"Essential" by EDDIE MONEY. Criminally short track list, but at least what's on here is superbly remastered!

I've owned and loved "Eddie Money" (1977) and "Life For The Taking" (1978) since they were released on Epic back in the day. I bought the US-only crappy 80's CDs of these titles years ago (Eddie Money CK 34909 and Life For The Taking CK 35598 - pictured above) and have been waiting for remasters ever since - in vain.

The reason I say this is that Columbia/Legacy's "Essential" series are all re-masters - as is this - it's just that it misses out badly on his first 2 and most beloved albums. Some in the series are double CDs for a budget price, so why oh why did they scrimp it on this - especially when fans have been bombarded with inferior 'Best Ofs' for years??

I've listed the tracks below and the albums they're off to show you what I mean and also help potential purchasers in knowing what's what:

1. Two Tickets To Paradise (Eddie Money, 1977)
2. Baby Hold On (Eddie Money, 1977)
3. Wanna be A Rock "N' Star (Eddie Money, 1977)
4. Gimme Some Water (Life For The Taking, 1978)
5. Get A Move On (Playing For Keeps, 1980)
6. Trinidad (Playing For Keeps, 1980)
7. Shakin' (No Control, 1982)
8. Think I'm In Love (No Control, 1982)
9. No Control (No Control, 1982)
10. Take Me Home Tonight (Can't Hold Back, 1986)
11. I Wanna Go Back (Can't Hold Back, 1986)
12. Walk On Water (Nothing To Lose, 1988)
13. I'll Get By (Right Here, 1991)
14. Peace In Our Time (Sound Of Mercy, 1989)
15. There Will Never Be Another You (Love & Money, 1995)

As you can see, the 2nd album is ill served with 1 track represented - when there was clearly room for 3 or 4 more! After his 3rd album "Playing For Keeps", I thought his writing went well off the boil. So we get 11 tracks from albums we don't really want, but only 4 from the first two that we do!

Still, what is to treasure on here is the sound - remastered in 2003 - these tracks sound 2 or 3 times better than the original CDs still being sold to this day.

I do wish Legacy would do expanded versions of "Eddie Money" and "Life For The Taking" - US fans in particular have been clamouring for them for years. They really do deserve Rock'n'Roll rediscovery.

To sum up, this is a great sounding re-mastered set for sure, but it's just such a shame that the disc wasn't filled up more fully.

"We'll Get Over" by THE STAPLE SINGERS. Their 2nd Album For Stax Records Is An Overlooked Late 6Ts Soul Gem.

"...When Will We Be Paid For The Work We've Done..."

"We'll Get Over" was the 2nd album for The Staple Singers on Stax Records in 1969. It was also moving ever closer to the soul/religious/commentary masterworks they were to later produce - "Staple Swingers", "Be Altitude: Respect Yourself", "Be What You Are" and "City In The Sky".

This PHIL De LANCIE CD remaster of "We'll Get Over" by THE STAPLE SINGERS actually dates from 1994 on Stax SCD 8532 2 (Barcode 025218853224) - which has in turn been re-issued a few times since. 

Here it’s a 2004 reissue on Ace/Stax SCD24 8532-2 (Barcode 090204925087) out of Europe - a 24-Bit Remaster housed in a card digipak replica of the album sleeve with a small booklet. The sound is punchy and live if not a little hissy in places and plays outs as follows (41:22 minutes):

1. We'll Get Over (written by Homer Banks, Bettye Crutcher and Raymond Jackson - Stax song team often referred to as "We Three")

2. Give A Damn (Spanky & Our Gang cover version)

3. Everyday People (Sly & The Family Stone cover version)

4. The End Of Our Road (Norman Whitfield, Roger Penzabene and Barrett Strong song - Gladys Knight & The Pips cover)

5. Tend To Your Own Business (Roebuck 'Pops' Staples)

6. Solon Bushi (Traditional Japanese Folk song cover version)

7. Challenge (as per track 1) [Side 2]

8. God Bless The Child (Billie Holiday cover version)

9. Games People Play (Joe South cover version)

10. A Wednesday In Your Garden (Guess Who cover version, written by Randy Bachman later of Bachman Turner Overdrive)

11. The Gardener (as per track 1)

12. When Will We Be Paid (For The Work We've Done) (written by Stewart and Randall)

Tracks 1 to 12 are their 2nd album for Stax Records "We’ll Get Over" - released June 1969 in the USA on Stax STS 2016 and November 1969 in the UK on Stax SXATS 1018.

