Karajan - Complete EMI Recordings Vol 2: Opera & Choral

Advantages: J. S. Bach; all musicians and vocalists; Karajan.
Disadvantages: Karajan's big, ponderous sound and historical inauthenticity, for some.

...With an eye to leaving an impressive legacy, Austrian-born conductor Herbert von Karajan was wise to adopt the available modern technology early on to record his works for posterity. 'His Legacy For Home Video', as the DVD project was called, gave him complete artistic and technical control over the entire production. Notwithstanding the pomposity of the name, the series from Sony Classical does earn its place in every classical music lover's library for the sheer excellence of the recorded material. One disc that never goes out of favour for this listener is the all-Bach 1984 New Year's Eve Concert (Silvesterkonzert) held at Mr Karajan's stomping grounds, the Berlin Philharmonie, where he directs the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The featured soloist is German violinist and Karajan protegé Anne-Sophie Mutter, who plays... Read review

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Advantages: Looks nice, final chapter is impressive.
Disadvantages: Lack of originality, entirely dull for most of running time.

...Mei, which consists of a batch of strained dialog and a ridiculous fight scene. It doesn't help either that Pai Mei is a character from a number of Chinese films, thus leaving one wondering exactly what Tarantino contributed to the creation of this film aside from a name on which it could be sold on. People wouldn't go out and watch tacky Chinese martial arts by themselves, but throw Tarantino's name on one and they will fall over themselves to see it. On a similarily depressing note to this, Jet Li's Hero will only get a release later this year now it's tagged with a "presented by Quentin Tarantino" label. The fact Tarantino had nothing to do with that film seems to be completely ignored. When watching Kill Bill Vol 2 I just found myself overwhealmed by an amazing sense of boredom on the most part. The dialog is labored to... Read review

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Advantages: Amazing music, sharp script
Disadvantages: Last third drags on a bit

...Kill Bill Vol. 2 is the concluding installment of the Kill Bill saga. In this one the Bride (Uma Thurman) continues her vengeance against her ex-boss, Bill, and the two remaining members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad; his younger brother Budd, and Bill's latest flame Elle. The first one had more of an eastern feel, this one is more like a western. So it's dusty, dirty and sweaty. Again Tarantino enlists the help of Ennio Morricone, the man who can take an ordinary western and make it legendary. His music is masterful, the lone trumpets in his compositions invoking a sense of isolation and the wild west, which is exactly the tone this film needs. The acting is good again, helped by a sharp script. The action scenes are fewer and far between than the first one but equally as impressive. Again during the fight scenes... Read review

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