Six years before his death in 1996, “Rent” composer Jonathan Larson began performing a solo semi-autobiographical musical “Tick, Tick…Boom!” about a young struggling composer named Jon who fears that he has made the wrong career choice. After his death, Larson’s show was expanded into a three-person piece by David Auburn that ran in London, off-Broadway, and as a national tour. Now it is an acclaimed new Netflix movie directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who appeared in a Encores production of the musical in 2014) and starring Andrew Garfield.
The composer bio movie genre has long been a favorite of Hollywood, especially during its Golden Age. But these bio-pics played fast and loose with the facts. The Production Code prevented these films from exploring the fact that Cole Porter and Lorenz Hart were gay. And some of these composers and/or their families were still alive and wanted a certain image presented on the big screen.
The composer bio movie genre has long been a favorite of Hollywood, especially during its Golden Age. But these bio-pics played fast and loose with the facts. The Production Code prevented these films from exploring the fact that Cole Porter and Lorenz Hart were gay. And some of these composers and/or their families were still alive and wanted a certain image presented on the big screen.
- 12/7/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
In the Aquarius Films and ABC drama Savage River, Jocelyn Moorhouse was offered the kind of mini-series she’d love to watch herself.
The Dressmaker director is an enthusiastic binge watcher of crime mysteries and Scandi-noir – particularly those with great female characters – so the Katherine Langford-led series was right up her alley.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’ve always wanted to do one of these, and here it is.’ It’s dark, brooding and really well plotted,” she tells If.
Now three weeks into pre-production, Savage River was officially announced as part of the ABC’s upfronts today. Production will begin early next year in Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Langford plays Miki Anderson, a young woman who returns to her hometown in rural Victoria after eight years in prison.
She’s determined to finally move on with her life, getting a job in the local meatworks, but the...
The Dressmaker director is an enthusiastic binge watcher of crime mysteries and Scandi-noir – particularly those with great female characters – so the Katherine Langford-led series was right up her alley.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’ve always wanted to do one of these, and here it is.’ It’s dark, brooding and really well plotted,” she tells If.
Now three weeks into pre-production, Savage River was officially announced as part of the ABC’s upfronts today. Production will begin early next year in Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Langford plays Miki Anderson, a young woman who returns to her hometown in rural Victoria after eight years in prison.
She’s determined to finally move on with her life, getting a job in the local meatworks, but the...
- 11/25/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Sofia Coppola honored her New York City roots — and one of its most renowned cultural institutions — with a new short film for the New York City Ballet. Shot in black-and-white by her “On the Rocks” and “The Beguiled” cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd, the film features the music of Frédéric Chopin, Igor Stravinsky, Johannes Brahms, and more, and choreography from dance legend Jerome Robbins, among others. Previewing five new works, the short was filmed on location at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, and serves as a fundraiser introducing New York City Ballet’s spring season, and first-ever virtual gala.
“The challenge for me was to convey the feeling of seeing live dance,” Coppola told The New York Times. “A lot of dance is filmed in a very flat, standard way. But getting close up, which is thrilling in rehearsal, doesn’t always translate onto film either. I had...
“The challenge for me was to convey the feeling of seeing live dance,” Coppola told The New York Times. “A lot of dance is filmed in a very flat, standard way. But getting close up, which is thrilling in rehearsal, doesn’t always translate onto film either. I had...
- 5/8/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
New York springs back to life! With the vaccine available nationwide this year, things are finally starting to return to normal. In celebration of this return, New York City Ballet made a B&w short film promoting the return of their 2021 Spring Gala. Directed by none other than filmmaker Sofia Coppola, and featuring cinematography by her latest Dp collaborator Philippe Le Sourd, the lovely 25-minute short film takes us through a number of ballet performances filmed inside of the Lincoln Center. "Since March of 2020, the artists of New York City Ballet have been unable to perform at Lincoln Center. This is their return home." The short features a selection of music from Frédéric Chopin, Igor Stravinsky, Johannes Brahms, Samuel Barber, and (of course) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is only available to view online until May 20th, 2021 - and I highly recommend giving this a look, at least to admire the dancers...
