The McCartney Years (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews) New McCartney DVD Set for Release 'THE McCARTNEY YEARS' LOS ANGELES, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- On November 13th, 2007, 'THE McCARTNEY YEARS' will hit the stores from MPL/Rhino Entertainment. This first time ever DVD includes the definitive visual collection of Paul McCartney's amazing career featuring solo music videos, career-spanning live performances, personal commentary by Paul McCartney and exclusive footage that tracks his incredible musical journey as never before.
Spanning four decades, 'THE McCARTNEY YEARS' is a three volume DVD collection, featuring some of the world's best-loved music that has become the soundtrack to all our lives.
VOLUME ONE and VOLUME TWO contain the definitive collection of McCartney music videos. Starting in the 1970s with Paul McCartney's first solo single "Maybe I'm Amazed," the DVD includes the Wings promo video for "Band On The Run" as well as hits from the 1980s such as "Say Say Say," and the 1990s with "The World Tonight." It finishes with 2005's "Fine Line." The films can be viewed either in chronological order or as play-lists that have been personally arranged by Paul featuring his exclusive voiceover commentaries.
VOLUME THREE includes live performances taken from three classic McCartney live shows; "ROCKSHOW" filmed on Wings' 1976 World Tour, new edits of Paul's seminal "UNPLUGGED" in 1991 and Paul's now legendary headlining performance at 2004's GLASTONBURY Festival.
'THE McCARTNEY YEARS' is also packed with bonus features and extra never before seen footage and performances, including "Let It Be" from LIVE AID, archive interviews with Melvyn Bragg and Michael Parkinson, alternative versions of music videos and the full-length 2005 documentary "Creating Chaos at Abbey Road." Paul has recorded exclusive commentary and personal introductions for each promo video and each live concert.
This collection has been meticulously restored and all films polished, re-graded and given a new lease on life in Widescreen format with re-mastered stereo audio and for the first time the original recordings re-mixed into 5.1 surround sound. 'THE McCARTNEY YEARS' includes over 40 promo videos and over two hours of live performances.
DISC/TRACK LISTING DISC 1 1. Tug Of War 2. Say Say Say 3. Silly Love Songs 4. Band On The Run 5. Maybe I'm Amazed 6. Heart Of The Country 7. Mamunia 8. With A Little Luck 9. Goodnight Tonight 10. Waterfalls 11. My Love 12. C-Moon 13. Baby's Request 14. Hi Hi Hi 15. Ebony And Ivory 16. Take It Away 17. Mull Of Kintyre 18. Helen Wheels 19. I've Had Enough 20. Coming Up 21. Wonderful Christmastime Extras 1. Juniors Farm 2. Band On The Run 3. London Town 4. Mull Of Kintyre 2 5. The Southbank Show
DISC 2 1. Pipes Of Peace 2. My Brave Face 3. Beautiful Night 4. Fine Line 5. No More Lonely Nights 6. This One 7. Little Willow 8. Pretty Little Head 9. Birthday 10. Hope Of Deliverance 11. Once Upon A Long Ago 12. All My Trials 13. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man 14. Press 15. No Other Baby 16. Off The Ground 17. Biker Like An Icon 18. Spies Like Us 19. Put It There 20. Figure Of Eight 21. C'Mon People Extras 1. Parkinson 2. So Bad 3. Creating Chaos At Abbey Road
DISC 3 Rock Show 1. Venus And Mars 2. Rock Show 3. Jet 4. Maybe I'm Amazed 5. Lady Madonna 6. Listen To What The Man Said 7. Bluebird MTV Unplugged 8. I Lost My Little Girl 9. Every Night 10. And I Love Her 11. That Would Be Something Glastonbury 12. Jet 13. Flaming Pie 14. Let Me Roll It 15. Blackbird 16. Band On The Run 17. Back In The USSR 18. Live And Let Die 19. Hey Jude 20. Yesterday 21. Helter Skelter 22. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Extras 1. Live Aid 2. The Superbowl XXIV
Check out www.paulmccartney.com for the latest news and information.

