Hanson - Underneath Acoustic Live

Amazon.com

The fiercely independent Hanson--brothers Isaac, Taylor, and Zac--continue to plot their own course on the jangly pop blowout Hanson: Underneath Acoustic Live, just as they've been doing since the 1990s by releasing albums on their own label and selling out concerts via their Website. Live, taped in the fall of 2003, finds Hanson bringing reworked material from their third major release, Underneath, directly to fans. Sticking with acoustic guitars, piano, drums, and miscellaneous percussion, these boys-to-men continue to show flashes of a pop grandeur that may yet develop into a timeless rock & roll legacy. The fervent openers "Strong Enough to Break" and "River" are quickly supplanted by the stronger "Rock 'n Roll Razorblade," the soulful plaint "When You're Gone," and Taylor's gorgeously tormented, solo vocal and ornate piano on "Crazy Beautiful." Two covers, "Teach Your Children" and "Ain't No Sunshine," are extraordinary, while "Penny and Me" hints at great things to come. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

you'll get more than your money's worth..........2007-07-23

This is the longest concert I"ve ever seen or heard of!! Good thing it's chock full of a great variety of great music, performed so well and sang so beautifully by the one and only Hanson bros! The fact that it's acoustic only accentuates their amazing harmonies. They put so much heart into it that it becomes more than just good songs; they just utterly amaze me with their humongous talent.

Fabulous for the music set.......2006-03-05

A far cry from the "pop acts" of today,this Concert DVD is a great look into why the Hanson brothers have managed to keep their fan base alive and wanting more. The songwriting reflects their maturity about life and music without alienating their (we all know they're there) younger fans. They show range of musical talent as all three brothers perform alone and/or on different instruments. Another great quality to their show are the true covers (Crosby Stills & Nash for example) showcasing their musical influences. A great pop band, that will surely stand the test of time. I would recommend for Hanson fans AS WELL AS fans of good pop music. Keep it up boys!

talent!.......2006-01-15

Hanson is one of the misunderstood bands around right now! If all you can think of is ommmbop then your definatly missing out! Hanson have, in effect, stuck two fingers up at an increasing fake and manufactured industry and produced some brilliantly well-crafted music. Their stage shows are raw and uncontrived. Of particular note here is Taylors beautiful "Crazy/Beautiful" and Issac's cover of "Ain't no Sunshine" which perfectly showcases his wonderful voice. I'm no teeny-bopper but I know good music when i see it!

Great gift for international fans.......2005-09-01

As a Hanson fan who has never been to a concert (I live outside of the U.S and Europe) these live DVDs are the only way that I could see Hanson play live. 'Underneath Acoustic Live' highlights the sheer talent of the three brothers, with no cheesy dance moves(i.e BSB),special affects, terrible dancing (i.e Britney Spears)and over-the-top outfits. It's just three very talented guys playing awesome music!

Special highlights include:Teach Your Children,Deeper, Underneath,The Walk and Crazy Beautiful. In fact,all of the songs are amazing on the DVD. The short interview and documentary trailer were well worth the retail price alone for the DVD. Can't wait for the documentary!

Now I'm not your typical teenybopper'oh my god, Hanson is hot!' type of fan. I really enjoy their music and I really hope they continue to make more music and live DVDs so that their international fans (who live in the far regions of the earth lol!)can enjoy their music. It's so refreshing to hear good music for a change instead of the crap they play on the radio.

For all you fans out there, BUY THIS DVD!! As Taylor's shirt on the DVD says 'THE MUSIC LIVES'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Completly Blown Away.......2005-08-01

This DVD is amazing! I have never had the opportunity to go to a Hanson concert but if this is what they are like then I can't wait to go to one in the future. The set list is wonderfully long and so the enjoyment goes on for over an hour. The concert is full of energy and it shows the talents of Isaac, Taylor, and Zac. They ROCK acousticly! Each brother has their own solo which showcases their individual talents which, when brought together, create an awsome band! The venue at which this concert was filmed, the Chicago House of Blues, is beatiful with operatic balconies and incredible lighting which does not detract from the show.
The DVD also has a preview of the much anticipated documentary show the struggle and perseverance of a band trying to make the album UNDERNEATH. Undeneath Acoustic Live is the best Hanson video released and is certainly worth the investment. BUY it today and be prepared for one of the best, original, and genuine concerts you'll EVER see.

