Costumes Movie Reviews

Ever since seeing his 90's work I've been a fan, so it was with great hopes that I unpacked this collection. After viewing the first DVD I was thinking that he has really improved since that and hoped for the next discs to be better.

Unfortunately, it turns out that they all contain pretty much the same jokes and even the George Carlin favourites is mostly a rehash of the previous three discs. I have a feeling that this will never leave my bookshelf again. My advice? Stay with the more recent material...

I was excited by the promise of this set - hell who would not at the prospect of 4 -5 hours of Carlin?

Carlin has wonderful timing and a wicked and wacky grin that precedes anyone of his reflections on the absurdity of the human condition that he delivers with a complete mastery of American idiom.

This is a collection that is hard to ignore for a die-hard fan like me - but suffers from repetition of many of his classic pieces - like "Words they won"t let you say on TV" to "Stuff" especially since his delivery of his masterworks does not vary greatly from one performance to the other. The editors must have been sleeping.

But if you have the cash, splurge.

very funny comedy acts, but flimsy box, bad audio, definately not worth more then 35 dollars

Evidently, Mr. Morris from Toronto, Canada, and I are the only ones to get the bad DVDs in this forum. Moreover, the only female voice to even SOUND decent was Mignon Dunn's, most probably because she's a mezzo and the engineering is less difficult than with high (and often, bigger, voices). The best of part of the DVD was watching and hearing the hysterical audience. Since I can only hear/see opera canned, it's no wonder I to often have a warped idea of who sounds like what. So I have never gotten the benefit of adoring certain singers, if you see what I mean.

There's just something about this DVD - the technical aspect that is quite, quite dreadful. It is of course a Video to DVD transfer and that's where the flaws lie .... the voices are occasionally {and more than occasionally} drowned out by the orchestra.

Performances? Superior ... except for the unflattering camerawork and the lost opportunities.

The climatic conclusion between Elektra and Clytemnestra is utterly wasted - the moment when Clytemnestra reveals her true self - and drops the ornate 'walking' canes and exits screeching with laughter at her misbegotten daughter ! Missed!!! {A Crucial moment of the work, superbly realized in the 1975 Karl Bohm Paris production ['THAT' decaying anthill set!]

Such a superior moment - also the recognition scene between Orestes and Elektra - another wasted opportunity .

Camera lacks the tension of the drama.

Sets and costumes are effectively lit and executed.

I would like to respond to the critic below. Leonie Rysanek was born on November 14, 1926. Birgit Nilsson was born on May 17, 1918. Leonie Rysanek was slightly over 8 years younger than Birgit Nilsson. When Birgit Nilsson sang this Elektra she was just past 61 and halfway to 62!!! Of course, she would not be as loud as she used to be and of course she would not be as brilliant as she used to be - did you get it, she was 61!!!
61, yet she was singing ELEKTRA - the most demanding dramatic soprano role in the entire standard operatic repertoire. Try and find me someone else who can sing this role at age 62. I doubt you can. It is true that Birgit Nilsson in this performance is below that of her performance for the Solti recording. It is true that Leonie Rysanek was in fresher voice. But get this - she is a full 8 years younger - she was 53!!! Also, Birgit Nilsson had been singing Isolde and Brunnhilde since the mid 1950s (goodness that's a quarter of a century ago from 1980) and Birgit Nilsson added Elektra and Salome to her repertoire in the 1960s. On the other hand Leonie Rysanek had never attempted Elektra, Isolde or Brunnhilde onstage (she did Salome though). So of course, Leonie Rysanek's voice is going to be better preserved even in old age and she was a full 8 years younger. of course, she would sound fresher in this recording. For those who don't know anything about opera, Elektra is the kind of role a soprano would take only late in their career (mid 40s and after). Why? Simply because Elektra presses the female voice to its limit continually and ultimately damages the voice to a certain extent. Therefore, you only take Elektra when you have sung all the other pieces you would like to sing in your lifetime - then you do Elektra. A soprano who tackle Elektra too early will simply have a short career!!! So to be able to do Elektra at age 62 is a miracle. Rysanek subsequently recorded Elektra with Bohm to great accolades but she was still 55 at the time of the recording. Rysanek also makes a fabulous Elektra but a different Elektra from Birgit Nilsson's Elektra.

