Archive
NURSE BETTY – Rolfe Kent
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
It’s been said a hundred times before, but sometimes the most unlikely movies get great scores. Neil La Bute, having contributed two of the nastiest relationship movies in recent memory with In The Company of Men (1998) and Your Friends and Neighbors (1999), both of which told twisted little stories of manipulation, verbal assault and a total lack of moral fiber, is the last man you would expect to helm a sweet-natured road movie. Therefore it comes as something of a surprise to discover that his third feature, Nurse Betty, is a generally wholesome romantic fable – with just a hint of subversion to keep it interesting. Renee Zellweger stars as Betty Sizemore, a put-upon waitress obsessed with the daytime soap opera A Reason to Love, and its star Dr David Ravel (Greg Kinnear). Betty’s life is drastically altered when she witnesses her lowlife husband Del (Aaron Eckhart) being murdered by two bickering hitmen (Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock) over a drug deal gone wrong. Shocked into a “fugue state” by the trauma, Betty goes AWOL and heads off across America to LA, convinced that she is in fact a nurse at the fictional hospital from A Reason to Love, and that Dr Ravel is her real-life former fiancé. Unaware that the two killers are hot on her trail – and that a cache of cocaine is stowed in her trunk – Betty’s odyssey picks up pace as she traverses the country, imparting her tale to a variety of bemused on-lookers, and becoming increasingly determined to rekindle her imaginary relationship. Read more…
THE WATCHER – Marco Beltrami
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
I’m starting to get worried by the way Marco Beltrami’s career is progressing – or isn’t progressing, as the case may be. When Beltrami first burst onto the scene five years ago with the arrival of Scream, it seemed as though a great new talent in the soundtrack world had arrived. A composer with talent, a gift for melody, and who knew how to write for a big orchestra. A dozen or so movies later, and Beltrami is still scoring more horror movies than anything else, and herein lies the problem. With just a couple of exceptions – like the disco drama 54 and the Emmy Award winning Tuesdays With Morrie – the vast majority of the Italian-American’s work has been in the horror and thriller genres, and if he’s not careful he’s going to end up in the same situation Chris Young was in ten years ago: a great composer stuck in a pigeonhole from which he can’t escape. Read more…
HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME – Stephen Graziano, Nick Glennie-Smith
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Back in 1986, when the original Highlander series began, Queen’s classic soundtrack song “It’s a Kind of Magic” proudly proclaimed that there can be only one. Fourteen years, three sequels and two TV series later, I still think they were right. Christopher Lambert has never bettered his original performance as the immortal clansman Connor MacLeod, both The Quickening and The Sorcerer were woefully poor movies compared to the hugely entertaining original, and Adrian Paul’s turn in the first of the two spin-offs contained more wood than your local branch of B&Q. Highlander Endgame, the fourth big-screen outing for the franchise, sees Connor MacLeod (Lambert – the cinematic hero) teaming up with Duncan MacLeod (Paul – the small screen hero) for the first time, to take on a new all-powerful and extremely evil immortal named Kell (Bruce Payne). Although the producers wax lyrical about the two actors being the “yin and yang, a symbol of wholeness”, it personally strikes me as being nothing more than a piece of opportunistic film-making by Miramax, eager to cash in on the popularity of the TV series and to give Adrian Paul a movie vehicle. And I thought they’d gotten rid of the last evil immortal when Mario van Peebles got chopped in half at the end of Highlander III… oh, well. There’s love interest in the form of actress Lisa Barbuscia, plenty of sword-wielding action, and the whole thing is directed by Douglas Aarniokoski. Read more…
THE CELL – Howard Shore
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Writing a review of a film score like The Cell is a very difficult thing to do. The music is so challenging and abstract it almost defies conventional description, and unless you have seen the film it is difficult to appreciate Howard Shore’s scoring techniques which, away from the screen, seem to be made up of mere random noise and ear-shattering dissonance. It’s also a very difficult score to “enjoy” on any kind of emotional, or thematic level, simply because the music is so consistently harsh. Instead, where The Cell’s brilliance lies is in its complexity and structure, and for the thought processes that went into its creation. Read more…
BLESS THE CHILD – Christopher Young
