Archive
THE WATCHERS – Abel Korzeniowski
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The Watchers is a new supernatural horror film, and is the directorial debut of Ishana Night Shyamalan, the 25-year-old daughter of filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. She previously directed and wrote several episodes of the horror TV series Servant, for which her father was the showrunner, and also directed the second unit on her father’s films Old and Knock at the Cabin, but this marks the first feature film project of her own. The film is based on the 2022 novel of the same name by A. M. Shine and stars Dakota Fanning as Mina, an American artist living in Ireland, who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest when her car breaks down. Seeking shelter, she eventually becomes trapped in a glass-walled bunker alongside three strangers, who reveal that they are stalked by mysterious creatures every night if they try to escape. Read more…
THE GLASS MENAGERIE – Max Steiner
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The Broadway stage play “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams opened at the Playhouse Theatre on 31 March 1945, and ran for 563 performances. It catapulted Williams to fame, and Hollywood took notice. Charles K. Feldman purchased the film rights and secured backing by Warner Brothers studios. Feldman and Jerry Wald would manage production with a $1.357 million budget, Irving Rapper would direct, and Williams and Peter Berneis would adapt his play and write the screenplay. For the cast, Jane Wyman would star as Laura Wingfield, joined by Kirk Douglas as Jim O’Connor, Arthur Kennedy as Tom Wingfield and Gertrude Lawrence as Amanda Wingfield. Read more…
THE LION KING – Hans Zimmer
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
It’s interesting how, quite often, you never realize in the moment that you’re experiencing a cultural touchstone. I went to see The Lion King at the cinema the week it opened when it came out in the UK with very little in the way of anticipation, and vividly remember being shocked at having to wait in line for almost an hour beforehand to get in (these were the days before pre-assigned seating), such was its massive popularity.
The Lion King is, of course, Disney’s groundbreaking animated feature film that follows the journey of a young lion named Simba. The story begins with Simba’s birth in the Pride Lands of Africa, where he is introduced as the future king. However, Simba’s uncle, Scar, covets the throne and conspires with a pack of hyenas to kill both Simba and his father, King Mufasa, in an orchestrated wildebeest stampede. Scar’s plan partially succeeds; Mufasa is killed, and Simba, guilt-ridden and believing himself responsible, runs away and grows up in the jungle with his new friends Timon, a meerkat, and Pumbaa, a warthog. Eventually, encouraged by his childhood friend Nala and the mandrill shaman Rafiki, Simba returns to the Pride Lands to confront Scar and reclaim his rightful place as king. Read more…
SIGHT – Sean Philip Johnson
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Sight is an inspirational real-life drama biopic about the acclaimed surgeon Ming Wang. Born in China in the 1950s during the rule of Chairman Mao, Wang and his family was threatened with being deported to a remote area of the country as part of the Cultural Revolution; in an attempt to avoid being sent to a labor camp, Wang learned how to dance and play the erhu. With the help of his parents he eventually made his way to America with only $50 in his pocket and, after many years of hard work, earned a PhD in laser physics and graduated magna cum laude with the highest honors from Harvard Medical School and MIT. Wang is now a world-renowned laser eye surgeon and philanthropist, and is a Clinical Professor at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, while continuing to be a competitive ballroom dancer and professional erhu player. The movie is based on Wang’s 2016 autobiography ‘From Darkness to Sight,’ is directed by Andrew Hyatt, and stars Terry Chen and Greg Kinnear. Read more…
NO SAD SONGS FOR ME – George Duning
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Columbia Pictures came across the 1944 novel “No Sad Songs For Me” by Ruth Southard and believed its sentimental tale would translate well to the big screen. They purchased the film rights, assigned production to Buddy Adler, tasked Rudolph Maté with directing, and hired Howard Koch to write the screenplay. Casting was problematic. Originally Irene Dunne was envisioned for the lead role of Mary Scott, but this did not pan out, nor did Olivia de Haviland. In the end, they secured Margaret Sullavan for what would be her final film. Joining Sullavan would be Wendell Corey as Brad Scott, Viveca Lindfors as Chris Radna, and Natalie Wood as Polly Scott. Read more…
SPEED – Mark Mancina
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Pop quiz, hotshot. There’s a bomb on a bus. What do you do? What do you do?