- 5/7/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The guerrilla project by Petr Šprincl and Marie Hájková merges mockumentary, noir, mystery and sci-fi as it tackles the topic of extremism. The works of Petr Šprincl, a Czech artist, filmmaker and co-founder of Flesh&Brain, an art platform for low-budget guerrilla filmmaking, fall into a category of their own. His directorial feature debut, the documentary road movie Vienna Calling, follows a Slovak grave robber and amateur stomatologist, Ondrej Jajcaj, as he prepares to return the dental remnants of Johann Strauss and Johannes Brahms that he illegally exhumed in 2002. Last year, Šprincl finished a series of films called Moravia, O Fair Land, in which he marries genre with avant-garde filmmaking in an eccentric cine-essay on Czech nationalism. The film cycle shapeshifts through western-musical-folk-horror and social documentary satire, bringing in national myths, local folklore, zombies and death metal while combining lo-fi VHS aesthetics with 8mm and digital cinematography. Šprincl is continuing.
Jocelyn Moorhouse with Dop Martin McGrath on the ‘Wakefield’ set.
Jocelyn Moorhouse was shooting the ABC’s Stateless when Jungle Entertainment offered her the gig of set-up director of the ABC drama Wakefield.
The concept was unlike anything she’d ever heard of, centering on the interaction between staff and patients at a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital, leavened with musical numbers and tap dancing, so she was hooked.
Brit Rudi Dharmalingam plays Nik, a gifted psych nurse in the eight-episode show created by Kristen Dunphy, who is the showrunner with Sam Meikle, produced by Shay Spencer and Ally Henville for Jungle Entertainment and BBC Studios.
The sanest person in a pretty crazy place, Nik is confronted by a dark secret from his past when a song gets stuck in his head.
Reuniting with the director after collaborating on the Seven Network’s Wanted, Geraldine Hakewill plays a psychiatrist, with Mandy McElhinney as the head nurse.
Jocelyn Moorhouse was shooting the ABC’s Stateless when Jungle Entertainment offered her the gig of set-up director of the ABC drama Wakefield.
The concept was unlike anything she’d ever heard of, centering on the interaction between staff and patients at a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital, leavened with musical numbers and tap dancing, so she was hooked.
Brit Rudi Dharmalingam plays Nik, a gifted psych nurse in the eight-episode show created by Kristen Dunphy, who is the showrunner with Sam Meikle, produced by Shay Spencer and Ally Henville for Jungle Entertainment and BBC Studios.
The sanest person in a pretty crazy place, Nik is confronted by a dark secret from his past when a song gets stuck in his head.
Reuniting with the director after collaborating on the Seven Network’s Wanted, Geraldine Hakewill plays a psychiatrist, with Mandy McElhinney as the head nurse.
- 3/16/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Film music has come a long way in the 100+ years since moving images were first accompanied with sound (synchronized or otherwise), but seldom has it ever evolved more radically or aggressively than it did over the last decade. Spurred on by digital technology and/or a general tone of cosmic dissonance, rock and avant-garde musicians like Jonny Greenwood and Mica Levi used narrative projects as inspiration to explore new facets of their genius, while more traditional composers such as Alexandre Desplat and Carter Burwell rose to the challenge by delivering the most beautiful work of their careers. Hans Zimmer went deep into outer space, while Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose plunged head-first into the abyss of being extremely online.
It was a great time to go to the movies, even with your eyes closed.
Earlier this week, IndieWire revealed our list of the 100 Best Movies of the Decade. Now, we...
It was a great time to go to the movies, even with your eyes closed.
Earlier this week, IndieWire revealed our list of the 100 Best Movies of the Decade. Now, we...
- 7/26/2019
- by David Ehrlich, Kate Erbland, Chris O'Falt and Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
In the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ announcement of 141 films qualified for Best Original Score, the biggest news stemmed from an absence: No controversy. “I, Tonya” and “The Greatest Showman” scores were deemed ineligible based on their predominant use of songs, while “Call Me By Your Name” and “Detroit” didn’t even submit, presumedly knowing they wouldn’t qualify. Those omissions merit a shrug, unlike the outrage that followed last year’s disqualification of Johann Johannsson’s “Arrival” and Lesley Barber’s “Manchester By the Sea” scores.
This year, people were closely watching what happened to Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and legend Hans Zimmer. Each has a history of running afoul of qualification rules, and each has one of the most celebrated scores of 2017, “Phantom Thread” and “Dunkirk.”
In the case of Greenwood, devoted fans still haven’t gotten over the disqualification of his brilliant 35-minute original score...
