Robbie Williams: Live at the Albert
Promoting his 2001 jazz covers album 'Swing When You're Winning', English pop rock singer Robbie Williams fronts a 58-piece big band for a live show of crooner standards at the Royal Albert Hall in London on October 10, 2001.
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- Cast:
- Robbie Williams , Jon Lovitz , Jane Horrocks
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Reviews
the audience applauded
Fantastic!
Captivating movie !
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
Sometimes a filmed concert takes on a cinematic quality and can be considered a bona fide film. That happened for me with "Last Waltz" and "Stop making Sense."This does as well, but for completely different reasons. Superficially it is a concert by an earnest man, an energetic performer, a manufactured personality and a moderately competent singer. He's uninteresting to my eye.The songs are from the Frank Sinatra era, previously sung by the man and his gang. The arrangements are actually quite brilliant, both referencing the brassy Las Vegas style of the 50s and adding a fuller more modern sound. That's the basis of this whole thing, the arrangements conducted by the arranger.Its as if that came first, the girl dancers second and the singer third. Oh, those girls. The dual existence, past and modern is more stark in their case. They have that 50s Sinatra existence of being disposable pleasure toys, but they are stronger sexually than he would have tolerated. There are some skits where they turn down Robbie's invitations for sex.So, Ted, what makes this cinematic? Its the reference to the rat pack, which is made both implicitly and by huge images of them. In one case, Robbie sings the first half of a song and then Frank on film transported from the past finishes it. Its carefully done, all of it, to make the concert not just a concert, but something that inherits the legends and references of that crowd. Since the rat pack defined themselves cinematically, the result is a concert folded into a film world.Its a clever idea. Too bad he just isn't up to it. In fact that song that has him first and Sinatra second makes him seem pale in comparison, despite his obvious commitment. I'm going to give this a two because the idea is so clever and the arrangements and girls are folded.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
hey folks, this is the best show Robbie has ever given, his voice as gentle as can be, entertainment at its best.I've been a Robbie fan since the beginning, even when he was with take that, he was born to be a entertainer, he's got the talent from his dad, who's a well-known comedian in england.Robbie's comedic talent, his gestures, his voice, the whole charisma, has made him to what he is now: THE mega star! if you aren't a fan of Robbie yet, you will become after watching the show! you need to watch this! it's a kick in the head, as Robbie would say.kind regards, his no 1 fan
This is the kind of tribute rat pack fans can do without. I find it insulting that someone with such little talent as RW, feels he can make a record and movie of this nature. One can only hope that this kind of thing does not reappear when the next lucky, totally over rated boy band member attempts the same thing. Be sure it will happen. God help us. The thing that really makes this film annoying is, of course that William's' voice is not up to scratch, some would argue the man sounds bad enough when he churns out his usual brand of soulless pop rubbish, let alone try and match the vocal talents of the the original artist. Do your self a favour, bin this and seek out some footage of the real rat pack.
Robbie Williams said he grew up listening to this music and it has always been his dream to perform, and what better place to perform these songs then in the Albert Hall. This is a great tribute to the Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin) and Robbie shows us is amazing voice along with a style of music which hasn't been seen from him before. I definetly recommend this to anyone (you can buy it on DVD or VHS) even if your not a Sinatra fan, you'll still love it 10/10