Musical Movie News

The Unanswered Question - Six Talks at Harvard by Leonard (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-29T23:25:00.000-07:00

The Unanswered Question - Six Talks at Harvard by Leonard Bernstein

B00005TPL8

Kultur

20 November, 2001

Always absorbing and frequently brilliant, Leonard Bernstein's The Unanswered Question is a very lucid and convincing discussion of music's history and forms, with particular emphasis on modern music. It addresses the average intelligent listener who is not musically trained but wants to know what makes music work--what is meant, for example, by "tonal" and "atonal." It requires some concentration, but Bernstein, a superb teacher, keeps technical jargon to a minimum, illustrates what he means with musical examples and graphics, and repeats key points.

Delivered in 1973, the talks were transcribed for a book, but in it Bernstein insists "The pages that follow were written not to be read, but listened to," really an endorsement of the video edition. The talks are, in fact, performances. Television was always kind to Bernstein; he had magnetism and knew how to use it. To illustrate various points in his analyses, he plays the piano frequently, sings occasionally, and conducts significant works of key composers: Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Wagner, Ravel, Debussy, Ives, Mahler, and Stravinsky.

Bernstein traces the development of music from its origins to the 20th-century struggle between tonality (championed notably by Stravinsky) and atonalism (represented mainly by Schoenberg). The last two talks, devoted to these composers, are particularly enlightening, but all six are outstanding. He argues persuasively that humans are born with an ability to grasp musical forms, and that rules of musical syntax are rooted in nature--in mathematically measurable relations between tones and overtones.

These talks are a key document. They coincide chronologically, as cause and/or symptom, with the movement of America's leading composers back from Schoenbergian forms toward a tonal orientation. Bernstein predicts and promotes this movement, which is still in progress. He is clearly an advocate of tonality, but he discusses atonal music with sympathy and understanding. --Joe McLellan

Lenny develops the common analogy with language to explain to a mostly non-musician audience what music is all about. So he talks about music in terms of linguistics ... musical phonology, musical syntax, musical semantics. 

In his ramblings on musical syntax, he extensively uses Chomsky's transformational grammar - linguistic transformations from deep structure to surface structure according to grammatical rules - to illuminate musical transformations ... and, as he says, maybe even the secret of the creativity of the human mind in general. 

But his ramblings on musical semantics are simply mindblowing --- he likens the variation of musical motives to linguistic metaphor. Just read what some of the best contemporary linguists like Fauconnier/Turner and Lakoff/Johnson write today about conceptual blending and metaphor, and you'll realize that Lenny's intuitions were right on even in 1973. 

What a treat, and a feast for gourmet thinkers and listeners!

This set has been a much-treasured discovery for me. Anybody with
an interest in music should have it for a better understanding of
musical structure.

If you want a survey of western music that reveals both the deep inner dynamics of music and the external flow and inter-dynamics of the history of music from Mozart to 20th century and that afterwards lifts you to a higher plane of music appreciation and enjoyment, then you've found it here. The ideas Berstein presents and the way he presents them are indeed intriguiing, engrossing and inspired (he exudes with the typical Berstein genious). But the truly moving, revealing and enjoyable parts I find are Bernstein as the conductor (one of the greats of all time in my opinion); the lectures are interspersed with Bernstein's conducting of full length pieces such as the Mozart G minor symphony, Beethovens Sixth Symphony, Belioz, particulary Wagner's Liebestod, Schonberg and Stravinsky -- these are truly marvelous and opens your eyes wider and wider each time to the sense of what music making/conducting is and, indeed, what music is. His analysis of the 20th century crisis in music, with correlation of the significance of Mahler as the end of the tonal era, brings to light the rationale behind major movements as well as imparting a sense of understanding of the philosophical pattern in 20th century music. I highly recommend this to anyone with more than a casual interest in music.

Newsies (Collector's Edition)

B00005OCMS

Disney Studios

15 January, 2002

Except for feature-length animation, the musical has gone the way of the dinosaur. The Walt Disney company took a stab at reviving the live-action musical in 1992 with Newsies, a throwback picture with a curious subject. In 1899, the pint-sized newsboys delivering the New York papers go on strike against the unfair practices of news magnates Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. The production is heavy on kiddie humor, although Christian Bale (the child star of Spielberg's Empire of the Sun) is charismatic as one of the older leaders of the revolt. The adult stars don't fare as well, with Robert Duvall doddering around as Pulitzer and Ann-Margret and Bill Pullman doing decorative duty. The film was not well received when first released, but hindsight reveals its charm (and allowed the young target audience to catch up with the picture on video). The first-time director is Kenny Ortega, the choreographer of Dirty Dancing, who brings plenty of energy to the action. --Robert Horton

I loved this movie. I borrowed it from a friend and promply purchased it. I could barely wait to recieve it so I could watch it again. The cast is stellar as is the choreography and music. I love the song "Seize the Day" which I heard on a Disney compilation (I've also got the soundtrack for the movie now).

I liked this flim it was very realistic.It has a EXCELLENT plot and the acting is OK the casting could of been better.I gave it three star for the singing as a "MUSICAL" it sucks.

Great movie, good inspiration. This is a great story of newsies who decided that the people at the top of the news corporations were being unfair by raising the price of newspapers for the newsies. There were some akward moments in this, but overall a great movie!

Evita 6304806418Disney Studios24 March, 1998After more than a decade of (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

Evita

6304806418

Disney Studios

24 March, 1998

After more than a decade of false starts and several potential directors, the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical finally made it to the big screen with Alan Parker (The Commitments) at the helm and Madonna in the coveted title role of Argentina's first lady, Eva Perón. A triumph of production design, costuming, cinematography, and epic-scale pageantry, the film follows the rise of Eva Perón to the level of supreme social and political celebrity in the 1940s. Like Madonna, Perón was a material girl (she was only 33 when she died); she was instrumental in the political success of her husband, Juan Perón (Jonathan Pryce). But Eva was also a supremely tragic figure whose life was essentially hollow at its core despite the lavish benefits of her nearly goddess-like status. The film has a similar quality--it's visually astonishing but emotionally distant, and benefits greatly from the singing commentary of Ché (Antonia Banderas), who serves as a passionate chorus to guide the viewer through the elaborate parade of history. --Jeff Shannon

This movie is one of the best that I have ever seen. It is about Argentina's former first lady Eva Peron(Evita). She starts out as a poor, destitute woman and through hard work and a touch of good fortune she works her way into the heart of Peron. They are soon married, and Evita (played by Madonna) starts her amazing story. She inspired many, helped the needy, and stood as a vision of hope for all. This movie is a definite must and a great part of any collection.

A compelling review of her life, done by Madonna and done very well. Antonio Bandaras was supurb in his depiction of Che. If you are an Evita fan this is a must see movie and a must for a collection to be watched over and over.

Thoroughly enjoyed the movie and the music. Both Madonna and Antonio Banderos should have received Oscars for their performances.Highly recommend the production.

Grease (Widescreen Edition)

B00003CXAE

Paramount Home Video

24 September, 2002

Riding the strange '50s nostalgia wave that swept through America during the late 1970s (caused by TV shows like Happy Days and films like American Graffiti), Grease became not only the word in 1978, but also a box-office smash and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, this entertaining film adaptation of the Broadway musical received another successful theatrical release, which included visual remastering and a shiny new Dolby soundtrack. In this 2002 DVD release, Grease lovers can also now see it in the correct 2:35 to 1 Panavision aspect ratio, and see retrospective interviews with cast members and director Randal Kleiser. All these stylistic touches are essential to the film's success. Without the vibrant colors, unforgettably campy and catchy tunes (like "Greased Lightning," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want"), and fabulously choreographed, widescreen musical numbers, the film would have to rely on a silly, cliché-filled plot that we've seen hundreds of times. As it is, the episodic story about the romantic dilemmas experienced by a group of graduating high school seniors remains fresh, fun, and incredibly imaginative.

The young, animated cast also deserves a lot of credit, bringing chemistry and energy to otherwise bland material. John Travolta, straight from his success in Saturday Night Fever, knows his sexual star power and struts, swaggers, sings, and dances appropriately, while Olivia Newton-John's portrayal of virgin innocence is the only decent acting she's ever done. And then there's Stockard Channing, spouting sexual double-entendres as Rizzo, the bitchy, raunchy leader of the Pink Ladies, who steals the film from both of its stars. Ignore the sequel at all costs. --Dave McCoy

by Shaniqua Wright.

The best part of Grease is the romance part. The reason it's the best part is because every time Danny and Sandy break up with each other they either sing or cry back to each other. To me it's a sad part. When Danny tried to kiss Sandy in the drive-in
movie, Sandy got out of the car and ran off. Danny ran after her but he couldn't find her. So he started singing a song called "Sandy", singing that he was lonely.

Another interesting part in Grease is the prom night. On the prom night Danny and Sandy were dance partners. When Sonny and Rita came to the prom. Sonny grabbed Sandy when she was dancing with Danny. Danny kept dancing and went to grab Sandy. Rita grabbed Danny and started dancing with him. Sandy left the party. Danny and Rita won the trophy, but Danny was hurt because after they won the trophy, they had to slow dance together. Danny wanted to win with Sandy.

The last part of Grease I'm going to tell you about is when the teenagers went out on their dates. Danny and Sandy were dating while Kenichie and Betty were on their date. While Betty, Frenchy, Kenichie, Doody, Sonny, Putzie, and Marty were dancing, Danny and Sandy had snuck in. They sat at a table and put the menus up so no one would come over. The waitress came over to take their order. Danny ordered a bunch of food. Sandy ordered the same. Danny asked her if she was going to eat all of that. Doody came over there, then Betty, Frenchy, Kenichie, Sonny, Putzie, and Marty came and crowded Danny and Sandy. Danny was disappointed because he wanted to be alone on their date. Kenichie and Betty got into an argument with Kenichie because he put his arm around Frenchy. Betty got mad and threw strawberry milkshake in Kenickie's face.

To find out more about the movie, rent it or buy it.

Okay, Here's the Deal... I was almost a teenager when this film came out, and I had never seen a movie before or since that was SO Over Hyped and WAY WAY Overplayed as this Film. But You got to look at it like this: It came out in '78, and at that time, America was in Love with the 50's... take for Example, "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley". But just like now, people got into the current "IT" film, so of Course Grease became "The Word". But come on, I thought those stupid Doo-Wopp songs were really annoying then... and I Sure don't dig'em any better now! I didn't grow up in the 50's, but I kinda get the feeling that it was nothing like what they portrayed it to be in this movie. Also, I think it's a pretty bad message to show that You have to go from being a Good Poodle Skirt Wearing Girl to being a Gum Chewin', Cigarette Smokin' BIMBO to get the Leading Man. And Don't tell Me, "Oh, Chill Out Man, It's just a Movie".... I don't think Ossie and Harriette would have been too keen on that. ;)

Grease is without a doubt the best movie in the world. Perhaps my crush on John Travoltra rates it higher in my opinion, but I am postive that everybody who has seen it agrees with it's perfect cast and enjoyful songs and lyrics. I believe that this movie earns more than just 5 stars.

Fender Presents: Getting Started on Acoustic Guitar -- A Guide (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-22T04:04:00.000-07:00

Fender Presents: Getting Started on Acoustic Guitar -- A Guide for Beginners

B0000639G8

Hal Leonard Publishi

26 February, 2002

The fender gettiing started on acoustic guitar is easy to follow the lessons allow the student to practice at your own pace the graphics are easy to play along with.

This DVD is great! I play electric guitar and I use this DVD, it doesn't make much of a differnece really, its still a guitar. Anyways, this DVD covers a lot of stuff and the practice tracks really make it so much more fun to work on what you're learning, especially during the bar chord lessons when it gets so painful to just play the chord and hold it, but with the music it just makes it worth it.
However, one down side of this DVD is the lack of theory, Keith Wyatt tends to just say stuff like "This is C7" or "that's the minor pentatonic scale".... and I'm left with an empty space going "wait, what's with the names? they sound differennt I know but whats the difference between major, minor, 7th, etc.?!" I guess I'll have to look elsewhere for music theory :\....would have been great if it was included. However, I still think this is a really good DVD for beginners, I'm a beginner, i started off with the "LEarning Guitar for Dummies DVD" and moved on to this and I must say I prefer this, its more progressive in its teaching..

I am a guitar lover, and I play a little bit for fun. Before I bought this DVD, I knew about 25 chords, and I played rhythm guitar by ear. Not only was I looking for something to help me hone my skills, but I needed a beginning instructional DVD for my children. I play an Ibanez PF Acoustic-Electric, and my kids share a 3/4 Fender Acoustic. My 3 oldest children, were 14, 12, and 9 when they started using this DVD. They all play piano, and want to be able to keep up with me on the guitar.

This DVD got them off to a very good start. Keith Wyatt is an excellent teacher. His style is well-paced and clear. He covers a lot of little details without talking too much or overwhelming the student. He makes it look very easy, which can be frustrating, but anyone can apply his techniques with practice. He actually demonstrates most of the lessons on electric guitar, but it's all good. The first menu has a lesson on tuning, and gives the pitches for you to match. 

He teaches basic chords and chord patterns in the easier keys. He also covers scales, strumming and rhythms, along with the simple use of power chords. There are practice tracks to play along with, and with the random access of DVD you can skip around to any lessons you like. There are also lessons in picking, fretting, and soloing. And he reviews all of these things in 3 genres - rock, blues, and country.

I have learned a lot new things from this DVD, and my children have a solid foundation of guitar basics and even a little music theory. I've gone about as far as this DVD can take me, and I'll be ready for something new before long. but my kids have only scratched the surface. As their hands grow and their coordination improves, they are getting great instruction and exploring avenues that were unavailable to me as a young guitarist.

I recommend "Getting Started..." to anyone looking to hone their guitar skills and fill in the gaps. I feel like I can play on a whole different level since I started using this DVD and practicing the techniques taught by Keith. Beginners won't need a level two DVD for at least a year if they really take this one seriously. It's a good investment, and while it won't turn you into John Mayer or B.B. King, it will really get you started!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

0783240287

Universal Studios

30 October, 2001

Following the successful 1998 video release of Cats comes another Andrew Lloyd Webber blockbuster musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and it's a savvy choice. It hasn't been represented on film before, it's short enough (78 minutes) to present without cuts, and it has the star power of former teen icon Donny Osmond, who played over 1,800 performances across North America. Rather than record a live performance, Cats director David Mallet conceived Joseph as a film, though one that is based strongly on codirector Steven Pimlott's 1991 London revival and relies more on camerawork than venturing beyond its stagelike sets.

Lloyd Webber's first project with lyricist Tim Rice was originally written in 1968 as a school cantata; accordingly, this film uses a framing sequence of a school recital, with an audience of clapping, singing kids and members of the faculty playing the roles. The Old Testament tale of Joseph and his coat of many colors gets a splashy, vigorous treatment with an energetic cast, Las Vegas-style glitz, and catchy, eclectic songs, including "Any Dream Will Do," "Close Every Door," the peppy "Go, Go, Go Joseph," and various bits of country, calypso, and Elvis. Osmond is perfect in the title role, with a strong voice and winning persona, while London stage veteran Maria Friedman performs well in the central role of the narrator. Richard Attenborough appears (and sings a little) as Jacob, and Joan Collins makes a brief, nonsinging cameo.

Joseph certainly isn't revolutionary musical theater, but if you view it as a kids' show, it's a silly good time (though there are poignant moments too). Parents should note, however, that this production might warrant a little discretion due to one suggestive scene and some risqué costumes. --David Horiuchi

If you want something biblically accurate and serious...DON'T BUY THIS. But if you long ago realized that no movie, play, show, etc. with EVER be accurate and you have a good sense of humor, get this!! It is an extravaganza of colors and music. Just about every kind of singing is in here (even Elvis!). I found it to be an utter riot!

Even for the musical genre, even for the Christian theme genre, this movie is silly beyond words, without being funny.

It is "Springtime For Hitler" as envisaged by Zero Mostel in the Producers with every trite dance move ever invented.

Joseph's brothers as would be Elvis/Billy Ray Cyrus impersonators takes the cake.


It's funny, witty, and just so gosh darn catchy! I walked around humming these songs for days! 
This movie is filled with little jokes and ridiculously simple stage props and scenary.(one example is that a scene where Joseph's brothers kill a goat, all it is is a stuffed animal, they simply take off the legs and call it dead!)

The music is very cute and well done. Andrew Lloyd Webber never fails to provide snappy yet dramatic melodies.

Donny Osmund is a fantastic actor who believably portrays Joseph from a young man in his late teens to a completely mature over 50 year old adult. He has done a brilliant job of being both funny and amazingly dramatic, and without confusing the two. He is very talented in his voice and was very pleasing to listen to.

Joseph ATATD can also be good for parents trying to teach bible stories to their children. For one thing it gives a very good outline of the original bible story but it does it in a fun way without ever TRYING to. They would never know it was a bible story without being told so.

This is one of my all time favorite plays and I hope one day i'll get to see it live!

The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition) B000ADS64EWarner Home Video25 (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-21T23:02:00.000-07:00

The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition)

B000ADS64E

Warner Home Video

25 October, 2005

When it was released during Hollywood's golden year of 1939, The Wizard of Oz didn't start out as the perennial classic it has since become. The film did respectable business, but it wasn't until its debut on television that this family favorite saw its popularity soar. And while Oz's TV broadcasts are now controlled by media mogul Ted Turner (who owns the rights), the advent of home video has made this lively musical a mainstay in the staple diet of great American films. Young Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), her dog, Toto, and her three companions on the yellow brick road to Oz--the Tin Man (Jack Haley), the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), and the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger)--have become pop-culture icons and central figures in the legacy of fantasy for children. As the Wicked Witch who covets Dorothy's enchanted ruby slippers, Margaret Hamilton has had the singular honor of scaring the wits out of children for more than six decades. The film's still as fresh, frightening, and funny as it was when first released. It may take some liberal detours from the original story by L. Frank Baum, but it's loyal to the Baum legacy while charting its own course as a spectacular film. Shot in glorious Technicolor, befitting its dynamic production design (Munchkinland alone is a psychedelic explosion of color and decor), The Wizard of Oz may not appeal to every taste as the years go by, but it's required viewing for kids of all ages. --Jeff Shannon

That's right, I'd give this new Special Edition Wizard of Oz 5 billion stars if that were an option. As an Oz fan, I have multiple copies of the movie, but won't hestitate to purchase this one. It will be very nice to have so much information in one outstanding package. The Wizard of Oz is, undoubtedly, a classic that inspires all ages from 2 to 102! AND this version has John Fricke! Who wouldn't love that?! :-)

I've already pre-ordered this ultra edition. If what I have read about the restoration is true, this will indeed be the premiere edition of the movie.

I also want to through in that whoever has written about a widescreen release needs to get their head checked. Yikes. Widescreen was created to contrast television. The Wizard of Oz is being presented in it's glorious Full Screen Original version. 

The Wizard of Oz is one of my favorite classic movies and I used to have the movie on video tape but I now have it on DVD. I have the old DVD release and I love it and I'm glad that I gave my old video tape away and bought the DVD! Judy Garland was superb and so was the rest of the cast! The DVD is really very good, it has been lovenly restored and the the colors and sound are great and we get things like deleted scenes which is very rare for an old movie because they usually didn't keep stuff like that. FYI: Like some previous reviewers I have read several reviews by people who are whining about the DVD's not showing The Wizard of Oz in Widescreen and are demanding a widescreen DVD and I felt That I also needed to comment. Okay, I don't know when other countrys that make movies came out with widescreen movies but I do know that the Wizard of Oz which debuted in movie theaters way back in 1939 wasn't filmed in widescreen! It was filmed in fullscreen and the first American widescreen movie didn't come out until 1953 so some people seriously need to do some research and get their facts straight before they review an old movie like The Wizard of Oz!

Jesus Christ Superstar (Special Edition)

B00028HBIO

Universal Studios Ho

31 August, 2004

Ted Neeley makes for a wimpy looking Jesus in Norman Jewison's screen adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice "rock opera," which was a smash on stage in the early '70s. Jewison (Other People's Money) adds some good exterior settings in the desert, but Lloyd Webber and Rice's dialogue-free story (everything is sung, as in a real opera), with its quasi-profundities about the inner demons of principal figures in the life of Christ, is the real hook. Yvonne Elliman sings the show's best-known song, "I Don't Know How to Love Him." --Tom Keogh

It was a gift for my uncle, I buy it because he told me that it was a very good movie and he always wanted it since 70's, I think it has to be a good one. Good music too.

I had the immense pleasure of seeing this Rock opera with both Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson in the late 90's when they put the revival on the road and I must say that 25 some odd years later that they had not lost any of their musical chops. (Although Neeley saved most of the usual high notes for the Garden of Gethsemane scene, Anderson let fly everything he had throughout the entire show.) I have owned this musical in many of it's numerous incarnations and this is still my favorite outweighing even the original London cast's famous brown soundtrack cover. (which was my first ever 8 track no less!)

The idea for Norman Jewison to shoot on location in the Holy Land gave a much needed air of authenticity on a concept that very easily could have fallen flat on it's face it not executed correctly on film. The editing and cinematography were beautiful. The vastness of the landscape especially when Judas is alone with his thoughts, isolated is a very telling scene that puts humanity behind Judas that is rarely examined. (His struggle with his love for Christ and what drove him to betray him is hardly ever looked at in depth.) 

Caiaphas and Pilate portrayal were excellent as well. Caiaphas had such an ultra cool demeanor and booming voice, as he demands the disposal of Jesus because of the grip the Pharisees had on the land was slipping away. Pilate's anguish is conveyed when he asks Jesus to say the word to save both he and himself finally having washing his hands of the entire thing in surrender is exhausting. One of the most impressive yet hardly noted scenes to me is with Simon Zealotes although limited to one song, it clearly showed the mania, excitement and zeal (excuse the pun) that Christ's followers had for him. The look in Simon's eyes is a bit frightening even to Christ himself when they are eye to eye but the joyous exuberance of everyone is infectious (like a group of children seeing Santa). ...ironic comparison huh, but it fits! Everyone's performance was strong and commanding except for Yvonne Elliman's which I have always thought was seriously lacking. She seemed to have the same expression in every scene. The song "I don't know how to love him" is a wonderful song but her weepiness in every single song as well as in "Try not to get worried" is way too distracting for me that it almost blows the feel of the moment. 

