DVD Talk DVD Reviews https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/list/DVD Video DVD Talk DVD Review RSS Feed en-us Dennis Miller: ''The Big Speech'' DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/47346 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 22:01:46 UTC Highly Recommended

"Alright, he's a great speaker...let him sell Sham-wows. We've got a country to save."

What can I tell you, babe? He's funny. Standing Room Only Entertainment and Kultur International has released Dennis Miller: "The Big Speech", political and social commentator, stand-up comedian, and radio talk show host Dennis Miller's eighth HBO special. One of the most interesting, truly thoughtful guys out there in the media, Miller's stances on social issues, politics, religion, and pop culture cause no end of consternation for those ideologues who seek to pigeonhole him on the right or wrong side of the culture wars...and those audience expectations only serve to add an element of tension and genuine danger to his deceptively laid-back, smirky, wise-ass observations. Not much in the way of extras here (just some deleted jokes), but fans of the comedian will enjoy this outing...Read the entire review

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Egypt Uncovered DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/43794 Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:28:39 UTC Recommended

The Show:

Egypt Uncovered was a five episode documentary series from the late 90's, which has already been released on DVD prior to this latest collection by Kultur. If you love Egyptian study like I do, then chances are good you already have Ancient Egypt Unearthed by Discovery Channel in your collection. That 2-disc collection already featured Egypt Uncovered (though the episodes are differently named), so this release would be a complete double-dip. If you don't have the Ancient Egypt release in your collection, then you'll want to pick this up. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better set of documentaries on Egypt.

The five episodes for Egypt Uncovered are: "Chaos and Kings", "The Resurrection Machine", "Age of Gold", "Deities and Demons", and "Postmortem".

The first episode, "Chaos and Kings", looked at the beginning of the Egyptian ...Read the entire review

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The Rocky Horror Tribute Show - Richard O'Brien, Royal Court Theatre DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/35164 Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:16:15 UTC Highly Recommended

The Product:
You can blame me. That's right, you can declare me guilty as all manner of sin. As a teenager growing up in the '70s (that's 30+ years ago, for you messageboard mercenaries), the lure of a Midnight Movie was something quite special. It was forbidden fruit, an opportunity to stay out late, settle in with a like minded group of film fans, and see something startlingly outside the norm. We thrived on Eraserhead, kept our Pancake House dinner down during Pink Flamingos. We even wandered into the occasional screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, just to figure out why it was given the late night treatment (conclusion - clueless theater manager). It was dorks like me, however, who clung to a campy, kitschy terror trip with a kickass rock and roll soundtrack, returning weekly for months until we made it a phenomenon. You guessed it - like elsewhere in the me...Read the entire review

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Howard Goodall's Big Bangs DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/33761 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:46:18 UTC Highly Recommended

The Movie:
Music history teachers, at least in my experience, tend to be dry, humorless folk prone to over enunciating delectable phrases like "mensural notation" and "Guillaume Dufay." And, again from experience, the only thing worse than a music history teacher is a music theory teacher. You try to stay awake during a learned discussion of the many fascinating differences between a German and French augmented sixth chord (not much, it turns out). And yet owing to my own insatiable thirst for musical knowledge during my school years, these sorts of classes were always my favorite, which probably ends up saying as much about me as about my esteemed professors. Howard Goodall, pretty esteemed in his own right (and write, as it were, with several musicals and themes for such popular UK television fare as Blackadder to his credit), takes a more bombastic and at times bordering ...Read the entire review

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Che Guevara: Hasta La Victoria Siempre DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/33397 Thu, 29 May 2008 13:35:47 UTC Rent It

Che Guevara: Hasta La Victoria Siempre is a by-the-numbers political biography of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the iconic 20th Century Latin American revolutionary. The 54-minute feature covers all the important political highlights of Che's life through archival film footage and a continuous narration by a single, uncredited and unseen, male English voice actor reading a biographical sketch that reads like a lengthy Encyclopedia Britannica entry.

The biographical overview is fairly complete, if cursory, and mostly devoid of overt political judgment. This short documentary feature spends approximately equal time on four periods in Che's short life: (1) the Argentine's upper-middle class youth, medical training, early Latin American travels, and radicalization; (2) his military exploits in Castro's Cuban revolution; (3) his role as minister and diplomat in post-revolutionary Cuba; and (4) h...Read the entire review

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The Catherine Tate Show - The Complete Second Series DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/33253 Fri, 16 May 2008 19:23:25 UTC Highly Recommended

"Am I bovvered? Look at my face. Am I bovvered?"

