Archive
PEE-WEE’S BIG HOLIDAY – Mark Mothersbaugh
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Looking back at it now, thirty years into the future, it’s astonishing when you realize just what an influential film Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure was. It launched the career of Paul Reubens, the comedian and writer behind the Pee-Wee Herman character, which led to a second Pee-Wee film, and a classic Saturday morning kids show. It launched the career of director Tim Burton – we all know what happened to him. It also launched the second career of composer Danny Elfman – we all know what happened to him, too. Reubens’s career stalled after a rather sordid run-in with the law in 1991, but gradually he has been working his way back, initially as a jobbing actor, and now, after a successful Broadway show, resurrecting the Pee-Wee character for a third ‘big-screen’ film, Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday, produced by Netflix, and directed by John Lee. The film sees Pee-Wee being encouraged by his friend, actor Joe Mangianello (playing himself), to go on his first ever vacation to New York; on the way, Pee-Wee manages to get himself involved in a number of ridiculous adventures, crossing paths with a trio of female bank robbers, a travelling disguise kit salesman, a farmer who wants him to marry one of his nine daughters, the owner of a flying car, and the members of an Amish community. Read more…
SALVADOR – Georges Delerue
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Salvador is a hard-hitting war drama written and directed by Oliver Stone, starring James Woods as photographer Richard Boyle. Boyle is a hard-drinking, drug-using, arrogant son of a bitch, whose irascible attitude has rendered him practically unemployable by the world’s major news agencies. Needing money, Boyle and his friend, former DJ Rock (James Belushi), head to El Salvador thinking they can earn some quick cash shooting footage of the country’s under-reported civil war. However, once they arrive in the country, they quickly realize that the situation is much more dangerous than the rest of the world believes, with government-sponsored death squads roaming the streets, and simmering violence bubbling under the surface of the already terrified populace. Having observed the actions of both the leftist guerrillas and the American-backed right wing paramilitary, Boyle becomes increasingly convinced that El Salvador is a disaster starting to happen, and decides that it’s time to get out; but he has fallen in love with a woman named Maria (Elpidia Carrillo), and he doesn’t want to leave her or her children behind. Read more…
GODS OF EGYPT – Marco Beltrami
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
For quite a long time I considered Alex Proyas to be one of the best ‘serious sci-fi’ directors working in the film business. From the gothic darkness of The Crow, to the time-bending mind-fuck of Dark City, to the examination of Isaac Asimov’s Laws of Robotics in I Robot, Proyas’s films have been challenging and thought provoking and enjoyable, not an easy triumvirate of achievements to successfully attain, especially across multiple projects. With this in mind, it was greatly disappointing to read the reviews of his latest film, Gods of Egypt, which called it everything from “a colossal wreck” “completely lacking in appeal,” and “noisy, chaotic, and meaningless” to – worst of all – “boring”. This is especially surprising because it’s basic plot sounds fascinating: using the ancient mythology of Egyptian Gods as its starting point, the film stars Gerard Butler and Nicolaj Coster-Waldau as Set and Horus, two warring deities. Set, the God of Darkness, launches a coup during Horus’s coronation, and takes over the Egyptian empire, forcing Horus to join forces with a human named Bek (Brenton Thwaites) to defeat him. Read more…
SUMMER OF ‘42– Michel Legrand
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Screenwriter Herman Raucher wrote his autobiographical script in 10 days as a tribute to his fallen comrade Oscy who lost his life in the Korean War. He was initially unable to sell the script to any studio, so it languished for many years until producer Robert Roth found a dusty copy lying in an agent’s office. He fell in love with it and resolved to bring this story to the big screen. He hired director Robert Mulligan (To Kill A Mockingbird) and decided to cast the parts of the boys with unknowns. Also, following in the steps of Love Story (1970) Raucher expanded the story into a book that was published as a prelude to the film. Well it became an instant hit and the film’s promotion had “Based on the national best seller” added to its advertisement. For the cast, Jennifer O’Neil was cast as Dorothy with the three boys Gary Grimes (Hermie), Jerry Houser (Oscy) and Oliver Conant (Benjie). Read more…
DICKENSIAN – Debbie Wiseman
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Dickensian is a fascinating British drama series from the BBC, which re-imagines many of the numerous characters from Charles Dickens’s most famous works – A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Bleak House, Our Mutual Friend – and places them into a shared single setting in Victorian London. The plot of the series concerns Scotland Yard police inspector Bucket (Stephen Rea), and his investigation into the apparent murder of a prominent businessman, Jacob Marley, on Christmas Eve, an event which gradually draws many local figures into the plot. The series, which has an ensemble cast that includes Peter Firth, Tuppence Middleton, Pauline Collins, Caroline Quentin, and many others, was a critical success when it aired during the early months of 2016, and looks likely to be renewed for a second season in 2017. Read more…