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Having passed the turn of the millennium without so much as a hint of Armageddon, it may seem a little odd for a film dealing with the end of the world on 31 December 1999 to make an appearance now – but Bless the Child has suffered such a turbulent post-production, with re-shoots, re-editing and re-writing galore, that this troubled supernatural thriller is only just now beginning to visit cinema screens across the world. Directed by Chuck (“The Mask”) Russell and starring Kim Basinger, Jimmy Smits, Rufus Sewell, Ian Holm and Christina Ricci, Bless the Child tells the story of Maggie O’Connor (Basinger), a comparatively normal working woman whose world is turned upside down when her six year old niece Cody is kidnapped. As Maggie frantically searches for Cody, she slowly learns that the young girl is not all she seemed: apparently, Cody has special psychic powers which, when applied in a certain manner, can open a gateway between Earth and the Netherworld, where legions of evil demons are waiting to invade. Turning to a paranormal investigator (Smits) as a last, vain hope, Maggie tracks Cody down to the lair of a group of devil worshippers (led by Sewell) and engages in a battle for the soul of the child. Read more…
HOLLOW MAN – Jerry Goldsmith
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Throughout cinema history, the story of the invisible man has been invented and re-invented by each subsequent generation. From James Whale’s 1933 classic with Claude Rains in the title role, to the popular 1970s TV series starring David McCallum, man’s fascination with making himself diaphanous has made for compelling viewing. In Hollow Man, director Paul Verhoeven has taken this principle one step further, by making his invisible man not just invisible, but also psychotic and murderous: driven insane by the scientific methods that gave him his power. Gory, and more than a little gratuitous (inspect the rear of the insert card for proof!), Hollow Man stars Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Caine, a brilliant but slightly deranged scientist who has perfected a serum that will render whoever uses it invisible. Despite the protestations of his loyal assistant Karen (Elisabeth Shue), and the remainder of his staff, Sebastian tests the drug on himself, with horrific results. Read more…
WONDERLAND – Michael Nyman
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
In my opinion, Michael Nyman has never been particularly good at “warm” music. Throughout his career, Nyman has always shown an aptitude for using interesting orchestrations and for creating a number of moods – from forlorn longing in The Piano, to coldness and sterility in Gattaca, to horror in Ravenous, to the peculiarity that characterizes his work for Peter Greenaway – but never has he written something that one can immerse oneself in the way that you can with, say, a romantic Williams theme or a soaring Marc Shaiman melody. Therefore, it comes a something of a surprise to realize Wonderland is a bit of a departure for him, in that the music has a kind of welcoming, inviting feeling. It’s music that genuinely wants to be listened to, to be experienced, and to be liked. Read more…
THOMAS AND THE MAGIC RAILROAD – Hummie Mann
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
When the Reverend W. Awdry first created the characters that feature in his children’s tales of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, I bet he never imagined that one day they would be made into a feature film starring Hollywood heavyweights Alec Baldwin and Peter Fonda – but that is exactly what has happened here with this children’s movie, the first from writer/producer/director Britt Allcroft. In what can only be described as a psychedelic twist, the film concerns Mr. Conductor (the aforementioned Baldwin who, thanks to political correctness, is no longer fat or a controller), who has lost his magic dust and soon will no longer be able travel backwards and forwards from the island of Sodor, which is populated by talking trains, and Shining Time, a village in the “real world”. Meanwhile, a young girl named Lily (Mara Wilson from Matilda) is visiting her grumpy grandpa (Fonda), and discovers a magic railroad which links Sodor and Shining Time that looks like it will allow Mr. Conductor to continue his mystical travels. However, an evil train named Diesel has other ideas, and it falls to the ubiquitous Thomas to save the day. 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…
THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE – Mark Mothersbaugh
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Rocket T. Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose. The names hardly roll off the tongue, do they? Not quite the same ring as those other revered characters in the annals of cartoon history, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. But, despite everything, these two peculiar animated heroes are cult figures in the United States (although, much like The Grinch, they never caught on in the UK). I vaguely remember some kind of badly-animated cartoon series featuring this duo from somewhere in the foggy mists of my youth, but never really paid it much attention. The fact that a movie based on these two was ever made amazed me. The fact that it was directed by Des McAnuff, who previously made the deliciously dark comedy Cousin Bette, amazed me even more. And then when I found out that both Robert De Niro and Rene Russo were in it, I had to call for the smelling salts. Read more…
THE PATRIOT – John Williams
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