Average customer rating:

underrated classic from director soderburgh......
The underneath: naked mistakes
An Underrated Early Soderbergh Film
A Suspenseful, Moody New Noir - Good Flick But Underrated!
Great non-mainstream film

The Underneath
Starring: Peter Gallagher , Alison Elliott , William Fichtner , Adam Trese , and Joe Don Baker
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Neo-Noir | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: 0783229623
Release Date: 1998-11-17

Amazon.com

Whereas most movie remakes are straightforward updates of older (and usually better) movies, this 1994 crime drama tries to revitalize an old story with a few tricks of its own. Using the 1949 film noir thriller Criss Cross as his primary inspiration, director Steven Soderbergh takes a different, stylistically adventurous approach to the story of a habitual screwup (Peter Gallagher) who returns to Austin, Texas, for his mother's wedding and tries to pick up where he left off. He left a lot of people angry at him, including his abandoned wife (Alison Elliott) and some book-makers looking for payment on old debts. He concocts a robbery scheme after taking a job with an armored car company, and from that point forward Underneath lives up to its title, using multiple flashbacks to relay the story of a man who slips below the border of propriety and gets himself into all kinds of trouble. Although it's too low-key to generate consistent excitement, the movie draws you in with its intriguing plot and characters, and the flashback structure keeps you guessing about what will happen next. Not a great film by any means, but in hindsight it can be viewed as valuable preparation for Soderbergh's highly underrated 1998 thriller Out of Sight. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

underrated classic from director soderburgh.............2006-03-06

style over substance wins out at the end of this classic, but the performances are excellent and easily overcomes this problem. a remake of "criss cross", this is twist upon backstabbing twist until finally everbody is turning secretly against each other. mind you, it is slowmoving yet atmospheric.
it seduces you into its neon lit world and brings into one hell of a story. confusing at times since it flashbacks from past to present continously, it always manages to stay intense. alison elliott is amazing as the coldhearted, icy girlfriend. ["The Spitfire Grill" is another film starred in, also a good movie].

The underneath: naked mistakes.......2005-04-07

As the film opens, Michael Chambers is returning home to Austin, Texas where his widowed mother is about to remarry. He seems weary, uneasy and at a weird, guarded simmer; but, then, so does everyone else--none of whom is particularly happy to see him. As we piece together his past, we eventually learn that Michael had been a gambler, had placed bets he couldn't cover and when it came time to pay, had left town, his wife and his family. Home again, Michael tries to sit quiet and impassive about the house until a swell of memories force him to see his former wife, Rachel. He does so in the worst of all possible settings--the club owned by her boyfriend and menace-incarnate, Tommy Dundee. Tommy is immediately suspicious and instantly scary. It isn't long before he finds them in what he seems to want to be a confirmation of his suspicions, a position of deadly compromise. But Michael, in an attempt to divert Tommy's murderous desire for closure, suggests there's another and real reason for their tryst--an armored car heist. If you were watching closely in other and earlier scenes, you probably saw that possibility--but though it was surely inactionable, a mere veleity: Michael's father-in-law got him a job with an armored car company, and a girl he met on the bus ride to Austin just happens to work at bank where he inadvertently spies a vendor's number--a kind of "open sesame" as it were. It seems so naked a mistake, so obviously unfortunate a coincidence. But then that's the stuff of film noir--there's a kind of invisible gun at your back that steers you round every wrong turn. And when trouble stands in the way, you walk straight at it.--So, Michael just steers it through--affects a partnership with an obvious sociopath for whom there is, of course, no partnership and affects that partnership for the love of a woman whose love is colored by the trouble he once left her with. I won't reveal much more than that--but the heist, the aftermath and final twist place this film squarely in the tradition of classic film noir. As does the style of the film. It is told in a non-sequential suite of scenes-past, present and future-out of which the viewer gradually assembles the narrative. The use of muted color schemes and wholly monochromatic sequences are the color equivalent of the anti-traditional lighting effects characterizing the noir photographic style. It creates a closed universe in which actors and setting are given equal emphasis, and sets a dark, fatalistic mood as the setting seems forever unaffected by the fate--inevitably bad--of the principal characters.

