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joewill1947
Reviews
Adele Live at the Royal Albert Hall (2011)
Musically Excellent but Visually Awful
I was really expecting to like this because I like Adele's music. Indeed, the musical part was excellent with the exception of a few shrill notes, presumably due to the medical problem with her vocal chords that required surgery recently. I would rate the music a 9 or 10.
Unfortunately, the visuals were totally overproduced. It seemed like they had cameras everywhere producing some very interesting shots. Apparently the director felt constrained to use every camera frequently. As a result, the visuals came across as though it had been directed by a hyperactive ten year old. There was a new camera angle every few seconds. Early on, I found myself silently counting: one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi and BANG, like clockwork a new camera shot appeared on the screen, usually totally unrelated to the last shot. The only shots lasting more than four seconds were taken using cameras that were in motion or zooming in or out.
At heart this was a simple show - a woman seated on a stool or standing at a microphone with an orchestra and backup singers behind her. Adele sings intelligent thoughtful songs. There were no dancers or big production numbers ala Lady Gaga, Beyonce or Britney Spears. If I had been there in person, I believe that I would have been focusing most of my attention on Adele and only occasionally looking all over the place. I wish the director could have done it simply and lingered with shots of Adele for at least ten seconds so but perhaps he felt he needed to manufacture some excitement. I feel that the direction was a disservice to the viewing and disrespectful to Adele and her artistry.
Personally, I found myself paying more attention to the constant camera shifting than to Adele and the music. I found the direction so distracting that I gave up after about 15 minutes and listened, rather than watched, looking only occasionally at the screen to see if the camera lingered on any shots of Adele. Needless to say, they did not
I gave this a 6 overall - 10 for the music but 1 for the visual. I would have been better off buying the CD.
Chaos: Defending Sophia (2011)
Interesting but Ultimately Disappointing
I was channel surfing and stopped at this show when I saw the actress who played Sofia. She is a very beautiful woman and I was trying to recall why I knew her. I looked here on IMDb and was surprised that she is not credited in the cast. I wonder why.
I believe that she is Branka Katic, who had been on Big Love for several seasons. Perhaps it is a guy thing but her beauty and demeanor makes her a striking presence whenever I see her and I will stop to watch.
I found the episode interesting but the ending was very unsatisfying. After protecting Sofia from being assassinated by the regime presently in power, the team departs in a helicopter at the end of the episode and leaves her alone and unprotected. In the real world it is possible but very unlikely that all the bad guys, who were trying to kill Sofia an hour earlier to prevent her from winning the election, would see her victory statement on TV and suddenly decide to give up power without further ado.