La
Bamba
(1987/Sony/Columbia/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)/Lucky
Them (2013/MPI/IFC
DVD)/Motown 25: Yesterday
Today Forever (1983/Time
Life/Star Vista 3-DVD Set Version)/Yes
35th
Anniversary Concert: Songs From Tsongas
(2004/Eagle Blu-ray)
Picture:
B/C/C+/B Sound: B-/C+/C+/B+ Extras: B/C/B/B Main
Programs: B-/C/B/B+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The La
Bamba
Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Twilight Time, is
limited to only 3,000 copies, while the Motown
set (and its variant versions) are now only available from Star
Vista. Both can be ordered from the links below.
Here's
more interesting music titles you should know about or will
eventually hear about...
Luis
Valdez's La Bamba
(1987) is the film that put Lou Diamond Philips on the map early on
playing early Rock Music legend Richie Valens in this decent biopic
that has some issues escaping the formula of such films, but has some
amazing performances, is a fine-looking film, has an exceptional cast
of actors we still do not see enough and never gets the respect it
deserves. After a strange vision as a child (the writers should have
cut back on this one), we see
Valens growing up, becoming interested in music, dealing with
poverty, dealing with racism and how music changed his life.
The
casting is particularly inspired including Esai Morales as his
brother, Rosanna DeSoto as mother Connie Valenzuela (the real life
lady appears uncredited), Rick Dees as the local DJ who likes his
music, Joe Pantoliano as the man who cuts his first hits, Stephen Lee
as The Big Bopper, Howard Huntsberry as Jackie Wilson, Marshall
Crenshaw as Buddy Holly, Brian Setzer (The Stray Cats were about to
disband) as Eddie Cochran, Elizabeth Pena as Richie's sister Rosie,
Danielle von Zerneck as his love interest Donna and the underrated
Los Lobos playing a band of the time. They re-recorded all the
Valens music for the film. Carlos Santana and Miles Goodman did the
rest of the music score.
Between
bad hair bands and the major labels starting to ignore their pasts,
legacies, talent development and looking for the next format, the
film was a moderate hit, yet could and should have done much better
than it did. There for it is nice to see Twilight Time issue such a
surprisingly strong Limited Edition Blu-ray of the film. It has aged
very well, it strongest parts are more ahead of their time than most
would have considered at the time and its documentation of a
priceless piece of music history is top rate. That makes it at last
a minor classic and one you should see or see again.
Extras
include another fine, illustrated booklet on the film including
informative text by Julie Kirgo, while the Blu-ray adds two
feature-length audio commentary tracks (one with Luis Valdez, Diamond
Philips, Morales & Producer
Stuart Benjamin, the other with Producers Taylor Hackford and Daniel
Valdez), an Original Theatrical Trailer
and Isolated Music Score.
Megan
Griffith's Lucky Them (2013) wants to be a satire of the indie
side of the music business and they got the cast for it with Tony
Colette as a music writer trying to keep her career going while
having a private life. Oliver Platt plays her editor and things get
more bizarre in her life when she allows a documentary filmmaker
(Thomas Hayden Church) shoot a piece on her and the indie music
scene. The tone makes sense and there is some chemistry here, but in
never gels into anything believable, no matter how much the actors
try or how good they are.
The
music, amusing as it can get, is not very memorable and we also don't
see or get much we have not seen before, resulting in 96 minutes that
don't go anywhere much. Too bad, because I wanted this one to work.
Extras
include a trailer and two featurettes.
Motown
25: Yesterday Today Forever (1983) is
the famous TV special that celebrated the first quarter century of
one of the most important record labels ever. It made for a
memorable night as the company had lost many of its hit-makers, named
The Jacksons and Diana Ross, but still had others in mainstays Smokie
Robinson and Stevie Wonder. Gladys Knight & The Pips, who did
not start at the label, were long gone and do not turn up
sadly, but just about everyone else does. Richard Pryor becomes the
de facto host, though others add comments throughout. All the music
performances are solid, with The Four Tops (who had left for ABC
Records before returning) of a battle of the bands with The
Temptations, who never left. Marvin Gaye returns for an amazing
performance having just made a huge comeback at Columbia Records with
his Midnight Love album and its megahit, Sexual Healing,
but he sticks to the classics. It was his first time to deal with
the label since his bitter divorce in the later 1970s from the label,
Berry Gordy's sister and would be one of his last major public
performances before his father shot him to death a year later.