Coming back to this recording, it is obvious that Birgit Nilsson is conserving her voice at the beginning monologue Agammenon. She's 62 and if she let's loose too much at the beginning she won't survive to the end. Also, towards the end of her career, Birgit Nilsson took a bit of time to warm up on stage. The Agamemnon monologue is right at the beginning. So it took her a bit of time to warm up. That's why Birgit Nilsson sounded softer at the beginning. But later in the opera, her voice got louder. Having said that, the climaxes are generally amazingly loud, clear and cutting - almost as good as when she was younger but there is a hint of strain. Listen to the Solti recording and compare it with this and you will understand. Having said that, Birgit Nilsson is very smart. When she was younger, critics accused her of being too cold and steely. Here, her vocal instrument has declined somewhat (that is comparing it with Nilsson herself when she was younger - if you compare it with a lot of half baked sopranos out there, Birgit Nilsson even at 62 outshines sopranos aged 30). But Birgit Nilsson here compensates by making Elektra a more lyrical kind of creature. The Birgit Nilsson Elektra here is no longer brutal and hard as in the Solti recording. Here she is still brutal but there is also a softer element to Elektra here. Birgit Nilsson said so later in an interview that Elektra is no screech part. Richard Strauss never wanted Elektra to be nothing but a screeching creature. In fact, Strauss wanted the orchestra to be chamber-like at times. Nevertheless, Birgit Nilsson's Elektra with Solti is a must hear!!! Her Elektra may not conform 100% to Strauss' intentions but it is an astonishing impersonation. You will be stunned by her vocal prowess in the late 1960s. Although Birgit Nilsson is not in the best voice here, I am grateful that we have a visual record of her performance. It is still outstanding in everyway. Yes, the engineers didn't do such a great job but I'm glad we have something rather than nothing.

RECOMMENDATION - buy this, see Nilsson and Rysanek. Buy Solti's Elektra. There you can listen to Nilsson's amazing Elektra in her full glory.

The sets and backdrops are up to Met standards, i.e., gorgeous and sumptuous. I have no reason to complain about the music and singing. Horne's deep voice is stunning in its power--more on the other aspects later. I haven't heard Anderson before, but her singing here gives me no reason to doubt promo claims that she IS Semiramide.
Alas, as drama this performance left me unmoved. Two huge problems: there is no way costumes and headdresses can tart up Horne to be a young pubescent warrior about to take over the throne of the greatest world power of its day. I realize this is partly Rossini's fault requiring a female voice, but Horne is too short, too fat, too old--in a word, too matronly.
Second big problem: Anderson can't act. In the ghost scene at the end of Act one, she is supposed to be acting horrified. Instead, her gestures and expressions are standard operatic, "oh poor pitiful me." The opera is full of opportunities for subtle psychological games by Semiramide: cunning, betrayal, lust, greed, revived maternal love. She only gives us pointing, heart grasping, throat clutching gestures. Yuk. I've watched enough opera on video to know that there are plenty of great singers who are also great actors. The only exception is at the beginning of Act 2, with Ramey as Asshur. It is as if Ramey's maleness brings out her female wiles--for about five minutes.
Apparently, this opera is meant to be heard rather than seen.
Singing: 5
Visuals: 4
Acting: 2
Overall: 3

This DVD of Semiramide is fantastic!! The singing and the music were very beautiful. June Anderson is a great Semiramide, and Marilyn Horne with a beautiful mezzo-voice was amazing as Arsace.
The rest of the cast was incredible!! You should get this DVD because the music of Rossini was beautiful. It's the best!!

Samuel Ramey's international career began in earnest when he sang the role of Assur in Rossini's "Semiramide" at the 1980 Aix-en-Provence Festival. Two of his co-stars were no slouches, either: Marilyn Horne and Montserrat Caballé.

