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Celeb News: Life Is But a Dream: TV Reviews
Member Since: 5/24/2011
Posts: 29,233
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Life Is But a Dream: TV Reviews
Beyonce: Life Is But a Dream: TV Reviews
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Hollywood Reporter
The R&B superstar premieres a self-directed HBO documentary a week after her Super Bowl halftime show, but don't expect depth from this micromanaged video diary.
Oh, Bey. Just to be sure everyone does obey and stick to the 100 percent sanctioned version, the subject puts herself in charge in Beyonce: Life Is But a Dream. Executive produced and co-directed by Beyonce Knowles, who also provides its sole perspective, this is less a documentary portrait than a micromanaged video diary exploring the R&B superstar’s relationship with her laptop. The HBO film will be candy to her fan base; just don’t expect startling insights into the woman behind the talent.
In the spotlight since her teens in the late-'90s, when she emerged as the bootylicious centerpiece of Destiny’s Child, Beyonce, to her credit, has navigated the transition into a Grammy-laden, multimillion-album-selling solo career without serving herself up on the TMZ tabloid platter. Her image has been as carefully engineered and polished as her music. But despite making an ostensible show of peeling back the layers here to share the grit and pain beneath the glamour, she mostly offers platitudes dressed up as philosophical reflection.
As HBO is marketing it, this is Beyonce: “Raw. Real. Revealed.” But actually the 90-minute film is repetitious and bland. There’s a lot of pseudo-inspirational stuff, some standard speechifying about female empowerment and thoughts on the stress of success, punctuated by occasional speculation on “God’s plan.” But the documentary walks a muddy path between self-mystification and self-adulation without actually saying much. And her music becomes almost an afterthought.
Do the rich, famous and fabulous really need to keep reminding us that celebrities are not invulnerable creatures with perfect lives? “I cry,” says Beyonce. “My feelings get hurt like anyone else.” True, no doubt, but also trite. To hammer the point home, her most intimate confessions are delivered without makeup in late-night huddles with her MacBook.
Beyonce shares directing credit with cinematographer Ed Burke, a regular collaborator on her concert films who clearly wasn’t hired to ask the tough questions. With an objective eye and a probing interviewer behind the camera, there might have been something more substantial here than a glossy promo video to follow her Super Bowl appearance and precede her fifth studio album and world tour. Some input from key figures in Beyonce’s private and professional world also might have helped.
Like many sturdier films, this one is bookended by episodes of heartache and joy. It opens with the singer’s difficult decision to break with her father Matthew Knowles’ management in 2011. Beyonce says the goal was to separate business from family, allowing her to pursue creative and commercial independence. And it closes with the birth of Blue Ivy Carter, her daughter with husband Jay-Z. (He shows up a few times in the film but says nothing, though he does do some bad Coldplay karaoke.)
While Beyonce points out that her baby was born out of a conflict, the reasons behind the split from her father are kept vague. She acknowledges that her drive and perfectionism come from him but then drifts off into the abstract: “I’m so fragile at this point. I feel like my soul has been tarnished.” Rather than addressing the rift head-on, she takes the circumspect route by singing a few verses of “Listen” from Dreamgirls to place herself “alone at a crossroads.”
The film’s one significant disclosure, widely leaked in advance publicity, is that two years before the birth of her daughter, Beyonce suffered a miscarriage early in her first pregnancy. This explains why she kept her second pregnancy quiet for as long as possible. Many women, in particular, will relate to these experiences, and Beyonce’s account of them is as near as the documentary gets to emotional exposure.
But for a supposed close-up, this is generally a very selective view. Beyonce talks up the importance for her of female solidarity, swearing, “I need my sisters.” But her actual siblings get only a brief mention or two, as do her former Destiny’s Child sidekicks. The latter are glimpsed in home-video clips, including one where they goof off singing The Cardigans’ “Lovefool.”
Rather than a self-portrait, this is a scrupulously processed diptych. On one hand there’s the sexual gladiatrix onstage, with the ubiquitous wind machine whipping up the mane of magic hair and the Tina Turner shimmy fringe. On the other, there’s the soulful, misunderstood goddess at home on the sofa with the regal updo, rambling on about connecting the dots and finding her path. I know which one I’d rather be watching.
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More to come...
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Member Since: 5/8/2012
Posts: 15,801
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wait, did this air already 
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Member Since: 12/7/2011
Posts: 21,578
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Quote:
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Rather than a self-portrait, this is a scrupulously processed diptych. On one hand there’s the sexual gladiatrix onstage, with the ubiquitous wind machine whipping up the mane of magic hair and the Tina Turner shimmy fringe. On the other, there’s the soulful, misunderstood goddess at home on the sofa with the regal updo, rambling on about connecting the dots and finding her path. I know which one I’d rather be watching.
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I really need to watch this.
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Member Since: 10/29/2010
Posts: 29,249
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Originally posted by Katamari
wait, did this air already |
No, Bey has shown it to the press/media outlets.
