Archive for the ‘DVD’ Category:
Iron Maiden: Live After Death
I won’t spend much time talking about all of the fantastic things about this video, because everyone already knows how great this classic concert film is. 2 things I will point out that I really like about the DVD release are:
- The 5.1 sound is great. Generally I prefer the stereo track on DVD concert videos, but this is an exception. The 5.1 mix is much better than the stereo mix on this release
- All of the bonus material on Disc 2 is great, and a lot of fun to watch for the first time.
Now on to why I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5:
- I was really hoping they would clean up the video quality for the DVD release. It looks like it was ported over from a slightly faded, grainy VHS tape. With that being said, I am watching this on a big 52″ TV and that may be revealing more of the video limitations than a smaller TV will.
Also, just as a note, the preview video at Amazon clearly shows the LAD concert footage in a widescreen format. The LAD concert is actually in 4:3 format, and not 16:9 as shown in the preview. This is probably a good thing, though, as converting it to 16:9 would have resulted in the cropping of the original aspect ratio.
Even though I think that they could have done a much better job cleaning up the original picture quality, this is still a must have DVD for your concert DVD collection. After all these years, it’s still at the top of the list as one of the best heavy metal concerts ever captured on tape.
The High Kings
At this point, I think people associate David Downes with the Internationally sensational group, Celtic Woman. In that group, what started as a humble beginning, the act of putting together an incredible show for PBS, grew into a world-renowned and world-loved music.
Well, he did it again. Each of these singers and performers are true musicians- they sing, they play, they come from families of musicians, and they perform in such a way that leaves the audience breathless after each song- either because of the excitement in the song, such as “Marie’s Wedding”, “Phil the Fluther’s Ball”, “Rocky Road to Dublin” (to name a few); or by the gentle longing harmonies found in “Galway to Graceland”, “Paddy’s Green Shamrock Shore”, and “The Parting Glass”.
One point I would like to emphasize- this is by no means an attempt to make masculine Celtic Woman; this is not Celtic Man. This is a group of men who each bring a unique sound to make wonderful harmonies found in each of these songs on the DVD. Celtic Woman has a healthy blend of multi-cultural songs- classics, modern, new, and traditional folk ballads. The High Kings only perform Irish ballads, and they bring great credit to the songs they perform.
These songs are not lullabies, by any stretch of the imagination (IMO). “Marie’s Wedding” and “Phil the Fluther’s Ball” (which makes Brian Dunphy sound like a Celtic Elvis- fantastic!) left my heart racing after I heard them one night (OK, about the 4th or 5th time that night)- I honestly got about 2 hours of sleep after listening to these songs. But that’s how good they are. If music can make the listener excited and provoke emotion and enthusiasm, the job of the “music-makers” is fulfilled. If that were the job-description of the High Kings: to leave the listeners and audiences breathless, excited, happy, joyful, then their job is complete.
This music, while the songs are Irish ballads, are not solely meant for the Irish or for those with Irish blood. These are meant for all people to enjoy. Great music does not discriminate among gender, age, or race; and this is great music.
Celine Dion: Live in Las Vegas
That Celine Dion is one of the most generous and sincere artists in music today is pretty well-known. While she has taken a beating from the media and from detractors for being over-the-top in some of her vocals, a bit too dorky in her performances and in interviews, she has remained (sans the chest-beating) true to herself and to the music and fans that made her famous.
This DVD set is not only for those who saw the show and want a copy of it to remember, or for those who didn’t get to see it and wanted to, but it really feels first and foremost like a gift to her die-hard fans. Most others wouldn’t care for the extended amount of footage (over 3 hours worth) dedicated to the trivia about the show, its creation, execution and evolution over the past four years.
I did see the show twice in 2003, and feel that the DVD does a wonderful job of recreating the experience, but if you didn’t get to Vegas and sit in the theater that was specifically built for this show, it’s not the same.
A couple of other differences for those who saw the show: Nature Boy was omitted as the opening and swapped out for the more appropriate “A New Day Has Come” .. I always thought it was odd that the title song from the show was not sung back in 2003. Also removed is the tacky and ill-fitting cover of “Fever”, but added in are “Love Can Move Mountains” (one of my favorites of hers of all time) and “River Deep, Mountain High” in full Tina Turner Tribute mode.
I do regret the omission of two of my personal favorite songs from the shows I saw in 2003 - Je’taime Encore (I Love You Still), one of her most haunting French-language songs she’s ever recorded, and the show-ending “What a Wonderful World” that, as she sang it, had black and white photos of people from the audience on the giant LCD screen behind her. It was a touching and intimate way to end a very theatrical production. You CAN, however, get both of the audio recordings of these two songs on the live CD of the show that was released a few years back.
