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Hauntingly beautiful folk music and stunning Appalachian scenery take center stage in this winner of the 2000 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for outstanding ensemble performance. Musicologist Dr. Lily Penleric has a deep love of English folk ballads. After a humiliating failure to make full professor, she heads off to visit her sister's tiny school in rural Appalachia and finds herself in folk music central. Lily is entranced, but the locals are suspicious of the outlander's motivations. Issues of tolerance, clashing cultures, and Big Bad Men abound, but Songcatcher wisely focuses on the music. Janet McTeer does fine with the "repressed academic gets in touch with the earth" role, but her truly outstanding work is in revealing scholar Lily's rapture in her discoveries. McTeer leads a truly great cast, including the wonderful Pat Carroll, and a just-for-the-hell-of-it cameo by bluesman Taj Mahal. Songcatcher has a healthy respect for the mountain people it portrays, and an absolute reverence for their music. --Ali Davis ... Read more

Reviews (78)

A Must for the Study of Southern Culture.
To preserve Southern culture is to preserve a culture with strong roots for many Americans. Just as this film depicts an attempt to preserve old English ballads that have survived nearly intact because of the isolation of the mountain people, the film itself is important because it, itself, is an attempt at cultural preservation. The mountain setting of the film is extraordinarily rich, the characters are thankfully more real than stereotypical, and the story is rich and fullfilling. Pat Carroll's performance is exceptional.

One of the major plusses of this movie is the way the set design and cinematography contributes to the story. In one key scene shot inside a cabin, the crude conditions are clearly shown by the daylight winking through the walls. The plight of the characters' living conditions is certainly obvious in the story, but that cabin told the rest of the story. In another scene, several people are dancing outdoors and the camera is positioned so that the viewer seems to be standing in the crowd. The scene develops as all but two of the characters dance and the movement of the camera around the dancers to a high angle shot from the trees stretches and isolates the scene so that the dancers are shown to be some distance from the two non-dancers. This shot establishes not so much a rift between the characters, but a separation.

This film is very similar to Donald Davidson's novel, The Big Ballad Jamboree (University Press of Mississippi), and I strongly recommend both the movie and the book to everyone wanting to enjoy the richness of true "hillbilly" life and music.

A FILM TO BE TREASURED...
This is a beautiful and unusual film, made even more so by its joyous celebration of folk music. Beautifully nuanced, well paced, and highly absorbing, this haunting film is an absolute gem. It is no wonder that it won the 2000 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. The performances in this film are simply stellar and worthy of recognition.

The year is 1907, and the highly independent and intelligent Dr. Lily Penleric (Janet McTeer), a noted musicologist, has once again been passed over for promotion by the college at which she teaches. Angry, she decides to pull up stakes and go and visit her sister, Elna (Jane Adams), who is one of two women teaching at a settlement school in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina.

When Janet arrives, she hears one of her sister's helpers. Deladis (Emma Rossum), singing an old folk song that she recognizes. It is being sung in a way that she has never before heard it sung. Upon discovering that the song was handed down generationally in this insular community, she realizes that she may actually be hearing the song as it may originally have been intended to be sung. Excited by her discovery, she sets about capturing as many songs as she can from these fiercely proud, mountain people. In effect, she is memorializing a rich, oral, musical history.

Her project takes Janet on a voyage of self-discovery, both personal and professional. Along the way, she becomes immersed in the the lives and traditions of these mountain people, realizing what an integral part music plays in their lives. While poor in terms of creature comforts and leading a harsh, hardscrabble sort of life, these mountain folks have a culturally rich, oral tradition and are a veritable treasure trove of old songs.

While catching the music and lyrics of these old songs for posterity and wider appreciation, notating her discovery of these songs for a book that she hopes to write, Dr. Penleric makes the acquaintance of a number of mountain men and women, including a tough old bird, Viney Butler (Pat Carroll). This leads to meeting with her suspicious but intelligent, talented, and good looking grandson, Tom Bledsoe (Aidan Quinn), with whom she ultimately developes a passionate relationship that correlates nicely to her passion for music.