However the biggest highlight for me is scene at the Garden of Gethsemane. The pleading and then resignation to the situation that Neely executes is extremely intense. Between the editing of the various works depicting Christ's Crucifixion and the orchestration that accompanies it is such a powerful scene it can bring you to tears. 

The music and movie are still phenomenal. The concept and the execution were all unique for the time that it was introduced and I don't know that I have seen the like since, when it comes to musicals on screen from then to this point in time. It's fresh telling of the Biblical story of Christ gave a much-needed jolt to the youth of its time. 

And to those who don't think that Christians like this movie, I , a devout Christian and my entire family (2 of whom are Ministers) LOVE IT! It helped to lead us where we are today.

Listening to Ted Neeley's grief as he struggles through the commentary only a month after the death of Carl Anderson is a deeply moving experience. Listening to his and director Norman Jewison's recollections brought me back to many childhood memories that I had forgotten. Eavesdropping on this meeting of two old friends has reaffirmed my belief that Jesus Christ Superstar is more than a movie or an opera; it is a living story that continues to sustain millions of people across the globe.

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella B00004Z4SEDisney Studios14 November, 2000More is not (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-21T18:02:00.000-07:00

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella

B00004Z4SE

Disney Studios

14 November, 2000

More is not necessarily better. A glitzy Hollywood cast and a big budget did not improve the wonderful 1957 teleplay (or its equally charming 1964 remake) upon which this version is based. This is partly because Brandy, cast in the title role, cannot act. Not helping matters are Whoopi Goldberg as the prince's mother and Jason Alexander as his valet. Their shtick wears thin very quickly. However, Paolo Montalban is charismatic as the prince, and Whitney Houston plays a fairy godmother with pizzazz. The production cost millions, and is certainly lavish, but the whole affair feels forced and overdone, reminding one of a prom queen wearing too much makeup. It does deserve credit for a multi-ethnic cast, the addition of two new songs and a hip attitude. However, the 1964 version (the original was not taped) is much sweeter and more romantic. Originally released as Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. --Rochelle O'Gorman

I bought this movie so my 3 year old African-american daughter would see a image of a black princess but it turned out to be so much more. We watch this movie every day(I have had it a month) she put her usual Dora aside and this is the only DVD she wants to watch. She know All the words to all the songs anfd the strange thing is if she hears another song by Whitney Houson on the radio she knows "that is the fairy godmother" the cast is Great she loves Whoppi as the Queen, Bernedette Peter play a great evil stepmother and Jason Alexander is Great. Brandy comes across very refreshing mild but she also has a strong side. My daughter thinks she is beautiful.
This is a must have for every little girl.

Our family loved "Cinderella" with Brandy from the first viewing on T.V. 
When we tried to find it on DVD in the stores, it was no where to be found on DVD. Amazon had it! Love it!

The 1964 version with Leslie Ann Warren was always a favorite of mine until I saw this one. Brandy is not a great actress or singer but she did a good job with both in this movie.

Natalie Deselle was equally charming as the plumper step sister.

I wanted to own the DVD for the behind the scenes. It was fascinating to watch how the sets were designed and the processes.

The 1964 version was wonderful but as an African American this one is closer to my heart and something I can better relate to.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

0783240287

Universal Studios

30 October, 2001

Grease 2 B00008Z45BParamount Home Video10 June, 2003Too often, sequels to (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

Grease 2

B00008Z45B

Paramount Home Video

10 June, 2003

Too often, sequels to popular films simply rehash the original film; call it the carbon-copy syndrome. Grease 2 suffers from no such malady, having almost nothing to do with the original film. Sure, it focuses on teens at Rydell High, the imaginary school from the first film, which starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. But other than a few of the teachers, all of the characters are new and so are the songs--and more's the pity. By the time Grease hit the big screen, it already had had almost a decade as a theatrical musical, more than enough time to hone its mock-rock & roll score. But this sequel, which stars among others a then-unknown Michelle Pfeiffer, Maxwell Caulfield, and Lorna Luft (Judy Garland's daughter), has music that's neither fish nor fowl, neither rock nor Broadway. Meanwhile, the plot is a reversal of the first film, in which a cool guy fell for a square girl. In this one, the square is newcomer Caulfield, who catches the eye of tough girl Pfeiffer and her Pink Lady gang. The appearance of such pseudo-stars of the '50s, like Tab Hunter, is supposed to lend a nostalgic kick, but let's just say that Grease 2 slides almost instantly into obscurity. --Marshall Fine

NO SANDY!! ITS INSANE THEY TOOK THE BEST ONE AND DIDNT PUT HER BACK!! HORIBLE! UPSETTING!!

I love Grease (as a little kid, Olivia Newton-John was the first to show me there's more - a whole lot more - to girls than cooties), and I was quite prepared to go the rest of my life without seeing Grease 2, a movie I've never heard a good thing about. Then a friend tells me I need to watch it, that she loves Grease 2, and I see it has Lorna Luft in it (whose mother - Judy Garland - I adore), and so I watch it. For the love of everything ever considered cool, how did this happen? How can you take one of the coolest movies ever made and turn around five years later and release what has to be the worst sequel in motion picture history? Apparently, it took five years of hard work to take everything Grease did so right and figure out a way to do it all so wrong. The story, the music, the acting - in a word, dreadful; no, make that two words - embarrassingly dreadful. Grease 2 is even worse than Xanadu. 

People say you shouldn't compare this to Grease; you've got to judge Grease 2 on its own merits (it stinks whichever way you look at it, by the way). How can you not compare this to Grease? If they didn't want me to compare this to Grease, they wouldn't have called it Grease 2, they wouldn't have taken me back to Rydell High, they wouldn't have resurrected characters like Principal McGee, Coach Calhoun, and Frenchie, they wouldn't have passed off this new kid from England as Sandy's cousin, and they surely wouldn't have thrown me back amongst the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds. Speaking of the T-Birds, it hurts to see how far they fell in a mere two years (the movie is set in 1961, two years after Grease). Johnny (Adrian Zmed) and Goose (Christopher McDonald) are made in the image of Danny and Kenickie, but they just don't measure up. These new T-Birds turn tail and run whenever Crater-face and his gang of greasers come roaring up. 

Everything is reversed in this movie, especially the central plot. Here you have a new, goody-goody male student having to transform himself into something "bad" in order to win over the less than sophisticated girl. Maxwell Caulfield isn't all that bad as Michael Carrington, but the guy's got as much charisma as a toasted cheese sandwich. Stephanie (Michelle Pfeiffer) won't give him the time of day - even if she did, the Pink Lady code wouldn't let her date him. And so it is that Michael decides to transform himself into T-Bird material. Once he has a motorcycle and learns how to ride it, he runs circles around the greasers and wins Stephanie's heart - but only as Mr. Excitement in goggles, not as himself. What will happen when she finds out her danger man is Michael?

I won't even get into the whole subject of the big talent show, except to question why kids who see themselves as cool not only make fools of themselves willingly, but begin practicing some eight months before the actual show. I will get into the subject of the music, though. I don't know what this music is; it isn't 50's music, and it isn't 60's music. It's horrible, and all the dance numbers that go along with it are even more horrible. 

Count me among the untold number of Grease fans who refuse to recognize Grease 2 as a sequel. I'm going to have to watch the original again - and soon - just to reestablish a sense of equilibrium in my life.

When i was little, i watched this movie NON stop. I know all the words to the songs! They are cheesy & it's NOT the best script but it's still a movie that i will always remember & will always enjoy. It's NOT grease 1 but that's what i like about it (although, grease is a classic and always will be). Regardless of that, i am happy to have just ordered it & plan on watching it real soon...I may even sing to the songs haha. But it's a good movie for those who are NOT critics. If you like movies that are cheesy, then you will like this. Everybody has different tastes, so some people will not like this movie.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Full Screen Edition)

0792839749

Mgm/Ua Studios

19 September, 2000

This remastered, pan-and-scan 30th-anniversary edition of that kiddie-car caper is flawed but solid family fare. It retains a quaint charm while some of the songs--including the title tune--are quite hummable. A huge plus is Dick Van Dyke, who is extremely appealing as an eccentric inventor around the turn of the century. With nimble fingers and a unique way of looking at the world, he invents for his children a magic car that floats and flies. Or does he? The special effects are tame by today's standards, and the film is about 20 minutes too long--but its enthusiasm charms. The script was cowritten by Roald Dahl and based on the novel by Ian Fleming, best known for his James Bond adventures. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Great Movie. My wife is Chinese. She likes watching reruns of "Diagnosis Murder" with Dick Van Dyke. She thinks Dr. Slone dances well and is funny. It ocurred to me that she never saw Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, or the Dick Van Dyke show, so she had no idea why Dr. Slone was so witty and good with the ol' bamboo. I bought Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins and she loved his character, but was in disbelief when I revealed that Bert the chimey sweep was her beloved Dr. Slone. But now she understands more of Van Dyke's background and loves him even more. She said that he is a better entertainer than most anybody she sees today. It is too bad that Disney has to create remakes of Herby instead of making modern true classics.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a cute movie. I have never seen it on DVD but I have seen it on video tape and when I was little I watched it whenever it was shown on TV. I'm thinking of buying this movie on DVD and if I do it will definitely be the widescreen DVD and not the pan and scan DVD. I have never seen this movie in widscreen and I think it would great to see it in it's original theatrical widescreen aspect ratio! Dick Van Dyke is absolutely great in this movie and the child actors who played his son and daughter were adorable! I also liked the songs in this movie, especially the title song, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the song Truely Scrumptious!

I just revisited my own childhood (to a degree) by watching this splendid DVD version of Ian Flemings once revered Musical/Family drama. This represents a time when wholesome just didn't refer to exotic bread from the local health store, but solid, morally grounded family fun. The story is essentially simple; The car of the title is a former Grand Prix winner now rusting in an English Junkyard circa 1930's, and now resigned to a plaything for two impoversihed local children. These children belong to Dick Van Dyke as good hearted but unrealistically wacky inventor Caractacus Potts, who lives in a windmill with the children and their grandfather. Along comes local Confectionary heiress Truly Scrumptous (yes great name) and adds to the mix for some adventurous escapades with the car, which is undergoing a cosmetic revamping by the aforementioned Potts. Everything is here in the right quantity for a balanced family musical, of the kind sadly seldom seen today. Arguably the car, which is magic, can fly, sail on the ocean, and never look used, is the star, but the real power of the movie lies in simple but excellent script direction, and character portrayal. Evil German Barons, a Fairytale castle, lush English meadows and some other excellent locations weave the tapestry as we watch and the end result is sheer joy. Although some may find the special effects a little obvious by todays standards, the film has more than stood the test of time, and will I feel continue to enthrall and entertain each successive generation. My 3 year old remained glued throughout, and even loved the annoyingly catchy title song which though overdone, is an essential blast from the past - for me anyway, as I still remembered the words! Enjoy

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers B00004RF9DWarner Studios06 June, 2000Well, bless (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

B00004RF9D

Warner Studios

06 June, 2000

Well, bless my beautiful hide! Director Stanley Donen invests this rollicking musical with a hearty exuberance. Howard Keel, with his big-as-all-outdoors baritone, stars as a bold "mountain man" living in the Oregon woods who brings home a bride (plucky songbird soprano Jane Powell) to his six slovenly brothers. Taming the rambunctious brood, Jane proceeds to make gentlemen of them so they can woo sweethearts of their own. But old habits die hard: their flirting gives way to fighting in the film's celebrated barn-raising scene, a lively acrobatic dance number exuberantly choreographed by Michael Kidd. Big brother chimes in with his own brand of advice--an old-fashioned kidnapping! Donen manages to get away with such a politically incorrect plot by investing the boys with a innocent sweetness, most notably the youngest brother played with genial earnestness by Rusty (Russ) Tamblyn (pre-West Side Story). This modest production became a huge hit and remains one of MGM's best-loved musical comedies, an energetic, high-kicking classic. --Sean Axmaker

Excellent new `Special Edition' of the musical masterpiece SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, featuring both versions of the film plus a generous array of extras.

Set against the backdrop of settlement-era Oregon, the story concerns Adam Pontipee (Howard Keel) who takes a wife in Milly (Jane Powell) before delivering her to his mountaintop ranch. The honeymoon comes to an abrupt end when Milly learns she must also keep house for Adam's six unruly - and uncouth - brothers! But after Milly teaches them the finer points of "Goin' Courtin'" they go and and find brides of their own...with diastrous, hilarious and heartwarming results.

The cast is simply amazing. Among the `Brothers' are Russ Tamblyn, Broadway dancer Marc Platt, New York City Ballet star Jacques d'Amboise and KISS ME KATE's Tommy Rall. The `Brides' include Broadway's Virginia Gibson, B-movie beauty Ruta Lee (in her film debut) and future `Catwoman' Julie Newmar.

The score has become one of the most beloved ever written and elevates the on-screen story into the high heavens. Gene DePaul and Johnny Mercer's flavoursome tunestack includes Milly's jubilant "Wonderful Wonderful Day"; her moonlight aria "When You're in Love" and the soaring "June Bride" with the girls dancing in corsets and bloomers. Adam isn't overlooked music-wise, his numbers include "Bless Yore Beautiful Hide", the syncopated and irresistible "Sobbin' Women" and the brothers' plaintive "Lonesome Polecat". Choreographer Michael Kidd's routines in this film are among his all-time best, including what many consider his Magnum Opus, the showstopping "Barn Raising Ballet". With so many talented dancers among the `Brothers' and `Brides', it's no wonder that this film is so rich in musical numbers.

This is the peak of the original M-G-M musical. It's hard to believe now, but at the time the studio heads had no faith whatsoever in the project and dismissed it as a B-movie. BRIGADOON was also being made at the same time, a film M-G-M held great hopes for, though it was SEVEN BRIDES.. that the audiences and critics fell in love with.

SEVEN BRIDES.. was actually filmed twice. It was intended for the film to be seen exclusively in the new CinemaScope but many movie theaters did not have the facilities to show films in this ratio. So an open-matte 1:78 `flat' format version of the film was made to accommodate the problem. This Special Edition contains both versions of the film. It's almost like attending two different performances of the same show. The CinemaScope version looks a treat in 16:9 enhanced widescreen, and the colours are magnificent.

Extras include an updated version of "Sobbin' Women: The Making of..." (previously seen on the first DVD edition) which features new interview footage with Jane Powell as well as Jacques d'Amboise. Audio commentary is provided by director Stanley Donen who offers listeners a rare insight into the production of this masterpiece. There are two rare newsreels ("Radio City Music Hall Premiere" and "M-G-M 30th Anniversary" which features commentary by Jane Powell and Ann Miller). Also included is the rare CinemaScope "M-G-M Jubilee Overture". 

With this all-new `Special Edition', it's a "Wonderful Wonderful Day" for SEVEN BRIDES.. fans!

It's a typical musical, happy endings and all. I'm a big Howard Keel fan and I like how he's always literally larger than life. The music and the dancing are great. The barn raising sequence is a wonder to watch...of course we can't forget the rest of the cast, rising stars in the making...Julie Newmar/Newmeyer, Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall and Jacques D'Amboise...And the interviews as part of the special features were great...these actors have aged with grace...and the movie is timeless....

Featuring a slew of fabulous dancers, including a young Russ Tamblyn later (Riff in "West Side Story"), the movie's an adrenaline rush of vibrant hues and non-stop motion. Though the songs by Gene De Paul and Johnny Mercer are catchy, the real attraction here is Michael Kidd's matchless choreography. The barn-raising sequence alone is one of the outstanding sequences in all musical film. Exuberant, infectious fun.

The Wizard of Oz (Two-Disc Special Edition)

B000ADS63K

Warner Home Video

25 October, 2005

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 0783240287Universal Studios30 October, 2001Following (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-21T04:03:00.000-07:00

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

0783240287

Universal Studios

30 October, 2001

Into the Woods

B00001PE59

Image Entertainment

24 August, 1999

Fractured fairy tales of a darker hue provide the remarkable context for Into the Woods, which deconstructs the Brothers Grimm by way of Rod Serling. While the faces and names are familiar, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and company inhabit a sylvan neighborhood in which witches and bakers are next-door neighbors, handsome princes from once-parallel fables are competitive (and equally vain) brothers, and all the stories intersect through unexpected new plot twists.

Stephen Sondheim's Tony-winning score favors intricate ensemble numbers that present the characters' divergent, then overlapping fears and desires. And it's the latter category that provides a primary thread to James Lapine's ingenious puzzle of a book, which coheres around the inevitability--and treachery--of our innermost wishes. That theme is given farcical energy in the first act, which offers enough comic invention, tart dialogue, and witty music for a satisfying evening of theater as is.

Instead, Sondheim and Lapine offer a bold, darker second act that takes a look at what happens after "happily ever after," elevating the work beyond inspired parody toward allegorical gravity. By the final scenes, with the one-two punch of the score's two most enduring songs, "No One Is Alone" and "Children Will Listen," what began as a clever diversion has touched deeper nerves and primed some tear ducts. This video production by the original Broadway cast gets its marquee shimmer from Bernadette Peters's wonderful witch, but the standout (and Tony winner as Best Actress) is Joanna Gleason, who gives the Baker's Wife a mixture of warmth, pragmatism, and sudden, poignantly romantic radiance.

The DVD version is comparatively no-frills, given its American Playhouse origins, but multiformat digital audio renders the musical performances in immaculate detail. --Sam Sutherland

I viewed this original production once before. Seeing it for the second time made it become even more entertaining. I am a 
fan of Bernadette Peters and she is always wonderful. I loved her and Mandy Patinkin in Sunday In the Park With George and I think she is a superb actor as well as a singer. Love her on CD'S also.

I must admit, I wasn't sure what I was getting into when this film arrived at my doorstep. With pensiveness in my eyes, I placed the DVD into my player and watched ... surprisingly ... a play unfold before my eyes. I knew it was a play, but I didn't realize this was nothing more than the stage version placed in DVD format. With no special features, I dived directly into the action. Song after song, joke after joke, familiar story line crossed with unfamiliar stories, I patiently waited to explore the finale of this extremely creative play. With an hour and a half down, I thought the film was over. I didn't see what the excitement was about, it was creative, but not shockingly bold ... then the second act began and my jaw dropped. Darkness finally crept into these fairy tales and opened a fresh new door for our dated characters to explore.

I must give tons of credit to Stephen Sondheim's creative mind. Without his ability to dive deeper within a story than imaginable, I do not think there would have been much desire for me to sit through this three-hour epic. Thankfully, Sondheim has this ability to constantly keep you guessing. There were not many scenes in this performance that seemed stale, or overused. There were clean and creative moments that kept you guessing until the very end. I kept my eyes glued to the screen because I never knew which direction Sondheim was going to take next. Was he going to follow classic form, or branch away into a powerful new area that has yet to be explored? Thankfully, he broke away and created a story that set in motion the several thousands of other fairy tale rediscoveries. 

Coupled with Sondheim's powerful penmanship, we also have James Lapine's amazing direction. With a film like this, basically taking a live-performance and releasing it on DVD, there was that opportunity to go extremely stale and find yourself watching what looks like a "high school" parent's videotaped production. This version has extremely crisp editing, you can see the actors, you can hear what they are saying, and it feels as if you are right on the front row watching these powerful performances unfold in front of you. Lapine does an excellent job with his positions of the cameras and ability to focus on exactly whom we need to be watching. He keeps us centered on the story and characters without constantly reminding us that it is a play. He does a great job of taking us into the story, away from the stage, and giving us life away from the theater. If you force yourself to accept that it is only a play, than you will see the stage, the stagehands, and everything else that follows live theater, but if you get swept away into the songs, characters, and story, as I did, then you will see a fairy tale unfold in front of you.

While I did enjoy the quality of the DVD and the creativity of Stephen Sondheim, there were some elements that I just could not escape. One happened to be the songs. While I loved the opening songs of the first act, in fact finding myself tapping my toes to several of the melodies, the second act felt as if I was listening to the same songs over and over again. The second act became repetitious to me. The songs, as well as the length, just seemed to be a bit overwhelming. I found my mind wandering, when I wanted to focus on what was happening on screen. I think this is because of the different versions of the SAME song coupled with elongated speeches. This may sound weird, but I loved the second act. It was dark, spooky, and showed a new side to fairytales that we had not been accustomed to exploring. Yet, I hated the second act as well. It just seemed to drag on and on without a true direction in sight. I understood what needed to happen, but it just didn't feel as crisp as the opening act. The characters seemed a bit stale, the surroundings seemed a bit boring, and I just felt as if it had lost some of the creative genius that I witnessed in the opening act. While I hate to blame anyone (especially after the lesson learned in this film), but there was too much focus on Bernadette Peters, who was the obvious star of the play. This was an ensemble performance and needed to be treated as such. The second act focused a bit too much on Peters' Witch characters while it needed to explore everyone's emotions equally. Outside of these two issues, I felt this was a fun, fantastical film that introduced me into a new chapter of fairy tales.

Overall, I was impressed. I really desire to see the play now, but don't know if I can sit through another 2.5 hour performance. It was great, but not worthy of another viewing. While I loved the creativity and the DVD transfer, I felt that the second act of this play was a bit sloppy. It needed to be tightened, strengthened around the darkness of the characters, and everyone brought together as a group, instead of individually. The ending smelled a bit cheesy, but allowed for all resolutions to be solved. There is so much that I loved about the second act (like the darkness and the chaos surrounding indestructible storybook characters), but there were equally the same amount of dislikes that spawned from the second act. Good, but not great, powerful, yet didn't seem to drive that nail home. Applauding Sondheim and Lapine, penalizing Peters and the uncreative repetitions of the songs. 

Grade: *** out of *****

Item took a little longer than I expected to arrive, but everything else was perfect.

