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Review Sony Bmg / Elvis Presley - Elvis - Aloha From Hawaii (Special Edition)
Actors & Directors
  • Elvis Presley
  • Gary Hovey
  • James Burton
  • Marty Pasetta
  • Jerry Scheff
  • Charlie Hodge
  • John Wilkinson
  • Todd Morgan
Release date: 2006-08-14
Run time: 87 min.
Creator: Ray Miller
RRP: £12.99
Price: £5.47

Review Elvis Presley - Elvis - Aloha From Hawaii (Special Edition) / Sony Bmg:

Elvis Presley's performing career, punctuated by its extra-musical achievement as the first global satellite broadcast devoted to a single entertainer. Both the broadcast and its companion album captured the King in his most grandiose persona, fuelled by Hollywood scale and Vegas glitz, as a caped pop superhero. He may have looked trim, but posthumous accounts (especially Peter Guralnick's Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, the second volume in his definitive biography) confirm what a second look suggests-on this evening, Elvis was alternately overwhelmed and distracted, bravura renditions of signature songs (most triumphantly, the "American Trilogy" medley originated by Mickey Newbury) offset by less-focused readings. Fans may still savour a generous and diverse song list, but viewed beside Presley's earlier, more consistent performances (including a rehearsal the previous night, since released as The Alternate Aloha Concert), this legendary concert anticipates Presley's imminent decline. In this remastered version, three songs have been deleted due to music clearance issues, while four songs taped after the actual show have been inserted. A fifth bonus track, "No More," makes its first appearance on video. -Sam Sutherland.

Review Music Sales Limited / Fender Presents: Getting Started On Electric Guitar [2002]
Actors & Directors
  • Keith Wyatt
Release date: 2002-06-13
Run time: 202 min.
RRP: £26.99
Price: £9.30

Review Fender Presents: Getting Started On Electric Guitar [2002] / Music Sales Limited:


Review Mainstreet / Leonard Cohen The Last Of The Bohemians
Release date: 2008-09-29
RRP: £13.99
Price: £8.99

Review Leonard Cohen The Last Of The Bohemians / Mainstreet:

Live In The USA 1988 - First We Take Manhattan - Tower Of Song - Everybody Knows - Aint No Cure For Love - The Partisan - Joan Of Arc - Jazz Police - If It Be Your Will - Take This Waltz. - Warszawa Poland 1985 - Bird On A Wire - Who By Fire - Hey Thats No Way To Say Goodbye - Dance Me To The End Of Love - There Is a War - The Gypsy Wife - The Law - The Partisan - The Sisters Of Mercy - Night Comes On - Diamonds In The Mine - Avalanche - Chelsea Hotel #2 - The Stranger Song - The Story Of Issac - Lover Lover Lover - Famous Blue Raincoat - Suzanne - Hallelujah - Passin Through - If It Be Your Will - Memories - So Long Marianne - I Tried To Leave You - Tennessee Waltz.

Review Eagle Rock Entertainment Ltd / The Shadows - The Final Tour
Actors & Directors
  • The Shadows
Release date: 2006-08-28
RRP: £12.99
Price: £6.25

Review The Shadows - The Final Tour / Eagle Rock Entertainment Ltd:


Review Sony Bmg / AC/DC - Live At Donington
Actors & Directors
  • AC/DC
Release date: 2003-11-03
RRP: £13.99
Price: £7.12

Review AC/DC - Live At Donington / Sony Bmg:


Review ITV DVD / The Red Shoes - Plus Documentary [1948]
Actors & Directors
  • Emeric Pressburger
  • Jean Short
  • Gordon Littmann
  • Anton Walbrook
  • Marius Goring
  • Moira Shearer
  • Michael Powell
Release date: 2001-05-21
Run time: 133 min.
Creator: Keith Winter
RRP: £15.99
Price: £2.86

Review The Red Shoes - Plus Documentary [1948] / ITV DVD:

Overall, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 1948 tale of the tragic ballerina Vicky Page (Moira Shearer) is not in the top drawer of their achievements. The backstage wranglings offer insufficient scope for their usual cinematic vision (though the Monte Carlo scenes are prettily sumptuous). Page's central dilemma, meanwhile, is a bit on the trite side-she must choose between love for a young composer and her career under stern taskmaster Boris Lertomov (Anton Walbrook), the ballet company impresario. The climax is also risibly melodramatic, a rare fumble for Powell and Pressburger. That said, The Red Shoes is worth purchasing alone for its middle sequence, a fantasy cinematic setting of the ballet of The Red Shoes, based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale of a girl who dances herself to death. A superb score by Brian Easdale is matched by an impossibly elaborate, shifting backdrop in which all of Powell and Pressburger's sense of drama, colour, invention and the super-real is encapsulated in one small but intensely concentrated dose. While the rest of the film is relatively dispensable, the ballet scene bears up to repeated rewindings. -David Stubbs Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's most celebrated Technicolor fairy-tale, The Red Shoes is both metaphor and melodrama of unparalleled boldness. So extravagantly theatrical a movie was regarded as simply unreleasable by the Rank Organisation back in 1948, but in spite of their attempted suppression it has long since been acknowledged as one of British cinema's landmark achievements. Not only were Powell and Pressburger unorthodox enough to populate the cast with real ballet dancers (including the radiant Moira Shearer in the pivotal role), they built the whole film around an extraordinarily daring 17-minute ballet sequence in which the camera moves from outside the proscenium arch into a subjective whirl of impressionistic images inspired and informed by Brian Easdale's marvellous score. [+]
Only after seeing this, so the story goes, was Gene Kelly able to see how he could make An American in Paris. The melodramatic plot, metaphorically acted out in the "Red Shoes Ballet" then re-enacted for real by the main characters, presents Great Art as something worth dying for, and, in the person of Anton Walbrook's Lermontov, gives us a portrait of the artist as a man for whom anything and everything is worth sacrificing in its pursuit. Loosely based on Diaghilev, impresario of the Ballets Russes, Walbrook's magnetic central performance is of sufficient stature to conceal the rather trite predicament of his ballerina protégée, and the film's contrived, over-the-top tragic ending. On the DVD: Sadly for a film in which music is such a central element, the advertised digital remastering doesn't seem to have extended to the mono soundtrack, which shows its age quite badly. The colour print, however, looks very vibrant. This special edition also includes a new 25-minute "making-of" feature with a few comments from crew members (or their relatives) and admirers of the film, including ballerina Darcey Bussell. "The Ballet of the Red Shoes" can be seen on its own in a separate featurette, and there are text biographies and a trailer. -Mark Walker.

Review Snapper Music / Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey
Actors & Directors
  • Clint Eastwood
  • Marc Levin
  • Mike Figgis
  • Charles Burnett
  • Martin Scorsese
Release date: 2004-10-18
Run time: 780 min.
RRP: £69.99
Price: £16.70

Review Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey / Snapper Music:

It may have been underrated when first broadcast, but executive producer Martin Scorsese's homage to the blues is a truly significant, if imperfect, achievement. "Musical journey" is an apt description, as Scorsese and the six other directors responsible for these seven approximately 90-minute films follow the blues-the foundation of jazz, soul, R&B, and rock & roll-from its African roots to its Mississippi Delta origins, up the river to Memphis and Chicago, then to New York, the United Kingdom, and beyond. Some of the films (like Wim Wenders's The Soul of a Man and Charles Burnett's Warming by the Devil's Fire) use extensive fictional film sequences, generally to good effect. There's also plenty of documentary footage, interviews, and contemporary studio performances recorded especially for these films. The last are among the best aspects of the DVDs, as the bonus material features the set's only complete tunes. Lou Reed's "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" and the ElektriK Mud Kats' (with Chuck D. of Public Enemy) hip-hop-cum-traditional updating of Muddy Waters's "Mannish Boy" are among the best of them; on the other hand, a rendition of "Cry Me a River" by Lulu (?!) is a curious choice, even with Jeff Beck on hand. The absence of lengthier vintage clips, meanwhile, is the principal drawback. For that reason alone, Clint Eastwood's Piano Blues is the best of the lot; a musician himself, Eastwood simply lets the players play, which means we get extensive file footage of the likes of Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Nat "King" Cole, as well as new performances by Ray Charles, Dr. John, and others. [+]
Overall, this is a set to savor, a worthwhile investment guaranteed to grow on you over the course of repeated viewings. -Sam Graham.

