Archive
A CHRISTMAS CAROL – Alan Silvestri
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
I’ve lost count of the number of times Charles Dickens’ timeless tale of yuletide redemption, A Christmas Carol, has been re-told on the silver screen. The Internet Movie Database lists at least 50 productions with some variation of the title, ranging from versions starring The Muppets and Mickey Mouse to serious dramatic portrayals by Alastair Sim, George C. Scott and Patrick Stewart, and of course the classic musical Scrooge with Albert Finney from 1970. Director Robert Zemeckis’s latest version continues the obsession with photo-real rotoscope animation he began in The Polar Express and Beowulf, and stars Jim Carrey in multiple roles, but mainly as the Victorian miser Ebenezer Scrooge, whose curmudgeonly life is forever changed when he is visited by three ghosts one fateful Christmas Eve. Read more…
G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA – Alan Silvestri
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Looking back at my childhood, I now realize that I was probably very unconventional in how I spent my time. I never read comic books. With the exception of the classic Kenner Star Wars ones, I never played with action figures very much. I was never really into guns and army toys and ninjas and whatnot. I played soccer and tennis, watched a lot of movies and sports on TV, read a lot, and wrote a lot. All this probably goes to explain why, when I first heard that they were making a big budget G.I Joe movie (and unlike several of my friends, who were positively giddy with excitement), my response was a disinterested shrug. Read more…
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN – Alan Silvestri
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
A big-budget sequel to the immensely popular and successful family comedy Night at the Museum, Battle of the Smithsonian again stars Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, the security guard at a museum where the exhibits come to life at night. However, when two of his exhibits (and friends) – roman centurion Octavius and cowboy Jedidiah Smith – are accidentally shipped to the Smithsonian, he must break in and rescue them. To Larry’s shock, however, he finds that the exhibits in the Smithsonian come to life too. The film is again directed by Shawn Levy and has a star-studded supporting cast that includes Robin Williams, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais and Hank Azaria, as well as a score by Alan Silvestri, who also scored the original. Read more…
BEOWULF – Alan Silvestri
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The story of Beowulf is a classic of English literature, and the oldest single surviving work of Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry, having been written roughly in the year 900 by an unknown author. It deals with a noble Scandinavian warrior, the Beowulf of the title, who ventures from his homeland to come to the aid of Danish King Hroðgar, whose kingdom is being threatened by repeated attacks from an evil beast named Grendel. This film version of the classic tale has been brought to the screen by director Robert Zemeckis, using the same rotoscoped motion capture technique he used on The Polar Express. The cast of actors providing the movements include Ray Winstone as Beowulf, Crispin Glover as Grendel, Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s mother, Anthony Hopkins as King Hroðgar, and Robin Wright Penn as Queen Wealtheow. Read more…
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM – Alan Silvestri
Original Review by Clark Douglas
The good thing about the arrival of “Night at the Museum” is that we won’t have to watch that trailer again. The ad campaign for the film has been overwhelming, everywhere you turn the past few months, a blurb for the movie seems to be popping up. In case you have been living in an igloo and missed the trailer, “Night at the Museum” is a special effects-driven comedy with a cast of comedy notables. That the end result is completely uninspiring can be explained by taking a looking at the “Directed by” and “Produced by” credits. Director Shawn Levy is the man who gave us the remakes of “Cheaper by the Dozen” and “The Pink Panther”, both of which demonstrated his sheer ineptitude when it comes to comic timing and skillful direction. Read more…
THE POLAR EXPRESS – Alan Silvestri
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
A film surely destined to be a future Christmas classic, Robert Zemeckis’s film version of Chris Von Allsberg’s children’s tale The Polar Express is one of the most anticipated films of late 2004. Using the revolutionary “motion capture” technique that brought Gollum to life in Lord of the Rings, state-of-the-art animation, and featuring Tom Hanks in a number of vocal roles, The Polar Express brings to life the adventures of a nameless little boy who has come to believe that Santa Claus does not exist. However, late on Christmas Eve night, while the boy is lying in bed listening for the sound of reindeer hooves on the roof, he is amazed to discover a steam engine pulling up outside his bedroom window. The cantankerous but kindly conductor invites the boy on board to accompany several other children on a magical journey to prove that Santa does exist, and that the spirit of the season is alive and well in those who still believe. Read more…
VAN HELSING – Alan Silvestri
Original Review by Peter Simons
We’ve said it several times now: 2004 was the year of big drums. Large percussion has dominated most of this year’s blockbusters, from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to King Arthur. Never one to buck a trend, Alan Silvestri was all too happy to jump on the bandwagon and deliver what may be the loudest score of the year: Van Helsing. Brass fanfares, chanting choruses and thundering drums dominate the score and its movie. What separates Silvestri from his lesser contemporaries is that, in spite of everything, he makes this kind of music sound good. As loud and overblown as it may be, the composer infuses the score with a textural richness and compositional quality that is quite rare these days. Read more…
WHAT LIES BENEATH – Alan Silvestri
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Despite being best known for the feelgood drama Forrest Gump and the time-travelling adventures Back to the Future, director Robert Zemeckis has always been a fan of classic horror. He served as executive producer for the ghoulishly gruesome TV series Tales from the Crypt and its spin-off movies, as well as making his own mark on the genre directing the amusing but less-than-successful Death Becomes Her. Now, with What Lies Beneath, Zemeckis has dispensed with the laughs and set out to make a good, old fashioned ghost story, with a top-name cast that includes Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer on screen together for the first time as a husband and wife whose idyllic house in the country is terrorized by a mysterious spectre from his past. Read more…
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