A number of other subplots are woven throughout this film. One involves her sister, Elna, who becomes involved with a love that dare not speak its name. There is also a love triangle between two of the mountain woman and the husband of one of them. Young love and coming of age is also a theme touched upon. Meanwhile, a mining company seeks to buy out the land from under these people for a mere pittance. All of these subplots serve to illustrate the often harsh reality of life in the mountains. The only problem that I found was with the subplot involving Elna and her lover, Harriet, in terms of the complacency that surrounds what ultimately happens to Harriet. It was a most disturbing resolution that did not ring altogether true. Still, the overall strength of the film is such that it overcomes this, overall.

Janet McTeer gives a no nonsense performance, and the way that the music seems to transfix and transform her is a joy to behold. Jane Adams, as the sister who is having a same sex love affair, gives an exquisitely beautiful and sensitive performance, as does E. Katherine Kerr in the role of Harriet, the settlement school teacher with whom she is involved. Aidan Quinn gives an intelligent and thoughtful performance as a mountain man who has been to the outside world and found it wanting. Pat Carroll is sensational as Viney Butler, the mountain woman who takes the vicissitudes of life in stride and wears many hats: mother, grandmother, midwife, musician, singer, and oral historian. Emma Rossum, however, is positively radiant as the young, fresh faced, mountain lass with a smile and voice that will tear your heart apart. She is a wonderful, young performer with operatic training and the ability to sing like Dolly Parton. What a find!

Cameo appearances by Taj Mahal, Iris Dement, and others serve to further enrich this film. The music and songs are played and sung live, which makes them resonate with authenticity and adds a vibrancy that might otherwise be lost. The folk dancing is a joy to watch, as the mountain people gather aound for a jamboree. The film, shot on location, captures all the physical beauty of the terrain, as well as the rusticity and harshness of life in the mountains. This is simply a great film that is well worth having in one's personal collection.

All in all, it is a must have film for music lovers, as well as for those who simply enjoy a well made and beautifully acted film. Bravo!

A confusing piece
Quite often while watching this film I was left wondering what the director was really trying to convey. A interesting look into the lost songs carried to America? A woman coming to terms about her life and purpose? A look into the lives of lesbians at the turn of the century? Loss of Appalachian culture to the coal industry and modern society? A social commentary on culture exploitation? There are so many doors this film opens, yet refuses to step inside one and explore anything deeper than it's emotional surface. The storytelling in this movie feels like it took a second place to the "gimick" of the actual songs.

...and music is the real star of this film and would be better served with a good soundtrack, a book about these folk songs and people, and a good documentary.

What's left is a mediocre and only mildly passionate love story between two people, surrounded by events that don't lead to anything specific or profound. The "climax" of the story does not have any lasting resonance in the main character's lives and feels random.

The acting, mostly by Janet McTeer is acceptible, given the whirlwind she's been thrown into. The supporting cast are also great/charming, especially those who give performances of the more musical sort.

Hopefully someone will revisit this topic with a more serious statement and explore it a little more deeply than what has been done here. Somewhere in this mess is a great historical biopic or even a small quite film/documentary here that got muddled by late 20th century political ideals concerning religion, homosexuality and stereotyping that really do this topic, the music, and all the characters involved a disservice.

Pleasantly surprised!
I wasn't really expecting much when I first rented this movie because I had never even heard of it, but boy! was I surprised! I absolutely loved it! Bluegrass music doesn't really do much for me, but I wouldn't really call this bluegrass. The songs and music are more earthy and emotional. The characters are so down to earth and real. I loved these people--I wanted to go to the mountains and find people and music like this. I got on the internet and bought a copy of the movie and the soundtrack. I have watched this movie more than any other movie that I own.

Dr. Quinn, Music Woman
OK, so maybe it's not THAT bad. Still, I was so disappointed by the second half of this film that I can't find a four-star rating in me.

It's a gorgeous film set in the Appalachian Mountains, an early 20th century story of a highly intelligent lady musicologist who is obsessed with capturing the history of the folk music of the British Isles. When she hits the glass ceiling of her day, her college passing her over yet again for a man in spite of her extreme qualification, she heads for the hills. Literally.

Her younger sister runs a school in the mountains among that most derided minority, the hillbillies (or, more properly, "mountain folk"). Big kudos to this film for playing more or less fair with the poor people of the mountains, with few caricatures and mostly just good-hearted people who distrust "the world beyond." Here the good doctor finds a wealth of old British folk music that has been handed down from generation to generation, as the ancestors of these folk came from the islands themselves.