Review Universal Music / Alison Krauss: A Hundred Miles or More - Live From the Tracking Room [2008]
Actors & Directors
  • Alison Krauss
Release date: 2008-11-11
RRP: £15.99
Price: £8.32

Review Alison Krauss: A Hundred Miles or More - Live From the Tracking Room [2008] / Universal Music:


Review Universal Pictures UK / Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii [1972]
Actors & Directors
  • Nick Mason
  • Roger Waters
  • Adrian Maben
  • Richard Wright
  • David Gilmour
Release date: 2003-10-20
Run time: 62 min.
Creator: Stephen O'Rourke
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.19

Review Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii [1972] / Universal Pictures UK:

Conceived by the French director Adrian Maben as "an anti-Woodstock film," Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii was shot in October 1971 in the ancient city's vacant, 2,000-year-old amphitheatre-a venue chosen to accentuate the grandeur and spaciousness of the band's Meddle-era music. This disc contains a new, 90-minute director's cut as well as the original 60-minute concert film, whose production and effects feel inescapably dated. Maben's cut goes to great lengths to lend the film a more contemporary feel, but it's the earlier version that makes this disc such a gem, being more focused on the music and more holistic in vision. The anamorphic, 16:9 director's cut interweaves the Pompeii performances with fascinating but distracting interviews and music snippets filmed later (mostly during the recording of Dark Side of the Moon). The movie was originally prepared in a 4:3 aspect ratio, however, and the widescreen version crops perfectly framed images like the nine-square mosaic of drummer Nick Mason in "One of These Days". The original offers plenty of close-ups of fingers on frets and keys, with shots that are often luxuriously long in duration. And the picture quality from Pompeii is revelatory: outstandingly sharp and clear, rich in subtle grades of light and colour. Generous extras include everything from original posters, reviews, bootleg album covers and song lyrics, to a 24-minute interview with Maben. But for all the director's talk of the glorious acoustics in Pompeii's amphitheatre, there's little natural ambience to be heard. The Dolby Digital 2. [+]
0 sound is clear, dry and two-dimensional, though notably better than any previous video release. -Michael Mikesell.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Flashdance [1983]
Actors & Directors
  • Lilia Skala
  • Kyle T. Heffner
  • Michael Nouri
  • Sunny Johnson
  • Jennifer Beals
  • Adrian Lyne
Release date: 2002-10-07
Run time: 90 min.
Creator: Thomas Hedley Jr.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £3.17

Review Flashdance [1983] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

Flashdance was the aspirational feel-good movie of 1983, with its thudding Giorgio Moroder soundtrack, Fame-meets-An Officer and a Gentleman storyline and a doe-eyed but iron-willed heroine played by the promising Jennifer Beals. By day Alex (Beals) is a Pittsburgh welder. By night she dances self-choreographed pieces for beer swillers in a seedy nightclub. Then she goes home and dreams of entering the city's ballet school and a professional career. Adrian Lyne's film is full of compromises. It never really gets to grips with Alex's misfit status in a male-dominated world. And in the end, she is given the leg-up she needs by her boss (Michael Nouri) who won't take "no" for an answer. That's called stalking these days. But Flashdance also has some fascinating surreal moments. The infernal qualities of life on an industrial site are well described by good lighting and the dances take on a bizarre life of their own within the film. [+]
Beals is often in shadowy long shot for these scenes and, in fact, most of the actual dancing was done by a more qualified stand-in. On the DVD: Flashdance is presented in 2. 35:1 anamorphic widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5. 1 surround soundtrack. On disc the film still pulsates with that 1980s anything-is-possible energy. Apart from standard subtitle options and scene selections, there are no extras. -Piers Ford.

Review Elvis Presley / Elvis Presley - '68 Comeback Special (Special Edition)
Release date: 2006-08-14
Run time: 94 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £6.25

Review Elvis Presley - '68 Comeback Special (Special Edition) / Elvis Presley:


Review Overture - The Showgir / White Diamond / Show Girl Homecoming [2007]
Release date: 2007-12-10
Run time: 268 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £6.00

Review White Diamond / Show Girl Homecoming [2007] / Overture - The Showgir:


Review Smashing Pumpkins / If All Goes Wrong [2008]
Release date: 2008-12-01
Run time: 271 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £12.98

Review If All Goes Wrong [2008] / Smashing Pumpkins:


Review Warner Music Vision / Live Aid [1985]
Actors & Directors
  • Bob Geldof
  • Adam Ant
  • Vincent Scarza
  • Bryan Adams
  • Stuart Adamson
  • Nick Ashford
Release date: 2004-11-08
Run time: 560 min.
Creator: Hal Uplinger
RRP: £39.99
Price: £14.41

Review Live Aid [1985] / Warner Music Vision:


Review Cherry Red / Traffic - Live At Santa Monica [1972]
Actors & Directors
  • Allan L. Muir
  • Traffic
Release date: 2008-09-08
Run time: 64 min.
Creator: Roy Stewart
RRP: £8.99
Price: £5.87

Review Traffic - Live At Santa Monica [1972] / Cherry Red:


Review John Mayer / John Mayer - Where The Light Is [2008]
Release date: 2008-06-30
Run time: 164 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £8.55

Review John Mayer - Where The Light Is [2008] / John Mayer:


Review Leonard Cohen / Leonard Cohen-Under Review 1978-2006 [2008]
Release date: 2008-06-02
Run time: 120 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £8.82

Review Leonard Cohen-Under Review 1978-2006 [2008] / Leonard Cohen:


Review Zoom Entertainments / Addicted To Karaoke - ATK01 - The Best Of Female Pop (30 Songs)
Actors & Directors
  • Leona Lewis
  • Amy Winehouse
  • Amy Macdonald
  • Duffy
  • Rihanna
Release date: 2008-07-03
RRP: £6.99
Price: £6.99

Review Addicted To Karaoke - ATK01 - The Best Of Female Pop (30 Songs) / Zoom Entertainments:


Review EMI / Queen - The DVD Collection: Greatest Video Hits 1 [2002]
Actors & Directors
  • Queen
Release date: 2002-10-14
Run time: 135 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £5.17

Review Queen - The DVD Collection: Greatest Video Hits 1 [2002] / EMI:

Queen's Greatest Video Hits 1 takes full advantage of the legendary status of "Bohemian Rhapsody", still ranked as one of the best-loved tunes of all time, and its equally legendary video. Although no one can wholly explain what Freddie's lament was about, this collection includes four mini-documentaries that attempt to unlock the mystery with limited success. The original videos to favourites such as "Someone to Love", "We Will Rock You" and "Killer Queen" are also included, as well as a new racier version of the video for "Bicycle Race". Brian May and Roger Taylor provide an optional audio commentary throughout, interspersed with edited interview snippets from the late Freddie Mercury. Unlike so many other audio commentaries where producers and artists too readily gush praise about each other, May's and Taylor's observations are both fascinating and frank. Although much of what they discuss about the making of the promos is replicated in the accompanying glossy DVD booklet, it's illuminating to hear them chat about their dislike of Dennis De Vallance's video for "Fat Bottomed Girls" (principally because the final cut focused almost exclusively on Mercury). Their stories about the making of the videos also add some much-needed panache to these basic low-budget promos. For instance, their account of the making of "Spread Your Wings", on a freezing winter day in Roger Taylor's garden, brings an added dimension to an otherwise flat video. On the DVD: Queen's Greatest Video Hits 1 reflects the limitations of pre-digital recording; much of the visual material looks tired and dated even though the original footage is now presented in 16:9 format. Closer attention has been paid to the remastering of the audio soundtrack, which includes DTS 5. [+]
1 versions of the favourites (the multi-channel audio experience of "Bohemian Rhapsody" is stunning). The opening menu sequence is also impressive, with state-of-the-art animation that incorporates the designs of early Queen record sleeves. -John Galilee.

Review The Osmonds / The Osmonds - Live In Las Vegas [2007]
Release date: 2008-05-19
Run time: 98 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £8.98

Review The Osmonds - Live In Las Vegas [2007] / The Osmonds:


Browse Music DVDs:

Models & Brands:
Elvis Presley - Elvis - Aloha From Hawaii (Special Edition), Fender Presents: Getting Started On Electric Guitar [2002], Leonard Cohen The Last Of The Bohemians, The Shadows - The Final Tour, AC/DC - Live At Donington, The Red Shoes - Plus Documentary [1948], Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey, Alison Krauss: A Hundred Miles or More - Live From the Tracking Room [2008], Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii [1972], Flashdance [1983], Elvis Presley - '68 Comeback Special (Special Edition), White Diamond / Show Girl Homecoming [2007], If All Goes Wrong [2008], Live Aid [1985], Traffic - Live At Santa Monica [1972], John Mayer - Where The Light Is [2008], Leonard Cohen-Under Review 1978-2006 [2008], Addicted To Karaoke - ATK01 - The Best Of Female Pop (30 Songs), Queen - The DVD Collection: Greatest Video Hits 1 [2002], The Osmonds - Live In Las Vegas [2007]

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