An Underrated Early Soderbergh Film.......2005-03-17

I watched "Underneath" again last evening. What a great, truly underrated film.

Michael Chambers (Peter Gallagher) is the black sheep of his family. He returns home to Austin, Texas, for his mother's wedding to her boyfriend, Ed Dutton (Paul Dooley). Ed is a driver for an armored car service and thinks that his boss, Clay (Joe Don Baker) might just have a job for him. Michael immediately runs into his old girlfriend, Rachel (Allison Elliot). Rachel has hooked up with a bar owner, Tommy Dundee (William Fichtner). The old attraction between Michael and Rachel builds to an inferno, but she marries Tommy, complicating things. Nonetheless, they continue to meet and are quickly found out by Tommy. Michael hatches a plan.

"Underneath" was directed by Steven Soderbergh and was virtually ignored by American filmmakers. In fact, most of Soderbergh's films after his debut, "sex, lies and videotape", until the more recent "Erin Brockovich:, have been financial failures. Why is this? During this time, Soderbergh created three truly wonderful films. He followed "sex, lies" with "Kafka", a mixed bag. Then he directed "King Of The Hill", an amazing film about a young boy during the Depression. This is a truly great film that you have not seen. You should. It is impossible to write about the film and do it any justice. He followed "King" with "Underneath", a homage to film noir. More on that in a moment. Two more films and then he directed "Out of Sight" starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. This film contains one of the sexiest performances from a couple to grace a film in a long time. I think the main reason this film did not enjoy more success can be contributed to the "cubist filmmaking" Soderbergh employs in the film. He mixes segments from different timelines, starting scenes before others are completed. This actually creates a great, very enjoyable caper film based on an Elmore Leonard novel. "The Limey" followed "Out of Sight". "The Limey" stars Terence Stamp in an electrifying performance. A tribute to the hard boiled crime films of the 60s and early 70s, the film didn't find a large audience, again, I think because audiences were not ready for the cubist filmmaking. Soderbergh toned things down a bit for "Erin Brockovich", creating his most successful film to date. He provided Julia Roberts with the role that may well earn her an Academy Award in March. It is a great film told in a more linear, straight forward style. I have very high hopes for his next film, "Traffic", starring Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta- Jones, and the upcoming "Oceans 11", a remake starring a plethora of Hollywood stars.

"Underneath" tells a very familiar story, particularly if you are familiar with Film Noir. Film Noir is a style of film that enjoyed popularity in the 40s and early 50s, distinguished by black and white film, use of dark shadows and a story that usually featured a former convict trying to go straight with some difficulty. "Underneath" is a film shot in color, but where most Noir films used black and white to great advantage, Soderbergh creates his own form of Noir with color. The entire film is marked with primary color hues that serves the same purpose as dark shadows, shadows of venetian blinds, etc. Many scenes are washed in a green hue, which is actually very natural. These scenes seem to indicate a form of conflict or danger. Other scenes are washed in blue, creating a form of warning. It is a truly remarkable pallet that helps the filmmaker create a world all his own.

The DVD that I saw has virtually no extras, not even a commentary by Soderbergh. What it does have is an absolutely essential demonstration of the differences between `pan and scan' and `letterbox'. Most films you watch on video are in the pan and scan format, to fill your entire television screen. However, to fit a rectangular silver screen image to a square television, they have to cut out a significant portion of the image. They show a stunning sequence from the film in both formats. The letterboxed image retains the visual impact of the scene, while the pan and scan merely looks like every other film you have ever scene.

Another element of a lot of Film Noir is the use of various visual techniques to demonstrate various elements of the story. In "Shadow of A Doubt", there is a confrontation between Charlie and her Uncle on a porch. Hitchcock uses shadows from the porch light to indicate the good and bad state of each character. In "Underneath", Soderbergh creates a very similar visual dynamic. There is an early scene, upon Michael's return home. He is eating a meal with his mom, Ed and his brother, David. David is a cop that knows what his brother is like and doesn't trust him. He is also jealous that their mom clearly seems to adore Michael, even though David is the better, more reliable son. Ed is too new to the family to have an opinion. As the conversation progresses, each shot shows Michael and the person he is talking to. Each person is shown from the front, but Michael's framing depends on his relationship with them. His face is turned away from his brother's, towards his mother's and side to side with Ed's. It is a very effective visual tool that Soderbergh uses again.

