Jason KingGLEE: The 3D Concert Movie
August 11th 2011 09:43
:
Review by Paul
Category: Reviews
Reviewed by Paul Fellows
Let me set the background on myself, so that you can take this completely biased review with a grain of Salty Popcorn! I love pop music (you should definitely check out my pop music blog on Orble www.orble.com/pop-is-not-dead/ - you'll also catch this review there, as well as my review of film's soundtrack) and I am a huge fan of Glee! So when the opportunity of going to the premiere of Glee The 3D Concert Movie and reviewing the film for Salty Popcorn came up, I jumped at the chance. Even more exciting was that because Jason couldn't go, I got to take my boyfriend Chris, who is probably a bigger Glee fan than me (if that's even possible!) and like two tween girls, with glow sticks in hand (thanks to 20th Century Fox) we were ready to sing, dance and clap along.
Throughout May, June and July 2011, the cast of Glee hit the road for the second time (the first leg of Glee Live! played dates in the US during May 2010), playing to audiences throughout the US and selected cities in Europe. Due to the popularity of the concerts more shows were needed, but due to the fact that the cast needed to return to the States to begin filming the third season, it was decided to film the show for audiences that were unable to see them live. The idea of the live show is that it is the William McKinley High School Glee Club on tour, so all of the actors are playing their Glee characters.
Now don't let the film's title mislead you. Although the film is mostly filmed concert footage, it is actually intersected with backstage footage (again with the actors in character) and it also talks to fans at the live shows and tells the story of three separate fans and how Glee has impacted their lives. As much as I loved the concert footage, it was actually the fan stories that I enjoyed the most. These three fans all had an exceptional tale of hardship and something that they had to overcome. They were funny and touching, and like the characters on Glee, these were the people that you rooted for and the ones that you want to succeed. I especially connected with the story of the guy who was forced to come out in Year 8, when his best friend at the time stole his journal that had love letters written to another guy in his class. His journal was then shown to all of his classmates and, of course, he was then harassed at school. He said that he wished there was a show like Glee on when he was going through that period of his life as, because of the positive and strong gay character of Kurt, it would have given him confidence and strength to get through the bad times and hold his head high. Of course, my heart broke for him, as all I could think was "what would I have done if that had been me?"
One of the cutest moments in the film is the video of an absolutely adorable kid, dressed in full Warbler outfit, performing the Warbler's version of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream". And he has all of the moves! Check out the video of him below!
The filmed concert footage is brilliant with the 3D adding great effect, giving you the feeling that you are really there. Highlights of concert include Britney's (Heather Morris) "I'm a Slave for You" (which had hilarious backstage footage of Britney saying how great her boobs are going to look in 3D - and I gotta say, they looked awesome in 3D!), Kurt's (Chris Colfer) "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (brilliant moment in the cinema - when Kurt kneels down and touches hands with one of the girls in audience, the little girl sitting next to me in the cinema said to her friend "Oh, she's so lucky", the Warblers performing "Teenage Dream", "Silly Love Songs" and "Raise Your Glass", the powerful voice of Mercedes (Amber Riley) performing "Ain't No Way", the brilliant dream dance sequence for Artie (Kevin McHale) with "The Safety Dance", the theatrical, over the top Rachel (Lea Michele) belting out "Don't Rain on My Parade" (another hilarious backstage moment with Rachel being told that Barbra Streisand was going to be in the audience, she immediately looks panic stricken but then calmly says "Oh, I knew she would come", but I think that it is Chris' favourite part that stands out as "the moment" in the show, when substitute teacher Holly Holiday (Gwyneth Paltrow) pops up and performs "Forget You" with the cast.
Unfortunately both Chris and I have one major complaint about the film - it didn't go for along enough! Seriously, we could have watched it for another hour! Here's hoping they have a Special Edition DVD release with a whole lot of extra footage, both of the concert and the back stage footage. If you are a fan of Glee, then you are going to love this film and when you see it make sure that you sing along, scream and clap for your favourite character and your favourite songs, and that you get up and dance in the aisles!
Now I just want to give a huge shout out to 20th Century Fox for putting on an awesome premiere! Not only were they Cheerios to greet us on the red carpet and photo moments with standees of the characters, but once the speeches prior to the film had finished, the song "Don't Stop Believin" started blaring from the speakers and a flash mob ran into the cinema and started dancing in the aisles and at the front of the cinema with actual people singing the song. It was so much fun and had the whole cinema on its feet dancing and clapping along and really set the mood for the film!
Glee The 3D Concert Movie is only screening for two weeks from August 11 so make sure you get a group of your friends together and go and see it. I promise you it's the most fun you'll have in ages!
