BP
Supershow: Ella Fitzgerald Live In Australia
(1960s/Umbrella Region Free PAL Import DVD)/The
Pleasures Of Being Out Of Step: Notes On The Life Of Nat Hentoff
(2013)/When Comedy Went To
School (2013/First Run
DVDs)
Picture:
C/C+/C Sound: C/C+/C+ Extras: D/C/C Main Programs: B-/B/B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Ella
Fitzgerald
Import DVD is now only available from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment in Australia, can only play on DVD players that can the
PAL format and can be ordered from the link below.
Here's
three new releases worth your time that show us the arts and show
business not that long ago and how great it was in work that
continues to endure and influence...
BP
Supershow: Ella Fitzgerald Live In Australia
is a great performance from the TV series that is finally rolling out
on DVD (in this case in Import DVDs) running a mere 51 minutes, but
featuring the legend belting out classics like Give
Me The Simple Life,
Heart
& Soul,
Imagination,
Caravan,
Cheek
To Cheek,
Anything
Goes,
Sweet
Georgia Brown,
Mack
The Knife,
Misty,
S'Wonderful
and many more including a medley as her showmanship and power shine
throughout. There can never be enough Ella on DVD or even Blu-ray,
but here she is in a must-see performance and fans of her, Jazz,
singing and music will love this one.
There
are sadly no extras.
David
L. Lewis' The
Pleasures Of Being Out Of Step: Notes On The Life Of Nat Hentoff
(2013) is a program that shows how giant Jazz fan and critic Hentoff
became a major force in the growth of the genre by immediately
grasping and understanding the music, artists and wrote many key
liner notes for some of the most important music ever recorded on
some of the most important albums ever made. Ahead of his time and
controversial, he, his friends, some former friends and artists are
interviewed throughout the maybe too-short 86 minutes that build and
grow on you.
It
also is a look as journalism at the time, America at the time, the
arts at the time, publishing at the time and racism then and now.
Andre Braugher narrates and we see rare sides of key artists like
Miles Davis and Bob Dylan among many throughout. This one is
definitely worth your time to go out of your way for.
Extras
include a featurettes on WWII, The New Yorker & Critic To Fan,
plus Bonus & Extended Scenes.
Finally,
Ron Frank & Mevlut Akkaya have co-directed the very insightful
When Comedy Went To
School
(2013), a documentary hosted by Robert Klein that shows key Jewish
roots to American comedy and how vaudeville (among other places) gave
way to the Catskills as the premiere place these comics learned their
craft and how many of them became influential legends. Running a
very funny, smart, pleasant and informative 77 minutes, I wished this
one was especially longer and there was more to say, but it is solid
for what it is and a must-see work.
Extras
include a faux newsreel, Friar's Club Roundtable, The Future Of The
Catskills and another featurette.
The
1.33 X 1 black and white image on Ella
is a bit rough off of older film that could use a little more
restoration, but it is still watchable and even has some nice shots,
while the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image Nat
and School
are newer, they have their share of older, rough footage and School
is softer throughout than I would have liked. The lossy Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono on Ella
is also a little brittle and limited, but her singing is amazing and
that comes through clearly enough just the same. The lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 on Nat
is a little better than its lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
counterpart, but not good enough to overall outdo the same type Dolby
Stereo mix on School.
To
order the Ella
Fitzgerald
Umbrella import DVD, go to this link:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/p-3547-bp-supershow-ella-fitzgerald-live-in-australia.aspx?keyword=ella+fitzgerald
-
Nicholas Sheffo