Costumes Movie Reviews

In brief, there are 3 DVD's here that, if redundant material were eliminated and efficient use were made of the DVD capacity, could probably fit onto 1 DVD but certainly no more than 2. Each of the 2 main DVD's includes a 40-50 minute show with some 'Special Features', much of which was redundant material. If the redundancies weren't disappointing enough, there was some material that I was hoping to see that did not make it onto either of the 2 main DVD's (though I have yet to view the 'BONUS DVD!' which says it includes Sam's home movies and Sam's trip to Hawaii ... maybe the material is there ... but I doubt it). The first time I saw Sam he was doing his 'send the Ethiopians U-Hauls' routine and it absolutely cracked me up ... this routine DID make it on the Family Entertainment Hour disk, but in the Special Features as a 2-minute home movie clip of one of his early stand-up acts -- not in either of the 2 shows -- and very poor quality. Overall I'm disappointed and don't feel the package is worth the money I paid for it. I do like Sam's work; if I had to do it over again, I'd probably just get the 'Breaking the Rules' DVD -- I think it's the better of the 2 -- and sacrifice the extra material that's in 'Family Entertainment Hour', as much of this overlaps the Special Features on 'Breaking the Rules'.

Any Sam Kinison fan needs to own this DVD or video. You get 2 of Sam's HBO specials plus many special stand up features and Sam's home movies. The only reason I did not give this box set a 5 star rating is the fact that in the first special feature called: rare stand up(I love the special features on DVDs), Sam told many jokes that were already on the HBO special. Other than that, Sam's comedy is unlike anything you will see today. He will really be thought of as a comedy legend. These DVD's will crack you up. I would recomend buying the Sam Kinison CDs, Live From Hell, and Have you seen me lately? The Cd's(just listen to them in your car or at home) will give you the complementary material you need(plus the HBO specials) to truely love Sam Kinison. He is one of the best, and you will be satisfied with with any purchase. Just buy 1 CD or DVD and you will be hooked.

Sam Kinison was one of the funniest comics around and its great to see two of his specials come out on this DVD. Sam Kinison is loud, outrageous, out-spoken but most of all funny!

... I saw this production at the Public many years ago and the "great" Miss Worth (Irene-y, as she was pretentiously called) didn't seem to understand a single word of what she was saying. Even the simplest lines were delivered in a bloated actorese. Broadway acting at its most self-important and awful. How could the dvd possibly be any good?

One of Beckett's most profound and moving plays is also one of his funniest.

Irene Worth, one of the world's greatest stage actresses, embodies one of theater's greatest female roles with both a lyrical tenderness and a deep sensuality.There is, in fact, nothing overblown or stagy about her performance: Worth is the quintessential Winnie. Famous for her deeply intelligent interpretations and blessed with a marvelously resonant voice, she is the ideal actress for a part that requires so little physicality and so much vocal depth. She understands every word of Beckett's text, and conveys her understanding with every breath she takes.

To say she is too "theatrical" and to ridicule the pronunciation of her name are pitifully inaccurate and pitifully beside the point.

The recording of her performance in this great play is a marvelous document to possess.

Irene Worth was a great actress. When teamed with Samuel Beckett's words, it is an experience to be treaured. True, Beckett is not for everyone. But for anyone with a brain, a heart, a soul, and a sense of humanity, Beckett connects. Those who don't "get" Beckett tend to hate Beckett and that's too bad. For the rest of us, Beckett hits a chord, creates a visceral reaction, illuminates the abyss. And Miss Worth (whose name was pronounced Irene-y, just as it is in England, where she spent a great deal of her career) is simply delightful to watch, as she always was. She combines the sadness, optimism, coyness, despair, beauty, and humour that is Winnie, in a way that few actresses could hope to do.

Well, it could be a good film if there were no another one which is the best. If you have friends in Russia ask them for 1982 TV movie with the same title and compare.