Though
Gordy reportedly initially bulked, Michael Jackson refused to go on
unless he could perform Billie Jean, a hit from his newly
released Thriller album at Epic/Columbia Records which was on
its way to becoming the biggest selling studio album of all time.
Bitterness in hidden bits continued until Diana Ross wrapped up
things talking to Gordy and saying that everyone (Rick James was
stuck somewhere apparently) came back. In this version, she makes a
fist, but the cross shot of Gordy making two fists and raising them
in the air has been removed from this copy. Ross had signed a deal
with RCA records to cut five albums at a then record $20 Million,
especially after Gordy reportedly told her he owned all her
recordings. They reconciled years later when that contract ran out,
bringing her Ross Records to the company and reportedly getting part
ownership of her many recording at Motown.
Otherwise,
this was a classic show with great music, unforgettable moments
(Jackson's seamlessly backward walk, later dubbed (rightly or not) a
moonwalk stole the show) was also a quiet triumph as the Reagan Years
began and the Civil Rights so hard won by the black Community
including that of Motown were being rolled back. In a few years,
Gordy would sell the label, but keep the publishing and the company
would no longer dominate soul or pop as new labels surfaced and
Rap/Hip Hop took hold running up to its year 2000 peak and beyond.
However, it was a night for some of the most important justice ever
made and there was more.
Mary
Wells sang My Guy, Martha Reeves did a solo Heatwave,
Jr. Walker soloed on Shotgun, The Commodores delivered Brick
House, Jose Feliciano covered Lonely Teardrops (a hit
Gordy wrote before his breakup with Jackie Wilson to launch the
company), DeBarge sang All This Love, Hi Inergy performed He's
A Pretender, the latter two dueted on Can't Stop, Smokie
sang Crusin' after a few duets with Linda Ronstadt, Billie Dee
Williams hosted a clip of Motown's feature film ventures, Adam Ant
(an influence on Michael Jackson, apparently signing on because he
thought Prince would be there, unconfirmed) snag Where Did Our
Love Go?, Ross sang Ain't No Mountain High Enough, she was
joined by Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong (the second Supremes
incarnation) singing Someday We'll Be Together (though the
original hit was really Ross singing solo under the group name) and
the finale Reach Out I'll Be There
brought everyone back out.
The
program is available in a 6-disc version and the 3-disc version we
are covering here.
Extras
in the glittery slipcase packaging over the regular keep case include
an illustrated booklet on the special with including informative
text, plus extras across the three DVDs. DVD 1 adds a "Yesterday
· Today · Forever" Production Roundtable featuring Smokey
Robinson and Duke Fakir (Four Tops), Otis Williams (The Temptations)
and Executive Producer Suzanne de Passe, taped at the location of the
original concert, the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and "Signed,
Sealed, Delivered - The Making of Motown 25",
which tells the behind-the-scenes story of the making of the program,
and offers new insights into the rise of Motown and its roster of
super stars. DVD 2 REHERSAL offers "What's
Going On: Marvin Gaye"
rehearsal, the second part of the Motown 25 Performers Roundtable and
DVD 3 THE REUNION adds a the final part of those roundtable
interviews, the featurettes "Dancing
In The Street: History of Motown"
& "Reach
Out I'll Be There: The Temptations & The Four Tops"
and over 25 exclusive interviews with performers and crew, including
Claudette Robinson (The Miracles), Martha Reeves (Martha & the
Vandellas), Smokey Robinson, Nelson George, Gloria Jones, Adam Ant,
Ashford and Simpson, Buz Kohan (Head Writer), David Goldberg
(Executive in Charge of Production), Mickey Stevenson (Former Head of
A&R/Songwriter), Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
(Songwriters/Producers) and many more. The 6-DVD set has even more
extras you can find out more about at the link below.