Horne and Ramey both repeat their roles in this 1990 New York Metropolitan Opera version of Rossini's last great dramatic opera, with Horne singing the trousers role of the young hero, Arsace. This is the opera video I'm going to wear out first because the singers are so perfectly cast (and because I'm a Rossini nut). Luckily, I've got a second copy.

I also have a video of the Aix-en-Provence "Semiramide," but the tenor was terrible and the costumes were atrocious--almost everyone was dressed up to look like chunks of ancient Assyrian architecture (perhaps because the soprano resembled a chunk of ancient Assyrian architecture, even without a costume). I'd give Caballé the edge over June Anderson vocally, but dramatically Anderson is 'the' personification of the flamboyant Met Semiramide.

Ramey is superb both vocally and dramatically in the role of the villain Assur. His powerful, agile bass is displayed to perfection in the long and very difficult duets with Semiramide ("Se la vita ancor t'è cara") and Arsace ("Bella imago degli Dei"), and in his own aria, "Il di già cade" toward the end of the opera. His singing is always elegant, never over the top, even in the basso mad scene (with chorus) when he sees the ghost of the king he and Semiramide had murdered.

The role of Arsace was practically invented by Marilyn Horne. She has trouble moving around the stage in this Met production and she is quite a bit shorter than the other principals, but that's not what you'll notice when she sings. Lovely. The notes just pour out in rich, musical passages with all of the dark coloring that makes her perfect for this role. I've got a CD of Jennifer Larmore singing Arsace (to Cheryl Studer's Semiramide) and as much as I love her voice, I've got to give my vote to Horne.

Stanford Olsen does a fine job as the thwarted Indian prince, Idreno (he has a much more brilliant and disciplined tenor than the Idreno in Aix-en-Provence).

The Met chorus performs with distinction in the grand manner but rather static staging of this John Copley production.

Gavanelli as Rigoletto was quite outstanding. I was disappointed by Alvarez. His singing was quite forced; it had no squillo at all. For a moment I thought I was watching a broadway play about a back alley gangster in the 50s. His voice failed to be seductive (questo o quella was very flat), and there was no charm. The quartet at Sparafucile's house was very mediocre. Monterone did not sound ominous enough. He is supposed to represent absolute morality; his voice is supposed to be that of God throwing thunderbolts down to earth.

Gilda I found charming and naive enough to be credible.

The nuditity failed to add anything artistic to the opera. True opera fans should not need it to appreciate the music. Thus, I'm not sure of the intention of the producers.

Overall I think the Pavarotti version, with Edita Gruberova and Wixell has much better singing.

I loved everything about this production. I can see that a lot of work went into the design of the set however I didn't care for the finished product - solely a matter of opinion. Without making this a long review, I thought the entire cast was fabulous except for Christine Schafer as Gilda. In a production that was big on showing stark contrast, I found her presence to be one dimensional and uninspired. She could have raised it a notch or two to bring life to 'Gilda.' The superb acting and interpretations of the others completely washed her out.

Also I don't agree with all the ruckus about the nudity in the beginning being gratuitous. I didn't expect it and when I saw it I literally gasped in shock. But I believe that was the director's intent. Yes I was shocked but I didn't find it gratuitous at all. It helped to create an atmosphere that brought a stark contrast between the palatial surroundings inside and the violent depravity going on outside. If nudity bothers you or you prefer having the ideas left to your imagination instead then you will most likely be disappointed with the opening scene. But it was a nice change from the status quo as far as interpretation is concerned. It's a keeper!

First - the subject of sexual content...I thought it was a startling attention grabber at the beginning and was very effective at portraying a corrupt society. It reminded me of another wonderful opera production that is also well represented on DVD: the English National Opera's wonderful presentation of one of Handel's many operatic masterpieces ARIODANTE.
Seeing this RIGOLETTO for the first time - I wondered why many outspoken opera-lovers object so much to nudity that would be barely noticed in a movie.
In any case - for post-modernists - this is an outstanding RIGOLETTO. It appears from other reviews that everyone appreciates the cast and well they should! It really does bring an opera to life more vividly when the performers look like they could be the characters they portray - and in addition to that, these people act and sing SO well!
If you read these reviews and generally feel repulsed at the idea of nudity in RIGOLETTO, then steer clear of this dvd. If you prefer videos of staged operas as opposed to movie versions (like the Pavarotti RIGOLETTO), this is for you.

