Archive
HEAVEN & EARTH – Kitaro
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Heaven & Earth is the third in director Oliver Stone’s trilogy of films looking at the Vietnam War. 1986’s Platoon followed the exploits of the young soldiers who were shipped off far from home and forced to endure the most horrific conditions. 1989’s Born on the Fourth of July looked at what happened to those same young men when they returned home to America, maimed and traumatized by what they had seen and done. Heaven & Earth looks at the same events from the point of view of the Vietnamese themselves. Stone’s sprawling, sometimes confusing, sometimes compelling movie stars débutante Hiep Thi Le as a simple Vietnamese woman, Le Ly Hayslip, who finds herself caught up in the violent upheaval of the Vietnam war and, inexplicably, falling in love with a kindly American soldier played by Tommy Lee Jones, who eventually takes her home with him to San Diego. Unfortunately, the film was not as well-received as its two predecessors, and today has mostly fallen into obscurity, which is a shame, especially from the point of view of its music. Read more…
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2023, Part 5
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest instalment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world. This article, the fifth of 2023, covers five scores for projects from across the film music globe, and includes music from a groundbreaking Polish animated film, a Swedish Christmas animated film, an epic Japanese animated film, a Vietnamese period romantic drama, and a Polish period drama based on a classic novel.
THE JAZZ SINGER – Louis Silvers
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The genesis of The Jazz Singer film lay with writer Samson Raphaelson, who after seeing 30-year-old Al Jolson perform decided to wrote a short story called “Day of Atonement” about a Jew named Jackie Rabinowitz, based on Jolson’s life. He then adapted the story into a successful play titled “The Jazz Singer”, which became a sensation in 1925. Warner Brothers executives rolled the dice and bought the film rights; along with the Vitaphone Corporation they would finance the film with a $422,000 budget, Darryl F. Zanuck would manage production, Alan Crosland would direct, and Alfred A. Cohn would write the screenplay. Sam Warner, nicknamed “Father of the Talkies,” made the creative decision to synchronize the film’s music. Later, he insisted that Al Jolson’s ad-libbed speech (about two minutes) also be included in the movie. Tragically Warner did not live to see his pioneering efforts come to fruition as he died the day before opening night. For the cast, Al Jolson would star as Jakie Rabinowitz, joined by Warner Oland as Canto Rabinowitz, Eugenie Besserer as Sara Rabinowitz, and May McAvoy as Mary Dale. Read more…
GODZILLA MINUS ONE – Naoki Sato
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Back in 1954 director Ishiro Honda and Toho Pictures introduced the world to Godzilla. While on the surface Godzilla was ostensibly about a giant monster lizard attacking and destroying Tokyo, and ranges from sensible to desperately silly in terms of tone and sophistication, the film was an enormous success, and the subsequent franchise became enormous – it now comprises 33 Japanese films, five American ones, and innumerable TV shows, comic books, and more. This latest one, Godzilla Minus One, is the first live-action Japanese Godzilla film in many years, and in many ways it is returning to its roots with its 1940s setting. It stars Ryunosuke Kamiki as Kōichi Shikishima, a former kamikaze pilot who encounters but fails to kill a large lizard on an isolated Pacific island, and who years later becomes part of the team charged with stopping the same lizard – which has since mutated to enormous size as a result of the United States’s nuclear tests on Bikini Atoll – when it emerges from the ocean and begins to attack Japan. Read more…
WE’RE BACK! A DINOSAUR’S STORY – James Horner
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
One of the sillier animated films that James Horner scored in his career was the 1993 effort We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story, which was adapted by Moonstruck screenwriter John Patrick Shanley from a children’s book by Hudson Talbott. The story follows four dinosaurs who are transformed into sentient beings by a time-travelling scientist named Captain Neweyes; the dinosaurs are then brought by him to modern-day New York where, inevitably, they get lost, and have to rely on their new friends (a pair of runaway children) to help them – all while also trying to avoid the clutches of Professor Screweyes, Captain Neweyes’s evil twin brother, who runs a demented circus, and wants the dinosaurs to be his star attraction. The plot doesn’t really matter as the film is largely forgotten today, despite the fact that it has the most bafflingly eccentric voice cast of any animated film I have ever come across – actor John Goodman, British sitcom star Felicity Kendal, legendary newsman Walter Cronkite, chef Julia Child, and chat show host Jay Leno, among others. It was produced by Steven Spielberg – who had a slightly more successful dinosaur movie come out in 1993 – and had four directors, including animation specialist Phil Nibbelink, and his compatriot Simon Wells, who would later go on to direct movies such as Balto and The Prince of Egypt. Read more…
NAPOLEON – Martin Phipps