"Songcatcher" is well worth seeing, due to its brilliant handling of its unique subject matter. It is also a cautionary tale for filmmakers who think they have to throw too much into their story. It could be said that the multiple tragedies in this film are a way of thematically representing the repetitive theme of tragedies in the old folk music the doctor is collecting, but it's overkill, pure and simple, and further ruins such effect with a silly ending. I'm glad I saw it, but would prefer to have an edited version featuring only the musical performances, which are stunning.

There is a lot to love about "Songcatcher." It's a treasure trove for an education in how music was developed in those pre-commercial days, and the lengths to which its devotees had to go for its preservation. If you love any kind of music, you owe a big debt of gratitude to people like this. It is mesmerizing to see the mountain people performing the music of their heritage in its natural setting.

Beyond that, it's a typical formula story, and that's what leaves me cold about this confused film. Formula element 1: The Outsider who learns to communicate with and appreciate a society in which she is initially very uncomfortable, while said society learns to deal with her as well. Some will not accept her, but she wins most of them over. Formula element 2: A forbidden romance causes serious unrest and, ultimately, tragedy. There are actually two such story lines in this film. Formula element 3: An ambitious woman, living in less rational times, deals with the frustration of being thwarted in her dreams. Formula element 4: The happy ending you could see coming a mile off.

I really hate that the filmmakers felt they had to throw so many elements into what could have been an excellent little film. Most unsettling is that they set up several confrontations that all reach a climax within a minute or two of each other, completely fouling up the otherwise nice pace they had set to that point in the film's final half-hour. ... Read more

Reviews (45)

A most excellent, totally non-heinous sequel
While Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure was funny, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey is simply hilarious. Of course, the movie is "dumb," but it's a comedy classic in my opinion. This totally triumphant sequel goes all out to entertain, producing a most memorable ending that brings the storyline of both movies together and unifies the past, present, and future of the Bill and Ted universe. Keanu Reeves is, I believe, at his best and most believable as Ted Theodore Logan, while Alex Winter shows off his impeccable comedic timing as Bill S. Preston, Esq. I think the wit is a little sharper in this sequel than it was in the original Bill and Ted film, and its closer associations and sometimes impressively subtle references to popular culture should make the comedy more appealing to a wider audience than that attracted to the original movie.

As the movie opens, the whole world is Bill's and Ted's oyster. They have their own apartment, they are in love with the princess babes they rescued from mediaeval England in the first movie, and the Battle of the Bands is all set to take place the following night. As they already know from Rufus (George Carlin) of the future, their performance at the Battle of the Bands will change the entire world and quickly lead to a blissful future for mankind in which everyone is excellent to each other. In that happy future, Rufus is teaching a class with the aid of such historical figures as Bach, Edison, and the killer guitar player from Faith No More. Then, from out of the blue, the classroom is taken over by gunmen led by Rufus' old crotchety gym teacher Chuck De Nomolos. The man's hatred for Bill and Ted and the way of life they brought into permanent being is so strong that he sends two evil Bill and Ted robots back in time to ruin the lives and future of Wyld Stallyns before they can really even begin. The robots are pretty successful, actually killing the good Bill and Ted. Here begins the truly bogus journey of our heroes, as they face the Grim Reaper himself, get an up close and very personal look at the depths of Hell, and journey to heaven to meet God Himself. It takes more than a well-coordinated Melvin attack on Death to bring them back to life, but they never waver from their determination to come back, save the babes, kill the evil Bill and Ted, and play most triumphantly at the Battle of the Bands.

I love the ending of the movie; it has little shame in its pursuit of utter goofiness, and I admire that type of commitment to inanity for the sake of entertainment. The whole scene takes about fifteen minutes, but the guys put on one heck of a show at the Battle of the Bands. The fun doesn't even stop when the credits begin to roll because we are treated to a number of magazine and newspaper headlines of the future chronicling the many successes of Bill and Ted and the somewhat troubled rock and roll career of Death. I love this most non-heinous, totally excellent movie. If you want comedy, look no further than Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.

Bill And Ted's Journey through the After-life.
The first Bill and Ted movie was a big hit and now they came out with an awsome sequel. Instead of going through time, they go to the after-life. The two began a Bogus Journey they won't ever forget.

The story starts out in San Dimas, CA 2688 at Bill and Ted University. Rufus (George Carlin) is teaching a seminar class and the evil Chuck De Nomolos invades with his private army. With him are two evil robots of Bill and Ted who he sends back through time to kill them before they become superstars.