This year, people were closely watching what happened to Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and legend Hans Zimmer. Each has a history of running afoul of qualification rules, and each has one of the most celebrated scores of 2017, “Phantom Thread” and “Dunkirk.”
In the case of Greenwood, devoted fans still haven’t gotten over the disqualification of his brilliant 35-minute original score...
- 12/19/2017
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
James Hunt Oct 31, 2017
Star Trek: Discovery delivers its best episode yet in Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad. Spoilers ahead in our review...
This review contains spoilers.
See related Star Wars: Rogue One review Star Wars: Rogue One - what did you think?
1.7 Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad
When, in his Iliad, Homer described love as “Magic to make the sanest man go mad” he probably didn’t think that the line would be used some 3000 years later to provide the title of the best episode of Star Trek: Discovery yet. Frankly, such limited thinking makes me wonder just how imaginative he really was. But whether he wants the honour or not, he’s got it, because this was Star Trek at its absolute prime vintage best. Move over Tng: Discovery has hit its stride and it’s coming for your space-crown.
One...
Star Trek: Discovery delivers its best episode yet in Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad. Spoilers ahead in our review...
This review contains spoilers.
See related Star Wars: Rogue One review Star Wars: Rogue One - what did you think?
1.7 Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad
When, in his Iliad, Homer described love as “Magic to make the sanest man go mad” he probably didn’t think that the line would be used some 3000 years later to provide the title of the best episode of Star Trek: Discovery yet. Frankly, such limited thinking makes me wonder just how imaginative he really was. But whether he wants the honour or not, he’s got it, because this was Star Trek at its absolute prime vintage best. Move over Tng: Discovery has hit its stride and it’s coming for your space-crown.
One...
- 10/31/2017
- Den of Geek
Sitting in an office in the David Geffen Hall — home to the New York Philharmonic — venerated bassist, composer and founder of the Very Young Composers program, Jon Deak, is discussing his recent excursion to Wyoming to observe the full splendor of the solar eclipse. He mentions that while standing in a field to watch the celestial event, his attention was momentarily shifted to a sprig of wheat, which led him to ponder the harmony and interconnectedness between the elements of nature. As the expanse suddenly got dark, with mixed shades of purple being cast across the sky, Deak says he...
- 9/8/2017
- by Yvonne Juris
- PEOPLE.com
(l-r) Jocelyn Moorhouse and Sue Maslin on the set of 'The Dressmaker' (photo: Ben King).
Kicking off tomorrow, the Gold Coast Film Festival (April 19-30) will screen 32 feature films from 13 countries, including four world premieres and nine Australian ones, plus a host of shorts, events and filmmaker Q&A.s. The fest will also host a series of 14 panels covering a range of screen industry topics. On April 22, producers Jan Chapman, Sue Maslin and Trish Lake will talk about their experiences in a session entitled .Producing: Money Vs Time...Maslin will also be this year.s special guest at the third annual Women In Film lunch on April 21. Presented by Screen Queensland, the lunch recognises the contribution of women in film and television in Australia. On the eve of the festival, Maslin speaks to If about the push for gender equity and her slate of projects.
What will...
Kicking off tomorrow, the Gold Coast Film Festival (April 19-30) will screen 32 feature films from 13 countries, including four world premieres and nine Australian ones, plus a host of shorts, events and filmmaker Q&A.s. The fest will also host a series of 14 panels covering a range of screen industry topics. On April 22, producers Jan Chapman, Sue Maslin and Trish Lake will talk about their experiences in a session entitled .Producing: Money Vs Time...Maslin will also be this year.s special guest at the third annual Women In Film lunch on April 21. Presented by Screen Queensland, the lunch recognises the contribution of women in film and television in Australia. On the eve of the festival, Maslin speaks to If about the push for gender equity and her slate of projects.
What will...
- 4/18/2017
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Leah Purcell at Sydney's Belvoir Theatre. (Photo credit: Anthony Johnson).
Projects from the likes of Jocelyn Moorhouse, Leah Purcell, Vicki Madden, Rachel Perkins, Luke Davies, Sophie Hyde, Nicholas Verso, Abe Forsythe, Craig Silvey and Corrie Chen have received development funding from Screen Australia.
.This round of development funding reflects the vibrancy of the story landscape in Australia with thrillers and romance, crime and comedies, sports dramas and musicals,. said Screen Australia's Senior Development Manager Nerida Moore..
