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MDNA Tour EPIX TV Premiere


Camacho

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Burned the 5GB file to DVD and watched it on standalone player. Not perfect but plays in sync and only slightly pixelated on a 50" screen.

As for the film itself, a mostly well executed experiment. Director-donna's little pet project. With everything but the kitchen sink thrown in, it's easy to see that she worked for months and months on it, testing and tinkering and changing probably a little too much.

Yes, holding no camera angle for more than 3 secs is a little annoying but the only thing that really bugs me is the post production on the actual picture. I find it really difficult to believe that rumour that they used arri alexa cameras which give beautiful, natural filmic images to then destroy that in the editing room in favour of what we've been presented with. I think all of us agreed how utterly stunning Madonna looked on this tour, even in the most extreme close up pics and youtube vids I dont think at one point I ever though "oh she looks her age, she looks old", so I really don't understand the use of those god awful amateur over exposure & softness and contrast filters that they've employed. Yes it removes every little nuance and blemish and wrinkle but it also results in a really unnatural image. Almost cartoonish. As an artistic choice I think it was a mistake and looks like they're trying to cover-up a problem that wasn't even there in the first place.

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On a positive note, I didn't find the continuity as jarring as I thought I would, it is a nice tribute to the fans (even if it did at times make us all look like ageing freaky lil monster - types) The sound is (mostly) wonderful and natural. The excitement and energy is captured well for some songs, some shots (caught in shadows) are really beautiful and at the end of the day it's Madonna's vision and what SHE'S decided the legacy of the tour should be - and so be it. It is what it is.

And ONCE AGAIN (for those who've got lost on their way to the Icon Forums) NO we're not having meltdowns, we're discussing and analyzing both the good and the bad - as it should be.

Totally agree Kim

I loved the overall results as they managed to capture the intensity and grandness of this show. Also loved the choice to include as many fans as possible and from different locations in the final edit with those crowd shots, lovely tribute and a thank you on her part. The continuity issue is practically non existant if not for the sleeves/no sleeves and different hairstyle in TUTR where it's more obvious

The only two things that I thought they could have done without is the slow motion effect (too much) and the whitening out of her face which really does give a cartoonish effect to it. I noticed that as soon as we've seen the first screencaps from Vogue and I'm Addicted posted on her Instagram. Her face looked naturally perfect in the flesh and on camera, there's no need for that vampirish paleness.

And like Bluejean said it's a pity they didn't capture the whole amazing screen backdrop for the MG part within GGW (plus the really annoying slow mo when she's letting herself fall). Other than that it's a really wonderful music film which could have been ultra perfect if only they could have used a little less tinkering. If this show had been captured the way WTG or GS was, just adding minimal stuff which of course couldn't have been present 20 - 25 years ago, such as screen backdrops and so on it would have made it even more justice

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I'm actually beginning to love it! I just watched it on my HUGE screen and it made me appreciate it even more! The flaws I so desperately picked at are almost unnoticeable when you're enjoying the show.

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Feel bad for u nit pickers that let stupid details keep you from enjoying the best show and DVD of her career

Be gone! I'm off to watch the show again and dance around. Go write another novel about the errors for me.

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I think it's IMPOSSIBLE to capture everything that goes on in a Madonna concert. Hell, I went to the concert 6 times and I can still see and hear things on the DVD that I had not noticed before. It's not uncommon for example, that when I show a Madonna DVD to my friends who've only seen the concert once, that they ask "Was that in the concert, why didn't I see that?". Had the focus been on the backdrops, I'm sure there will be some who will complain as well...Why weren't they focusing on Madonna's dancing, why don't they show more of the choreography, the dancers, blah, blah, blah. As far as I'm concerned, the film came as close at it could to capturing the sight, sound & feel of the concert and by far the best filmed Madonna concert The filiming in different venues did not bother me at all nor did it disrupt the continuity of the action. In fact, I liked the fact that they showed different crowds as it gives the different fans from the different venues a chance to be on the DVD. I think that's really cool.

^THIS!!! :clap: :clap: :clap:

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Guest bluejean

Aye I did notice that suddenly she actually has a bit of color and dimension in this perf as opposed to looking like like Casper the Ghost's gra...er...mu...er.... sister

Oh and y'all no-one's disputing the continuity stuff being intentional. They said it themselves with the 50 diff shows in the one song comment.