We find the Wyld Stallyns (Bill, Ted, Elizabeth, and Joanna) auditioning for the battle of the bands contest. Of course they stink, but they still get a shot in the contest. That night after Bill and Ted propose to their girlfriends, the evil twins call the good Bill prettending to be Joanna and dump them. So the evil twins show up prettending to be helping them by bringing them to the desert where the evil twins said the girls were. Instead they throw them off a cliff and the good ones are dead.

Then they wake up in the after-life seeking revenge and then Death shows up (William Sadler). He tells them to come with him and they ask him if they can come back to life. Deaths says they must challenge him to a contest and if they win, they go back to life and if not they stay in the after-life. So they ditch him by melvining him (otherwords, a wedgie).

So, they go Ted's parents for help and Ted's step-mom, Missy and her spiritual group send them to hell. So they are stuck in their own personal hells that revolve around the bad things they did in life. After the two being chased by a evil colonel, a evil easter bunny and Bill's grandma, they decide to challenge Death.

Now on with the games. They play Battleship and of course Bill and Ted win. Death is a poor sport and makes them play best 2 out of 3. Then he loses again in Clue and he says best of 3 out of 5. Then he loses in electronic football. Bill: "Best of 7?" Death: "DAMN RIGHT!" The last game is Twister. He loses and decides to take them back to life. They go to heaven, and find two alien scientists to help them build two good robots of themselves.

Now they have built the robots and they are at the Battle of the Bands where the evil ones are. So they destroy them at the concert. Chuck De Nomolos shows up to finally kill him themselves. He loses and Death melvins him (Wedgie). They play at the concert and win. The song they play is KISS's very own "God Gave Rock and Roll To You II" that they released for the movie and for their Revenge album in 1992.

This movie isn't as exciting as the first but definately a great sequel. Take the Bogus journey with Bill and Ted.

It's a great movie.
I love this movie. It's very funny, it has references to metal bands, and it's kinda like Terminator with the evil robots from the future. Terminator Bill and Ted! I think that could have worked besides Evil Robot Bill and Ted. Terminator is also a good movie. Buy that and this movie. Ha ha. I've watched this thing eighteen times since I bought it.
It's funny because a lot of the times Bill and Ted look like they are so stoned in the movie with their facial expressions and valley talk. And it if you smoke, watch this movie under the influence. You won't be disappointed.
This movie is also touching and has a message; Treat people nicely and don't judge them. "Be excellent to each other!" It's just flat out a good movie guys.

Hands up if you want more!
There definitely has to be at least one more of Bill & Ted. Both are approaching 40, and their bank accounts may soon be running a little dry (that's a joke), so surely that's an excuse enough to make another! Please? I'm sure there are more Bill & Ted fans out there, it's just not me! Keanu & Alex have both said they'd work with each other again, and lets face it, Alex isn't exactly up to much recently. He's mainly doing behind the scenes stuff, and apparently has a wife and child, and is looking mighty fine for a guy approaching 40. Keanu is also a fairly small name in the movie business these days, you may have heard of the Matrix trilogy?

The first movie was a success. The second isn't as exciting, although it does have its moments, but it is still a totally bogus movie. All the old characters appear, the princesses, the dads, Missy, and some great new stars, William Sadler playing the Duke of Spook, the Doc of Shock, The Man with No Tan, Death himself, the Grim Reaper. He is terrific in this movie, moreso towards the end, where he comes out with a excellent line: "You might be a king or a little street sweeper, but sooner or later you'll dance with the reaper." You've gotta love that line.

Not since Chasing Amy etc, has a movie come out with great end credits. (If you like the final song, you'll probably watch the credits right to the end, if you don't, you won't!) Here are some examples of what appears in the end credits to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey:

"Be Excellent to Each Other and Party On."
The Full On First Unit
The Stellar Cast
The Non-Heinous Second Unit
The Bodacious Video Effects
The Atypical Creature & Makeup Effects
The Unprecedented Video Photography
The New Age Dudes
Totally Outstanding Guitars Provided By
Camera Operator "Evil" Bill Roe
First Assistant Camera "Good" Bill Clevenger

I hope there will be a third Bill & Ted movie. The best bit of both movies has to be the newspaper/magazine covers towards the end. If you read the headlines, they're pure class! If you haven't seen these movies, you must. They're before Keanu really hit the big time, when all he could do was goofy (and sexy at the same time!), and when Alex really didn't look like he'd hit puberty yet!