My Fair Lady (Two-Disc Special Edition) B00011D1OAWarner Home Video03 February, (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-21T00:02:00.000-07:00

My Fair Lady (Two-Disc Special Edition)

B00011D1OA

Warner Home Video

03 February, 2004

Hollywood's legendary "woman's director," George Cukor (The Women, The Philadelphia Story), transformed Audrey Hepburn into street-urchin-turned-proper-lady Eliza Doolittle in this film version of the Lerner and Loewe musical. Based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, My Fair Lady stars Rex Harrison as linguist Henry Higgins (Harrison also played the role, opposite Julie Andrews, on stage), who draws Eliza into a social experiment that works almost too well. The letterbox edition of this film on video certainly pays tribute to the pageantry of Cukor's set, but it also underscores a certain visual stiffness that can slow viewer enthusiasm just a tad. But it's really star wattage that keeps this film exciting, that and such great songs as "On the Street Where You Live" and "I Could Have Danced All Night." Actor Jeremy Brett, who gained a huge following later in life portraying Sherlock Holmes, is quite electric as Eliza's determined suitor. --Tom Keogh

Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) who specializes in the English language makes a bet with Colonel Hugh Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White) that he can take someone who speaks with a lower-class language and by correcting the speech can pass off as upper-class or royalty. Overhearing this bet is a flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn); she wants to work a flower stand. But they will not take her unless she can speak more "genteel". Professor Higgins takes up the challenge. 
Will he succeed?
What does her father (Stanley Holloway) thing finding that she moved in whit the two professors and did not want any clothes?

This is a musical version of the movie Pygmalion (1938), based on a play by George Bernard Shaw.

As people find that music and movies bring memories of the time in which they heard or viewed it. His movie has a meaning to me as I too was in love and found my self singing "On the street where you live." One of the strengths of the movie is that many of the songs instead of being classical and just stuffed into at odd times actually are songs that you would initiate in your life and they did so in the lives of the characters in the movie.

Reviled by some, beloved by many, consistently referred to as the most popular movie musical ever made, MY FAIR LADY more than fulfills the promise of its beautiful visuals and expert song numbers on home video via DVD. This edition tops the 1995 laserdisc by allowing the sparkling, exemplary design of its 70mm. Todd-AO frame to be exhibited with increased sharpness and resolution. The 4.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack is powerful and clean, but since this film was originally mixed for six-track magnetic stereo, it's curious why the effort wasn't made by Fox to split the surrounds! Nonethless, the film sounds terrific. The extra features make this package a bargain at the price. Full length commentary by director George Cukor, with the musical numbers presented sans vocals, is a great touch. And the two documentaries are beautifully presented; full of facts and bits of arcane information that any fan will truly enjoy. A great movie, and a great DVD rendition. More like this, PLEASE!

My Fair Lady is a wonderful movie. Definitely one of the best musicals I have ever watched and I think Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn were both superb and so was the rest of the cast and I don't care that it's not really Audrey's singing voice that we are hearing and she was dubbed by a professional singer becasue I think Audrey acted the part of Eliza perfectly!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

0783240287

Universal Studios

30 October, 2001

Grease (Widescreen Edition) B00003CXAEParamount Home Video24 September, 2002Riding the strange (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

Grease (Widescreen Edition)

B00003CXAE

Paramount Home Video

24 September, 2002

Okay, Here's the Deal... I was almost a teenager when this film came out, and I had never seen a movie before or since that was SO Over Hyped and WAY WAY Overplayed as this Film. But You got to look at it like this: It came out in '78, and at that time, America was in Love with the 50's... take for Example, "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley". But just like now, people got into the current "IT" film, so of Course Grease became "The Word". But come on, I thought those stupid Doo-Wopp songs were really annoying then... and I Sure don't dig'em any better now! I didn't grow up in the 50's, but I kinda get the feeling that it was nothing like what they portrayed it to be in this movie. Also, I think it's a pretty bad message to show that You have to go from being a Good Poodle Skirt Wearing Girl to being a Gum Chewin', Cigarette Smokin' BIMBO to get the Leading Man. And Don't tell Me, "Oh, Chill Out Man, It's just a Movie".... I don't think Ossie and Harriette would have been too keen on that. ;)

Grease is without a doubt the best movie in the world. Perhaps my crush on John Travoltra rates it higher in my opinion, but I am postive that everybody who has seen it agrees with it's perfect cast and enjoyful songs and lyrics. I believe that this movie earns more than just 5 stars.

Randal Kleiser's twelfth film "Grease", starring high school heart-throb Danny(John Travolta), and Australian goody-goody Sandy(Olivia Newton John), is a pure classic. Everyone has seen and loved this hysterical musical. 
Danny and Sandy spend their summer days frolicking on the beach, content in summer loving. Once school starts again, Danny, thinking he will never see Sandy again, is back to his old tricks, until he finds out she is also going to the same school. Of course the standards of being as slick as hair grease don't exactly make him very appealing to Sandy, and the two go through a series of ups and downs before finally reuniting at the film's end.
The high school starts to buzz with stories about Danny and Sandy, as one by one everyone puts two and two together and connect Danny with Sandy. Danny, completely unaware of the extent of the rumors runs into the boys late one night who question the truth of these stories. 
I thought that every song in this lovable comedy were interesting and funny. I was laughing constantly. It had a very thin plot, pretty much the basics; Boy mets girl. Girl mets boy. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy looses girl. And in the end Boy gets Girl back. Typical romance film. I had never seen one of Randal Kleiser's movies until I saw Grease, and I think I might pick one of his other movies the next time I go to Flicks And Picks. 
I don't know if Randal Kleiser intended for the watcher to take anything away from this film, but I guess if u look really hard you could say that it is like a 1950's version of Romeo and Juilet. Two Sides, the greasers, Danny, and the goody goodies, Sandy. Even though their friends say that they shouldn't be together they still want to be with each other, but unlike Romeo and Juilet, Grease has a happy ending, and Danny and Sandy don't die.

My Fair Lady

630522577X

Warner Studios

08 December, 1998

Grease (Full Screen Edition) B00006B1HHParamount Home Video24 September, 2002Riding the (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

Grease (Full Screen Edition)

B00006B1HH

Paramount Home Video

24 September, 2002

Riding the strange '50s nostalgia wave that swept through America during the late 1970s (caused by TV shows like Happy Days and films like American Graffiti), Grease became not only the word in 1978, but also a box-office smash and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, this entertaining film adaptation of the Broadway musical received another successful theatrical release, which included visual remastering and a shiny new Dolby soundtrack. While this 2002 DVD release contains retrospective interviews with the cast and director Randal Kleiser, it's unfortunately full screen. As a result, the widescreen dance numbers are instead panned and scanned, destroying the symmetrical, lively choreography. A widescreen version is also available and is highly recommended because without the vibrant colors, unforgettably campy and catchy tunes (like "Greased Lightning," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want"), and fabulously choreographed, widescreen musical numbers, the film has to rely on a silly, cliché-filled plot that we've seen hundreds of times. As it is, the episodic story about the romantic dilemmas experienced by a group of graduating high school seniors remains fresh, fun, and incredibly imaginative.

Grease is without a doubt the best movie in the world. Perhaps my crush on John Travoltra rates it higher in my opinion, but I am postive that everybody who has seen it agrees with it's perfect cast and enjoyful songs and lyrics. I believe that this movie earns more than just 5 stars.

Randal Kleiser's twelfth film "Grease", starring high school heart-throb Danny(John Travolta), and Australian goody-goody Sandy(Olivia Newton John), is a pure classic. Everyone has seen and loved this hysterical musical. 
Danny and Sandy spend their summer days frolicking on the beach, content in summer loving. Once school starts again, Danny, thinking he will never see Sandy again, is back to his old tricks, until he finds out she is also going to the same school. Of course the standards of being as slick as hair grease don't exactly make him very appealing to Sandy, and the two go through a series of ups and downs before finally reuniting at the film's end.
The high school starts to buzz with stories about Danny and Sandy, as one by one everyone puts two and two together and connect Danny with Sandy. Danny, completely unaware of the extent of the rumors runs into the boys late one night who question the truth of these stories. 
I thought that every song in this lovable comedy were interesting and funny. I was laughing constantly. It had a very thin plot, pretty much the basics; Boy mets girl. Girl mets boy. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy looses girl. And in the end Boy gets Girl back. Typical romance film. I had never seen one of Randal Kleiser's movies until I saw Grease, and I think I might pick one of his other movies the next time I go to Flicks And Picks. 
I don't know if Randal Kleiser intended for the watcher to take anything away from this film, but I guess if u look really hard you could say that it is like a 1950's version of Romeo and Juilet. Two Sides, the greasers, Danny, and the goody goodies, Sandy. Even though their friends say that they shouldn't be together they still want to be with each other, but unlike Romeo and Juilet, Grease has a happy ending, and Danny and Sandy don't die.

Bough it for the kids but the material is a bit adult at times...but they love the songs.

Chicago (Widescreen Edition)

B00005JLSE

Miramax Home Entertainment

19 August, 2003

Bob Fosse's sexy cynicism still shines in Chicago, a faithful movie adaptation of the choreographer-director's 1975 Broadway musical. Of course the story, all about merry murderesses and tabloid fame, is set in the Roaring '20s, but Chicago reeks of '70s disenchantment--this isn't just Fosse's material, it's his attitude, too. That's probably why the movie's breathless observations on fleeting fame and fickle public taste already seem dated. However, Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones are beautifully matched as Jazz Age vixens, and Richard Gere gleefully sheds his customary cool to belt out a showstopper. (Yes, they all do their own singing and dancing.) Whatever qualms musical purists may have about director Rob Marshall's cut-cut-cut style, the film's sheer exuberance is intoxicating. Given the scarcity of big-screen musicals in the last 25 years, that's a cause for singing, dancing, cheering. And all that jazz. --Robert Horton

"This trial... the whole world... it's all... show business."

So says Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), a hot-shot Chicago attorney who makes his living by saving young girls who happen to have killed someone from getting the rope around their beautiful necks. And allow me to add "this whole movie" to that sentence I just quoted. In a non-derogatory manner, by the way, because "Chicago" is show business from beginning to end and that's its very soul.

In this case, if you are a woman and want to make the front page of the newspapers, the best way seems to be killing your husband, getting caught by the cops and getting Flynn to take over your case in court. That and $5,000. The rest is, as they say, history. And rightly so because you'll go down as quickly as you went up, as soon as the girl next door does the same thing you did. Because it's Chicago, and "you can't beat fresh blood on the walls", as Flynn tells Roxie (RenÃ©e Zellwegger), the new kid on the block as she finds out her fifteen minutes of fame have ran out.

My advice is that you don't go see "Chicago" looking for a whodunnit kind of thriller involving cabarets and stage dancers. Instead, if "Moulin Rouge" bringing the musical genre back to the spotlight pleased you, this one is also definitely for your liking. I'm no expert in this kind of movie (it's not even my cup of tea) and so I have a hard time figuring out whether what we have here is story interrupted by songs or songs interrupted by story.

That duality brings an interesting quality to the film, though. Whereas the songs are full of color and splendor in good Broadway tradition, the rest is shown in bleak tones, suiting 1930's Chicago. The story however is never to be taken seriously, but always lightly. It makes sense but it is also goofy in a way.

The acting is all great and it's no wonder because a) they're all accomplished actors and b) most have stage formation and experience. Zeta-Jones is especially hot and on the spot as Velma Kelly, as her past as a professional dancer in London really shows. I just don't know if this performance is Oscar worthy but then again that's a tricky business. Scorsese must be thinking the same thing after his "Gangs of New York" was put out to dry...

I first saw this in theaters a couple years ago with a friend and didn't quite know what to expect... and to be honest first time through I was like ugh - this is feminist crap (they were all talking about killing dudes...eh not so cool in my book ladies).

I enjoyed some of the musical numbers though - my favorite being "We Both Reached For The Gun" - Loved Zellweger!

After seeing it at the movies and talking about it to one of my other friends - he said that the person who wrote CHICAGO originally based it kinda of actual events at the time because women, generally speaking would have less severe punishments then men for the same crime - and often times let go; it kinda shows how corrupt the system was...er, is. Which made the movie more interesting to me and whenever the US Broadway TOUR CHICAGO came to my city I went and saw it.

Maybe it's just me, but personally after you see the movie and it razzle dazzles you - the live production was quite disappointing. Loved the music - the acting, etc. Just that they didn't really have all the lavish costumes and stage settings that I thought they might have after seeing the movie.

Personally I prefer the movie to the live production. It's a great movie and if you love broadway, musicals, and/or history - you will fall in love with CHICAGO! Oh, and girls if you are going through one of your 'I HATE MEN' stages you will love this flick - all the chicks in prison killed dudes - Eek!)

I recently saw the Broadway play Chicago & loved it that I had to see the movie. The movie was excellent & both the play & movie were as good as each other. Renee Zellweger did a terrific job as Roxie Hart and has a wonderful voice! Every song & dance number are excellent and tell an entertaining story of murder & life in prison. This was one of the best musical movies I've seen!!

The Michael Flatley Collection (Lord of the Dance/Feet of Flames/Michael (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

The Michael Flatley Collection (Lord of the Dance/Feet of Flames/Michael Flatley Gold)

B0001FVDQO

Universal Studios Ho

01 June, 2004

the best, the best, the best!!!

If you like, Celtic music or you enjoyed Riverdance then this DVD is for you. Essentially three stories on one DVD its great value for money. For those serious addicts like me this DVD has kept us going until the new show Celtic Tiger hits the road, which should be anytime soon....
Its fascinating to watch how the delightful Lord of the Dance evolved into Feet of Flames and then in Gold see what influenced Michael and watch that all important Eurovision Song Contest where the dancers were the half time act that stole the whole show...yes!

I love Irish Dance, and while I detest Flatly personally, he puts on quite a show. The show itself is 5 stars. The DVD however, when they recorded the sound onto the DVD, something must have gone wrong because during Feet of Flames, the sound fluxuates, it gets louder when the crowd cheers, but the actual show parts are softer.

Grease 2

B00008Z45B

Paramount Home Video

10 June, 2003

Yellow Submarine B00000JRUQMgm/Ua Studios14 September, 1999This restored, animated valentine to (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-20T06:09:00.000-07:00

Yellow Submarine

B00000JRUQ

Mgm/Ua Studios

14 September, 1999

This restored, animated valentine to the Beatles offers viewers the rare chance to see a work that's been substantially improved by its technical facelift, not just supersized with extra footage. Recognizing that its song-studded soundtrack alone makes Yellow Submarine a video annuity, United Artists has lavished a frame-by-frame refurbishment of the original feature, while replacing its original monaural audio tracks with a meticulously reconstructed stereo mix that actually refines legendary original album versions.

What emerges is a vivid time capsule of the late '60s and a minor milestone in animation. The music represents the quartet's zenith--Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The story line, cobbled together by producer Al Brodax and a committee of writers, is a broad, feather-light allegory set in idyllic Pepperland, where the gentle citizens are threatened by the nasty, music-hating Blue Meanies and their surreal arsenal of henchmen, with the Beatles enlisted to thwart the bad guys. Visually, designer Heinz Edelmann mixes the biomorphic squiggles, day-glo palette, and Beardsley-esque portraits of Peter Max with rotoscoped still photographs and film; Edelmann's animated collages also nod to Andy Warhol and Magritte in properly psychedelic fashion, which works wonderfully with such terrific songs.

High orthodox Beatlemaniacs can still grouse that the animated Fab Four are (literally) flat archetypes, but that's missing the sheer bloom of the music or the giddy, campy fun of the visuals. Making sense of the story is second to submerging blissfully in the sights and sounds of this video treat. --Sam Sutherland

Not only does this movie bring back memories for us old folks, it's great for the kids and grandkids as well!

An inspired fusion of Beatles music and the vibrant, tie-dye color sensibility of artist Peter Max that became a visual signature for the times, this irresistible animated fantasy holds up as a great movie for younger children and their parents (as well as us aging flower children), with dry British humor and endless punning making this magical mystery tour a fun, enjoyable ride. 


I recently watched this again for the first time in twenty years, and i had almost forgotten how good it was. In fact, it was solely responsible for me getting all Beatles albums out of storage!
It hasn't dated at all. The artwork is still good enough to make you sit up and go 'Wow', and their are some genuinely great flourishes that hit you by surprise.
The plot is decidedly silly, of course, but who cares when the jokes come flowing thick and fast.
And the music - it hardly needs to be said - is straight out of the top drawer. It is almost a 'Greatest Hits' collection of The Beatles up until Sgt. Pepper.
If you are new to this film then don't hesitate - watch it! And if you haven't seen it for a while, and have probably become accustomed to laughing it off, then be prepared to change your opinion. Because this is one film that deserves a repeat viewing!

Paint Your Wagon

B00003CXBX

Paramount Home Video

24 July, 2001

This film and Hello Dolly were the knockout blows to the studio movie musical, but Paint doesn't deserve its tarnished name. Ben Rumson (Lee Marvin) takes the model of a rakish derelict to an unequaled high as a prospector who teams up with a greenhorn named Pardner (Clint Eastwood), and they both end up marrying the same scorned woman (Jean Seberg). No-Name City, the prospecting town they found, is Sodom and Gomorrah without the camels, and a vision of humanity left to its own devices. The songs are mostly wonderful melodies from Lerner and Loewe, with definite high points, notably "They Call the Wind Maria" and "Wand'rin' Star." Clint Eastwood always gets flack for his versions of "I Still See Elisa" and "I Talk to the Trees," but that scorn is equally undeserved. Perhaps Paint's biggest sin, in retrospect, was trying to combine the aesthetics of the musical with the aesthetics of the male protagonists' world-weary machismo. Not the easiest task, but Paint pulls it off. --Keith Simanton

Homer Simpson once said of PAINT YOUR WAGON, "Aw. Why did they have to screw up a perfectly serviceable wagon story with all that fruity singing?" Okay, that is a bit extreme, but he is entitled to his opinion. 

PAINT YOUR WAGON is another musical directed by Joshua Logan who brought us the colored-filter heavy SOUTH PACIFIC and the close-up heavy CAMELOT. And of this musical trilogy, PAINT YOUR WAGON is by far the most successful visually. 

What more can one hope for from a musical than wonderful musical scoring and song arrangements? Here they are nothing short of exceptional! The songs from LERNER & LOEWE are not their most popular and they suffer even more in this film where they are handled by also-ran singers like Jean Seberg and the youngster Clint Eastwood. But, the worst sound comes from the 'character-only' voice of Lee Marvin. He is not a singer but he sure embodies his role. The only exceptional singing voice in the film is Harve Presnell demonstrated beautifully in his glorious rendition of THEY CALL THE WIND MARIAH. 

Both Marvin and Eastwood are great in the meandering story as is the production design. But, the story has some difficult issues in it: From prostitution, drinking, smoking to multiple spouses. We can get by that, though, especially if you sit around long enough to watch the destruction of NO-NAME CITY. 

Its nice to see a widescreen release of this on DVD but, something additional on the disc would be nice, or at least, Chapter stops highlighting the songs.

This is one of the most funniest movies I've ever seen.Lee Marvin did a wonderful job in his comedic performance.Although I wished the number of musical songs had been reduced,overall the comedy is what made the movie.

Up front this is one of my favorite movies, and the DVD brings out the story through great music, and scenery.

Glad I purchased it.

EB

Broadway's Lost Treasures B0000BZNDKAcorn Media Publishing Inc.28 October, 2003Broadway's Lost (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-20T02:04:00.000-07:00

Broadway's Lost Treasures

B0000BZNDK

Acorn Media Publishing Inc.

28 October, 2003

Broadway's Lost Treasures delivers what the title promises: 21 historic performances of great moments in American musical theater televised on the Tony Awards between 1967 and 1986. (Five were not included when the program was broadcast on PBS in 2003.) Unlike some other arts, theater has rarely been well-documented, so it's a treat to see these numbers performed by the original artists rather than experience them through audio recordings or tepid movie adaptations. Sure, sound and picture quality are only adequate, some of the numbers are minimally staged and some appear to be lip-synched, and some of the performances that do have excellent film counterparts (Yul Brynner in The King and I, Robert Preston in The Music Man, Joel Grey in Cabaret) seem rather lackluster here. But those are minor drawbacks compared to the chance to see Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera perform "All That Jazz" and "Nowadays" from Chicago, or John Raitt, a stage legend who's woefully underrepresented on film, singing The Pajama Game's "Hey There." The most electrifying excerpt is from Evita, anchored by the powerhouse trio of Patti LuPone, Mandy Patinkin, and Bob Gunton, the most surprising is Julie Andrews singing "Send in the Clowns" (she wasn't in the cast of A Little Night Music), and the most touching is a 12-year-old Andrea McArdle breaking hearts in Annie's "Tomorrow." An indispensable record of a quintessential American art form. --David Horiuchi

I did see this on PBS just last year, I heard about the whole Evita and CATS thing, I automatically jumped at it, and kept on saying in my head "I must have it". So, this year my dad has ordered it for me and I should be getting it for Christmas but it's coming this month! I'm physced! I've always wanted to see half of "Jellicle Songs For Jellicle Cats" over and over. That goes for the song "A New Argentina". And I read in another review, it also has the song "Buenos Aires". Now I'm really excited! I bet Christmas will be just as fun now that Broadway's Lost Treasures will be mine to keep now and forever! (That's from Cats, you know?).

Mandy Patinkin was shown only in one small part of "Evita."
That was very disappointing and I thought by the title he would be one of the hosts or at least a larger segment of him in "Evita." So why was he advertised in the title? The show was put together very well and the quality of the color and the production is excelent. It had a 3D effect which is very prominent, especially, with the hosting of Jerry Orbach.
The shows chosen were all of my favorites and so I was pleased with that part of the CD. But not enough of Mandy Patinkin.
I don't think that you should advertise this CD by using Mandy's name as a come on. It sure fooled me.