This is the best acted and sung production of The Queen of Spades I've ever seen. The set looks bizzarre at first, but, as soon as Herman enters the abstruct painting on the leaning walls starts to make sense. It symbolizes Herman's horrifying descent into madness. Yuri Marusin is perfect in this demanding role. He is very much involved and looks even obsessed by the character he's playing. Really horrifying performance and what a voice he produces! Nancy Gustafson really a great singer actress, too. Very convincing. Everybody sings and acts perfectly, not to mention Sergei Leyferkus. This production was filmed especially for the video at Glynderbourne festival with no audience. Therefore there is no noise from the audience and it's very well filmed and edited. The image is very clear and the sound is surprisingly great even though it's only 2 channel PCM. A masterpiece!

This set is a pleasant surprise to those who prefer to have their Russian operas performed by an all-Russian cast, on a large Russian stage (the Bolshoi is allegedly the largest in the world) in a classical Russian production. I thought I could not enjoy Russian opera any other way until I watched this DVD. Glyndebourne productions are on a small scale. This enables you to savor this opera from an uncharacteristic intimate perspective. The three major male singers are Russian. Dimitri Kharitonov's Prince Yeletsky is noble and quite touching in his sorrow after he loses Lisa. Sergei Leiferkus' resounding baritone is very impressive (he is Iago in Domingo's last and best Otello set). But the real story is the tenor Yuri Marusin. Together with Leiferkus he was one of the stars of the Kirov in Leningrad, but here he goes in a very untraditional direction and experiments quite boldly with the role of Herman. Marusin projects Herman's sociopathy and "horrifying descent into madness" by a variety of singing and acting techniques, the most daring of which in my opinion is his choice of singing large parts of the role flat, with no vibrato. It lends the voice a hostile-defiant-mad quality. Even though it occasionally sacrifices the simple beauty of the musical line, it enables him to shade his voice in every possible way to express the drama. It also serves to adapt as well as to take advantage of the intimate dimensions of the production (which is staged in box-like sets). I believe it also helps him to survive Andrew Davis' conducting. His tempi are generally slow, exceptionally so where Herman's role is concerned. The role of Herman is quite large, he has almost an hour of singing, and subjecting him to such slow tempi is cruel and unusual punishment. The female singers are impeccable. It is a matter of personal taste whether the lack of the unique Slavonic timbre or the diction matters. Much has been written about the abstract modern sets. The audio and video quality are very good.

Unlike most Wagnerites, I like Siegfried best of all the Ring
operas. To me, it is the most fairy tale-like, the most full of
nature and nature imagery, has the most interesting characters, the
most fascinating confrontations and also the most sublime love scene
in all opera. It is a coming-of-age story, full of Freudian intuition
on Wagner's part, and its symbolism is universal...the depth of the
libretto alone and the mental stimuli it provides are enough to give
a lifetime of study and enjoyment. Add to all this the sublime,
rapturous music and its thread of subliminal subconcious thought and
you have one whale of a work of art. IN LOVE with Siegfried, I
decided that I had to have the Bayreuth Siegfried of 1980... So, disregarding the mostly negative reviews that
customers on Amazon had written about this production, I ordered it.
It arrived yesterday. With heart pounding, I tore the wrapping off
and plugged it into my DVD player with trembling fingers. I settled
in, with my cat on my lap and a cup of hot Earl Grey nearby, ready
for an uninterrupted evening of my favorite opera. I lasted two acts.
What can I say other than that I was grossly disappointed? The
sets were unusual, to say the least, but this was ok. In fact, they
were fascinating and I got to see how Wagner "works" for a specific
age as well as universally. As a whole, the vocal quality was
entirely passable, even good at times, the orchestra was a little
under-volume but otherwise balanced and completely presentable, and
the sets, though dark, were visually beautiful. Even the dragon was
not as laughable as I had been prepared to see. Heinz Zednick, as in
the Met version, was fantastic as Mime...in fact, he outdid himself
both vocally and dramatically and stole the show, for me. The guy
who sang Fafner was excellent, and Donald McIntyre and Manfred Jung
seemed to be in good voice for the performance, and were dramatically
into their roles. In fact, the acting as a whole was superb. Except
for some slightly distressing rushing on Jung's part at the end of
Act 2, there was good synchronization between the orchestra and
singers. All in all, it was excellently sung and acted, the orchestra
was in good form, the sets were visually interesting and it was a
perfectly good professionally-rendered presentation of Siegfried.
But----there was one thing wrong with this performance that
spoiled it for me, and that was Jung's characterization of Siegfried. Siegfried, at best, is hard to like. But knowing that
he is the hero of the whole tetralogy, we TRY to like him, even
though Wagner does not make it easy for us to. There is a subtle way
the tenor can help us out, despite the sometimes hateful language and
actions of Siegfried, and make us regard him with more sympathy and
give him a lot of slack. Jerusalem did it in the Met production---
played Siegfried as an innocent who knew no better than the ways of
the forest, and who showed remorse when he had to kill both Fafner
and Mime. And he did his best to interject a boyish charm to the
role, and came across as utterly believable, human and likeable. Jung,
on the other hand, seemed to actually play up the coarse and brutish
aspects of Siegfried. I could easily imagine him pulling the wings
off insects and torturing the bears and the birds of the forest. He
not only cleaved the anvil, but wielded Notung as if he were a
character in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, smashing the sword down
again and again and again. Aside from the constant and brutal abuse
of Mime, he kicked Fafner's dead body, kicked and shook the tree in
impatience to hear the bird's song, and in short acted like an
enraged and rabid animal. The most chilling thing he did, though,
was to walk close to the dying Fafner, unconcerned and uncaring, only
curious about his own past. I'm sure this was calculated only to
show that he indeed had no fear, but to me, the way it was done was