smarter than you might think
Watch the Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman and you'll appreciate the "battle" with Death even more. ... Read more

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Unavailable at all for nearly three decades, then issued in a VHS edition in 1996, the Rolling Stones' legendary Rock and Roll Circus finally gets the full treatment with this DVD release documenting the 1968 event. The Stones were reportedly unhappy with their performance (hence the long delay), and it isn't their finest moment; performing "Jumping Jack Flash" and a variety of songs from their then-new Beggars Banquet album, Keith Richards is game, but Jagger's preening (especially on "Sympathy for the Devil") is over the top, and guitarist Brian Jones looks dissolute and well on his way to his death the following year. A certain weirdness permeates some of the other musical acts as well: Jethro Tull lip-syncs unconvincingly, Taj Mahal and band were obliged to perform before the circus set was completed and the audience had arrived, and John Lennon's outing with impromptu supergroup the Dirty Mac (with Richards, Eric Clapton, and drummer Mitch Mitchell) is hampered by Yoko Ono's caterwauling, although their version of the Beatles' "Yer Blues" is cool. Still, the Who are brilliant, Marianne Faithfull is beautiful, the various circus acts are fun, and the crowd clearly loves it.

The DVD comes with some fascinating bonus features, including three extra songs by Mahal, some lovely classical piano by Julius Katchen, and a "quad split-screen" version of "Yer Blues." Best of all are a new interview with the Who's Pete Townshend and the various commentary tracks added for the DVD--especially those by Tull's Ian Anderson, director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, and Stones Jagger, Richards, and Bill Wyman (who dryly attributes Jagger's reluctance to issue the show to his dissatisfaction with his own performance, not the band's). Flaws notwithstanding, this is a treat. --Sam Graham ... Read more

Reviews (23)

Worth seeing just for The Who
This tape is worth buying just for The Who's performance of "A Quick One While He's Away", which has got to be one of the greatest live performances of a single rock song ever. Unfortunately, it's followed by Yoko Ono's impersonation of a rusty fence as well as a poor performance by the Stones. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" sounds like it's being played in slow motion, and on "Sympathy for the Devil", an obviously full-of-himself Mick Jagger seems to be more interested in mugging for the cameras then he does in actually performing the song. I've always thought the Stones were one of the most overrated live acts in rock; and after watching them follow the Who here, it's easy to see why Jagger did not want to release the tapes.

Anyway, besides The Who, there also some good performances by Jethro Tull(although I've read that their performance of "A Song for Jeffrey" is not entirely live?) and The Dirty Mac(John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards & Mitch Mitchell deliver a fine performance of "Yer Blues" before being joined by Yoko Ono and violin player Ivry Gitlis; it's amusing to watch Gitlis smirk as Yoko screeches over the top of their jamming). Marianne Faithful and Taj Mahal also perform, but frankly I found them both to be forgettable.

Aside from the performances, I think this tape is interesting as a snapshot of the time(December, 1968). You get to see a number of rock legends in their prime, and even though not all of them deliver great performances, it's still fascinating to watch.

Not Much Of A Circus For The Stones
What suprises the most is the lackluster performance of the Stones in "Rock and Roll Circus." Far more interesting is Jethro Tull's performance with Ian Anderson prefiguring the grunge look by 25 years in his long overcoat, wild hair and beard. Tull's unique jazz/blue/celtic/rock fusion has held up quite well over the years. Taj Mahal's earthy performance with his electric blues band is riveting, but future heroin causality Jesse "Ed" Davis looks pallid despite his sizzling slide and lead guitar. The Who rule the "Rock and Roll Circus" with an inspired rendition of "A Quick One" complete with a turbo charged performance by Keith Moon where he mugs it up and breaks (by my count) five or six sets of drumsticks. The Stones hit the stage to close the show and it's jarring to see a lackluster perfomance from the world's greatest rock and roll band. They all look fatigued and Brian Jones looks like he's just waiting for someone to write his obituary. This was a very bad time in Rolling Stones land. It turned out to be Brian's last performance in public with the Stones.