I ordered this DVD when it first came out and I've been enjoying it ever since. All the performances are enjoyable- some more than others, but they are all wonderful nonetheless. Some of my pesonal favorites include:
Patti Lupone bringing down the house along with Mandy Patinkin and Bob Gunton doing the song "A New Argentina" from Evita. This is definately one of my top 5 favorites on this DVD.
Anegela Lansbury providing a hilarious performance in "The worst Pies in London" from Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Carol Channing singing the nothing-less-than inspirational "Before the Parade Passes By" from Hello, Dolly!
Yul Brynner performing "Shall We Dance?" with his co-star (not sure of her name). This performance is priceless and so is that dress!
John Raitt's beautiful baritone voice soars in this song-"Hey There" from The Pajama Game
Paul Lynde delivers a ton of laughs in "Kids" from Bye Bye Birdie
Joel Grey and cast perform the spectacle that is Cabaret in the song "Willkommen". This song never gets out of your head!
Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera- two of Broadway's top leading ladies come together and perform two wonderful songs from Chicago: "All That Jazz" and "Nowadays". Bob Fosse's coreography can never get old and is dispalyed in this performance for your full enjoyment.
Jerry Orbach. His death was a tragic loss to the theater. That's why these DVD's are so remarkable. This is another top performance- the song "Lullaby of Broadway" from 42nd Street. It was this performance that inspired me to save up and go to NYC to see my very first broadway show- 42nd Street.
Andrea McArdle and the orphans perform "Tomorrow" and "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" from Annie. This is just superb. There's absolutely no flaws.
Betty Buckley and cast perform two songs from Cats-"Jellicle Songs" and the classic "Memory". It is stunning to watch.
Any performance with Patti LuPone in it is a gem in itself. This one- "Buenos Aires" from Evita shows off her powerful set of pipes and shows the other side of the character of Eva Peron.
Bonnie Franklin and cast are hilarious in the song
"Applause" from the show Applause. The whole theme to the song is 100% true and kind of "hits home" for every actor. Plus, it has parodies of other classic musicals that will have you rolling on the floor in laughter if you're a big fan of musicals.
All in all, this DVD is totally worth buying! And after you're through with this one and have memorized all the songs, check out Broadway's Lost Treasures II. I have yet to receive III, but I am looking forward to it!




The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection

B00004TS0L

Twentieth Century Fox Home Video

29 August, 2000

This lavish set contains film versions of the five major works by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who helped define the American musical landscape and rewrite the direction of musical theater. After enjoying extremely successful careers working with others, Rodgers and Hammerstein first teamed up in 1943 for the prairie tale Oklahoma!, with songs including "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "People Will Say We're in Love." The subsequent 1955 film starred Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, who teamed up again for 1956's Carousel. While that film's dark nature made it less popular than its predecessor, the score ("If I Loved You," "You'll Never Walk Alone") was Rodgers's favorite. The King and I (also 1956) featured stage star Yul Brynner as the King of Siam and Deborah Kerr as schoolteacher Anna Leonowens, who must learn Asian customs even as she tries to instill some of her Western ones. The somewhat bloated version of South Pacific (1958) follows two couples during World War II and features standards such as "Some Enchanted Evening" and "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair" from stars Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi. The last film, The Sound of Music (1965), proved to be the most popular, with Julie Andrews winning the hearts of seven children and their father with her blissful songs. And if the perhaps saccharine music and plot may test the patience of some, there's no doubt that songs such as "My Favorite Things" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" have charmed audiences around the world for decades.

Accompanying the Big 5 in this set is the relatively minor State Fair from 1945 (though it does have "It Might as Well Be Spring" and "It's a Grand Night for Singing"). Some may prefer other entries in the R&H canon such as Flower Drum Song or the television production Cinderella, but those were produced by different studios. Five of these films (all except Sound of Music) were released in 1999 in sumptuous remasterings that allow their scores and locales to truly shine. The remasterings ensure good sound and picture quality throughout this historic collection. --David Horiuchi

The Rodgers and Hammerstein collection was such a great find I also purchased a set for my sister. The service was quick and exact, the quality of the movies were superb! Thank you Amazon for making my shopping experience a great one!

I find it almost incomprehensible in this more enlightened technological age that there are a very limited amount of your subscribers who are concerned about the appaling presentation of all but two of these movies and I also wonder as more and more older movies are being re-released enhanced for widescreen TVs that no one seems concerned that arguably the most classic of classical movie musicals remain in a truncated format that cannot be properly watched if one has a widescreen TV. These movies scream out for the widescreen, they were made with the ultimate technology of the time to be seen as wide and as broard as possible. Yet they remain stuck in a non anamorphic style that limits their enjoyment to anyone with a widescreen TV and, with one exception, all the people who have written about them dont seem to care. "Oklahoma", "Carousel", "South Pacific" and "King and I" need to be updated to 16.9 anamorphic widescreen (also preferably with some genuine extras and commentaries as well). Fox are years behind the rest of the movie studios in this regard and have only recently started to adapt their films for the format of the future (ie observe the two versions of "An Affair to Remember") of course, this is a major rip off, so anyone with a widescreen TV who has not bought these films --HOLD OFF, coz sooner or later they will get a proper release...How long? That is anybody's guess, but these postage stamp versions are an insult to anyone who knows anything of widscreen DVD technology ("Sound of Music" is fine and "State Fair" was made in non widescreen full screen format, an should be viewed with lines either side of the screen)

I enjoyed this set of DVDs very much. I have long been a Rodgers and Hammerstein fan, and was very pleased to find a set that includes so many of the movies.

But there is one thing missing: Rodgers and Hammerstein made seven movie musicals, but the boxed set only includes six. They should have eliminated the second disc for The Sound of Music and instead included the remaining musical, Flower Drum Song. Unfortunately, they have instead allowed this excellent movie to go out of print and are not producing it on either VHS or DVD.

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella B00005RYKYColumbia/Tristar Studios02 January, 2002A guilty, guilty (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella

B00005RYKY

Columbia/Tristar Studios

02 January, 2002

A guilty, guilty pleasure, perhaps not one a left-wing feminist should be admitting to in public. Female boomers should recall yearly TV reruns of this Rodgers and Hammerstein production, featuring such delights as "Impossible" and "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?" It may appear a bit stark to younger viewers, but part of the charm of this 1964 network TV special, a remake of the live 1957 telecast originally built around Julie Andrews, is its utter simplicity. An extremely young Lesley Ann Warren and Stuart Damon (of General Hospital fame) are joined by Ginger Rogers, Walter Pidgeon, and Celeste Holm. Warren is all sweetness and innocence without a hint of saccharine artificiality, while Damon is a clear-eyed romantic. This very handsome love story is a bit of an oddity, but worth owning just for the memorable score. --Rochelle O'Gorman

I saw this musical adpation of Cindrella and I liked it. It has a great cast that includes Lesley Anne warren as Cinderella and Stuart Damon from the soap opera General Hospital as the Prince and being a General Hospital fan I enjoyed watching Mr. Damon in this movie and I found the movie entertaining and I highly recommend this DVD!

I've read the reviews comparing this version of Cinderella to others, but to any little girl growing up in the sixties, there is nothing that compares to this. This was one magic night a year to my sisters and I - this, to a little girl's eyes, was the most beautiful, sparkling evening of the year, which had all three of us singing along, dancing in the backyard, and knowing without a doubt that pumpkins could really be carriages and poor little servant girls could marry a prince - it's possible... things are happening every day! If you are a mom reading this, wondering if she should purchase this for her little girl, do so, without a doubt. Watch it with your girls. This version should be mandatory viewing for every little girl who wants to see her dreams come true, and mandatory re-viewing for every former little girl who watched it way back when - back when we were small, and still believed in magic.

This movie is the all time classic Cinderella story with brilliant acting, directing and musical score. There have been many versions filmed, both in animation and in person, and there has been none finer. I recommend it most highly for the entire family. I don't think it will ever be duplicated.

Hans Christian Andersen

B000056H2A

MGM/UA Video

06 March, 2001

Of all the Danny Kaye movies, this musical biography of the legendary vagabond storyteller is definitely the most poignant, extending the performer's range far beyond his usual comic shtick. It may not be as funny as Wonder Man, but it has so much more going for it. In fact, the film is really more about Kaye than Andersen, providing rare insight into his humanitarian ideals and rapport with children. The Frank Loesser score is beautiful, as is the Technicolor cinematography. Among the songs performed, "Inchworm," "Thumbelina," and "Ugly Duckling" are the standout favorites. --Bill Desowitz

I found this product to be in perfect condition. It was well worth the purchase. I would recommend this DVD to anyone who is a fan of the movie.

Excellent old movie, great to see Danny Kaye at a young age doing such a great job.

I enjoyed this movie as a child and just had to see it again its been years since I've seen it ! Danny Kaye was a wonderful actor!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 0783240287Universal Studios30 October, 2001Following (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

0783240287

Universal Studios

30 October, 2001

The Wiz

0783233493

Universal Studios

13 April, 1999

Directed by Sidney Lumet (Serpico) and penned by Joel Schumacher (Batman and Robin), this lavish 1978 adaptation of the Broadway hit The Wiz was the biggest production filmed in New York City up to that point, utilizing the newly revamped Astoria Studios and locations around the city. Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross (reprising his Tony-winning role as the Lion) star in this Academy Award-nominated musical for the whole family.

The Wiz is probably the grandest take on L. Frank Baum's classic tale The Wizard of Oz. The production team created sets with a sense of urban magic and spectacle: a New York subway station literally comes to life, and the massive plaza between the World Trade Center towers is transformed into the Emerald City, featuring nearly 400 dancers with three costume changes. Like all good musicals, the Quincy Jones arrangements are highly hummable long after viewing (especially the funky "Ease On Down the Road" and the inspirational "Brand New Day"). In an era before MTV, the camera stays nearly stationary as Ross and Lena Horne vocally soar through their numbers. Their stage-like performances successfully make the leap to film, making The Wiz a testament to their singing talents and star presence. The then-thirtysomething Ross raised some eyebrows playing the traditionally teenaged Dorothy, but she and her supporting cast (including Richard Pryor as the Wiz) carry the tunes with an infectious verve that will appeal to folks of all ages. --Shannon Gee

Exactly what I wanted. Very glad Amazon had it at the best price!

I was in the 9th grade ( yeeeeeeeeears ago) the first time I saw this movie...I love the opening scene.

It's a must have for any DVD collection.

The Wiz is an absolute gem that gets better and better with age. It remains one of the grandest and most expensive black films (by 1978 dollars) ever produced. And a note about the casting of Diana Ross - 1) She had the pipes to carry the role and 2) with the budget and star-studded cast this movie had, no one is going to cast an unknown in the lead role. They wanted a marquee name, and names didn't get much bigger back then!

The movie is based on the general storyline of the classic book "The Wizard of Oz" and specifically the smash stage play "The Wiz". This is the story you know in a new, fantastic urban setting. Although rated G, some scenes might be intense for viewers under 8. The film is carried by the once in a lifetime performance of Ross, backed by very strong vocals by the rest of the cast (including Michael Jackson and a stunning Lena Horne). 

The music created by Charlie Smalls and overseen by Quincy Jones is nothing short of brilliant. Catchy tunes abound, but the trained ear will also hear elements of funk, jazz, blues and gospel. Little ears will also hear real instruments played by real musicians, increasingly a rarity in what passes for music nowadays. The jaw-dropping Emerald City sequence, filmed on location in the plaza at the World Trade Center in New York, will remind you of the grand age of movie musicals - made all the more poignant in our post 9/11 world.

The one element that seems lacking in the film is the real connection with the characters. I feel it in the first 10 minutes of the movie, and it returns in the final 20 minutes. In the middle, the director uses alot of wide shots to capture all the music and dance numbers. It's necessary, but the net effect is we are quite a distance from the principals in many scenes, and as a result, there is a "coldness" of sorts to much of the movie. 

Still, an absolute classic - it has entertained generations of people, and for us black folk, it is one of those cultural milestone movies (like The Color Purple) that everybody knows. By the way Universal, the thirty year anniversary (2008) would be a fine time to release a Special Edition with commentary from many of the actors and producers of the film!!

Enjoy this one!



The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition) B000ADS64EWarner Home Video25 (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition)

B000ADS64E

Warner Home Video

25 October, 2005

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Full Screen Edition)

0792839749

Mgm/Ua Studios

19 September, 2000

Baby Einstein - Baby Bach - Musical Adventure B00005YUPOBuena Vista (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-19T06:05:00.000-07:00

Baby Einstein - Baby Bach - Musical Adventure

B00005YUPO

Buena Vista Home Vid

12 March, 2002

Designed for infants and toddlers (1 to 36 months), Baby Bach is a nicely produced video that features recognizable, familiar toys and colorful objects, moving to the complexly beautiful music of Johann Sebastian Bach. According to the video producers, "Bach's music has shown to enhance creativity, improve academic achievement, reduce anxiety and heighten mental awareness." Any parent will embrace this theory. Not only did this video completely captivate a 22-month-old for its entire 30-minute run-time, but it's easy on the parents, too. The images are lively, clean, and sharp, and producers The Baby Einstein Company have a firm handle on what interests babies and toddlers. The extraneous segments with two pretty little blonde girls is silly, but forgivable. Given that most children elect to watch a video repeatedly, this is one that parents won't mind in the slightest. The music, available on CD, is simply lovely. --N.F. Mendoza

My baby girl seems to enjoy most of her toys for about 10 minutes. At 11 weeks old, this DVD keeps her attention almost the full 30 minutes. She seems to enjoy it as she intently watches and sometimes "talks" to what she sees on the TV. She is happy with this DVD, therefore I am too!

When I want to sit my toddler down to watch a DVD, I don't want to have to wait for silly Walt Disney DVD intros, or a plug by the founder for more stuff on the website. It takes me a full minute to get the DVD going. Please, let's just get to the material, I am very busy. Overall this DVD is okay, but not stellar, just keeps my little guy entertained for a bit. Much more prefer "Signing Time", which is much higher quality throughout, with no annoying intro filler.

I am so happy with all of the Baby Einstein DVD's. Especially Baby Bach. My son is 6 months old and he has been watching Baby Einstein since he was a newborn! It's genius! He sits there and watches all of it! Now that he is 6 months and watched them so much, he has memorized when the end is. He will start fussing right before the credits come up! He just loves Baby Einstein and so do I. It gives me enough time to make bottles or just get off my feet. I will always buy Baby Einstein! I think they should never stop making them! They are GREAT!!!

The Unanswered Question - Six Talks at Harvard by Leonard Bernstein

B00005TPL8

Kultur

20 November, 2001

Fiddler on the Roof (Special Edition) B00005N7YZMGM/UA Video02 October, 2001This (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-19T01:07:00.000-07:00

Fiddler on the Roof (Special Edition)

B00005N7YZ

MGM/UA Video

02 October, 2001

This rousing musical, based on the stories of Shalom Aleichem, takes place in pre-revolutionary Russia and centers on the life of Tevye (Topol), a milkman who is trying to keep his family's traditions in place while marrying off his three older daughters. Yet, times are changing and the daughters want to make their own matches, breaking free of many of the constricting customs required of them by Judaism. In the background of these events, Russia is on the brink of revolution and Jews are feeling increasingly unwelcome in their villages. Tevye--who expresses his desire for sameness in the opening number, "Tradition"--is trying to keep everyone, and everything, together. The movie is strongly allegorical--Tevye represents the common man--but it does it dexterously, and the resulting film is a stunning work of art. The music is excellent (it won Oscars for the scoring and the sound), with plenty of familiar songs such as "Sunrise, Sunset" and "If I Were a Rich Man," which you'll be humming long after the movie is over. Isaac Stern's violin--he provides the music for the fiddler on the roof--is hauntingly beautiful. And despite the serious subject matter, the film is quite comedic in parts; it also well deserves the Oscar it won for cinematography. --Jenny Brown

excellent disc with extra options and story about the making of film

I originally saw this movie on television. In addition I saw the play at theater in the round where Rex Harrison's son took the role of Henry. Both were throughly entertaining and prompted my purchase of the DVD.

I found this movie to be very well done and entertaning

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Single Disc Edition)

B00006D295

Fox Home Entertainme

03 September, 2002

If a musical sci-fi satire about an alien transvestite named Frank-n-Furter, who is building the perfect man while playing sexual games with his virginal visitors, sounds like an intriguing premise for a movie, then you're in for a treat. Not only is The Rocky Horror Picture all this and more, but it stars the surprising cast of Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick (as the demure Janet and uptight Brad, who get lost in a storm and find themselves stranded at Frank-n-Furter's mansion), Meat Loaf (as the rebel Eddie), Charles Gray (as our criminologist and narrator), and, of course, the inimitable Tim Curry as our "sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania."

Upon its release in 1975, the film was an astounding flop. But a few devotees persuaded a New York theater to show it at midnight, and thus was born one of the ultimate cult films of all time. The songs are addictive (just try getting "The Time Warp" or "Toucha Toucha Touch Me" out of your head), the raunchiness amusing, and the plot line utterly ridiculous--in other words, this film is simply tremendous good fun. The downfall, however, is that much of the amusement is found in the audience participation that is obviously missing from a video version (viewers in theaters shout lines at the screen and use props--such as holding up newspapers and shooting water guns during the storm, and throwing rice during a wedding scene). Watched alone as a straight movie, Rocky Horror loses a tremendous amount of its charm. Yet, for those who wish to perfect their lip-synching techniques for movie theater performances or for those who want to gather a crowd around the TV at home for some good, old-fashioned, rowdy fun, this film can't be beat. --Jenny Brown

This movie is the best of all time!!! I recieved it only a few days after I ordered it, and I was very pleased! I would tell anybody to buy this movie!!!

Newlywed couple "Brad" and "Janet" ( Susan Surandan and Barry Boswick)has just got car trouble and stumble to a house during a rainstorm for shelter. They discvoer however that the house is owned by insane mad scientist Dr. Frank'n'Futur ( Tim Curry) and a gang of creepy loonies do evil business, party down and sleazey entertainment. 

Co-starring Meat Loaf, Charles Grey, Richard O'Brien (Dark City), and Patrica Quinn, this movie has became a true cult horror comedy masterpiece over the years with it's memorable songs like "Sweet Transvestite", " The Time Warp", Etc. For years, this movie has been a phenomeon at midnight showings at big cities with people dressing up like the characters from the movie reciting the quotes, singing along, and audience anticapation of course, Tim Curry made it big with this movie as it's one of his best performances ever and is one of the best musicals ever.

This 2-Disc DVD set has great THX digital sound and picture with extras like commentary, audience particaption switch for the feature, outtakes, an easter egg, interviews, still gallery, TV Spots and Trailers, music video, alternate credit ending, sing-along, deleted scenes especially the "Superhero" song bit that was cut out here in the U.S., outtakes and more.

If you like musicals and horror comedies, then this is a must see!

I could not find this movie for rental in local rental chains. I searched Amazon and found it and bought it. Its a great cult classic that I saw as a teen (its where I first started listening to Meatloaf-my favorite singer). Of course seeing it now...yes its corny from special effects (but what movie from that time isn't compared to current special effects). It brought back great memorys and a good see.

Yellow Submarine B00000JRUQMgm/Ua Studios14 September, 1999This restored, animated valentine to (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

Yellow Submarine

B00000JRUQ

Mgm/Ua Studios

14 September, 1999

Newsies (Collector's Edition)

B00005OCMS

Disney Studios

15 January, 2002

I liked this flim it was very realistic.It has a EXCELLENT plot and the acting is OK the casting could of been better.I gave it three star for the singing as a "MUSICAL" it sucks.

Great movie, good inspiration. This is a great story of newsies who decided that the people at the top of the news corporations were being unfair by raising the price of newspapers for the newsies. There were some akward moments in this, but overall a great movie!

This movie is so empowering and happy for people of all ages. Christian Bale, Bill Pullman, and Micheal Goorjian are genius in this film. It is a special movie that you can't help but watch over and over again. The songs, choreography, acting is exceptional for Disney and for a movie musical. If you are a Christian Bale fan, a musicals fan, disney fan or just love good movies, I highly recommend it.

My Fair Lady 630522577XWarner Studios08 December, 1998Hollywood's legendary "woman's director," (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-18T17:03:00.000-07:00

My Fair Lady

630522577X

Warner Studios

08 December, 1998

Reviled by some, beloved by many, consistently referred to as the most popular movie musical ever made, MY FAIR LADY more than fulfills the promise of its beautiful visuals and expert song numbers on home video via DVD. This edition tops the 1995 laserdisc by allowing the sparkling, exemplary design of its 70mm. Todd-AO frame to be exhibited with increased sharpness and resolution. The 4.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack is powerful and clean, but since this film was originally mixed for six-track magnetic stereo, it's curious why the effort wasn't made by Fox to split the surrounds! Nonethless, the film sounds terrific. The extra features make this package a bargain at the price. Full length commentary by director George Cukor, with the musical numbers presented sans vocals, is a great touch. And the two documentaries are beautifully presented; full of facts and bits of arcane information that any fan will truly enjoy. A great movie, and a great DVD rendition. More like this, PLEASE!

My Fair Lady is a wonderful movie. Definitely one of the best musicals I have ever watched and I think Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn were both superb and so was the rest of the cast and I don't care that it's not really Audrey's singing voice that we are hearing and she was dubbed by a professional singer becasue I think Audrey acted the part of Eliza perfectly!

My Fair Lady has always been a favorite movie. It has character and is fit for viewing for everyone.

Chicago (Widescreen Edition)

B00005JLSE

Miramax Home Entertainment

19 August, 2003

Yellow Submarine B00000JRUQMgm/Ua Studios14 September, 1999This restored, animated valentine to (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

Yellow Submarine

B00000JRUQ

Mgm/Ua Studios

14 September, 1999

Dirty Dancing (Ultimate Edition)

B0000DIXDR

Lions Gate Home Entertainment

09 December, 2003

As with Grease (1978) and Footloose (1984) before it, Dirty Dancing was a cultural phenomenon that now plays more like camp. That very campiness, though, is part of its biggest charm. And if the dancing in the movie doesn't seem particularly "dirty" by today's standards--or 1987's--it does take place in an era (the early '60s) when it would have. Frances "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey, daughter of ageless hoofer Joel Grey) has been vacationing in the Catskills with her family for many years. Uneventfully. One summer, she falls under the sway (as it were) of dance instructor Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze). Baby is a pampered pup, but Johnny is a man of the world. Baby's father, Jake (Law and Order's Jerry Orbach), can't see the basic decency in greaser Johnny that she can. It should come as no surprise to find that Baby, who can be as immature as her name, learns more about love and life--and dancing--from free-spirited Johnny than traditionalist Jake.

