Simon and Garfunkel - The Concert in Central Park
by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
from 20th Century Fox
What started as a suggestion for Paul Simon to play a concert in New York's Central Park blossomed, on September 19, 1981, as a full-blown Simon and Garfunkel reunion after an 11-year hiatus, and now proves a priceless snapshot of two of America's greatest folk-rock performers. (It's also the rightful bookend to Simon and Garfunkel's acoustic Live from New York City, 1967.)
Performed with a who's-who of East Coast session aces before a record-setting crowd of half a million fans, The Concert in Central Park finds its stars just shy of their 40th birthdays and very much in their primes, their voices sweet and pure and their playing relaxed, perfectly in tune and in synch. The show features a mix of S&G and solo Simon tunes, including all the songs that appear on the CD, with the addition of a reprise of "Late in the Evening" and the first live performance of Simon's "The Late Great Johnny Ace." This is classic material from start to finish, 87 minutes of unmitigated beauty. --Michael Mikesell
Performed with a who's-who of East Coast session aces before a record-setting crowd of half a million fans The Concert in Central Park finds its stars just shy of their 40th birthdays and very much in their primes their voices sweet and pure and their playing relaxed perfectly in tune and in synch. The show features a mix of S&G and solo Simon tunes including all the songs that appear on the CD with the addition of a reprise of "Late in the Evening" and the first live performance of Simon's "The Late Great Johnny Ace." This is classic material from start to finish.Songs:1. Mrs. Robinson2. Homeward Bound3. America4. Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard5. Scarborough Fair6. April Come She Will7. Wake Up Little Susie8. Still Crazy After All These Years9. American Tune10. Late in the Evening11. Slip Slidin' Away12. Heart in New York13. Kodachrome/Maybellene14. Bridge over Troubled Water15. Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover16. Boxer17. Old Friends18. 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)19. Sound of SilenceDirected By: Michael Lindsay-HoggRunning Time: 87 Min. ColorCopyright 2003 Twentieth Century Fox.Format: DVD AUDIO Genre: MUSIC DVD/CONCERTS Rating: NR UPC: 024543075837 Manufacturer No: 2007583
The Rolling Stones - Rock and Roll Circus
by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
from Abkco Films
Originally done as a BBC TV special but never shown, the Rolling Stones headline this rock concert featuring circus performers between musical acts.
Media Type: DVD
Artist: ROLLING STONES
Title: ROCK & ROLL CIRCUS
Street Release Date: 10/12/2004
Genre: ROCK/POP
Unavailable at all for nearly three decades, then issued in a VHS edition in 1996, the Rolling Stones' legendary Rock and Roll Circus finally gets the full treatment with this DVD release documenting the 1968 event. The Stones were reportedly unhappy with their performance (hence the long delay), and it isn't their finest moment; performing "Jumping Jack Flash" and a variety of songs from their then-new Beggars Banquet album, Keith Richards is game, but Jagger's preening (especially on "Sympathy for the Devil") is over the top, and guitarist Brian Jones looks dissolute and well on his way to his death the following year. A certain weirdness permeates some of the other musical acts as well: Jethro Tull lip-syncs unconvincingly, Taj Mahal and band were obliged to perform before the circus set was completed and the audience had arrived, and John Lennon's outing with impromptu supergroup the Dirty Mac (with Richards, Eric Clapton, and drummer Mitch Mitchell) is hampered by Yoko Ono's caterwauling, although their version of the Beatles' "Yer Blues" is cool. Still, the Who are brilliant, Marianne Faithfull is beautiful, the various circus acts are fun, and the crowd clearly loves it.