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Paul McCartney's Get Back World Tour Review

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(More customer reviews)You can't go wrong with any of Paul McCartney's live recordings. Despite what anyone says about Sir Paul's post-Beatles music, when it comes to live performance, the man always gives 100 percent. He's as hard-working a showman as anyone in rock and always holds his own against virtually every live band. The guy cares about what he does, has a great voice, is a solid innovative bassist and one heck of a pianist. I am certain that almost everyone who attended the 1989 live shows filmed for this DVD ranks it as a night they will never forget.
I wish this DVD were longer, because it focuses almost exclusively on Paul's Beatles hits. I know that many people love hearing McCartney sing the Beatles Greatest Hits, but I'd like to hear more of his solo and Wings material. (In concert at the time, McCartney did include a lot of post-1970 material, but little of it is here save for the beautiful 'Put it There,' 'Live and Let Die,' and 'Coming Up.')
My major problem with the DVD comes from Richard Lester's decision to intercut newsfootage throughout many of the songs. 'The Long and Winding Road' is all but ruined by Vietnam imagery, for example, and by the time I reached the end of the DVD I was uncomfortably reminded of the movie version of 'Beatlemania' which used similar tricks. McCartney is the real deal and doesn't need such trickery. And, yes, that's the same Richard Lester who used to direct great popcorn flicks like 'Superman II' and 'The Three Musketeers' not to mention the Beatles own 'Hard Day's Night.' I've no idea why McCartney allowed Lester to ruin sections of this film with his heavy-handed social commentary.
I'm still giving this 4 stars if only because we get the joy of Paul McCartney rediscovering himself in front of a worldwide audience.

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Yellow Submarine (1968) Review

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(More customer reviews)After reading the New York Times article about the restoration process for Yellow Submarine, I had high hopes for this DVD. I was not disappointed.
The color saturation is sumptuous. There are some imperfections, but on the whole this is a first class restoration. If you want appreciate the restoration, look at the original theatrical trailer or the "making of" documentary extras.
The re-mastered audio brings new complexity and detail to familiar Beatle material (even on my strictly middlebrow home entertainment system). The opening a cappella chorus of "Nowhere Man" sounded like it was recorded yesterday.
For a generation that has not seen this film, Yellow Submarine is a perfect time capsule for 60's psychedelic era. The film begins in under the sea in Pepperland, an idyllic musical community, which is attacked by the music-hating Blue Meanies. "Young Fred" manages to escape the attack in the Yellow Submarine, which takes him to England. He recruits the Beatles to return with him to Pepperland to join the battle between the forces of order (the Blue Meanies) and the forces of creativity and love. The plot is pretty much as hokey as it sounds, but it is merely a vehicle for the music, humor, surrealism, artistic and social sensibilities of the psychedelic 60's. And it is there that the movie emphatically succeeds.
The animation is certainly not as sophisticated as some more modern efforts, but it stands up remarkably well. There was a lot of revolutionary (for the 60's) integration of animation and live action. The colors are gorgeous. Visually, this is still a very entertaining film.
If you don't like the Beatles music, or are bored by animation, stay away. If you are on the fence about getting this DVD, buy it. You won't be disappointed. And if you love the Beatles, this DVD should move to the top of your list.

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The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you're here looking at this DVD chances are the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show is meaningful to you. This is ground zero for modern Rock music, sure Elvis popularized Rock `n Roll, but this is where everything switches from singles to Albums and later to an Art form. The performances speak for themselves; the Boys are in fine form and in spite of the antiquated, very primitive sound system they sound great. This new version of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan DVD has been improved, the picture is brighter and a bit more clean, the 5:1 surround sound is quite good. If you're playing this through a surround sound system, the subwoofer handles the bass parts very nicely with little or no audible rumble, the vocals are clear and the overall presentation is quite remarkable especially considering the circumstances. A must buy for anyone of a certain age who wants to bask in the glory of the old days, and for newcomers who want to see what the fuss was all about. If you have the original SOFA release and you don't have a surround sound sytem, the old version will suffice, if you've got the Surround Sound, then spring for the new one, it's worth the investment. You shoulda been there.

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THE 4 COMPLETE ED SULLIVAN SHOWS STARRING THE BEATLES,DIGITALLY REMASTERED AND INCLUDING SOME PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED MATERIAL, TO BE ISSUED ON DVD BY UNIVERSAL MUSIC ENTERPRISES When The Beatles stepped onto Sullivan's New York stage on Sunday, February 9, 1964, to make their American TV debut, 86 percent of all TVs on at that hour--73 million Americans--tuned in. It was the most-watched program in history to that point and remains one of the most-watched programs of all time. Nearly 50 years after the four landmark live performances of The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show," those legendary appearances with newly remastered audio and carefully restored video will finally be made available worldwide on home video through a major distributor. The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles will be released September 7, 2010. The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles was produced by SOFA Entertainment. "We used the full extent of today's technology," says Andrew Solt, Executive Producer and CEO of SOFA Entertainment. "The quality is better than it ever was, in fact, better than when the shows aired, especially visually. For example, the February 16 performance was from Miami's Deauville Hotel, not from a studio. The quality of the tape image was very fragile. We went back and improved it frame by frame." With a running time of more than 250 minutes, The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles presents those shows uncut, including not only all of the other performances but also all of the original commercials. Also included is The Cast of Oliver! (featuring a young Davy Jones) singing"I'll Do Anything For You."The audio is available in both mono and a 5.1 remix. In addition, the new DVD set has been augmented with approximately 13 minutes of additional footage.

