Soundbw Reviews

Imagine: John Lennon (1988)

almost perfect

[8/10 · 25 April 2007]

I loved this film for the narration and assembled footage - but the audio NEVER sounded as good as it did in the theater. At the time I was so excited with the surround remixes -wow (this was before 'Anthology'). But the VHS release sounded flat and echo-y, the DVD didn't fare any better.

Oh well, to hear John in his own words and follow him so closely on film is well worth watching.

And about the studio scene... Actually, John is yelling at Phil McDonald (who was also the engineer on the 'Plastic Ono Band' album among many others). Phil Spector is standing next to John -while singing backing vocals!

Fame in the Twentieth Century (1993– )

A quick zip through the past

[9/10 · 19 August 2006]

Taking 100 years of film down to eight hours is not easy, and "Fame in the 20th Century" is not perfect. But it is detailed, funny, heartwarming, painful and triumphant, and Clive James interconnects people from all corners of the world to show us that we are truly related.

Most of the footage is clean, from various sources, and some probably hasn't been seen too often. Maybe it's a bit heavy to go through all eight hours in one setting; but I find myself getting into a rhythm listening to him flow from one person (or decade) to the next...

It's similar to what Ken Burns did with "Baseball" and "Jazz". Except Clive is the only voice behind the film, and has a sort of 'prickly' (but witty) commentary which keeps it moving along.

My tape off PBS has gotten a bit soft after 13 years, and like the Burns series, if they released "Fame...", I'd be happy to invest in a DVD box set!. This would make a fantastic historical journey for generations to come!