Archive
CROSSING OVER – Mark Isham
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Written and directed by Wayne Kramer, Crossing Over is a story about immigration in the United States, and about how immigrants of different nationalities struggle to achieve legal status in Los Angeles. It follows the lives of several individuals – Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Max Brogan (Harrison Ford), his Iranian-American partner Hamid (Cliff Curtis), a sympathetic defense lawyer (Ashley Judd), and a green card approval supervisor (Ray Liotta) – all of whom experience different aspects of America’s immigration laws during the course of their working lives.
The score for Crossing Over is by Mark Isham, who previously worked with director Kramer on The Cooler and Running Scared, and who scored a similar kind of multi-character drama with the Oscar-winning Crash in 2005. Read more…
STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN-LI – Stephen Endelman
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Fifteen years after Jean-Claude Van Damme effectively killed off a potential franchise of films in the original Street Fighter movie, the classic video game returns to the big screen in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, a rebooting of the story which now focuses on the mysterious female character of Chun-Li rather than the muscle bound General Guile. Directed by Polish action director Andrzej Bartkowiak, it stars Smallville star Kristin Kreuk as Chun-Li, a concert pianist and martial arts expert searching for her father, who has been captured by the evil underworld figure, Bison.
The film, which also stars Chris Klein, Neal McDonough and Michael Clarke Duncan, has a score from a most unlikely source: New York-based composer Stephen Endelman, whose film work to date has included such classy projects as Read more…
THE INTERNATIONAL – Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The International is a contemporary – and somewhat prescient – action movie/political thriller starring Clive Owen as Louis Salinger, an Interpol agent who teams up with a Manhattan district attorney to expose a high-profile financial institution’s role in an international arms dealing ring. The film, which also stars Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Ulrich Thomsen, was directed by German leading light Tom Tykwer; as he did on his previous movies (notably Run Lola Run and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer), Tykwer teamed up with regular collaborators Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek to provide the film’s score. Read more…
RICKY – Philippe Rombi
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
A fantastical French drama from director François Ozon, Ricky stars Alexandra Lamie and Sergi Lopez as Katie and Paco, a single mother and a factory worker in modern, working class Paris, who begin a relationship and have a son together: the eponymous Ricky of the title. However, when baby Ricky begins to behave erratically, and begins to develop lesions on his skin, it increases the stresses on Katie and Paco’s relationship, with Kate accusing Paco of abuse; however, there is more to little Ricky than meets the eye…
The music for Ricky is by the exceptionally talented young French composer Philippe Rombi, director Ozon’s composer of choice; this is their sixth film together, following such spectacular efforts as Swimming Pool and Angel. Read more…
CORALINE – Bruno Coulais
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Coraline is the latest film from Henry Selick, the man who actually directed Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Like its illustrious predecessor, Coraline is a stop-motion animation, several years in the making, and is based on a story by acclaimed fantasy author Neil Gaiman. The film follows the adventures of a young girl – the eponymous Coraline – who, after discovering a secret passage in the wall of her parents’ new apartment, finds a magical, mysterious – and occasionally quite frightening – alternate universe where cats can talk, everyone has buttons for eyes, and she has a whole set of ‘other’ parents, who want to Coraline to stay in ‘Other World’ forever. The film features the voice talents of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French and Keith David, and has an original score by French composer Bruno Coulais. Read more…
THE SECRET OF MOONACRE – Christian Henson
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
A British children’s fantasy based on the popular novel “The Little White Horse” by Elizabeth Goudge, The Secret of Moonacre stars Dakota Blue Richards as Maria Merryweather who, following the death of her father, is sent to live at her uncle’s country estate. By reading her only inheritance – an ancient book – Maria learns of an ancient feud between her family and the neighboring DeNoir family over a set of magical pearls upon them by a beautiful and mysterious woman known as the Moon Princess. Slowly, Maria learns that she has been entrusted with finding the pearls and ending the dispute between the clans; but time is running out. Read more…
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