I'm mad for Catherine Tate. Standing Room Only Entertainment has released The Catherine Tate Show: Series Two, an absolutely hysterical collection of the 2005 season of one of Britain's funniest sketch comedies. Written (along with Derren Litten, Ash Ditta and other members of the cast) and performed by that amazing chameleon Catherine Tate, The Catherine Tate Show is a foul-mouthed, pointed satire that's brilliantly executed and paralyzingly funny. Successful enough in England for several of Tate's catch-phrases to have entered the popular vernacular, you won't soon forget Tate creations, such as Lauren Cooper, the ill-mannered school girl ("Are you disrespecting me, miss?"), or the cou...Read the entire review

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Mahatma Gandhi DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/33238 Thu, 15 May 2008 19:01:44 UTC Rent It

Mahatma Gandhi is a by-the-numbers political biography of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the renowned spiritual and political leader of the Indian Independence Movement who advocated active, non-violent resistance to British colonialism in India, economic simplicity, and political and religious tolerance. The 60-minute feature covers all the important political highlights of Gandhi's life through archival film footage and a continuous narration by a single, uncredited and unseen, male English voice actor reading a biographical sketch.

The next eight paragraphs of this review are filled with the obligatory political biography of Gandhi recounted in the documentary. Feel free to skip them.

Gandhi was born October 2, 1869 to the fourth wife of the Prime Minister of Porbandar, India. A Hindu, and of the business caste, Gandhi married at age 13, and sired five children....Read the entire review

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In Search of the English Folk Song / Ken Russell, Fairport Convention, Osibisa, Percy Grainger Chamber Orchestra DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/32165 Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:19:55 UTC Rent It

The Movie:
Color me naive, but when I looked at the specs of this 1997 British television special, I, well, naively assumed it would be a scholarly treatise on the origins and development of the English folksong. What I failed to realize was the import of the first two words of the title: Ken Russell. The legendary British director, known for his visual excesses and borderline surrealism, is not one to calmly examine anything, and that joie de vivre and frankly anarchistic bent is well on display in this unconventional (to say the least), though highly entertaining, romp.

You know you're not in traditional documentary fare when the first shot of the video is a closeup into the recesses of Russell's nasal cavities, replete with quite a bit of hair. Russell, looking quite a bit like Andy Rooney's daffy English cousin, then begins playing an old Percy Grainger LP for his dog, which ...Read the entire review

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Bill Gottlieb: Riffs DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/32167 Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:19:55 UTC Recommended

The Movie:
For those of us who struggle through the menu options of our handy-dandy digital cameras, and then apply a liberal dose of Photoshop to make everything come out looking at least reasonably normal, hearing legendary photographer Bill Gottlieb recount his history with the bulky and totally counter-intuitive Speed Graphic camera, with which he took most of his famous photographs of jazz greats, is at once inspiring and maybe a little disheartening. To think that this master of his craft was limited to two exposures at a time, as opposed to the hundreds those of us using modern digital cameras are accustomed to, and yet was able to create one classic image after another is, frankly, mind-boggling.

If you think you haven't seen a Gottlieb photo, chances are you're mistaken, especially if you've ever mailed a picture with a Legends of Jazz stamp. The Billie Holiday likeness recreated...Read the entire review

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Robert Klein: The HBO Specials 1975-2005 DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/30841 Fri, 05 Oct 2007 12:58:39 UTC Recommended

The Shows

A glance at the heavyweights contributing blurbs to the packaging for this four-disc set -- Jerry Seinfeld, the New York Times, Ray Romano -- and you get a sense of comedian Robert Klein's contributions to the genre of stand-up. With a career stretching more than three decades, Klein's dry, observational monologues have sharpened with age, but always been nothing less than hilarious. Robert Klein: The HBO Specials 1975-2005 is a self-explanatory title, a four-disc set that houses all eight stand-up specials Klein has performed over the last 30 years for the now powerhouse network.