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Considering what a major figure in world history he was, I don’t remember ever seeing a proper biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte before. Most people know the basics of Napoleon’s life – he was born in Corsica in 1769, and rapidly ascended the ranks of the French army, showcasing his tactical brilliance in various campaigns. In 1799 he seized power in France in a coup, and later in 1804 crowned himself Emperor. Napoleon had a fractious political relationship with England – and indeed with most of the rest of Europe – for most of his life, and he subsequently engaged in many battles during what became known as the Napoleonic Wars. His victory at Austerlitz in 1805 established him as a military genius, but his ambition for European dominance led to a costly and disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812, which eventually resulted in his abdication and exile to the island of Elba in 1814. He briefly returned to power later that year, but suffered a final defeat by the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and he was ultimately exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821. During this time Napoleon also engaged in a torrid love affair with the aristocratic widow Josephine de Beauharnais, who eventually became his wife. Read more…
THIS IS THE ARMY – Irving Berlin, Ray Heindorf
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The Broadway play “This Is The Army” by James Coll and Irving Berlin was very successful, and Warner Brothers Studio executive Jack L. Warner decided to bring the story to the big screen in a patriotic effort to boost public morale during World War II. Warner and Hal B. Wallis purchased the film rights, would oversee production with a $1.87 million budget, Michael Curtiz was tasked with directing, and Casey Robinson and Claude Binyon would write the screenplay. A cast for the ages was assembled, including, as themselves: Irving Berlin, Frances Langford, Joe Louis, Kate Smith, and Ezra Stone. Joining them would be George Murphy as Jerry Jones, Joan Leslie as Eileen Dibble, George Tobias as Maxie Twardofsky, Alan Hale as Sergeant McGee, and Ronald Reagan as Corporal Johnny Jones. Read more…
MRS. DOUBTFIRE – Howard Shore
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Mrs. Doubtfire was one of the most popular and successful comedies of the 1990s, and is the heartwarming tale of a man who takes ‘playing dress-up’ to a whole new level when faced with a messy divorce and the threat of losing custody of his children. An unemployed voice actor, Daniel Hillard drives his more straight-laced wife Miranda to distraction with his antics, to the point where they decide to split. After falling foul of an officious social worker, and seeing that Miranda has advertised for a nanny to help her with their three children, Daniel convinces his makeup artist brother to transform him into ‘Euphegenia Doubtfire,’ an elderly Scottish grandmother. With the help of a series of rubber masks, elaborate costumes, and a ‘muddled’ accent, Daniel successfully applies for the nanny job – but soon finds that maintaining his dual identity and being a part of his children’s lives, while dealing with the complexities of family dynamics and relationships, is no easy task. Read more…
SALTBURN – Anthony Willis
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS. IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN THE FILM, YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER WAITING UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE DONE SO TO READ IT.
Saltburn is an extraordinary, almost unclassifiable film. It’s the sophomore effort of the writer/director/producer/actress Emerald Fennell, who became the first British woman to be nominated for a Best Director Oscar in 2020 for her debut film Promising Young Woman; readers may also know her as the showrunner of the thriller TV series Killing Eve, and for her performance as Camilla Parker-Bowles in The Crown. The film stars the brilliant Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, a young man who leaves his working class background and enters Oxford University, and immediately becomes infatuated by his handsome classmate Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer at his family’s country estate – the Saltburn of the title – where he soon ingratiates himself with Felix’s mother Lady Elspeth (Rosamund Pike), his father Lord James (Richard E. Grant), and his sister Venetia (Alison Oliver), but makes an enemy of Felix’s American cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe). However, as the summer progresses, the relationships between Oliver and the Cattons begin to change, resulting in some truly devastating turns of events. Read more…
MADAME CURIE – Herbert Stothart
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In 1938 Universal Pictures sought and bought the film rights to the biography “Madame Curie” by Éve Curie, the subject’s daughter, believing it afforded an excellent story to showcase their premier star, Irene Dunne. However, the project never got off the ground and the film rights were sold in 1940 to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Sidney Franklin was assigned production with a $1.94 million budget and Mervyn LeRoy was tasked with directing. The journey to obtain a script was arduous, with both Aldous Huxley, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s efforts being rejected. Eventually a collaborative effort by Paul Osborn, Hans Remeau and Walter Reisch was approved. Casting was also problematic with star Greta Garbo departing MGM for Warner Brothers. Joan Crawford was then turned down, causing her to also depart the studio for Warner Brothers, leaving Greer Garson with the role of Madame Curie. Joining her would be Walter Pidgeon as Pierre Curie, and Henry Travers as Eugéne Curie. Read more…
THE THREE MUSKETEERS – Michael Kamen
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
