★Ennio. 156 min. Music Box Films. In Italian & English w/English subtitles. 2023. DVD UPC 5177895202. $29.99.

Ennio Morricone’s name conjures up cinema magic. Starting with Westerns in the 1960s, he was responsible for the scores for more than 500 films over his lengthy, legendary career. Morricone helped transform movie music into a genre all its own with groundbreaking inventiveness. Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso) has made a comprehensive, engrossing, and entertaining celebration of Morricone’s life and craft. A big reason for that is Morricone himself. Deep into his eighties when interviewed, he passionately unspools humorous stories and small details that make this film riveting viewing. A joyous, nonstop barrage of beautiful music and images. VERDICT Phenomenal. Music and film lovers will delight in spending time with the maestro.

Mom and Dad’s Nipple Factory. 81 min. Kino Lorber. 2022. DVD UPC 3832926593. $19.99.

A feel-good story about a Wisconsin dad who made a fake nipple for his wife after she had breast-reconstructive surgery. His tinkering turned into a business, which was largely kept secret from their conservative and religious families and community. Director Justin Johnson, son of the title couple, shows the creation of the realistic nipple and how it has made wearers feel like their old selves before they had cancer. VERDICT This quirky doc evokes a wholesome episode of the television show Shark Tank.

Not a Pretty Picture. 82 min. Criterion. 1976. DVD UPC 1551530061. $29.99.

Martha Coolidge’s bold, ahead-of-its-time meta-documentary gets a much-deserved Criterion Collection rerelease to introduce it to new viewers. In her late twenties during filming, Coolidge made her debut with this examination of her sexual assault when she was 16 in 1962. What is unique about this doc is its construction. Coolidge attempts to narrate her assault as a short film, with actors portraying real characters and events. During filming and rehearsals, frank discussions and interviews are taking place, adding to the harrowing level of intimacy of the sequences being shot. VERDICT An unflinching exploration of personal trauma and the lasting legacy of sexual assault.

★Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy of Love Canal. 115 min. PBS. 2024. DVD UPC 4188704883. $29.99.

Imagine living on top of a hazardous chemical dump and not knowing about it until family members and neighbors start getting sick and dying. Then imagine not being able to move away. That’s the horror the working-class people in Niagara Falls, NY, faced in the late 1970s. Director Jamila Ephron’s film often feels like an ecological thriller as it tells the story of this environmental catastrophe. There are heroes (the angry women who would not back down), villains (an army of obstructive officials and scientists), plot twists, and a rousing story of underdogs rising up against institutions. This well-crafted documentary combines emotion and science in powerful and effective ways. VERDICT The documentary is still shocking and infuriating nearly five decades after the events it depicts.