Bold, beautiful, and bittersweet, Tyler Perry's "A Jazzman's Blues" is a larger-than-life love story set during the Jim Crow era. It's an epic tale about love and loss with a strong musical component (hence the title); the core conflict is the star-crossed lovers, but the story is so grand, so encompassing, that it touches on various topics: Black culture, drug addiction, racism, identity, trauma ... the list goes on.
Tyler Perry wrote "A Jazzman's Blues" 27 years ago, and the project is obviously a very personal one. That passion shines throughout, scene by scene. The film is brimming with sentimentality, and there's an earnestness here that feels deeply sincere, if not always effective. This is an unusual project for the director, who is best known for comedies like "Madea's Family Reunion"; he has tackled more serious fare — such as "Precious," which he produced — but he's never really had what could be...
Tyler Perry wrote "A Jazzman's Blues" 27 years ago, and the project is obviously a very personal one. That passion shines throughout, scene by scene. The film is brimming with sentimentality, and there's an earnestness here that feels deeply sincere, if not always effective. This is an unusual project for the director, who is best known for comedies like "Madea's Family Reunion"; he has tackled more serious fare — such as "Precious," which he produced — but he's never really had what could be...
- 9/12/2022
- by Sarah Milner
- Slash Film
With every note played, two hearts skip the same beat.
The trailer for Tyler Perry’s “A Jazzman’s Blues” sets the stage for the heart-wrenching tale of a 40-year-old forbidden romance between two star-crossed lovers, played by Joshua Boone and Solea Pfeiffer. Oscar-nominated Perry writes, directs, and produces the epic story set in the 1940s deep South.
“I wrote this 27 years ago, and I finally get to show it to the world,” Perry tweeted to share the trailer. “This is my new movie, ‘A Jazzman’s Blues.’ I can’t wait for you to see it on Netflix.”
One of the highly-anticipated fall releases this year, “A Jazzman’s Blues” premieres September 23 on the streamer after debuting at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.
The ensemble cast also includes Amirah Vann, Austin Scott, Milauna Jemai Jackson, Brent Antonello, Brad Benedict, Kario Marcel, Lana Young, and Ryan Eggold, featuring an original song performed by...
The trailer for Tyler Perry’s “A Jazzman’s Blues” sets the stage for the heart-wrenching tale of a 40-year-old forbidden romance between two star-crossed lovers, played by Joshua Boone and Solea Pfeiffer. Oscar-nominated Perry writes, directs, and produces the epic story set in the 1940s deep South.
“I wrote this 27 years ago, and I finally get to show it to the world,” Perry tweeted to share the trailer. “This is my new movie, ‘A Jazzman’s Blues.’ I can’t wait for you to see it on Netflix.”
One of the highly-anticipated fall releases this year, “A Jazzman’s Blues” premieres September 23 on the streamer after debuting at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.
The ensemble cast also includes Amirah Vann, Austin Scott, Milauna Jemai Jackson, Brent Antonello, Brad Benedict, Kario Marcel, Lana Young, and Ryan Eggold, featuring an original song performed by...
- 8/23/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Ahead of the film’s world premiere next month at TIFF, Netflix has released the first trailer for Tyler Perry’s “A Jazzman’s Blues,” the billionaire media mogul’s longtime passion project.
Written, directed and produced by Perry, the period drama tells the tale of forbidden love, starring Joshua Boone and Solea Pfeiffer as Bayou and Leanne, a star-crossed couple navigating the world as young Black people in the deep South during the 1940s and through the decades that follow.
“That was our first kiss. Ain’t nothing felt that good in all my life,” Boone’s Bayou narrates as the trailer opens on the lovers sharing a sweet smooch while sitting in a sun-soaked tree.
The dramatic scenes that follow show the trials and tribulations that test the couple’s love as their families and other outside forces try to force them apart. In spite of the odds stacked...
Written, directed and produced by Perry, the period drama tells the tale of forbidden love, starring Joshua Boone and Solea Pfeiffer as Bayou and Leanne, a star-crossed couple navigating the world as young Black people in the deep South during the 1940s and through the decades that follow.
“That was our first kiss. Ain’t nothing felt that good in all my life,” Boone’s Bayou narrates as the trailer opens on the lovers sharing a sweet smooch while sitting in a sun-soaked tree.
The dramatic scenes that follow show the trials and tribulations that test the couple’s love as their families and other outside forces try to force them apart. In spite of the odds stacked...
- 8/23/2022
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
When you get three different musicians in a room, you never know what may happen. But when you get three composers in a room, it turns out there are more similarities between them than differences. Mark Isham, John Ottman and Aaron Zigman have an impressive combined resume having created the music for such films as A River Runs Through It, Crash, The Usual Suspects, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, John Q, and The Notebook. While their musical styles may be different, their approach to their work is very similar. Bmi’s Doreen Ringer Ross once again assembles an impressive panel for the Composer Coffee Talk (which featured actual coffee this year!) during this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival. Whether you are a composer, a filmmaker, or simply someone who appreciates good film music, read on to find out how Isham, Ottman, and Zigman deal with the changing musical landscape, how important a director can be to a...
- 6/19/2014
- by Allison Loring
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
"I don’t write music for the money; I write music because it comes from [my heart]," said film composer Aaron Zigman, the go-to composer for directors like Nick Cassavetes, Anne Fletcher and Tyler Perry, during a panel as part of Los Angeles Film Festival's Coffee Talks series, held June 15 and also featuring composers John Ottman and Mark Isham. Zigman started his composing career with a lucky break, as he left behind an illustrious career in the music industry when offered a shot at composing Cassavetes’ John Q. It was a risk, he said, but composing was what
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- 6/16/2014
- by Marion Kirkpatrick
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
One hundred fourteen scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2013 will be vying for nominations in the Original Score category for the 86th Oscars®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today.
A Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Score category will be made available with a nominations ballot to all members of the Music Branch, who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements. The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award.
Nomination voting in all Oscar categories begins Friday, December 27 and ends Wednesday, January 8.
The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below, in alphabetical order by film title:
“Admission,” Stephen Trask, composer
“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” Daniel Hart, composer
“All Is Lost,” Alex Ebert, composer
“Alone Yet Not Alone,” William Ross, composer
“The Armstrong Lie,...
A Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Score category will be made available with a nominations ballot to all members of the Music Branch, who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements. The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award.
Nomination voting in all Oscar categories begins Friday, December 27 and ends Wednesday, January 8.
The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below, in alphabetical order by film title:
“Admission,” Stephen Trask, composer
“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” Daniel Hart, composer
“All Is Lost,” Alex Ebert, composer
“Alone Yet Not Alone,” William Ross, composer
“The Armstrong Lie,...
- 12/13/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Senior executives at the Academy announced on Dec 12 that 114 scores have been submitted for the original score Oscar category.Scroll down for full list
A reminder list of works submitted will be made available with a nominations ballot to all members of the music branch, who will vote in the order of their preference for up to five scores.
Those five that receive the highest number of votes will be announced as nominees on January 16 2014.
According to the rules, to be eligible the original score must be a “substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring, and must be written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer.
Scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible.”
Admission, Stephen Trask
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Daniel Hart
[link...
A reminder list of works submitted will be made available with a nominations ballot to all members of the music branch, who will vote in the order of their preference for up to five scores.
Those five that receive the highest number of votes will be announced as nominees on January 16 2014.
According to the rules, to be eligible the original score must be a “substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring, and must be written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer.
Scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible.”
Admission, Stephen Trask
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Daniel Hart
[link...
- 12/12/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Thomas Newman and Michael Giacchino Each Have Four Of The 97 Scores Eligible For Best Original Score
Of the 265 films eligible [1] for Oscars at the 84th Annual Academy Awards in February, 97 of them have been deemed worthy to be nominated for Best Original Score. Thomas Newman (The Adjustment Bureau, The Debt, The Help, The Iron Lady) and Michael Giacchino (Cars 2, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Monte Carlo, Super 8) lead all eligible composers with four films this year while Alexandre Desplat (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Ides of March), Tyler Bates (Conan the Barbarian, The Darkest Hour, The Way), Mark Isham (The Conspirator, Dolphin Tale, Warrior) and Henry Jackman (Puss in Boots, Winnie the Pooh, X-Men First Class) all have three. Other familiar names are on the list too such as John Williams (The Adventures of Tintin, War Horse), James Newton Howard (Green Lantern, Water for Elephants) and Danny Elfman (Real Steel, Restless) who along with Alberto Iglesias (The Skin I Live In,...
- 12/23/2011
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that ninety-seven scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 84th Academy Awards®.
The eligible scores along with the composer are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:
“The Adjustment Bureau,” Thomas Newman, composer
“The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams, composer
“African Cats,” Nicholas Hooper, composer
“Albert Nobbs,” Brian Byrne, composer
“Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” Mark Mothersbaugh, composer
“Anonymous,” Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser, composers
“Another Earth,” Phil Mossman and Will Bates, composers
“Answers to Nothing,” Craig Richey, composer
“Arthur Christmas,” Harry Gregson-Williams, composer
“The Artist,” Ludovic Bource, composer
“@urFRENZ,” Lisbeth Scott, composer
“Atlas Shrugged Part 1,” Elia Cmiral, composer
“Battle: Los Angeles,” Brian Tyler, composer
“Beastly,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“The Big Year,” Theodore Shapiro, composer
“Captain America: The First Avenger,” Alan Silvestri, composer
“Cars 2,” Michael Giacchino, composer
“Cedar Rapids,...
