Tony Bennett - An American Classic [Blu-ray]

Tony Bennett - An American Classic [Blu-ray]
by Rob Marshall

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Billy Crystal, Chris Botti, Christina Aguilera, k.d. lang, Tony Bennett
Director: Rob Marshall
Brand: Sony
Producer: Alison Sandler
Producer: Allen Kelman
Producer: Danny Bennett
Producer: Jodi Hurwitz
Producer: John DeLuca
Producer: Philip W. Hack
Writer: Doug Wright
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Running Time: 42 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-12-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Sony

Movie Reviews of Tony Bennett - An American Classic [Blu-ray]

Movie Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars

A must have for any Tony Bennett aficionado! My only complaint would be, it's too short.

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Summary of Tony Bennett - An American Classic [Blu-ray]

Following it's successful broadcast on NBC this past Thanksgiving, the Emmy and Grammy-award winning "Tony Bennett: An American Classic" was released on Blu-ray December 12, 2006. Created and directed by acclaimed director Rob Marshall (Chicago and Memoirs of a Geisha), An American Classic is a ground breaking show staged as a contemporary reinvention of the variety special. In this "Docu-Musical", Marshall and his entire Academy-Award winning creative team take us on an emotional musical journey of this legendary entertainer's life by re-creating the seminal venues of Tony's career: from the 52nd street swing club to the early Columbia recording studio; from the classic TV studios of the '60's to the "rat pack" Las Vegas stage; from Carnegie Hall to his triumphant performance on "MTV Unplugged". Throughout, Tony performs his greatest hits while joined by many of the superstars that appear with him on his recently released, platinum-selling Duets album. This show invites us to celebrate the life of who Frank Sinatra called "the greatest singer ever." As the special ends, Tony Bennett takes the empty stage, this time alone, to deliver a definitive version of his signature classic "I Left My Heart In San Francisco".

Blu-ray Disc Track Listing:
1. Smile - Barbara Streisand
2. Sing You Sinners - John Legend
3. Because Of You - K.D. lang and Chris Botti
4. The Best Is Yet To Come - Diana Krall
5. The Shadow Of Your Smile - Juanes
6. Rags To Riches - Elton John
7. Just In Time - Michael Buble
8. For Once In Your Life - Stevie Wonder
9. Steppin' Out With My Baby - Christina Aguilera
10. I Left With Heart In San Francisco - Tony Bennett

Special Features:
The Making Of
Shooting of Black & White Film
Walking the Stars Through Their Paces
Production Design From Page to Stage
The Trailer
The Tony Bennett Dancer's Rehearsals

Video/Audio:
Mastered in High Definition
PCM Stereo (uncompressed) and PCM 5.1 Surround Sound (48 kHZ/24bit)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound (640 kbps)

High concept and high class, An American Classic is a worthy visual complement to Tony Bennett's 2006 duets CD of the same name. The notion of pairing veteran artists with a variety of singing partners is nothing new, of course (cf. B.B. King and Frank Sinatra, among many others), but this one goes a step further; under the direction of Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha) and his team, Bennett appears in what's described as a "docu-musical," faithfully re-creating a variety of performance settings much like the ones in which the 80-year-old singer has appeared in the course of his long, fruitful career. Thus we find him on a concert stage with Barbra Streisand ("Smile"), in a nightclub with John Legend (a swinging, uptempo "Sing, You Sinners"), in the studio with k.d. lang and trumpeter Chris Botti ("Because of You"), on a '60s-style TV variety show with Diana Krall (a classy "The Best is Yet to Come"), in Vegas with Elton John ("Rags To Riches") and then Michael Buble (an amusing "Just in Time"), and so forth, on up to Bennett's triumphant shot on MTV Unplugged with Christina Aguilera (no jazz singer, but she keeps most of her excesses in check on "Steppin' Out") and the inevitable "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" (Bennett with piano accompaniment only). It's all very respectful, well staged, and entertainingly choreographed, but if this 45-minute cavalcade has a significant shortcoming, it's that it mostly lacks fire and spontaneity; the only time Bennett cuts loose is during an audio-only "I Got Rhythm" heard under the various DVD menus. Viewers may also be disappointed that Sting, Bono, Paul McCartney, James Taylor, the Dixie Chicks, and several others on the CD do not appear here, and it's a notable drag that not a single one of the composers or arrangers of the material is identified. Bonus features include a "making of" documentary and other featurettes. --Sam Graham

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