Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on May 20th, 2025
“Good evening, everybody! My name is Robbie Williams. This is my band, and for the next two hours, YOUR ASS IS MINE!”
I was really intrigued with the film’s concept. After all, every year musical biopics are released, and they can sometimes seem like they are all following the same blueprint, which, needless to say, makes it rather difficult for them to stand out. Better Man bucks that trend by instead of opting for an actor with a passing resemblance to the subject, rather depicting the subject as a chimpanzee, which was inspired by Robbie Williams’ own perception of himself as a "performing monkey". If that doesn’t make this film stand out, I don’t know what will. This also has the added benefit of allowing Williams to voice the character himself, which in my opinion adds a layer of authenticity to this biopic. After all, who better to tell their life story than the person themself?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 29th, 2022
"What's the word for when you're bad at expressing yourself... Speechless."
The story has been around for centuries. After Dickens' A Christmas Carol and Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet, it might well be one of the most imitated stories on film and television. There have been countless plays on the Cyrano themes, from The Brady Bunch to Friends. It's a timeless story first portrayed in a stage production by Edmund Rostand in 1897, but the story goes back to the life of an actual historic figure from the mid-17th century. Of course, his life has been highly made up and likely little to nothing remains of fact from the actual person. The play was a hit, and the general ideas presented there remain popular to this very day. Now there's yet another screen version based on a play written by Erica Schmidt, who happens to be the wife of Peter Dinklage's wife. I was honestly not looking forward to the new film adaptation of Schmidt's adaptation of Rostand's adaptation of literary works going back to the 17th century. It's frankly been done to death, and the last thing I wanted to see was Peter Dinklage, as good an actor as he is, with a huge nose walking around trying not to be laugh-your-butt-off funny. Unfortunately, it was awards season, and I needed to see anything I could get the chance to see before my own votes were due. Fortunately, the film wasn't anything like I expected, and if I had checked out the modern play in which Dinklage also played the character on stage, I would have known that and been much more open to seeing the film. It was duty that brought me to that press screening. It was the chance to see a truly great film again that led to me jumping at the opportunity to review this Universal Blu-ray release. And by the way, there aren't any large noses to be found anywhere in the film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 14th, 2019
Musical mockumentaries can often be hilarious. One has to look no further than Spinal Tap to see how funny it can be to blend music with comedy and shoot it like a documentary. However, it is a delicate balance between fun, smart jokes and perhaps going too far for a simple punchline. Today's film is Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, which has received a brand new steel book from the minds at Shout Factory. This 2016 film was considered a bomb at the box office, but it has found a home in disc and digital thanks to the gag-a-minute style of Andy Samberg and his supporting cast of musical celebrities and comedians. Let us take a look inside this limited edition and see if "Conner4Real" can take on a cult-like status with this film.
We open the story with Conner (played by Andy Samberg), who tells us about growing up and being dope. He then meets his two best friends, Owen (played by Jorma Taccone) and Lawrence (played by Akiva Schaffer) who later go on to form the rapping group, Style Boyz. Their first single is the tune Karate Guy. But as they grew up, the group was not as strong as originally thought. So they broke up, with Lawrence quitting the business and becoming a farmer. Owen became a DJ and tagged along with Conner. Conner became "Conner4Real" and went solo to huge acclaim. Despite his antics and habit of ending up in the tabloids, his music gathers a ton of fans and fame.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 27th, 2018
“So here we are...in the belly of the beast. A lot of power and money in this room.”
That cheeky line came from Iggy Pop during The Stooges' induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. It's also featured in Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: In Concert — Encore, a wonderfully comprehensive collection of the four induction ceremonies between 2010 and 2013. The 2-disc Blu-ray set features over 8 hours of content, including full induction speeches and 44 musical performances from rock and roll icons and rising stars. Iggy was right about the power and money in the room; this set features some of the biggest names in the history of music...plus A-listers like Meryl Streep and Oprah Winfrey!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 13th, 2018
“It was the 'hate the performer' festival.”
With more than 600,000 people in attendance, the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 became the largest musical event of its time. In terms of sheer numbers, it was even bigger than Woodstock a year earlier. But instead of celebrating peace and love, the hippies who attended Isle of Wight were put off by performers who showed up in ostentatious vehicles. They were determined to aggressively protest the commercialization of music, which led to fences being torn down and artists subsequently dropping out of the festival lineup. Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now — Live at The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 documents how one of the quietest, most unassuming artists in the lineup made some everlasting noise.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 9th, 2018
“This has got to be the largest AA meeting in the Western Hemisphere.”
That one-liner from 2015 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bill Withers is one of the funnier nods to the, ahem, well-traveled club he just joined. It's also featured in Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: In Concert, a wonderfully comprehensive collection of the four induction ceremonies between 2014 and 2017. This 2-disc Blu-ray set features over 10 hours of content, including full induction speeches, 53 musical performances, and reunions that will have classic rock fans drooling. (Not to mention some notable snubs.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 4th, 2017
Coming along the heels of Straight Outta Compton, the new HBO documentary series The Defiant Ones takes a more in depth at the life and career of Dr. Dre as well as famed musical producer Jimmy Iovine. The 4-part series comes out to over four hours of interviews and stock footage that spans over the course of both of their careers, and as a result we get a comprehensive look at the music industry like we’ve never seen before. Whether you are a fan of hip-hop or rock, there is something here for everyone, but for those who seem to have zero tolerance for rap, it’s the story about these two and where they came from to their joint venture in a 3.2 billion-dollar deal with Apple that transcends all taste in music. This is a rags-to-riches story about a Brooklyn boy and a kid straight out of Compton who had a passion to create music, and in the process they changed the industry forever.