The eligible scores along with the composer are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:
“The Adjustment Bureau,” Thomas Newman, composer
“The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams, composer
“African Cats,” Nicholas Hooper, composer
“Albert Nobbs,” Brian Byrne, composer
“Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” Mark Mothersbaugh, composer
“Anonymous,” Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser, composers
“Another Earth,” Phil Mossman and Will Bates, composers
“Answers to Nothing,” Craig Richey, composer
“Arthur Christmas,” Harry Gregson-Williams, composer
“The Artist,” Ludovic Bource, composer
“@urFRENZ,” Lisbeth Scott, composer
“Atlas Shrugged Part 1,” Elia Cmiral, composer
“Battle: Los Angeles,” Brian Tyler, composer
“Beastly,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“The Big Year,” Theodore Shapiro, composer
“Captain America: The First Avenger,” Alan Silvestri, composer
“Cars 2,” Michael Giacchino, composer
“Cedar Rapids,...
- 12/23/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
I was actually beginning to believe Cliff Martinez's score for Drive may actually have a shot with all the love it has received in the precursor awards, but last night the Academy announced the list of 97 scores eligible for Best Original Score at the 2012 Oscars and, oops, what do you know, both Drive and Attack the Block didn't make the cut. The only other score I had on my current list of predictions for the category to not make the cut was Howard Shore's music for David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method. Why? Well, I would assume somewhere inside there the rules for requirement weren't met. As per the Academy, "To be eligible, the original score must be a substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring, and must be written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer. Scores diluted by the use of...
- 12/23/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Yesterday the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences released the 97 original film scores that will running for the final five nominations for the Best Original Score category at the upcoming 84h Academy Awards. Billy Crystal will be hosting the annual awards show, which be presented on February 26, 2012. Some how I am not surprised that Attack the Block got nixed, seeing that Tron: Legacy pretty much got the same treatment last year. Glad to see that Henry Jackman’s X-Men: First Class is getting a nod, and of course Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross had to be in it. Check out the full list below.
December 22, 2011
For Immediate Release
97 Original Scores in 2011 Oscar® Race
Beverly Hills, CA – Ninety-seven scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 84th Academy Awards®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today.
The...
December 22, 2011
For Immediate Release
97 Original Scores in 2011 Oscar® Race
Beverly Hills, CA – Ninety-seven scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 84th Academy Awards®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today.
The...
- 12/23/2011
- by Mike Lee
- FusedFilm
Once again, we have a bumper crop of soundtracks for you, starting with Alberto Iglesias’s score of Pedro Almodóvar’s unhinged plastic-surgery-‘em-up thriller The Skin I Live In. Like the film, Iglesias’s music is taught and calculated but also expressive and often beautiful, with plenty of baroque-esque plinky plonky strings and piano. Also included is Trentmöller’s ‘Shades of Marble’, a percussive track that escalates into bursts of overwrought guitar histrionics and is the best track on the album.
Next is Cliff Martinez’s music from Drive, one of about 3,294 Ryan Gosling movies released in the last couple of weeks. The score is slinky and synthy and as suitably cool as the film itself (so I’m told). There’s also a quintet of songs used in the film by artists such as Chromatics, Desire and Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx who offer the album’s opening salvo, the unsettling...
Next is Cliff Martinez’s music from Drive, one of about 3,294 Ryan Gosling movies released in the last couple of weeks. The score is slinky and synthy and as suitably cool as the film itself (so I’m told). There’s also a quintet of songs used in the film by artists such as Chromatics, Desire and Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx who offer the album’s opening salvo, the unsettling...
- 11/1/2011
- by Jack Kirby
- Nerdly
Four new movies are opening in wide release this weekend:
Jim Sheridan’s horror thriller Dream House starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts features an original score by composer John Debney. Varese Sarabande will release a soundtrack CD including Debney’s score on October 11. The album is also already available to download on iTunes. To learn more about the album, visit our soundtrack announcement and check out the composer’s Facebook fan page to listen to a couple of tracks from the score.
Also opening wide is the comedy drama 50/50 directed by Jonathan Levine and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anjelica Huston, Anna Kendrick and Bryce Dallas Howard. The score from the movie is composed by Michael Giacchino. No soundtrack album has been announced so far. The movie about a 25-year old guy’s struggle to beat cancer is released by Summit Entertainment. For more information about the film,...
Jim Sheridan’s horror thriller Dream House starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts features an original score by composer John Debney. Varese Sarabande will release a soundtrack CD including Debney’s score on October 11. The album is also already available to download on iTunes. To learn more about the album, visit our soundtrack announcement and check out the composer’s Facebook fan page to listen to a couple of tracks from the score.
Also opening wide is the comedy drama 50/50 directed by Jonathan Levine and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anjelica Huston, Anna Kendrick and Bryce Dallas Howard. The score from the movie is composed by Michael Giacchino. No soundtrack album has been announced so far. The movie about a 25-year old guy’s struggle to beat cancer is released by Summit Entertainment. For more information about the film,...
- 10/1/2011
- by filmmusicreporter
- Film Music Reporter
Four new movies are opening in wide release this weekend:
Opening in most theaters is the action thriller Drive directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Christina Hendricks, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman and Oscar Isaacs. The film’s score is written by Cliff Martinez. A soundtrack featuring the composer’s score, as well as several songs from the movie has been released on Lakeshore Records. For more information on the release including audio clips, visit our soundtrack announcement. Also check out a video interview with Martinez about his music for the thriller on Ain’t It Cool News. Another audio interview with the composer talking about Drive and his other recent score for Contagion can be found on Film Music Magazine.
Also opening wide is the thriller remake of Straw Dogs directed by Rod Lurie and starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Christina Hendricks, Albert Brooks,...
Opening in most theaters is the action thriller Drive directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Christina Hendricks, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman and Oscar Isaacs. The film’s score is written by Cliff Martinez. A soundtrack featuring the composer’s score, as well as several songs from the movie has been released on Lakeshore Records. For more information on the release including audio clips, visit our soundtrack announcement. Also check out a video interview with Martinez about his music for the thriller on Ain’t It Cool News. Another audio interview with the composer talking about Drive and his other recent score for Contagion can be found on Film Music Magazine.
Also opening wide is the thriller remake of Straw Dogs directed by Rod Lurie and starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Christina Hendricks, Albert Brooks,...
- 9/17/2011
- by filmmusicreporter
- Film Music Reporter
Lakeshore Records has announced a score album for the romantic comedy I Don’t Know How She Does It. The score is composed by Aaron Zigman (The Notebook, John Q, the Sex and the City movies). The soundtrack will be released digitally on September 20, 2011 and a CD is coming out on October 18. Check back for audio clips to be added to this article within the next two weeks. A separate soundtrack with songs from the movie has previously been announced as reported here. I Don’t Know How She Does It is directed by Douglas McGrath and stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Christina Hendricks, Kelsey Grammer, Seth Meyers and Olivia Munn. The film will be released in theaters on September 16 by the Weinstein Company. To learn more about the cmedy, visit the official movie website.
Here’s the track list of the score album:
01. Kate Leaves – I...
Here’s the track list of the score album:
01. Kate Leaves – I...
- 9/9/2011
- by filmmusicreporter
- Film Music Reporter
Lakeshore Records will be releasing the official soundtrack album for the romantic comedy I Don’t Know How She Does It. The album includes one track from the score by composer Aaron Zigman, as well as several songs from the movie by such artists as Betty Everett, Damato, Little Jackie, Teena Marie, Nat King Cole and Holly Palmer. The soundtrack will be released on September 27, 2011 and is available for pre-order on Amazon. Check back on this page for audio clips. I Don’t Know How She Does It is directed by Douglas McGrath and stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Christina Hendricks, Kelsey Grammer, Seth Meyers and Olivia Munn. The movie will be released on September 16 by the Weinstein Company. To learn more about the film, visit the official movie website.
Here’s the album track list:
1. The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) (Betty Everett...
Here’s the album track list:
1. The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) (Betty Everett...
- 9/5/2011
- by filmmusicreporter
- Film Music Reporter
Aaron Zigman has taken over scoring duties on the romantic comedy I Don’t Know How She Does It. He is replacing Rachel Portman who was originally attached to score the movie as reported earlier this summer. The film directed by Douglas McGrath stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Christina Hendricks, Kelsey Grammer, Seth Meyers and Olivia Munn. The comedy follows a working mother who is desperately trying to juggle marriage, children and a high-stress job as a financial executive. Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada, Morning Glory) wrote the screenplay based on a novel by Allison Pearson. Zigman has previously scored the Sarah Jessica Parker-starring film adaptations of Sex and the City. I Don’t Know How She Does It is scheduled to be released on September 16, 2011 by The Weinstein Company. For updates, visit the official movie website.
Zigman has also signed on to score the indie drama Jess + Moss.
Zigman has also signed on to score the indie drama Jess + Moss.
- 8/9/2011
- by filmmusicreporter
- Film Music Reporter
Aaron Zigman is set to reunite with Tyler Perry on the director’s latest project Good Deeds. Perry is directing, writing, producing and starring in the romantic drama about an affluent and successful entrepreneur who’s about to get married when he becomes enamored with a down-on-her-luck single mom. His co-stars include Thandie Newton, Rebecca Romijn, Gabrielle Union and Jamie Kennedy. The project, which is currently being shot in Atlanta will be Zigman’s and Perry’s ninth collaboration following the comedy We the Peeples, which is produced by the filmmaker and is currently in post-production. Lionsgate has yet to set a release date for Good Deeds, but a release in early 2012 seems likely.
As reported last week, Zigman has also scored the drama pilot A Mann’s World. While the project hasn’t been picked up by ABC, the show is rumored to be shopped to cable networks.
