It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.
The itinerant musician Lampluche, having found a musical score on the banks of a river and a full wallet, was taken to the neighboring town for the famous composer Maxence Leroy. The inhabitants of the small town only dream of music, so Lampluche is very well received. But Maxence Leroy arrives in the city.
A taxi driver participates in a singing contest of a radio station for non-professionals and enters the final round. Being among the finalists he meets at the radio station a famous singer and falls in love with her.
From the Italian 'saltare in banco' – which literally means 'to jump on a bench' – Saltimbanco explores the urban experience in all its myriad forms. Between whirlwind and lull, prowess and poetry, it takes spectators on an allegorical and acrobatic journey into the heart and soul of the modern city.
Following a childhood tragedy, Dewey Cox follows a long and winding road to music stardom. Dewey perseveres through changing musical styles, an addiction to nearly every drug known and bouts of uncontrollable rage.
A newly discovered treasure trove of tapes from Studio 17, or Randy's located in downtown Kingston Jamaica, is the starting point for this remarkable story about a Chinese Jamaican family who helped create the music we now know as reggae.
From a mind unlike any other, Biophilia Live chronicles the multidimensional concert centered on the eighth studio album of avant-garde Icelandic artist Björk. Nick Fenton and Peter Strickland, unique voices in their own right, film Björk live in performance and punctuate her music with evocative animation and science and nature footage. The infinitely creative journey presents a culmination of work that represents one of the most original musical endeavors of a generation.
Set in Rome, Italy, Roman Holiday portrays the fleeting love of Princess Ann and newspaper reporter Joe amidst a tour of several European countries. Starring the famous Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, this film quickly rose to stardom and won three Academy awards. While the film premiered over half a century ago, it is still loved by people around the world. This timeless masterpiece will be rendered into a musical, starring Sagiri Seina and Sakihi Miyu of Snow Troupe. Please enjoy this heartwarming romance played out on the unique and glamorous Takarazuka stage.
Valery Gergiev conducts Mariusz Trelinski’s thrilling new production of these rarely heard one-act operas. Anna Netrebko stars as the blind princess of the title in Tchaikovsky’s lyrical work, opposite Piotr Beczala as Vaudémont, the man who wins her love—and wakes her desire to be able to see. Nadja Michael and Mikhail Petrenko are Judith and Bluebeard in Bartók’s gripping psychological thriller about a woman discovering her new husband’s murderous past.
Roadrunner United was a project organized by the heavy metal record label Roadrunner Records to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It culminated in an album released worldwide on October 11, 2005, entitled The All-Star Sessions. Four "team captains" were chosen to lead 57 artists from 45 past and present Roadrunner bands, and produce and oversee the album's 18 tracks: Joey Jordison of Slipknot and Murderdolls; Matt Heafy of Trivium; Dino Cazares of Fear Factory, Asesino and Divine Heresy and formerly of Brujeria; and Robert Flynn of Machine Head and formerly of Vio-lence and Forbidden. The unprecedented project was the brainchild of Roadrunner UK General Manager Mark Palmer and Roadrunner USA VP of A&R Monte Conner.
On New Year's Eve 2007-2008, young Masha and Nastya want to become show business stars. While watching TV, they magically find themselves in the looking glass of the Kingdom of Show Business. The Kingdom hosts the “Crooked Vision” competition, the main event of which is King Yagupop. The producer and director of the competition ask Queen Anidag and the kite Pilifa to send out invitations to the participating countries, but they ignore the request because they themselves want to participate in the competition. Masha and Nastya become witnesses to the deception, which is why they are forced to try to get into the competition themselves.
Director Janos Xantus was in the middle of making a video about Hungarian rock star Tamas Pajor when his subject suddenly became a convert to born-again Christianity. As a result, Xantus was able to record the startling transition. Pajor had been a hell-bent rocker, heavily into drugs, and known for a violent temper. We see him become a clean-living, clean-cut youth who sings about Jesus. Xantus had captured pre-conversion tape of Pajor trashing a hotel room and punching his hand through a plate glass window. In one of this film's most effective scenes, the new Pajor, hand heavily bandaged, quietly watches this footage. Rock Terito also has some dramatic recreations, but these add little to our understanding of Pajor. The transfer from video to film was generally effective, but some scenes are murkily lit. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
Die Zauberflöte is one of Mozart’s most famous works and one of the most beloved of the entire operatic repertoire. Generations of spectators have been fascinated by the melodies and adventures of Papageno, the Queen of the Night, Tamino, and Pamina, the ordeals faced by the young lovers, and the work’s inexhaustible allegorical depth. The director Romeo Castellucci has deliberately stepped back from the narrative dimension of the opera in order to explore its raw emotion and its philosophical heart. For his part, the conductor Antonello Manacorda brings Mozart’s immortal music to life with the help of an outstanding cast that includes Sabine Devieilhe, one of today’s finest interpreters of the Queen of the Night.