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DVD The Company
An elegant portrait of artists in the act of creation, The Company is also a ballet lover's dream come true. While this intimate study of the onstage and backstage world of dance may appeal to a limited audience with its casually plotless structure, it's still a unique, accomplished film by one of the greatest American directors. As critic Roger Ebert observed, Robert Altman's film is also an autobiographical reflection of Altman's working methods, in which an ensemble (in this case, Neve Campbell and the dancers of Chicago's celebrated Joffrey Ballet Company) is casually choreographed in an atmosphere of spontaneity that's both dramatically charged and effortlessly authentic. A classically trained dancer, Campbell also coproduced the film, and stars with James Franco (as her easygoing boyfriend) and Malcolm McDowell as the Joffrey's delightfully diva-like artistic director. Featuring stellar performances of the Joffrey's best-known dances, this soothing, hypnotic film is devoid of conventional dialogue, and yet Barbara Turner's screenplay provides a precise roadmap for Altman's masterful choreography of dance, music, and human interaction. --Jeff Shannon
If you see the trailer for this movie...STOP THERE. The trailer was by far the best part. As a dancer (for 25 years), I expected more from such an artistic cast. This movie had no plot, no direction and it didn't make much sense. It was almost like a "behind the scenes" turned into film. The dancing was beautiful, but that's it. It should be labeled as a documentary of the Joffery Ballet.
Real artists, real Art...
When you consider the shoot 'em up trash that seems to dominate the box office, it is sad to reflect on the relatively poor financial performance of this beautifully crafted movie.
This is Neve Campbell's finest hour and as Malcolm McDowell said in one of the many superb interviews, if you can get Robert Altman on board, you have to be taken seriously. Likewise, to get a master such as McDowell, you have to have a very credible idea and a great deal of talent and passion. Neve has it all.
While the film is a virtual documentary snapshot of a period in the Joffrey's life, it is very coherent and organic, and avoids the pitfalls of some of the more pretentious, non-linear Art movies. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. Not everybody is a Cocteau or a Warhol.
I liked the fact that the story is relatively non-hierarchical, and that Neve wasn't up on a pedestal. This works beautifully because it captures the cameraderie that exists in all good ballet/theater companies.
I would like to have seen a little more of Malcolm McDowell's character, as he is a joy to behold in the way he fully becomes the character, as all good actors do, Neve included. The soundtrack is as exquisite as the many brilliant dance sequences, and the Special Features are wonderful.
Very highly recommended.
The Company
The story is very lightweight, but the dancing is great. Matthew McDowell chews scenery with the best of them!
Mikhail Baryshnikov made his film debut in this lightweight but entertaining drama about the relationship between a renowned ballerina (Anne Bancroft) and the woman (Shirley MacLaine) who had trained with her but had given up dance to become a wife, mother, and teacher. Between MacLaine's envy over her friend's career and the attention her own ballerina daughter (Leslie Browne) is getting, MacLaine's character goes through a complicated crisis. The two actresses carry the story very well and probably camouflage its thinness; they even make a somewhat condescending climax involving a catfight seem like a good idea. A subplot involving a developing romance between the virginal Browne and Baryshnikov's womanizer makes for pretty window dressing. More memorable are dance sequences featuring... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Shirley MacLaine - Anne Bancroft - Mikhail Baryshnikov Director(s): Herbert Ross DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The primary appeal of dance movies is the dancing, with some added emphasis on the romance the art expresses. Center Stage wins on these counts, despite its reveling in overly familiar characters and formula plotting. Or maybe this reveling is responsible for what goofy fun this film is. The arduous task of becoming a professional ballet dancer is incarnated by many good-looking teens, all stock dance-film characters affectionately portrayed mostly by newcomers. But center stage holds Jody Sawyer (Amanda Schull), who may never be a great ballerina, but she's certainly one sexy jazz dancer. Then there's the arrogant genius (Ethan Stiefel), the dictatorial impresario (Peter Gallagher), the demanding instructor, the bulimic, the stage mother, etc. As we follow these characters, the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Amanda Schull - Ethan Stiefel - Sascha Radetsky Director(s): Nicholas Hytner DVD Release Date: Released the 08 May 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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hi yes i read the book of this movie two times and i cryed it was very good book and i did not put it down at all and then when i heard that is going to a movie i was so happy and then it never came at here and i was sad beacuse i wanted to see it and all then i want on line and saw that it was coming to dvd i was happy agian and now i cant want and i hope the dvd is in widescreen it well be cool well thats all thanks. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Peter Gilbert DVD Release Date: Released the 03 August 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Annette Bening's outstanding performance is the best reason to see Being Julia, a highly melodramatic adaptation of the 1937 novel Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham. With a prestigious pedigree (director Istvan Szabo and screenwriter Ronald Harwood share impressive theatrical backgrounds) and a stellar cast including Jeremy Irons, Bruce Greenwood, and Juliet Stevenson, the film's backstage and onstage theatrics take place in pre-World War II London, when the venerable actress Julia (Bening) fends off middle-age by romancing a stage-struck young American (Shaun Evans) in a calculated attempt to retain some youthful vitality while airing her own dirty laundry onstage in a glorious act of divine diva behavior. Treating life and theater as one big play in which she's the perpetual... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Michael Gambon - Annette Bening - Jeremy Irons Director(s): István Szabó DVD Release Date: Released the 22 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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