Last
but absolutely not least is Yes
- 35th
Anniversary Concert: Songs From Tsongas
(2004) in yet another strong release (following the hotly debated
Live At Montreux 2003
Blu-ray from Eagle reviewed
elsewhere on this site) of the classic lineup of the band. With a
great set built by legendary cover artist Roger Dean, this 2.5 hour
show (with some songs changed for something different) includes
performances of Firebird
Suite,
title track from Going
For The One,
Sweet
Dreams,
I've
Seen All Good People/Your Move,
Mind
Drive (Parts 1 & 2),
South
Side Of The Sky,
Turn
Of The Century,
My
Eyes,
Yours
Is No Disgrace,
The
Meeting Room,
Long
Distance Runaround,
Wonderous
Stories,
Time
Is Time,
Roundabout,
Show
Me,
Owner
Of A Lonely Heart,
Second
Initial,
Rhythm
of Love,
And
You and I,
Every
Little Thing
and Starship
Trooper.
Jon
Anderson (who has since somehow been fired from the band), Chris
Squire, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman and Alan White are in great form
here throughout with a great audience and proving once again that
they have one of the great band's in all of music history, surviving
most of their progressive rock contemporaries (Emerson, Lake &
Palmer being a rare exception) in any genre with some of the greatest
songs ever written. I did not know what to expect from the show and
though I have high expectations from them, they more than met them
with an unbelievable show that is as amazing
as anything they have on Blu-ray or DVD to date.
Extras
include an illustrated paper pullout with tech details and song
listings for both concerts, the second of which is a
70-minutes long Live In Lugano 2004 show that is very strong
and a bonus track, Ritual. It lasts a half-hour!
For
more Yes, try these links:
Symphonic
Yes Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11183/Brand+New+Day+(2009/Fox+Blu-ray)/Gary+Moore
Yes:
Classic Artists DVD Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6530/Yes+%E2%80%93+Classic+Artists+(Image+DVD+S
Yes:
Live At Montreux 2003 Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5731/Yes+%E2%80%93+Live+At+Montreux+2003+(Blu-r
Yessongs
(1972) Region B Blu-ray import
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11939/Color+Me+Obsessed:+A+Film+About+The+Replac
Yesspeak
DVD
Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11075/Neil+Young%E2%80%99s+Music+Box+%E2%80%
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on La Bamba
hardly shows the age of the materials used, is likely a new print and
is far superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film with
more than a few demo moments to the point this almost scored even
higher. Shot better than you could imagine, color use is superior,
production design remains authentic and the look of the period never
fails to come through. The 1080i
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Yes
can some minot detail issues, but this is one of the best such HD
shoots of its time with nice color range, even if colors and lights
can cross in odd ways.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image on Lucky
is slightly on the soft side to begin with, though some of that is
the style, but it is more than it needed and makes it the poorest
performer (could this look better in HD?) here despite the fact that
the 1.33 X 1 on the main Motown
program is from analog NTSC video that should not look as good all
the time as it does. The masters were kept in nice shape.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Bamba
is well mixed and presented, but is too quiet and refined at times to
take total advantage
of the multi-channel possibilities and was an analog Dolby A-type
theatrical stereo release in its time. The sound is as upgraded as
it ever will be, some some audio stills shows its age. However, the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Yes
is often stunning, superior to is passable PCM 2.0 Stereo counterpart
and has some great sonics throughout. The Live
In Lugano 2004
show only has PCM 2.0 Stereo itself, yet even that sounds great.
Those fans who have picked up the 2-channel DSD Stereo Super Audio CD
of Going For The One (recommended if you can get it!) will find this
just as outstanding.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on Lucky
is not bad, but not great, laid back and at best when the music kicks
in. The
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on Motown
has some good articulation, but a DTS version should have been
included as it would have yielded more warmth and depth, something
the lossy
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo version is lacking even more. Still, nice
to hear there is more to the sound than one might have expected.
You
can order
the La
Bamba
limited edition Blu-ray, buy it and other exclusives while supplies
last at this link:
www.screenarchives.com
… and
to order either of the Motown
set in the 3-DVD version covered or any of its variants, go to this
link for them and many more great web-exclusive releases at:
MOTOWN25DVDS.COM
-
Nicholas Sheffo