For over twenty years the Stones kept "Rock and Roll Circus" from being seen, apparently Mick Jagger was incensed that the Who's inspired anarchy eclipsed the Stones performance....the Who and nearly everyone else managed to outshine the phoned in performance by the Stones, except for Keith, who's rowdy guitar antics can't breathe life into the band. The following year I saw the revitalized Stones touring with Mick Taylor replacing the deceased Brian Jones on guitar. The Stones made it through the dark days of "Rock and Roll Circus" and managed to outlast the Who as the most enduring sixties band, but this performance was a pretty somber affair for the boys. My final reaction to the film was how many of the talented musicians in "Rock and Roll Circus" would be claimed tragically over the next few years. It is still hard for me to watch John Lennon's dazzling energy and often absurd brillance in the film and not shed a tear for his senseless death.

Rock and Roll Circus
As somone who wasn't born when this was filmed it was interesting seeing them and the other 60s artists as they were at that time.

Enjoyed Dirty Mac the most (would have preferred it if they left Yoko's wailing out of the second track). The Who were good. The Stones were ok.

One for the collector.

Good music, but you'll wear out the FF skipping the "circus"
Like so many legendary rock rumors, this show has a hard time living up to the expectations that have built up in its absence. You can now view it to see our Sixties heroes, young and smooth and clear-eyed, in this souvenir of Swinging London in 1968. For that alone this show is worth the purchase price.

The best bits of this are also the funniest. Tony Iommi, the future Black Sabbath guitar god, appears in the Jethro Tull lineup, in a floppy white hippie hat, miming on his Strat to Mick Abraham's dobro part in "Song for Jeffrey". He looks like he's gonna die of mortification. Ian Anderson looks spotty, woolly and ramshackle, and sings in a slurry delta blues accent. His vocal and flute are allegedly the only "live" part on this performance of that song.

The next best thing is The Who, powering through the long story-song A Quick One. I was disappointed that the video had no extra tracks from them, as I have seen photos of them in different costume from the Circus, playing what must have been a different song. Maybe for the DVD...

The Stones are okay, not thrilling, but not so poor that it warranted shelving the projected for nearly thirty years. Brian Jones looks dead on his feet, but everyone else seems fine. Keef, ironically enough, is the liveliest one of the lot, by the time the marathon show ended taping.

The circus bits are piffle, and the other performers are filler, though The Dirty Mac is worth watching at least once. Yoko Ono is...oh, I should just leave the fish in the barrel alone, I guess. Avant garde didn't get much more avant than it was in the Sixties. Short verdict: buy it, and enjoy the way they were, if not always they way they did it.

Truly amazing film for fans of Who, John Lennon, Jethro Tull
This film is more for fans of the Who, Lennon, Tull or for lovers of the swinging sixties than it is for the Stones. The Stones performance was somewhat lackluster, they seem tired and stoned!

BUT this film really caught me by surprise and is one of my favorite in my entire collection... I bought it to see the Stones only to find out that it contained a performance of "Yer Blues" by John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix Experience)!!! The interview of John Lennon by Mick Jagger is very interesting -- John is sarcastic as ever.

Also, the song by the Who (A Quick One) is fantastic and captures the truly live feel and charisma of the Who complete with a typically clumsy and aggressive Townsend slamming his arm into a boom mike while doing a windmill on the guitar!!!

Jethro Tull hams it up as a psycho hillbilly freak... fans of his will love "Song for Jeffery".

Taj Mahal turns in a great, soulful performance of "Ain't That a lot of Love".

One thing that was kind of sad is that so many of the talented people on this film are now dead. Just about every band represented here had one or two members who died from heroin or some other drug. But that does make the tape that much more poignant.

The tape does have a few dull moments, the most painful being Yoko Onos "performance" with the supergroup I mentioned above in a separate jam called "Whole Lotta Yoko". You can't fast forward because the underlying jam is so compelling, so you just sit there and suffer.

If you like any of the bands mentioned herein, this film is a must see!!! ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Once Upon A Time...When We Were Colored
Step back in time to 1946, to a place called Glen Allen, Mississippi. Racial discrimination is at an all time high, and hate groups like the KKK parade in the streets. African Americans are forced to use different bathrooms, and different water fountains, and Clifton Taulbert is born in a cotton field right in the middle of it all. This horrible time to be African American is where Once Upon A Time...When We Were Colored takes place.