Yes that's right. It's not about whether its intentional or not its about whether it works. And IMO sleeves/no sleeves in TUTR and blocks changing in Candy Shop does NOT work. The rest doesn't really matter or isn't noticeable.

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Guest bluejean

Feel bad for u nit pickers that let stupid details keep you from enjoying the best show and DVD of her career

We didn't say we didn't enjoy it

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Feel bad for u nit pickers that let stupid details keep you from enjoying the best show and DVD of her career

Be gone! I'm off to watch the show again and dance around. Go write another novel about the errors for me.

YES!!! And have you guys watched the tour with wireless headphones yet??!! Words cannot describe....

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Nope, there's a quick film shot which shows the "EVE" tattoo. It's hardly noticeable as the shot resonates with the rest of the footage, but it's definitely not from Miami. That's the only non-Miami shot I noticed in the LAV/LS footage, though (besides the stills of course).

I thought i noticed that too! Some of the stills are from ny. The ones with the Hebrew letters on her back. I know this because I can see myself in pics. The shots I believe are by Steven Klein, I have him in my pics of her during lav.

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Guest Rachelle of London

Feel bad for u nit pickers that let stupid details keep you from enjoying the best show and DVD of her career

Be gone! I'm off to watch the show again and dance around. Go write another novel about the errors for me.

hshahahahshshshshshhaahahahah

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When you try less to pick out flaws, you enjoy it so much more. I've seen it three times and its only gotten better.

That said, the Human Nature vocal still depresses me.

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When you try less to pick out flaws, you enjoy it so much more. I've seen it three times and its only gotten better.

That said, the Human Nature vocal still depresses me.

Yes! It's so bad why couldn't they just leave it alone? Same with gang bang. Ugh

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It's just me or it seems to have a slight cut in Candy Shop when she says "Show me what you got" to Brahim?

It's abrupt. It's very obvious she says "b boy brahim " but they cut it out for some reason. They also edited out or tried to conceal the closeness between M and B at the end of the song where she puts her finger in his mouth, it was like M was angry with him the day she was editing the show. :lol:

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Guest Rachelle of London

It's just me or it seems to have a slight cut in Candy Shop when she says "Show me what you got" to Brahim?

yup! In the Olympia Recording she goes "show us what you got BBoy Brahim" but it cuts out the BBoy Brahim doesnt it....sounds a bit abrupt hahaha

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It's just me or it seems to have a slight cut in Candy Shop when she says "Show me what you got" to Brahim?

Even watching it, when singing along, I have to say the "BBoy Brahim" part, it sounds more natural haha

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Yes! It's so bad why couldn't they just leave it alone? Same with gang bang. Ugh

I was being a little dramatic. It really isn't that bad, but her fully live vocal on this track is spectacular, so I don't get why they touched it. I said before the release that they'd better not touch the IDGA and HN vocals, and they did just that. I mean, what's wrong with her voice here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=xYOIuaS5oJk

It's my one gripe about the show, the one thing I'd change in an otherwise flawless concert film.

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When I was watching the show on my TV, I was pretty disappointed when it came to HN because of the vocals. It was uncalled for me, and kinda ruined the performance for me. But after awhile from listening to the DVD so much since it's airing, I kinda got use to it. After all, they did alter her screams such as "LIES" and "BREAK" or even the part where she belts out "You took my words and made a trap for silly fools." Those were the best parts vocally of Human Nature, so I'm glad they didn't edit it. It's not so bad after all.

