George Balanchine's The Nutcracker
by Emile Ardolino
from Warner Home Video
Tchaikovsky's timeless Yuletide ballet is presented in an all-new movie version with as much eloquence as one would find in a live stage production. Replete with gorgeous costumes and scenery, George Balanchine's production, adapted by Peter Martins, features the New York City Ballet with narration by Kevin Kline. From the moment the Nutcracker prince winds toymaker Drosselmeier's life-sized dolls, viewers are ushered into the captivating story of a little girl's Christmas Eve fantasy of beauty, magic, and sugarplums. While several versions of this beloved tale are available in video, this one is distinguished for the magnificent performances of a large cast of young ballet dancers from the School of American Ballet. While Culkin lends his star-studded name, that is all he lends in what is mostly a wooden performance (he often appears on the sidelines looking quite blasé and detached). More deserving accolades go to Jessica Lynn Cohen as Marie, whose genuineness never wanes and dance steps never falter. Bart Robinson Cook is wonderful as the playful Herr Drosselmeier, and Darci Kistler is the graceful Sugarplum Fairy. Mostly this film belongs to children--both on the stage and in the audience. What is lacking in spontaneous energy of live theater is made up for in a perfectly polished performance. The only thing missing is the well-earned applause. --Lynn Gibson
Angels and sugarplums. Candy canes and ice. A magic prince, a dreamy young girl, a mysterious old man and a Christmas tree that grows sky high. Enter the world of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, featuring the New York City Ballet, and let this all-new movie version of a timeless Yuletide fantasy, narrated ny Academy Award(R) winner Kevin Kline, draw you under its spell. Starring Macaulay Caulkin, Darci Kistler and Bart Robinson Cook. Year: 1993 Director: Emile Ardolino Starring: Bart Robinson Cook, Macaulay Caulkin, Darci Kistler, Damian Woetzel
WHITE CHRISTMAS (DVD) (IRVING BERLINS)WS ENHANCED 16X9/DOLBY DIGI ENG 5.1
from Paramount
This semi-remake of Holiday Inn (the first movie in which Irving Berlin's perennial, Oscar-winning holiday anthem was featured) doesn't have much of a story, but what it does have is choice: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, an all-Irving Berlin song score, classy direction by Hollywood vet Michael Curtiz (Casablanca, The Adventures of Robin Hood), VistaVision (the very first feature ever shot in that widescreen format), and ultrafestive Technicolor! Crosby and Kaye are song-and-dance men who hook up, romantically and professionally, with a "sister" act (Clooney and Vera-Ellen) to put on a Big Show to benefit the struggling ski-resort lodge run by the beloved old retired general (Dean Jagger) of their WWII Army outfit. Crosby is cool, Clooney is warm, Kaye is goofy, and Vera-Ellen is leggy. Songs include: "Sisters" (Crosby and Kaye do their own drag version, too), "Snow," "We'll Follow the Old Man," "Mandy," "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep," and more. Christmas would be unthinkable without White Christmas. --Jim Emerson
Going My Way/Holiday Inn
by Mark Sandrich
from Universal Studios
Going My Way
This irresistible Oscar winner from writer-director Leo McCarey (An Affair to Remember) stars Bing Crosby as a low-key, crooning priest who joins the parish of a no-nonsense but sweet old Irish man of the cloth (Barry Fitzgerald). While Bing turns local toughs into a choir, the elder priest worries over the church building fund and whether he'll get a chance to see his old mother back in Ireland before she dies. One would have to have a heart of stone not to be won over by this charmer, with a lovely ending guaranteed to make you bawl for a week. --Tom Keogh
Holiday Inn
This perennial, Christmas-season favorite from 1942 teamed Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire as entertainers (and rival suitors of Marjorie Reynolds) running an inn that is only open on holidays. It's a great excuse for lots of singing and dancing, seamlessly wrapped in a catchy story, and Astaire's frequent director Mark Sandrich (Top Hat, Shall We Dance) doesn't let us down. The Irving Berlin numbers (each one connected to a different holiday) are winners, with Crosby's warm performance of "White Christmas" a movie touchstone. --Tom Keogh
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - The Ghost Of Christmas Eve
by Hart Perry
from Lava
TOS's THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS EVE - now available for the first time on VHS and DVD - is a unique fantasy trip through the magic of Christmas. Narrated by award-winning actor Ossie Davis, the production takes us on a journey of a runaway little girl's decision to return to her family after she enters a rundown theater for shelter and encounters an old caretaker who guides her on her journey. This magical story - which features appearances from Atlantic recording artists Jewel and Michael Crawford - was filmed entirely on location at the newly refurbished and historic Loews Jersey Theatre in Jersey City, New Jersey, and includes performances of such tracks as "O Come All Ye Faithful," "Good King Joy," "Christmas Canon," "Music Box Blues," "Promises To Keep," and "This Christmas Day,".