When word leaked out that Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were less than satisfied with David Arnold’s demo score for The Patriot, it set off a chain of murmurings throughout the film music world. Who would be the man to replace Arnold, whose previous collaborations with Centropolis had resulted in the uniformly wonderful Stargate, Independence Day and Godzilla? Then came the announcement: John Williams. Collective gasp. John Williams scoring a civil war epic? This could be the chance for him to turn in the kind of score everyone wanted Saving Private Ryan to be, but wasn’t. A glorious celebration of honor, nobility, valor in battle, and belief in one’s comrades. You’ll be delighted to discover that The Patriot doesn’t disappoint. Read more…
THE PERFECT STORM – James Horner
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
James Horner, of late, seems to have developed an affinity for disasters of one sort or another. Space disasters (Apollo 13), meteorite disasters (Deep Impact), disasters at sea (Titanic)… nowadays, it seems that if Horner is scoring the movie you can virtually guarantee that something awful is about to happen to a lot of people. The Perfect Storm, 2000’s big disaster movie, continues the trend, right down to the fact that it again concerns the sinking of a ship. But, whereas Titanic combined a terrible tragedy with wish-fulfilling romantic fantasy, The Perfect Storm is a serious, harrowing, and all-too true story. The film, which is directed by Wolfgang Petersen and stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, takes place in 1994 in the small port of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Hearing news that a potentially fruitful shoal of fish has been spotted off the New England coast, the crew of the trawler Andrea Gail head off into the North Atlantic to take advantage. But what none of the crew ever imagined was that, far out to sea, a freak of nature was generating a weather phenomenon that had never before been encountered in recorded history: a perfect storm, which would envelop everything in its path. Read more…
CHICKEN RUN – Harry Gregson-Williams, John Powell
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The plasticine people of Aardman Animations took the world by storm in 1989 with the creation of Wallace and Gromit, a Yorkshire-based inventor and his incredibly expressive dog, who starred in three cinematic adventures: A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave. Their creator, Nick Park, was thrust into the stratosphere: six years, three Oscars, and a multi-million pound deal with Dreamworks Pictures later, and the world’s first “claymation” motion picture has finally hit theatres. Chicken Run, which was co-directed by Park and fellow animator Peter Lord, is a terrific family adventure – exciting, funny, scary, and technically amazing. Read more…
GONE IN 60 SECONDS – Trevor Rabin
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
I don’t want to turn this review into a diatribe, but this release of Trevor Rabin’s Gone in 60 Seconds epitomises, for me, everything that is wrong with certain aspects of film scoring today, and is exactly the kind of score which could sound the death knell for the old-school ways of the classically trained composer. The problem is not really a musical one: it’s more to do with what a director (or, more importantly in this instance, a producer) sees as being a score that will create the most amount of excitement, regardless of whether there is any musical talent at work. Gone in 60 Seconds is much more about rhythm and volume than it is about mood or emotion. It’s the soundtrack equivalent of a battering ram. Read more…
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 – Hans Zimmer
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Hans Zimmer’s score has come in for a lot of criticism over the last few weeks but, when you consider the film which his score accompanies, it’s a wonder it turned out this good. After everyone complained about how confusing Mission: Impossible was, it was decided to make Mission: Impossible 2 simpler. Simpler, yes. Dumber, no, but once again the Hollywood executives have pandered to the lowest common denominator of the movie-going public, and made M:I2 a stupid, albeit enjoyable movie, at least on a visceral level. After being forced to watch producer/star Tom Cruise show off his glistening biceps while hanging off a mountain during the opening credits, Mission: Impossible 2 actually turns out to be a virus movie with delusions of grandeur. Rogue IMF agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) has stolen the antidote to a killer virus called chimera which, when released into the atmosphere, will incapacitate anyone who encounters it within 20 hours. With the help of his nasty Australian henchman Stamp (Richard Roxburgh), Ambrose plans to steal the virus itself from the laboratory where it was made, release it, and blackmail the world into paying him for the cure. The mission, should the ubiquitous Ethan Hunt (Cruise) choose to accept it, is to travel to Australia in the company of his loyal technical whiz Luther (Ving Rhames), and thwart Ambrose’s plan – but not before he has made a diversion to Spain to elicit the help of Nyah Nordoff-Hall (the luminous Thandie Newton), Ambrose’s former lover. Read more…
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