BONUS TRACKS:

13.  Brand New Day - written by Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat & Tears for the United Artists movie "The Landlord” - US 7" single on Stax STA-0074, August 1970. Produced by Al Kooper - also plays Organ on the track

14.  Who Took The Merry Out Of Christmas - Parker and Deanie cover - USA 7" single on Stax STA-0084, November 1970

THE STAPLE SINGERS were:

Roebuck 'Pops' Staples On Guitar and Vocals

Mavis, Cleotha and Pervis Staples on Lead and Backing Vocals

The Band:

Steve Cropper on Guitar

Marvell Thomas on Keyboards

Donald "Duck" Dunn on Bass

Al Jackson, Jr. on Drums.

The band is most of Booker T. & The MG’s - Steve Copper also produced.

Recorded in February and April 1969 - as you can see the album is top heavy with cover versions (only "Tend To Your Own Business" is a Pops Staples original). But don't let that put you off - it's still got that magical Staples sound and songs chosen to convey their message of positivity and love.

Still transitioning away from decades of Gospel - Booker T's Steve Cropper gave them that edgy Soul sound they needed and highlights include the fabulous croak of Mavis as she sings "…chains and steel can't hold us down…" on the title track. Upbeat boppers like Spanky & Our Gang's "Give A Damn" and Sly & The Family Stone's "Everyday People" suited their beliefs - even if they did sound a little like a 5th Dimension knock-off.

There's fabulous Funk in "The End Of Our Road" - a stunning mix of brass jabs, guitar flicks and the family's combined vocals - Pops backing up his daughter as she sanctifies the painful words. The familiar guitar wobble of Pops Staples anchors "Tend To Your Own Business" as he begs busybodies to leave other people alone and those with hang-ups about colour to keep their racism zipped.

I'm not so sure the Japanese Traditional "Solon Bushi" was such a smart choice - nice idea but a 'hai hai' that's hard to listen to now many decades later. Far better is the pure Stax dancer Funk of "The Challenge" where building missiles and heart transplants are all very well - but can the American government cure one heart of hate or end the poverty inflicted on the ordinary people. Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Children" is turned into something beautiful by Mavis's pleading and heartfelt vocals offset against a genuinely lovely soulful arrangement. But my real poison on here is the Homer Banks, Bettye Crutcher and Raymond Jackson original "The Gardner" - a gorgeous message song and a genuine Soul highlight on a forgotten and underrated album. "When Will Be Paid For The Work We Did" is the same – a social consciousness song that rightly demands monetary equality for a culture systematically stripped of its dignity and worth...

A great little record and cool CD reissue. Their entire Stax catalogue is fab frankly - and for me - never dates. Investigate and enjoy…

" Off The Black". A little indie film with a major heart.

A couple of shades short of a masterpiece, "Off The Black" is nonetheless a superb debut from a new director.

Notle is a Baseball Umpire - a 57-year old drunk by night barely holding it together on the field by day. At the very beginning of the movie, Nolte makes what most of the town considers to be a bad call on the pitch of a minor Leagues game about a young baseball hopefull played by Trevor Morgan (looks like the son of Sean Penn and Elizabeth Hurley). This bad decision by Nolte's charcater changes both of their lives. In revenge, Morgan and two of his mouthy team mates shower Nolte's home with loo rolls, spray paint his driveway with a "dick" drawing, brake his car window etc. But young baraclaved Morgan gets caught in the act by a boozed-up Nolte. Nolte says that he'll have to clean up the mess. Morgan's character David - being essentially a nice kid - agrees - and over the next few days, they enter into an unexpected and unlikely bond - David slowly becomes the son loser Nolte never had.

While this is going on, David's real father, Timothy Hutton, offers little help to either him or his lost little sister at home. David's sister is played by Sonia Feigelson who looks like a young Natalie Portman, just as beautiful and an actress that's definitely one to watch. Hutton's character is a man who's lost his wife two years back for inexplicable reasons (possibly mental illness, maybe drink) and seems to have mentally checked-out ever since. He offers his kids mumbles at the breakfast table, distant platitudes that have no teeth. He seems more lost in his own way than Nolte's character is - and gives the two kids worry instead of real guidance when they need it the most. Both the young Morgan and Kirkland are fantastic in these scenes - displaying a confidence and calm in the presence of such big hitters as Nolte and Hutton.

