Amazon Blogs: Armchair Commentary Daily Digest

Check out these Updates from Armchair Commentary for September 1, 2009.

Criterion Spotlight: Monterey Pop September 1, 2009 The Criterion Collection has added the Monterey Pop Festival to its "series of important classic and contemporary films" with single and multiple disc editions now available on DVD and coming to Blu-ray later this month. If you want to relive the summer of love, or you missed out on the 3 day music festival that launched the careers of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding; you won't want to miss this collection. D.A. Pennebaker's films captured the legendary performances of artists like Simon and Garfunkel, The Mamas and the Papas, The Who, and more. Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar has never been better thanks to the Criterion treatment. Lou Thayer, the original producer of the festival, discusses this monumental weekend in June: It was the first major Rock ‘n’ Roll Festival. No prerequisite…no precedents. We had no idea what to expect. The question of would people come was answered by mid-week prior to the start of the festival. They came and kept on coming. A major surprise was the extent of mainstream media coverage. When John Phillips and I arrived at the fairgrounds on the morning of the first day there were camera crews, photographers and journalists from all over the world. Add to that the advent of FM radio; and the following year Rolling Stone Magazine…Rock ‘n’ Roll was here to stay. Monterey gave birth to the first rock charity Monterey International Pop Festival Foundation, which continues to fund worthwhile causes in the names of the artists who appeared at Monterey. Precedents and prerequisites would be set for future concerts and festivals, including the overall treatment of the artist…Derek Taylor’s handling of the press…Chip Monks’ sound and lights…Pennebaker’s groundbreaking movie “Monterey Pop. The true legacy of The Monterey International Pop Festival is not the crowd size…not the weather…not a violent incident…it is the music. The groundbreaking artists who were introduced (Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who) and the “rock royalty” (Simon & Garfunkel, Otis Redding and The Mamas & The Papas) that performed there continue to be revered and continue to impact to this day the music and musicians who came after it happened in Monterey on June 16, 17, and 18, 1967. --Amanda "Grace" - Director/Writer Paul Solet Blog September 1, 2009 Paul Solet is known by his peers, producers, cast and crew as the most prepared director they have ever seen. He works and lives - and lives to work - in Los Angeles, CA, ever determined to do his part in raising the bar in today’s genre cinema. His new horror film Grace ,... read more

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