I have contributed this video to the library because I couldn't stand the singing. Both leads sing uncharacteristically but consistently flat in the early part of the opera. The chorus is limp and other minor parts are are sung with too much wobble to be distinct. The strongest part of the singing is the excellent Lescaut of Pablo Elvira, but it just isn't a big enough part to make up for the rest. The orchestra plays well and the last two parts of the opera are well staged.

"A woman like Manon can have more than one lover", this is a statement made by Puccini when he decided to write his opera of "Manon", facing the already universally successful "Manon" by his French predecessor Massenet. Distinctively, he brought out his Manon with innocence, vanity, and cupidity, and Des Grieux, Manon's passionate lover, with Italian blood.
There is an abrupt jump from Act I to Act II, which may result in discontinuity of Manon's characters, as well as her love to Des Grieux. But as it goes on and as Puccini's music gets more deeply into the agony of the lovers, it gets better. In Act III the emotion has reached its hilt when Des Grieux sings his desperate pleading "Guardate, pazzo son", begging the captain to let him aboard with Manon. The strong dramatics then carries on and gets intensified in Act IV, and ends on Manon's tragic death and Des Grieux's helpless sobbing.
Soprano Reneta Scott, who sings Manon, is impressive in singing. Giving the best performance in Act IV, she is amazing in her vocal power, in forte or in piano. But portraying an eighteen-year-old character, Scott needs more than she could in order to be convincing. She delivers Manon with accuracy, if not vividness.
Although it is the story of Manon, on the stage of Met shines the brilliant Des Grieux, played by Domingo. His voice is lighter and brighter, and yet, more expressive, and his big outbursts are wallop. He looks young and lean, and his acting is full of feeling. Act IV is purely Pucinni with great intensity. Domingo portrays desperation and rage brilliantly. His sobbing is heartbreaking.
One big problem with this DVD is its video and audio quality. Almost every motion on the screen has a ghost tail following behind, somewhat distracting, and at times, annoying. The audio is not as bad as video, but just acceptable. What a pity that this production couldn't be caught on camera with the same sharpness as the opera itself!

What a superb DVD experience,even to an italian opera strayed
guy like me!This actually great performance,without any speck has
an inebriant "Manon" by Scotto,Domingo(what about the love duet
on Act II?It's unbeliavable!),the most rich production,the
accurate Met orchestra(I think R.Elster was the principal harp
at that time.A formidable orchestral player)Levine and so on.
If Wagner and Strauss operas holds much of your time like to
me,listen my advice;ignore the libretto's debility and move on.
Get it!

I saw "Midler on the Hoof" the Broadway title of this show twice, the theatrical realease of this film at least as many times.I'd already seen the abridged video tape , so knew what to expect from this DVD.What I didn't expect however was the atrocious sound quality ,specifically the recorded volume level on this DVD .Even at full volume you can barely hear her.The contrast on the video wasn't monitored either.Someone just didn't care enough to do quality control on this one.Muted Midler ! What a shame.

Too bad that Her Majesty is no longer this politically incorrect. She doesn't belt tunes like this anymore either, so I can recommend this to all who have never seen her early career. The quality of the video is mediocre, but the sound quality is above average. Check out those coconuts!

This is hillarious. OK,her voice was not the greatest in the movie, but I personally thought that that made it even better. As she belts out many electrifying numbers such as: "Big Noise From Winnetka," "Paradise," "Stay With Me," The Rose," and the hillarious version of "Chapel of Love," along with many others. I love it when she comes out in the wheelchair as a mermaid, (dig the coconuts) Delores Delargo, the Toast of Chicago. She is foul, voulger, trashy, and Divine!
She is so funny! I love the "E-Street Blues" segment along with the part where she is trashing the Europeans. Eggs will be laid tonight, or and other night or day that you choose to watch this.

This is a quaint performance, the sparse stage does not detract from the nice performances. My only real quibble is the sound quality. For a DVD released in 2001, I was surpised that it only had 2.0 stereo. Add to that the fact that I had to turn the volume way up on the stereo just to get normal output.
Overall good, but could be better sound-wise.