Nolte gets a diagnosis from his doctor that is unsurprising given that he has a cold tin in his hand for most of the movie. There isn't much time left. Nolte thens gets his annual high-school reunion of '66 invitation in the post which he would normally bin, but not this year. He persuades young David to accompany him to the reunion - pretending to be his son - the boy agrees. And so the story goes.

"Off The Black" is a Baseball term - it's the Umpire's call - and his call sends the Pitcher who threw the ball either into the ecstasy of winning or the misery of losing for his whole team. It's a film that has little real story but says a lot - and contains scene-stealing performances from the whole cast (most of whom are young) but especially from the gruff and growly Nolte - who could just stand there and you'd still love him!

Well worth checking out - and destined I suspect - to become a cult classic.

"After The Wedding". A Review Of The Danish Film Masterpiece Now On DVD.

I'm being spoiled. First I see the beautiful, mature and delightful Mira Nair film "The Namesake" and now this peach! What's going on!!

"After The Wedding" has a central performance from Mads Mikkelsen (the facially scared card-playing La Chiffre in the superb "Casino Royale") that is both riveting and Oscar worthy. He's the kind of actor who can just stand there and whole worlds are expressed in his strangely compelling face - an instrument I'm sure the director knew would have us hooked right from the get go. When Mads smiles, you smile, when he hurts - you hurt. When he's on screen, he's riveting, like say Gary Oldman is. And I can imagine, many women wouldn't mind looking at him either - long after the two hours of this is up!

It's foreign language (dubbed) and opens with Mads (Jakob) in an Indian orphanage where he is distributing food from a truck, giving lessons in English in a shed of a building and generally holding it all together. But as always - lack of funds threathen imminent closure and the destitute children will be evicted out onto the harsh streets. He gets a phonecall from Denmark from Jorgen (Rolf Lassgard playing a millionaire businessman) with an offer of untold millions that will keep his orphanage open and indeed even help others. He seems reluctant to go and get this gift horse, but he has to. Jakob promises the adoring children that he'll be back within a week and he won't let them down. But things change when he gets there.

Forced to socialise with the man who holds the all-important purse strings, he attends the well-heeled society wedding of Anna (Jorgen's daughter) and to his astonishment, Jakob recognises Jorgen's wife - and she him - there's been history between them. Without giving too much plot away - Jakob makes a staggering and life-changing discovery and also, slowly but surely, begins to understand Jorgen's interest in wanting him back in Denmark.

This is about family, loved ones, the preciousness of our kids, betrayal, bad mistakes made in the past, another chance given to redeem them now - all the best stuff - and although some of the performances are at times slightly 'over-the-top' - the movie has heart - and you root for these people all the way to the end.

The cast is uniformly excellent - especially Mikkelson and Lassgard - who's rivalry and shared loves are beautifully and realistically handled. There were many scenes where tears willingly plopped out of my weary goggleboxes. And there's superb complimentary music too.

I loved this film - I really did. And I hope it will get the vast audience it deserves. Put it high on your rental lists.

PS: see also seperate review for "The Namesake" - in my top twenty with a bullet

"Seraphim Falls". A Review Of The Movie On BLU RAY.

“…Let Him Bleed…”

Both Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson have been putting in superb performances in their last few movies, and the first pairing of them in "Seraphim Falls" is proof that both are now genuine class acts - only getting better with age and skill. Brosnan is a revelation in Seraphim Falls (as he was in “The Matador”) just as Neeson was in “Batman Returns”, “Kingdom Of Heaven”, and especially his Oscar-winning turn in “Kinsey”. In their latter years, each has acquired a grizzly realism that is serving them both well and their choices in movies.

The story is fairly simple - two ex Civil War soldiers of varying rank are locked into a Frontier manhunt in 1868. The relentless pursuance takes them from the snowy slopes of Ruby Mountain down through freezing rivers and into open pilgrim-filled ranges. It continues through homesteads and finally to a desert area that in many ways resembles both of them - arid, empty, drained and dry. Brosnan is the hunted and Neeson the pursuer, but we only find out as the movie slowly moves on, ‘why' Neeson’s character Carver is so obsessed with hunting Brosnan's character Gideon - and not just killing him either - but making him bleed and hurt as much as possible (dialogue above). It's essentially a cowboy chase movie, but done with such style and intelligence, that it grips you for the first hour like a Terminator that just won't stop. The support cast is all uniformly excellent too, but it's the two leads that hold it together.