Dirty Dancing spawned two successful soundtracks, a short-lived TV series, and a stage musical. It may be predictable, but Grey and Swayze have chemistry, charisma, and all the right moves. It's a sometimes silly movie with occasionally mind-boggling dialogue--"No one puts Baby in a corner!"--that nonetheless carries an underlying message about tolerance and is filled with the kind of exuberant spirit that's hard for even the most cynical to resist. Not that they'd ever admit it. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

K where do i begin. The begining theme song was horible. I thought that the guy that was singing the song was being tortured by rebals. But besides that crap it was fairly good. I mean any movie with my main man Patrick has got to be good. But that one lady that is like like 11 and is named Baby, she is like a big minus. Ok she lugs watermelons around as a hobbie. Then she like trys to be cool by danceing in a dark coner by herself. Then Patrick kidnaps here and leaves here in a forest in the rain. GOOD JOB PAT. With her out of the way he's the star. Oh i forgot to mention that weird lady who likes to turn off the lights and hide in kitchens. I also think she remained there for the rest of the movie hideing. But the reason i gave 5 dirty dance moves out of 5 is because of Pat.

This movie is beutiful. I do not understand the hate for it because it si such a lovely piece of work that i dont see how anyone can hate it????????
why do people need to make it sound so horrible, i think it is because they want to look clever and they probably havent even seen the movie anyway.
Patrick swayze is to die for and jennifer grey just looks so cute in her hotpants and she can really act too!
the movie covers so many different topics of every teenagers life that you can really relate to baby, and what she goes through. I cried atthe end when everything was all ok because the movie was so well done and really got into my blood. If you didn't like this its because you didnt get it and you must not understand movies then?????
go rent or buy this now as i higly recomend it.

I must be one of the few people on the face of the planet that can't stand this movie. I don't care about that fact either because nothing could convince me to put up with this boring old movie again. I had the misfortune of seeing this some time ago, and even more misfortune of seeing the stage show. Boring. I'd rather pull my eyelashes out one by one or something equally as torturous. I know I'm not going to convince many people about this mundane tired movie, but I feel better having said my peice and maybe I could save someone from the pain.

Newsies (Collector's Edition) B00005OCMSDisney Studios15 January, 2002Except for feature-length animation, (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-18T03:05:00.000-07:00

Newsies (Collector's Edition)

B00005OCMS

Disney Studios

15 January, 2002

Damn Yankees

B0002Y4TII

Warner Home Video

12 October, 2004

America's pastime gets a Faustian twist in this 1958 studio musical, which recounts the ballpark bargain struck by an aging Washington Senators fan obsessed with helping his team trump the Yanks. With echoes of the real-life 1919 Shoeless Joe Jackson scandal, and tart observations on the tradeoffs between youth and experience, Damn Yankees fuses a classic dramatic dilemma with musical comedy to often charming effect.

In transferring George Abbott's Broadway hit to the screen, codirectors Abbott and Stanley Donen are smart enough to retain Richard Adler and Jerry Ross's clever songs, Bob Fosse's sizzling choreography (with Fosse himself on camera for the sultry mambo number), and stars Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon, reprising their devilish turns as the Horned One himself, Mr. Applegate, and his temptress, Lola. Where the team strikes out, unfortunately, is in their concession to marquee politics, handing the pivotal role of Joe Hardy to handsome, vapid, celluloid heartthrob Tab Hunter, whose thin voice and unsteady screen presence argue that he should have stayed in the dugout.

Walston is reliably spry and acerbic as the canny archangel, and Verdon, in one of her rare starring screen turns, confirms the comedic timing and sexy, muscular grace that made her a deserved draw in subsequent stage hits including another Fosse triumph, Sweet Charity. With her combination of feline grace and alternately steely, flirtatious femininity, Verdon makes you believe her when she sings, "Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets." --Sam Sutherland

I bought this DVD just because I'm a great baseball fan (hate the Yanks) and music is a very special part of my life. The first time I saw this movie I fell in love with Gwen Verdon who made a flowless and immense job. Do you know why? She owned the whole play. As simple as that!

Pardon the expression, but Damn Yankees is funny as hell, filled with devilish humor and great music! I think I like it better even than Cabaret and Chicago, two other great Fosse musicals. Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon sizzle as the horned one and his temptress. They could have done better than Tab Hunter as Joe, but he does a fine job. The movie was made in 1958 but it doesn't seem dated because it's dealing with universal themes. Watch it and laugh and sing!

Damn Yankees is a peculiar, dated musical which probably was a lot better on stage than in movie version, however there are some cute numbers and engaging performances by wily Ray Walston and a strapping, earnest Tab Hunter.

The real star of the show (check out the Trailer and you'll see how heavily reliant the studio was on her!) is Gwen Verdon and the choreography of her partner, Bob Fosse. Gwen's breathtaking in every moment she has...and this one is worth having in yoru collection if only for having her incredible talent preserved on film in your library! It's too bad more of her magic moments were captured onscreen for posterity. She was truly one in a million!

The Wizard of Oz (Two-Disc Special Edition) B000ADS63KWarner Home Video25 (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-17T22:03:00.000-07:00

The Wizard of Oz (Two-Disc Special Edition)

B000ADS63K

Warner Home Video

25 October, 2005

A Hard Day's Night

B0000542D2

Miramax Entertainment

24 September, 2002

The Fab Four from Liverpool--John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr--in their first movie. Nobody expected A Hard Day's Night to be much more than a quick exploitation of a passing musical fad, but when the film opened it immediately seduced the world--even the stuffiest critics fell over themselves in praise (highbrow Dwight Macdonald called it "not only a gay, spontaneous, inventive comedy but it is also as good cinema as I have seen for a long time"). Wisely, screenwriter Alun Owen based his script on the Beatles' actual celebrity at the time, catching them in the delirious early rush of Beatlemania: eluding rampaging fans, killing time on trains and in hotels, appearing on a TV broadcast. American director Richard Lester, influenced by the freestyle French New Wave and British Goon Show humor, whips up a delightfully upbeat circus of perpetual motion. From the opening scene of the mop tops rushing through a train station mobbed by fans, the movie rarely stops for air. Some of the songs are straightforwardly presented, but others ("Can't Buy Me Love," set to the foursome gamboling around an empty field) soar with ingenuity. Above all, the Beatles express their irresistible personalities: droll, deadpan, infectiously cheeky. Better examples of pure cinematic joy are few and far between. --Robert Horton

No Beatle interviews? Not even Ringo? They could've at least chopped off some of the Anthology interviews. No making of? The packaging is great, the interviews are intersting, but the set is lacking. It could've used some more features. It should be 5, but Apple screwed it up.

I always thought Apple were slow to update the Beatles classics (we are still waiting for the remastered CDs!), so when i heard about this new DVD i rushed out and bought it.
The film is as good as it ever was, of course, but i have to admit i was slightly disappointed about the new features.
They are simply not enough of them. When you compare this DVD to some of the others in the shops, then you can't help but feel a little shortchanged. There is so much that Apple could have included, but didn't.
The only thing that makes it worthwhile is the improved sound.
But having said that, the film itself is a joy. It is funny, and captures the Beatles at a period when they were still young and wide-eyed - at the height of Beatlemania. The songs are fabulous (Cant Buy Me Love, A Hard Days Night...) and even their acting is okay!
This film is worthy of a 5-star rating, and I would have given it 5 if Apple put more effort into the DVD features. But as it is, i am going to stick with a 4.

I could only find this DVD on Amazon.com. Waste away the hours in your mall if don't beleive me.

Did the Beatles invent MTV? Watch this movie and decide for yourself.

In any event: FIVE STARS *****


Tommy B00000K3TVColumbia/Tristar Studios28 August, 2001If you've ever wanted to hear (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

Tommy

B00000K3TV

Columbia/Tristar Studios

28 August, 2001

If you've ever wanted to hear Jack Nicholson sing (or try to) or marvel at the sight of Ann-Margret drunkenly cavorting in a cascade of baked beans, Tommy is the movie you've been waiting for. As it turns out, the Who's brilliant rock opera is sublimely matched to director Ken Russell's penchant for cinematic excess, and this 1975 production finds Russell at the peak of his filmmaking audacity. It's a fever-dream of musical bombast, custom-fit to the thematic ambition of Pete Townshend's epic rock drama, revolving around the titular "deaf, dumb, and blind kid" (played by Who vocalist Roger Daltrey) who survives the childhood trauma that stole his senses to become a Pinball Wizard messiah in Townshend's grandiose attack on the hypocrisy of organized religion.

The story is remarkably coherent considering the hypnotic dream-state induced by Russell's visuals. Tommy's odyssey is rendered through wall-to-wall music, each song representing a pivotal chapter in Tommy's chronology, from the bloodstream shock of "The Acid Queen" (performed to the hilt by Tina Turner) to Nicholson's turn as a well-intentioned physician, Elton John's towering rendition of "Pinball Wizard," and Daltrey's epiphanous rendition of "I'm Free." Other performers include Eric Clapton and (most outrageously) the Who's drummer Keith Moon, and through it all Russell is almost religiously faithful to Townshend's artistic vision. Although it divided critics when first released, Tommy now looks likes a minor classic of gonzo cinema, worthy of the musical genius that fueled its creation. --Jeff Shannon

I saw this movie when it came out and I never forgot the premise; as children we are told to "see but not see" (this is something my mother literally told me to do) We grow up shutting down important cognitive functions. We close our eyes to abuse, religous hypocrisy, lies from our parents, leaders at every level. We walk around barely functioning. I finally decided to watch this movie again because I couldn't quit thinking about the things it portrays which I have subsequently learned first hand. Now that I have seen it again, I recall that a year or two ago Pete Townshend was caught cruising child-porn sites and he said (and I actually found it believable) that he was researching his own past and trying to find answers. With that new piece of information in hand the movie takes on a new meaning. "You didn't see it you didn't hear it, you'll never talk about it you didn't feel it" And with that everything shuts down. He parodies the way we seek absolution and healing- with religous excess, with drugs,with drs., and mother and father, who are basically to blame because they failed to protect the child in the course of carrying out their own lustful and selfish agenda, pretend that they care. They take him to the healing meeting (where sex is employed in an effort to arouse deadened emotions and senses)they let all kinds of quacks attempt to heal him. I can see that Townshend grew up confused about God and religon because he asked the question "how can he be saved?" This is the question all abused children ask. If there is such a thing as God and heaven and hell, where do they stand, because their choices were taken away from them. A dead child can't feel 
God or know Jesus, how is that fair? And yet, as his parents continue to live their own life and fulfil their own agenda, they repeatedly leave him with a sadistic cousin and a lacivious uncle (fiddling about) Pete Townshend obviously felt the same amazement that he portrays about Tommy; this person who felt half dead suddenly found out he had a strange and undeserved ability to make people worship him, and a means of becoming extremely rich. I can comprehend his cynical amazement; to Townshend, the ability to play music and have people pay him huge sums of money and assemble in large halls to watch and listen is as bizarre and undeserved as the following Tommy had for his strange ability to play pinball. It was an alternative to being alive deep down in his soul. It paid well, it pleased him, but still it did not heal him. I feel that the film deteriorates in the last half or one third. It loses meaning and sanity, although the music continues to be extremely satisfying. I never did understand exactly why Tommy was suddenly healed. Just jumping through a mirror and being immersed in some water shouldn't have done it. I didn't find the metaphor there. Roger Daltrey makes and exremely convincing case for tight jeans, and cameo appearances by huge stars add interest to the movie. Over all, I found this to be an accurate road map of the journey of refusing to know the truth. We all do it... forbid our young to see us and the world we give to them as it really is all the while pretending we care and that we have their best interest at heart. After making mistakes and seeing the wrongs we have all done, guess what, if we had the chance we would do it all the same again. It opened my eyes to the things I do to my children, and I have discovered that it is the most difficult and courageous thing in the world to see and feel what is really going on around us.

To be honest, I only wanted to buy this movie because I am a fan of Oliver Reed. It certainly didn't disappoint in that respect.

To be truthful, I'm not really sure that I "get" this movie; and I really am not sure that I want to. However, it was entertaining to watch with my sister, and although the sets, costumes, & other design date the production, the imagery and initial message still seem to hold up.

I firmly believe that while Roger Waters and Alan Parker were making the film version of The Wall, they were watching this film for inspiration as to what NOT to do. The story of Tommy is given many subtle but important changes, and they just do not work. First and foremost of these is the murder of Tommy's father at the beginning, which is NOT what happens on the album (take a look at the lyrics booklet if you don't believe me, the lines are for Tommy's FATHER); this changes the entire dynamic of the film, since instead of having a loving father who, as much as the mother, wants to see him cured, Tommy has an abusive, destructive, uncaring lout who subjects him to all sorts of obscenities, seemingly for his own amusement. The point of this change escapes me, but it is not only this that ruins the film.
Letting anyone besides Roger Daltrey, Eric Clapton, and Elton John sing was a big mistake and essentially ruins The Who's brilliant songs (with the surprising exception of Jack Nicholson). The acting is way over-the-top, and Oliver Reed is a thoroughly unlikeably screen presence; every time I see him I cringe, and not in a good way. Ann-Margret, despite what you might read, cannot act and can barely sing. Surprisingly, only Roger Daltrey delivers a really believable performance (although, admittedly, all he does for most of it is stare blankly).
This was a film with infinite potential that squandered it all for pastiche. Hopefully someday someone with vision will do cinematic justice to what is truly a brilliant album.

West Side Story (Special Edition DVD Collector's Set)

B00008972S

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

01 April, 2003

The winner of 10 Academy Awards, this 1961 musical by choreographer Jerome Robbins and director Robert Wise (The Sound of Music) remains irresistible. Based on a smash Broadway play updating Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to the 1950s era of juvenile delinquency, the film stars Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as the star-crossed lovers from different neighborhoods--and ethnicities. The film's real selling points, however, are the highly charged and inventive song-and-dance numbers, the passionate ballads, the moody sets, colorful support from Rita Moreno, and the sheer accomplishment of Hollywood talent and technology producing a film so stirring. Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim wrote the score. --Tom Keogh

The ironic thing is, this movie was trying to point out peace and discrimination issues, and being made in 1961, led to an era of peace and anti-discrimination battle cries. This movie is in retrospect, the best musical of all time. With its deep mysertious characters and chaotic plot, the movie keeps you gripping your seat til the dramatic conclusion. The Puerto-Rican sharks vs. the manhattan raised Jets take you once again back to the time of when gangs roamed the dirty side of the cities. the plot (William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' brought to a new time period and light) revolves around the characters of immigrated Puerto-Rican Maria, her sister Bernardo, his girlfriend Anita, Maria's given lover Chino, Her real lover Tony, who's best friends with Riff, who's the leader of the Jets. With a rumble following a community dance where Maria and Tony first meet, the leaders of the Sharks and the Jets, Bernardo and Riff, are knifed and killed. Overcome with emotion, Tony, who killed Bernardo after Bernardo killed Riff, wants to turn himself in, and finds himself unworthy of Maria's love. Chino has Bernardo's gun, and a bullet he intends to use on Tony. Maria can't see the hate, she wishes to love everyone and everything. But taking sides involves hate unfortunately, and love is stuck in the middle of it. The movie comes to an end with Tony being shot by Chino, and Maria finally gets the message out to everyone: Hate can cause so much sorrow, why do people even hate? The movie has many brilliant dance and song numbers, and a deep, revolving plot. The fast paced number America ("Things are all right in America! If you're a white in America!") brings latin spirit and is a simply amazing seaquence to the film. Winner of 11 Acadamy Awards, more than any musical has ever won, this movie clearly states all over it that it is a true classic.

One of the most wonderful and happy films ever made.

Is not only a great musical, the story is really clever and full of wonderfull insights that deal with the process of making movies.

Deservely, one of the ten best films ever made!

Amazing movie...Amazing DVD.
The Story 10/10...the Songs 10/10..the lyrics 10/10...the dancing 11/10...the colour, shots, scenery, lighting 10/10.

I wish I knew something about politics in the US at this time....it was after the "Macarthy Era"?
I'm gonna go ask my dad what it was like watching this in the cinema when it first came out...wow it must have been amazing....this DVD I think will help us too young to have been there to capture a little of that feeling.
(I wonder/fear that if they did a modern Holywood remake if they would change the ending!!!!)

Grease (Widescreen Edition) B00003CXAEParamount Home Video24 September, 2002Riding the strange (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

Grease (Widescreen Edition)

B00003CXAE

Paramount Home Video

24 September, 2002

My Fair Lady (Two-Disc Special Edition)

B00011D1OA

Warner Home Video

03 February, 2004

Quadrophenia (Special Edition) B000055XMFRhino Video25 September, 2001Franc Roddam's terrifically energetic (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-17T03:02:00.000-07:00

Quadrophenia (Special Edition)

B000055XMF

Rhino Video

25 September, 2001

Franc Roddam's terrifically energetic movie, set to music from the Who's Quadrophenia, is--at the very least, the best film ever based on a rock album (and, yes, that includes, Tommy, Pink Floyd: The Wall, and Jesus Christ Superstar). Actually, this tale of the battle between two early '60s youth subcultures--Mods and Rockers--in the seaside teenage wasteland of Brighton, England, isn't so much a cinematic "version" of the Who's 1979 double-record rock opera as it is a story based on the sequence of songs on the album. Quadrophenia is about that crucial time in teenhood when the lion's share of your sense of identity is tied up in the music you listen to, the clothes you wear, and the groups you hang out with. Jimmy (Phil Daniels) identifies himself with the sharp-dressing, scooter-riding Mods, who listen to American soul and British pop-rock (The Who themselves were once rather Mod). The Rockers, on the other hand, are leather-jacketed, black-booted, motorcycle-riding tough guys who listen primarily to classic American rock & roll. The film captures this minor pop-culture revolution perfectly. Look for Sting as a club-hopping slickster, who's shameful secret is that he's a hotel bellboy by day. --Jim Emerson

Mods & Rockers! anyone who's riden a bad motor scooter should watch. i had the original soundtrack for this movie on 8-track. i also bought the VHS copy of the movie too. watch it on DVD, new technology RULES!!!

Beyong the culturally specific time and setting of mod versus rockers England of the 60's, a universal story of alienation, belonging, anger, and unrequitted love is set deeply at the core of this incredible film. Many fans of the rock band The Who were probably the first to be aware of this special film based on the album of the same title. However it's so much more than just a film adaptation of a concept album. This is a gritty film with a protagonist, Jimmy, who doesn't seem to fit into the society around him. His frustrations with his family, his job, and even his own peers come crumbling down on him during a wild weekend at Brighton beach. 

The dvd special edition is very good however the restored print isn't as clean as it could be. There are many scratches and blemishes. I wished it was a cleaner print but alas this is as good as it gets. The extras are fantastic, with audio commentary by director Franc Roddam, however I would have liked it even more if some of the original actors such as Phil Daniels or even the surviving members of The Who themselves could have also been included in the commentary. What I appreciated most was getting to know Roddams intention with the ambiguously tragic ending. 

And if you pay close attention to Jimmy's rocker friend, it's none other than a very young Ray Winstone in his first feature appearance! 

Aside from some of my criticisms of things I wished were included, I still rate this a 5 stars as Rhino put a lot of effort into making this special edition worthy of the name. Highly recommended film!

A very dark and moving film beyond it's years. The scooters are magnificent for any enthusiast and the music brilliant!

The Wiz

0783233493

Universal Studios

13 April, 1999

The Red Shoes - Criterion Collection B00000IPHTCriterion Collection18 May, 1999It's (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

The Red Shoes - Criterion Collection

B00000IPHT

Criterion Collection

18 May, 1999

It's been said that this 1948 classic has been responsible for the ballet lessons of more young girls than any other film. It's not hard to understand why: Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger's dark fairy tale presents the ballet as an exquisite, magical work of art; but under the theatrics and glory is an all-consuming lifestyle with the power to destroy those who love it perhaps too much. Moira Shearer practically glows as Victoria "Vicky" Page, a young woman consumed by a will to dance who is accepted into the highly prestigious ballet company run by perfectionist Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook). Meanwhile, a gifted young composer, Julian Craster (Marius Goring), is brought on board as an orchestra coach, and later conductor and composer of the ballet that will make Vicky's name: The Red Shoes, one of the most beautiful and dramatic dances ever captured on film. Professional and personal jealousies soon pull this creative team apart, however, and Vicky is torn between her love of Julian, her responsibility to Boris, and her need to dance. Powell and Pressburger recast Hans Christian Andersen's sad story as a modern romantic melodrama, highlighted by beautiful dances and shot, not as stage ballets, but rather as expressionist cinematic dramas on impossibly grand sets awash with bold color and beautifully captured in glorious Technicolor by cinematographer Jack Cardiff. It's a brilliant melding of dance and drama as Vicky's real life mirror's the tragic story she danced in the Red Shoes ballet. --Sean Axmaker

What makes a good story? For most of us perhaps, it would center around tales that deal with things we are interested in, so that if we like slapstick humor, people like Laurel and Hardy are great. Or, if we like science fiction, it is hard to beat a good Star Trek story.

But I think a good story is one that can draw you outside your area of interest, and make you react to something that you would otherwise have no interest. Perhaps "react" is a good word to use, and not necessarily "enjoy." In spite of a dislike for a certain type of story, you just might find yourself reacting to a character from the story in spite of yourself. This is what we have with the movie, The Red Shoes. By itself, its very nature is enough to turn off a great many viewers. The background of the story is set in a ballet company that travels the world giving performances, and it is the story of one young woman who is given her chance to do what she always wanted--to dance. For her, to dance is to live, and to live is to dance. Giving her this chance is a man to whom ballet is a religion, and anyone who looks back is not fit for his kingdom. The bottom line is that for him, ballet is all that is or ever will be, and whoever would be in his ballet company must give up everything else. The man is accused of not having any heart. And he doesn't.