.We have projects from both seasoned storytellers and an exciting group of up-and-coming talents. And we are also seeing a greater mix of platforms from traditional features and high-end television to the ever-growing online drama and narrative Vr spaces..
Among the projects funded, which include 24 features, five online series and two "high-end" television projects, are:
Tasmanian-set gothic crime show The Gloaming, created and written by The Kettering Incident's Vicki Madden, who will produce...
Projects from the likes of Jocelyn Moorhouse, Leah Purcell, Vicki Madden, Rachel Perkins, Luke Davies, Sophie Hyde, Nicholas Verso, Abe Forsythe, Craig Silvey and Corrie Chen have received development funding from Screen Australia.
.This round of development funding reflects the vibrancy of the story landscape in Australia with thrillers and romance, crime and comedies, sports dramas and musicals,. said Screen Australia's Senior Development Manager Nerida Moore..
.We have projects from both seasoned storytellers and an exciting group of up-and-coming talents. And we are also seeing a greater mix of platforms from traditional features and high-end television to the ever-growing online drama and narrative Vr spaces..
Among the projects funded, which include 24 features, five online series and two "high-end" television projects, are:
Tasmanian-set gothic crime show The Gloaming, created and written by The Kettering Incident's Vicki Madden, who will produce...
- 2/13/2017
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Malick fans, listen up! The Brooklyn Academy of Music, aka Bam, is hosting the Us premiere of Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life with live orchestra coming up later this month. Bam has announced two nights of The Tree of Life, on November 18th and November 19th, featuring "more than 100 musicians and singers from the Wordless Music Orchestra" performing live over the film. The first version of this live event took place in Dublin back in June, and now it's finally coming to the Us. The score was composed by Alexandre Desplat (read my interview with Desplat from Cannes in 2011), however the film also features additional music by Mahler, Berlioz, Brahms, Mozart and other legends. Tickets range between $35 and $85 for seats on either night, and they will likely sell out fast. This is one of those very rare don't-miss-it special events. The Tree of Life opened in theaters in 2011 after premiering at Cannes,...
- 11/2/2016
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The Dressmaker.
More than a year since it premiered at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, Jocelyn Moorhouse's The Dressmaker has finally been released in America, with Broad Green Pictures and Amazon rolling out a limited release over the weekend.
The adaptation of Rosalie Ham's novel opened on 39 screens in nine American cities, taking $180,522 in its first weekend, an average of $5,014..
"Amazon/Broadgreen are using a classic platform release for The Dressmaker," producer Sue Maslin told If..
"The film has received wildly varying reviews but the campaign has resulted in a very high awareness of the film and delivered a screen average [of] over $5,000 on the first weekend.".
"Jocelyn and I were present at numerous screenings in NY and La and the audience reactions were hugely animated, just like in Australia..
"This, together with our 66,000 stitched-on Fb followers, should drive the word of mouth effect when we open out...
More than a year since it premiered at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, Jocelyn Moorhouse's The Dressmaker has finally been released in America, with Broad Green Pictures and Amazon rolling out a limited release over the weekend.
The adaptation of Rosalie Ham's novel opened on 39 screens in nine American cities, taking $180,522 in its first weekend, an average of $5,014..
"Amazon/Broadgreen are using a classic platform release for The Dressmaker," producer Sue Maslin told If..
"The film has received wildly varying reviews but the campaign has resulted in a very high awareness of the film and delivered a screen average [of] over $5,000 on the first weekend.".
"Jocelyn and I were present at numerous screenings in NY and La and the audience reactions were hugely animated, just like in Australia..
"This, together with our 66,000 stitched-on Fb followers, should drive the word of mouth effect when we open out...
- 9/26/2016
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
The Dressmaker.
More than a year since it premiered at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, Jocelyn Moorhouse's The Dressmaker has finally been released in America, with Broad Green Pictures and Amazon rolling out a limited release over the weekend.
The adaptation of Rosalie Ham's novel opened on 39 screens in nine American cities, taking $180,522 in its first weekend, an average of $5,014..
"Amazon/Broadgreen are using a classic platform release for The Dressmaker," producer Sue Maslin told If..
"The film has received wildly varying reviews but the campaign has resulted in a very high awareness of the film and delivered a screen average [of] over $5,000 on the first weekend.".