As reported last week, Zigman has also scored the drama pilot A Mann’s World. While the project hasn’t been picked up by ABC, the show is rumored to be shopped to cable networks.
- 5/16/2011
- by filmmusicreporter
- Film Music Reporter
Aaron Zigman is scoring the pilot for the drama A Mann’s World. The project is written, produced and directed by Michael Patrick King who has worked with the composer on both Sex and the City movies. The show follows the complicated life of Allan Mann, a celebrity hair stylist in glamorous Los Angeles as he navigates the complexities of his business, his family life, and his goal to stay young and relevant in a place where looks are everything. The pilot stars Don Johnson, Ellen Barkin, Kelly Hu, Sandra Vergara, Caitlin Crosby and Jr Bourne. The project is Zigman’s first TV credit since he wrote the music for the 2004 Showtime show Crown Heights. Zigman joins a number of composers best known for their feature work who are scoring a TV pilot this season, including Mark Isham, Chris Bacon and Brian Reitzell. NBC is expected to make an announcement...
- 5/11/2011
- by filmmusicreporter
- Film Music Reporter
BT has been tapped to score the upcoming dance movie Step Up 4. The sequel will be set in the backdrop of Miami. As announced this week, music video/commercials director Scott Speer will be helming the film and Jon Chu who directed the last two installments in the series (and is attached to direct the upcoming G.I. Joe sequel) will be executive producing. Chu and Steer previously worked together on the TV show The Lxd: The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers. The film’s script is being written by Jenny Mayer and Adam Shankman (Hairspray, the upcoming Rock of Ages) is among the movie’s producers. The project marks BT’s first feature scoring assignment in several years. The composer/music producer/singer and songwriter, also known as Brian Transeau is best known in the film music community for his scores for The Fast and the Furious, Go and Monster.
- 5/5/2011
- by filmmusicreporter
- Film Music Reporter
Let not the political correctness, nor the worthiness, nor the collection of respectable names in the cast, nor the unstoppable onslaught of earnestness persuade you, dear people, that the For Colored Girls soundtrack is a thing of soul, a thing of spirit, a force for good. Be not swayed by the shameless Oscar chasing, nor the legitimately prestigious source material (the film is based on Ntozake Shange’s Tony nominated play). For, good people, the For Colored Girls soundtrack is nothing more than a bunch of bland cliché-driven tracks from an array of female soul singers, some skilled, some mediocre, none hitting the necessary heights, few avoiding drivelling cliché.
For a film which deals with race relations and feminine identity with a soul and rhythm & blues backing, there is woefully little flash and anger, miniscule inspiration, Gladys Knight where you might want Aretha. Janelle Monae live is a thing to behold,...
For a film which deals with race relations and feminine identity with a soul and rhythm & blues backing, there is woefully little flash and anger, miniscule inspiration, Gladys Knight where you might want Aretha. Janelle Monae live is a thing to behold,...
- 11/14/2010
- by Chris Neilan
- Movie-moron.com
Details on the soundtrack for Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls have been released.
The disc will include performances by members of the cast, plus music from Janelle Monàe, Leona Lewis , Lalah Hathaway, Gladys Knight, Estelle, Laura Izibor, and more.
The soundtrack also includes a remake of Nina Simone’s evocative Four Women, which features original vocals by her daughter Simone, Laura Izibor and Ledisi, and the late singer.
Atlantic Records will release the 13-track recording on November 2, 3 days before the film’s opening. However, on October 20, the album will be available for streaming at atlanticrecords.com/forcoloredgirlssoundtrack.
The track list follows below:
1. “Main Title” – Loretta Devine, Kimberly Elise, Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson, Thandie Newton, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Tessa Thompson, Kerry Washington (with Joshua Bell, Aaron Zigman & The Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra)
2. “Longer & Stronger” – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
3. “All Day Long (Blue Skies)” – Estelle
4. “What More Can They...
The disc will include performances by members of the cast, plus music from Janelle Monàe, Leona Lewis , Lalah Hathaway, Gladys Knight, Estelle, Laura Izibor, and more.
The soundtrack also includes a remake of Nina Simone’s evocative Four Women, which features original vocals by her daughter Simone, Laura Izibor and Ledisi, and the late singer.
Atlantic Records will release the 13-track recording on November 2, 3 days before the film’s opening. However, on October 20, the album will be available for streaming at atlanticrecords.com/forcoloredgirlssoundtrack.
The track list follows below:
1. “Main Title” – Loretta Devine, Kimberly Elise, Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson, Thandie Newton, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Tessa Thompson, Kerry Washington (with Joshua Bell, Aaron Zigman & The Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra)
2. “Longer & Stronger” – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
3. “All Day Long (Blue Skies)” – Estelle
4. “What More Can They...
- 10/14/2010
- by Wale
- ShadowAndAct
Start as you mean to go on, they say, and it’s a lesson the chimps charged with compiling the Sex and the City 2 soundtrack would appear to have taken to heart. Witness Alicia Keys’ painful album opener Rapture – yes, that’s right, a cover of the old Blondie record that represented the last word in artless rapping till the advent of Mr. C, the Shamen, and Ebeneezer Goode (all due apologies to any bemused non-uk readers). Keysy’s channeling of the spirit of Debbie Harry and chums comes garnished with a bit of half-hearted girl power panting – “Here we go ladies”, “Show what you got” – and references to the parent product, lest anyone momentarily forget what movie the record they are listening to ties in with. Not much chance of that, given that the most glaring of those Sex and the City references finds the TV theme tune welded onto the Blondie composition,...
- 6/9/2010
- by Paul Martin
- Movie-moron.com
Chicago – This 39-image slideshow features all the official press images for Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Sex and the City 2” starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Catrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Willie Garson, John Corbett, Chris Noth, Evan Handler, Jason Lewis, and Mario Cantone. It was written and directed by Michael Patrick King. It will open on May 27th, 2010.
Official Synopsis:
“The fun, the fashion, the friendship: “Sex and the City 2” brings it all back and more as Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) take another bite out of The Big Apple—and beyond—carrying on with their busy lives and loves in a sequel that truly sparkles.
What happens after you say “I do”? Life is everything the ladies ever wished it to be, but it wouldn’t be “Sex and the City” if life didn’t hold a few more surprises…...
Official Synopsis:
“The fun, the fashion, the friendship: “Sex and the City 2” brings it all back and more as Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) take another bite out of The Big Apple—and beyond—carrying on with their busy lives and loves in a sequel that truly sparkles.
What happens after you say “I do”? Life is everything the ladies ever wished it to be, but it wouldn’t be “Sex and the City” if life didn’t hold a few more surprises…...
- 5/24/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Alicia Keys has teamed up with Jennifer Hudson for "Sex and the City 2" soundtrack which will be made available in U.S stores on May 25, two days before the drama movie hits theaters. The two Grammy-winning singers' single which is called "Love Is Your Color".
Beside collaborating with the fiancee of actor David Otunga, Alicia also has two of her songs, "Rapture" and "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down", included in the soundtracks album. She and Jennifer aren't the only famous names lending their voices and songs for the movie though. Dido and Erykah Badu are among them.
The record also offers collaboration of "Sex and the City" foursome, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. They sing a rendition of Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman". Liza Minnelli, additionally, covers Beyonce Knowles' "Single Ladies" and Cole Porter's "Every Time We Say Goodbye...
Beside collaborating with the fiancee of actor David Otunga, Alicia also has two of her songs, "Rapture" and "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down", included in the soundtracks album. She and Jennifer aren't the only famous names lending their voices and songs for the movie though. Dido and Erykah Badu are among them.
The record also offers collaboration of "Sex and the City" foursome, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. They sing a rendition of Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman". Liza Minnelli, additionally, covers Beyonce Knowles' "Single Ladies" and Cole Porter's "Every Time We Say Goodbye...
- 4/22/2010
- by celebrity-mania.com
- Celebrity Mania
Soundtrack listing for "Sex and the City 2" has been unveiled and the names of some cast members are mentioned among the list. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon who play the major characters will cover "I Am Woman" from Helen Reddy.
Beyonce Knowles' "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" also makes it into the record, but it will be performed by Liza Minnelli. The 64-year-old actress/singer is likely to be seen singing the song during Stanford Blatch and Anthony Marantino's gay wedding like it has been widely reported.
Additionally, two songs from Alicia Keys, which are "Rapture" and "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down", will be heard during the course of the film. Jennifer Hudson and Leona Lewis also support the movie with their duet of "Love Is Your Color".
Erykah Badu's song "Window Seat", which music video recently sparked...
Beyonce Knowles' "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" also makes it into the record, but it will be performed by Liza Minnelli. The 64-year-old actress/singer is likely to be seen singing the song during Stanford Blatch and Anthony Marantino's gay wedding like it has been widely reported.
Additionally, two songs from Alicia Keys, which are "Rapture" and "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down", will be heard during the course of the film. Jennifer Hudson and Leona Lewis also support the movie with their duet of "Love Is Your Color".
Erykah Badu's song "Window Seat", which music video recently sparked...
- 4/22/2010
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
The Sex and the City 2 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be released by WaterTower Music both digitally and on CD May 25, 2010. New Line Cinema’s “Sex and the City 2” opens nationwide on Thursday, May 27, 2010.
The follow-up to the first hugely successful “Sex and the City” soundtrack, which debuted on Billboard’s Soundtrack chart at number one and its Top 200 chart at number two, will feature an exciting lineup that includes several platinum artists and consists of 17 songs. The announcement was made today by WaterTower’s Jason Linn.