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The Last Play at Shea Review

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(More customer reviews)I remember filing out of SHEA that hot summer night in 2008 - stunned at what I'd just witnessed - and already chomping at the bit for a CD or DVD of this historic show. After seeing a bunch of garbage on youtube, we FINALLY got to see it at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010, and I was FLOORED.
OK - in the interest of full disclosure - I'm a huge Billy Joel fan, and even bigger Paul McCartney fan, and (alas) a die-hard NY Mets fan. So, really - what's not to like.
Billy Joel turning over the mic to Sir Paul - at his own concert, in his own backyard, was really classy. So much so, that when McCartney opened "the new Shea" (CitiField), he invited Billy to perform with him. No big deal ? Tell me, for as often as Paul is a "special guest" on the concert stage, how many times does he bring on a guest ?
NOTE: It's not a straight concert film - there's lots of New York history - baseball and otherwise - in the mix. I really was hoping they'd have done a treatment similar to the "Concert For George" (George Harrison tribute) DVD - one disc with the theatrical release (edits, interviews, backstory, documentary stuff), and one with just the concert (beginning to end).
UPDATE - JUST ANNOUNCED JAN 21: There will be a CD/DVD set called "Billy Joel Live at Shea Stadium", to be released March 1st. NOW it seems all will be right in the world ! Set list looks like a combination of the two-night stand, with guests from both nights.
Still, top to bottom, the movie is terrific. Very informative and entertaining.

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Two New York icons meet for one final time in The Last Play at Shea. Academy® Award-winning documentary writer Mark Monroe (The Cove) chronicles the intersecting histories of the landmark Shea Stadium and the legendary performer Billy Joel. An engaging look at the highs and lows of the New York Mets and the music career of Joel, The Last Play at Shea interweaves interviews with players and performers with exclusive concert footage from the good-bye performances in July 2008. New York City serves as a background for those who were there – including Sting, Christie Brinkley, John Mayer, Garth Brooks, Tony Bennett and others – to share their stories of these electric summer nights. The film, narrated by New Yorker Alec Baldwin (TV’s “30 Rock"), also highlights a special performance by Paul McCartney.

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Nowhere Boy (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)Sam Taylor-Wood's Nowhere Boy is a marvelously moving depiction of the early life of John Lennon, covering the period from when he is about fifteen and first becoming interested in music to when he is nineteen, when he and his band, The Quarrymen, are about to leave for a gig in Hamburg that would see them emerge as the band known all over the world as the Beatles.
Everything about this film works. Not only because of a great cast of actors, but in the way that it captures the look and feel not only of Liverpool in the late 50's and early 60's, but also of the transitioning music scene of the period, dominated in the beginning by American jazz and rock & roll but soon to be overturned by what would be called (on our side of the pond anyway) as the British Invasion. One of the many remarkable achievements that Taylor-Wood manages to pull off in the film is the subtle way in which she shows Lennon starting with influences like Buddy Holly and Elvis but then slowly moving to create his own sound, particularly after he connects with an even younger Paul McCartney.
The performances of the entire cast are worthy of praise, but two I feel deserve special attention: Aaron Johnson as John Lennon, and Kristin Scott Thomas as his Aunt Mimi. Johnson was best known for his perfomance as the title character in the cult super-hero film Kick-Ass, but his immersion in Lennon's character in Nowhere Boy was so thorough that he was almost unrecognizable. Scott Thomas, a veteran actress of many films of note, including The English Patient, Four Weddings And A Funeral, and The Other Boleyn Girl, was more recognizable, but all the more remarkable for bringing off the very complex character of Lennon's Aunt Mimi, the woman who raised him from the age of five. To bring out Mimi, Scott Thomas has to portray a woman who is tough as nails, making the hard decisions in life while keeping her inner feelings to herself, but who does in fact have feelings that every now and then must come out for the people she does in fact care deeply about. It is a highly challenging role and Scott Thomas pulls it off magnificently. Both performances are Oscar-worthy and I sincerely hope that the Academy will give them the recognition they so richly deserve.
I highly recommend this film for anyone with an interest in John Lennon, the Beatles, the music of this highly important period, or simply in the lives of musicians and how they become the people the world comes to know. Or for anyone who just loves an extraordinarily well-crafted movie with stellar performances and a truly moving story.

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Studio: Sony Pictures Home EntRelease Date: 01/25/2011Run time: 98 minutesRating: R

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