The first two acts of "Underneath" actually tell three stories in a shifting timeline. Michael returns home, Michael's job at the armored car company and the events leading up to Michael leaving town are all depicted at various points, to illustrate the story leading to the third act.

Again, "Underneath" is a very underrated film, worthy of your rental dollars. I would also suggest that you try out "King of the Hill" and "The Limey".

A Suspenseful, Moody New Noir - Good Flick But Underrated!.......2004-07-22

"The Underneath" is new noir, with a moody feel, that has been relatively underrated. I think it is a hidden gem. Steven Soderbergh wrote and directed this 1995 thriller based on the novel by Don Tracy and the 1949 film "Criss Cross." I actually like Soderbergh's version more, which is unusual. I ordinarily go for the original. The focus here is more on the characters and their development than on the action. The use of flashbacks within flashbacks is very effective, which is fortunate because that's how the plot unfolds. And Soderbergh has added some new, interesting twists and turns.

Michael Chambers, (Peter Gallagher), a compulsive gambler, returns to his home in Austin, Texas, after an absence of several years, for his widowed mother's wedding. Michael left town super fast, owing several bookies lots of loot, his beloved live-in girlfriend Rachel, (Alison Elliot), in the lurch, his somewhat psycho brother David, (Adam Trese), hating him, and his mother, who had always adored him and preferred him over his brother - well, still adoring him. Some incentive for brotherly love!

Mom welcomes the supposedly reformed Michael with open arms and a tear in her eye. Mom's husband-to-be is a good guy who works for an armored car company which picks up millions of dollars from banks each week. He kindly offers to help Michael get a job as an armored car driver, if he wants to stay in Austin. Michael see Rachael again and sparks fly. Rachael, however, has a new steady guy, small time gangster Tommy Dundee, (William Fichtner), who has a really evil look about him. When Tommy realizes there is a growing reattachment between his lady and the former gambler, he threatens serious violence. To cover-up the relationship, Michael proposes to work a bank heist with Tommy, which runs into all kinds of complications. My main issue with the suggestion that Michael has reformed, is that the robbery idea was just waiting there, on the tip of his tongue, to be acted on with the biggest hood in town. So, how much could he have changed?

The film has three timelines. The distant past, before Michael left Austin. He wears a beard in this time zone and we get to see him destroy his life betting on college football. In the present, he is clean shaven, and during the heist the film is shot with a green tinge, like a night vision lense.

The performances are all quite good. However, the major villain, Mr. Dundee, is right out of type casting and is pretty one-dimensional. The storyline is intriguing, suspenseful and the ending is a surprise. Overall, this is a highly entertaining film about a self-destructive guy.
JANA

Great non-mainstream film.......2002-09-05

I usually don't watch suspense movies over and over again, but this one does.
The main character, played by Peter Gallagher, has serious integrity issues and a shady past, but you wouldn't know by his charm. He is a drifter running out of second chances, what will happen next? Will he give into temptation again? Has he finally met his match?
Watch and it a see

Charlie Rose with Charles Fried, Noah Feldman, John Yoo, David Lat & Evan Thomas (January 10,2006)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Charles Fried, Noah Feldman, John Yoo, David Lat & Evan Thomas (January 10,2006)

Manufacturer: "Charlie Rose, Inc."
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Description

Coverage of the Samuel Alito Senate Confirmation Hearings with: Charlie's Fried, former US Solicitor General/Harvard Law School; Noah Feldman, School of Law, NYU; John Yoo, School of Law, UC Berkeley; David Lat, Former Federal Prosecutor and author of the blog Underneath Their Robes; and Evan Thomas, Assistant Managing Editor, Newsweek.

Average customer rating:

The Underneath/Village of the Damned
Starring: Joe Don Baker , Randall Brady , Anjanette Comer , Paul Dooley , and Shelley Duvall
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( U ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00005LC4S
Release Date: 2001-08-28

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