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L’AFRICAIN – Georges Delerue
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Director Philippe De Broca had three passions; Africa, adventure and comedy. So when he was offered an opportunity to direct L’Africain, he needed no coaxing. The story concerns Victor (Philippe Noriet) and Charlotte (Catherine Deneuve) who have separated, only to have fate bring them back together in unusual circumstances. He is a bush pilot and conservationist who has fled civilization to Africa where he has setup a floating grocery store. Charlotte has also come to Africa to build a tourist center by Lake William where she hopes to study pygmies who live near by. She quickly realizes that Victor’s site is the best location to build and so they reunite and join in common cause. Yet soon old conflicts reemerge and when a gang of ruthless ivory smugglers, elephant stampedes, crocodiles and pygmies are thrown into the mix all hell breaks loose! Read more…
THE EXPENDABLES 2 – Brian Tyler
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Had it been made in 1989, The Expendables 2 would without a doubt have been the biggest box office draw of the year. At the height of the action hero era, any film with a cast that included Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis alongside Jean Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and Chuck Norris… well, the testosterone quotient alone might have been enough to make any cinema screen explode with sheer masculinity. Add in modern action stars Jason Statham, Liam Hemsworth and Jet Li, a competent director in Simon Wells, and a concise and self-aware screenplay, and you have a film that is both a nostalgic throwback to that macho era, and an enjoyable contemporary popcorn adventure that pulls no punches when it comes to blood, bullets, fists, and slow-motion walks towards the camera. Stallone stars as the leader of a band of good-guy mercenaries for hire, who are sent by the CIA into the mountains of Albania to retrieve the contents of a safe lost in a plane crash. It looks like a walk in the park, until one of their number is killed by the suavely ruthless (and unambiguously named) arms dealer Jean Vilain – played with icy coolness by Van Damme – who is also after the contents of the safe, and all hell breaks loose as the Expendables look for revenge. Read more…
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES – Hans Zimmer
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The Dark Knight Rises is director Christopher Nolan’s eagerly-awaited final installment in the Batman trilogy he initiated with Batman Begins in 2005, and continued with The Dark Knight in 2008. Set seven years after the conclusion of the second film, The Dark Knight Rises finds the billionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) living in seclusion, having allowed his crime-fighting alter-ego Batman to take the blame for the crimes committed by the former DA Harvey Dent, including the murder of Wayne’s soul-mate, Rachel. However, Wayne’s self-imposed isolation is threatened by two very different interlopers into Gotham City: the formidable masked terrorist Bane (Tom Hardy), who seems to be masterminding a plan to undermine the very fabric of contemporary society, and sophisticated cat burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), who breaks into Wayne Manor to steal a necklace, but comes away with much more. To combat the rising threat, Wayne is forced to become Batman once more, but is he strong enough – mentally, and physically – to face the challenge? The film has an all-star supporting cast, including Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard, and has become one of the most popular and successful box-office hits of 2012, ending Nolan’s vision on an undisputed high note, but cleverly paving the way for future installments by different directors. Read more…
Marvin Hamlisch, 1944-2012
Composer Marvin Hamlisch died on August 6, 2012, at his home in Los Angeles, California, after a brief illness. He was 68.
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch was born in June 1944 in New York City to Austrian Jewish parents. He was a child prodigy who entered Juilliard at age seven, and then attended Queens College, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967.
A rare winner of the EGOT – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards – Hamlisch was one of the most decorated and versatile musicians of his generation. His work ranged from heartfelt ballads to rousing film scores, from Broadway showstoppers to pop hits, all marked by his melodic gift and deep emotional accessibility. He began his career as a rehearsal pianist for Barbra Streisand early in his career, later becoming her musical director and collaborator. His songs became hits for numerous artists, and his work as a conductor with major orchestras further expanded his artistic reach; his popular songs include “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows” and “California Nights” for Lesley Gore, and “The Travelin’ Life” for Liza Minnelli.
His first film score was for 1968’s The Swimmer. He also wrote music for several early Woody Allen films, including Take the Money and Run (1969) and Bananas (1971). Hamlisch’s film work brought him three Academy Awards, all in 1974: two for The Way We Were (Best Original Score and Best Song, shared with lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman), and one for his adaptation of Scott Joplin’s ragtime music for The Sting. Other notable film and TV scores in his career include Kotch in 1971, Save the Tiger in 1973, the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977, Ice Castles in 1978, Ordinary People in 1980, Sophies Choice in 1982, Shirley Valentine in 1989, and The Mirror Has Two Faces in 1996. Read more…
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