most disturbing. He was almost intimate with Fafner, putting his
hand on the giant, almost as if in possession of him, but totally
indifferent and cold to his suffering, and Fafner with Notung stuck
in his chest with the blood running down....then when Fafner died and
Siegfried killed Mime and hung him on the tree, my blood was chilled
anew when Siegfried started singing the lyrical, longing music set to
the Forest Murmers....all with the two dead bodies in evidence a few
feet away. The incongrousness of this was jarring and a little
revolting. I found myself grieving for Mime in this production...and
so wishing that there had been a sudden plot change and Siegfried had
drunk Mime's potion! As it is, I am dreading Act 3, and don't know
if I want to see this sociopath wake Brunnhilde or not (let me
guess...he shakes her and kicks her)....much less see the final
portion, which I'm sure will be more like a rape scene than anything
else.
Why did Jung have to play Siegfried like a Nazi? I thought we
were trying to get away from that sad and inappropriate connection
anyway....this production does not help the cause one little bit.
I give this production three stars because it has its merits, but is totally lacking in garnering any sympathy for its main character.

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This is a decent performance of Siegfried; however, Manfred Jung as Siegfried is rather weak as an actor. He has a decent (though beefy) voice, but he can't seem to get into the part. His face seems to have two expressions: either a silly smile or an angry snarl. As a result, the 'hero' Siegfried comes across as an unsympathetic crude arrogant bully who takes what he wants without regard for the rights or feelings of others. I don't think this is what Wagner intended, and it's hard to fathom what Brunhilde sees in this haughtly adolescent. I guess Wotan really did punish her quite harshly by sending this churl to be her lover. Jung's kiss to awaken Brunhilde had about as much passion as Michael Jackson kissing Priscilla Presley on national TV (at the time he was being accused in the press of pedophilia). The other actors are much better performers. The stage directions often don't match the words. Examples: Siegrfried sings about Brunhilde being covered with a shield (but she is not), or he sings about his hand trembling over his heart, when at the time his hand is outstreched and perfectly still. The sound quality is also quite variable, probably due to the placement of microphones and the movement of the actors across the stage. Sometimes the singing ranges from too loud to almost inaudible in the space of a few minutes. Another problem is that the 2nd DVD in the set skips in parts on my DVD player. This is the only DVD that my DVD player ever had trouble reading, so I thinkt here may be a defect in the manufacturing.

It seems to me that "Seigfried" has always been the "stepchild"
it the ring cycle. This version part of the Cenntenial Ring Cycle
has I think some of the finest music for a heldentenor that
Wagner ever wrote. This production I think shows the best performance of the forging scene ever, you really get caught up in Seigfried's excitement at making his sword anew. I will admit the first time I watched the Cenntenial production, I was a little turned off by it. But know I can watch it having seen the MET production and enjoy making comparisions between the Two.
This opera helps set the stage for the big finale "Gotterdamerung", and is a worthy part of this ring cycle set of DVD's My apologies to all stepchildren out there.

