New on DVD

Amy Winehouse

I Told You I Was Trouble: Live in London | Republic

By BEN WESTHOFF | November 27, 2007

3.0 Stars

Let’s hope it wasn’t Amy Winehouse’s last great show. This charming live DVD was filmed in London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire this summer, before she and husband Blake Fielder-Civil were arrested for pot in Norway, before Fielder-Civil was sent to jail for assault and jury tampering, and before she was booed off stage in Birmingham. (If she’s headed for burnout, let’s hope her memory is more Billie than Britney.) Highlights include “Tears Dry on Their Own” and “Hey Little Rich Girl,” and Winehouse’s banter is delightful. Retracting a promise to give the crowd their money back if she bombs, she adds: “I will give you a kiss. On the cheek! My husband is here.” The bonus documentary is predictably glossy, but it does show Winehouse’s evolution from awkward Sofia Coppola look-alike to eyeliner jazz goddess. An interview with her cab-driving father is especially enjoyable; he sings and reveals his daughter’s first ambition — “roller-skating waitress.”

Topics: New on DVD , Celebrity News, Entertainment, Music Stars, More

| More

ARTICLES BY BEN WESTHOFF

INTERVIEW: JAMIE FOXX | August 11, 2009
"Until you get a chance to define another side of your career, people will always say, 'You're doing it as a hobby.' "

INTERVIEW: JOHN LEGEND | August 05, 2009
Despite being one of the most successful R&B singers of the decade — with six Grammys and three top-selling albums — John Legend is something of an oddball.

SAY WHAT?! | September 02, 2008
Rapper Esoteric has been getting lots of death threats via e-mail recently. But he’s not too worried about them, if only because of their elementary character.

THE CALL OF THE WILD | July 28, 2008
It’s not easy being in a band whose two primary songwriters have quite different ideas about how to write an indie-rock song.

THE SILENT RAPPER | July 21, 2008
One of the most influential hip-hop MCs of all time, Rakim brought rap from its sing-songy beginnings into its late-’80s golden era with his dense lyrics and virtuoso internal rhyme structures.