Archive
MOONRISE KINGDOM – Alexandre Desplat
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
It is becoming apparent to me that I just don’t get Wes Anderson. The writer-director of a series of quirky comedies with highly specific visual and narrative aesthetics, Anderson’s films – which have included Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and the animated Fantastic Mr. Fox – tend to polarize cinema audiences, who either connect with his wholly unique hipster sensibilities, or find them impenetrable and slightly pretentious. Unfortunately; I fall into the latter camp. His latest film, Moonrise Kingdom, is a similarly oddball comedy-drama about two teenagers falling in love on a New England island in the 1960s: nerdy orphan Sam (Jared Gilman), who is camping there with his scout troupe, and rebellious Suzy (Kara Hayward), who lives on the island with her parents. Sam and Suzy, having met briefly during the previous summer, conspire to run away together, sending the island’s adults into a lather as they frantically comb the island for the missing children. Read more…
ISLAND AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD – Maurice Jarre
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The screenplay for Island at the Top of the World was based on the novel “The Lost Ones”, which was written by Ian Cameron and set in the location of Prince Patrick Island. The film is a classic adventure and discovery tale set in London circa 1907. British nobleman Sir Anthony Ross organizes a rescue party to the Arctic in a desperate search to recover his lost son Donald, who had embarked on an expedition in search of the fabled isle – the “Graveyard of Whales”. Joined by famous archaeologist Professor Ivarsson and Captain Brieux, an aeronaut who pilots the expedition, the team sets off in the Hyperion, an incredible mechanized French dirigible. Fate would have it that they discover an uncharted island named Astragard, or “Garden Of The Gods”, which is home to a lost colony of Vikings separated from humanity for centuries. The team ultimately must contend with a romance between Donald and the Viking Freyja, xenophobic Vikings who are unwilling to let their existence be revealed to the outside world, a fanatical High Priest Godi intent on executing these “invaders”, and lastly, killer whales that defend their sacred Graveyard. The film regretfully was neither a critical or commercial success. It suffered from inferior production quality, rare for a Disney film, and just did not resonate with the public. Read more…
TED – Walter Murphy
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Picture the scene: it’s the mid 1980s in suburban America. You’re a ten year old boy, and not very popular, but on Christmas morning your parents give you the most adorable, cuddly teddy bear imaginable. You suddenly have a new best friend – and, that night, you make a wish on a shooting star that your bear would come to life. Amazingly, through the magical power of a young boy’s dreams, the bear does come to life, and everyone lived happily ever after… except that, 25 years later, the bear is still with you, smokes pot out of a bong in your living room, brings hookers home to party, and is a constant irritation to your friends and family. This is the premise of Ted, the live-action cinematic debut of the television-animation icon Seth MacFarlane, whose comic creations on the small screen include Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show. Mark Wahlberg stars as John Bennett, the poor schmuck whose life is constantly being ruined by his furry friend, Mila Kunis supports as his beautiful long-suffering girlfriend Lori, and MacFarlane himself voices the eponymous bear. It sounds ridiculous but, truthfully, Ted is one of the funniest films I have seen in a LONG time, filled with a wonderful combination of gross-out humor, verbal sparring and absurd physical violence, but counterbalanced with a genuinely heartwarming story of love, friendship and forgiveness. Read more…
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN – James Horner
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Despite it only being ten years since Sam Raimi brought the latest incarnation of Spider-Man to the silver screen with Tobey Maguire in 2002, Sony Pictures have given the world one of the dreaded “re-boots” of the story in The Amazing-Spider Man, intending to re-ignite interest in a franchise which has struggled to maintain popularity since the disappointing Spider-Man 3 in 2007. Sam Raimi is replaced in the director’s chair by the aptly-named Marc Webb; Tobey Maguire is replaced by Andrew Garfield; Kirsten Dunst as Mary-Jane Watson is replaced by Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey, and the entire supporting cast is changed too. The film is yet another origin story, explaining how the mild-mannered science buff Peter Parker is transformed into the Astonishing Arachnid Boy by way of a helpful spider bite, and sets about cleaning up New York City in the face of a super-villain, the Lizard. The truly amazing thing about The Amazing Spider-Man is that, contrary to all expectations, it’s better than Raimi’s Spider-Man on almost all levels: story, screenplay, acting, special effects, and even its score, which sees James Horner replacing Danny Elfman (and Christopher Young and all the uncredited ghost writers). Read more…
PROMETHEUS – Marc Streitenfeld
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Prometheus sees the eagerly-awaited and highly anticipated return to the Alien franchise of director Ridley Scott, whose groundbreaking science fiction films in the late 1970s and early 80s help shaped the genre as we know it today. While not a direct prequel to his 1979 masterpiece, the film does take place before the events of that classic film, and within the same general universe. However, whereas the original Alien was essentially a haunted house movie in space, Prometheus asks bigger questions about the meaning – and origins – of life itself. Noomi Rapace and and Logan Marshall-Green star as a pair of scientists who, via some ancient cave paintings, discover a “star map” which they think will lead them across the universe to where life on Earth began. Years later, the pair arrive on a distant planet with a cadre of associates funded by the Weyland corporation: icy administrator Charlize Theron, ship’s captain Idris Elba, geologist Rafe Spall, biologist Sean Harris, plus a sentient android named David, played with clinical conviction by Michael Fassbender. However, upon their arrival and initial forays onto the planet, the team find much more than they anticipated, and a great deal of danger. Read more…
STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY – Cliff Eidelman
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Star Trek VI was envisioned by Paramount executive Frank Mancuso as a rebound from the disaster that was the Star Trek V film, and a hand off the franchise to the Next Generation crew. As such he again hired Leonard Nimoy to write a script that would bring a memorable final adventure for our legendary crew. Drawing upon Gorbachev’s Glasnost initiative that catalyzed the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Nimoy fashioned a classic morality play, which dealt with the issues of racial prejudice, revenge, mistrust and humanity’s eternal search for “The Undiscovered County” – a lasting peace. The film begins dramatically with a cataclysmic explosion on the Klingon moon Praxis. The moon’s destruction fatally cripples energy production and the Klingons face the inevitable depletion of their ozone layer in 50 years, which will bring an irradiating end to their civilization. Chancellor Gorkon resolves to forge peace with the Federation and so bring to an end 70 years of unremitting hostilities, which he understands they can no longer sustain. Captain James Kirk and his crew are called upon by the Federation Council to escort the Chancellor to Earth, however reactionary elements on both sides jointly conspire to covertly sabotage the peace mission by attacking Gorkon’s vessel and assassinating him. Since the Enterprise appears to be responsible, Kirk and McCoy are remanded to Klingon authorities where they are tried, convicted and sent to certain death at the penal colony on Rura Penthe. A daring escape allows Kirk to regain the Enterprise and again save the day. He defeats the traitorous General Chang in battle and foils a second assassination of Klingon emissaries by Federation officers. The movie restored the franchise’s vitality, received critical acclaim and was a huge commercial success. Read more…
THE RAVEN – Lucas Vidal
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The Raven is a fun but forgettable period thriller based around the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. Directed by James McTeigue – still most famous for his work on V for Vendetta – the film is set in Baltimore in the 1840s and stars John Cusack as the famed author Poe, the twisted mind behind such classic tales of the macabre as The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, and of course the timeless poem from which the film takes its title. Already down on his luck, both financially and personally, Poe’s life becomes even more difficult when it becomes apparent that a murderer is on the loose, and using the macabre deaths described in Poe’s books as inspiration for real-life atrocities. Things become even worse when Poe’s young paramour Emily (Alice Eve), the daughter of wealthy businessman Captain Hamilton (Brendan Gleeson) is kidnapped by the murderer, who begins taunting the increasingly frantic poet with mysterious clues and additional killings based on Poe’s stories. To solve the crime, Poe teams up with the dogged and inquisitive detective Fields (Luke Evans), who must work together to solve the mystery before poor Emily takes her last breath and becomes one of the dear departed. Read more…
LA NOUVELLE GUERRE DES BOUTONS – Philippe Rombi
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The story of La Nouvelle Guerre des Boutons was adapted from Louis Pergaud’s 1912 novel and is a remake of Yves Robert’s 1962 film of the same name. It is a comedy with an anti-war narrative sub-text. Set in France circa 1944, it tells the tale of schoolboys from the neighboring villages of Longeverne and Velrans have formed two opposing factions, which have been waging a mock war for as long as anyone can remember. After each battle the victor’s spoils would be the taking of buttons off the clothes of the vanquished. Hoping to turn the tide of the conflict, one team of the boys employ a strategy of running into battle naked, thus depriving the opposing boys nothing to steal. Fate would have it however that after this amazing victory, one of the boys defects to the other side. This turncoat reveals a weakness in his former camp that allows his new teammates to launch a secret attack that brings victory. The traitor’s betrayal is discovered and he is punished for his treachery. Not done, he informs his superiors and parents that he has been beaten up by bullies. This upsets the entire apple cart as his mom and dad escalate the conflict with the opposing schoolmates resulting in jail time. Read more…
À VOUS DE JOUER MILORD – François de Roubaix
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
À Vous de Jouer Milord was a 1974 spy drama mini-series of six episodes directed by the famous French director Christian-Jaque. The national security storyline concerned the theft of design schematics for the new generation French tank, the AMX 30. Justifiably alarmed by the loss of the schematics, the government resolved to call back into service their retired agent Hubert de Pomarec (AKA Milord) played by Henri Piégay to regain the stolen plans. Christian-Jaque imbued the mini-series with a comic book sensibility and robust action scenes with his lead performing his own stunts. While entertaining, it received no critical acclaim. Read more…