OK. So we have a crisis love story set against a dance background. So what? Every area of life, no matter how obscure, seems to rise to the top to claim its 15 minutes of fame. Classical music was just there until "Switched On Bach" came along, and suddenly classical music was in. People may not have always enjoyed the old hillbilly humor of the old "Hee Haw" TV show, but suddenly Jeff Foxworthy makes being a redneck kind of cool and fun. Golf has always had its fans, but when Tiger Woods came on the scene everyone in golf became a winner. And when The Red Shoes hit the theaters in 1948, it turned on a good many young girls to the art of ballet.

Ballet is admittedly an obscure art form. On one hand, some of the world's greatest athletes are dancers, and what they can do with their bodies would put many people in the hospital just for watching the contortions. Who in their right mind would want to go through months if not years of suffering just to be able to stand on your very tip toes, and walk that way? And it takes effort to watch ballet, because like opera, stories are told through the dance, and you have to work at paying attention to catch the story line. Ballet has been used to tell the story of Romero and Juliet, as well as Anne Frank. Just by dancing. And then there are the costumes. If other women were to wear these types of clothes to a shopping mall they would be arrested for indecency. You won't find any more form fitting costumes than on a male and female ballet dancer, as very little is left to the imagination. And then there are the girly-guys of ballet. Male ballet dancers don't exactly seem like the macho types.

For me, the ballet in movies makes a background for a suspenseful Alfred Hitchcock film, or perhaps something wrapped around "The Phantom of the Opera." Watching this movie, I find myself waiting for a murder mystery to begin, but nothing even comes close to this. Instead, what we get is an answer to the question of what happens when two opposite desires collide, and you have to make a choice as to which desire you want. On one hand, if you stay with this ballet company you will have met your life's ambition to dance, and dance, and dance, and dance for people all over the world. On the other hand, you are working for a man who has no room for romance between men and women in his ballet company, and if such a thing should happen it is seen as the ultimate act of betrayal, and the person is dismissed with a wave of his hand. Well, the romance does come along, and Moira Shearer as the female lead becomes like a person with two ropes attached to her, both pulling in opposite directions. On one hand is this consuming attitude by her boss, who demands that people eat, drink, and sleep ballet. On the other hand is a blossoming love that she doesn't want to let get away.

It is a story that could have taken place in any kind of a background--perhaps with a demanding boss from an office setting, a boss who demands his employees work 14 hours a day to meet their productivity goals. Or perhaps in a sweat shop from a story that takes place in the 1880s. But it doesn't. The story takes place in a ballet company, and what we have here is ballet as you have never seen it before. It is like "The Sound of Music" meets "2001: A Space Odyssey." In one of the most stunning dance sequences ever caught on film, the dancers on stage are transported into a kind of non-stop dream sequence made up of an almost hallucinogenic color, and the dance just goes on, and on, and on. Solid flesh and blood dance partners are turned into two dimensional paper dance partners. The dancers are on a stage one moment, but the next they are transported to some imaginary world, or in a moment morph into birds. And they keep on dancing at a level no human being could sustain. But they do here.

This is most likely not the kind of film that people who receive this e-mail will want to stand in line to watch. It is about boring high society people who can define the word, "snob." It is a film about a high form of culture that most of us would be bored to tears attending--we'd much rather be at a U2 concert than sit and watch a two hour ballet performance. Unless you like looking at the female ballet dancers wearing what appears to be sprayed on butt huggers. No, this film is more modest.

But underneath all of this is a basic human interest story. No matter what your background is, no matter what your job is, you feel stress, you feel pain, you experience longing, and for some of us these feelings are buried beneath a crusty exterior, and for others who are aware of their feelings we have some hard choices to make.

Perhaps the most difficult thing about this movie is that you have to sit through the entire movie before everything comes together. And even then you will have to think about what you just got done seeing. And even then it will not necessarily cause you to fall in love with this movie, but it will cause you to react to it. But the way the movie ends is a big bang.

The Red Shoes of the title refers to the color of the ballet slippers. The movie is based upon a story by Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger, who in turn based their story on a Hans Christian Anderson story, but they gave the story a darker twist: " under the theatrics and glory is an all-consuming lifestyle with the power to destroy those who love it perhaps too much."--Sean Axmaker (Amazon).

Watching this movie may give you the same feeling you get when you read the doom and gloom from the Old Testament book of Jeremiah. Surely, there are more exciting things to read, but perhaps in spite of this, when you think about the message, being uncomfortable is not always so bad.

If reading the book of Jeremiah can make you appreciate the ease of Psalm 23 better, films like The Red Shoes can help you appreciate a simple story line. If nothing else, if you refuse to see this movie, you should watch the main dance squence. Where is a good HAL 9000 computer when you need one?

Although the opening credits claim that "any similarity to real-life persons or events are purely accidental" don't be fooled: Boris Lermontov, the autocratic Russian ballet impresario, is obviously modelled after Serge Diaghilev. Like Boris, Diaghilev had a series of relationships with his "proteges" (like Vaslav Nijinsky or Leonid Massine), and when these proteges left his bed to marry (women), Diaghilev would get enraged and kick them out of the company. "Ballet Lermontov" like "Ballet Russes" produced a mix of classical ballet works as well as new compositions with then unknown composers. The character of Julian Crasten is a stand-in for the likes of Stravinsky, Debussy, Prokofiev et al. whom Diaghilev supported. The real-life Diaghilev was always surrounded by a crew of male "helpers" (called the homosexual mafia) -- it is this way in the film too. And once he fired his male dancers, Diaghilev would often spend years trying to get them back into the company. In the movie, prima ballerina Irina is coldly dismissed when she marries, but is accepted back when Vicky leaves.
But, art does not exactly imitate life. Anton Walbrook's portrayal of Boris is much colder, icier, then the real-life Diaghilev. He has the streak of white hair, but he (wisely) does not make himself into a Diaghilev caricature. He is skinny, whereas Diaghilev is portly. There's no cane, no monocle, no hat. Plus, Diaghilev was genuinely and passionately attached to his "proteges", whereas Boris's obsession with his proteges is sexless and almost detatched.
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger have put together a good, if melodramatic story. The young Moira Shearer is radiant as Vicky Page, an ambitious ballerina. "The Red Shoes" (a story by Hans Christian Andersen) refers to the ballet which makes Vicky's career -- in the ballet, the ballerina is forced to dance in her red shoes until death. It's an obvious symbol of the struggle between total, monastic devotion to art, and the desire to have a normal life. When Vicky falls for Julian Crasten (Marius Goring), the composer of the Red Shoes ballet, complications of course develop.
The movie benefits from strong casting. As Boris, Anton Walbrook makes the character creepy, cold, and self-centered, yet not a villain. In his quiet rage he is both terrifying and pitiable. He can be gentle too: when he asks Vicky back to the ballet, he says "We already miss you. Do you miss us?" Real life ballet danseur Robert Helpmann is rather fey as the leading dancer of Ballet Lermontov, and Leonid Massine is super-hammy as the ballet master Ljubov. Most of all, Moira Shearer, with her bright red hair, obvious balletic talent, and soft-spoken determination, makes the movie more than just a backstage soap. 
Looking at this movie now, Julian actually becomes more unsympathetic. He is condescending about the ballet, and there's no ssign that he appreciates Vicky's dancing. The marriage, after initial passion, seems to turn loveless. His ultimatum to Vicky to give up dancing is incredibly selfish. So Boris's hold on Vicky is understandable. At one point, Boris asks Vicky, "Do you want to live?" She replies, "I want to dance." This movie makes us understand why such an attitude is possible.


This work belongs to that elite of perfect artworks. You will never find just a little fissure in its construction. Not only it contains one of the most memorable ballet sequences in any age, but also is a mature film in what its purposes concern. Would you sacrifice the love of your life or would follow your bliss through the art? The ever lasting question has been formulated internally for so many artists. The special case of Frau Teresa CarreÃ±o, the renowned Venezuelan pianist faced the similar challenge. And it would be the right time for reminding you this is precisely the central conflict in Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata for instance.

This lovely artist will face the painful choice. And please ignore all the relative comments around the movie about the overdramatic tone. A decision of this level will involve your whole life, so you make your choice. The art for not dying of the truth or the obvious loneliness leaving behind you all the affective universe of your beloved couple.

Monumental masterpiece of Michael Powell one of the most prominent British directors in any age. He shares honours with David Lean, Carol Reed, Laurence Olivier, Anthony Asquith which talks by itself about the level I mean.

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella

B00004Z4SE

Disney Studios

14 November, 2000

The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition) B000ADS64EWarner Home Video25 (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition)

B000ADS64E

Warner Home Video

25 October, 2005

I've already pre-ordered this ultra edition. If what I have read about the restoration is true, this will indeed be the premiere edition of the movie.

I also want to through in that whoever has written about a widescreen release needs to get their head checked. Yikes. Widescreen was created to contrast television. The Wizard of Oz is being presented in it's glorious Full Screen Original version. 

The Wizard of Oz is one of my favorite classic movies and I used to have the movie on video tape but I now have it on DVD. I have the old DVD release and I love it and I'm glad that I gave my old video tape away and bought the DVD! Judy Garland was superb and so was the rest of the cast! The DVD is really very good, it has been lovenly restored and the the colors and sound are great and we get things like deleted scenes which is very rare for an old movie because they usually didn't keep stuff like that. FYI: Like some previous reviewers I have read several reviews by people who are whining about the DVD's not showing The Wizard of Oz in Widescreen and are demanding a widescreen DVD and I felt That I also needed to comment. Okay, I don't know when other countrys that make movies came out with widescreen movies but I do know that the Wizard of Oz which debuted in movie theaters way back in 1939 wasn't filmed in widescreen! It was filmed in fullscreen and the first American widescreen movie didn't come out until 1953 so some people seriously need to do some research and get their facts straight before they review an old movie like The Wizard of Oz!

Mostly, I just want to add another 5 stars in an effort to offset the few fools who gave it less. The greatest film ever made. This classic is the single most heartrending of any cinematic experience, and boasts the single finest film score of all time. Judy Garland singing Over the Rainbow in the context of this film is a modern-day Mona Lisa, a masterpiece.

If they do for the Wizard Of Oz what they recently did for Gone With the Wind, I'll be a happy man.

Fender Presents: Getting Started on Electric Guitar -- A Guide for Beginners

B0000639G7

Hal Leonard Publishi

26 February, 2002

Overall a good DVD, but I think it is a little misleading. Speaking from the viewpoint of a beginner, the first portion of this DVD is excellent. Chord positions in 3d are taught, with some good practice tracks. So far so good. Unfortunately, from there, it whizzes through some techniques like palming/muting and rhythm, then comes back with an entire song(for each style of playing) that incorporates all the lessions. Unfortunately, while teaching the song, he runs through the technique rather quickly, throwing in a number of unfamiliar terms, chords, and complicated strumming which quickly lost me.

I'm probably just guitar-challanged, but I think the second half of this DVD is just a bit complicated for a true beginner. I will come back to this DVD once I am very comfortable with all the chords and strumming techniques, and it probably will be more digestable then. 

The first part of the DVD is worth the money for a true beginner, but I estimate the second portion is for somebody that has perhaps a good 6-9 months of experience.

I bought this after taking 4 months of lessons and it's one of the best investment i've made. Other than the great features that others have written about, i'll mention 2 which are of most use to me.

1. I've bought other books and books/cds combination but the one big flaw with those, even good ones, is that they do not SHOW you how to perform the techniques properly. Things like the finger roll, bends, palm muting can only be learnt from getting someone to show you how they are done (from instructors or guitar-playing friends if you're lucky to have them). Keith shows you how they are done in close-ups and like a good video, you get to play them over and over. This is something that even an instructor may not do for you unless you have personal coaching.

2. Most books do not show you the fingering. Here you get to see the exact fingerings used by Keith. The suggested fingerings are also shown in the tab sequence in the DVD.

I'd highly recommend this DVD to beginners who are still trying to learn all the basic techniques of electric guitar.

The practice tracks are simple and repetitive, but I can't argue with the results. After doing just the first two lessons (and practicing each one for a few days), I really felt like I was *playing* as opposed to tripping over my own fingers. A few weeks into it and I have enough of it down that I can play in front of people. ;-)

Make no mistake about this: The DVD follows the rhythm method so you won't be learning tunes so much as chords. If you want to put your new knowledge and reflexes to work, get a fake-book in addition to the DVD.

There's some filler on the DVD in the form of a musical tribute to the Fender factory and when you add it up, there's only about 100 minutes of real content (not 3 hours), but think of it as several 5-minute lessons and then an hour a day of repetitive playing to 3-minute practice tracks and it's much more substantial than it sounds.

I couldn't give it 5 stars because of two important lapses. 

First, it needs a chord-finding chapter. I mean that it should offer a list of chords in a menu that link to the still-images that they use to show the fingering in each lesson. I hate going back through an old lesson just because I forgot one rarely-used chord.

The other thing that I hate is the navigation-system that they use to switch between lessons and practice tracks.The vertical stack of buttons is inefficient and you have to navigate through several consecutive menus to get to any specific lesson. A more logical layout would put the language options in a sub-menu instead of taking up the first screen; lay the lessons across the top of the screen; and have the 3 practice tracks and the back button at the bottom so that selecting the first practice track from any menu-screen would take no more than a simple press of the down button.

Overall, however, I'm very pleased with this product and when I'm finished with it, I intend to move on to part II "The Next Step."

The Sound of Music (40th Anniversary Edition) B000AP04OMFox Home Entertainme15 (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

The Sound of Music (40th Anniversary Edition)

B000AP04OM

Fox Home Entertainme

15 November, 2005

Some people may sneer at this 1965 musical, but the truth is the film has earned its status as a perennially watchable romantic-drama, largely on the strength of a fun story and chemistry between stars Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Veteran filmmaker Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still) mostly stays out of the way of the film's appealing elements, which include a based-on-fact tale of Austria's von Trapp family, who fled their Nazi-occupied country in 1938. Andrews is delightful and even fascinating as Maria, who sheds her tomboyish ways as a novice nun to accept the mantle of adulthood, becoming matron of the motherless von Trapp clan. Plummer is matinee-idol handsome and gives a smart performance to boot, and the cast of young people and kids who make up the singing von Trapp children make a strong impression. Based on the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical, the score includes such winners as "Maria" and the future John Coltrane hit "My Favorite Things." --Tom Keogh

It's a little embarassing but I admit it. I absolutely loved this movie when it first came out in '65 when I was a lovestruck, impressionable thirteen year old. I had quite a crush on Julie Andrews back then. But as the old adage goes, "The day eventually comes for childish things to be put away." After watching this movie recently on DVD I think this might be one of "those things."

Yes, the scenery is magnificent, the Bavarian/Austrian architecture superb, the music delightful (though overly sachrine) and seeing Julie Andrews so young and beautiful dancing across the Alps brings back wonderful memories and youthful fantasies. But that's good for about thirty minutes and then what? Maybe I've just become jaded as I've grown older, but whatever the case maybe 'The Sound Of Music' is best remembered as a pleasant memory of my youth and leave it at that. 

With that said, I still can't give it less than - 4 Stars - just for old-times sake and those lingering feelings for Julie Andrews. A great movie if you have young children, or if you're really nostalgic about this genre of film. Otherwise look for something more challenging.

This is a great movie in my opinion. I always saw it as a tot on television every once and a while and was truly thrilled when I discovered it had been released on DVD. It is a very unique movie putting both live action and animation together in an entertaining way. I am 15 years old and feel I'm still a child at heart and this movie always brings out the child in me.

Not just Julia - Patriotism and Hope - true hope - at it's best! There is a spark here that fulfills expectation and makes the world just seem a little lighter on your shoulders.

South Pacific

6305320837

Twentieth Century Fox

27 April, 1999

The dazzling Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, brought to lush life by the director of the original stage version, Joshua Logan. Set on a remote island during the Second World War, South Pacific tracks two parallel romances: one between a Navy nurse (Mitzi Gaynor) "as corny as Kansas in August" and a wealthy French plantation owner (Rossano Brazzi), the other between a young American officer (John Kerr) and a native girl (France Nuyen). The theme of interracial love was still daring in 1958, and so was director Logan's decision to overlay emotional moments with tinted filters--a technique that misfires as often as it hits. The comic relief tends to fall flat, and an overly spunky Mitzi Gaynor is a poor substitute for the stage original's Mary Martin. But the location scenery on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is gorgeous, and the songs are among the finest in the American musical catalog: "Some Enchanted Evening," "Younger than Springtime," "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair," "This Nearly Was Mine." That's Juanita Hall as the sly native trader Bloody Mary, singing the haunting tune that launched a thousand tiki bars, "Bali H'ai." Based on stories from James Michener's book Tales from the South Pacific. --Robert Horton

I will always assoicate South Pacific with Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza. I remember playing the Broadway Soundtrack record--I remember the record was almost one-fourth-inch thick and practically indestructible!

When I saw the movie for the first time we took the train to Omaha (Lincoln didn't have a theatre that could show Cinerama movies back then). No matter what you thought of the acting/actors, you can't deny that the scenery is gorgeous! Three songs stand out:

1. That Nearly Was Mine -- if anyone asks me what a "torch song" is, I tell them to listen to this one.

2. You've Got to be Taught -- the best song about prejudice in my opinion. "You've got to be taught before it's too late, before you are six or seven or eight, to hate all the people your relatives hate". 

3. I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta My Hair -- good women's lib song although I didn't "get it" until many years later.

I gave it five stars becuase of the scenery and the music. Stupid or not, the music from South Pacific has endured over the years.

In early part of 2006 I hear we are at last to have a 2 disc version of this classic musical. With the ROADSHOW VERSION running the full 171mins on one disc and the shorter GENERAL RELEASE cut print 151 mins on the other, hope it includes the film THE MIRACLE OF TODD-AO as it was shown at the Dominion Theatre in London in 1958/59.
According to the Rodgers & Hammerstein organisation the 2 disc SPECIAL EDITION will be released in Spring 2006 along with SPECIAL EDTIONS of CAROUSEL & THE KING & I

I AM UNABLE TO COMMENT AT THIS POINT IN TIME AS I HAVE NOT AS YET VIEWED THE ARTICLE IN QUESTION. I SHALL CERTAINLY FORWARD A REVIEW AS IS APPROPRIATE.
I DO HAVE ANOTHER MATTER TO QUERY : WHY WAS MY IDENTITY AND CREDIT CARD UNDER INVESTIGATION RECENTLY ? I HAVE CONSEQUENTLY 
CHANGED MY CARD AND ALL OTHER DETAILS I SO FOOLISHLY COMPROMISED
BECAUSE I WAS ASKED FOR MY PIN,NUMERICAL CVV,AND AGREED TO DO SO.I AM QUITE DISTURBED BY THIS AND AM NOT AT ALL CONVOINCED OF THE SECURITY CLAIMED. PLEASE ADVISE.ASAP.


Newsies (Collector's Edition) B00005OCMSDisney Studios15 January, 2002Except for feature-length animation, (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Newsies (Collector's Edition)

B00005OCMS

Disney Studios

15 January, 2002

Singin' in the Rain (Two-Disc Special Edition)

B00006DEF9

Warner Home Video

24 September, 2002

Decades before the Hollywood film industry became famous for megabudget disaster and science fiction spectaculars, the studios of Southern California (and particularly Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) were renowned for a uniquely American (and nearly extinct) kind of picture known as The Musical. Indeed, when the prestigious British film magazine Sight & Sound conducts its international critics poll in the second year of every decade, this 1952 MGM picture is the American musical that consistently ranks among the 10 best movies ever made. It's not only a great song-and-dance piece starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and a sprightly Debbie Reynolds; it's also an affectionately funny insider spoof about the film industry's uneasy transition from silent pictures to "talkies." Kelly plays debonair star Don Lockwood, whose leading lady Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) has a screechy voice hilariously ill-suited to the new technology (and her glamorous screen image). Among the musical highlights: O'Connor's knockout "Make 'Em Laugh"; the big "Broadway Melody" production number; and, best of all, that charming little title ditty in which Kelly makes movie magic on a drenched set with nothing but a few puddles, a lamppost, and an umbrella. --Jim Emerson

This is my wife's alltime favorite movie. She is a Gene Kelly fan. Personally I think Donald O'Conner does an incredible job. They along with Debbie Reynolds make this a delightful movie.

Very funny, songs that won't get out of your head, and a transfer that is to die for. You will love this movie if you like to smile!

Often considered the greatest movie musical ever made, Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly's SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952, MGM) starts with a witty Betty Comden and Adolph Green script about the advent of sound. How did it revolutionize the film industry in the late 1920's and for actors who could not talk? The plight of the latter is immortalized by Jean Hagen, in the performance of a lifetime as Lina Lamont, an actress with a loud and squeaky voice. As someone says, "Lina's a triple threat-she can't sing, she can't dance, and she can't talk."

The movie's three main stars are Gene Kelly as matinee actor Don Lockwood (and the movie's co-choreographer); Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Seldon, the pretty actress Don loves; and Donald O'Connor as best friend Cosmo Brown. All three are wonderful, and Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown give them fabulous songs to sing: "You Were Meant For Me," "All I Do is Dream of You," O'Connor's show-stopping "Make `Em Laugh," the title song, "You Are My Lucky Star", and the overwhelmingly colorful "Broadway Melody" climax.

The production values here are so colorful and irresistible-cinematography, production design, and costumes just don't get any more beautiful. The movie is drenched in gorgeous color in every scene. One could get drunk on this movie's visuals! How, pray tell, they all three areas lose out on Oscar nomiations the year after AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951) swept the awards? What was the Academy thinking? Maybe one or two of them won for PARIS. At least Adrienne Fazan DID get nominated for editing on SINGIN'. Among the actors, only Hagen got nominated--and should have won the Oscar.

The version of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN that I am reviewing and that you should buy is the 50th anniverary double disk DVD from Warner Home Video. Disk one has the movie shimmeringly remastered and with a lavish audio commentary by just about everyone still alive in 2002. Disk two has two magnificent and informative documentaries, one on the Arthur Freed Unit at MGM and one hosted by Reynolds on the making of SINGIN'. Also on disk two are generous original movie excerpts from more than a dozen other MGM musicals that first used SINGIN' songs, and a deleted Debbie Reynolds song that someone had the brains to save in the vaults. It is a glorious total set--under $25-- and worthy of this greatest of color musicals.



Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella B00004Z4SEDisney Studios14 November, 2000More is not (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-16T04:05:00.000-07:00

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella

B00004Z4SE

Disney Studios

14 November, 2000

Jesus Christ Superstar (Special Edition)

B00028HBIO

Universal Studios Ho

31 August, 2004

A Hard Day's Night B0000542D2Miramax Entertainment24 September, 2002The Fab Four (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

A Hard Day's Night

B0000542D2

Miramax Entertainment

24 September, 2002

Cabaret

B00009Y3L4

Warner Home Video

19 August, 2003

Winner of eight Academy Awards, including Best Director (Bob Fosse), Best Actress (Liza Minnelli), and Best Supporting Actor (Joel Grey), Cabaret would also have taken Best Picture if it hadn't been competing against The Godfather as the most acclaimed film of 1972. (Francis Ford Coppola would have to wait two years before winning Best Director, for The Godfather, Part II.) Brilliantly adapted from the acclaimed stage production, which was in turn inspired by Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories and the play and movie I Am a Camera, this remarkable musical turns the pre-war Berlin of 1931 into a sexually charged haven of decadence. Minnelli commands the screen as nightclub entertainer Sally Bowles, who radiantly goes on with the show as the Nazis rise to power, holding her many male admirers (including Michael York and Helmut Griem) at a distance that keeps her from having to bother with genuinely deep emotions. Joel Grey is the master of ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub who will guarantee a great show night after night as a way of staving off the inevitable effects of war and dictatorship. They're all living in a morally ambiguous vacuum of desperate anxiety, determined to keep up appearances as the real world--the world outside the comfortable sanctuary of the cabaret--prepares for the nightmarish chaos of war. Director-choreographer Fosse achieves a finely tuned combination of devastating drama and ebullient entertainment, and the result is one of the most substantial screen musicals ever made. The dual-layered Special Edition widescreen DVD includes an exclusive 25th-anniversary documentary, Cabaret: A Legend in the Making, a 1972 promotional featurette, a photo gallery, production notes, the theatrical trailer, and more. --Jeff Shannon

Oh my.

Not bad. On its own, a pretty good movie. York's Cliff is an interesting thing, an all speaking role as opposed to the intermittant singing done on stage. Joel Grey's emcee remains basically unchanged. Sally...oh dear. Liza kind of missed the point of the title song. Sally isn't that strong. She's supposed to be having a total mental breakdown. Her entire world has been torn apart and she's supposed to be at the Klub singing that "life is a cabaret". 

Meh. Minelli can sing her ass off, there's no disputing that, and her diva-esque Sally is an interesting interpretation. Not my favorite portrayal, but okay. This is, by the way, the ONLY place to hear the song "Money Money". The revival included it, but it was by the Emcee and Kit Kat girls in replacement of the original Sitting Pretty...and Alan Cumming was fairly bad. 

Watch it. Form your own opinion. Pretty good movie.

This really is an incredible film which manages to capture the decadant permissiveness of Berlin and it's cultural diversity, leading as it inevitably does, to the raise of facism.
The songs march from fun to anxiety, the dance numbers are tight, clipped, toned and fascinating and stamped indelibly with the Fosse seal. Minnelli is frothy and energeticly in denial of reality and real emotion, York is stifled, stumbling and yet intellectual aware while Gray guides us through the path of decadance he embodies so well for Berlin of the 1920's, while steering us to sights and sounds we fail to be aware of amidst the fun. His over painted face belies the truth of the misery ahead but he slips out titbits for those brave or wise enough to take.
There are stunning and graphic scenes of the horrors of war and nazism brought to us through the eyes of artists and bohemians from many genres who actually witnessed the change in Berlin.
The opening number includes an exact recreation of a famous Otto Dix potrait, hidden amongst the audience.
Steamy, sexy, glossy, full of energy and yet menacingly 
forboding. Says more about the real cost of dictatorship than any straight war film I have ever seen. Brilliant and classic!

"Cabaret" is about a young lady named Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) who performs at the Kit Kat Club every night, but dreams of becoming a famous actress. She meets a British tutor named Brian Roberts (Michael York), and they instantly become friends, then lovers. It takes place in 1931 Berlin, just when the Nazis are gaining political power. The performances in this movie are all incredible; Liza was perfectly cast as Sally, and Michael York is wonderful in his role of Brian. Joel Grey is just disturbing and brilliant in his portrayal of the Master of Ceremonies, the role he originated in the Broadway production of "Cabaret". Most musicals have the characters all break out into unified song and dance, but not this movie; all musical numbers are (cleverly) performed in the Kit Kat Club, making it very realistic indeed. The only song not performed in the club is "Tomorrow Belongs To Me", a chilling song sung by a group of Nazis and patriotic Germans. It starts off with a young man singing, and he eventually leads the surrounding Germans into singing the song with violent nationalism. All the musical numbers are excellent, and are all different in their own ways. Bob Fosse's choreography is also excellent. The only problem I have with the movie is that, upon first viewing, I didn't really like it much. But some of the songs grew on me, and I watched it again; now, it's one of my favorite films of all time. I highly reccommend this movie, although it may take two or three viewings to truly appreciate it.

The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition) B000ADS64EWarner Home Video25 (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-15T15:01:00.000-07:00

The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition)

B000ADS64E

Warner Home Video

25 October, 2005

The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection

B00004TS0L

Twentieth Century Fox Home Video

29 August, 2000

Doris Day Collection (Billy Rose's Jumbo / Calamity Jane / (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-15T06:01:00.000-07:00

Doris Day Collection (Billy Rose's Jumbo / Calamity Jane / The Glass Bottom Boat / Love Me or Leave Me / Lullaby of Broadway / The Pajama Game / Please Don't Eat the Daisies / Young Man with a Horn)

B0007QS2YS

Warner Home Video

26 April, 2005

An absolute must for fans, a good mixture of musicals, comedy, and her OUTSTANDING performance in the musical drama LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME, you will not be dissapointed with this collection.

This is a wonderful collection to own for any Doris Day fan. I bought it for my mom and she loves it.

This is a truly beautiful 8 dvd set, of 8 of Doris Day's best films. Warner Brothers did a beautiful job restoring the movies to their origional glamour and wonder.

And they also have awesome special features. I hope that Warner Brother releases more of Doris Day's films in this kinda of quality, and design.

Anything Goes

B000A6T1I6

Paramount Home Video

27 September, 2005

This is the second film titled Anything Goes to star Bing Crosby (the first was a 1936 film). Both films change a lot of the original Cole Porter stage musical, but at least the later version keeps a few more Porter songs. Still, there is something odd about a Cole Porter film filled with "additional songs" by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen (perhaps Porter's work was not warm and cuddly enough for 1956 America, although it seemed to work well at MGM with High Society, released the same year). Crosby plays a Broadway star teamed up with young TV hotshot Donald O'Connor. Vacationing separately in Europe and needing a leading lady for their upcoming show, each signs a prospect--Crosby snaps up Mitzi Gaynor (at her perkiest) and O'Connor finds Jeanmaire, a French dancer. The show can only have one female star, so when the quartet crosses paths on the ocean liner back to the U.S., sparks will fly. Or not--this Paramount musical lacks any definable zip, from the sleepy dialogue to the listless camera. The capable Nick Castle staged the musical sequences, although Jeanmaire's numbers were choreographed by Roland Petit (also her husband). The Porter songs are half-heartedly rendered, although O'Connor and Gaynor get some oomph into "It's De-Lovely." Der Bingle was born to burble "Blow, Gabriel, Blow," but it's too little, too late. --Robert Horton

I love this movie. I saw this movie an entire decade ago, and it stuck with me through all those years. Naturally, when I heard it was coming out to DVD I had to have it. I am a huge fan of all the four principals. As a classic musical fan, of course I became a fan of Bing Crosby in movies WHITE CHRISTMAS, THE BELLS OF ST. MARY, and the legendary "Road" movies with Bob Hope. I've been a fan of Mitzi Gaynor and Donald O'Connor since I saw them in THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS. The talented (Zizi) Jeanmaire was outstanding in HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON. So, naturally ANYTHING GOES was brilliant to me.

Bing Crosby uses his usual charms as Bill Benson. He gets to sing songs like: You Got To Give 'Em Hoke, and All Through The Night.

Mitzi Gaynor adds the glamour to the movie as Patsy Blair, and she does it with the best of the glamour girls. She dances and sings to the title song as well It's De-Lovely with Donald O'Connor.

Donald O'Connor is the dancin' man Ted Adams and no one does it better than he. He doesn't get a solo song but does well in It's De-Lovely, and You Got To Give 'Em Hoke. He's the real comedien of this movie.

(Zizi) Jeanmaire as Gaby Duval is limitless. She was suprisingly able to pull off some jokes usually referring "Thank Heavens I'm French." Jeanmaire proves her vocal talents in the classic I Get A Kick Out Of You.

All four principals join in the classics Blow, Gabriel Blow and You're the Top.

I highly recommend this wonderful, though often forgotten, 1950s classic. If you're a fan of musicals this is a must own. The singing, the dancing, the jokes...in this anything does go. And It goes sooooooo great.

While MGM was soaring to new creative heights with their screen adaptations of Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate (1953) and Silk Stockings (1957) and originals High Society (1956) and Les Girls (1957), Paramount produced this watered-down completely new version of his Anything Goes. Paramount filmed Porter's Anything Goes twice, in 1936 and 1956, both versions starring Bing Crosby. They didn't get it right either time, but if you forget the source material the 1956 version represented here, while not a classic, is still an enjoyable movie in its own right.

This is a musical and what's most important are the songs and dances which are handled very well by the talented cast headed by Crosby and co-starring Donald O'Connor, Zizi Jeanmaire and Mitzi Gaynor. When the plot gets a bit stale which is often it's interrupted by a lively song or dance. Five of Porter's songs from the original stage production are represented here:

1) Anything Goes- a very colorful number with a typically exuberant Gaynor performance. Note the lyric change from "four-letter words" to "three-letter words".

2) I Get a Kick Out of You- performed by Jeanmaire with a male chorus in a style obviously influenced by Bob Fosse.

3) All Through the Night- sung well by Crosby by moonlight on shipboard and danced by Jeanmaire in the obligatory '50's dream sequence ballet.

4) You're the Top- performed by the four principals in a split-screen technique to show off the "wonders" of VistaVision.

5) Blow, Gabriel, Blow- the big finale with all four stars.

One number, It's De-Lovely, interpolated from Porter's 1936 stage show Red, Hot and Blue, is given enjoyable treatment sung and danced by O'Connor and Gaynor.

With all due respect to the very talented Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen the three new songs pale in comparison to the Porter tunes although they work better visually than just listening to them on the soundtrack album.

The DVD transfer is very good. The first few minutes display a bit of color fading, but after that the image becomes much more crisp with movie musical colors that pop. The soundtrack sounds good, also. Typical of studios other than Warner's, Paramount does not include any extras on this disc, not even the trailer if it still exists, which is a bit disappointing. It may have been interesting if they had included the 1936 version, however, I'm sure that ownership would be an issue since Universal owns most of Paramount's pre-1948 film catalogue.

Overall I recommend this movie as a chance to see four stars performing at their peak to a few of the best songs ever written in a motion picture of the type they don't make anymore. One thing that really comes across is that the four stars really seemed to enjoy working together. While this version of Anything Goes didn't break any new ground in the evolution of the movie musical, it's an agreeable time filler that moves very quickly.




First of all, the movie has almost nothing in common with Cole Porter's celebrated 1934 stage success. Aside from the title and 5 of the songs, it is a complete original.

The plot makes little sense: Bing Crosby is an aging Broadway star that teams up with a hot new TV personality for a new Broadway musical. All they need is a leading lady. In London, Crosby signs Mitzi Gaynor unaware that his partner has signed Zizi Jeanmaire in Paris. It gets sorted on during the trans-Atlantic voyage home. The complication? Crosby falls for Jeanmaire and O'Connor falls for Gaynor.

The wrap up is contrived, and the songs have nothing to do with the plot or character development. Augmenting the five hits from Porter's stage score (Anything Goes, I Get a Kick out of You, You're the top, All Though the Night, & Blow Gabriel Blow) are one other Porter song (from RED HOT AND BLUE - It's Delovely) and three new (and forgettable) songs by James Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn.

Still, it is a better film than the 1936 version - but not by much. 

Evita 6304806418Disney Studios24 March, 1998After more than a decade of (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-15T01:02:00.000-07:00

Evita

6304806418

Disney Studios

24 March, 1998

Baby Einstein - Baby Bach - Musical Adventure

B00005YUPO

Buena Vista Home Vid

12 March, 2002

Broadway - The American Musical (PBS Series) B0002V7THYParamount Home Video12 (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

Broadway - The American Musical (PBS Series)

B0002V7THY

Paramount Home Video

12 October, 2004

Like its fellow PBS series Ken Burns' Jazz, Broadway: The American Musical is an ambitious and absorbing exploration of a unique American art form that has always been best experienced in live performance. Hosted and narrated by Julie Andrews, the six-part, six-hour documentary traces the history of musical theater from its roots in vaudeville, operetta, and minstrel shows, to the dawn of what would become the modern American musical, Show Boat, and on through many changes that seemed to reflect those in American culture itself. Significant creators discussed include Florenz Ziegfeld, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Bob Fosse, and David Merrick, and notable shows (Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Company, Cats, and recent hit Wicked, among others) are analyzed through performance clips and interviews with songwriters, stars, directors, producers, critics, and historians.

The series' most obvious weakness is its use of only brief excerpts of the performances--no song is heard in full. The sheer scope of the series no doubt played a part in that, as well as complicated rights issues, but the core problem is that musical theater has always been a live medium, rarely documented and even more rarely released to the general public. The documentary's producers make do with audio recordings, still photographs, and bits of footage, often in grainy black and white. Thankfully, they resist over-relying on feature-film musicals--which look much better and are sometimes excellent (but more often mediocre) translations--and when used such footage is clearly identified. That makes it all the more frustrating, however, that almost all of the other footage is not identified, because that is what fans are less familiar with and would be most interested in. The 1950s footage looks to be mostly from TV programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show; by the 1960s we have live footage from the Tony Awards (easily identifiable by the backdrops); and the newest shows might have been shot on stage. But early Ethel Merman and other random clips are mysteries, perhaps even to the producers themselves.

Because the series is designed to appeal to a general audience (again like Jazz), a lot of the information won't be new to diehard Broadway fans, but they should be especially pleased by the DVDs' bonus features, which include additional performances and about four more hours of interviews. Stephen Sondheim fans should be fascinated by footage of the composer-lyricist discussing "Someone in a Tree" at the piano, and then running through the song with original cast members of Pacific Overtures, as well as interviews of him talking about his own shows and songs (e.g., listing the songwriters he pastiched in Follies) and reminiscing about mentor Oscar Hammerstein II. Other bonus performances include vaudeville films from the Library of Congress, original-cast television performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "If I Loved You" (from Carousel, unfolding over 12 minutes) and "Some Enchanted Evening" (the reprise version from South Pacific), Rent's Jonathan Larson spoofing Sondheim, and two behind-the-scenes looks at Wicked. --David Horiuchi

Several hours of reliving some wonderful "Show" memories, an era 
when musicals were tops. Not to be missed by anybody who loves
first rate musicals.

I think 'The American Musical' is a sophisticated and -far as I know- the most complete collection of highlights of American Musical Theatre.
Very fine (short) documentaries of 'standardsetting' shows as: 'Show Boat', 'The Lion King' and 'Wicked'. 

Within three dvd's it is clearly shown that the American musical is an artform with final results that are close to perfection (European opera is warned!). 

As a teacher at the Rotterdam Conservatory (NL) of the Musical Theatre Department I believe this collection should at least be in every library and if possible: in every (theatre)student's dvd-colection!

L.H. Rotterdam (Holland)

If you are a fan of all things broadway you will love this!! It contains many clips only able to be seen during the dreaded pledge drives of PBS. It is an excellent historical review of all things braodway, where broadway started and where it is headed.

West Side Story (Full Screen Edition)

B0000AM6IY

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

07 October, 2003

One of the most wonderful and happy films ever made.

Is not only a great musical, the story is really clever and full of wonderfull insights that deal with the process of making movies.

Deservely, one of the ten best films ever made!

Amazing movie...Amazing DVD.
The Story 10/10...the Songs 10/10..the lyrics 10/10...the dancing 11/10...the colour, shots, scenery, lighting 10/10.

I wish I knew something about politics in the US at this time....it was after the "Macarthy Era"?
I'm gonna go ask my dad what it was like watching this in the cinema when it first came out...wow it must have been amazing....this DVD I think will help us too young to have been there to capture a little of that feeling.
(I wonder/fear that if they did a modern Holywood remake if they would change the ending!!!!)


WEST SIDE STORY (1961, United Artists) is one spectacular movie musical and winner of eleven Academy Awards, including a special one for Jerome Robbins' brilliant choreography. This is Shakespeare's ROMEO AND JULIET set to superb music, and you will never be able to read the play again without wanting the show's songs. Arthur Laurents wrote the book for the stage show, which had music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreography by Robbins--all repeat their roles in the brilliant Robert Wise movie (co-directed by Robbins), which has a screenplay by Ernest Lehman (who later worked with Wise on THE SOUND OF MUSIC, as did production designer Boris Leven). I am watching both films this week in honor of Robert Wise, who died in the last couple of days at age 91.

We start with an enthralling prologue that combines knockout music with Saul Bass' excitingly colorful mosaic painting of lower Manhattan for five minutes. This then merges into a helicopter looking down on an empty Manhattan with no music, until we come to two street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, on a playground. These will become the two rival forces in the drama. Tony (Richard Beymer with a dubbed singing voice) loves Maria (Natalie Wood with a dubbed singing voice), who are on opposite sides in the gang war. PEYTON PLACE's Russ Tamblyn sizzles as Riff, while George Chakiris won an Oscar as Bernardo, Maria's volatile brother. Rita Moreno also won an Oscar as Anita, Maria's knowing sister.

WEST SIDE STORY gains from two directors. Robert Wise gives it a cinematic excitement, helped by the magnificent color and camera movement of cinematographer Daniel Fapp. And Jerome Robbins, also the choreographer, maintains the stage excitement for enthralling musical numbers. The movie is in the stratosphere as Tony sings "Maria" in colorfully lit alleys and playgrounds, then Anita does "America" on a crowded rooftop with dancers, then Tony and Maria do a fabulous "Tonight" duet on a fire escape. Back-to-back musical gold. It does not get much better than this in the American musical theater. But how will it top itself? We are only 45 minutes or so into a 153 minute movie.

Each subsequent musical number seems to take place in a different setting for visual excitement. Leven and Fapp deserved their Oscars for, respectively, sets and photography. "Officer Krupke" on a sidewalk is hilarious. Right after the intermission, Maria does a poignant "I Feel Pretty" in her bedroom with a pretty orange and yellow dress. Then the gangs get up on a rooftop to do "Puerto Rican Rumble" with dazzling lighting, intercut with an enthralling "Tonight". Every single song in this show is a winner, and the choreography is so sensual and exciting.

Something dramatic and awful happens in a knife fight under a bridge; I won't tell you what here to not spoil the surprise. But it gets Tony and Maria up on the roof again for a powerful "There's a Place For Us", one of the show's very best numbers. A death has occurred, but the gangs are still not satisfied and want more violence. The big number with them back on the street is "Be Cool".

The ending is tragic, stunning, and electrifying. Store owner Ned Glass and cop Simon Oakland both beg the gangs to stop fighting. But someone else still dies on a gorgeously lit playground with a gun. It is a revenge killing and packs a wallop. "Somewhere, Somehow" ends the show on a potent and sobering note. WEST SIDE STORY is one of the g reat movie musicals of all time, the big Oscar winner of 1961, including Saul Bass' creative end credits. And if you are lucky enough to find the special DVD edition I have been reviewing, it has the screenplay (!), a filmmaking documentary, audio tests of Natalie Wood doing her own singing, theatrical trailers, and production design storyboards.

A correction in my THE SOUND OF MUSIC review. The Five Star Collection edition I was reviewing is on moratorium because a brand-new 40th Anniversary edition is coming out in the middle of November. It is priced to sell to families for around $20, has two audio commentaries, a filmmaking documentary, a songs-only soundtrack sing-along, and a look at the seven kids then and now. Sight-unseen, it sounds like a very nice Christmas present. And if I did not give credit to Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer as lead actors, I do so now. The movie would be a lot less fine without their superb performances. One of the new audio commentaries features both of them, which could take the place of a lengthy 35th anniversary DVD behind-the-scenes documentary.


Going My Way/Holiday Inn B00001TZ6PUniversal Studios02 November, 1999Going My Way (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-14T16:01:00.000-07:00

Going My Way/Holiday Inn

B00001TZ6P

Universal Studios

02 November, 1999

Going My Way
This irresistible Oscar winner from writer-director Leo McCarey (An Affair to Remember) stars Bing Crosby as a low-key, crooning priest who joins the parish of a no-nonsense but sweet old Irish man of the cloth (Barry Fitzgerald). While Bing turns local toughs into a choir, the elder priest worries over the church building fund and whether he'll get a chance to see his old mother back in Ireland before she dies. One would have to have a heart of stone not to be won over by this charmer, with a lovely ending guaranteed to make you bawl for a week. --Tom Keogh

Holiday Inn
This perennial, Christmas-season favorite from 1942 teamed Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire as entertainers (and rival suitors of Marjorie Reynolds) running an inn that is only open on holidays. It's a great excuse for lots of singing and dancing, seamlessly wrapped in a catchy story, and Astaire's frequent director Mark Sandrich (Top Hat, Shall We Dance) doesn't let us down. The Irving Berlin numbers (each one connected to a different holiday) are winners, with Crosby's warm performance of "White Christmas" a movie touchstone. --Tom Keogh

If you're looking for a nostalgic movie of a bygone American era to watch with your family, "Going My Way" is one of those great classics to see. While some viewers may identify with the Irish-American ethnicity and culture of the Catholic Church in this film, the movie is actually quite universal in theme. It deals more with how we should respect the aged and the young; and how we can lend a helping hand to them in a non-intrusive and innovative way. 