"Jocelyn and I were present at numerous screenings in NY and La and the audience reactions were hugely animated, just like in Australia..
This together with our 66,000 stitched-on Fb followers should .drive the word of mouth effect when we open out...
More than a year since it premiered at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, Jocelyn Moorhouse's The Dressmaker has finally been released in America, with Broad Green Pictures and Amazon rolling out a limited release over the weekend.
The adaptation of Rosalie Ham's novel opened on 39 screens in nine American cities, taking $180,522 in its first weekend, an average of $5,014..
"Amazon/Broadgreen are using a classic platform release for The Dressmaker," producer Sue Maslin told If..
"The film has received wildly varying reviews but the campaign has resulted in a very high awareness of the film and delivered a screen average [of] over $5,000 on the first weekend.".
"Jocelyn and I were present at numerous screenings in NY and La and the audience reactions were hugely animated, just like in Australia..
This together with our 66,000 stitched-on Fb followers should .drive the word of mouth effect when we open out...
- 9/26/2016
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Music and Sex: Scenes from a life - A novel in progress (first chapter here).
Walter had been so busy with midterms that he hadn't gone record-shopping recently. Neither had he spent his income on anything else, other than eating on the weekends, though he'd eaten better than usual. He'd wandered into a fast-food place on Broadway called Amy's and, for the first time in his life, had tried a falafel sandwich. Well, not really a sandwich, at least not as he thought of a sandwich, which was (mostly) meat between two separate pieces of bread, but he didn't know what else to call these things stuffed into pita bread. He'd liked it, not least because just one sandwich was very filling, so he had gone back regularly for lunch on weekends. It was a nice change of pace from the food at John Jay cafeteria. There never seemed to be many customers,...
Walter had been so busy with midterms that he hadn't gone record-shopping recently. Neither had he spent his income on anything else, other than eating on the weekends, though he'd eaten better than usual. He'd wandered into a fast-food place on Broadway called Amy's and, for the first time in his life, had tried a falafel sandwich. Well, not really a sandwich, at least not as he thought of a sandwich, which was (mostly) meat between two separate pieces of bread, but he didn't know what else to call these things stuffed into pita bread. He'd liked it, not least because just one sandwich was very filling, so he had gone back regularly for lunch on weekends. It was a nice change of pace from the food at John Jay cafeteria. There never seemed to be many customers,...
- 6/6/2016
- by RomanAkLeff
- www.culturecatch.com
Hélene Grimaud Water: Berio: Wasserklavier: Sawhney: Water: Transitions 1-7; Takemitsu: Rain Tree Sketch No. 2; Fauré: Barcarolle No. 5; Ravel: Jeux d'eau; Albéniz: Almeria; Liszt: Les Jeux d'eaux a la Villa d'Este; Janáček: In the Mist: No. 1; Debussy: La Cathedrale engloutie (Deutsche Grammophon) Classical purists be warned: almost half the tracks here are not the solo piano recital you might expect from the billing. Instead, Grimaud had composer Nitin Sawhney create electronic bridging miniatures (ranging from 0:56 to 1:41) fitted between the solo piano tracks. This works wonderfully well, changing this album from a traditional presentation into a moody soundscape (though the purist crowd was quick to take offense, witness the extremely snarky review on classicstoday.com). Of course, Grimaud is her usual scintillating self on the solo piano pieces. The pieces she has chosen for this thematic program are in a couple of cases "usual suspects" -- the Ravel and Debussy...
- 5/31/2016
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Reviewed by Kevin Scott
MoreHorror.com
The Boy (2016)
Written by: Stacey Menear
Directed by: William Brent Bell
Cast: Lauren Cohan (Greta), Rupert Evans (Malcolm), Jim Norton (Mr. Heelshire), Diana Hardcastle (Mrs. Heelshire), Ben Robson (Cole)
The scenario most always plays out the same way. A break out hit film or show with an ensemble cast spawns many unrelated off shoots with members of that cast allowed to showcase their talents on a singular level. Sometimes it’s spectacular, sometimes it’s tragic, and sometimes a film that would have completely flown under the radar, breaks through the haze of obscurity because of one golden ticket. That ticket is name recognition, and if the film isn’t a hit, it will at least find its place as a footnote in genre history.
If asking anyone about “The Boy” that might be interested in going to see a film of its ilk,...