The DVD transfer on this film is usually dark, or at times like a day in which heavy clouds move in front of the sun, casting shadows. During those fleeting moments when the shadows abate, you get a sense of how good the transfer might have been.

The classic kung-fu plot of revenge is played out rather unevenly--trying, I think, to accomplish too much with too little. None of the characters seem to develop, although the film attempts to over-develop them with insufficient scripting and feeble story lines.

The soundtrack, using exerpts from, among other things, the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" theme song (while the hero travels alone and misses his father) and 1960-ish ensemble jazz (during some of the fight scenes), intensifies the film's inability to suspend the viewer's disbelief (unless it is this viewer's incredulity at having purchased the film, then having watched it through to its conclusion).

The fight scenes were generally unrealistic, with blows and kicks from the given camera angle missing their targets by as much a foot or more (that's 12 inches, not to be confused with the five-toed appendage that the kicker wields). The fighting styles portrayed were rather stiff and "slow" looking, giving one renewed appreciation for the likes of really talented artists, like Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Gordon Liu, Jackie Chan, etc.

If for nothing else, this film is worth watching just to see the coloration of the villian's hair (I won't spoil the surprise for you), and the way he uses it in the final fight scene. In addition, the dubbing has a decidedly Old Western-sounding flair which actually makes the film strangely endearing.

Despite all these anomalies which, by the way, typify the movie in its entirety, I will no doubt watch the movie again, somewhere down the road, being an inveterate fan of this movie genre which, I believe, belies an underlying bent toward masochism.

I can think of a host of kung-fu movies I would rather have purchased than this one, knowing what I now know about it. And I would certainly not recommend that a kung-fu movie neophyte make it one of his/her first, critical purchases, either. Although I did not dislike this film enough, nor perhaps have sense enough, to discard it, I will consign it to the bottom shelf of my budding kung-fu library.

**POST SCRIPT**
I watched the movie again last weekend (blush). In terms of a "good" bad kung-fu movie, this is it. Those characteristics of poor filming, tired plot, poor acting, incongruent dubbing and less than thrilling fight scenes--those things that us die-hard addicts to this genre will routinely put up with in the quest for a moment of plausible kung-fu entertainment--all coexist, in excess, in this film; but I still could not bring myself to get rid of it. Who knows? It may become a "classic" in its own right, within the ranks of "Grade B" grade B martial arts films.

Aside from the horendus acting, inane filming, absurd plot, and a usless director, this movie is RAAAAAADDD!!!! At times the directer of this F-Movie must have been on drugs. This is evident due to the films overall lack of a little thing called a plot. In this movie the story follows wang, a complete master of fighting. He is hired to protect the governments money but is ambushed then saved by a mysterious man. The man is really an evil conspiratist, waiting for his chance to take the govenments property. He kills wang and steels his daugter but lets his son go. The son is raised in the wilderness and seeks training from an old geezer with a muschdash. After his training is complete the goes to face the evil kil( the man who murdured his father).
He goes about his buisness by sending kil threatening letters, as he makes his move he meets another man that shares his apperance and his mission. They kick, punch, and fly through hords of kils minnions. Finaly one dragon dies but the other lives on. He faces kil and his deadly hair, eventually killing him. Then kil meets his father who was suposed to be dead and kils daughter who was realy Dragons sister. They walk off into the forest a family once again.........genus.

The definitive voice of Lieder and Mozart Opera is much-maligned by this inadequate presentation of her life

To start with the opening shot of this quasi-documentary is of uninformative, cheesy to say the least, shot of a flower and bee. What follows is a much too short film, lacking in available archive footage. I was left knowing very little more about Miss Schwarzkopf's extra-ordinairy life. Apart from that there were cringing moments when eg the Wienerwald song was played instrumentally with footage of unknown people dancing the waltz out of rhythm of the song. And to top it all, a most delightful recording of Schwarzkopf singing the very same song does exist!

