Archive
THE PAPER – Randy Newman
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The Paper is an ensemble comedy-drama directed film by Ron Howard that follows the hectic day of a New York City tabloid newspaper, the New York Sun. The plot revolves around Henry Hackett, played by Michael Keaton, the managing editor of the paper, who faces a series of challenges over the course of 24 hours. These challenges include breaking a major story about two young men wrongfully accused of murder, dealing with corporate interference and pressure to sensationalize stories, and navigating personal conflicts within his team, including with his pregnant wife who also works at the paper. Throughout the day, Henry grapples with ethical dilemmas, personal integrity, and the demanding nature of his job, all while trying to balance his professional and personal life amid the fast-paced and often chaotic environment of a tabloid newspaper. The film has a superb supporting cast that includes Glenn Close, Marisa Tomei, Randy Quaid, and Robert Duvall, among many others, and it was a relative critical hit, although it was almost entirely overlooked at the subsequent Oscars – with one notable exception. Read more…
THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS – Hans Zimmer
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The House of the Spirits is an epic family drama based on Isabel Allende’s novel, a seminal work in Latin American literature, renowned for its magical realism and rich storytelling. Set in an unnamed South American country, widely believed to be inspired by Allende’s native Chile, the story spans several generations of the Trueba family as they experience the complex history and social dynamics of the country, beginning with the family patriarch, Esteban Trueba, his wife Clara, and their descendants. Esteban is a self-made man who amasses wealth and power through his land holdings, but his authoritarian nature and violent tendencies tend to alienate him from his family. Meanwhile, Clara possesses supernatural gifts and serves as a counterbalance to Esteban’s brutality with her gentle and intuitive nature. Years pass and the political and social upheaval in the country deeply affects the Truebas; in particular their daughter Blanca is forced to navigate the tumultuous political landscape of their country, which is marked by social injustice, oppression, and revolution. The film was directed by Bille August, has an exceptional cast including Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close, Winona Ryder, and Antonio Banderas, and has a score by Hans Zimmer. Read more…
L’ODEUR DE LA PAPAYE VERTE/THE SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA – Tiết Tôn-Thất
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The Scent of Green Papaya (L’Odeur de la Papaye Verte in French, Mùi Đu Đủ Xanh in its native Vietnam) is a Vietnamese drama film, the feature debut of director Tran Anh Hung. Filmed with a cast of mostly non-professional actors, the film presents a poignant portrayal of Mui, a young girl from the countryside, as she transitions into adulthood while working as a servant for a middle-class family in Saigon. Set in 1951 against the backdrop of a Vietnam trying to find its place in the world following the end of French colonial rule, the movie meticulously captures the essence of the country’s culture, landscapes, and traditions, and follows Mui as she navigates her daily life within the confines of the household. When the family’s father absconds with their life savings, the tireless mother is forced to support the family through the slim profits of her tiny fabric store. As the family struggles to make ends meet, Mui becomes attracted to a friend of the family, Khuyen, who has ambitions to be a concert pianist. A decade later, and with the family in dire financial straits, Mui is sent to work in Khuyen’s home. Mui initially serves him as she has served the family – with perfection and silence – but gradually Khuyen begins to take notice of Mui’s love for him. Read more…
FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL – Richard Rodney Bennett
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
One of the best romantic comedies of the 1990s, and one of my personal favorite comedies of all time, is Four Weddings and a Funeral, directed by Mike Newell and written by Richard Curtis. It follows the story of Charles, a charming but perpetually single British man, who over the course of a year repeatedly finds himself attending different weddings and funerals involving his extended group of friends. As time goes on, Charles begins a relationship with Carrie, an American woman in England with whom he shares a connection, but struggles to pursue due to various comic obstacles and embarrassing misunderstandings. The film explores themes of love, friendship, and the unpredictability of life, all set against the backdrop of a series of quintessentially British social gatherings. The film launched its leading man Hugh Grant into international superstardom, briefly re-kindled the career of Andie MacDowell, and features a superb supporting cast of British character actors including Kristin Scott Thomas, Simon Callow, James Fleet, John Hannah, Rowan Atkinson, and the late Charlotte Coleman. Read more…
SIRENS – Rachel Portman