At its suggested retail price, this collection is a steal; having all of these performances available to watch back-to-back, you get a real sense of Klein's evolution as a comedian from a goofy, sort-of fringe funnyman to one of comedy's elder statesmen. The liner notes, penned by crit...Read the entire review

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Catherine Tate Show: The Complete First Season DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/29557 Fri, 03 Aug 2007 01:37:02 UTC Rent It

The Show:
Aside from seeing Catherine Tate on "The Runaway Bride" episode of "Doctor Who," I hardy knew anything about her. I knew she was a comedian who had her own show, but being in the United States, I had never seen the show. Now, thanks to Kultur films, American audiences finally have a chance to see what all the fuss about Catherine Tate is.

"The Catherine Tate show" is your typical sketch comedy show ala "Saturday Night Live," "Kids In the Hall," and "Mad TV." In the show, Tate takes on the persona of over fifteen characters in brief comedic shorts over the course of 6 episodes. Some sketches are genuinely funny such as the bratty teenage Lauren who always has to have the last word and the bored office woman who annoys her co-worker with questions. As with most sketch comedy shows, there are a few stinkers as well. The 30 year old plus majorette named Bunty and the Irish nurse Bern...Read the entire review

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England My England - Tony Palmer's Film About Henry Purcell DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/29492 Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:46:20 UTC Highly Recommended

The Movie:
Tony Palmer has one of the more shall we say eclectic resumes in film, having worked on such disparate projects as the mammoth multi-hour miniseries Wagner with Richard Burton and the psychedelic wonderment of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels, not to mention a host of other projects in virtually all genres of music. The man obviously loves music and musicians, and is thankfully not a snob about what constitutes art. That approach works well for this sometimes rambling but always fascinating film, part biography of Henry Purcell, and part French Lieutenant's Woman conceit of actors putting on a play about Purcell.Not much is known about the historical Purcell, whose music nonetheless survives today as one of the great glories of the Restoration (it's been used in many films, notably Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange). The film dances around this paucity of informat...Read the entire review

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Gallagher - Tropic of Gallagher DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/28529 Sun, 10 Jun 2007 19:17:56 UTC Rent It

Armed with a large mallet, a Hawaiian shirt, and a table full of slatterpaint-worthy food condiments in Tropic of Gallagher, it's clear Gallagher hasn't shifted his antics much in the past 20+ years.

The Show:

Sure, he's grown older and less agile, but he still carries the same happy-go-lucky persona that makes him a joy to see in person. In person is the operative phrase here. After seeing some of his stand-up routines from the 80s on Comedy Central, it's obvious that the crowd gets more washed over with his comedic style, pun intended. While still quite entertaining and chuckle worthy to see, it doesn't compare to the experience of seeing him live with a yellow or clear tarp protecting your clothes from the "hilarity" of the Sledge-o-Matic.

Tropic of Gallagher doesn't stray much from this formula. It's an hour long assembly of edited clips from one o...Read the entire review

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The Rembrandt Collection DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/28367 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 07:47:00 UTC Highly Recommended

From Kultur comes The Rembrandt Collection, a marvelous two-disc compilation of four separate documentaries on the famous 17th century Dutch painter, Rembrandt van Rijn. Each short documentary (the longest one runs only forty-one minutes) takes a markedly different cinematic approach to illustrate the life and work of this giant in the world of painting, giving the viewer a unique opportunity to more fully understand the true genius of Rembrandt's output, as well as the drama of his personal life. Let's look at each documentary.


REMBRANDT: PAINTER OF MAN (REMBRANDT, SCHILDER VAN DE MENS)

Produced in 1957, this beautifully edited nineteen minute documentary on Rembrandt was an international art house hit, and a contender at the Canne...Read the entire review

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Great Russian Writers: Fyodor Dostoevsky DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/28109 Fri, 18 May 2007 13:03:53 UTC Skip It

THE PROGRAM

The arts-and-literature homevideo label Kultur is issuing eight individual DVDs under the umbrella title "Great Russian Writers." There are no copyright dates on the discs' packaging or on the programs themselves, but the 25-minute films appear to date from the 1970s. They were originally produced in Russia and reworked with English narration by Britain's Channel 4, and seem best suited to elementary-school students.

