Lady Sings the Blues
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Movie Reviews of Lady Sings the Blues
Movie Review: IT'S ABOUT TIME & LONG LONG LONG OVER DUE!!! x2!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, hold on to your seats folks because on the 8th of November we are all in for a double bang!!!
Its the long awaited (by me anyway) release of "LADY SINGS THE BLUES" and "MAHOGANY".
The first is by far superior to the later, but the later is still damn fine filmogrophy.
You do not have to be a Ross fan to enjoy either film but if you are you are in for a real treat. I keep watching my tired old vhs copy of Lady... and try to picture how it will look and sound Re-Mastered???
Lady Sings The Blues, well it's why Motown moved from Detroit's W/Grand Blvd to the movie Mecca. Miss Ross shines all the way through this film, notorious for completely immersing herself in each and every project she touches-she actually becomes Lady Day.
Known at the time as the DIVA to end all other DIVA'S. Every girl wanted to look like,sing like,dress like and BE DIANA ROSS! sorry, I stand corrected...that's MISS ROSS thank you very much.
When roles were picked and given Diana recieved all attention and none of it was positive. It was a simple fact-no one like DIANA ROSS could play a heroin addict.Please. She could never pull it off, look at her. It will never happen. She will mess the whole film up and on top of everything...SHE COULD NEVER SING LIKE BILLY.
Well, she proved ALL the critics wrong, was nominated for best actress (which she lost to the white "Caberet" star Liza Minelli).
Do yourself a favour and buy both films
Movie Review: About the Negative Reviews.......uh huh
Summary: 5 Stars
What first strikes out at me most are the number of "experts" who call this movie "medicore", "horrible" and "the video clerk asked me if I was gonna buy it" (mind you the video clerk from that Austin, Tx video store was probably 20 years old and thinks that "Scary Movie 1,2 &3" were TOTALLY COOL!!!) back to my point...all these negative reviews are from people who have only written..get this...ONE AMAZON.COM REVIEW!! Just ONE review. Which leads me to believe their sole intention and purpose to "debut" on amazon.com's review of a film that's only been on DVD for 2 WEEKS, mind you...was to deliberately berate Lady Sings the Blues and it's leading lady.
The film did NOT get mixed reviews upon release, the storytelling was critised but Diana Ross' acting and vocal approach to Holiday's repertoire was UNIVERSALLY heralded..thus the Oscar nod, the Golden Globe win and the soundtrack's 3M copies sold in the first 3 weeks of release. I have added a link to Roger Ebert's 1972 review of LSTB when it came out. To all reading my comments, trust a professional film reviewer not an obscure "Guide to Films" written by some frustrated would-be actor who "coulda been a contenda...." like that Austin, TX chap or the intentional negativity from people who only have ONE AMAZON review!
Marlene Kay
Post-Sentinel Film Critic
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19720101/REVIEWS/201010317
Movie Review: Diana Ross in Academy Award-nominated performance.
Summary: 5 Stars
Awesome Oscar-nominated performance by Diana Ross, who clearly deserved to win. She didn't.
DVD extras include deleted scenes and the featurette "Behind The Blues" about the making of the movie, with its uplifting, recent interview with Ross, who looks remarkably stunning. Suzanne dePasse also offers her memories of the making of the movie. The commentary track on the dvd by director Sidney J. Furie and Berry Gordy is informative and entertaining.
This DVD is extremely reasonably priced, so I won't complain too much about there being no booklet or insert when you open the DVD, it's just a blank space. But at the absolute bargain price, with the bonus footage of deleted scenes, making-of featurette, and commentary, this DVD is a must-have.
While the movie belongs to Diana Ross as Billie Holiday; Richard Pryor is very good, and Billy Dee Williams and Diana Ross have real chemistry in their scenes together.
A comment by Williams in the featurette in which he remarks that when he saw himself on screen in 'Lady Sings The Blues' that HE himself fell in love, is amusing, not to mention revealing. It's probably the first time an actor has ever 'outed' himself by jokingly confessing a gay crush- on himself!
The movie runs 143 minutes and is a stunning reminder of the great talent within Diana Ross- you can't, and won't want to, take your eyes off of her in this movie.
Movie Review: This was OUR tragic Love Story
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this movie. and it was not intended to be a documentary. I own the VHS and will buy this DVD. I was a young black girl in 1972 snd Ms. Ross's protrayal of Lady Day was our one fantasy but with a true to life ending. I grew up watching all those Sandra Dee, Doris Day, Natalie Wood movies and TV soap operas and not a black girl among them ( unless she was a maid) . Until this movie where was our Clark Gable, Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter and so on. The black classics , the Carmen Jones etc. were never rerun on TV's Millon Dollar Movie for the young girls/boys of my generation and all the white classics had us cast as unattractive servants.
So what if Diana didn't look like the fuller figured lighter complexioned Lady Day . We needed ( and if the truth is told still need ) darker, more typical African- American actresses to be cast as love interests. So, what if the costumes were overdone. We loved finally seeing colors and lighting that flattered OUR skin tones. Yes, the story was fictionalized but I /we learned about Lady Day's true life story through other media and Ms. Ross did a fine job with this script. Lady Day's story was ultimately tragic but not more so than the reality of too many of our lives. RACISM IS tragic and the pain, frustration, powerlessness, waste of talent and depression is/was tragic . So, I/ We loved this movie / Enuf Said.
Movie Review: "Diana Ross Plays Billie Holliday"
Summary: 5 Stars
"Lady Sings The Blues" was Diana Ross' first film and it garnered her an Oscar nomination as Best Actress of 1972. She lost to Liza Minnilli for "Cabaret".
Diana plays Blues singer Billie Holliday. As most ardent Holliday fans know Billie was a severe drug addict. Her drug addiction is what destroyed her and Diana Ross should be applauded for her mesmerizing performance of a woman who eventually had everything in the world then threw it all away to drugs. The most dramatic scenes are the ones in which Billie argues with her boyfriend, played beautifully by Billy Dee Willimas, when he insists she stop using heroine. Billie runs into the bathroom, slams the door, and injects heroine into her veins. The withdrawal scenes are exceptionally well acted and directed. This film was one of the first to dramatize drug use.
The music of Billie Holiday is well documented in this film and Diana does a superb job in recapturing the esssence of one of America's finest Blues singers.
The DVD comes with commentary by Barry Gordy who produced the film, director Sidney Furie, and artist manager Shelly Berger. There are also deleted scenes and a great retrospective on the film featuring new interviews by Diana Ross and others associated with the movie.
"Lady Sings The Blues" received five Academy Award nominations in total.