Not surprisingly 10/10
Let me set the background on myself, so that you can take this completely biased review with a grain of Salty Popcorn! I love pop music (you should definitely check out my pop music blog on Orble www.orble.com/pop-is-not-dead/ - you'll also catch this review there, as well as my review of film's soundtrack) and I am a huge fan of Glee! So when the opportunity of going to the premiere of Glee The 3D Concert Movie and reviewing the film for Salty Popcorn came up, I jumped at the chance. Even more exciting was that because Jason couldn't go, I got to take my boyfriend Chris, who is probably a bigger Glee fan than me (if that's even possible!) and like two tween girls, with glow sticks in hand (thanks to 20th Century Fox) we were ready to sing, dance and clap along.
Throughout May, June and July 2011, the cast of Glee hit the road for the second time (the first leg of Glee Live! played dates in the US during May 2010), playing to audiences throughout the US and selected cities in Europe. Due to the popularity of the concerts more shows were needed, but due to the fact that the cast needed to return to the States to begin filming the third season, it was decided to film the show for audiences that were unable to see them live. The idea of the live show is that it is the William McKinley High School Glee Club on tour, so all of the actors are playing their Glee characters.
Now don't let the film's title mislead you. Although the film is mostly filmed concert footage, it is actually intersected with backstage footage (again with the actors in character) and it also talks to fans at the live shows and tells the story of three separate fans and how Glee has impacted their lives. As much as I loved the concert footage, it was actually the fan stories that I enjoyed the most. These three fans all had an exceptional tale of hardship and something that they had to overcome. They were funny and touching, and like the characters on Glee, these were the people that you rooted for and the ones that you want to succeed. I especially connected with the story of the guy who was forced to come out in Year 8, when his best friend at the time stole his journal that had love letters written to another guy in his class. His journal was then shown to all of his classmates and, of course, he was then harassed at school. He said that he wished there was a show like Glee on when he was going through that period of his life as, because of the positive and strong gay character of Kurt, it would have given him confidence and strength to get through the bad times and hold his head high. Of course, my heart broke for him, as all I could think was "what would I have done if that had been me?"
One of the cutest moments in the film is the video of an absolutely adorable kid, dressed in full Warbler outfit, performing the Warbler's version of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream". And he has all of the moves! Check out the video of him below!
The filmed concert footage is brilliant with the 3D adding great effect, giving you the feeling that you are really there. Highlights of concert include Britney's (Heather Morris) "I'm a Slave for You" (which had hilarious backstage footage of Britney saying how great her boobs are going to look in 3D - and I gotta say, they looked awesome in 3D!), Kurt's (Chris Colfer) "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (brilliant moment in the cinema - when Kurt kneels down and touches hands with one of the girls in audience, the little girl sitting next to me in the cinema said to her friend "Oh, she's so lucky", the Warblers performing "Teenage Dream", "Silly Love Songs" and "Raise Your Glass", the powerful voice of Mercedes (Amber Riley) performing "Ain't No Way", the brilliant dream dance sequence for Artie (Kevin McHale) with "The Safety Dance", the theatrical, over the top Rachel (Lea Michele) belting out "Don't Rain on My Parade" (another hilarious backstage moment with Rachel being told that Barbra Streisand was going to be in the audience, she immediately looks panic stricken but then calmly says "Oh, I knew she would come", but I think that it is Chris' favourite part that stands out as "the moment" in the show, when substitute teacher Holly Holiday (Gwyneth Paltrow) pops up and performs "Forget You" with the cast.
Unfortunately both Chris and I have one major complaint about the film - it didn't go for along enough! Seriously, we could have watched it for another hour! Here's hoping they have a Special Edition DVD release with a whole lot of extra footage, both of the concert and the back stage footage. If you are a fan of Glee, then you are going to love this film and when you see it make sure that you sing along, scream and clap for your favourite character and your favourite songs, and that you get up and dance in the aisles!
Now I just want to give a huge shout out to 20th Century Fox for putting on an awesome premiere! Not only were they Cheerios to greet us on the red carpet and photo moments with standees of the characters, but once the speeches prior to the film had finished, the song "Don't Stop Believin" started blaring from the speakers and a flash mob ran into the cinema and started dancing in the aisles and at the front of the cinema with actual people singing the song. It was so much fun and had the whole cinema on its feet dancing and clapping along and really set the mood for the film!
Glee The 3D Concert Movie is only screening for two weeks from August 11 so make sure you get a group of your friends together and go and see it. I promise you it's the most fun you'll have in ages!
Not surprisingly 10/10
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