Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 62
Fresh: 54 | Rotten: 8
Lightning in a Bottle pays dazzling tribute to the blues by capturing its power and excitement through backstage interviews and performance footage.
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Critic Reviews: 23
Fresh: 21 | Rotten: 2
Lightning in a Bottle pays dazzling tribute to the blues by capturing its power and excitement through backstage interviews and performance footage.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 981
The United States Congress named 2003 the "Year of the Blues" as part of an initiative by several musical education groups to make more Americans aware of the history and heritage of blues music, one of America's most important homegrown art forms. To kick off this celebration of the blues, a special concert was held at New York City's historic Radio City Music Hall, and Lightning in a Bottle documents a memorable evening of music from a star-studded roster of artists. Offering a glimpse at the
Oct 22, 2004 Limited
Mar 8, 2005
$78.0k
Sony Picture Classics
All Critics (70) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (56) | Rotten (8) | DVD (10)
The event's musical director, Steve Jordan, marvels at one point: 'Looks like y'all hired the phone book . . . just looked up "Blues" in the Yellow Pages.'
Features a who's who of world-wise bluesmen (and women) and newbie practitioners.
Every so often there comes a must-see movie. This one's a must-hear.
If you know the blues, you've heard it all before. And if you don't, the film, after a promising step-by-step primer opening, won't help you.
Gets its great groove from the humor and dignity of the true blues musicians it documents.
If the movie seems at times a little thin in its chronology and scholarship, it more than makes up for that in the quality of performances that ranges from the cool fire of Angelique Kidjo to the hot smoke of B.B. King.
It is as much a lesson in musical appreciation as it is a thrilling concert.
Lightning in a Bottle is a feel-good film, ironically, for fans of the blues and a solid primer for newcomers to the sound.
Even if it is flawed as a documentary, as a concert film, Lightning in a Bottle is nearly perfect.
This is music for which there are not enough superlatives.
Features performances by such masters of the form as Buddy Guy, Solomon Burke, B.B. King. But the movie doesn't depend on your knowledge of them or their works.
[It] achieves the goal of every concert film, to make you feel like you were there - or at least wish you were there.
... we'll save the arguments about the patronizing nature of blues fetishism for another time. If you wish you were there, you'll want to see this film.
A thrilling experience for jazz fans, and if you're not in that category, the film's overpowering atmosphere could have you changing your tune within minutes.
What a GREAT film! Anyone who enjoys guitar playing should definitely have this in their collection!
January 15, 2007
(***): A good concert film, especially if you're into the blues.
January 9, 2008
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