One of the landmark action movies of the 1990s, and one of my favorite action movies of all time, Speed is a hyper-kinetic thrill ride film directed by Jan de Bont, starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, and Dennis Hopper. Reeves plays Jack Traven, a young and resourceful LAPD SWAT officer, who thwarts a bomb threat in an elevator orchestrated by the vengeful ex-bomb squad member Howard Payne (Hopper). Infuriated by Jack’s interference, Payne then rigs a city bus with a bomb that will detonate if the bus drops below 50 miles per hour. Jack boards the bus and teams up with Annie Porter (Bullock), a passenger who takes over driving after the normal bus driver is injured; together, Jack and Annie must work together to keep the speed above the critical limit by any means possible, while figuring out a way to save the passengers and thwart Payne’s plans. Read more…
A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW – Federico Jusid
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
A Gentleman in Moscow is an 8-part British TV mini-series directed by Sam Miller and Sara O’Gorman, based on the on the 2016 novel by Amor Towles. Ewan McGregor stars as the fictional aristocrat Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov who, after recently returning to Russia from Paris, is arrested by Bolsheviks following the October Revolution of 1917, tried, and convicted for being a traitor to the Community Party. However, instead of receiving a death sentence, he is sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest inside a luxury hotel – the Hotel Metropol Moscow – where he subsequently spends several decades, banished to a small attic room. However Rostov – who is a brilliant conversationalist, with expertise in everything from evolution and philosophy, to art, literature, poetry, and food – finds himself becoming an integral part of the hotel, interacting with guests, while observing the development of post-revolution Russia and the birth of the Soviet Union. Read more…
ON THE TOWN – Leonard Bernstein, Roger Edens, Lennie Hayton
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
When the 1944 ballet “Fancy Free” by Jerome Robbins gained critical acclaim, it was brought to Broadway as a play with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It opened on December 28, 1944 at the Adelphi Theatre, running for 462 performances. Following this successful run MGM management decided to bring it to the big screen. It secured the film rights, Arthur Freed was placed in charge of production with a $2.1 million budget, Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen were tasked with directing, and Betty Comden and Adolph Green would write the screenplay. Kelly would also manage the choreography. For the cast, Gene Kelly would star as Gabey, joined by Frank Sinatra as Chip, Jules Munshin as Ozzie, Vera-Ellen as Ivy, Betty Garrett as Hildy Esterhazy, and Ann Miller as Claire Huddesen. Read more…
MAVERICK – Randy Newman
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
1994’s Maverick was director Richard Donner’s attempt to bring the popular 1957 ABC TV show of the same name to the silver screen. That show starred James Garner as the eponymous Brett Maverick, a wise-cracking and charismatic poker player plying his trade on riverboats and in saloons across the American Wild West. The big-screen version of the story sees Maverick being played by Mel Gibson, who here is re-teaming with director Donner for the first time since Lethal Weapon 3 in 1992. In this story, Maverick finds himself needing to raise $25,000 to enter a high-stakes poker tournament on a riverboat; as he does so he repeatedly encounters the resourceful and sly con-artist Annabelle Bransford (Jodie Foster), while falling afoul of the stern lawman Marshal Zane Cooper (Garner). The film’s supporting cast features Graham Greene, James Coburn, and Alfred Molina, and has many cameo appearances by classic Western film actors and country music stars. Read more…
YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA – Amelia Warner
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Young Woman and the Sea is a biographical period sports drama directed by Joachim Rønning and written by Jeff Nathanson, based on the 2009 book of the same name by Glenn Stout. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer for Disney, the film stars Daisy Ridley and tells the true story of Gertrude Ederle, an American competitive swimmer who, after winning a gold medal at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, attempted to become the first woman to swim across the English Channel. The film stars Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Stephen Graham, Kim Bodnia, Christopher Eccleston, and Glenn Fleshler in supporting roles, and has been received well by critics, many of whom favorably compared Ridley’s performance with the Oscar-nominated performance by Annette Bening in the similarly-themed Nyad last year. Read more…
BEYOND THE FOREST – Max Steiner