Perhaps further research in the subject matter would have helped the director to do this wonderful singer's life and accomplishments justice and produce a true celebration of her art?

This DVD gives you a unique opportunity to see Mrs Elizabeth Schwarzkopf in some of her best live performances as an opera singer and a Lieder interpreter. I have always been curious about how she could look on scene, given that I am of her more fervent admirers. My veneration for Mrs Schwarzkopf began when I first heard her singing the role of Donna Elvira in the Giulini's version of Don Giovanni, and it grew bigger when I saw for the first time a photograph of her and I learned that she was not only an excellent soprano but also an amazingly attractive woman. This rare combination of talent and beauty was particularly unusual in the 1950's, and even today there are few exceptions, such as Renee Fleming and Angela Gheorghiu.

In less than an hour the film gives a quick account of Mrs Scharzkopf's career, narrated by herself, since her very beginnings in Berlin until her retirement in Zurich giving master classes. Then you will see her singing at the Deutsche Oper, during the nazi regime, singing La Boheme and Carmen, at the time when she was a coloratura soprano, as well as the dramatic bombardment of Berlin, which she fortunately missed due to a tuberculosis that obliged her to leave the city. Then we will find her in Viena, when she became worldly famous in the roles of Donna Elvira, Countess Rossina and the Marschallin, after her marriage with Walter Legge and her transformation into a lyrical soprano. The third part of the documentary shows her singing Lieder songs, which happened to be her favourites and used to predominate during her recitals. Finally, we can see her giving song lessons in Zurich, at a time when she surely was in her 70's but her face still reveals how beautiful she was. What most impressed me is the last part of the film when we can hear her speaking but she does not dare to show herself before the cameras, surely because she does not want her admirers to see her too old.There are only two things that I regret from this film. The first one is that is too short: the film lasts less than un hour - and the second one is that it does not contain further filmed material of her opera performances.

Es una lastima que teniendo a PLACIDO DOMINGO, sin duda el maximo interprete del papel de Samsom, que aqui vuelve a ofrecer una interpretacion sobresaliente del personaje, con una leccion de canto y actuacion magistral, y a SHIRLEY VERRET, una Dalila seductora de voz bella y sugerente, que cuaja tambien una gran actuacion, se hayan descuidado todos los demas detalles. Desde unos secundarios que estan entre la suficiencia discreta y la deficiencia hasta un coro flojo, pasando por una produccion anticuada, fea y aburrida, y por una poco inspirada direccion musical de JULIUS RUDEL.
Es una lastima que lo que pudo ser una noche magica se quede en eso: en un gran Sanson y una gran Dalila, pero falta todo lo demas

This production (one of the only - if not the only available on VHS at the present) would warrant five stars considering Domingo and Verrett's performances alone.

However, there are times in this performance when the SF Opera Chorus' performance is sloppy....I think mostly due to Maestro Rudel's EXTREMELY fast tempi (particularly in Act 1) which defy musical common sense and at times actually destroy the beauty of Saint Saens' gorgeous choral writing.

One can only wonder - since this production was filmed for "Great Performances" in 1981 - if the maestro was under pressure from the PBS network to bring the length of the show in at under 120 minutes. There are also several short "cuts" in the chorus parts to make Act 3 shorter...which is disturbing if you know the show by heart.

The tempi "settle down" in Act 2 allowing Shirley Verrett to shine. BRAVA!

Domingo is powerful throughout and is especially Brilliant in the beginning of Act 3 - the scene at the millstone. Add this video to your collection for this 8 minutes sequence alone! BRAVO!

I would love to see this released in a letterbox "widescreen" version so you could see more of the beautiful sets, costumes and the stunning SIZE of this show....rather than the constant camera framing of the principals. Still, the sound is good quality and picture is clear in this presentation.

1981 seems like a long time ago. While the performances by the principals is fantastic, other artistic considerations leave something to be desired from this production. San Fransisco Opera is such a fantastic opera house today with such a fine chorus that I can't help but feel that a new production of one of my favorite operas -available on VHS/DVD - is overdue.