The DVD comes with some fascinating bonus features, including three extra songs by Mahal, some lovely classical piano by Julius Katchen, and a "quad split-screen" version of "Yer Blues." Best of all are a new interview with the Who's Pete Townshend and the various commentary tracks added for the DVD--especially those by Tull's Ian Anderson, director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, and Stones Jagger, Richards, and Bill Wyman (who dryly attributes Jagger's reluctance to issue the show to his dissatisfaction with his own performance, not the band's). Flaws notwithstanding, this is a treat. --Sam Graham
Brideshead Revisited
by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
from Acorn Media
Fill a bowl with alpine strawberries, break out the Château Lafite (1899, of course), and bask in this benchmark 1981 British miniseries based on Evelyn Waugh's classic novel. Adapted for the screen by John Mortimer (Rumpole of the Bailey), this impeccable, nearly 11-hour production mesmerized American viewers during the course of its PBS run in 1982. In his breakthrough role, Jeremy Irons stars as Charles Ryder, a disillusioned Army captain who is moved to reflect on his "languid days" in the "enchanted castle" that was Brideshead, home of the aristocratic Marchmain family, whose acquaintance Charles made in the company of an Oxford classmate, the charming wild child Sebastian. Anthony Andrews costars as the doomed Sebastian, whose beauty is "arresting" and "whose eccentricities and behavior seemed to know no bounds." The "entitled and enchanted" Sebastian takes Charles under his wing ("Charles, what a lot you have to learn"), but vows early on that he is "not going to let [Charles] get mixed up with [his] family." But mixed up Charles gets. He becomes a friend and confidante, not to mention a lover, to Sebastian's sister Julia (Diana Quick). Meanwhile, the self-destructive Sebastian's life spirals out of control. Brideshead Revisited boasts a distinguished ensemble, including Laurence Olivier in his Emmy Award-winning role as the exiled Lord Marchmain, Claire Bloom as Lady Marchmain, and the magnificent John Gielgud as Charles's estranged father. Grand locations and a haunting musical score make this a memorable revisit of an irretrievable bygone era. For those who scheduled their weeks around the original Monday-night broadcasts or those visiting Brideshead for the first time, this boxed set release will be, as Charles rhapsodizes at one point while strolling the castle grounds, "very near to heaven." --Donald Liebenson
Evelyn Waugh's classic novel of romantic yearning and loss became the universally acclaimed television serios that viewers on both sides of the Atlantic wished would never end. Set between the wars amid the fading glory of British Empire and great family fortunes, Brideshead is a story of youthful illusions, of exquisite earthly beauty and of divine grace. Starring Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews and featuring Diana Quick, Sir John Gielgud, Claire Bloom and the incomparable Laurence Olivier in an Emmy Award-winning performance.
Running Mates
by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
from Hbo Home Video
When old school friends meet they soon become lovers. Only problem is he's running for President! Will love conquer all and leave him enough energy to conquer the voters? Only time and this hilarious comedy will tell.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 026359083020 Manufacturer No: 90830
Two of Us
by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
from Paramount
Since many movie depictions of famous figures are cringe-worthy, it is pleasant to report that Two of Us creates a smart, informed, and intimate portrait of two music gods. This made-for-TV feature is a fictional speculation about a day in 1976 when Paul McCartney popped into John Lennon's New York apartment by surprise. With Yoko away on business, it's just the two giants spending a day together--bickering, goofing, toking, and eventually coming to a bittersweet reconciliation. There are awkward TV-movie moments, and some psychobabble, but the film respects its characters too much to round them off into simpletons. Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg made Let It Be, so he could draw on first-hand experience, and Jared Harris and Aidan Quinn are totally committed to their roles. For an even better speculative Beatles film, check out The Hours and Times, a superb study of Lennon and Beatles manager Brian Epstein. --Robert Horton
Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales & Legends - Annie Oakley
by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
from KOCH VISION
Jamie Lee Curtis stars as the famous Annie Oakley "Little Miss Sure Shot" in Shelley Duvall's portrayal of the legendary shooting markswoman. Annie dreams big and sets out in Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show winning the hearts of fans everywhere.
Roger Daltrey: A Celebration - With Pete Townshend and Music of the Who
by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
from COMPENDIA MUSIC GROUP
Nasty Habits
by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
from Jef Films/Mvd
The Object of Beauty
by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
from Lions Gate
The director Michael Lindsay-Hogg has a name that sounds British despite the fact that he is a New Yorker by birth. Maybe that association derives from the fact that he's primarily helmed television films--segments of Brideshead Revisited, for example, as well as a pile of music videos for English bands like the Who and the Rolling Stones. One of his few ventures into feature filmmaking (another was the little-seen Frankie Starlight) is the 1990 film The Object of Beauty, which also looks, sounds, and feels British in sensibility. The film is set in a tony London hotel, the weather is England-dreary, and the clothes (when the actors are wearing them) are tweedish and woolly in appearance. And the story is essentially repressed and internal save for the brash American performances of John Malkovich and Andie MacDowell, who play a couple living way above their limited financial means. When Jake (Malkovich) bottoms out in a business deal, he urges Tina (MacDowell) to sell her little Henry Moore sculpture, an object of great beauty. Such beauty, in fact, that a young mute hotel maid decides to steal it for her own. The actress Rudi Davies, who plays the maid, steals more than the Moore, however. She sneaks the film out from under Malkovich and MacDowell, who was just coming off of her sex, lies, and videotape acclaim, and who is quite good here as well. The Object of Beauty is too subtle in its message--Jake and Tina lose their last monetary chance and in penury begin to discover who they are as people--to let us care about such a pouty pair, and the "hilarious mix-ups and mayhem" that the film promises are, in actuality, tame and trite. --Paula Nechak
Ivana Trump's For Love Alone
by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
from Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
Based on the New York Times' Bestseller!
+++
