,” and “Eat at Home” in concert.

Breathtaking beauty is on display for three-plus hours, and watching on Blu-ray is the best advertisement for the tourism industry in all four states.

An accomplished cast—Diane Lane and Dennis Quaid as the parents and James Gandolfini as the PBS producer—makes this a worthy pendant to the original, itself available in a truncated DVD version. Extras include directors’ and Lane commentary and short making-of featurette.

The exceedingly dangerous central affair with tragically fatal consequences meanders for far too long, and even if the film has been returned to its original length—113 minutes instead of a truncated 87—Gunn’s patchwork technique results in a disappointing dramatic experience. Extras include The Blood of the Thing, a collection of interviews from the 1998 DVD release; and an audio commentary.

Still, thanks to a cast led by Colm Meaney and Anson Mount and beautiful photography—watching it on Blu-ray is mandatory—the result is genuinely compelling. Extras include behind-the-scenes features and on-set footage.

Which is precisely what it is: beginning with the Big Bang 14 billion years ago, the show quickly moves through the solar system’s origins, dinosaurs, Ice and Stone Ages and the present day in an entertaining style that makes extensive use of CGI, which looks amazing on Blu-ray (and in 3-D if your TV can handle it).

Despite the lunatic goings-on, Nickles’ audaciousness initially compels continued viewing; too bad he runs out of steam and perfunctorily peters out. The movie’s visuals are well-captured on Blu-ray; extras include two making-of featurettes.

This septet of sights provides an enlightening survey of the world’s most popular religions; and Blu-ray is the best way to take this tour, revealing one spectacular sight after another.

Among the 14 episodes’ subjects are how the planets were irrevocably changed, the origin of the solar system (again!), comets, UFOs and even the place of God in the universe. Needless to say, the visuals enthrall as much as the subject matter.

Comments from his wives, children, colleagues and antagonists—and sublime footage of his feuds with Gore Vidal, William F. Buckley and the incredible battle with Rip Torn at the climax of their movie Maidstone—center Joseph Mantegna’s look at the rock star of American writers. Extras include Mailer speaking on various topics and a gallery of his letters.

This strong, intelligent work of activism is equally factual and emotional, which it balances beautifully. Extras include a 30-minute film, More Than One Thing (1969), Freidrichs’ commentary and additional interviews.

Alternating new interviews with vintage footage, Geller and Goldfine show that, with smarts and acumen, American capitalists were once innovative, not merely complainers about unfair taxation ruining job creation. Extras include five deleted scenes.

Hosted by comedian Tony Robinson, Time Team comprises a dozen episodes that are a time machine back to Britain’s Roman past, from London to Wales, and including a stop at the famous Hadrian’s Wall, the poster boy for Roman civilization in Britain.

There are visits to Burghley House Chatsworth, Blenheim Palace, Holkham Hall and Boughton House—the last rightly called the English Versailles, not only for its breathtaking baroque buildings and acres of sculpted lawns but also for the treasure trove of incredible paintings, furnishings and sculptures that clutter up its rooms and grounds. The lone extra is a 22-minute behind-the-scenes featurette.

When a resident of the New York State hamlet of Meredith, three hours north of Manhattan, builds a wind farm on his property, reality hits everyone, pro and con: mills are monstrosities, loud, blot out the sun, expensive, and backed by a conglomerate that makes massive profits whether they work or not. This is a remarkable educational primer for residents of Meredith and Tug Hill, a nearby town farther along in wind farming, and sympathetic viewers. Extras include additional interviews.