The disk devoted to Dostoevsky adds nothing for anyone who has actually read anything by or about the author, and provides very little to pique the interest of the uninitiated. You immediately lower your expectations when the first line of narration is, "This is the story of one of the greatest writers of all time." What follows is hardly "the story," but simply a book report that ticks off major life events and mentions the novels that made the writer famous. The na...Read the entire review

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John Cleese Comedy Collection DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/28047 Sun, 13 May 2007 21:35:42 UTC Skip It

Back when he was cementing his status as a comic legend thanks to "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and "Fawlty Towers," John Cleese created a collection of television specials and short films, smallish one-off projects that offered an outlet for his ideas. White Star has collected three such projects in "The John Cleese Comedy Collection."

Somewhere in between Cleese's work on the 1960s sketchcom series "The Frost Report" and "At Last the 1948 Show" and his star-making Python tenure, Cleese and Graham Chapman (with an assist by Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor!) co-wrote a hit-and-miss assortment of comic sketches, hosted by Cleese under the educational banner "How to Irritate People" (1968).

The idea is simple: Cleese, addressing the camera with a pointedly silly matter-of-fact attitude, informs ...Read the entire review

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Hollywood Sound - Music for the Movies / Max Steiner, Franz Waxman, David Raksin DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/27731 Tue, 24 Apr 2007 23:20:27 UTC Recommended

"Music for the Movies: The Hollywood Sound" is a valentine to fans of film music. The third in the "Music for the Movies" series (and the second from director Joshua Waletzky, who earned an Oscar nomination for his earlier entry, a biography of Bernard Herrmann), "The Hollywood Sound" is a richly detailed examination of the history of Hollywood film scores, combined with an informative look at how the music writing process evolved in the early years of cinema.

At the core of the documentary is John Mauceri, who, in addition to walking us through the various interviews, conducts the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in a revival of some of Hollywood's best known movie themes, including selections from "Gone with the Wind," "Casablanca," "Bride of Frankenstein," and, opening and closing the feature, "Laura." Throughout this, we are given brief biographies of essential composers such as Franz Waxman,...Read the entire review

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George Burns - The TV Specials Collection Box Set / Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Johnny Carson, Loretta Lynn, Bernadette Peters DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/24390 Sun, 15 Oct 2006 01:30:02 UTC Recommended

With those magical words that only TV children of the 1970s can relate to - From Television City in Hollywood! - the George Burns: The TV Specials Collection starts a seven hour plus collection of all of George Burns' CBS and NBC television specials from the 1970s and 80s, a veritable treasure chest of Burns' moments for his fans, and an eye-goggling look at what used to pass for TV variety entertainment three decades ago.

If you're a fan of SCTV's absolutely brilliant spoofs of television variety shows, it's difficult to watch George Burns: The TV Specials Collection without cracking up, because often these specials play exactly like those hilarious skits on SCTV, right down to a lame-ass appearance by Bob Hope, oozing...Read the entire review

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Testimony - Tony Palmer's Story of Shostakovich / Ben Kingsley DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/23537 Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:55:30 UTC Highly Recommended

Label: Digital Classics DVD/Kultur

Genre: Biographical drama; music

Running time: 151 minutes

Producer-director: Tony Palmer

Writers: Tony Palmer, David Rudkin

Cast: Ben Kingsley, Terence Rigby, Ronald Pickup, John Shrapnel, Sherry Baines, Magdalen Asquith, Mark Asquith, Peter Woodthorpe, Robert Stephens, William Squire.

In the Brat Pack classic "About Last Night ...," good-looking but unrefined Rob Lowe, flipping through some LPs, asks, "Is this your Shass-TACK-avich?" Tony Palmer's "Shostakovich" is, to put it simply, not for the likes of such a philistine. Palmer's barely released 1988 British film demands from viewers not only a solid grounding in the life and music of 20th century giant Dimitri Shostakovich, but also a pretty strong experience with nonlinear film. Less a biopic of the composer than a symphony in its own right, the film is a tes...Read the entire review

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Leonard Bernstein's New York / Mandy Patinkin, Dawn Upshaw, Donna Murphy DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/23073 Sun, 06 Aug 2006 02:05:14 UTC Recommended

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

This colorful PBS show from 1997 celebrates Leonard Bernstein's three New York musicals, On the Town, Wonderful Town and West Side Story. It's half a documentary and half a performance piece, and a solid effort.

The show begins with its best material, rehearsals for the master recordings. The fine selection of singer-actors is fascinating to watch when trying out a song in an apartment or performing it 'for real' in front of a studio microphone. Mandy Patinkin dominates group scenes by virtue of his expansive personality but the really great voices belong to the other performers, all Broadway stars: Dawn Upshaw, Judy Blazer, Audra McDonald, Richard Muenz and a specially billed Donna Murphy.