SKY PIRATES – Brian May
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Sky Pirates is an action-adventure film directed by Colin Eggleston, which has been described as ‘the Australian Raiders of the Lost Ark’. John Hargreaves stars as Lt. Dakota Harris, a Royal Air Force Pilot during World War II, who is entrusted by the Australian military with a mysterious object which apparently can be used to travel through time, and which they do not want to fall into the hands of the Nazis. Travelling with several companions, Harris starts on the journey to the United States, intending to the deliver the object to the Americans for safekeeping, but somewhere over the Pacific Ocean their plane is caught in a supernatural storm – apparently caused by the object – which transports them to a parallel dimension filled with the wreckage of military vehicles from numerous different wars. After escaping from this phantom zone, Harris shockingly finds himself being accused of treason by one of his comrades, General Savage (Max Phipps); with the help of a beautiful minister’s daughter, Melanie (Meredith Phillips), Harris must escape from military custody, and uncover the true secret of the object. Read more…
MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN – Carlo Siliotto
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
There has been an interesting resurgence recently of films made by directors telling religious stories that promote Christianity in a strong, almost evangelical, light; contemporary films like God’s Not Dead and Heaven is for Real have done decent business at the box office, while more traditional period films like Son of God, and recently Risen and The Young Messiah, continue to prove to be a lure for believers. The latest of these contemporary Christian films is Miracles From Heaven, directed by Patricia Riggen, which tells the apparently true story of a young Texas girl named Anna (Kylie Rogers), who is suffering with a rare, incurable, terminal disorder that leaves her unable to digest food. Anna’s mother (Jennifer Garner) and father (Martin Henderson) have struggled unsuccessfully for years to find a cure for Anna’s illness, but everything suddenly changes when she accidentally falls out of a tree and suffers a serious head injury. When she wakes up, Anna claims that she ‘visited heaven’ while she was unconscious, while even more amazingly her doctor (Eugenio Derbez) reveals that, following the accident, Anna is beginning to show signs of recovering from her fatal condition. Read more…
LOVE STORY – Francis Lai
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Producer Howard Minsky and Paramount Studios saw opportunity when he read Erich Segal’s “Love Story” script and secured the film rights. They also asked him to publish a novel in advance for the film so as to cultivate public interest. This proved to be a masterstroke, as the Valentine’s Day publication lead to a national best seller. Arthur Hiller was hired to direct and he brought in a fine cast, which included Ryan O’Neal (Oliver Bartlet IV), Ali McGraw (Jenny Cavalleri), Ray Milland (Oliver Barrett III), Katherine Balfour (Mrs. Barrett), John Marley (Phil Cavalleri) and Tommy Lee Jones (Hank Simpson) in his film debut. Read more…
RACE – Rachel Portman
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Jesse Owens is generally considered to be one of the greatest American track and field athletes in history. Born in Alabama in 1913, Owens suffered as a result of the racist and segregationist political climate that all African-Americans endured at that time, but it was his athletic prowess that brought him fame. He broke three world records in less than an hour while competing for Ohio State University at a meet in Michigan in 1935, and subsequently represented the United States at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin. In open defiance of German chancellor Adolf Hitler, who intended to use the games as a showpiece to promote his philosophy of Aryan physical perfection, Owens won four gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay, and long jump, cementing his place in sporting history. Director Stephen Hopkins’s film Race – a multi-meaning title if ever there was one – is a fairly straightforward biopic of Owens’s life, starring Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Irons, William Hurt, and Carice van Houten. Read more…
JEAN DE FLORETTE – Jean-Claude Petit
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Jean de Florette is one of the most critically acclaimed and important French films of the 20th century. Directed by Claude Berri and adapted from the novel by Marcel Pagnol, it stars three of France’s most prominent actors of the era – Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, and Yves Montand. Montand and Auteuil play César and Ugolin, uncle and nephew, impoverished farmers in Provence shortly after the end of World War I. They covet the neighboring farm owned by the Cadoret family, especially its abundant water, provided by a natural spring on the property. When ownership of the Cadoret farm transfers to Jean (Depardieu), a city tax collector and hunchback with a young daughter named Manon, César and Ugolin see an opportunity to seize the farm for themselves, and embark on a series of schemes designed to turn the community against Jean and drive him away. The film was a massive success, and saw audiences connecting with its universal themes of jealousy and greed, while simultaneously being charmed by cinematographer Bruno Nuytten’s gorgeous photography of the French landscape. The film received eight César and ten BAFTA nominations, winning a total of five, and was largely responsible for the tourist boom in Provence during the 1980s and 90s, especially among the British. Read more…
