|
Rating:  -
If you love Donovan's music and are interested in his career, this is worth getting. It is really well put together, lots of interview footage in multiple locations done especially for this film, plus lots of old footage of all sorts edited in. The bonus DVD contains full length runs of some old videos, recent performances, etc.
It IS introspective and a little self-congratulatory in places, and pretty open and honest in others. Very high production values throughout.
Rating: -
For those who love Donovan and his music, this is a must have DVD. It is both enlightening and entertaining. Very well done and a journey worth taking
Rating:  -
I am going to say right off the bat, if you are not a fan of Donovan than please do not buy this set. If you are remotely interested what this set has to offer than rent it. If you want a nice and lengthy look into the career of Donovan than this is for you.
This is a 2 DVD set, the first disc is a 3 hour documentary on the life of 60's folk musician Donovan. It is an interview with the man himself in which he takes you on his "journey" through his life and history as a musician via vinatge performance clips and private films. Other interviews include his wife Linda, his arranger James Cameron, luthier Danny Ferrington and not much else. Unfortunately, some friends of Donovan are no longer with us such as Mickey Most, George Harrison, Keith Moon, Brian Jones, and Gram Parsons. Other contemporaries from the era are conspicuous from the absence, which is a shame; it would have been nice to have Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Danny Thompson, Shawn Philips or John Paul Jones talk about their involvement with Donovan. But then again maybe the blame should be laid at the director's feet. I would think in better hands the story would have been more varied with many different points of view if more of Donovan's contemporaries were interviewed. However, that does not mean it is a bad documentary either. Donovan tells his story like the story teller he is.
People have criticized about how Donovan's pontifical nature is off putting. To me he comes off like a teacher showing those who are interested in him how and what moved him artistically and musically. I have never walked away from any musical documentary and not think the subject had a big ego. You have to have a big ego and a sense of arrogance about yourself in the arts so I was not surprised about some of his posturing.
The second disc contains 2 hours of live performances, the "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" promo film, extended interviews and performances of songs as well as trip into Donovan's archives. While not as elaborate as a certain Canadian with an even bigger ego as Donovan's, it is kind of fun.
If you are a fan of Donovan and music documentaries than this is for you, at 5 hours you are getting your money's worth along with a booklet of liner notes and photos. Be forewarned Donovan is the main man here; you are not going to get any interviews with other musicians from the era which rather narrows the scope of the story. However, that is not really up to me now is it?
Oh by the way, all you people who say that Donovan stole from Bob Dylan well Dylan stole from Woody Guthrie, so there.
Rating:  -
So I'm about half way through this, and most of my reactions are echoed by those who have already written here. For years I have gone to concerts by Dylan, Neil Young, etc., hoping they would say something interesting in between the songs, or anything at all. Then I saw Lindsey Buckingham a few years ago and he went on and on.....This movie reminds me of that. Except with Lindsey there was hope for a song, somewhere.
What jumps out is Donovan's Dylan Denials---directly refuted by the music and posture shown in film. Why not just admit it? Until he found his own way he was a direct rip off. So were a lot of other people. Back then, people who loved Dylan and the Beatles wore their albums out many times over, and then went looking for more of the same. The idea was to be new, interesting and creative while drawing on enough of the familiar. Additionally, most of the good songs hadn't been written, so it only took a little bit of imagination to do something cool.
Donovan could have said something like "we all stole from each other, we all stole from Dylan and I stole more than anyone else. So what?"
History is always being rewritten by people with cameras. So you will need to make up your mind about a lot of this. Not just music, everything else.
Rating: -
It's a bit long. Perhaps a bit TOO long. 3 hours for the first disc alone. It may be more than the average fan needs or wants to know and as other fans have mentioned in their reviews Donovan does come off a bit in awe of himself at times.But it's very entertaining and I did learn a few things that I didnt know before. But like I said, THREE hours for a bio of Donovan? It did get tedious towards the end.
Television Show
Collectibles
Movie Searches
|
|
|
Search for posters,
art prints, photos, collectables, merchandise, toys, t-shirts
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TV Guide
Program listings, celebrity profiles, industry
gossip, movie reviews, puzzle.
More
Entertainment
& TV Magazines
This site is
Hosted
by Bluehost
Read
my Bluehost Review
Most Popular TV collectibles
|
|
Home
Articles
Images
Forum
Search
Shopping
TV Trivia
Watch TV
Wallpaper
