Advantages: Great sound, brilliant documentary included. Disadvantages: Packaging is not a hard plastic case.
I've followed Rush for years since I met Geddy Lee at the Manchester Apollo in the 70's when they toured the UK.
This is a brilliant live dvd - far better than the Rush at the NEC recording (I went to that concert too) but I think that is largely because the music has improved a lot from the days of Geddy taking the synth front stage instead of Alex Lifeson's guitar playing.
If you remember Chrnicles, this is pretty much the defniitive live history ... ...which for some reason became hugely popular in Brazil as a the opening track on a TV series there.
I liked particularly the documentary "The Boys in Brazil" which gives you a personal glimpse into an otherwise very camera shy trio when it comes to their private life - watch out for Alex joking with his wife in the hotel room about putting on make-up.
You'll enjoy this, so get the kids out, plug in the home cinema and get ready to rock out. ...
Advantages: feel good film, good songs, great actng, Disadvantages: bad backdrops and awful songs from Howard Keel!
...who plays the role of Calamity Jane, a tom boy who is more than happy to spend her time being ‘one of the lads’ and chasing of the Indians. She gets very annoyed when she beings in the wagon which contains all the goodies for the towns people and the men starts ogling a cigarette card which has a picture of Adelaid Adams on. A few evenings later when the Theatre / Bar has advertised a beautiful female star for the evening entertainment they are in ... ...as they have been robbed. Calamity steps in to help the theatre owner who is her close friend and promises she will go off to Chicago and fetch Adelaid Adams to bring her back and perform for them. Calamity sets off and soon find where Adelaid is performing but unbeknown to her Adelaid has already left and it is her maid who is trying on the costumes. Calamity thinks she is Adelaid but really she is Katie Brown and talks her into going back and performing ...
...the story begins just as Giulio Cesare has triumphed over his rival, Pompey, in Egypt. Pompey’s widow and son, Cornelia and Sesto, are taken under Cesare’s protection, while Cesare offers to forgive Pompey if he surrenders. However, Egypt’s King Tolomeo (Ptolemy, Cleopatra’s ambitious brother), Pompey’s ally, wants to rule Egypt alone, without his sister Cleopatra. He sends to Cesare through his general, Achilla, a gift of the bloody head of Pompey ... ...Character --- Performer (voice)
Giulio Cesare --- Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)
Cleopatra --- Danielle de Niese (soprano)
Cornelia --- Patricia Bardon (mezzo-soprano)
Sesto --- Angelika Kirchschlager (mezzo-soprano)
Tolomeo --- Christophe Dumaux (counter-tenor)
Achilla --- Christopher Maltman (baritone)
Nireno --- Rachid Ben Abdeslam (counter-tenor)
Curio --- Alexander Ashworth (baritone)
On-stage violinist --- Nadja Zwiener
Orchestra ...
Advantages: A day of History on DVD. Loads of really good artists live. Disadvantages: No commentary and some of the extra's are a bit weak.
...names in music today performing live for your viewing pleasure. Its a bit like a compilation CD, but only you can see the artists performing live and the atmosphere from the crowds watching is electric and pulses through you as you watch. Its hard to explain in words how this show makes you feel. If you were there then you can reminisce of memories of the show you reember and the feeling you had when you were there. If (like me) you weren't there ... ...you can watch it all live now and still say that you were part of something big and helping the world.
Back to the DVD. Its crammed full of performances on each disk. All in great quality (audio and visual) and are produced and captured very well. You turn off the lights, pull the curtains across, whack on the surround sound and you will feel like you are there in the crowd. The atmosphere is captured very well.
The extras on the dvd are imho a ...
Advantages: Inside look at would have been the greatest concert ever Disadvantages: Would have been amazing to see it all pulled together in one final rehersal.
...a life long fan of Michael Jackson, there was never any question as to whether I would see this film or not, more a case of when I would see it. Me, my cousin and my little sister decided to go see this on Sunday, and thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this film (even if my 14 year old sister asked me what it was about when we sat down - I had to alugh, bless her!), which was only ever meant for Michael Jackson's archives for personal viewing. So ... ...of Jackson's video's and then Michael Jackson would emerge from the suit to perform 'Wanna Be Starting Somethin'. There is a small snippet of footage showing the dancers rehearsing a "toaster" mechanism whereby they would literally jump out of the floor.
The next song would have been 'Jam', followed by 'Bad' and then 'They Don't Really Care About Us', where a film was made to be played on the big screen behind them where literally thousands of dancers ...