The cinematography is spectacular and the look and dialogue just right. But it's let down as some reviewers have quite rightly pointed out by an odd last twenty minutes - that in many ways spoils the great journey you just made with these two essentially good men locked into the horrible aftermath of war. Very old fashioned in ways, but hugely enjoyable - I'm reminded of "Jeremiah Johnson" from 1971 with Robert Redford and "Black Robe" from 1991 by director Bruce Beresford (Tender Mercies and Breaker Morant) - two fantastic frontier 'story' films that are rarely seen, but worth every second of your time seeking them out.

The BLU RAY is now only a fiver new on Amazon - which is some kind of bargain on a format that isn’t exactly chockers with them. As you can imagine the image is superb and adds a great deal to your enjoyment of the movie. The BLU RAY also carries over the short but informative “Making Of” from the original DVD issue – it has interviews with all the principal leads – clearly enjoying themselves and drawn by a good script and great locations. There’s an audio commentary with Pierce and Director David Von Ancken and Production Designer Michael Hanan. Subtitles are in English for the Hard-Of-Hearing only. But it’s the driving story and picture quality that will keep you coming back.

Having sat through some truly appalling films of late, “Seraphim Falls” was like a breath of fresh air to me - and I wish I'd seen at the movies.

Recommended.

"Venus" - 2006 Film on DVDStarring Peter O'Toole, Judie Whittaker, Leslie Phillips and Richard Griffiths - A Review by Mark Barry...

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Venus - 2006 Film Now On DVD

"You've been loved Morris. You've been adored." 

"Yes. So have you Ian. You just didn't always notice it!"

This could have a groan to watch, even pervy (it actually is in places) but it's still an absolute gem.

While Peter O'Toole grabs the lion's share of attention, there are many other reasons why this so works. One of them is a stunning turn from Leslie Phillips who up until now has been all but a National joke in Britain (in the nicest way - he's been acting since the Fifties in light-hearted and often bawdy British comedies). The two together are never anything less than brilliant. Phillips knows he's up against real acting talent, but every time he matches it with his most brilliant and layered performance ever. And he's subtle too. Their scenes together are worth their weight in gold.

Part of the reason is the fantastically funny, observational and touching script from Hanif Kureish, which should have pulled a statue. There's a scene where two nurses are chatting over Peter O'Toole - one sticking a needle in his arm in some god-forsaken National Health Service room - and they just don't see him - he might as well not be there - why - because he's old - and therefore doesn't count anymore. It immediately cuts to him in the next scene at home - head lowered - sat on the side of a bed - hurting at the realization of his aged fate. Then he slaps his own face three times and tells himself to "get up you old fu**er" and get on with life! O'Toole can suggest so much with even a glance. Both scenes are crushingly sad, but say so much by using so little. It's fantastic writing.

There's another scene with Richard Griffiths (superb British actor who played Uncle Monty in Withnail & I) and Leslie Phillips; they're in a London cafe the three dotty curmudgeons frequent, when Phillips bemoans the fact that his new girl lodger Jessie (played by Judie Whittaker - dubbed "Venus" by O'Toole after visiting the famous painting in The National Gallery) has drunk all his best booze and eaten him out of house and home. He's frantic. The two boys react - not with sympathy and tea - but by relentlessly taking the piss out of his overreaction! It's just hysterically funny, well paced and packed full of wisdoms.

Maurice's (O'Toole) reaction to Venus is entirely different. Venus (played by a lovely Jodie Whittaker) is all short skirts and piss 'n' vinegar. She's a Northern gob on her that knows no subtlety - and while she may be crude compared to his gentrified sophistication, she of course represents life, youth - woman. And for a man who's been in love with women from the moment he could ditch his nappy and chase them down the street - Venus is irresistible. Their romance at-a-distance is slowly boiled and admittedly at times, it seems highly unlikely. But the wildly different actors play it so well together - you do believe it. There are slightly pervy moments as I said and awkward scenes where he can't help himself and gets physical, and she calls him "forward". But he is - as a man - dying - and he can't stand it. He has so much to give still, if only someone will stop looking at him as old, and instead see him as a viable human being. It's all beautifully handled, insightful and ballsy - because these things should be/need to be said and addressed.

