Musicals & Music Films > 1971 Musicals & Music Films

Older and greyer but still passing the test

Advantages: Nostalgic, Great Music, Whispering Bob
Disadvantages: Left out a lot of my fabourites

...that the DVD of the Old Grey Whistle test is absolutely superb, an excellent summary of one what surely must be the best TV music show ever. Cast your minds back to the seventies and early eighties, the Old Grey Whistle Test was screened late at night on BBC2. A programme to come home early from the pub for, a weekly music 'magazine' which featured live studio performances of album tracks by serious rock musicians such as Elton John, Bob Marley, ...
...whispering Bob is like an old friend who turns up unexpected one day and chats about the good old days. If they do a follow up version I’d like to see John Prine, Al Stewart and Don McLean included, perhaps you can remember some other classics from the show? Disc 1: Alice Cooper "Under My Wheels" Elton John "Tiny Dancer" Curtis Mayfield "We Gotta Have Peace" Randy Newman "Political Science" Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge "Help Me Make it ...

Merv 02.01.2003 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Old Grey Whistle Test (DVD)

where your wagon going

Advantages: great songs and great cast
Disadvantages: none for me

A raucous, western comedy, Paint Your Wagon is punctuated with a classic Lerner adn Loewe musical score, including, "They Call The Wind Maria" and "I Talk To The Trees". The story of a goldmining boomtown full of brawny men centres on the work-and-play partnership of Ben and Pardner (Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood) and the delicate wife they share (Jean Seberg). For me I enjoyed this film but when I think of westerns i do not think of musicals but ...

biglizzy 22.12.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Paint Your Wagon (DVD)

Fiddler on the Roof

Advantages: Brilliant film.
Disadvantages: A little long

This Special edition Dvd was bought for me as a gift. The pack consists of two disc, the film and also a special features disc. The film is excellent. Topol is outstanding as Tevye a dairyman in Russia. The story is about his relationship with is family and his faith. The film is very amusing but is also quite emotional. The music score is wonderful. Featuring 'Tradition', 'Matchmaker' and the unforgetable 'If I were a rich man'. I was captivated ...

Ajthom 31.08.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Fiddler On The Roof (Special Edition) (DVD)

Tradition Or Is It A Time For Change?

Advantages: Has an inner depth to it, fun, touching and musical
Disadvantages: None that I can think of.

~~ Fiddler on the Roof ~~ Fiddler on the roof was inspired by Tevye and his daughters, a collection of stories by Sholom Aleichem a man hailed as 'the Jewish Mark Twain'. Producer and director Norman Jewison surprised United Artists with his declaration that he was not Jewish, but even though he was a 'goy' (a non-Jew) he immersed himself into the Jewish culture learning as much as he could. It became a bit of a joke amongst the cast that he would ...
...in the Broadway production of Fiddler and playing the role of Tevye, but Jewison stuck to his guns and found his Tevye playing the role in the London production of Fiddler on the Roof, Chaim Topol. There were even more set backs when it came to the casting, he lost his first choice for an actress to play Golde when Hanna Meron lost her leg when the bus she was on was stormed at Munich airport. Another actor had problems with the English dialogue ...

arnoldhenryrufus 25.10.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Fiddler On The Roof (DVD)

The ballet for people who hate ballet!

Advantages: Timeless magic and fantastic dance
Disadvantages: No speech at all, which might be off-putting

I'll admit it - I don't "get" ballet. I don't want to watch something that needs a printed programme to explain what's going on or to have to keep asking who the characters are and whether a twizzle on the toes means she's happy or sad. HOWEVER, I adore this DVD and can watch it time and again. The basic premise is that the young Beatrix Potter is writing her stories and we see those stories come to life. You don't need to have read the stories ...
...the occasional close up of a piece of paper tells you anything you need to know about the stories chosen. Each animal character is portrayed by a Royal Ballet cast member (including Wayne Sleep as Squirrel Nutkin and the late Frederick Ashton, who also choreographed, as Mrs Tiggywinkle) in full head masks and costumes which are almost exactly the same as the pictures in the Beatrix Potter books. The choreography is brilliant and the moves capture ...

tigerbabe68 09.08.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Tales Of Beatrix Potter (DVD)