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Warner Brothers Pictures purchased the film rights to the 1948 novel Beyond The Forest by Stuart D. Engstrand believing the film noir tale would translate well to the big screen. Studio star Bette Davis was assigned the role of Rosa Moline, much to her displeasure. She continuously fought against the director throughout shooting and halfway through filming threatened studio executive Jack L. Warner to walk out unless he agreed to void her contract after the film was completed. For Warner, this was a deal he was happy to make, thus ending her eighteen-year contract. Henry Blanke was assigned production with a $1.589 million budget, King Vidor would direct, and Lenore Coffee was tasked with writing the screenplay. Bette Davis would star as Rosa Moline, joined by Joseph Cotton as Doctor Lewis Moline, Davide Brian as Neil Latimer, and Minor Watson as Moose. Read more…
LITTLE BUDDHA – Ryuichi Sakamoto
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Little Buddha, directed by the Oscar-winning Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci, is a drama film that intertwines two primary narratives. The first narrative follows a young boy named Jesse Conrad, living in Seattle with his parents, Dean and Lisa. Tibetan monks, led by Lama Norbu, visit the Conrad family, believing that Jesse is the reincarnation of a revered Buddhist teacher, Lama Dorje. As Jesse and his parents grapple with this revelation, they travel to Bhutan to further explore this possibility, and he meets two other boys – Raju and Gita – who may also be reincarnations of Lama Dorje . The second narrative is a historical recount of the life of Prince Siddhartha, who would later become the first Buddha and the founder of the Buddhist religion This story is woven throughout the film as Lama Norbu tells Jesse about Siddhartha’s journey. The film depicts Siddhartha’s sheltered life in his father’s palace, his encounters with suffering in the world, his renunciation of royal life, and his path to enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. Read more…
KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES – John Paesano
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the fourth installment of the rebooted Planet of the Apes film series, inspired by the novels of Pierre Boulle and the 1960s film series originally starring Charlton Heston. It is set several hundred years after the time of Caesar, the leader of a community of increasingly intelligent apes who in the first film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, was given increased intelligence and the ability to speak after being infected by a genetically modified virus intended to cure Alzheimer’s disease, but which accidentally killed a large portion of the world’s human population instead. Through the second and third films – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes – Caesar struggled to create a stable ape society while trying to broker an uneasy truce with the few humans who remained; he eventually died at the end of War for the Planet of the Apes, leaving the future of ape society uncertain. Read more…
THE RED DANUBE – Miklós Rózsa
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
MGM Studios took an interest in the 1947 novel “Vespers in Vienna” by Bruce Marshall, believing that it would be well received by the post WWII American public beset by the rising tide of fear related to Communism. Carey Wilson was assigned production with a $1.96 million budget, George Sidney was tasked with directing, and Gina Kaus and Arthur Wimperis were hired to write the screenplay. An excellent cast was assembled, including Walter Pidgeon as Colonel Michael “Hooky” Nicobar, Ethel Barrymore as Mother Superior, Peter Lawford as Major John “Twingo” McPhimister, Angela Lansbury as Audrey Quail, and Janet Leigh as Maria Buhlen. Read more…
Richard M. Sherman, 1928-2024
Composer Richard M. Sherman, one of the greatest and most influential songwriters in the history of Hollywood, died on May 25, 2024, after a short illness. He was 95 years old.
Richard Morton Sherman was born in New York, New York, in June 1928, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. He grew up in a musical household – his father, Al, was a composer and arranger in Tin Pan Alley in New York, and was a contemporary of George Gershwin – and then after the Shermans relocated to Los Angeles in 1937 Richard attended Beverly Hills High School, where he was a classmate of André Previn. After completing his national service, Sherman and his brother Robert started a songwriting company, and they enjoyed success writing popular songs for artists including Annette Funicello. This success brought them to the attention of producer Walt Disney, who eventually hired them as staff songwriters for the Walt Disney Studio.
Sherman wrote songs for several Disney productions in the early 1960s, including The Absent Minded Professor (1961), The Parent Trap (1961), and The Sword in the Stone (1963), but achieved lasting fame and critical acclaim following the release of Mary Poppins in 1964. The songs that Sherman wrote for that production – “Feed the Birds,” “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “Chim-Chim-Cheree,” and “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” among others – became immediate classics and pop culture icons, and won Sherman Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song. Read more…
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