The soundtrack will include original music from Grammy and Academy Award® winner Jennifer Hudson, along with global superstar, multi-platinum recording artist and three-time Grammy Award nominee Leona Lewis. T-Pain produces a new song by platinum-selling Cee-Lo and international superstar Dido also contributes an exclusive new track. Grammy, Emmy, Golden Globe, Tony and Academy Award® winner Liza Minnelli covers Beyonce’s chart-topper...
The follow-up to the first hugely successful “Sex and the City” soundtrack, which debuted on Billboard’s Soundtrack chart at number one and its Top 200 chart at number two, will feature an exciting lineup that includes several platinum artists and consists of 17 songs. The announcement was made today by WaterTower’s Jason Linn.
The soundtrack will include original music from Grammy and Academy Award® winner Jennifer Hudson, along with global superstar, multi-platinum recording artist and three-time Grammy Award nominee Leona Lewis. T-Pain produces a new song by platinum-selling Cee-Lo and international superstar Dido also contributes an exclusive new track. Grammy, Emmy, Golden Globe, Tony and Academy Award® winner Liza Minnelli covers Beyonce’s chart-topper...
- 4/21/2010
- by Staff
- Hollywoodnews.com
Warner Bros. have released 15 new images from Sex and the City 2 which stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. Also stars Chris Noth, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler, Jason Lewis, Mario Cantone and Willie Garson.
These new images tie in nicely with the new poster that was released yesterday. Sex and the City 2 is directed by Michael Patrick King and is released 28th May.
Synopsis: “Sex and the City 2″ also reunites the original creative team from the series and the first feature. Michael Patrick King is once again directing from his own screenplay.
King is also producing with John Melfi, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Darren Star. The executive producers are Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener and Marcus Viscidi. Also returning will be director of photography John Thomas, production designer Jeremy Conway, composer Aaron Zigman and costume designer Patricia Field.
“Sex and the City 2″ is...
These new images tie in nicely with the new poster that was released yesterday. Sex and the City 2 is directed by Michael Patrick King and is released 28th May.
Synopsis: “Sex and the City 2″ also reunites the original creative team from the series and the first feature. Michael Patrick King is once again directing from his own screenplay.
King is also producing with John Melfi, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Darren Star. The executive producers are Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener and Marcus Viscidi. Also returning will be director of photography John Thomas, production designer Jeremy Conway, composer Aaron Zigman and costume designer Patricia Field.
“Sex and the City 2″ is...
- 4/15/2010
- by David Sztypuljak
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
New Line Cinema have just sent us a load of new images for the sequel to the Sex and the City movie originally titled: Sex and the City 2! This second instalment stars all the people from the first movie which includes Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. It’s set for release in May. We’ve not got an exact date as yet but we’ll keep you posted.
Check out the new full synopsis and click the images below to enlarge. Some of the images we’ve seen before but there’s lots of new ones too.
Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda take another bite out of the Big Apple in the sequel to the 2008 blockbuster. Returning in their starring roles, as the four great friends are Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. Of course, where would these women be without their men?...
Check out the new full synopsis and click the images below to enlarge. Some of the images we’ve seen before but there’s lots of new ones too.
Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda take another bite out of the Big Apple in the sequel to the 2008 blockbuster. Returning in their starring roles, as the four great friends are Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. Of course, where would these women be without their men?...
- 3/23/2010
- by David Sztypuljak
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The material(istic) girls are back! It’ll be Prada handbags at dawn, or will it? Find out this May when the film opens everywhere! We’ve been sent through this “official” Sex in the City 2 poster, but it looks exactly the same as the one we reported on back in December. The only difference is now it says, “Coming Soon” and not, “Carrie On”. Anyway, here it is with some info on the release:
“Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda take another bite out of the Big Apple in the sequel to the 2008 blockbuster. Returning in their starring roles, as the four great friends are Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. Of course, where would these women be without their men? Also back for the much-anticipated sequel are Chris Noth as Mr. Big, David Eigenberg as Steve, Evan Handler as Harry, Jason Lewis as Smith, Mario Cantone...
“Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda take another bite out of the Big Apple in the sequel to the 2008 blockbuster. Returning in their starring roles, as the four great friends are Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. Of course, where would these women be without their men? Also back for the much-anticipated sequel are Chris Noth as Mr. Big, David Eigenberg as Steve, Evan Handler as Harry, Jason Lewis as Smith, Mario Cantone...
- 1/28/2010
- by Martyn Conterio
- FilmShaft.com
Aaron Zigman, who wrote the score for the first theatrical feature film based on the popular TV series Sex and the City, is returning as the score composer on the upcoming sequel, which is scheduled to be released in May next year. All the stars from the first film return as well as the director, Michael Patrick King. Other key members in the musical team on Sex and the City ...
- 12/16/2009
- by Mikael Carlsson
- MovieScore Magazine
Everybody is coming back for Sex in the City 2 which will open Memorial Day weekend 2010. As of right now … Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda are in the Big Apple as filming is about to get underway.
Before we get to the details, where do you think the story can go from here? Will there be baby talk for Mr. Big and Carrie? Why is Smith coming back? And do any of these characters actually have to break up in the beginning of the film only to get back together again in the end?
Here’s the news release …
“Sex and the City 2,” the sequel to the 2008 summer blockbuster, has begun principle photography in—where else?—New York City. Returning in their starring roles as the four great friends are Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. “It’s a great privilege to be spending time again...
Before we get to the details, where do you think the story can go from here? Will there be baby talk for Mr. Big and Carrie? Why is Smith coming back? And do any of these characters actually have to break up in the beginning of the film only to get back together again in the end?
Here’s the news release …
“Sex and the City 2,” the sequel to the 2008 summer blockbuster, has begun principle photography in—where else?—New York City. Returning in their starring roles as the four great friends are Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. “It’s a great privilege to be spending time again...
- 9/14/2009
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
Aaron Zigman continues his current working relationship with Tyler Perry and will score his upcoming Madea comedy I Can Do Bad All By Myself. Zigman has scored a handful of Perry's films, including Meet the Browns, Madea Goes to Jail and The Family That Preys. I Can Do Bad All By Myself is based on Perry's play and stars himself as Madea together with Taraji P. Henson, Adam Rodriguez, Brian White and Mary J. Blige. Lionsgate releases the film on September 11.
- 7/17/2009
- by noreply@blogger.com (Mikael Carlsson)
- MovieScore Magazine
Tracy Coogan has taken part in several feature films and plays throughout the world; now, this actress takes time out from a busy shooting schedule to talk about her central role as Susan Branch in the film "Dark Woods." This Irish born actress and producer has a connection to Canadian horror fans as her parents met and were married in Toronto, Ontario. Taking part in several upcoming films including the sex comedy “Good Guys Finish Last,” a dark comedy “The Devil in the kitchen,” and now appearing in romantic thriller “Dark Woods,” Tracy Coogan talks about her preparation for her role as a wife with cancer, hope in dark subject matter, and collaborating with Olivia Tracey on her latest project "Devil in the Kitchen."
Coogan’s list of acting credits is extensive and includes theatre performances in world renowned plays and films. Starring in the rugged Irish comedy “The Playboy of the Western World,...
Coogan’s list of acting credits is extensive and includes theatre performances in world renowned plays and films. Starring in the rugged Irish comedy “The Playboy of the Western World,...
- 4/29/2009
- by Michael Ross Allen
- 28 Days Later Analysis
Prolific composer Aaron Zigman continues his working relationship with director Tyler Perry. Madea Goes to Jail will be their fourth film together, following Why Did I Get Married, Meet The Browns and this year's The Family That Preys. Starring Tyler Perry, Keshia Knight, Vanessa Ferlito and Sofía Vergara, Madea Goes to Jail is a comedy built on the cultural clash that follows when grandma Madea is sent to prison. Lionsgate will distribute; release date is set to February 20 next year. Aaron Zigman's other upcoming films include The Proposal and My Sister's Keeper.
- 11/18/2008
- by noreply@blogger.com (Mikael Carlsson)
- MovieScore Magazine
The Proposal, a romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds and Mary Steenburgen, gets an original score by Aaron Zigman (The Notebook, Sex and the City, Alpha Dog). The film, presenting a story about a boss who forces her young assistant to marry her in order to keep her Visa status in the U.S., is directed by Anne Fletcher, a choreographer/director who previously worked with Zigman on Step Up. Scheduled to premiere on June 19, 2009, the film is produced by Mandeville Films and Touchstone Pictures. Zigman, one of Hollywood's busiest composers, also has Flash of Genius and My Sister's Keeper on his list of upcoming films.
- 8/8/2008
- by noreply@blogger.com (Mikael Carlsson)
- MovieScore Magazine
This review was written for the theatrical release of "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium."
One of the central characters in "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" longs to achieve the "sparkle" that shows she's inspired and expressing her highest potential. The film, presumably, aims for that same glow. But for all its playful touches and neat-o nostalgia for nondigital entertainment, the whimsy feels forced.
In the director's chair for the first time, Zach Helm juggles some of the same themes he brought to his script for "Stranger Than Fiction" -- the process of storytelling, fear of death and the need to live life to the fullest. As in that movie, there's less here than meets the eye, but without the former's Charlie Kaufman Lite layers of metafiction, the emptiness is often glaringly evident. Helm's slender tale doesn't quite know what to do with its four characters; what might have been pleasing simplicity instead feels thinly conceived. As family-friendly fare starring Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman, the fantasy drama should conjure up decent, if not magical, boxoffice.
Divided into storybook chapters, the film begins at "the beginning of the end" for Mr. Magorium, who, at age 243, is preparing to depart this earthly plane because -- well, enough is enough, and he's out of shoes. For the past 113 years he has run the titular establishment, a sort of enchanted indie FAO Schwarz. Hoffman plays the toy impresario in teased 'do and unruly eyebrows and with a wispy, silly voice. The performance isn't a flat-out miscalculation like Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka, but as oddities go, it's more distracting than compelling.