I've loved this opera for many years and purchased this on VHS and laser disc. I agree with the other reviewer as to the cast being superb but the chorus and conducting under par and perhaps because it was broadcast on PBS. Those were the days when you could see an opera on PBS! Domingo and Verrett are magnificent and since there aren't alot of productions to choose from, this is certainly worth the price to add to your collection.

....the attack is relentlessly contemporary and it seems to me sadly out of keeping with the spirit of what they seemed to be attempting. Elton John, Sting, and Marianne Faithful score the two stars--and the rest of the participants do not seem to have done any homework at all. They are clean and spotlessly dressed, and they perform in a space that has a delightful Deco demeanor...but they make no attempt to accomodate Mr Coward and bring us in anyway closer to him. Too bad!

This is a tribute DVD concert and I only bought it because of the Pet Shop Boys. That said, it's pretty good. The Divine Comedy are excellent, and there's plenty of famous artists there to keep most people amused for 5 minutes.

This tribute concert video/dvd (and CD album version)were the brainchild of Neil Tennant. Tennant, the lead singer of the Pet Shop Boys, has always admired Coward. Tennant's songwriting reflects this fact.

This outstanding gala event celebrates the life of Britain's most talented songwriter & playwright. This video presentation merges modern covers of his most famous songs - made more potent with speeches and video montages.

The performances by The Divine Comedy and Suede outshine the headliners!

This DVD/Video is very entertaining and informative. It's perfect for Coward fans, Pet Shop Boys fans, and everyone else in between.

* note: there is a second Pet Shop Boys tune on the programme that is not listed on the tracklisting. I'd say what it is, but that would spoil the fun.

I decided to review this DVD because I think that the Original version of "La Forza Del Destino" presented on this recording clearly is much weaker than the updated one. This is why I love Verdi and this is why he is geniuous: first version of "la forza" is not as nearly impressive as Verdi's other masterpieces, like "Rigoletto", "Il Trovatore", "Traviata". It clearly lacks the line and for me it seems very separated. So what Verdi did is that he revised his work: first of all he changed Overture, which became a masterpiece. Than he just removed several lines in the duets between Leonora and Alvaro (I act), Leonora and Padre (II act) and finally he completely revised tha last scene, which now is one of my favourite moments in the opera. So I want to say that although the singing and conducting on this recording is superb, the whole music, the whole opera is not impressive whereas revised version of "la forza" I think can be considered as masterpiece alongside with Verdis' other operas. My suggestion is if this is your first time listening to "la forza", listen to old recording featuring Correli, Tebaldi, Bastianini. That one is the best!

This opera was written for Saint Petersburg and it makes lots of sense that its original version (differences more noticeable in the overture and acts 3 and 4) is recorded in the same theatre it was premièred. Gergiev's conducting is vigorous and shows a genuine feeling for Verdi's music. He has a good orchestra and the choir is good too. The staging is quite traditional, but Spain does look like a fairytale Northern country here. Nothing to complain, though - the sceneries are pretty, effective, unpretentious and, it is always good to stress given the general state of things in operatic stages, showing good taste. The problem lies not in these points, but in the choice of soloists both as actors and as singers. That almost none of them look their parts is a minor problem - they are very stiff actors and the original version making things slightly more rocambolesque doesn't necessarily help.
It may sound exaggerated to complain of Galina Gorchakova's rich and voluptuous soprano when there is almost no-one able of actually singing the role these days, but the fact is that - impressive as her voice is - it is sung unvariably forte. After 30 minutes, it becomes really predictable and passages where mezza voce is required such as La vergine degli angeli are left unhelped by the prima donna. Mariana Tasarova, in the other hand, has a most healthy and rich mezzo, a bit low for her role, but expertly handled. However, she doesn't try to sound provocative for a while. I guess that her Preziosilla is excessively well behaved. Gegam Grigorian's tenor sounds archetypically Russian - it has a metallic quality - but he tries to produce an Italianate sound. I only wished that his attempts to do so didn't include some out-of-fashion mannerisms such as sobs and glottal gulps. Nikolai Putilin is very disappointing as Carlo. He is in unfocused voice and makes lots of effort to sing - but I like his demonic look when he appears in front of Alvaro with two swords over his shoulders. Amazingly, considering Russia's reputation, the basses are disappointing. Alexashkin lacks gravitas and Zastavny is vocally uninteresting and extremely over-the-top as Melitone.
Compared to the other available DVD(with the generally adopted version), I think that the Met has the advantage. Levine's conducting is as good as Gergiev's, the staging is a bit uglier but equally efficient (although the acting is even clumsier, I must say...) - but it has some performances of distinction: Giacomini's gorgeously sung Alvaro and Nucci's youthful and powerful Carlo. Leontyne Price was well over her best days and has too many mannerisms, but her voice, even worn, is able to fulfill Verdi's dynamic instructions; Isola Jones has almost no voice to deal with, but.. well... she's sexy. The basses are no better than in St.Petersburg, that is true.

