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THE VAMPIRE’S ASSISTANT – Stephen Trask
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Another film cashing in on the currently de rigeur vampire craze, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant is directed by Paul Weitz and stars Chris Massoglia as a young boy named Darren, who meets a mysterious man named Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) at a travelling freak show, who is revealed to be a vampire. After his best friend Steve (Josh Hutcherson) is bitten by Crepsley’s poisonous spider, Darren makes a deal with Crepsley: if he saves his friend’s life, he will leave his hometown and join the Cirque du Freak as an apprentice vampire.
The music for The Vampire’s Assistant is by young American composer Stephen Trask, whose prior experience includes working on films such as Dreamgirls, In Good Company and The Station Agent, but who has never tackled a score of this size and scope before. Read more…
DREAMGIRLS – Henry Krieger and Stephen Trask
Original Review by Clark Douglas
In the wake of “Chicago” becoming a hit with audiences and Oscar voters, there has been something of a futile effort to revive movie musicals in recent years. We’ve seen one disappointment after another: the poorly-cast “Phantom of the Opera”, the entertaining but hollow remake of “The Producers”, and that simply atrocious theatrical version of “Rent”. Not only are movie going audiences not particularly receptive to musicals, it seems there aren’t many filmmakers who know how to make good ones. The latest stage-to-screen adaptation, Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen’s “Dreamgirls”, is an exception. The film may not be strong enough to give the genre a second wind, but it’s certainly an excellent piece of entertainment. Read more…
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