Magorium plans to bequeath his shop, a storefront/house sandwiched between skyscrapers, to its manager, Molly Mahoney (a convincingly tentative Portman). At 23, she's a onetime musical prodigy who feels stuck, unable to complete the concerto she's been trying to compose. She has a fondness for Emporium regular Eric (Zach Mills), a sweetly geeky 9-year-old who has a knack for invention and troublemaking friends. He tries out his nascent social skills on Henry Weston (Jason Bateman), the accountant Magorium has hired to put his finances in order. Being an accountant, Henry is necessarily an impassive skeptic who can't accept that magic exists. He will, of course, be convinced.
For her part, Molly can't accept that her beloved boss is leaving. Neither can the store, whose red walls begin turning gray -- decor body language for a sulk. The books and stuffed animals start acting out, too, until full-fledged magic mayhem forces Magorium to close shop temporarily.
Within the Crayola-hued profusion created by production designer Therese DePrez and costumer designer Christopher Hargadon, there are lovely fillips, and visual effects designer Kevin Tod Haug brings high-spirited contributions to the low-fi fantasy. There's not a PlayStation 3 in sight but plenty of such delightful diversions as a squeak-toy gavel, a nervous Slinky, a room full of bouncing balls and a particularly expressive sock monkey.
Until the final sequence, though, the phantasmagoria is mildly charming rather than wondrous. That wouldn't be a problem if the characters had more substance. Chanting a pop-psych carpe diem mantra, the film can't find its own pulse. Helping to set a pace is the lush score by Alexandre Desplat and Aaron Zigman, but its ooh-ahh insistence isn't enough to truly entrance.
MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM
Fox
Mandate Pictures and Walden Media presenta FilmColony production in association with Gang of Two
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Zach Helm
Producers: Richard N. Gladstein, Jim Garavente
Executive producers: Joe Drake, Nathan Kahane
Director of photography: Roman Osin
Production designer: Therese DePrez
Music: Alexandre Desplat, Aaron Zigman
Co-producer: Barbara A. Hall
Costume designer: Christopher Hargadon
Visual effects designer: Kevin Tod Haug
Editors: Sabrina Plisco, Steven Weisberg
Cast:
Mr. Edward Magorium, Avid Shoe-Wearer: Dustin Hoffman
Molly Mahoney, the Composer: Natalie Portman
Henry Weston, the Mutant: Jason Bateman
Eric Applebaum, the Hat Collector: Zach Mills
Bellini, the Bookbuilder: Ted Ludzik
Mrs. Goodman, Who Wants the Store: Kiele Sanchez
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
One of the central characters in "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" longs to achieve the "sparkle" that shows she's inspired and expressing her highest potential. The film, presumably, aims for that same glow. But for all its playful touches and neat-o nostalgia for nondigital entertainment, the whimsy feels forced.
In the director's chair for the first time, Zach Helm juggles some of the same themes he brought to his script for "Stranger Than Fiction" -- the process of storytelling, fear of death and the need to live life to the fullest. As in that movie, there's less here than meets the eye, but without the former's Charlie Kaufman Lite layers of metafiction, the emptiness is often glaringly evident. Helm's slender tale doesn't quite know what to do with its four characters; what might have been pleasing simplicity instead feels thinly conceived. As family-friendly fare starring Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman, the fantasy drama should conjure up decent, if not magical, boxoffice.
Divided into storybook chapters, the film begins at "the beginning of the end" for Mr. Magorium, who, at age 243, is preparing to depart this earthly plane because -- well, enough is enough, and he's out of shoes. For the past 113 years he has run the titular establishment, a sort of enchanted indie FAO Schwarz. Hoffman plays the toy impresario in teased 'do and unruly eyebrows and with a wispy, silly voice. The performance isn't a flat-out miscalculation like Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka, but as oddities go, it's more distracting than compelling.
Magorium plans to bequeath his shop, a storefront/house sandwiched between skyscrapers, to its manager, Molly Mahoney (a convincingly tentative Portman). At 23, she's a onetime musical prodigy who feels stuck, unable to complete the concerto she's been trying to compose. She has a fondness for Emporium regular Eric (Zach Mills), a sweetly geeky 9-year-old who has a knack for invention and troublemaking friends. He tries out his nascent social skills on Henry Weston (Jason Bateman), the accountant Magorium has hired to put his finances in order. Being an accountant, Henry is necessarily an impassive skeptic who can't accept that magic exists. He will, of course, be convinced.
For her part, Molly can't accept that her beloved boss is leaving. Neither can the store, whose red walls begin turning gray -- decor body language for a sulk. The books and stuffed animals start acting out, too, until full-fledged magic mayhem forces Magorium to close shop temporarily.
Within the Crayola-hued profusion created by production designer Therese DePrez and costumer designer Christopher Hargadon, there are lovely fillips, and visual effects designer Kevin Tod Haug brings high-spirited contributions to the low-fi fantasy. There's not a PlayStation 3 in sight but plenty of such delightful diversions as a squeak-toy gavel, a nervous Slinky, a room full of bouncing balls and a particularly expressive sock monkey.
Until the final sequence, though, the phantasmagoria is mildly charming rather than wondrous. That wouldn't be a problem if the characters had more substance. Chanting a pop-psych carpe diem mantra, the film can't find its own pulse. Helping to set a pace is the lush score by Alexandre Desplat and Aaron Zigman, but its ooh-ahh insistence isn't enough to truly entrance.
MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM
Fox
Mandate Pictures and Walden Media presenta FilmColony production in association with Gang of Two
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Zach Helm
Producers: Richard N. Gladstein, Jim Garavente
Executive producers: Joe Drake, Nathan Kahane
Director of photography: Roman Osin
Production designer: Therese DePrez
Music: Alexandre Desplat, Aaron Zigman
Co-producer: Barbara A. Hall
Costume designer: Christopher Hargadon
Visual effects designer: Kevin Tod Haug
Editors: Sabrina Plisco, Steven Weisberg
Cast:
Mr. Edward Magorium, Avid Shoe-Wearer: Dustin Hoffman
Molly Mahoney, the Composer: Natalie Portman
Henry Weston, the Mutant: Jason Bateman
Eric Applebaum, the Hat Collector: Zach Mills
Bellini, the Bookbuilder: Ted Ludzik
Mrs. Goodman, Who Wants the Store: Kiele Sanchez
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
- 11/15/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
One of the central characters in Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium longs to achieve the "sparkle" that shows she's inspired and expressing her highest potential. The film, presumably, aims for that same glow. But for all its playful touches and neat-o nostalgia for nondigital entertainment, the whimsy feels forced.
In the director's chair for the first time, Zach Helm juggles some of the same themes he brought to his script for Stranger Than Fiction -- the process of storytelling, fear of death and the need to live life to the fullest. As in that movie, there's less here than meets the eye, but without the former's Charlie Kaufman Lite layers of metafiction, the emptiness is often glaringly evident. Helm's slender tale doesn't quite know what to do with its four characters; what might have been pleasing simplicity instead feels thinly conceived. As family-friendly fare starring Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman, the fantasy drama should conjure up decent, if not magical, boxoffice.
Divided into storybook chapters, the film begins at "the beginning of the end" for Mr. Magorium, who, at age 243, is preparing to depart this earthly plane because -- well, enough is enough, and he's out of shoes. For the past 113 years he has run the titular establishment, a sort of enchanted indie FAO Schwarz. Hoffman plays the toy impresario in teased 'do and unruly eyebrows and with a wispy, silly voice. The performance isn't a flat-out miscalculation like Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka, but as oddities go, it's more distracting than compelling.
Magorium plans to bequeath his shop, a storefront/house sandwiched between skyscrapers, to its manager, Molly Mahoney (a convincingly tentative Portman). At 23, she's a onetime musical prodigy who feels stuck, unable to complete the concerto she's been trying to compose. She has a fondness for Emporium regular Eric (Zach Mills), a sweetly geeky 9-year-old who has a knack for invention and troublemaking friends. He tries out his nascent social skills on Henry Weston (Jason Bateman), the accountant Magorium has hired to put his finances in order. Being an accountant, Henry is necessarily an impassive skeptic who can't accept that magic exists. He will, of course, be convinced.
For her part, Molly can't accept that her beloved boss is leaving. Neither can the store, whose red walls begin turning gray -- decor body language for a sulk. The books and stuffed animals start acting out, too, until full-fledged magic mayhem forces Magorium to close shop temporarily.
Within the Crayola-hued profusion created by production designer Therese DePrez and costumer designer Christopher Hargadon, there are lovely fillips, and visual effects designer Kevin Tod Haug brings high-spirited contributions to the low-fi fantasy. There's not a PlayStation 3 in sight but plenty of such delightful diversions as a squeak-toy gavel, a nervous Slinky, a room full of bouncing balls and a particularly expressive sock monkey.
Until the final sequence, though, the phantasmagoria is mildly charming rather than wondrous. That wouldn't be a problem if the characters had more substance. Chanting a pop-psych carpe diem mantra, the film can't find its own pulse. Helping to set a pace is the lush score by Alexandre Desplat and Aaron Zigman, but its ooh-ahh insistence isn't enough to truly entrance.
MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM
Fox
Mandate Pictures and Walden Media presenta FilmColony production in association with Gang of Two
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Zach Helm
Producers: Richard N. Gladstein, Jim Garavente
Executive producers: Joe Drake, Nathan Kahane
Director of photography: Roman Osin
Production designer: Therese DePrez
Music: Alexandre Desplat, Aaron Zigman
Co-producer: Barbara A. Hall
Costume designer: Christopher Hargadon
Visual effects designer: Kevin Tod Haug
Editors: Sabrina Plisco, Steven Weisberg
Cast:
Mr. Edward Magorium, Avid Shoe-Wearer: Dustin Hoffman
Molly Mahoney, the Composer: Natalie Portman
Henry Weston, the Mutant: Jason Bateman
Eric Applebaum, the Hat Collector: Zach Mills
Bellini, the Bookbuilder: Ted Ludzik
Mrs. Goodman, Who Wants the Store: Kiele Sanchez
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
In the director's chair for the first time, Zach Helm juggles some of the same themes he brought to his script for Stranger Than Fiction -- the process of storytelling, fear of death and the need to live life to the fullest. As in that movie, there's less here than meets the eye, but without the former's Charlie Kaufman Lite layers of metafiction, the emptiness is often glaringly evident. Helm's slender tale doesn't quite know what to do with its four characters; what might have been pleasing simplicity instead feels thinly conceived. As family-friendly fare starring Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman, the fantasy drama should conjure up decent, if not magical, boxoffice.
Divided into storybook chapters, the film begins at "the beginning of the end" for Mr. Magorium, who, at age 243, is preparing to depart this earthly plane because -- well, enough is enough, and he's out of shoes. For the past 113 years he has run the titular establishment, a sort of enchanted indie FAO Schwarz. Hoffman plays the toy impresario in teased 'do and unruly eyebrows and with a wispy, silly voice. The performance isn't a flat-out miscalculation like Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka, but as oddities go, it's more distracting than compelling.
Magorium plans to bequeath his shop, a storefront/house sandwiched between skyscrapers, to its manager, Molly Mahoney (a convincingly tentative Portman). At 23, she's a onetime musical prodigy who feels stuck, unable to complete the concerto she's been trying to compose. She has a fondness for Emporium regular Eric (Zach Mills), a sweetly geeky 9-year-old who has a knack for invention and troublemaking friends. He tries out his nascent social skills on Henry Weston (Jason Bateman), the accountant Magorium has hired to put his finances in order. Being an accountant, Henry is necessarily an impassive skeptic who can't accept that magic exists. He will, of course, be convinced.
For her part, Molly can't accept that her beloved boss is leaving. Neither can the store, whose red walls begin turning gray -- decor body language for a sulk. The books and stuffed animals start acting out, too, until full-fledged magic mayhem forces Magorium to close shop temporarily.
Within the Crayola-hued profusion created by production designer Therese DePrez and costumer designer Christopher Hargadon, there are lovely fillips, and visual effects designer Kevin Tod Haug brings high-spirited contributions to the low-fi fantasy. There's not a PlayStation 3 in sight but plenty of such delightful diversions as a squeak-toy gavel, a nervous Slinky, a room full of bouncing balls and a particularly expressive sock monkey.
Until the final sequence, though, the phantasmagoria is mildly charming rather than wondrous. That wouldn't be a problem if the characters had more substance. Chanting a pop-psych carpe diem mantra, the film can't find its own pulse. Helping to set a pace is the lush score by Alexandre Desplat and Aaron Zigman, but its ooh-ahh insistence isn't enough to truly entrance.
MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM
Fox
Mandate Pictures and Walden Media presenta FilmColony production in association with Gang of Two
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Zach Helm
Producers: Richard N. Gladstein, Jim Garavente
Executive producers: Joe Drake, Nathan Kahane
Director of photography: Roman Osin
Production designer: Therese DePrez
Music: Alexandre Desplat, Aaron Zigman
Co-producer: Barbara A. Hall
Costume designer: Christopher Hargadon
Visual effects designer: Kevin Tod Haug
Editors: Sabrina Plisco, Steven Weisberg
Cast:
Mr. Edward Magorium, Avid Shoe-Wearer: Dustin Hoffman
Molly Mahoney, the Composer: Natalie Portman
Henry Weston, the Mutant: Jason Bateman
Eric Applebaum, the Hat Collector: Zach Mills
Bellini, the Bookbuilder: Ted Ludzik
Mrs. Goodman, Who Wants the Store: Kiele Sanchez
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
- 11/15/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This review was written for the theatrical release of "Bridge to Terabithia".Author Katherine Paterson's Newbery Award-winning "Bridge to Terabithia", about a pair of outsider school kids who create a vivid fantasy world to deal with the frustrations in their young lives, has made that tricky passage to the big screen faithfully intact.
A gently contained live-action feature debut by Gabor Csupo, co-founder of the busy animation studio Klasy-Csupo, the fantasy-adventure incorporates the novel's magical and emotional elements without overplaying either -- a balance that hasn't always proven easy to maintain in the world of kid-lit adaptation.
While Disney's advertising seems to be aimed at those hankering for another "Chronicles of Narnia" (minus the lion, witch, wardrobe and production budget), this Walden Media co-presentation functions more as something of a tween "Pan's Labyrinth," and, as such, could translate into solid, midrange business.
Of course, being true to the source material helps when one of your screenwriters is Paterson's son David, for whom the novel was written almost 30 years ago. He and Jeff Stockwell ("The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys") efficiently lay down that road that leads to Terabithia with the introduction of lead characters Jess (Josh Hutcherson) and Leslie (Annasophia Robb).
He's a budding artist when he's not doing chores for his struggling farmer parents (Robert Patrick, Kate Butler) or being tormented by his four sisters or the reigning school bullies.
She's the ostracized new girl in class, the only child of a pair of successful writers whose vivid imagination and unique fashion sense set her apart from the other students.
Unsurprisingly they become fast friends, and after some initial resistance on Jess' part, he succumbs to Leslie's keenly developed vision of Terabithia, a fantastical kingdom accessed by swinging on an enchanted rope across a stream and into the woods, where their foes have morphed into hairy vultures and giant ogres.
But there are some unpleasant aspects of life from which even Terabithia cannot offer sanctuary.
Director Csupo, whose animated output has included "Rugrats" and "The Simpsons", maintains a firm but never heavy-handed grip on those darker developments.
It's a pleasing equilibrium that also extends to the film's prudent use of visual effects, provided by New Zealand-based Weta Digital (the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Chronicles of Narnia"), and the thoughtful performances of his predominantly young cast, as well as from the always-welcome Zooey Deschanel as a sensitive music teacher, even if the plot mechanics that make her a key third act player feel unconvincingly forced.
Also contributing to the appealing production is that lush New Zealand footage taken by cinematographer Michael Chapman ("Raging Bull") as well as a score by Aaron Zigman that demonstrates a similar appreciation for the power of understatement.
BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media present a Hal Lieberman Co. production A Lauren Levine production
Credits:
Director: Gabor Csupo
Screenwriters: Jeff Stockwell and David Paterson
Based on the book by: Katherine Paterson
Producers: Hal Lieberman, Lauren Levine, David Paterson
Executive producer: Alex Schwartz
Director of photography: Michael Chapman
Production designer: Rob Gillies
Editor: John Gilbert
Costume designer: Barbara Darragh
Music: Aaron Zigman
Cast:
Jess Aarons: Josh Hutcherson
Leslie Burke: Annasophia Robb
Ms. Edmonds: Zooey Deschanel
Jack Aarons: Robert Patrick
May Belle Aarons: Bailey Madison
Nancy Aarons: Kate Butler
Running time -- 95 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
A gently contained live-action feature debut by Gabor Csupo, co-founder of the busy animation studio Klasy-Csupo, the fantasy-adventure incorporates the novel's magical and emotional elements without overplaying either -- a balance that hasn't always proven easy to maintain in the world of kid-lit adaptation.
While Disney's advertising seems to be aimed at those hankering for another "Chronicles of Narnia" (minus the lion, witch, wardrobe and production budget), this Walden Media co-presentation functions more as something of a tween "Pan's Labyrinth," and, as such, could translate into solid, midrange business.
Of course, being true to the source material helps when one of your screenwriters is Paterson's son David, for whom the novel was written almost 30 years ago. He and Jeff Stockwell ("The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys") efficiently lay down that road that leads to Terabithia with the introduction of lead characters Jess (Josh Hutcherson) and Leslie (Annasophia Robb).
He's a budding artist when he's not doing chores for his struggling farmer parents (Robert Patrick, Kate Butler) or being tormented by his four sisters or the reigning school bullies.
She's the ostracized new girl in class, the only child of a pair of successful writers whose vivid imagination and unique fashion sense set her apart from the other students.
Unsurprisingly they become fast friends, and after some initial resistance on Jess' part, he succumbs to Leslie's keenly developed vision of Terabithia, a fantastical kingdom accessed by swinging on an enchanted rope across a stream and into the woods, where their foes have morphed into hairy vultures and giant ogres.
But there are some unpleasant aspects of life from which even Terabithia cannot offer sanctuary.
Director Csupo, whose animated output has included "Rugrats" and "The Simpsons", maintains a firm but never heavy-handed grip on those darker developments.
It's a pleasing equilibrium that also extends to the film's prudent use of visual effects, provided by New Zealand-based Weta Digital (the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Chronicles of Narnia"), and the thoughtful performances of his predominantly young cast, as well as from the always-welcome Zooey Deschanel as a sensitive music teacher, even if the plot mechanics that make her a key third act player feel unconvincingly forced.
Also contributing to the appealing production is that lush New Zealand footage taken by cinematographer Michael Chapman ("Raging Bull") as well as a score by Aaron Zigman that demonstrates a similar appreciation for the power of understatement.
BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media present a Hal Lieberman Co. production A Lauren Levine production
Credits:
Director: Gabor Csupo
Screenwriters: Jeff Stockwell and David Paterson
Based on the book by: Katherine Paterson
Producers: Hal Lieberman, Lauren Levine, David Paterson
Executive producer: Alex Schwartz
Director of photography: Michael Chapman
Production designer: Rob Gillies
Editor: John Gilbert
Costume designer: Barbara Darragh
Music: Aaron Zigman
Cast:
Jess Aarons: Josh Hutcherson
Leslie Burke: Annasophia Robb
Ms. Edmonds: Zooey Deschanel
Jack Aarons: Robert Patrick
May Belle Aarons: Bailey Madison
Nancy Aarons: Kate Butler
Running time -- 95 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 2/12/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Author Katherine Paterson's Newbery Award-winning "Bridge to Terabithia", about a pair of outsider school kids who create a vivid fantasy world to deal with the frustrations in their young lives, has made that tricky passage to the big screen faithfully intact.
A gently contained live-action feature debut by Gabor Csupo, co-founder of the busy animation studio Klasy-Csupo, the fantasy-adventure incorporates the novel's magical and emotional elements without overplaying either -- a balance that hasn't always proven easy to maintain in the world of kid-lit adaptation.
While Disney's advertising seems to be aimed at those hankering for another "Chronicles of Narnia" (minus the lion, witch, wardrobe and production budget), this Walden Media co-presentation functions more as something of a tween "Pan's Labyrinth," and, as such, could translate into solid, midrange business.
Of course, being true to the source material helps when one of your screenwriters is Paterson's son David, for whom the novel was written almost 30 years ago. He and Jeff Stockwell ("The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys") efficiently lay down that road that leads to Terabithia with the introduction of lead characters Jess (Josh Hutcherson) and Leslie (Annasophia Robb).
He's a budding artist when he's not doing chores for his struggling farmer parents (Robert Patrick, Kate Butler) or being tormented by his four sisters or the reigning school bullies.
She's the ostracized new girl in class, the only child of a pair of successful writers whose vivid imagination and unique fashion sense set her apart from the other students.
Unsurprisingly they become fast friends, and after some initial resistance on Jess' part, he succumbs to Leslie's keenly developed vision of Terabithia, a fantastical kingdom accessed by swinging on an enchanted rope across a stream and into the woods, where their foes have morphed into hairy vultures and giant ogres.
But there are some unpleasant aspects of life from which even Terabithia cannot offer sanctuary.
Director Csupo, whose animated output has included "Rugrats" and "The Simpsons", maintains a firm but never heavy-handed grip on those darker developments.
It's a pleasing equilibrium that also extends to the film's prudent use of visual effects, provided by New Zealand-based Weta Digital (the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Chronicles of Narnia"), and the thoughtful performances of his predominantly young cast, as well as from the always-welcome Zooey Deschanel as a sensitive music teacher, even if the plot mechanics that make her a key third act player feel unconvincingly forced.
Also contributing to the appealing production is that lush New Zealand footage taken by cinematographer Michael Chapman ("Raging Bull") as well as a score by Aaron Zigman that demonstrates a similar appreciation for the power of understatement.
BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media present a Hal Lieberman Co. production A Lauren Levine production
Credits:
Director: Gabor Csupo
Screenwriters: Jeff Stockwell and David Paterson
Based on the book by: Katherine Paterson
Producers: Hal Lieberman, Lauren Levine, David Paterson
Executive producer: Alex Schwartz
Director of photography: Michael Chapman
Production designer: Rob Gillies
Editor: John Gilbert
Costume designer: Barbara Darragh
Music: Aaron Zigman
Cast:
Jess Aarons: Josh Hutcherson
Leslie Burke: Annasophia Robb
Ms. Edmonds: Zooey Deschanel
Jack Aarons: Robert Patrick
May Belle Aarons: Bailey Madison
Nancy Aarons: Kate Butler
Running time -- 95 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
A gently contained live-action feature debut by Gabor Csupo, co-founder of the busy animation studio Klasy-Csupo, the fantasy-adventure incorporates the novel's magical and emotional elements without overplaying either -- a balance that hasn't always proven easy to maintain in the world of kid-lit adaptation.
While Disney's advertising seems to be aimed at those hankering for another "Chronicles of Narnia" (minus the lion, witch, wardrobe and production budget), this Walden Media co-presentation functions more as something of a tween "Pan's Labyrinth," and, as such, could translate into solid, midrange business.
Of course, being true to the source material helps when one of your screenwriters is Paterson's son David, for whom the novel was written almost 30 years ago. He and Jeff Stockwell ("The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys") efficiently lay down that road that leads to Terabithia with the introduction of lead characters Jess (Josh Hutcherson) and Leslie (Annasophia Robb).
He's a budding artist when he's not doing chores for his struggling farmer parents (Robert Patrick, Kate Butler) or being tormented by his four sisters or the reigning school bullies.
She's the ostracized new girl in class, the only child of a pair of successful writers whose vivid imagination and unique fashion sense set her apart from the other students.
Unsurprisingly they become fast friends, and after some initial resistance on Jess' part, he succumbs to Leslie's keenly developed vision of Terabithia, a fantastical kingdom accessed by swinging on an enchanted rope across a stream and into the woods, where their foes have morphed into hairy vultures and giant ogres.
But there are some unpleasant aspects of life from which even Terabithia cannot offer sanctuary.
Director Csupo, whose animated output has included "Rugrats" and "The Simpsons", maintains a firm but never heavy-handed grip on those darker developments.
It's a pleasing equilibrium that also extends to the film's prudent use of visual effects, provided by New Zealand-based Weta Digital (the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Chronicles of Narnia"), and the thoughtful performances of his predominantly young cast, as well as from the always-welcome Zooey Deschanel as a sensitive music teacher, even if the plot mechanics that make her a key third act player feel unconvincingly forced.
Also contributing to the appealing production is that lush New Zealand footage taken by cinematographer Michael Chapman ("Raging Bull") as well as a score by Aaron Zigman that demonstrates a similar appreciation for the power of understatement.
BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media present a Hal Lieberman Co. production A Lauren Levine production
Credits:
Director: Gabor Csupo
Screenwriters: Jeff Stockwell and David Paterson
Based on the book by: Katherine Paterson
Producers: Hal Lieberman, Lauren Levine, David Paterson
Executive producer: Alex Schwartz
Director of photography: Michael Chapman
Production designer: Rob Gillies
Editor: John Gilbert
Costume designer: Barbara Darragh
Music: Aaron Zigman
Cast:
Jess Aarons: Josh Hutcherson
Leslie Burke: Annasophia Robb
Ms. Edmonds: Zooey Deschanel
Jack Aarons: Robert Patrick
May Belle Aarons: Bailey Madison
Nancy Aarons: Kate Butler
Running time -- 95 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 2/12/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
That old horse chestnut My Friend Flicka gets a generic makeover in the form of the singular Flicka, a thoroughly uninspiring drama that ultimately buckles under Michael Mayer's weighty direction.
Going back to the darker Mary O'Hara novel for inspiration, the updated flick boasts fine performances by Maria Bello, country singer Tim McGraw and young Alison Lohman, but it fails to convey the stirring spirit of the 1943 version.
Although it's squarely aimed at female tweens, with Roddy McDowall's original Ken McLaughlin character having been transformed to a Katy, that target demographic hasn't exactly been champing at the bit for their own movies, if the less than stellar results for such titles as "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and Aquamarine are of any indication.
While the Fox 2000 production will probably be a theatrical nonstarter, it still could kick up a bit of dust in the DVD corral.
Having returned to the McLaughlin family ranch in remote Wyoming (played extensively by Los Angeles) after being away in private school, Lohman's 16-year-old Katy discovers a wild mustang filly in the mountains whom she names Flicka, which she is told means "beautiful young girl" in Swedish.
Katy is desperate to keep the horse over the objections of her equally strong-willed dad, Rob McGraw, who made an impressive acting debut in 2004's Friday Night Lights), determined to prove that she can turn her into riding material.
For some reason, he just can't see that Katy and Flicka are kindred spirits, even though director Mayer (A Home at the End of the World) and screenwriters Mark Rosenthal & Lawrence Konner (responsible for the remakes of Mighty Joe Young, Planet of the Apes and Desperate Hours) keep hammering that point home relentlessly.
It turns out other things threaten to pull the McLaughlin family apart, including having to sell off the struggling ranch and Katy's brother Howard's (Ryan Kwanten) as-yet-unannounced plans to attend college in Boston rather than follow in his dad's footsteps.
That leaves mom Nell (the always reliable Bello) to try to keep it all together.
She certainly doesn't get much help from Mayer, whose buoyant stage work -- including the Broadway productions of Thoroughly Modern Millie and "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" -- is nowhere to be seen in this bland, overly purposeful production.
Although the performances are uniformly credible, the viewer is never given a real, unspoken sense of that unbridled bond between the girl and the mustang. There's little joy in this glum production, where storms keep gathering at the slightest hint of rain.
Production values are respectable, with cinematographer J. Michael Muro putting his considerable experience working in The Great Outdoors (Open Range, Crash), to good use here, though producer Aaron Zigman's score keeps getting interrupted by pesky songs about running with the wild horses and the weight of the world, just in case we somehow still didn't get the message.
