Neil Young: Heart of Gold

Greetings.... some of you know my fondness for concert movies.... this all began with The Talking Heads film, "Stop Making Sense," directed by Jonathan Demme. He truly redefined the genre with this 1984 wonder. I've sampled a lot since then, and with the advent of DVDs, there are many more available. I've watched old concerts and new, from Supertramp to Diana Krall. Many are downright lame, others worthy efforts. The Band's "The Last Waltz" is a gem, thanks to Martin Scorsese's skillful direction, to say nothing for a kick ass band. And a recent favorite is David Gilmour's "unplugged" concert in 2002. (for Pink FLoyd buffs, the "Pulse" DVD is a must have, if only for the 3 encores.)

Just saw Jonathan Demme's 2006 Neil Young concert movie, "Heart of Gold" (aka Prairie Wind). And he does it again. If you are a Neil Young fan at all, even a little, you should see this movie. And if you enjoy seeing a fine musical performance on film, in any genre, by any artist, then you too should see this film. It is tasteful, sensitive, respectful, skillfully directed throughout. The first half (more or less) is new material. The second is a collection of Neil Young classics. All great songs.

Big band: in addition to the expected guitar, bass, drums, and steel guitar, he has a full string section, 3 horns, and chorus on some songs. Very, very lovely sound mix: crisp, deep, layered arrangements. Delightful just to listen to, even if there were no pretty pictures to go with it.

And one more point.... I've found that when a musical artist never talks to the audience, then no matter how good the music is, I feel a bit disappointed. It's as if there's a wall between the artist and the audience, which for some reason the performer is unwilling to cross. Roy Orbison's 1987 "Black and White Night" has this problem. It's a great concert, and a great movie, but it ends up feeling ilke a newsreel. Roy never once does so much as introduce a song, or make a joke, or tell a little story. It comes off a bit cold. Well, that's not a problem here. Neil Young tells lots of little stories. All very short, but enough to really personalize the concert experience. Makes a big difference for me.

I may not buy it, buy I am certainly glad I saw it. Worth a look.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (2004)

Okay, so I have a weakness for singing and dancing. I admit it! But this film... yuck. I think it's easier to figure out what it has going for it rather than what it doesn't.

So here's the good:
- the actress playing Christine has a lovely singing voice.
- the production design is pretty cool.

The bad:
- everything else! Where did they get this goon who plays the Phantom? He's not a good singer, and his character leaps back and forth between pouting, sulking, brooding and stalking. One minute you think you might feel sorry for him, and then he's just immature and overdramatic.

And while I admire the production design, I had to laugh at the Phantom's bachelor pad under the Paris opera house. So the guy lives in the bowels of the place, and never sees the light of day... but he has a rather fancy hovel that looks like it's out of the Victoria's Secret catalogue.

Finally: the music - Andrew Lloyd Webber, what happened to you? How can someone write Jesus Christ Superstar, which features some of the most moving music EVER, and then such drivel as this?