Director Hart Perry makes his show serve several functions. The main draw is to hear the Bernstein songs, which are chosen not from a best-of p...Read the entire review

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Gilbert & Sullivan - The Pirates of Penzance DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/23038 Fri, 04 Aug 2006 03:36:34 UTC Skip It

Gilbert & Sullivan got a big shot in the arm 26 years ago when The New York Shakespeare Festival presented a hipper, livelier adaptation of The Pirates of Penzance than had been seen in many years. It broke from the old-fashioned stuffiness that for decades had been (unfairly) associated with comic operas like The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore by embracing and playing up its 19th century theatrics. It wasn't exactly a spoof - Pirates was, after all, a comedy to begin with - more a spirited and affectionate send-up, much like Burt Lancaster's The Crimson Pirate (1952) had done to earlier lighthearted swashbucklers.

The surprising array of talent didn't hurt. No one had ever expected pop star Linda Ronstadt and teen idol Rex Smith (as Mabel and Frederic, both in excellent voice) in this sort of thing, but the real surprise was a largely unknown young actor named Kev...Read the entire review

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Stuart Sutcliffe: The Lost Beatle DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/22869 Mon, 24 Jul 2006 18:01:20 UTC Recommended

Since I wasn't around during "Beatlemania Sweeps America!" some forty-five years ago, I've remained relatively aloof in regards to the band's earlier years. Before the final line-up of John, Paul, George and Ringo, fans of The Beatles may also recall the names of Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe (among others): the former was the original drummer, fired from the band and replaced by Ringo; the latter was the original bassist who died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 21. Sutcliffe left the group under his own power shortly before then, choosing a promising art career and the love of his fiancée, Astrid Kirchherr, over a spot in the now-legendary band. It's been debated that not only was Sutcliffe credited for naming the band, but also for influencing their early "look" with a mop-top haircut given to h...Read the entire review

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Starfest - Stars Salute Public TV / Diahann Carroll, Richard Kiley, Patti LuPone, Rich Little DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/22218 Wed, 14 Jun 2006 03:55:46 UTC Skip It

I do not remember Rich Little being this unfunny. I mean, I remember him being not very funny, but I don't recall his unfunniness reaching these kinds of heights.

Little is one of the "stars" on hand for "Starfest: The Stars Salute Public Television," a variety showcase filmed at Las Vegas' Tropicana Hotel in 1983 and aired nationwide on PBS as part of that year's pledge drive. It's one of those oddities that should have gotten lost forever but survives thanks to the miracle that is home video.

Little (for those too young to recognize the name: he was at one time the world's top comic impressionist) pops by every now and then to do his take on Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Reagan, Jack Benny, and Johnny Carson. Watching him now, I realize:

1. His Bogart is pretty bad. Take away his trenchcoat and hat, and I wouldn't have even known what celeb he was impersonating.

2...Read the entire review

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HBO on Location with Redd Foxx DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/21223 Tue, 18 Apr 2006 21:10:06 UTC Rent It

Stand up comedy can be a hit-or-miss experience and it doesn't always age well or translate to TV viewing. I was really looking forward to On Location with Redd Foxx since I've loved Sanford and Son since I was a kid and have read of Foxx's influence on generations of comedians since. Taped for HBO's "On Location" series in 1978 at the Silverbird Hotel in Las Vegas, this 45 minute-long program is short on truly funny material. Starting with a hilariously dated HBO opening, the program never really gets going. It's possible that this just isn't Foxx in his prime as far as stand up goes (since he was busy with Sanford at the time), but overall it's disappointing.

He starts out by saying "I swear to God and three other white people you're gonna enjoy me," but then doesn't really approach challenging material. He does strange bits on what the world would be like if you had ears ...Read the entire review

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Original Amateur Hour 1930-90 DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/18720 Mon, 14 Nov 2005 21:39:14 UTC Rent It

The Show:

The Original Amateur Hour was an American institution for decades. Before American Idol or Star Search, The Original AmateurHour was giving people with stars in their eyes national exposure. The program ran on radio and TV for nearly 40 years, and was responsiblefor giving a lot of stars their start.  Now a two disc set has beenreleased that looks back on the history of the show and showcases some ofthe acts that made the program so popular.