The movie spans a total of 16 years, beginning when Cliff was born, and ending when he is seventeen. The character of Clifton Taulbert was played by three different actors (age 5, age 10 through 11, and age 17). Charles Earl Taylor Jr. (who played Cliff at age 5) did a superb job, as well as Damon Hines (Cliff at age 17). Ray J (who played Cliff at ages 10 through 11), I believe, could have played his part in the movie better by adding a little more expression in his voice. On the whole, all of the other actors in the movie performed wonderfully.

The theme of racial discrimination is evident from the beginning birth scene in the cotton fields where the white owner of the fields refused to give the mother of Clifton a full days pay because of his inconvenient birth in the middle of the cotton crop. The movie then moves on to a scene where Cliff (age 5) needed to use a restroom at a gas station. It was marked "white only" and the gas attendant stopped him before Cliff had a chance to use it. His Uncle Cleave (played by Richard Roundtree) then showed young Cliff a "W" and a "C" and explained to him that he could only use things marked with a "C" (for colored). Cliff's Uncle Cleave, who delivered ice for the people who owned iceboxes in Glen Allen, was a major roll model in Cliff's life. Cliff's Uncle always told him to get a good education so he could move away from Glen Allen when he was older. Perhaps the scene with the most evidence of racism is when Cleave takes Cliff into town and they see the KKK in white hooded robes marching down the street.

This movie receives four stars out of five from me because of the disappointing acting from Ray J (Cliff Age 10 through 11) that in my opinion could have been played much better.

Also throughout the movie there are scenes that clearly show the local color of the town of Glen Allen. A church scene, where the people of Glen Allen gathered together to worship god and have a picnic, showed the great sense of family in the town. Other scenes (like one of a dace club) help us get a feel for what life was like living in Glen Allen. I think that these scenes were a very good addition to the movie.

All in all, with its wonderful directing, fantastic cast, and a good moral, Once Upon A Time...When We Were Colored was superbly made. The fact that it was a true story is stunning in itself because of the abundance of racial discrimination that happened in these times. Once Upon A Time...When We Were Colored is a must see movie for anyone who wants to learn more about racial discrimination.

THIS MOVIE CAN INFLUENCE PEOPLE OF ALL AGES
IF THERE WAS A TEN STAR RATING, THIS MOVIE WOULD DESREVE IT, IN MY OPINION IT WAS JUST AS GOOD AS THE COLOR PURPLE. THIS IS A MOVIE FULL OF THE TRUTH, AND THE ACTORS AND ACTRESSSES DELIVER AN PERFORMANCE THAT WILL BE HARD TO MATCH. THIS IS HOW THINGS TRULY WERE IN THE SOUTH. I'M GLAD SOMEONE IS FINALLY REVEALING THE WHOLE STORY.

The icemen are left with a smaller customer base
11/4/01 The more important subplot to me was the decline of business for icemen with non-blacks(mainly the white race) investing in refrigerators and the different ploys used in the small town to have all the black residence to switch to the" big ice company" that had come to this remote as well as last location where they knew the ice was still needed .

Clifton Talbert's powerful prose
Al Freeman does great justice to Clifton Talbert's powerful novel. Clifton inspired me as an author. He used the first person narrative in such a humble manner. I have heard it said that only arrogant, self-glorifying people employ a literary style center with the word, "I." Yet, Clifton does so with such a sense of humility. His "I" illustrates the power being there, but in his work, virtually every person he describes is made to seem more bold, virtuous and sincere than the author himself. In Al Freeman's adaptation of this excellent literary work, the humble and sincere sense that imbued Clifton's novel comes to life. Genuine, sublime, personal and powerful, this is a movie guaranteed to touch your heart.

Great Film!
I saw this movie when it first came out and really enjoyed it. So, I was really excited to see it was available on DVD and ordered it immediately. It is a great film, and I am proud to have it as a part of my personal movie collection. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

taj fan in NM
Taj finally on DVD! Wonderful video quality. Excellent sound quality. Awesome performance by Taj and the band!

taj fan in NM
Finally Taj on DVD!! Awesome performance. Excellent video quality. Beautiful sound quality.

A must see for any Taj fan
I've seen taj in person more than once and I though any video would be a let down after seeing the strength of one of his live shows. I couldn't have been more wrong. This video is a must see for any Taj fan and will make fans out of people just seeing him for the first time. The Jems of the show are the two songs (Come In My Kitchen and Fishing Blues) wich he does without his band, just him and his guitar. ... Read more