Holiday Inn (Special Edition) (2006) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I just finished watching the newly released Special Edition of Holiday Inn. I was AMAZED at the clarity of the picture. I've never seen a print of this film looking so pristine. Even on just a regular, 20" non-HDTV set, the hairs askew on top of Bing's toupee during the famous White Christmas scene are plainly visible. Now if you can see single hairs on a person's head during a medium shot on a small television set, that's a stunningly clear picture!
The audio as well is crisp and clear with rich bass and treble tones. If you watch the film with the audio commentary on, you'll hear the dulcet tones of Ken Barnes relating some fascinating tidbits about the making of the film, the songs (one particularly interesting part concerns the verse to White Christmas), the cast, etc. All is enhanced by sound bites from Bing and Fred Astaire themselves in archive audio material from the 1970's. As an example, Bing speaks of the continuing sales of his recording of White Christmas as late as 1974, how he felt it was due in part to people giving the record as a Christmas gift.
The real gems are the bonus features, particularly the 45 minute long mini feature A Couple of Song & Dance Men. Ken Barnes is joined by Fred Astaire's lovely daughter Ava sharing biographical memories of both Bing and Fred, along with trivia tidbits. Ava shows and reads some of the letters Fred Astaire wrote to his wife while on a USO tour in England with Bing in 1944, and telegrams to Fred from Bing, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin are also shown on screen. All is pieced together nicely with song excerpts from Bing's films, coming attractions trailers, and newsreel footage, including Bing opening the Stage Door Canteen in 1944.
The other, shorter bonus feature runs 7 minutes and is titled All Singing - All Dancing. Ken shares some rare behind the scenes photos and techniques of how musical numbers were filmed, beginning with the early talkies. He shows how the orchestra and singer were together on the set and recorded as one.
The original theatrical trailer for Holiday Inn is also included.
All is wrapped up nicely with a slip-cover that goes over the DVD case. When compared with the two-on-one DVD of Holiday Inn and Going My Way that's been out for many years now, the difference in quality is plainly visible. The Holiday Inn print looks somewhat fuzzy or "muddy" in quality when watched after seeing the brilliance of the newly restored print used on this Special Edition.
In short, this is a DVD that's well worth having. If you want the definitive presentation of this classic Holiday film, this is it! Bravo Ken & co.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Holiday Inn (Special Edition) (2006)

HOLIDAY INN SPECIAL EDITION - DVD Movie

Get 17% OFF

Click here for more information about Holiday Inn (Special Edition) (2006)

A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If you were ever in New York around Christmas time from 1994 to it's tenth and final year in 2003 the number one show to see would have been Madison Square Garden's A CHRISTMAS CAROL presented first in 1994 with Walter Charles as Scrooge and in later years F. Murray Abraham and even Tim Curry! The stage adaptation was the most elaborate spectacle you could ever wish to see on-stage with magical sets, fantastic costumes and even an indoor snowfall! Realistically, there was no way to transfer this magic to the screen, but it was attempted anyway, and what we are left with is the charm of the material. Any musical based on a Charles Dickens novel is heading in the right direction from the start. Add to the equation the beautiful music of Alan Menken (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas and even Little Shop of Horrors!) and the perfectly poignant lyrics by Lyn Ahrens (Ragtime, Seussical, Once on this Island and A Man of No Importance) and the material is sure to stand up... and it does. However, that was in 1995.
In later years the authors continued to make rather bizarre changes to the score that, essentially were exceedingly inferior to their counterpart songs. The best example would be replacing the beautifully dark opening song "The Years are Passing By" from the original stage version with the totally lame "Jolly Good Time". This was apparently done in an effort to make the show less daunting for kids, but this is Charles Dickens and therefor in doing so you are destroying the very foundation of your source material. Some of the revisions, however, are very nice indeed like the inclusion of the new song "You Mean More to Me" which is just pure heaven. Unfortunately the script presented for this television version was the revised script from the later versions of the show and not the one from 1995. So the material does not hold up quite as strong. Thankfully, we have an all-star cast to pull the focus away from that and they succeed. Kelsey Grammer is a serviceable Scrooge and the ensemble of Broadway veterans lead us through a nightmare tale that will ultimately put you in the Christmas spirit, and that, if anything, could have been Dicken's intentions all along. If you can find it, definitely pick up the 1995 original cast recording of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, but for the visuals, this DVD will do just fine.

Click Here to see more reviews about: A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004)

Kelsey Grammer ("Frasier") brings Ebenezer Scrooge to life in this musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale. During a Christmas Eve dream that evolves into nightmarish proportions, embittered and miserly Scrooge is visited by three Christmas ghosts: Past Present and Future, who show him the life he has lived and the future consequences of that life.

Get 7% OFF

Click here for more information about A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004)