The music is provided by the lovely Corrine Bailey Rae, a British soul singer (like a softer version of Tracy Chapman meets Mica Paris) - soulful songs and strumming moments pepper the nicely used London locations. Later scenes with his long-suffering wife Vanessa Redgrave are genuinely touching too - another great actress adding class to an already classy project.

There are times when O'Toole looks ill, that this maybe his last role, but then that voice comes through, or he does an "act-or's turn", or he smiles at Leslie Phillips and hugs him - and lifetimes of friendship come through. In another scene Phillips' character Ian says as they sip whiskey in a gentleman's club reminiscing on their pasts, "I love this horrible place. It reminds me, of what I wanted to become." He admires Maurice and is jealous of him, but can say it without fear, because they're real friends. Sipping whiskey and clipping toenails!

Of course the central relationship between Maurice & Jessie goes to crap and a series of events threaten to wreck it. We're not looking at traditional happy endings here, but compromises - as all living is. It ends as it began - on a beach - with the waves of the free sea lapping on the shore - fresh and untamable.

I loved this film. Please don't let the subject matter put you off. In one particularly touching scene, O'Toole's character Maurice, quotes Shakespeare to Venus - and to finish this review - so shall I.

"So long as men shall live and eyes shall see...

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee".

Put this movie high on your rental/to buy list.

"Heaven Can Wait". A Review Of The 1942 Original Film Now On One Of 20th Century Fox's "Studio Classics" DVD Reissues.

This is part of 20th Century Fox's "Studio Classics" series (Number 79 in a series of over 130 titles) and unlike so many films with the word classic on the front of their boxes - this actually is a 'classic' - and worth owning. Directed by the witty Ernst Lubitsch, it was Nominated for Best Movie and Best Director in 1943 and was a technological marvel for its time.

First thing you notice is the gorgeous Technicolour Print which has to have been restored to look this good. Then the actors - a very young Don Ameche as the feckless, naive and essentially harmless rich boy - Henry Van Cleve - a man who physically shrinks into his immaculate tuxedo at the mere sound of the "w" word - work! Ameche is probably most famous for the Cocoon movies as an old man - he had a face you didn't forget and instantly warmed to - young or old. His family has the doting mum, stiff-upper-lip father (equally as useless as his son) and the grouchy old grandfather who provides very funny ballsy lines when they fuss over junior. Throw into the mix the beautiful Gene Tierney; Henry sees her once on a phonecall, falls in love, only to find that she is engaged to Henry's brother (the worst fop of all). All of this is told in flashback.

Ameche arrives on screen descending a stairs into a beautiful and huge office where a dapper Satan sits behind his desk taking notes on souls (a wonderfully suave Laird Cregar). Ameche explains that he's been a terrible man up above and has led an appaling life (both assessments are of course nonsense) and that he is unsurpised that he's arrived in Hell. Satan asks for his story - just to be sure - which proves the opposite - that Henry's innocent and has always had a deep love for Tierney - you can guess the celestial rest.

This is a wonderful movie - soppy in places - coy even by today's standards - but at £4 or so - well worth a look in.

From this I suggest you make a beeline to "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir" to see just how extraordinarily beautiful Gene Tierney truly was - and what a screen presence.

"Evil Woman" or "Saving Silverman" on DVD. A Review Of The Film With Two Names.

"Don't Make Me Take Away Your Masturbation Privileges!!"

Called "Saving Silverman" in the USA (Region 1) and "Evil Woman" in Europe (Region 2) - this is the kind of nerdy boy/girl gigglefest the Hollywood machine churns out for the Multiplex/Farrelly Brothers marketplace. So why should you bother with it all? Because it's so much better than that. It really is...

From start to finish - this is consistently funny with 4 great leads working with genuinely witty one-liners and ball-breakingly funny scenes. The three boys all went on to be huge of course, and Amanda Peet has some fantastic lines as the controlling monster girl from Hell (including the title of this review). She went on to put in fantastic work on Aaron Sorkin's TV series "Studio 60 on Sunset Strip". Throw in Neil Diamond in a fab cameo and you have a comedic peach that slipped through the net.

When I think of the number of films that I'm told are funny as opposed to this one that actually is - I wonder why it's gone unnoticed - or why someone decided to give it such a crap name and sleeve here in the UK - both guaranteed to make you ignore it.

Hire it - or buy it for cheap - it's great fun. I highly recommend it as a wet-afternoon pick-me-up.

If you liked this - try also "Death To Smoochy" starring Robin Williams and Edward Norton - another irreverent peach that passed most by.