The teacher? Enter Father O'Malley (Bing Crosby), the good Samaritan sent by the Bishop to help the aged Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald). His mission is to rid St. Dominic of its debts and at the same time provide pastoral care to the inner-city youth and their families. Through his wit, musical talent and baseball gab, he is successful in turning it all around. Okay, so it sounds a bit too simplistic to believe by today's standards. Nevertheless, it's still a valuable moral lesson that's well worth emulating. 

On the comedic side, look for the scenes involving Crosby and Fitzgerald. The chemistry between these two is undeniably magical. Among the scenes to watch are the ones involving the hot turkey, hedgerow, rain-drenched Fr. Fitzgibbon and golf game. Particularly touching is Fr. O'Malley arranging to have Fr. Fitzgibbon's 90 year old mother brought from Ireland to visit her son. Again, some might find this sort of thing a tad schmaltzy, but that's what makes this such a wonderful film. 

I suppose this is why it won seven academy awards, including Best Actor (Bing Crosby), Best Supporting Actor (Barry Fitzgerald) and Best Song ("Singing On A Star"). 

Bundled on this DVD is another classic, "Holiday Inn", starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Virgina Dale and Majorie Reynolds. It's one of those old-time Hollywood song-and-dance films with the legendary crooner and hoofer. And sing and dance they do while winning over the girls at a bed-and-breakfast type inn called the Holiday Inn. No, this isn't the renowned hotel chain, Holiday Inn. But the movie title was the inspiration for this establishment. 

In this movie, Fred Astaire's former partner Bing Crosby retires to the country life on a farm, but soon learns he's not cut out to be a farmer. So he decides to supplement his income by staging shows only and during the holidays in his country estate, hence the name Holiday Inn. Fred Astaire choreographs some rather ingenious scenes while feigning inebriation on New Year's Eve and tapping to the rhythm of firecrackers on Independence Day. While Bing sings 15 Irving Berlin songs, including his hit "White Christmas". It's a clever premise and a delightful result at that!

For an evening of nostalgia to gladden the heart, these two Crosby films will do nicely. Best of all, you will get two truly enjoyable movies for the price of one.

This DVD features two movies that played very important roles in the extraordinary career of Bing Crosby. "Going My Way" won him an Oscar for Best Actor and provided one of his biggest hits, "Swinging on a Star." "Holiday Inn" gave Bing his signature song and one of the largest selling singles of all time - "White Christmas." Just based on these two criteria, these movies are must sees. They also both happen to be pretty good films.

In "Going My Way" (1944), Bing plays Father Chuck O'Malley, a somewhat suave priest sent to a new parish. The current priest, Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald), is rather old-fashioned and the powers that be hope that Bing can save the church. Of course, Bing and Fitzgibbon clash, but all ends well. The movie was a huge success and won a boatload of Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor for Fitzgerald, and Best Song for "Swinging on a Star." The movie's success led to the inevitable sequel, "The Bells of St. Mary's," with Ingrid Bergman serving as Bing's foil. Oscar history was also when Fitzgerald was nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor due to a loophole. The movie is quite enjoyable, although more than a bit schmaltz; sure to leave you feeling toasty. 

"Holiday Inn" (1942) is a musical built around songs by Irving Berlin. The set-up is genius: Bing runs an inn that is open only on holidays, replete with the kids putting on a big song and dance number. A love triangle between Bing, Marjorie Reynolds, and Fred Astaire, serves at the ostensible plot, but it's really jerry-rigged around the Berlin songs. Foremost among these songs are two Christmas classics - "White Christmas" and "Happy Holidays." Some of the other songs are quite clever, especially the ones written for Abraham Lincoln and George Washington's birthdays (the former is spoiled, though, by a black-face routine). Of course, almost any song sounds great when crooned by the ultra-smooth Bing or Astaire. The movie is great fun, and won an Oscar for Best Song ("White Christmas").

Overall, these are two fine Bing Crosby movies, albeit a bit overly sentimental. The DVD transfer is fairly good, although there are no extras. Fortunately, subtitles are included, enabling the viewer to pick up every word of the amusing Berlin songs in "Holiday Inn." This package is a great deal - Highly Recommended. 

Both of these movies are absolutely charming, wholesome family entertainment. Both feature Bing Crosby. Of the two, I particularly love Going My Way. It is a musical but, unlike most musicals in which the actors spontaneously break into staged song and dance routines, the music is actually built into the plot. Bing plays a young priest, Father O'Malley, who is sent into a church in New York to ultimately replace an older priest played by Barry Fitzgerald. In one scene, the older priest is reminiscing about his boyhood, long ago in Ireland. He has a music box (in which he keeps his liquor) which plays the lullaby "Tura Lura." He says that his mother used to sing it to him. Therefore, Father O'Malley sings the luulaby to him too. In the movie, there is a group of neighborhood boys and Father O'Malley organizes them into a choir. Accordingly there are scenes of them practicing. For example, Father O'Malley and the boys do "Swing on a Star." It is sort of a duet between Bing and the choir and Bing does his trademark, relaxed, charming interplay. Most moving is when they show Father O'Malley's friend, an opera singer played by real life opera diva Rise Stevens, how they do "Ave Maria." Stevens joins in and the beauty of the scene is almost chillingly moving. I get a lump in my throat every time I see it. Another wonderful scene is where Stevens character is performing at the Met while Father O'Malley watches from backstage. She does a great "Habanera" from "Carmen" that, I am sure, made opera fans out of many who saw this movie. I have played and replayed that scene over and over again. I have seen that opera many times with many different mezzo sopranos playing Carmen but, I only wish I could have seen it with Stevens.

Stevens is actually very good. Although an opera singer, she was a very appealing actress in this movie and she played an important role in the ultimate, tearjerker scene. Of course, I cannot reveal what this scene is, lest I give away the ending but, suffice it to say that, in my opinion, Stevens was wonderful in the role. Also, the scene was a genuine tearjerker, not some hokey nonsense.

There were numerous other musical numbers that are woven into the plot and, the plot, itself, is captivating. It revolves around the inevtitable conflict between the older proiest and the younger one. Father O'Malley has a number of friends, not only Stevens, but also a young priest in a nearby parish. The interplay amoong them and with the older priest makes this more than a mere musical. It is a solid comedy/drama with good character development. I highly recommend this winner of the best picture Oscar.

The other part of the double feature, Holiday Inn is a more traditional musucal where numbers are staged. This movie is also a charmer. The highlight, as every movie buff knows, is Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas." The movie revolves around an inn which is only open on major holidays and is closed the rest of the year. Thus, the musical numbers revolve around holiday themes. Fred Astaire costars and is sort of a rival to the character played by Bing. The two of them are great (of course, as I noted above, Bing Crosby is know for his charming, relaxed interpaly with others). This DVD is a great double feature.

Yellow Submarine

B00000JRUQ

Mgm/Ua Studios

14 September, 1999

Fender Presents: Getting Started on Electric Guitar -- A Guide (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

Fender Presents: Getting Started on Electric Guitar -- A Guide for Beginners

B0000639G7

Hal Leonard Publishi

26 February, 2002

The Sound of Music (40th Anniversary Edition)

B000AP04OM

Fox Home Entertainme

15 November, 2005

Grease (Full Screen Edition) B00006B1HHParamount Home Video24 September, 2002Riding the (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

Grease (Full Screen Edition)

B00006B1HH

Paramount Home Video

24 September, 2002

Riding the strange '50s nostalgia wave that swept through America during the late 1970s (caused by TV shows like Happy Days and films like American Graffiti), Grease became not only the word in 1978, but also a box-office smash and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, this entertaining film adaptation of the Broadway musical received another successful theatrical release, which included visual remastering and a shiny new Dolby soundtrack. While this 2002 DVD release contains retrospective interviews with the cast and director Randal Kleiser, it's unfortunately full screen. As a result, the widescreen dance numbers are instead panned and scanned, destroying the symmetrical, lively choreography. A widescreen version is also available and is highly recommended because without the vibrant colors, unforgettably campy and catchy tunes (like "Greased Lightning," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want"), and fabulously choreographed, widescreen musical numbers, the film has to rely on a silly, cliché-filled plot that we've seen hundreds of times. As it is, the episodic story about the romantic dilemmas experienced by a group of graduating high school seniors remains fresh, fun, and incredibly imaginative.

Randal Kleiser's twelfth film "Grease", starring high school heart-throb Danny(John Travolta), and Australian goody-goody Sandy(Olivia Newton John), is a pure classic. Everyone has seen and loved this hysterical musical. 
Danny and Sandy spend their summer days frolicking on the beach, content in summer loving. Once school starts again, Danny, thinking he will never see Sandy again, is back to his old tricks, until he finds out she is also going to the same school. Of course the standards of being as slick as hair grease don't exactly make him very appealing to Sandy, and the two go through a series of ups and downs before finally reuniting at the film's end.
The high school starts to buzz with stories about Danny and Sandy, as one by one everyone puts two and two together and connect Danny with Sandy. Danny, completely unaware of the extent of the rumors runs into the boys late one night who question the truth of these stories. 
I thought that every song in this lovable comedy were interesting and funny. I was laughing constantly. It had a very thin plot, pretty much the basics; Boy mets girl. Girl mets boy. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy looses girl. And in the end Boy gets Girl back. Typical romance film. I had never seen one of Randal Kleiser's movies until I saw Grease, and I think I might pick one of his other movies the next time I go to Flicks And Picks. 
I don't know if Randal Kleiser intended for the watcher to take anything away from this film, but I guess if u look really hard you could say that it is like a 1950's version of Romeo and Juilet. Two Sides, the greasers, Danny, and the goody goodies, Sandy. Even though their friends say that they shouldn't be together they still want to be with each other, but unlike Romeo and Juilet, Grease has a happy ending, and Danny and Sandy don't die.

Bough it for the kids but the material is a bit adult at times...but they love the songs.

Grease takes you back to the fifties when there were the gangs, the nerds, the students, the jocks, the bad girls, and the square ones. T-Bird member, lady-loving, sex-playful Danny (John Travolta) falls in love with goody-two-shoes Sandy (Oliva Newton-John). Opposites attract, you know. Towards the end, Sandy realizes that if they are to be together, then she must turn herself into a sexy bad girl, just right for her Danny. The movie, filled with great songs and dancing, clearly states the true fact that this was the period where conventionality was tossed aside, and teens were who they wanted to be, loved who they wanted to. This movie was just as entertaining as the classic musicals. One of my favorites!

Grease is the word, it's got groove and it's got meaning.

Cannibal! The Musical

B00000K3TK

Troma

29 February, 2000

Alferd Packer was the only man in the United States ever convicted of cannibalism--what better hero for fellow Coloradan and future South Park creator Trey Parker to celebrate in music? Blue-eyed and boyish Parker was still in college when he wrote, directed, composed the songs for, and took the starring role as the innocent young Packer in this film, giving a gee- whiz performance as an ambitious pioneer who joins an ill-fated trek west that ends up stranded in the mountains. At times resembling a perverse community theater parody of Rodgers and Hammerstein ("My heart's as full as a baked po-ta-to!"), Parker bounces back and forth between cheery production numbers and goony songs ("Let's build a snowman," sings one starving-mad hiker) and grotesque gore (bloody body parts, festering sores, human hors d'oeuvres). It lacks in style and consistency and the juvenile gags and fart jokes wear thin over the course of a feature film, but Parker's sheer energy and inventiveness carry the overlong picture to a rousing conclusion. Regular Parker collaborators Matt Stone and Dian Bachar costar in this tuneful barbecue. --Sean Axmaker

When I saw this movie I couldn't stop laughing. I've watched it about 9 times since then and I will never get tired of seeing it. The songs are very funny and will stay with you for a long time. My personal favorite is the trappers song. 
What I also loved about this movie is the fact that It's a Troma movie which I am also a fan of. The Toxic Avenger, Llyod Kaufman and SGT. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. present the movie and gives you a little history behind it. Which I like.
This movie is worth owning. I don't regret buying it at all. Actually it was more than what I expected. Trey Parker has some real talent.



this movie, though primitive, should be an instant cult classic. i fell in love with it immediatly... the awesome cast, the witty songs, and the beautiful scenery. the director's commentary is hilarious as well. the songs will get stuck in your head, but in a good way. if you love trey parker and outragiously funny musicals, this is the movie to get. don't let the title scare you, this is one of my favorite musicals. College movies that are cheaply made are the best. Definitely a very funny movie.

i got this movie hoping it would make me laugh a little bit and maybe show me how trey parker and matt stone's carreers began. i was expecting almost nothing. after i watched it i was hooked. since then i've seen it about 20 times. which is way too much for any comedy but this movie is just so cool. it really gets you to feel terrible for packer because of how badly things are going. but then it sort of ends in a feel good way, a little bit. the songs arent that funny but the dialogue is hilarious. there are so many qoutes that can come out of this movie. i love this movie. i cant really explain way, im not a many of many words or at least not of many significant words. this movie is great thats all i have to say.

Guitar Lessons: Learning Guitar Step 1 - How to play (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-14T01:04:00.000-07:00

Guitar Lessons: Learning Guitar Step 1 - How to play guitar instructional video

B0002FYQKS

Tapeworm

19 October, 2004

We found Learning Guitar, Step One to be very easy to follow as we learned the basics including strings, frets, cords and much more. For anyone who wants to learn how to play the guitar, or for the beginner who already plays but wants to know more about the basics of music, this is the DVD to get. The instructor is clear in his presentation while covering a great amount of material. We are looking forward to future DVDs in this series.

I just picked this dvd up for my son who wanted to learn how to play guitar 

I liked this dvd better than another one we bought him because this one is geared for beginners who are just starting on the guitar and the last tape we got seemed to rush through the exercises to fast and would probably be better for an intermediate player 

I also liked the on screen chord chart that he can sit and go through on his own pace until he understands the fingerings a little better. 

I can also go to their site and download and print out every thing the instructor talked about in the lessons. 

If you are someone or know someone looking to learn the guitar and have little or no previous training, I would recommend this dvd. 

Doctor Dolittle

B00004TS0D

Twentieth Century Fox Home Video

31 October, 2000

So, they let both Rex Harrison and Anthony Newley sing. This 1968 family musical is classier than the 1998 Eddie Murphy remake, with all of its scatological humor. This won a couple of Oscars (Best Song, Best Effects) and was nominated for seven more, including Best Picture. At the time of release, however, this was a box-office dud. Based (in part) on the magical Hugh Lofting book, it begins in Puddleby-by-the-Marsh, England, from which the world-renowned veterinarian Dolittle (Harrison) begins his quest for a giant pink sea snail. Children should find this enjoyable for its exotic creatures, such as the Pushme-Pullyou. Most adults may not agree as readily, although some of us consider this a guilty pleasure. --Rochelle O'Gorman

1967 was a great year for the film industry, on par with 1939 for the number of classic films that were released. Filmmakers broke new ground, with daring portrayals of sex, violence, racial strife, the generation gap and interracial marriage. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences almost got it right. The Best Picture nominees were: Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night and ...



Dr. Dolittle?



Here is a short list of 1967 films that were passed over for the top prize: Cool Hand Luke, Camelot, The Dirty Dozen, The Taming of the Shrew, Two for the Road and Barefoot in the Park. Two hours of push-me-pull-you's, bloated production values and Rex Harrison's interminable sing-talking (we had enough of this in My Fair Lady) has no business being mentioned with in the same breath as Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night. Thankfully, In the Heat of the Night won for Best Picture, avoiding the later travestys of films like Out of Africa, Dances with Wolves and The English Patient winning the award. It's just too bad that the Academy had to nominate uninspired dreck like Dr. Dolittle and put a stain on what was an otherwise outstanding year for both the industry and the MPAA. Big and bloated does not equal the best.

This was a wonderful movie. I havent seen it in years and it was great to see again. I think it is a must have for anyone with children or just young at heart.

It was a wonderfully fun movie that I hope does not get forgotten. I will watch this movie again.



I saw this movie when I was fairly young, it was on TV and we taped it, then some how managed to loose the tape as usually happens with your favourite movies. It's always been a movie that's stuck in my mind and if you ask me, although it's long, it's a much better movie than either of the new ones with Eddie Murphy.

Yellow Submarine B00000JRUQMgm/Ua Studios14 September, 1999This restored, animated valentine to (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

Yellow Submarine

B00000JRUQ

Mgm/Ua Studios

14 September, 1999

Broadway - The American Musical (PBS Series)

B0002V7THY

Paramount Home Video

12 October, 2004

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Single Disc Edition) B00006D295Fox Home (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Single Disc Edition)

B00006D295

Fox Home Entertainme

03 September, 2002

The Wiz

0783233493

Universal Studios

13 April, 1999

Anything Goes B000A6T1I6Paramount Home Video27 September, 2005This is the second (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

Anything Goes

B000A6T1I6

Paramount Home Video

27 September, 2005

My Fair Lady (Two-Disc Special Edition)

B00011D1OA

Warner Home Video

03 February, 2004

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella B00004Z4SEDisney Studios14 November, 2000More is not (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-13T01:02:00.000-07:00

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella

B00004Z4SE

Disney Studios

14 November, 2000

1776

B000067D1R

Columbia Tristar Hom

02 July, 2002

The hit Broadway musical by Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards became the basis for this 1972 film about America's first congress and the nation's declaration of independence from Britain. Most of the original cast members are aboard, including William Daniels as John Adams. The film is a little stodgy and moves stiffly from scene to scene--the adaptation to the screen is not a smooth success. But it is nonetheless captivating, considering that so few films have dealt directly with America's birth. Directed by Peter H. Hunt. --Tom Keogh

This is simply a magnificent production that is a must see for any red-blooded American. You are presented with a 50-yard-line ticket to the difficult politics surrounding the creation of the Declaration of Independence. Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson - with help from Washington by letter - cajole and browbeat the other representatives of the 13 colonies into cohesion, using some of the exact words taken from historical writings. BF - "We must now hang together or we most assuredly will hang separately."

I signed up for this play (1776), complete with period costumes, in a community theatre some years ago - because they needed voices for the men's chorus - and was given the minor part of George Read, delegate from Delaware. Inspired by the nightly rehearsal history lessons, I began reading about these men who almost didn't make it happen. The more I read, the more I was impressed by this significant, yet hilarious musical production.

The cast is great, the script is superb, the music supplements the dialogue seamlessly, the character portrayals of JA, BF, and TJ are compelling and historically accurate, the foreshadowing of future problems with slavery are laid bare, compromises necessary for agreement are exposed - leading to the final scene of the dramatic signing of the Declaration of Independence. This is a masterpiece worthy of your time next July 4th - Get the DVD edition.

As musicals go this one has lots of dialogue, but good songs pop up just often enough to keep things going. Actually, much of the dialogue is quoted from the words of the Founding Fathers, making it an entertaining way to learn some basic history. Watching this film helps one to appreciate that the colonists' decision to declare independence was not a slam dunk; there were spirited and bitter arguments over loyalty to England and the slave issue. In the end, these men were able to compromise and build a consensus toward a general common cause - a lesson we could all use today. If you don't care for history, don't let that stop you from watching this delightful musical.

And other profanity like Ben Franklin referring to his arrested son as "the little bastard" hurt this otherwise good natured charming historical piece.

Singin' in the Rain (Two-Disc Special Edition) B00006DEF9Warner Home Video24 (Musical Movie News)

2005-10-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

Singin' in the Rain (Two-Disc Special Edition)

B00006DEF9

Warner Home Video

24 September, 2002

Very funny, songs that won't get out of your head, and a transfer that is to die for. You will love this movie if you like to smile!

Often considered the greatest movie musical ever made, Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly's SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952, MGM) starts with a witty Betty Comden and Adolph Green script about the advent of sound. How did it revolutionize the film industry in the late 1920's and for actors who could not talk? The plight of the latter is immortalized by Jean Hagen, in the performance of a lifetime as Lina Lamont, an actress with a loud and squeaky voice. As someone says, "Lina's a triple threat-she can't sing, she can't dance, and she can't talk."

The movie's three main stars are Gene Kelly as matinee actor Don Lockwood (and the movie's co-choreographer); Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Seldon, the pretty actress Don loves; and Donald O'Connor as best friend Cosmo Brown. All three are wonderful, and Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown give them fabulous songs to sing: "You Were Meant For Me," "All I Do is Dream of You," O'Connor's show-stopping "Make `Em Laugh," the title song, "You Are My Lucky Star", and the overwhelmingly colorful "Broadway Melody" climax.

The production values here are so colorful and irresistible-cinematography, production design, and costumes just don't get any more beautiful. The movie is drenched in gorgeous color in every scene. One could get drunk on this movie's visuals! How, pray tell, they all three areas lose out on Oscar nomiations the year after AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951) swept the awards? What was the Academy thinking? Maybe one or two of them won for PARIS. At least Adrienne Fazan DID get nominated for editing on SINGIN'. Among the actors, only Hagen got nominated--and should have won the Oscar.

The version of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN that I am reviewing and that you should buy is the 50th anniverary double disk DVD from Warner Home Video. Disk one has the movie shimmeringly remastered and with a lavish audio commentary by just about everyone still alive in 2002. Disk two has two magnificent and informative documentaries, one on the Arthur Freed Unit at MGM and one hosted by Reynolds on the making of SINGIN'. Also on disk two are generous original movie excerpts from more than a dozen other MGM musicals that first used SINGIN' songs, and a deleted Debbie Reynolds song that someone had the brains to save in the vaults. It is a glorious total set--under $25-- and worthy of this greatest of color musicals.



I purchased this DVD at the request of my 9 year old daughter! She danced to "Good Morning" with her dance troupe this year. So, we rented the DVD, and then she wanted to own it and the soundtrack. She had enjoyed the DVD so much! Both my young dancing daughters love to watch and dance along. The music and dancing are fabulous! If you love musicals, than this is the DVD for you. What a pleasure to be able to share such a classic with my kids. It is a DVD the whole family enjoys!

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Single Disc Edition)

B00006D295

Fox Home Entertainme

03 September, 2002