The fan tribute on here, while often cheesy, is also an endearing look at some of her biggest fans. That Celine was gracious and kind as she met personally with them all, moved to tears by some of their personal ‘thank you’s to her, underscores the grace and humility that accompanies the great gift of song she received.
Celtic Woman - A New Journey
Slane Castle is the perfect backdrop for the second Celtic Woman concert on DVD. The castle is all lit up and the Celtic WomEn are in top form. This was the first appearance of Hayley Westenra as the newest member of CW. I have to admit when I heard she was joining the group, my first thought was “if it’s not broke, why fix it?” I will tell you now, happily, I was wrong. I really enjoyed listening to her sing and thought she made a nice addition to this group of extraordinarily gifted women.
The music is as wonderful as I had expected and I watched the DVD twice today. I had the opportunity to see Celtic Woman in concert this summer. There were several songs that they performed that night that I had never heard them sing. I remember thinking, I hope they are going to record these. They did.
The one song I really wanted them to record was “At the Ceili” a fun little song about women going to a Ceili (party) and seeking out men. It is upbeat and impossible not to want to clap along or tap your foot. Meav, Lisa and Orla sing that song and they really look like they are having a good time doing it.
Another favorite was the “Pacific Slope.” Mairead is playing her fiddle, with the accompaniment of two dueling bodhran players. I love when they do that. The audience is clapping along, while Mairead is dancing around barefooted. She is quite the performer.
I really expected to hate the song sing out, because other reviewers talked about how cheesy it was. I didn’t hate it. It’s a little chipper, but it didn’t make me want to hit the skip button or anything.
This is a wonderful DVD and Slane Castle is a beautiful backdrop. I only gave it 4 stars because of the repeat of songs from the previous DVD and CD. They once again performed Orinoco Flow, Danny Boy, Somewhere and You Raise Me Up. While I love those songs, I was sorry to see them appear again. The arrangement and everything remained the same. I would have preferred four new songs.
Lost Highway
If you are able to play Region 2 PAL discs (as I am), the German edition of Lost Highway on DVD is the way to go. The English soundtrack is included in Dolby 5.1, and (unlike the Canadian edition) it’s in W-I-D-E-S-C-R-E-E-N. Another review of this disc convinced me to purchase a copy from Amazon.de. Surpisingly, Amazon.de recognized my Amazon.com login! And placing the order was pretty easy, even though my German is almost non-existant.The picture and sound quality are good (though not exquisite), and the disc even has some extras - which, on Lynch DVDs, are usually scarce. The sound track does appear to be slightly out of sync with the picture, but that could be an artifact of converting PAL to NTSC on the fly. What I wouldn’t give for a multi-standard widescreen monitor…
The film itself is a dark psychological study similar in many ways to David Lynch’s more recent Mulholland Drive. It’s about obsession, murder, guilt, secret identities, and the demons that often drive people to desparate, destructive acts. Don’t try to make sense of it the first time through; just go with it. Then, on repeat viewings, look at it as a symbolic map of a man’s mind stressed beyond the breaking point. Apply a little Jungian psychology, and its meaning should, if not exactly come clear, at least brush past you close enough to touch.
Lost Highway is an underrated masterpiece of psychological horror, and not to be missed by fans of David Lynch! C’mon, you can get through the German…
La Vie en Rose
Just like the singer herself, `La Vie en Rose’ is a magical and vivacious entertainment. Edith Piaf (Marion Cotillard) had two things in life that she treasured: love and singing. This Biopic French movie deftly hop-scotches between several time frames, giving us a composite of her life.
Rose had to grow up quickly and early, for custody was an unstable affair where she could be brought up by her mother, a street singer; her father, a circus performer; or her grandmother, Titune, who resided at a brothel. The breaks are few and far between. Later, hitting the street with friend, Simone, they make ends meet in the thirties as street singers getting tips in a wealthy Paris neighborhood. Misfortunes mix with her rise as a singing sensation, but she finds solace with her music and her champagne. As a respite she has a torrid, yet tender affair with Marcel, a Morrocan boxer and pig farmer, who makes her an adulterous interest.
Featuring an expert portrayal by Cotillard, the movie has a stature and fluidity of an epic. Before the film gets too heavy handed with heartache, there are captivating scenes that resonate with the glory and glamour of her art, especially showing the spell she casts on her audience. There’s no question that if this movie was made in America, it would be a Best Film Oscar contender.
Once (2007)
This is one of those rare movies that defies any neat classification. It isn’t a traditional love story by any stretch. Though it is filled with music from beginning to end it isn’t really a musical. In the traditional musical characters will suddenly burst into song but it represented an interruption in the otherwise semi-realistic tone of the movie–think of Gene Kelly in SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN. But all the songs in this film are in line with the overall realism of the film, they are all songs that occur in normal life.