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Sirens is an Australian comedy-drama film written and directed by John Duigan, starring Hugh Grant, Tara Fitzgerald, Sam Neill, and supermodel Elle MacPherson. It is loosely based on the life of artist and author Norman Lindsay, who was one of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his generation, and is set in Australia in the 1920s. Grant plays Anthony Campion, an Anglican priest newly arrived in Australia from the United Kingdom, who is asked to visit Lindsay (Neill) by the church, who have concerns about a blasphemous painting of a crucifix that the artist plans to exhibit. When Campion and his reserved wife Estella (Fitzgerald) arrive at Lindsay’s home they are initially shocked to discover just how sexually free and uninhibited Lindsay, his wife Rose, and their beautiful ‘models’ are. However, as the days pass Estella finds herself increasingly intrigued by their relationship, which leads to her beginning to embrace her own sexuality in unexpected ways. Read more…
GOLDEN GATE – Elliot Goldenthal
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Golden Gate is a romantic drama written by acclaimed playwright David Henry Hwang, and directed John Madden. The film is set in San Francisco in the 1950s and stars Matt Dillon as FBI Agent Kevin Walker, who is sent with his partner to investigate potential links between the residents of San Francisco’s Chinatown and the emerging communist ‘threat’ posed by Chairman Mao’s China. His investigation leads to the prosecution and eventual imprisonment of several local residents on trumped-up charges, one of whom – Chen Jung Song – is clearly innocent. A decade later, Song and his cohorts are released, but Song has never recovered from his ordeal, and Walker watches as he jumps to his death from the Golden Gate Bridge. In the aftermath of this, Walker meets Song’s daughter Marilyn (Joan Chen), and the two of them unexpectedly embark on a torrid love affair – an affair which eventually causes Walker to begin to question his ethics and morals, and the part he played in her father’s death. Read more…
ON DEADLY GROUND – Basil Poledouris
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
An action thriller with an environmental protection theme, On Deadly Ground marked the directorial debut of action star Steven Seagal, who was hot off the unexpected critical and commercial success of his previous film Under Siege in 1992. Here Seagal plays Forrest Taft, an expert firefighter who gets involved in a conflict between an unscrupulous Alaska oil company and a local indigenous tribe, whose lands are being damaged by the oil company’s drilling methods and poor safety record. Things escalate when the head of the oil company orders his henchmen to eliminate anyone who knows about his company’s indiscretions, and the tribal leader is murdered; angered by the injustice, Taft teams up with the tribal leader’s daughter to take down the company. Despite an excellent supporting cast that included Joan Chen, John C. McGinley, R. Lee Ermey, a young Billy Bob Thornton, and Michael Caine chewing the scenery as the despicable head of the evil oil company, the film was unfortunately a critical disaster, appearing on many end-of-year ‘worst’ lists; much criticism was leveled at Seagal’s ham-fisted and amateurish direction, as well as the preachy tone of the film’s screenplay. Read more…
SHADOWLANDS – George Fenton
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Shadowlands is a British romantic drama film which looks at the profound personal and intellectual relationship between C. S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia fantasy books series, and the American poet Joy Gresham. The film is set in the 1950s and finds Lewis, a reserved, middle-aged bachelor teaching at Oxford University. He meets Gresham and her young son Douglas while she is on an academic tour of England; she is unhappily married, but does not reveal her troubles. What begins as a formal meeting of two minds slowly develops into a feeling of connection and love, and after Gresham divorces they marry – but their relationship will be tested when Joy is diagnosed with cancer. The film is directed by Richard Attenborough from a screenplay adapted from the stage work by William Nicholson, and stars Anthony Hopkins as Lewis and Debra Winger as Gresham. The film is one of those quiet, reserved, impeccably well-mannered British costume dramas, but it was nevertheless an enormous critical success, receiving Oscar nominations for Best Actress and Best Screenplay, and winning the BAFTA for Best British Film of 1993. Read more…
BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM – Shirley Walker
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is an animated feature film released in 1993 and is part of the DC Animated Universe. Directed by Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm, the film serves as a spin-off of the critically acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series, and was released between seasons one and two of the show. The story revolves around Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy who doubles as the vigilante Batman. A mysterious figure known as the Phantasm begins targeting Gotham City’s crime bosses, leading to speculation that Batman is responsible. As Batman investigates, he discovers that the Phantasm has a personal connection to his past, which leads him to explore his early years and the choices that led him to become the Dark Knight. Mask of the Phantasm is notable for being the first full-length animated theatrical Batman film, and was celebrated at the time for its sophisticated narrative, atmospheric animation, nuanced portrayal of Batman, and exceptional voice acting from Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Dana Delany. It faced challenges at the box office at the time it was released, possibly due to its marketing and the misconception that it was solely a children’s movie, but in the intervening years it has gained a cult following and is now considered one of the standout Batman films. Read more…