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This was probably brought up and answered before somewhere, but in the interlude before Turn Up the Radio where they play a mini Madonna mix why did they cut out 4 Minutes and Ray of Light do you think?
Wow -- you know, a small part of my brain felt like, "that transition went by quickly" (because I noticed they spliced in footage of her backstage while the TUTR intro was playing) -- but I didn't quite catch this! Flop fan. Perhaps they edited the show here (just slightly) to get it down to 2 hours? (For example, I noticed there's no "Holiday" in this version -- wondering if the DVD/Blu-ray will include it? Maybe? Fingers crossed? lol.) I would have to go back and look, but ... I will say this, I thought for certain I saw "4 Minutes" included in the credits. Like where it would say, such and such "contains elements of ..." and it will list things. LAV/Love Spent listed "Evgeni's Waltz" ... GGW listed Material Girl and Give It 2 Me, etc. [The reason I remember this was, I was thinking to myself that it's funny how much this forum kind of dumped on Hard Candy, but it's clear Madonna hasn't completely abandoned it... Candy Shop is reinvented and performed in the tour, plus GI2M is interpolated in two performances, She's Not Me, as well. And I was thinking to myself -- it's all Pharrell's collaborations -- why no Timbaland/JT stuff? But then I think "4 Minutes" kind of broke that theory, since it is in the TUTR intro. Or is it?! lol. I can't recall. My memory isn't what it used to be ... if I'm making this up about the credits, I'll be a little scared that my brain is failing.] Interestingly enough -- and perhaps this has already been pointed out, too? -- but Express Yourself does NOT include credits for "Born This Way," though it DOES include credits for "She's Not Me." I thought "OMG! Oh NO she didn't!" But it's actually pretty genius of Madonna. If Gaga were to sue her over the omission, Gaga would look petty/desperate rather than M, and M could countersue for the BTW/EY infringement. (If Madonna lost in Belgium for three notes in "Frozen," it's unlikely Gaga would win when she lifts the melodic line of her chorus directly from EY.) Check and mate! Well played, M.

I went back and re-watched tonight -- enjoyed it just as much, possibly more -- this time. Skin, you were right, they omitted "4 Minutes" and "Ray of Light" -- but I was also right that they are listed in the credits. So bizarre! I do wonder, though, if it will be restored on the DVD/Blu-ray. (I recall the VH1 airing of Sticky & Sweet was edited in some ways, but not the DVD. I don't know about the Epix version versus the DVD for S&S, though. I don't recall ever getting Epix to work for me that time.)

And yeah -- just reiterating that the credits state still photography is Steven Klein's work. I had noticed the "EVA" video footage and wondered if that was Buenos Aires... I'm confused about which of the other fake tattoos was which night, now... I thought maybe "PSYCHE" was in NYC (because PSY appeared with her, but perhaps that was totally unrelated) ... And the Hebrew was ... wait, was that NYC? (I know she had a Hebrew tattoo in Pittsburgh, but I doubt any of those photos are from Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was the first time she took her pants off all the way and performed LAV/LS without the pants, though! So, that sort of ushered in the performance(s) we have recorded, interestingly. Strange to think how for most of the tour, she wore the pants, and also how when the tour started, she wasn't even performing Love Spent at all!)

It would be kinda cool if the DVD/Blu-ray had an extra devoted to little changes/evolutions/variances -- cataloguing some of the controversies along the way, the various tattoos, little costume changes, etc. It would also be good to have Beautiful Killer/Je'taime from Olympia, since those were unique to that show.

I agree with the sentiment that it's impossible to capture the COMPLETE concert experience on a recording. M said this herself -- you're never going to be able to download that experience. This is a wonderful encapsulation, but little things (and sometimes the grandiose scope of some moments) can be reduced or lost in the translation. But I think, in some ways, we're only MORE aware of it now because of YouTube and social media -- being able to compare so much of different shows with actual footage from the gigs and hearing accounts from fans. It's harder to piece all of that together from the vintage tours.

Anyway, I love it. There are always going to be little choices that irk and personal memories you have that you wish made the DVD/Blu-ray. I'm still just SO grateful this tour was as well-documented as it was -- multiple recordings, and it will be widely available, unlike some tours. :( Thank goodness MDNA isn't going to sit in a vault for 20 years!

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Not a good show. It needs more hits and good live singing. And less politics and lipsynching. The bratty violence and sexuality is immature for a woman her age. All of the plastic surgery and steroids have turned her into a barbie doll. What happened to the real Madonna I grew up with? I'm glad I didn't pay to see this junk in person. One out of five stars.

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(For example, I noticed there's no "Holiday" in this version -- wondering if the DVD/Blu-ray will include it? Maybe? Fingers crossed? lol.)

I guess the DVD won't include it, since "Holiday" wasn't performed in Miami.

It wasn't performed in Paris or Buenos Aires either...

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