Being Julia Review

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(More customer reviews)"Being Julia" is a homage to the legendary hammy and self-absorbed actors of yesteryear. Set in 1930's London, the movie stars Annette Bening as Julia Lambert, a forty-five year old actress who suddenly realizes that her best years may be behind her. She is exhausted, depressed, and bored with her life. Her marriage to her business manager, played with his usual aplomb by Jeremy Irons, is for the most part, platonic. What better way to perk things up then to embark on a foolhardy affair with a man half her age? Julia takes as her lover a fawning American, played stiffly by the plastic and conventionally handsome Shaun Evans. Julia throws caution to the winds. She falls hard for the impoverished boy and plies him with expensive trinkets and cash gifts. Meanwhile, a young blonde actress, Avice Crichton, comes along to challenge Julia and the ambitious upstart threatens to upstage the older woman both on and off the stage.
"Being Julia" has a nice look, with its vintage cars, period furniture, and authentic costumes. The musical background, which includes such ditties as "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries," sets the appropriate mood. However, the plot of this film is as trifling and paper thin as its shallow characters. The main reason to see "Being Julia" is to enjoy Annette Bening's amusing and effervescent performance as the ultimate diva. Julia is a talented and vivacious prima donna who appears to be vain and supremely self-confident. Bening shows the fear and the loneliness beneath Julia's haughty demeanor. Julia senses that sooner or later, her star will lose its luster. She knows in her heart that her ultimate enemy is old age; it is the one foe that she can never vanquish.


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BEING JULIA - DVD Movie

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Trust Us This Is All Made Up Review

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(More customer reviews)I saw this film in a screening. I've been a TJ and Dave fan for a long time, so my primary concern was that the film would faithfully capture the magic of this remarkable team. It does.
Without prior consultation, the guys (both Second City alumni) start a dialogue as soon as the lights go up. As they play, they discover who they are and what the story is. For those who know improvisation, this is work on a high level. The swiftness and subtlety of their agreement is breathtaking, and the observations of human behavior are unclouded by improv cliche. While nothing can replace the thrill of seeing these guys live, being able to go back and watch how they build this particular performance step-by-step offers lessons in craftsmanship that students of acting and writing will profit from. Combine this with Scott Silberstein's SECOND TO NONE, and you have the best representation of improvisation on video that I know of.

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TJ and Dave walk out on stage without characters, dialog or plot.An hour later they leave an audience with one of the funniest nights of their lives.Described by The New York Times as "Second City-seasoned masters of long form improv", TJ Jagodowski and David Pasquesi have become living legends in their field. Exploring the trust that underlies their relationship and the forces that govern their improvisation, Trust Us, This is All Made Up is a portrait of two remarkably talented friends and features an unforgettable live performance recorded at New York's Barrow Street Theater.
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The Komediant Review

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(More customer reviews)This DVD may not be for everyone, but if you're interested in the Yiddish stage and Jewish history of the 20th century, it's an exceptionally well done documentary.
The Komediant (meaning the actor more so than comedian) tells the story of the Burstein family, Yiddish stage actors both in Europe and the U.S. The backdrop is Jewish immigration to the U.S., and how the New York theater becomes the epicenter of the Yiddish cultural world, particularly crucial when German persecution rises in Europe.
Family life and the actors' life on the road, cultural tensions between Yiddish and non-Yiddish theater, and the early conflicts between Yiddish and Hebrew in Israel all weave together in an interesting tale.

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The glory days of the Yiddish stage are brought to life in this funny saga of a legendary theatrical family, the Bursteins. Arriving in New York in 1924, Pesach’ke Burstein, the dancing-singing comedian, quickly became a leading figure in the Golden Era of Yiddish theater.On stage, he met and fell in love with rising star Lillian Luxwho would become his wife. Embarking together on triumphant overseas tours as a couple, soon the Bursteins became the parents of twins, Mike and Susan, who before long were given stage names and accompanied their parents regularly on stage as the family performed around the globe.In time, however, the pressures of theatrical life would take its toll on the family. Smoothly incorporating rare archival footage and interviews with Yiddish stage veterans (including Fyvush Finkel), this tightly edited, briskly paced documentary is as richly bittersweet – filled with laughter and tears, schmaltz and grit – as the Yiddish theater itself.

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Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Beyond the Steps (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)Judith Jamison, Rennie Harris and Robert Battle are awesome choreographers in the moving ballet "Love Stories" past, present,and future. "Visually Spectacular"! and the Alvin Ailey dancers are nothing short of extraordinary, they are the best, see them in various interviews, then watch them rehearse and deliver a tour de force performance! This documentary is shot in New York and Russia, and gives you a litte history on Alvin Ailey and his legacy as well as the classy Judith Jamison and what she has done to continue that legacy. Whether you are a fan of modern dance or not, I dare you to catch the Alvin Ailey Dance Company live on tour and /or order your copy of "Beyond the Steps" today....you will really be glad you did!

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This dazzling cinema verité documentary follows the extraordinary dancers and renowned choreographers of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater as they do everything it takes to keep American modern dance fresh and a legacy alive.Award-winning filmmaker Phil Bertelsen offers a rare backstage look at one of America s oldest modern dance companies at a defining moment in its history--as it settles into its own permanent home and training facility in New York City. Set against the construction of the new dance center and the creation of a new dance, every bit of passion, talent, and hard work that goes into keeping a company running is on display. The troupe seamlessly weaves from rehearsal to a triumphant tour in Russia, back to their new dream-come-true digs in Manhattan. BEYOND THE STEPS intertwines the dancersindividual tragedies and triumphs with breathtaking performance footage from their journey, shining a spotlight on the story of one of America s most beloved cultural institutions. Visually stunning and emotionally poignant, the film provides a rare glimpse into the fascinating world of modern dance.DVD Features: Love Stories: A Ballet

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