CASA DE MI PADRE – Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Casa de Mi Padre is an intentionally silly spoof of those wonderfully cheesy but enormously popular Spanish-language telenovelas, especially ones from the 1970s which have a Grindhouse-esque quality. English-speaking audiences are generally unaware of their success and popularity, but they form a cornerstone of Latin popular entertainment, especially in countries like Mexico, Spain, Portugal, and most of South and Central America. The brainchild of actor/producer Will Ferrell, screenwriter Andrew Steele and director Matt Piedmont, the film stars Ferrell as Armando Alvarez, the good-natured but dim-witted son of a wealthy Mexican landowner (the late Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.), whose life is thrown into turmoil when his younger brother Raul (Diego Luna) returns to the family home with a beautiful new fiancée, Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez) to take over the business. However, Raul has fallen in with the wrong company, and soon Armando finds himself caught up in the middle of a bitter feud between Raul and the evil drug kingpin Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal). Yes, despite the rather serious plot, it is a comedy, and yes, it’s entirely in Spanish, and the jokes come thick and fast, with intentionally bad continuity, poor special effects, and hilarious psychedelic inserts competing with the broad slapstick and clever wordplay Ferrell brings to the table. Read more…
WRATH OF THE TITANS – Javier Navarrete
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
I have to admit, when I learned that Javier Navarrete was scoring Wrath of the Titans, I was pretty excited. The original film to which this is a sequel – 2010’s Clash of the Titans – was solidly panned by the majority of film critics, and had a pretty risible score by Ramin Djawadi that adhered to every Remote Control cliché ever invented. Everything was revamped this time, with a new director in the shape of Jonathan Liebesman, a new supporting cast including Rosamund Pike and Bill Nighy behind leads Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes, and a brand new composer, whose track record promised to provide everything that Djawadi’s score was lacking in terms of thematic identity and orchestral intelligence. Navarrete is, of course, the Spanish composer of such excellent works as Pan’s Labyrinth, Inkheart, Mirrors and Cracks, and this would be far his biggest assignment in the Hollywood mainstream to date. Read more…
EMMANUELLE 4/S.A.S. À SAN SALVADOR – Michel Magne
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The original Emmanuelle (1974) was adapted from the novel by Emanuelle Arsan. It proved to be a box office sensation, which spawned a franchise. Director Francis Leroi, well known for his work with erotica, took up the Opus 4 story line with an added twist. Sylvia (Sylvia Kristen) is desperately trying to escape from her former lover Marc, and so she goes to Brazil where renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Santamo transforms her into the beautiful Emmanuelle. Her new more youthful identity now played by Mia Nygren potentiates a profound sexual awakening, which is complicated by her memories of Marc. It suffices to say that the plot offers unexpected plot twists, which provide multiple opportunities to fully explore the characters.
Pierre Bachelet, Francis Lai and Serge Gainsbourg had respectively scored the first three films of the franchise. Michel Magne, well known for his neo-romantic style was a natural choice for the film. Like his predecessors, he infused his writing with a modern romanticism and provided a number of beautiful songs. You will notice immediately how Magne provides a rich musical palate, which spans from the chaotic, to the playful, to the sensual erotic. Read more…
A TROLL IN CENTRAL PARK – Robert Folk
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Producers Don Bluth and Gary Goldman had a long history of successful animated films that included “An American Tail” and “The Land Before Time”. With their company now set in Ireland, Bluth decided to utilize traditional Celtic mythology for his next film. In this new story, Stanley is a friendly troll blessed with the gift of a wondrous and magical green thumb that allows him to grow flowers by merely sticking it into the ground. Unfortunately the evil troll Queen Gnorga banishes him from her realm to modern day Manhattan for his life generating gift and kindness to humans. Stanley adapts to his new cave home in Central Park and befriends Gus and Rosie who unknown to their parents have set out on a magnificent adventure. But all is endangered when Queen Gnorga journeys to Manhattan, armed with her purple thumb intent on turning everything she touches to stone. As is fitting, goodness prevails and our heroes defeat and overthrow the evil Queen. The film was not a critical success and failed at the box office, not even coming close to recovering its production costs. Read more…
JOHN CARTER – Michael Giacchino
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Already tainted as one of the biggest box-office disasters in cinema history, John Carter looks set to go down in negative notoriety rather than with the acclaim and applause many expected at Disney when the project was first announced. A large scale action science-fiction epic, the film is a big screen mishmash adaptation of several of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Barsoom novels, which were first written in 1912 and stand as some of the first works of interplanetary science fiction ever written. The film, which is directed by Andrew Stanton, stars newcomer Taylor Kitsch as the eponymous Carter, a civil war veteran from Virginia who, while prospecting out west, finds himself inexplicably transported to Mars, where he becomes embroiled in a second civil war between the planet’s inhabitants, who call their world Barsoom. The film co-stars Lynn Collins as the beautiful princess Dejah Thoris, Ciaran Hinds and Dominic West as the two rival jeddak kings in whose lengthy battle Carter gets caught, and Willem Dafoe and Samantha Morton in motion-capture as two of the multi-armed Tharks, who help and hinder Carter in his quest with equal measure. Read more…
Movie Music UK Awards 2011
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