Major Edward Bowes ran both a theater and a radio station in New YorkCity.  He decided to combine the two forums and host an amateur showin the theater and broadcast the show on his radio station.  The radioshow was very popular, and Major Bowes soon had a slot on a national network. Within two months of starting on CBS, the show was pulling a share of 48.6,or nearl...Read the entire review

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The Amazing Kreskin - Mental Marvels, Feats and Stunts DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/18479 Mon, 31 Oct 2005 02:39:45 UTC Rent It

The Show:

When I was in college, I went through a phase where I was very interestedin magic.  Slight of hand and mental magic were the things that fascinatedme the most, and I taught myself how to preform two or three tricks witha certain degree of expertise.   I also read up on magiciansand their lives, and one that I've never really been sure about is theAmazing Kreskin.  Kreskin describes himself as a "mentalist." He clearly states that he's not a psychic, which is good, then claims thathe's not a magician either.  He claims that he can actually read minds,which is bullshit of course, but he is one of the greatest cold readersthat have ever lived.   He gets some people upset because hemakes some people believe in mental powers that don't exist, but then againall magicians lie in their acts.  He tries to tread a fine line betweenmagician...Read the entire review

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The Best of Riverdance DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/16902 Mon, 25 Jul 2005 07:05:49 UTC Recommended

In 10 Words or Less
A tribute to the legendary Irish dance show

Reviewer's Bias*
Loves:
Likes: Irish music, step dancing
Dislikes: Michael Flatley's ego
Hates:

The Story So Far...
"The Best of Riverdance" is the fifth DVD incarnation of the step-dancing sensation. A 1995 disc of the original show is currently unavailable, but two versions of a live New York City performance are available, in standard and Superbit editions, along with a disc of a live show from Geneva. DVDTalk has a review of the Superbit NYC DVD here.

The Show
"The Best of 'Riverdance'" is just that: the best the show has offered over the past 10 years, inclu...Read the entire review

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Nutcracker DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/13798 Sun, 26 Dec 2004 08:33:54 UTC Recommended

The Movie:
The Nutcracker was Mikhail Baryshnikov's first crack (I can't believe I just made that cheesy pun) at choreography, and it's a performance that makes you wish you could have been there.

The Story:
Baryshnikov and The American Ballet Theatre bring to the screen Hoffman's story set to Tchaikovsky's classical score and Lev Ivanov's ballet. The classic tale has a young girl, Clara (here, danced by Gelsey Kirkland) getting a wonderful nutcracker for Christmas. Her mean brother pulls off the head of the nutcracker. When it's reattached, Clara falls into a magical—and sometimes frightening—Christmas Eve dream. In her dream, the nutcracker is a prince and must battle an army of evil life-sized mice. Although traditionally considered a story for children, I don't imagine that children will be all that enthralled by this dialogue-free interpretation of the story. It is...Read the entire review

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John Ritter - Of Sound Mind & Body DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/13708 Sat, 18 Dec 2004 21:03:20 UTC Recommended

In 10 Words or Less
The late funnyman's rarely-seen comedy special

The Show
The ghouls in marketing must be getting slow in their old age. After all, anyone cashing in on John Ritter's death would have been better served by putting their products on the market much closer to his actual expiration. That said, that this special is actually on DVD is a surprise, and a welcome one at that. It's rare that a little-known variety show from 1980 would even remembered, much less released. In fact, the show isn't even listed on the IMDB. This is a good variety show, with comedy that still holds up decades later. Echoing much of his work on "Three's Company," "Of Sound Mind and Body" is a good cross-section of just what mad...Read the entire review

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Leonard Bernstein - Young People's Concerts / New York Philharmonic DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/12896 Sun, 24 Oct 2004 21:55:39 UTC Highly Recommended

Themovie

Leonard Bernstein has a secure place in history as a marvelouslysuccessful conductor and composer, the first conductor from the U.S.to achieve worldwide renown. In a career that was filled with otherhonors and achievements, Bernstein's Young People's Concertsstand out as one of his most notable achievements. Loving music as hedid, he wanted to share its beauty with the younger generation. Andso Bernstein conceived of the Young People's Concerts, andwith the New York Philharmonic symphony orchestra to work with, hecreated a program that captivated audiences and won awards, from itsfirst broadcast in 1958 to its last in 1972. The series – witheach episode created and written by Bernstein himself – came toa total of 53 episodes, 25 of which appear on this DVD set. It wastruly a labor of ...Read the entire review