Part 1 is our introduction to Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, where we get their birth stories and how they were as kids. What stands out the most here is seeing how much this pulls back the curtain to the myth about gangster rappers, and we see how Dre was simply a kid with a passion for music and how he had a unique ear to create something different. As for Iovine, we see how he did all he could to not have to work the boat docks and went from creating a failed band to eventually getting a job working at a recording studio. Personally, the highlights of this part were seeing old studio footage of Jimmy being an engineer for the Bruce Springsteen album “Born to Run” and how he got a song Springsteen decided not to use and Jimmy ends up giving it to Patti Smith to create the son “Because the Night”. Follow this by seeing old footage of Dr. Dre working with Easy E for the song “Boys N the Hood”, well, it is incredible that someone thought to bring a VHS camcorder to document these moments that would become part of music history.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 10th, 2017
Hans Zimmer has composed the music for some of the most iconic films of the last 20 years. That list includes Gladiator, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Crimson Tide, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Dunkirk, and even some of The Lion King. He's the go-to composer for directors like Ridley Scott and Christopher Nolan. His music is on par with household names like John Williams. I own a few scores that I've felt compelled enough to pick up over the years, and one of my favorites has been Gladiator for some time. When I heard that Eagle Rock Entertainment was going to release a Blu-ray containing a tour stop of this incredible music live, I was quick to sign up to review. Still, I had little idea what to expect. A veteran of many rock concerts since the 1970's, I've never really watched or attended a concert dedicated to film scores before. Would it be more like going to the symphony to hear the likes of Bach or Mozart, or would it be something more akin to a progressive rock band with orchestral elements like ELO? The answer came down somewhere in between, and it turned out to be the most unique concert experience I've had the pleasure to review.
The concert begins more like a rock concert. Zimmer comes out, not to direct, but to play along with the other musicians. He ends up on piano, guitar, and a few other instruments before the show concludes. In the start the music is rather fast and furious. The stage is lined with an eclectic array of instruments played by a decidedly international collection of musicians. There are a couple of violins and an electric cello. But there are also several drum sets, electric bass, and a couple of electric guitars to round out the sound. And for the first few tracks taken from Driving Miss Daisy, Sherlock Holmes and Madagascar, the concert resembles a Jeff Lynne-assembled rock concert more than anything else. The band goes from one piece to another with nary a pause or introduction. In fact many tracks throughout the concert run together, and you might want to keep the track list (provided on a nice insert) handy to follow along. After this first high-energy performance, Zimmer finally stops to chat a moment with the audience. That's when the back curtain is lifted, and we discover that there is a full orchestra tucked away behind the "band" along with an extensive choir. That's when the concert moves into the more classical feel for such films as Thin Red Line, Angels And Demons, and, of course, selections from Gladiator. But there remains a bit of an edge to the music, provided by that front line of spotlighted musicians.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 10th, 2017
I was first introduced to The Who through the original Tommy album. It was one of my mother's favorites when I was young, and she had actually written out by hand her interpretation of the story the rock opera appeared to tell. I can't remember those scribblings, and I'm not even sure if they're still tucked away in that Decca album I have around here somewhere. But the music always stayed with me. Now, I didn't ever become a huge fan of the band. I always liked them and collected a couple of their albums over the years. I did play a lot of pinball, however. I fell more in with the likes of Elton John. So you can imagine how excited I was in the summer of 1975 when my favorite musician was cast to play the Pinball Wizard in a movie from the music that had been stuck in my head for years. And while the soundtrack version has been the version I've often found stuck in my head, the original album was never far away either. Apparently that's also the case with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey.
The decision to do a live version of Tommy 50 years after the album's release is tied to a worthy pet project that Daltrey has been running since 2000. He has recognized that teens have been a big part of the band getting its start back in the 1960's and worked to create Teenage Cancer Trust, which helps teens deal with cancer not only on the medical side but by providing them with unique experiences and activities. The Tommy performance in April of 2017 was the 100th performance from musicians all over the world in support of the cause. One of the parts of this show that I wish we'd seen is only talked about in the Behind the Scenes extra. Kids were provided with instruments and access to the Royal Albert Hall where they were encouraged to write songs inspired by The Who. After the concert they took the stage and got to present them to the band. That must have been a moving event.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 7th, 2017
"Is it loud enough?"
What young 1970’s pup, learning to play a guitar for the first time, didn’t, at one time or another, attempt to imitate Pete Townsend’s windmill power chord strum? I count myself in that group. While I was not a very dedicated Who fan, I had an appreciation for the musicianship. There were still songs like Pinball Wizard and Behind Blue Eyes that I would embrace as if they were my own anthems in those days. It would be hard to deny that The Who is one of the most successful rock bands in history. Part of the original British Invasion of the 1960’s, there are few such acts that are even still around, let alone able to fill the huge stadiums and halls of Rock’s yesteryears. Their songs have become anthems, and their antics have become legend. The band wrote the soundtrack for an entire generation, and proudly touted the fact in aptly named song, My Generation. Banned from all Holiday Inns at one time for their well publicized trashing of rooms, they weren’t any easier on their own instruments. Smashing their instruments and amps on stage became a staple, for a while, of the whole Who experience. They’ve inspired a legion of superstars, and now after more than 40 years of rocking, they soldier on.