Singing and acting are without fault, often exciting, right for Mozart's grand music and for da Ponte's score. The orchestra also excels, playing the glorious music while leaving the lead to the singers when it should. As an earlier reviewer noted, the casting with young singers/actors makes the proceedings seem credible and logical - the cast truly brings music and plot to life! The viewer needs not look at obese aging stars cast in young roles: there is no need to be "sophisticated" and look beyond that kind of directorial transgression if not travesty. Unfortunately, the staging - scenery and costumes - is spartan and, with few exceptions, neither true to the 18th century nor, to my taste, pleasing to the eye. Also to my taste, it is perilously close to a hypermodern approach that may fit some situations but, please, not Mozart and not Figaro! In sum, this Figaro is delightful to the ear but a mixed experience for the eye. I rate it A- overall, with an A+ in all areas except staging - which rates a D+

Mozart's "Le Nozze Di Figaro" is really the sequel to Rossini's "Barber Of Seville". Chronologically, the story takes place in the time after Figaro the barber has helped the Count win the hand of the fair Rosina. Figaro is now a man servant to the Count (which if you really think about it puts the Count in an ungrateful and unfriendly light). Rosina, simply called "the Countess" in this particular opera, is facing a crisis. Her husband the Count is turning his affections to the maid Susanna Figaro's fiancee!(what a rotten apple the Count is!). But Figaro, Susanna and the Countess devise a great scheme to deceive the Count, to punish his roaming eye and to reconcile him with his wife.

What follows is a four act opera that is regarded by many as Mozart's most brilliant romantic comedy. At its time in the late eighteenth century, in the wake of French revolution, the opera was controversial, as was the French novels by Beamarchais, from which the opera was based. The bedroom comedy deals with class struggle, society and the fickle human nature. The Count is put to shame in the last act when he serenades the Countess in disguise as Susanna, only to discover it is his wife all along. "Contessa! Perdono!" the Count sings in a supplication of forgiveness, in music that expresses emotion and deep feeling. The Countess forgives her husband and all is forgivened. The rest of the characters join in a sublime chorus announcing a happy finale- Figaro will marry Susanna as planned and the Count and the Countess renew their love.

This is a wonderful Norma - Caballe is sublime in the title
role - she moves well on stage and her grand gestures suit
this great classical drama - vocally she is in superb form
coping with the taxing tessitura with remarquable ease -
from celestial high pianissimi to gutsy chest notes convey-
ing the tenderness and fury ot the role and the more praise
she deserves for this is attained in less than perfect con-
ditions - in an open antique roman theatre in Orange in the
south of France on a night when the notorious mistral was
blowing ferociously. The rest of the cast is good - Vickers
is an heroic Pollione - Veasey a sensitive Adalgisa and
Ferrin a solid Oroveso. The sound is inevitably not perfect
given the circumstances - there is some distortions - but
more than listenable. All in all a rousing evening at the
opera and a fine representation of Bellini's masterpiece.

Norma was the very first opera I fell in love with, hearing the unparallelled Sutherland/Horne pairing. On recordings, I have enjoyed Sills, Verrett, and sutherland, but something was always lacking. Inthis historic DVD, Caballe IS Norma. I had seen Caballe in Semiramide, paired with Horne in San Francisco, and was impressed at her coloratura, which I was unaware was so good. I have always thought of Caballe as the "plant me near a column, and I'll sing" type of singer. Her dramatic intensity in thids Norma was stunning - other reviews note the effecs of the wind on performance night - I just had the feeling that in the "Casta diva", I WAS in the sacred grove of the Druids. The other singers were very good, not earth-shaking; however, Jon Vickers' beautiful Wagnerian tenor is a bit un-Bellini here. I never saw Callas sing Norma, but I am sure she did not do much better dramatically, and certainly not vocally, as Caballe. Buy this recording - it is essential for the serious fan of Bellini. Larry Katz