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Member Since: 10/29/2010
Posts: 29,249
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Only positive reviews 
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Member Since: 8/16/2011
Posts: 3,588
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as do her former Destiny’s Child sidekicks
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Member Since: 9/21/2011
Posts: 2,888
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Sounds like it's gonna be boring
Of course I'll watch. But I'd rather be watching 90 minutes of 'Album 5' studio time. 
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Banned
Member Since: 11/24/2009
Posts: 61,404
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The R&B superstar premieres a self-directed HBO documentary a week after her Super Bowl halftime show, but don't expect depth from this micromanaged video diary.
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Wait RichGirl why did you thread a somewhat negative review?
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Member Since: 5/24/2011
Posts: 29,233
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Quote:
Originally posted by Nicole
Wait RichGirl why did you thread a somewhat negative review?
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I'm aware of the reviews nature, but it does offer spoilers. 
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Member Since: 6/7/2011
Posts: 10,608
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I'm confused by this review. Lol.
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Member Since: 5/20/2012
Posts: 11,332
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This isn't exactly the most positive review.........
Still, imma watch it..it's Bey 
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Member Since: 10/20/2009
Posts: 20,682
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So they pretty much called it a micromanaged and boring mess?
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Member Since: 3/10/2011
Posts: 5,354
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Quote:
Originally posted by DG1
Only positive reviews |
Are we reading the same thing?  This review seems rather critical.
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Member Since: 6/17/2011
Posts: 16,910
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Quote:
Originally posted by DG1
Only positive reviews |
Read it again.
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Member Since: 11/23/2011
Posts: 46,048
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Wtf? Why are they so critical of her? They must have been blind to the KING's greatness. Undeserving of her presence, tbh.
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Member Since: 10/29/2010
Posts: 29,249
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NY Daily News
First look at Beyoncé's intimate documentary 'Life is But a Dream'
'Life Is But a Dream' debuts Feb. 16 on HBO. it doesn’t pretend or aspire to be more than an autobiography — one of history’s most skilled and successful female singers telling the tale in her own words and pretty much only her own words.
“Life Is But a Dream” gives Beyoncé fans the lip-synched version of her rich life and well-earned stardom.
That’s not an insult, or even really a criticism.
“Life Is But a Dream,” which debuts Feb. 16 on HBO, doesn’t pretend or aspire to be more than an autobiography — one of history’s most skilled and successful female singers telling the tale in her own words and pretty much only her own words.
HBO bills the film as “an intimate feature-length documentary.” But with Beyoncé as director, executive producer and star, let’s not act surprised that it includes no other narrators.
In one of the opening segments, she talks about how she has always wanted “independence,” that is, to answer only to herself. Only a few stars shine brightly enough to claim that prize, and Beyoncé has become one of them.
The HBO documentary special will show a sonogram of Blue Ivy.
When you’re Beyoncé, you get to make this film.
Hearing only her voice is revealing in a way, since it tells us what she considers to be the parts of her story that matter. Still, it does at times leave us wanting one of those other voices. When she talks about how painful it was to split from her father and begin to manage her own career in 2011, it would be interesting to hear his response. We don’t.
We don’t even hear voices that would very likely echo her own. While she makes repeated and touching references to her husband, Jay-Z, we see him just briefly and never hear him.
“Life Is But a Dream” also spends little time on Beyoncé’s past. We get a few clips of her singing as a child and little reference to Destiny’s Child, the group that launched her stardom.
More important to her are ruminations on the rewards and pressures of stardom. Some of the footage of fans, when they aren’t in their seats, makes them look pretty scary.
The show includes several concert performances, all delightful and all illustrating why she’s Beyoncé.
She seems to have taken equal delight, though, from tucking in brief diary-like ruminations she has recorded on her computer over the years.
Covering subjects like the chaos of touring and her joy at being pregnant, none is startling or especially revealing. Still, they lead her to muse, “Thank God for my computer. When there’s no one else to talk to, I can talk it out with myself.”
Beyoncé references a few rough moments, like the miscarriage that led her to write “the saddest song” of her life. But the fuller story of Beyoncé, who at 31 comes scary close to having it all, will have to be told elsewhere.
If she wants to lip-sync this one — that is, make sure everything comes out exactly as she wants it, that’s a reward she has earned.
She seems to have taken equal delight, though, from tucking in brief diary-like ruminations she has recorded on her computer over the years.
Covering subjects like the chaos of touring and her joy at being pregnant, none is startling or especially revealing. Still, they lead her to muse, “Thank God for my computer. When there’s no one else to talk to, I can talk it out with myself.”
Beyoncé references a few rough moments, like the miscarriage that led her to write “the saddest song” of her life. But the fuller story of Beyoncé, who at 31 comes scary close to having it all, will have to be told elsewhere.
If she wants to lip-sync this one — that is, make sure everything comes out exactly as she wants it, that’s a reward she has earned.
RATING: 4/5 STARS
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...#ixzz2K4uASral
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Member Since: 10/29/2010
Posts: 29,249
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oop, I just saw the OP was RichGirl and assumed it was positive.