IRON WILL – Joel McNeely
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Iron Will is a Disney-produced historical family adventure film, directed by Charles Haid from a screenplay co-written by John Michael Hayes, who wrote four of Alfred Hitchcock’s films in the 1950s (Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Trouble with Harry, and The Man Who Knew Too Much). The film is set in 1917 and tells the true story of a teenage boy named Will Stoneman who is left to take care of his mother after his father dies, and who enters a grueling 500-mile dog-sled race from Manitoba to Minnesota in order to raise money for her. Mackenzie Astin stars as the intrepid musher Will, and there is excellent support from future A-listers and stalwart character actors like Kevin Spacey, David Ogden Stiers, August Schellenberg, and Brian Cox, but the film did not set the box office alight and is unfortunately mostly forgotten today. Read more…
PHILADELPHIA – Howard Shore
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
In terms of its subject matter and how it relates to the social issues of the time it was released, Philadelphia is one of the most important films ever made. It was released in the winter of 1993 and, at the time, it quickly became notable for being one of the first mainstream Hollywood films not only to explicitly address both the HIV/AIDS crisis and the then-prevalent societal homophobia, but also to portray gay people in any sort of positive light. The film stars Tom Hanks as attorney Andrew Beckett, a senior associate at the largest corporate law firm in Philadelphia. In order to maintain his career, Beckett conceals his homosexuality and his status as an AIDS patient from others in the office, but eventually his symptoms become too obvious to ignore. However, rather than treat him with sympathy, Beckett is summarily fired by his bigoted boss Charles Wheeler (Jason Robards). Refusing to accept this, Beckett seeks out personal injury attorney Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) to help him sue his former employers, which requires Miller to overcome his own latent prejudice and homophobia. Read more…
TOMBSTONE – Bruce Broughton
THROWBACK THIRTY
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Very few events in the colorful and sometimes fanciful history of the American West capture the imagination like the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The event did take place, in the boom town of Tombstone, Arizona, on October 26, 1881, and it did see the brothers Virgil, Morgan, and Wyatt Earp, plus their friend Doc Holliday, shooting it out with a loosely organized group of outlaws called the Cowboys, led by Ike Clanton. The real gunfight lasted just seconds, resulted in the deaths of three Cowboys, and was probably no different from many of the other gunfights that were regular occurrences in the old west. However, for some reason, the Gunfight, the story of the Earp family, and the subsequent Earp Vendetta Ride, have become near-mythical events in the romantic history of the period. Tombstone was at least the eighth film to depict these events on the silver screen, after such legendary western movies like 1946’s My Darling Clementine starring Henry Fonda, 1957’s Gunfight at the O.K. Corral starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, and 1967’s Hour of the Gun starring James Garner. Read more…
THE PELICAN BRIEF – James Horner
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The Pelican Brief is a legal thriller directed by Alan J. Pakula, adapted from the best-selling novel by John Grisham. The film stars Julia Roberts as Darby Shaw, a law student at Tulane University, who becomes romantically involved with her professor, Thomas Callahan (Sam Shepard). After two Supreme Court justices are assassinated, Darby writes a legal brief speculating about the possible motives behind the murders. In this document – which she calls the Pelican Brief – she suggests a theory involving an intricate plot to control the balance of power in the United States Supreme Court; however, after it is published, it quickly becomes apparent that Darby’s speculations are very close to the actual truth, and before long she finds herself targeted by assassins hired by the perpetrators, who are determined to eliminate anyone who may know about their plans. With nowhere else to turn, Darby contacts Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington), an investigative journalist, and together they race against time to uncover the identity of the people behind the murders and bring the conspiracy to light. Read more…
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…
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…
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