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CLASH OF THE TITANS – Laurence Rosenthal
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
This film presents a classic Greek myth that tells the tale of the demi-god Perseus (son of Zeus) who secures the mandate of Heaven as he takes on an epic quest to slay the forces of darkness and rescue his love. The renowned master of stop motion animation Ray Harryhausen who was enamored with Greek and Arabic mythology conceived the film. MGM agreed to the project and provided a generous budget based on his previous successes with his three Sinbad films as well as Jason and the Argonauts. The film featured an all-star cast that included Laurence Olivier (Zeus), Maggie Smith (Thetis), Ursula Andress (Aphrodite), Burgess Meredith (Ammon), and the handsome newcomer Harry Hamlin as Perseus. The storytelling was first rate and the stop motion animation superb. While not a critical success, the film was a commercial success, more than covering its production costs of $15 million to make $41 million. Read more…
REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT – Laurence Rosenthal
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
This is the tragic story of Mountain Rivera who competed for heavyweight champion of the world but is now at the end of his 17 year boxing career. He has suffered a devastating knockout blow by Cassius Clay in the seventh round and his career is over. A life time of damaging blows has left him a broken man with slurred speech, unrealized dreams and many regrets. Unbeknown to him, his manager Maish Renick bet against him lasting four rounds with Clay and is now owes the mob considerable money, money that he does not have. As such he hatches a self-serving plot to reinvent Rivera as a costumed wrestler, a scheme to make him some quick money so he can pay off the mob who will otherwise soon kill him. Read more…
A RAISIN IN THE SUN – Laurence Rosenthal
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
“A Raisin in the Sun” was adapted from the acclaimed play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. It is a potent narrative on the pathology of segregation still pervasive in America almost one hundred years after the hope and promise of the Great Emancipation. The title is derived from the renowned poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, who poses the following question, “does a dream deferred dry up like a raisin in the sun”? Set in the early 1950’s, the story provides us with a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African-American family living in the dire poverty of the South Side of Chicago. Mama the matriarch has just inherited an insurance check for $10,000 after the death of her husband. What ensues is a tragedy born of desperation arriving at an intersection of competing aspirations. Mama wants to buy a house to fulfill her dream of a better life, while her son Walter would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store with his friend. Beneatha, Mama’s daughter, wants to use the money for her medical school tuition. Read more…
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