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Member Since: 10/29/2010
Posts: 29,249
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US Weekly
Beyonce unflinchingly parses through fact and fiction about her high-profile pregnancy in Life Is But a Dream, her new HBO documentary that debuts later this month. As Us Weekly revealed on Thursday (Jan. 31), the 31-year-old opens up candidly in the film about the miscarriage she and husband Jay-Z endured before the successful January 2012 birth of daughter Blue Ivy.
The singer also puts to rest, once and for all, persistent speculation that she used a surrogate to carry Blue Ivy; conspiracy theorists harshly claimed that Beyonce even sported a false baby bump in the nine months leading up to her baby's birth.
"To think that I would be that vain," the Grammy winner retorts in the film. "I respect mothers and women so much. To be able to experience bringing a child into this world, if you're lucky and fortunate enough to experience that, I would never ever take that for granted."
She says of carrying a child: "It's the most powerful thing you can do in your life -- and especially after losing a child, the pain and trauma from that just makes it mean that much more . . . A child, you don't play around with that."
Calling her miscarriage the "saddest thing I've ever been through," becoming a mother to Blue became a truly life-defining moment. "My baby was born out of a conflict in my life and that struggle had to be settled. I wouldn't have gone through the pain if I hadn't gone down the path," she surmises. "There's something so relieving about life taking over you like that. You're playing a part in a much bigger show and that's what life is, it's the greatest show on earth . . . I felt like god was giving me a chance to assist in a miracle."
Read more: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-...#ixzz2K4ukqL3o
She's now the ecstatic mother to daughter Blue Ivy Carter, nearly 13 months, but Beyonce dealt with the ultimate maternal anguish before that famous pregnancy: A miscarriage. Last year, the 31-year-old singer's husband Jay-Z briefly referenced the tragedy in "Glory," the rap track recorded within days of Blue's Jan. 7 birth, but Beyonce hasn't ever discussed the loss.
In a surprising moment of candor, she opens up for the first time about the incident and its aftermath in Life Is But a Dream, her new documentary debuting on HBO in February. "About two years ago, I was pregnant for the first time," the Grammy winner says in one scene. "And I heard the heartbeat, which was the most beautiful music I ever heard in my life."
She and Jay-Z (they wed in April 2008) were naturally overjoyed about their baby-to-be. "I picked out names," Beyonce recalls. "I envisioned what my child would look like . . . I was feeling very maternal."
But something went wrong in the early stages, the "Love on Top" singer reveals. "I flew back to New York to get my check up -- and no heartbeat," she says. "Literally the week before I went to the doctor, everything was fine, but there was no heartbeat."
The superstar (who will perform at the Super Bowl Half Time show this Sunday, Feb. 3) dealt with the heartache the best way she knew how: Through music.
"I went into the studio and wrote the saddest song I've ever written in my life," she says, although she doesn't name the track. "And it was actually the first song I wrote for my album. And it was the best form of therapy for me, because it was the saddest thing I've ever been through."
All of which made her successful pregnancy with Blue Ivy all the more exciting and joyful. "Being pregnant was very much like falling in love," she muse. "You are so open. You are so overjoyed. There's no words that can express having a baby growing inside of you, so of course you want to scream it out and tell everyone."
Read more: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-...#ixzz2K4v3fyhW
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Member Since: 10/29/2010
Posts: 29,249
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USA Today
Wow. When she gets personal, she goes all out.
Beyonce's HBO documentary Life is But a Dream delves into her marriage to rapper Jay-Z (including a sweet scene in Venice, which has them singing the song Yellow by Coldplay).
Lucky reporters got an advance copy of the film. And it was worth the wait. Seeing Beyonce, who normally never talks much about her marriage or what goes on behind the scenes, discussing her husband -- priceless.
"It's every woman's dream to feel this way about someone," Beyonce says about her husband during a vacation in Venice.
And yes, she shows her sonogram on screen.
But Beyonce, so private about her marriage and her life in general, goes further. She shares footage of her trip to Paris with her nephew. She talks about wanting to "make love" to her husband. She explains why she decided to share her pregnancy news so visibly at the MTV awards.
Most notably: She opens up about her miscarriage two years ago, saying that one week she heard a heartbeat – and the next, nothing. And she talks about how devastating the loss was to her and how she retreated to the studio to deal with it.
Most movingly, she addresses stories that she used a surrogate to carry daughter Blue Ivy, now 1.
"There's a stupid rumor. The most ridiculous rumor I think I've ever had about me. It's crazy. To think I would be that vain – I respect mothers and women so much and to be able to experience bringing a child into this world, if you're lucky and fortunate enough to experience that, I would never, ever take that for granted. It's the most powerful thing you can do. Especially after losing a child, the pain and trauma from that just makes it mean so much more to get an opportunity to bring life into the world. It seems like people should have boundaries," says a visibly shaken Beyonce.
You see her with Blue, just being a mom, and with Jay-Z, being a wife. Overall, it's a savvy and just-personal-enough glimpse into the life of someone who generally reveals nothing of herself to the press.
By the way, as her "did she or didn't she" inaugural controversy rages on, anyone who doubts Beyonce can sing should watch this film. The lady is seriously gifted.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/p...riage/1865749/
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Member Since: 12/4/2009
Posts: 6,471
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Ready for it.
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