The Who: Live at the Royal Albert Hall commemorates a remarkable charity gig in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. Roger Daltrey does allow himself a smirk as he declaims his famous hope that he'll die before he gets old, but other than that, The Who are to be commended for playing their reunion entirely straight. Their souped-up rhythm'n'blues was always propelled by a self-belief as fervent as it was absolute; had any irony been allowed to impinge on proceedings here, the spectacle of three men well into their 50s delivering a set of what remain definitive hymns to youth and its attendant furies would have been wholly preposterous. As it is, the three surviving members of The Who (Daltrey, Pete Townshend, Jon Entwhistle) combine with keyboardist John Bundrick and drummer Zak Starkey (son of Ringo Starr) to altogether engaging effect. There is, obviously, nothing wrong with the songs "Pinball Wizard", "The Kids Are Alright", "You Better You Bet", and they all get the treatment they deserve here. In fact, the only downsides are the many guest performances, which are either redundant, like Noel Gallagher's rhythm guitar on "Won't Get Fooled Again", or actually detrimental, like Kelly Jones' dreadful braying of "Substitute".On the DVD: The widescreen DVD is enhanced for 16:9 TVs. The second disc of extras includes backstage and rehearsal footage, the option to watch the performance of "Pinball Wizard" from a variety of angles, and an interview with Roger Daltrey, which he devotes principally to his work for the Teenage Cancer Trust, who were the beneficiaries of the concert. Also included is a derisory booklet of hopeless out-of-focus photos of the show taken by Bryan Adams, who would be well advised, on this evidence, to stick with the day job. --Andrew Mueller
"Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll" is the 2009 film of the Ian Dury story starring Andy Serkis in the role of the punk legend.
Here in all it's glory is Crossroads on DVD for the very first time. Meg and Sandy Richardson Benny Hawkins Adam Chance Shughie McFee - the names still strike a chord in the memories of a generation of people who sat entranced watching the latest escapades of the staff and customers of Crossroads motel. Entranced but usually for the wrong reason! Would the walls wobble? Would the actors dry up or start laughing mid sentence? Anything could happen. Unrepeated for many years th
Remembered dimly as Peter Sellers' only venture into "serious" acting, Never Let Go has a lot of other things to recommend it, mostly because it manages to include a lot of the lurid elements that gained it an X certificate in 1960. It has a near-demented melodrama plot, as two desperate obsessives collide in a bizarre feud. Richard Todd, doing meek and put-upon, is a sales rep for smug Peter Jones' cosmetics firm whose life is turned upside-down when his Ford Anglia, bought on hire purchase and uninsured, is stolen by teddy boy Adam Faith. Looking like an inhabitant of Royston Vasey in The League of Gentlemen, Sellers plays a grinning, jumped-up spiv who runs a legitimate garage which is a front for the car thieves and is sugar daddy to teenage tartlet Carol White. Typical of Sellers' demonic rottenness is a scene in which he breaks down-and-out Melvyn Johns' heart by stamping on his beloved terrapin. "Peanut" Todd's crusade to get back his motor (catchphrase "what about my car?") brings trouble too: he gets repeatedly beaten up, abandoned by his wife (Elizabeth Sellars) and dragged to the edge of madness for a final punch-up in a garage. With a delightfully sleazy, jazzy John Barry score, lots of local colour in the caffs and gaffs of criminal London circa 1960 and a parade of welcome character actors (John le Mesurier, David Lodge, Noel Willman, Nigel Stock), this has its soapy spells, but it's a fascinating relic. On the DVD: Never Let Go's menu plays under Faith's theme song ("When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again--Oh Yeah Oh Yeah!"). The print is slightly letterboxed but looks a few generations away from the master with some careless transfer work that greys shadows and overexposes some scenes. --Kim Newman
Eileen is a mother of two children, who are both about to fly the nest. A new relationship suddenly comes into her life, and briefly she blooms. However Bill the new boyfriend, a pot smoking ex-cricketer has his own problems.Their fling opens the door to insecurity and paranoia for Eileen and she lapses back to her troubled past and starts to unravel.This touching film treads between darkness, humour and pathos as it follows Eileen attempts to reunite her family and get her life back on track.
In Press for Time Norman Wisdom offered his version of the crusading reporter movie, though by 1966 time was running out for Norman's style of big-screen comedy. Wisdom had played duel roles in The Square Peg (1958) and On the Beat (1962), but perhaps a sign of his growing frustration with the formulaic nature of his pictures was that he stretched himself to play not just his usual underdog hero, but also his own mother and his grandfather, the Prime Minister. Wisdom also co-wrote the movie, and as a reporter in a small seaside town causes chaos for the council, organises a beauty parade and manages to reprise his drag act (he dressed as a female nurse in A Stitch in Time) as a suffragette. This was really the penultimate Norman Wisdom comedy, since apart from What's Good for the Goose (1969), he has only made two more features, William Friedkin's The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and the belated thriller Double X (1992). Though now nearing the end of his years as a movie star, Wisdom shows himself to still be as polished as ever at his own brand of good-natured slapstick. Fans can be sure that with Norman around there's Trouble in Store (1953). --Gary S. Dalkin
In an intimate tour of downtown LA, documentary maker Sophie Fiennes profiles charismatic preacher Bishop Noel Jones and his congregation.
The film follows the Stereophonics from their earliest pre-signed performances through to their latest sell-out stadium tours. Created from hundreds of hours of footage taking in the earliest pre-signed performances home-movies of their very first gigs as Zephyr and Tragic Love Company through to their latest sell-out stadium tours and the making of recent promo videos Rewind documents the unique rags-to-riches journey of one of Britain's best loved bands. Directed by Danny O'Connor and produced by Stereophonics themselves the documentary is over an hour and a half in duration featuring insightful interviews with some of the biggest names in music: Ronnie Wood Paul Weller Noel Gallagher Bono Jimmy Page Jools Holland Roger Daltrey the Black Crows and Tom Jones.
Compelled to use his own money for his expense account Major Carrington becomes convinced that he will never see his money again and decides to take back the money from his department's funds without permission. For this error in military rules Carrington is court-martialed. During the trial Carrington's selfish wife (Margaret Leighton) gets even for a wartime affair conducted by her husband by supplying false testimony. Though Carrington is declared guilty the implication is th
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