This production is VERY attractive and the image quality is very high. The sets are attractive and the lighting is good, unlike many operas discs I have seen.
Melitone is somewhat over the top, but I think that's how he's supposed to be. I found Preziosilla to have a very Russian sound. The crowd and army scenes are well done, especially the inn scene when Carlos is introduced.
I tried not to be distracted by the appearance of the male leads, Carlos and Alvaro. It's hard to take a pot-bellied, balding man seriously as a love object for a young woman. Alvaro looked like Tweedledee and finally looked like he was in the correct costume when he appeared in monk's garb! However I enjoyed his singing very much, as long as I didn't think about looks matching the part.
Though I prefer Verdi's revisions and think we should honour his intentions (i.e., revisions), it was interesting to see his early ideas for this opera, and we get more tenor singing in this version than in the revised one, which I am glad to hear. I would not buy this version for your only Forza, since it's not Verdi's APPROVED version, but for a second one, I like it.

Although I really liked the poses that were chosen, she went so fast I could barely find my way into each pose. In my opinion this negates the unique benefits of yoga, which include gradual stretch, sustained strength, and increased body awareness. How can you learn from the poses when you barely have time to greet them?
There is one occassion that might call for this DVD: when you know you should get some exercise, but you really aren't feeling motivated. Because it goes by fast, it's easier to talk yourself into putting on this DVD instead of a more sustained practice.
If you want a more thorough workout and are familiar with basic poses, I recomment Shiva Rea's Yoga Sanctuary. It is an audio CD but includes a poster with all the poses from the program.

This is a challenging workout, particularly the standing poses. Definitely not for beginners since some of the poses require some basic knowledge, which is not always given. If you've been doing yoga for a while, and know all the intricate details of Triangle pose, Warrior pose, etc, then this is the DVD for you. Otherwise, if you want to take the challenge, watch the section for using props (at the end of the workout) before starting. For those of us who are students of the Iyengar tradition, I recommend keeping the pause button near by so that you can get yourself into each pose before she moves on to the next. I found the sequence from pose to pose to be rather quick, but by pausing, I could get into each pose in my own time.
Overall, a challenging but pleasant session.

Like many of those who reviewed the VHS version of this tape, i have Yoga Conditioning for Weight Loss and really enjoy it. i was looking forward to a new routine so i could vary my practice and not get bored-however, this is not exactly what i expected It has only basic instructions on how to get into the poses, and took a couple viewings before i actually tried it. The program is described as "fluid and dance-like" and it is-you don't hold a pose for long, which is a change from other tapes i have seen. As always, the settings are stunning and the scenery beautiful.

i think the tape is good, don't get me wrong, but it is not so much for a beginner, and is going to take me a lot longer to be able to do the poses. It's not only an issue of being as amazingly flexible as Ms Deason, but also having some pretty fantastic balance. i do miss the "personal instructor" feature that YCforWL has, and it would be nice if they showed a more useful modification options (i loved that feature in the other program!) but it's not a fatal flaw, if you ask me. If nothing else, this tape will keep my interest for a while as i try gamely to contort myself gracefully into all kinds of strange positions without falling over on my ... (or face) too often. Hey, at least my cat will be amused.

The chapter feature is useful and easy to use-the main reason i prefer DVDs to VHS, and the "Monthly Practice" thing in the special features section looks pretty cool.

i would almost say this tape would be perfect for someone who has taken a class and gotten the basics down, and is looking for a new routine to do at home.