There have been countless adaptations of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel The Three Musketeers over the years – some good, some bad. Many people consider the 1948 version starring Gene Kelly and Lana Turner to be the gold standard in terms of English-language versions, although I have always had a soft spot for the 1970s British version starring Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch, Richard Chamberlain, and Michael York, which had a terrific score by Michel Legrand. This version from 1993 was directed by Stephen Herek, and was basically a ‘brat pack’ version of the story. Like the others, the action is set in 17th-century France and follows a young and ambitious swordsman named d’Artagnan (Chris O’Donnell). Eager to join the musketeers, King Louis XIII’s elite guard, d’Artagnan travels to Paris where he befriends three charismatic and skilled musketeers: Athos (Kiefer Sutherland), Porthos (Oliver Platt), and Aramis (Charlie Sheen), and together they embark on a series of adventures involving political intrigue, love, and swashbuckling duels, specifically a plot by the villainous Cardinal Richelieu (Tim Curry), who plans to undermine the king and seize power for himself. Read more…
NYAD – Alexandre Desplat
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Diana Nyad is an American long-distance swimmer who gained international fame for her remarkable achievements in open-water swimming, particularly for her tenacity and determination in attempting to swim from Cuba to Florida, a feat she eventually accomplished in 2013 at the age of 64. Nyad’s early passion for swimming became evident at a young age, and she quickly rose to prominence as a competitive swimmer in her teenage years. She later turned to long-distance swimming, and in 1975 she swam from the Bahamas to Florida, covering a distance of 102.5 miles, which set a world record for both men and women. Despite her early success, Nyad faced setbacks, including failed attempts to swim from Cuba to Florida in the 1970s, but after more than three decades away from the water, Nyad made headlines with her historic swim from Havana to Key West in September 2013; the 110-mile journey took her approximately 53 hours, and in doing so she became the first person to complete the swim without the aid of a shark cage. This new film tells Nyad’s remarkable life story, concentrating specifically on the events surrounding the 2013 Havana to Key West swim. The film stars Annette Bening as Nyad and Jodie Foster as her lifelong friend Bonnie Stoll, and was directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, the Oscar-winning filmmakers of Free Solo. Read more…
ARABIAN NIGHTS – Frank Skinner
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The success of The Thief of Bagdad in 1940 spurred Universal Pictures to enter the exotic adventure film genre, resulting in production of four WWII era films, including Arabian Nights in 1942, White Savage in 1943, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves in 1944, and Cobra Woman also in 1944. The first film, Arabian Nights would be derived from the Islamic classic “One Thousand and One Nights”. Walter Wagner was placed in charge of production with a $904,765 budget, John Rawlins was tasked with directing, and Michael Hogan was hired to write the screenplay. For the cast, John Hall would star as Haroun-Al-Rashid, Maria Montez as Scheherazade, Sabu as Ali Ben Ali, Leif Erikson as Kamar, Edgar Barrier as Nadan, Shemp Howard as Sinbad, Thomas Gomez as Hakim, Tuhan Bey as Captain of the Guard, and John Qualen as Aladdin. Read more…
THE REMAINS OF THE DAY – Richard Robbins
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The Remains of the Day is a British period drama film directed by James Ivory, based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel of the same name. The story follows James Stevens (Anthony Hopkins), a repressed English butler who has spent most of his life in service at Darlington Hall, a grand manor house formerly owned by Lord Darlington (James Fox), a man who was once deeply involved in political affairs and international diplomacy. The film is set in 1958 as Stevens, who is now working for an American named Farraday (Christopher Reeve), embarks on a journey across England, and reflects on his life at Darlington Hall – the events that transpired there in the years leading up to World War II, and specifically his relationship with housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson), which Stevens never allowed to blossom into romance. The film explores themes of duty, loyalty, and personal sacrifice, particularly as Stevens begins to come to terms with the consequences of his unwavering blind loyalty to Darlington, who held complex political stances in the pre-war years. The film is also a poignant exploration of regret, nostalgia, and the changing social landscape of post-war England, as Stevens comes to the realization that he may have sacrificed his personal happiness for a sense of duty. Read more…
THE MARVELS – Laura Karpman
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The Marvels is the 33rd superhero film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the second to feature Brie Larson as Carol Danvers in the primary role, following on from 2019’s Captain Marvel. It draws together plot strands not only from the first film but also the Marvel TV shows Wandavision, Ms. Marvel, and Secret Invasion, and sees Carol teaming up with Captain Monica Rambeau, the daughter of her old friend Maria, as well as Pakistani-American teenager Kamala Khan, who grew up idolizing Captain Marvel; Monica obtained superhero powers during the events of Wandavision, just as Kamala did during the events of Ms. Marvel. The plot involves the emergence of a new super-villain named Dar-Benn, whose home world was massively damaged during the events of Captain Marvel, and who is now seeking to repair her own planet, while simultaneously exacting revenge on Carol, who she blames for her planet’s devastation. Dar-Benn has a ‘magical bangle’ identical to the one that Kamala also owns, the existence of which keeps making Carol, Monica, and Kamala switch places with each other every time they try to use their powers. The film stars Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani as the other members of the Marvels alongside Larson, with Zawe Ashton and Samuel L. Jackson in major supporting roles, and it was directed by Nia Da Costa. Read more…
Shop at the Movie Music UK Store
Member of the
MOVIE MUSIC UK 