FLICKA
20th Century Fox
Fox 2000 Pictures presents a Gil Netter production
Credits:
Director: Michael Mayer
Screenwriters: Mark Rosenthal & Lawrence Konner
Based on the novel My Friend Flicka by: Mary O'Hara
Producer: Gil Netter
Director of photography: J. Michael Muro
Production designer: Sharon Seymour
Editor: Andrew Marcus
Costume designer: Molly Maginnis
Music: Aaron Zigman
Cast:
Katy McLaughlin: Alison Lohman
Rob McLaughlin: Tim McGraw
Nell McLaughlin: Maria Bello
Howard McLaughlin: Ryan Kwanten
Gus: Dallas Roberts
Norbert Rye: Nick Searcy
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Going back to the darker Mary O'Hara novel for inspiration, the updated flick boasts fine performances by Maria Bello, country singer Tim McGraw and young Alison Lohman, but it fails to convey the stirring spirit of the 1943 version.
Although it's squarely aimed at female tweens, with Roddy McDowall's original Ken McLaughlin character having been transformed to a Katy, that target demographic hasn't exactly been champing at the bit for their own movies, if the less than stellar results for such titles as "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and Aquamarine are of any indication.
While the Fox 2000 production will probably be a theatrical nonstarter, it still could kick up a bit of dust in the DVD corral.
Having returned to the McLaughlin family ranch in remote Wyoming (played extensively by Los Angeles) after being away in private school, Lohman's 16-year-old Katy discovers a wild mustang filly in the mountains whom she names Flicka, which she is told means "beautiful young girl" in Swedish.
Katy is desperate to keep the horse over the objections of her equally strong-willed dad, Rob McGraw, who made an impressive acting debut in 2004's Friday Night Lights), determined to prove that she can turn her into riding material.
For some reason, he just can't see that Katy and Flicka are kindred spirits, even though director Mayer (A Home at the End of the World) and screenwriters Mark Rosenthal & Lawrence Konner (responsible for the remakes of Mighty Joe Young, Planet of the Apes and Desperate Hours) keep hammering that point home relentlessly.
It turns out other things threaten to pull the McLaughlin family apart, including having to sell off the struggling ranch and Katy's brother Howard's (Ryan Kwanten) as-yet-unannounced plans to attend college in Boston rather than follow in his dad's footsteps.
That leaves mom Nell (the always reliable Bello) to try to keep it all together.
She certainly doesn't get much help from Mayer, whose buoyant stage work -- including the Broadway productions of Thoroughly Modern Millie and "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" -- is nowhere to be seen in this bland, overly purposeful production.
Although the performances are uniformly credible, the viewer is never given a real, unspoken sense of that unbridled bond between the girl and the mustang. There's little joy in this glum production, where storms keep gathering at the slightest hint of rain.
Production values are respectable, with cinematographer J. Michael Muro putting his considerable experience working in The Great Outdoors (Open Range, Crash), to good use here, though producer Aaron Zigman's score keeps getting interrupted by pesky songs about running with the wild horses and the weight of the world, just in case we somehow still didn't get the message.
FLICKA
20th Century Fox
Fox 2000 Pictures presents a Gil Netter production
Credits:
Director: Michael Mayer
Screenwriters: Mark Rosenthal & Lawrence Konner
Based on the novel My Friend Flicka by: Mary O'Hara
Producer: Gil Netter
Director of photography: J. Michael Muro
Production designer: Sharon Seymour
Editor: Andrew Marcus
Costume designer: Molly Maginnis
Music: Aaron Zigman
Cast:
Katy McLaughlin: Alison Lohman
Rob McLaughlin: Tim McGraw
Nell McLaughlin: Maria Bello
Howard McLaughlin: Ryan Kwanten
Gus: Dallas Roberts
Norbert Rye: Nick Searcy
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 10/19/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Essentially "Mad Hot Ballroom" for mallrats, "Take the Lead" takes its lead from the life of Pierre Dulaine, the debonair founder of the popular program that brought ballroom dancing to New York inner-city public schools.
Upping the ages of the participants to high school level in order to bring more mature issues into the mix, veteran music video director Liz Friedlander and screenwriter Dianne Houston have come up with a hip-hop-flavored hybrid that attempts to rescore the classic American Songbook with street beats, but the resulting mash-up fails to dazzle on the dance floor.
Still, it's considerably more energetic than the anemic Richard Gere-Jennifer Lopez version of "Shall We Dance?" and given a well-timed release that rides smartly on the coattails of the ridiculously successful "Dancing With the Stars", this New Line presentation definitely has a leg up with female-skewing audiences.
Taking her cue from a segment on CBS' "The Early Show" featuring Dulaine that predated the release of "Mad Hot Ballroom", scripter Houston has tailored a workable scenario for star Antonio Banderas, who plays the dance teacher/life mentor with an appealing combination of easy charisma and convincing passion.
When he first pitches the concept of ballroom dance instruction to no-nonsense principal Augustine James (Alfre Woodard), who runs her high school with the eagle-eyed authority of a prison warden, Dulaine is met with more than a little wide-eyed incredulity.
But the short-staffed James decides to test Dulaine's mettle by assigning him to detention hall duty, where an assortment of badass Sweathogs greet his Dinah Washington and Lena Horne records with unsurprising disdain.
Gradually, though -- especially after witnessing Dulaine and one of the adult students from his academy engage in a particularly heated tango -- the kids agree to meet him halfway, merging their hip-hop style with his traditional dance moves to come up with something fresh.
Unfortunately, as kinetically directed by Friedlander, that fusion only creates a lot of confusion as the film struggles to sustain a rhythm while bouncing back and forth between the uplifting dance sequences (choreographed by JoAnn Jansen) and the dramatic element going down in the mean streets of New York (played, yet again, by Toronto, aka the Big Maple).
The production is not without its spirited numbers, but when it looks like it's going to finally take flight, it ends up taking too many false steps, especially during an especially choppy finale.
Things hold together longer than they would have without Banderas' commanding, committed performance, and while it's easy to pick out the dancing actors from the acting dancers, his young co-stars -- led by Rob Brown ("Finding Forrester") and engaging newcomer Yaya DaCosta -- do their best to keep it real, at least on the emotive front.
Take the Lead
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema presents a Tiara Blu Films production
Credits:
Director: Liz Friedlander
Screenwriter: Dianne Houston
Producers: Diane Nabatoff, Michelle Grace, Christopher Godsick
Executive producers: Toby Emmerich
Matt Moore, Mark Kaufman, Ray Liotta, Matthew Hart
Director of photography: Alex Nepomniaschy
Production designer: Paul Denham Austerberry
Editor: Robert Ivison
Costume designer: Melissa Toth
Music: Aaron Zigman and Swizz Beatz
Choreographer: JoAnn Jansen
Cast:
Pierre Dulaine: Antonio Banderas
Rock: Rob Brown
LaRhette: Yaya DaCosta
Ramos: Dante Basco
Mr. Temple: John Ortiz
Augustine James
Alfre Woodard.
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 117 minutes...
Upping the ages of the participants to high school level in order to bring more mature issues into the mix, veteran music video director Liz Friedlander and screenwriter Dianne Houston have come up with a hip-hop-flavored hybrid that attempts to rescore the classic American Songbook with street beats, but the resulting mash-up fails to dazzle on the dance floor.
Still, it's considerably more energetic than the anemic Richard Gere-Jennifer Lopez version of "Shall We Dance?" and given a well-timed release that rides smartly on the coattails of the ridiculously successful "Dancing With the Stars", this New Line presentation definitely has a leg up with female-skewing audiences.
Taking her cue from a segment on CBS' "The Early Show" featuring Dulaine that predated the release of "Mad Hot Ballroom", scripter Houston has tailored a workable scenario for star Antonio Banderas, who plays the dance teacher/life mentor with an appealing combination of easy charisma and convincing passion.
When he first pitches the concept of ballroom dance instruction to no-nonsense principal Augustine James (Alfre Woodard), who runs her high school with the eagle-eyed authority of a prison warden, Dulaine is met with more than a little wide-eyed incredulity.
But the short-staffed James decides to test Dulaine's mettle by assigning him to detention hall duty, where an assortment of badass Sweathogs greet his Dinah Washington and Lena Horne records with unsurprising disdain.
Gradually, though -- especially after witnessing Dulaine and one of the adult students from his academy engage in a particularly heated tango -- the kids agree to meet him halfway, merging their hip-hop style with his traditional dance moves to come up with something fresh.
Unfortunately, as kinetically directed by Friedlander, that fusion only creates a lot of confusion as the film struggles to sustain a rhythm while bouncing back and forth between the uplifting dance sequences (choreographed by JoAnn Jansen) and the dramatic element going down in the mean streets of New York (played, yet again, by Toronto, aka the Big Maple).
The production is not without its spirited numbers, but when it looks like it's going to finally take flight, it ends up taking too many false steps, especially during an especially choppy finale.
Things hold together longer than they would have without Banderas' commanding, committed performance, and while it's easy to pick out the dancing actors from the acting dancers, his young co-stars -- led by Rob Brown ("Finding Forrester") and engaging newcomer Yaya DaCosta -- do their best to keep it real, at least on the emotive front.
Take the Lead
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema presents a Tiara Blu Films production
Credits:
Director: Liz Friedlander
Screenwriter: Dianne Houston
Producers: Diane Nabatoff, Michelle Grace, Christopher Godsick
Executive producers: Toby Emmerich
Matt Moore, Mark Kaufman, Ray Liotta, Matthew Hart
Director of photography: Alex Nepomniaschy
Production designer: Paul Denham Austerberry
Editor: Robert Ivison
Costume designer: Melissa Toth
Music: Aaron Zigman and Swizz Beatz
Choreographer: JoAnn Jansen
Cast:
Pierre Dulaine: Antonio Banderas
Rock: Rob Brown
LaRhette: Yaya DaCosta
Ramos: Dante Basco
Mr. Temple: John Ortiz
Augustine James
Alfre Woodard.
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 117 minutes...
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