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The Wimbledon Collection - The 2004 Official Film DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/12760 Sat, 16 Oct 2004 01:21:08 UTC Rent It

Themovie

Even if you don't follow tennis, you undoubtedly know that Wimbledonis one of the biggest professional tennis events of the year. This"Grand Slam" event always attracts the brightest stars intennis, all vying to win or at least make it into the finals. TheWimbledon Video Collection: 2004 Official Film is best describedas a "highlights" program for this event: given that theWimbledon championships run over the course of two weeks, it would beimpossible to give more than an overview in the program's 52 minutesof running time.

The 2004 Official Film is rather an odd piece, even consideredas a highlights program. In fact, it feels more like a memento forviewers who've alr...Read the entire review

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Elvis: The Birth of Rock N' Roll DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/12700 Tue, 12 Oct 2004 19:45:33 UTC Skip It

With Elvis: The Birth of Rock N' Roll we clearly have what I would refer to as a repackage, meaning that the distributor, Kultur, has taken an aging documentary on Elvis Presley originally titled Elvis: The Beginning (1992) and dressed it up into something it's not. Nowhere on the DVD packaging, or even on the insert is it mentioned that this documentary is from nearly 12 years ago, nor does it mention what medium it was produced for. While repackaging may be a perfectly acceptable business practice it just seems that Kultur was deceptive in their presentation, especially as Elvis fans are usually voracious in their appetites for anything and everything Elvis.

Elvis: The Birth of Rock N' Roll is hosted by that stalwart icon of the Television Biography, Jack Perkins, so perfectly spoofed on both Saturday Night Live and The Mystery Science Theater Hour. Anyone who's e...Read the entire review

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The Moody Blues - The Lost Performance (Live in Paris 1970) DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/11329 Sun, 27 Jun 2004 16:49:14 UTC Rent It

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

It sounds too good to be true - a videotaped Moody Blues concert from 1970, recorded at La Taverne de L'Olympia in Paris. And it is too good to be true. This nicely produced DVD gives us a rare look at the Moodies at the top of their popularity but only the vocal part of the performances is actually live. What we're left with is a not very well shot concert before a fairly unenthusiastic audience.

Songs:

Lovely to See You; Never Comes the Day; Tortoise and the Hare; Are You Sitting Comfortably?; Legend of a Mind, Nights in White Satin; Ride My See-Saw; Lazy Day; Gypsy; Candle of Life; Tuesday Afternoon; Don't You Feel Small?; Question.

This is a short review, mainly because the...Read the entire review

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David Copperfield: Illusion DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/10675 Wed, 12 May 2004 17:11:18 UTC Recommended

The Movie

David Copperfield is a name synonymous with the art of illusion. Perhaps the most famous magician since Houdini himself, Copperfield has literally made this art his life's passion. At one point in his career, he was performing nearly 500 shows a year…a true testament to his dedication. Chances are, you've seen some of his work: perhaps his most impressive and well-known illusion is making the Statue of Liberty disappear, a stunt he performed in front of a live audience in 1983. Other tricks he's pulled off include walking through the Great Wall of China, making an airplane vanish, and escaping from Alcatraz.

Sure, we know that these are just illusions…or are they?

Copperfield's illusions were practically pop culture staples of the 80s and early 90s, airing individually as TV specials during that period. 1994 marked ...Read the entire review

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Casey Kasem's Rock and Roll Goldmine Box Set DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/10622 Thu, 06 May 2004 22:46:46 UTC Recommended

While it's true that the artists of the 1950s laid the foundation for what would soon be dubbed "rock and roll", it was the 1960s that created the blueprints for all the specific genres that would claim the title for its own. From the sweet sensations of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys to the riotous, raw power of The Rolling Stones, the 60s saw the start of some of the most remarkable and memorable music and musicians ever to grace the top of the charts. It was the era when the singer/ songwriter came into their own, allowing beat poets like Bob Dylan to turn into a voice for a generation. It was a time when a new 'noise' from England redefined the cultural impact of music. The 60s was when songs changed, no longer just about love and loss, but offering options of introspection and reflection. Thanks to the efforts of John, Paul, George and Ringo, otherwise known as The Beatles, the 60s were instrumen...Read the entire review

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