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE – Hans Zimmer and Tom Holkenborg
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
In an attempt to compete with Marvel and their cadre of interlocking super-hero pictures, DC Comics have begun to develop their own version of a cinematic universe. It began with Man of Steel in 2013, director Zack Snyder’s re-imagining of the Superman story, and continues with this second film, which sees the introduction of Batman and several other DC characters into a single, shared story space, setting up what will eventually become the Justice League. Rather than continuing Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice takes yet another fresh look at Gotham’s cowl-wearing warrior, replacing Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne with Ben Affleck and Michael Caine’s Alfred with Jeremy Irons. The film inserts Wayne into the immediate aftermath of the finale of Man of Steel by having him witness the conclusive fight between Superman (Henry Cavill) and General Zod over Metropolis, and the devastation that accompanied it, from the ground. Jump forward 18 months, and Wayne has committed himself to exposing Superman as an unstoppable threat to humanity. Meanwhile, Superman’s alter-ego, newspaperman Clark Kent, has become concerned with Batman’s personal brand of vigilante justice in nearby Gotham, and resolves to expose him. However, unbeknownst to either Kent or Wayne, their mutual plans are being manipulated by technology mogul Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), who has megalomaniacal tendencies of his own, and wants both Batman and Superman out of his way. Read more…
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID – Burt Bacharach
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
For screenplay writer William Goldman, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” was a passion project. He first came upon the story of Cassidy and Longbaugh in the late 1950s, was fascinated by the men, and felt it was a story that needed to be brought to the big screen. Richard Zanuck of 20th Century Fox saw gold when he read the script and purchased the rights for an astounding $400,000! He tasked John Foreman to produce and George Roy Hill to direct. A stellar cast was brought in, which included; Paul Newman (Butch Cassidy), Robert Redford (The Sundance Kid), Katherine Ross (Etta Place), Jeff Corey (Sheriff Bledsoe, and Strother Martin (Percy Garris). Read more…
MISCONDUCT – Federico Jusid
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Had Misconduct been made in the 1990s, it would have been one of the most anticipated films of the year, such is its stellar cast and genre. A legal thriller set in the high stakes world of the pharmaceutical industry, it stars Anthony Hopkins and Al Pacino as, respectively, a pharma exec and the owner of a law company, who both attempt to manipulate young litigator Josh Duhamel as he prosecutes Hopkins’s company for corruption. Unfortunately the film – which is directed by Japanese-American filmmaker Shintaro Shimosawa, and also stars Alice Eve, Malin Åkerman, and Julia Stiles – has been consigned to the dreaded ‘limited release/video-on-demand simultaneous release’ list where movies go to die, a very undignified fate for two of the greatest screen actors of their generation. Read more…
WHERE THE RIVER RUNS BLACK – James Horner
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
In 1986, despite having achieved a great deal of popularity and success for his large scale orchestral scores, James Horner entered what many call his ‘experimental synth’ phase, such was the film music zeitgeist at the time. It lasted several years, in parallel with many of his more traditional symphonic works, and encompassed such scores as The Name of the Rose, Red Heat, Vibes, My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys, and Thunderheart, but appears to have begun in earnest with this one: a little-known drama called Where the River Runs Black. The film was directed by Christopher Cain (father of TV Superman Dean Cain), and tells the story of a young orphan boy named Lazaro, who grows up feral in the Amazon jungle, but is eventually found and sent to live at a Catholic mission with a kind priest, Father O’Reilly, played by Charles Durning. O’Reilly cares for the boy, and teaches him to speak, and for a while it seems as though Lazaro’s life is settled; however, through a set of coincidental circumstances, Lazaro meets a local businessman and recognizes him as the man who murdered his mother when he was just six years old. Read more…
ZOOTOPIA – Michael Giacchino
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Zootopia is the latest animated film from Walt Disney, directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore. A comedy-crime caper with undertones that explore themes of racism, xenophobia, and political corruption (yes, really!), the film follows the adventures of Judy Hopps, an ambitious rabbit who wants to become the first leporine police officer in Zootopia, a city populated entirely by anthropomorphic animals. Before long Judy is embroiled in a case in which several animals have been reported as going missing and “turning savage,” reverting back to the old ways of predators and their prey. To solve the case, Judy must team up with a wisecracking and streetwise fox named Nick Wilde, find the missing persons, and discover how and why the animals are devolving to their “natural state”. The film features the voices of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, and J.K. Simmons, and has an original score by Michael Giacchino. Read more…
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