I purchased this DVD after reading an unqualified review of it in Opera News, and I wasn't disappointed. Caballe's perfect use of gentle rubato and elegant phrasing were a revelation and must surely must be how the composer intended the work to be sung, always sounding so natural and movingly effective. One should remember that Chopin in trying to instruct his pupils on phrasing suggested they go to the opera and listen to Bellini! (Chopin admired Bellini to the extent that he also requested he be buried next to Bellini!) And to me, this performance is a lesson in interpretation that harkens back to that romantic age. Comparisons with Callas are unnecessary and irrelevant. Callas herself saw the first commerical release of this performance as a film in Paris, commented on how beautiful Caballe looked in the film, then called Caballe and commented on the performance and "the greatness of your service both to the music and the character." Callas later sent Caballe the earings Visconti had given her on the occassion of her own 1955 performances of Norma at La Scala. Even Callas knew that no one "owns" a role exclusively as has been suggested in some of the other comments. Norma is a noble but dramatically reserved work. But within that style, she shows true passion and fury in her interactions with Pollione and is so very moving near the end as she pleads with her father - unequalled really, in that scene. The other cast members are not the revelation that Caballe is in the role, but they are good. Vickers is an interesting though somewhat unusual in the role of Pollione. The outdoor theater is a magnificant setting and the costumes stunningly beautiful and effective. It was a cold and windy evening, but hey, its a live outdoor performance, and the added virtues of a live performance often outway the disadvantages unless one is just seriously limited to accepting only perfectly commercially recorded Cd's. It is not a studio recording, nor represented as such, but the sound is fine enough to never seriously distract from the performance. My God! we are lucky to have this preserved and available!

First of all I think what is shown is pretty good stuff, and it shows capoeira in a good way and gives a good feeling of how a Capoeira class is.

BUT, just taping a class isn't quiet enough in my eyes. The Camerawork is just realy bad half of the time you don't even see the whole action. The Camera itself musst have been pretty bad as as soon the action goes faster you just see a blurr.

Also the techniques shown are not commented in any way, nothing to give you maybe a deeper insight. At the end there are also a few 'self defence' moves (sadly mostly from Jui jitsu), they are pretty complex, but no words of what it's important to look to do it right or not injure the partner...

The History arn't realy big, the just give you a very very brief introduction of it.

So like I said, what's on it is quite good if you look over the camerawork, and the feeling of it all is realy quiet good, but well... it's just not enough...

Excelent DVD overall. Exciting roda, decent techniques,
very energetic capoeira music, nice moves. Even though the camera work isn't so great, the capoeira in it makes up for everything.

the movie is cool but I only so a small peak on it but it was dope, but the camera wasn't so good on keeping the film but the ladies were hotttttt yeah.

Save yourself $20, and use it to go see Carrot Top live if he's ever in your neck of the woods.I've been a huge fan of his since the late '80s, when he was doing the comedy club circuit in L.A. He's a brilliant comedian and his props are outrageously funny...but this movie was a rip-off. It was a rip-off because half the stated running time is actually a "behind the scenes" look at the taping- who cares! I wanted more than the mere 34 minutes of Carrot Top! I would have been happy with an unadulterated taping of one of his live shows. Instead, dumb dream sequences and an annoying redneck bit that kept popping up got in the way of the straight stand-up comedy that he is so brilliant at. Save your money.

It might be worth the price if you took out all the home made video editing and effects. You would be left with 20 minutes of Carrot Top being genuinely funny. You could use the rest to torture confessions out of felony suspects. You could see in quite a few places how a Las Vegas concert video could have been great, and some behind the scenes "just hanging out with The Top" would have been a bonus.

blah. While it was still a fun and enjoyable watch, I was sorely dissapointed with this DVD. Having seen Carrot Top live five times, I know his material pretty well. Many of the routines were cut short too much to know what the hell was going on! It is also clear that while CT is one of the most talented stand up performers of our time, when it comes to scripted material, he tanks. The dream sequences that constantly interupted the show were distracting and pathetic. Also, what was with the horrid clip art that would randomly flash across the stage? All I wanted was a concert DVD of his amazing performances. Instead, I got a mediocre video that was worth the entrance fee of 8 bucks, but nothing more.