MoreHorror.com
The Boy (2016)
Written by: Stacey Menear
Directed by: William Brent Bell
Cast: Lauren Cohan (Greta), Rupert Evans (Malcolm), Jim Norton (Mr. Heelshire), Diana Hardcastle (Mrs. Heelshire), Ben Robson (Cole)
The scenario most always plays out the same way. A break out hit film or show with an ensemble cast spawns many unrelated off shoots with members of that cast allowed to showcase their talents on a singular level. Sometimes it’s spectacular, sometimes it’s tragic, and sometimes a film that would have completely flown under the radar, breaks through the haze of obscurity because of one golden ticket. That ticket is name recognition, and if the film isn’t a hit, it will at least find its place as a footnote in genre history.
If asking anyone about “The Boy” that might be interested in going to see a film of its ilk,...
- 5/17/2016
- by admin
- MoreHorror
With The Boy hitting Blu-ray and DVD this week, I had a chance to catch up with director William Brent Bell to talk about this ghost story that is more than it appears. [Spoiler Warning]
The Boy was one of the big surprises this year for obvious reasons to those that have seen the movie. Before we jump into the final act, let’s talk about how this all came about. How did you get involved with this project and how far along was the story when you came on board?
William Brent Bell: I really wanted to do something out of the horror space and more in science fiction, or I wanted to do something really intimate and creepy, like a ghost story in a house. I met with Gary Lucchesi, the president of Lakeshore Entertainment, and he asked me if I’d read a script of theirs, which was The Boy.
The Boy was one of the big surprises this year for obvious reasons to those that have seen the movie. Before we jump into the final act, let’s talk about how this all came about. How did you get involved with this project and how far along was the story when you came on board?
William Brent Bell: I really wanted to do something out of the horror space and more in science fiction, or I wanted to do something really intimate and creepy, like a ghost story in a house. I met with Gary Lucchesi, the president of Lakeshore Entertainment, and he asked me if I’d read a script of theirs, which was The Boy.
- 5/11/2016
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
In life, we have to make tough decisions. Last night, a Friday night after an extremely long work week, I made such a decision when I volunteered to see The Boy of my own volition. With no critics’ screenings being offered in the Us, and no midnight openings in NYC, I braved an impending Snowmageddon to weigh in on William Brent Bell’s housebound horror film – and can report that it’s the repugnant genre dumpsterfire you’d expect from a January release. Good ‘effing lord, do I really need to write another 500 words about what a stale, vapid chore this delightless thriller is?
Lauren Cohan stars as Greta, an American nanny who takes a job in a desolate English village. When her car pulls up, Greta is greeted by a gothic looking mansion owned by by the Heelshire family, who talk highly of their son, Brahms. When it comes...
Lauren Cohan stars as Greta, an American nanny who takes a job in a desolate English village. When her car pulls up, Greta is greeted by a gothic looking mansion owned by by the Heelshire family, who talk highly of their son, Brahms. When it comes...
- 1/23/2016
- by Matt Donato
- We Got This Covered
You know that feeling when you show up for your job as a nanny and your ward turns out to be a creepy life-like doll? No? Well, Lauren Cohan is about to find out what that’s like in the new horror movie The Boy.
American Greta Evans (Cohan) is shocked to discover the English boy she’s been hired to care for is actually a life-like doll. With a list of rules to abide by, she’s left to care for the lad, alone in a stately mansion. When she breaks the strict rules set out for her care of the boy, Brahms, disturbing events begin to make her believe that the child is really alive.
[Quiz: Think you know scary movies? Take the Scary movie quiz]
The Boy mashes together two of our favourite horror tropes- creepy children and scary dolls – into one pint-sized package of terror. Throw in an isolated British manor and you’ve got yourself one scary premise for the film,...
American Greta Evans (Cohan) is shocked to discover the English boy she’s been hired to care for is actually a life-like doll. With a list of rules to abide by, she’s left to care for the lad, alone in a stately mansion. When she breaks the strict rules set out for her care of the boy, Brahms, disturbing events begin to make her believe that the child is really alive.
[Quiz: Think you know scary movies? Take the Scary movie quiz]
The Boy mashes together two of our favourite horror tropes- creepy children and scary dolls – into one pint-sized package of terror. Throw in an isolated British manor and you’ve got yourself one scary premise for the film,...