Track Listing:
O' Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night
Good King Joy
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing -- Featuring Jewel
Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)
Christmas Canon
O Holy Night -- Featuring Michael Crawford
Music Box Blues
Promises To Keep
This Christmas Day
First Snow
Christina Aguilera - My Reflection
by Paul Hunter
from Image Entertainment
Christina Aguilera's My Reflection is a mirror that shows where the teen-pop diva's going (toward grown-up diva-dom as an R&B star) and where she's been (showcasing her navel on a dance-infused tour). Aguilera's first concert video, a repackaging of a slick special that aired on ABC-TV in 2000, shows what this "girl" really wants is to move beyond the bouncy R&B-flavored pop she's known for. Her cheeky hits ("Genie in a Bottle," "Come On Over, Baby," "What a Girl Wants") are followed by songs from Mi Reflejo, her Spanish-language album, and My Kind of Christmas, her holiday release. She has sweet duets with R&B legend Dr. John on "Merry Christmas, Baby" and balladeer Brian McKnight on "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and shares the stage with rapper Lil' Bow Wow (weird, but it works) on "So Emotional" and "Christmas Time." (Quick behind-the-scenes interviews from MTV's Diary punctuate the concert.) Despite her inability to resist over-the-top vocal histrionics, Aguilera's range is impressive, whether she's performing a spirited rendition of Free's 1970 hit "All Right Now" or belting out Etta James's 1961 classic "At Last," after giving the blues singer a heartfelt tribute. --Valerie J. Nelson
Christmas Glory from Westminster
from Homevision
It's a marketer's dream to have two PBS superstars, Andrea Bocelli and Charlotte Church, singing in Christmas Glory from Westminster. Bocelli and Church (who don't sing together here) are among a handful of performers in this 1999 service from London's Westminster Abbey, including actresses Greta Scacchi and Joan Plowright and Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel.
Following an introduction to the abbey by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh (his wedding took place there), the first part of the hourlong service tells the Christmas story, alternating poetry and Bible readings with musical selections from the choir and soloists, including Messiah's "For unto us a child is born" and "But who may abide the day of his coming" by Terfel. Bocelli contributes two Schubert selections, "Mille Cherubino in Coro" and the beloved "Ave Maria," as well as "Sancta Maria," a version of Mascagni's famous melody from Cavalleria Rusticana. Church performs Stephen Adams's "The Holy City" (from her second CD) and shares "Silent Night" with Terfel. The program isn't all solemnity, however. Actor Richard Griffiths offers a spirited reading from A Christmas Carol near the abbey's famous Poets' Corner, where Dickens is buried. A blessing from the Dean of Westminster closes the distinguished evening. --David Horiuchi
The program:
1. "O Come O Come Emmanuel"--choir procession
2. Fanfare
3. "O Come All Ye Faithful"--choir and congregation
4. HRH intro
5. "Once in Royal David's City"--choir and congregation
6. First Reading: Isaiah--Trevor McDonald
7. Handel: "For unto Us a Child Is Born"--choir
8. Second Reading: Luke, Chapter 2--Betty Boothroyd
9. Handel: "But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming"--Bryn Terfel
10. Eddie's Service (Kipling)--Joan Plowright
11. William Matthias: Sir Christemas--choir
12. Reading: "And there were in the fields..."--Greta Scacchi
13. Schubert: "Ave Maria"--Andrea Bocelli
14. John Gardiner: "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day"--choir
15. Christmas Campaign (Frederic Coleman reading)--Trevor McDonald
16. "It Came upon a Midnight Clear"--choir and congregation
17. Stephen Adams: "The Holy City"--Charlotte Church
18. "The Lamb" (William Blake reading)--Greta Scacchi
19. "Mille Cherubini in Coro"--Andrea Bocelli
20. "Tna Bethlehem Dref" (Welsh)--Bryn Terfel
21. Christmas Carols (Dickens reading)--Richard Griffith
22. "Silent Night"--Bryn Terfel and Charlotte Church
23. Archbishop of Canterbury
24. "Mascagni: Sancta Maria"--Andrea Bocelli
25. HRH reading: "In the beginning..."
26. Fanfare
27. "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"--choir and congregation
28. The Blessing: Dean of Westminster
29. Widor organ with credits
Andre Rieu - Christmas Around the World
from Denon Records
Track Listings: Star of BethlehemThe AngelTulip SongDendenra RyuFrom Heaven High I Come To You/Tomorrow's The Day Children/Angels We HaveHeard On HighRing Out Little Bell/O Come All Ye FaithfulDeck The Halls With Boughs Of HollySlumber My DarlingSilent Night Holy NightWe Wish You A Merry ChristmasWhite ChristmasJingle BellsO Holy Night (Minuit Chretien/Cantique de Noel)Sah ein Knab ein Roslein stehenPetersburger SchlittenfahrtRudolph the Red-nosed ReindeerWinter WonderlandGesu BambinoSleigh RideAve MariaSakuraEvening PrayerHallelujahFormat: DVD AUDIO Genre: MUSIC DVD/CONCERTS UPC: 795041762092 Manufacturer No: COZ17620
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