I don’t want to reveal much in the way of details about the movie since much of the joy of the film is discovering the ways it defies expectations. In broad outline it is about a street singer who has put his emotional life on cold storage because of a broken heart and the woman he meets who helps him open himself back up to life. During the day in Dublin he sings familiar standards for tips but at night, when the crowds thin out, he sings his own original material. We see him this way for the first time through the eyes of the Girl as she first meets him (in the credits the two lead characters, never addressed by name, are listed as Guy and Girl). He, played by Frames’ frontman Glen Hansard, is singing an absolutely stunning song with intense passion. As he finishes, the camera pulls back to reveal her standing there. From thenceforward we see the two of them get to know each other as they perform a string of amazing songs together.
Neither Glen Hansard nor Markéta Irglová is a professional actor. Hansard did have a prominent role in another great Dublin film about music, THE COMMITMENTS. In that one Hansard played the band’s guitarist Outspan Foster, one of the two original members of the band (he is the one who resists the suggestion of the other original member to call their band A Flock of Budgies). In real life, of course, Hansard has long been the resident genius of the great Irish rock band The Frames and both one of the great singers in rock as well as an absolutely brilliant songwriter (neither of which anyone who sees this movie will be inclined to doubt). While visiting Prague a couple of years back he met a precocious teenager who was none other than Markéta Irglová. One thing led to another and within a year of their meeting they recorded and album together entitled THE SWELL SEASON. Next they appeared in this film by John Carney, himself a former member of The Frames. So their time together has been amazingly productive (she also appeared on the critically acclaimed new album by the Frames, THE COST).
The film is filled with wonderful little moments, like the first meeting (driven by Hansard’s magnificent performance of “Say It To Me Now”). Or the way the sound engineer recording the Guy’s song goes from disinterest to interest as he realizes just how good he is. Or the marvelous extended shot that follows the Girl from a convenience store where she has bought batteries for a CD player down the street for a few blocks as she sings the lyrics she has written for a song the Guy has written the music for.
This truly is a very special film. It does not have the greatest production values; indeed, it feels like the low budget that it is. It works because the two leads, while not professional actors, have a wonderful chemistry both romantically and musically and because Glen Hansard is one of the finest songwriters around. In fact, the soundtrack for the film has to go down as one of the greatest soundtracks ever released. I would urge anyone who loves the music in this film to investigate not merely the soundtrack for the film, but both THE SWELL SEASON, the album by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, and two albums by the Frames, FITZCARRALDO and THE COST.
Update 8/8/07
I just read today on IMDB.com that Twentieth Century Fox, which owns the distribution rights to the movie, has been so pleased with its performance so far - nearly $7 million in box office on only 140 screens - that they are going to release it to a much larger number of screens and give it a publicity push. Obviously this means that this gem will be granted a much larger audience. Hopefully it will garner the kind of acclaim it deserves.
The Sound of Music
It’s been fashionable to make fun of THE SOUND OF MUSIC even before it came out, when, during its filming, Christopher Plummer reportedly referred to it sneeringly as “The Sound of Mucas.” Pauline Kael’s infamous vitriolic (and very funny) review of it sealed her reputation as one of America’s grand culture mavens–and the film itself as soulless and manipulative.
But this reputation is largely unearned. Certainly the children are at times hard to take, especially Charmian Carr, who seems simultaneously vixenish–”tooooooo wriiiiiiiite onnnnnnn”–and wholesome, as if she were a mutant hybrid of Ann-Margret and Doris Day. But the film is extremely visually inventive, especially in its contrasts of the cramped spaces of the Captain’s villa and the beautiful open exteriors of Salzburg and the surrounding Alps. And most critics have overlooked that the film’s scenarists have worked in an audience surrogate to sneer at Maria’s goody-goodyness in the person of the Countess. Memorably played by Eleanor Parker, the Countess is given to all kinds of snide comments when things get too sugary (”My dear, is there anything you *don’t* do?”).
Best of all, the film has at its center the amazing Julie Andrews, who makes the best Maria imaginable. She really does make you believe in Maria’s kindness and simplicity, and her love of the outdoors. In her two most iconic moments–spinning on the moutaintop during the title number, and leading the children at top speed through a footbridge during “Do Re Mi”– her arms are characteristically spread wide, accepting the entirety of the beautiful world around her. And has anybody who has seen her ever forgotten how she closes “Do Re Mi,” hitting that perfect “fa” as she leaps up the steps? This performance alone forever cements Andrews’s status as an icon in world cinema.