Lightning in a Bottle (2004)
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 63
Fresh: 55 | 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: 25
Fresh: 23 | Rotten: 2
Lightning in a Bottle pays dazzling tribute to the blues by capturing its power and excitement through backstage interviews and performance footage.
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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 1,018
Movie Info
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
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All Critics (71) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (55) | 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.'
Top CriticFeatures 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.
The filmmakers really have captured something quite spectacular with this one.
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.
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.
Mostly, director Antoine Fuqua's straightforward film gives the greats a chance to shine, and they deliver.
Lightning in a Bottle is at once deliberate and agile.
A fast, sweet, cram course in the blues. And it does so in an extremely coherent, vital and entertaining fashion.
This 'blues' film devotes more time to the music of Jimi Hendrix than to that of Robert Johnson or Muddy Waters...
The musicians uncorked that bottle, sending lightning all over Radio City Music Hall. Thanks to Scorsese and Fuqua, we can all catch some bolts.
For all the talk of the form's indomitable spirit, the picture that emerges is of a cultural artifact in desperate need of preservation.
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Movie: ID: 10148 Title: Lightning in a Bottle Release Date: 2004-10-22 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 3 Status: 1
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