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Man in The Sand
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
"Man in the Sand" is a documentary feature that is not always terribly interesting and not always completely informative about its subject, but the film's peaceful, relaxed nature and the heart and spirit of the performers still make it more than worthwhile viewing. The documentary focuses on the work of famous singer/songwriter Woody Guthrie, who wrote such songs as "This Land Is Your Land" and many others. Quite a few others, it turns out, as notebooks with thousands of song lyrics are discovered.
30 years after Woody's passing, daughter Nora Guthrie brought in British songwriter Billy Bragg to record and sing some of the songs that were discovered. Eventually meeting up with the band Wilco and others, Bragg's journey eventually leads to a full album - "Mermaid Avenue".
It's just the way that the film goes about it isn't always the best way. Stretches of the early part of the film take too long trying to develop a look at the music of Guthrie through the opinions of others, not giving the viewer enough solid information about his work. It's the narration of daughter Nora Guthrie that occasionally presents us with more interesting and engaging information about what his music meant to people.
Overall, I found it to be a film that was livened by its subjects, but in terms of filmmaking, I thought that there were some things lacking - a better, more even mix between information about the making of the album and Guthrie history as well as some scenes that weren't needed early on and could have been deleted. The passion of the musicians about the project showed through, but a better film may have had it showing even brighter.
The DVD
VIDEO: The film is obviously and understandably a fairly low-budget affair, probably shot in 16mm (and with the occasional stock footage that looks mostly free of wear), the film is presented in 1.66:1 widescreen and is not anamorphic. The result varies somewhat throughout the presentation - occasionally some of the shots look noticably soft, but mostly, the film looks crisp and clear. If not sharp, at least passably well-defined.
If there were some minor print flaws throughout the movie - slight speckles, miniature marks, etc - there at least wasn't anything else to be concerned with. Some scenes appear rather grainy, but at least there isn't any shimmering or pixelation to be found.
Colors seem natural - no more, no less. Overall, I found this to be a watchable presentation that seemed a little rough around the edges at times - but not too bad.
SOUND: The film is presented in Dolby Digital Stereo. Although still nothing that I found too remarkable, I found that the audio quality was more enjoyable than the image quality. The musical score and performances are certainly the biggest highlight of the sound, and they come through quite well, sounding clear and easily understood. Some of the live performances sound a bit rougher than the songs that play along in the soundtrack, but both were respectably presented. Dialogue, sometimes weakly recorded in low-budget documentaries, was also very easily heard and understood here. Fine sound, "documentary"-style.
MENUS:: The main menu has really nicely animated backgrounds & music.
EXTRAS: 5 bonus "demo" songs from the "Mermaid Avenue" album as well as discographies of the artists involved and a couple of previews for Palm Pictures releases.
Final Thoughts: "Man In The Sand" is a mildly interesting look at the process and obstacles that had to be faced to get "Mermaid Avenue" done. I would have liked to have more information presented about Guthrie himself, but still, I enjoyed watching the musicians involved, who obviously care a great deal about Guthrie's work. The DVD presents the low-budget film with fairly good audio/video quality and a couple of extras. Recommended, although mainly for fans of the musicians.
"Man in the Sand" is a documentary feature that is not always terribly interesting and not always completely informative about its subject, but the film's peaceful, relaxed nature and the heart and spirit of the performers still make it more than worthwhile viewing. The documentary focuses on the work of famous singer/songwriter Woody Guthrie, who wrote such songs as "This Land Is Your Land" and many others. Quite a few others, it turns out, as notebooks with thousands of song lyrics are discovered.
30 years after Woody's passing, daughter Nora Guthrie brought in British songwriter Billy Bragg to record and sing some of the songs that were discovered. Eventually meeting up with the band Wilco and others, Bragg's journey eventually leads to a full album - "Mermaid Avenue".
It's just the way that the film goes about it isn't always the best way. Stretches of the early part of the film take too long trying to develop a look at the music of Guthrie through the opinions of others, not giving the viewer enough solid information about his work. It's the narration of daughter Nora Guthrie that occasionally presents us with more interesting and engaging information about what his music meant to people.
Overall, I found it to be a film that was livened by its subjects, but in terms of filmmaking, I thought that there were some things lacking - a better, more even mix between information about the making of the album and Guthrie history as well as some scenes that weren't needed early on and could have been deleted. The passion of the musicians about the project showed through, but a better film may have had it showing even brighter.
The DVD
VIDEO: The film is obviously and understandably a fairly low-budget affair, probably shot in 16mm (and with the occasional stock footage that looks mostly free of wear), the film is presented in 1.66:1 widescreen and is not anamorphic. The result varies somewhat throughout the presentation - occasionally some of the shots look noticably soft, but mostly, the film looks crisp and clear. If not sharp, at least passably well-defined.
If there were some minor print flaws throughout the movie - slight speckles, miniature marks, etc - there at least wasn't anything else to be concerned with. Some scenes appear rather grainy, but at least there isn't any shimmering or pixelation to be found.
Colors seem natural - no more, no less. Overall, I found this to be a watchable presentation that seemed a little rough around the edges at times - but not too bad.
SOUND: The film is presented in Dolby Digital Stereo. Although still nothing that I found too remarkable, I found that the audio quality was more enjoyable than the image quality. The musical score and performances are certainly the biggest highlight of the sound, and they come through quite well, sounding clear and easily understood. Some of the live performances sound a bit rougher than the songs that play along in the soundtrack, but both were respectably presented. Dialogue, sometimes weakly recorded in low-budget documentaries, was also very easily heard and understood here. Fine sound, "documentary"-style.
MENUS:: The main menu has really nicely animated backgrounds & music.
EXTRAS: 5 bonus "demo" songs from the "Mermaid Avenue" album as well as discographies of the artists involved and a couple of previews for Palm Pictures releases.
Final Thoughts: "Man In The Sand" is a mildly interesting look at the process and obstacles that had to be faced to get "Mermaid Avenue" done. I would have liked to have more information presented about Guthrie himself, but still, I enjoyed watching the musicians involved, who obviously care a great deal about Guthrie's work. The DVD presents the low-budget film with fairly good audio/video quality and a couple of extras. Recommended, although mainly for fans of the musicians.
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