- 1/21/2016
- by Rachel West
- Cineplex
In the wake of the terrible attacks in Paris, I found myself listening to a lot of French music and thinking about the Leonard Bernstein quote going around on Facebook: "This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before." This list came to seem like my natural response. A very small response, I know. This list is chronological and leaves off people I should probably include. The forty [note: now forty-one] composers listed below are merely a start.
Léonin Aka Leoninus (c.1135-c.1201)
The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris in the 1100s was a major musical center, and Léonin (the first named composer from whom we have notated polyphonic music) was a crucial figure for defining the liturgical use of organum, the first polyphony. Earlier organum was fairly simple, involving parallel intervals and later contrary motion, but the mid-12th century brought...
Léonin Aka Leoninus (c.1135-c.1201)
The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris in the 1100s was a major musical center, and Léonin (the first named composer from whom we have notated polyphonic music) was a crucial figure for defining the liturgical use of organum, the first polyphony. Earlier organum was fairly simple, involving parallel intervals and later contrary motion, but the mid-12th century brought...
- 11/15/2015
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Buoyed by the successful launch of The Dressmaker, Jocelyn Moorhouse is heading to Germany later this month to continue developing her next feature and to mentor emerging writers.
Continuing her collaboration with producer Sue Maslin, she is scripting a 19th Century drama based on the real-life romantic triangle between German composer Robert Schumann, his composer-pianist wife Clara and the young Johannes Brahms.
The writer-director got the idea from Hollywood composer James Newton Howard (who scored her husband P.J. Hogan.s Peter Pan and My Best Friend.s Wedding) while she was researching another project which focusses on creative couples.
After a suicide attempt Schumann died in an asylum for the insane in 1856, aged 46. .Robert was a mentor to Brahms, who eclipsed him,. Joss tells If. .It.s a quite tragic and beautiful story..
Moorhouse will undertake more historical research on the project when she is in Germany for the eQuinoxe...
Continuing her collaboration with producer Sue Maslin, she is scripting a 19th Century drama based on the real-life romantic triangle between German composer Robert Schumann, his composer-pianist wife Clara and the young Johannes Brahms.
The writer-director got the idea from Hollywood composer James Newton Howard (who scored her husband P.J. Hogan.s Peter Pan and My Best Friend.s Wedding) while she was researching another project which focusses on creative couples.
After a suicide attempt Schumann died in an asylum for the insane in 1856, aged 46. .Robert was a mentor to Brahms, who eclipsed him,. Joss tells If. .It.s a quite tragic and beautiful story..
Moorhouse will undertake more historical research on the project when she is in Germany for the eQuinoxe...
- 11/2/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
A major glossy magazine that used to be devoted largely to music -- but long ago fell under the spell of Hollywood celebrity -- still continues to cover music, specializing in listicles that seem designed mainly to provoke ire in those who care more about music than does said magazine (named after a classic blues song, in case you can't guess without a hint). This summer it unleashed a list of songs that, with that aging publication's ironically weak sense of history, managed to overlook the vast majority of the history of song. To put it bluntly, if you're claiming to discuss the best songs ever written and you don't even mention Franz Schubert, you're an ignoramus. My ire over this blinkered attitude towards music history festered for months, so I finally decided to do something about it by writing about some of the timeless songs omitted in the aforementioned myopic listicle.
- 10/25/2015
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Who doesn't like a Star Trek: Tng episode about Geordi Laforge's love life? Er... James' weekly season four look-backs continue...
This review contains spoilers.
4.16 Galaxy's Child
The Enterprise welcomes aboard Dr. Leah Brahms, an engine specialist who helped design the Enterprise’s engines. Geordi is looking forward to meeting her, mainly because in the previous season he fell in love with a hologram version of her. Clearly, none of this can go wrong.
But somehow, it goes wrong. Brahms is uninterested in Geordi’s personal interest in her and cares more about negging his engineering modifications. How can this be?
Meanwhile, the Enterprise has found a weird space-fish in orbit around a nearby planet. Since they’re ahead of schedule, they decide to check it out (would they have ignored it if they weren’t? “Captain, there’s some new life over there, should we seek it out?” “No Data,...
This review contains spoilers.
4.16 Galaxy's Child
The Enterprise welcomes aboard Dr. Leah Brahms, an engine specialist who helped design the Enterprise’s engines. Geordi is looking forward to meeting her, mainly because in the previous season he fell in love with a hologram version of her. Clearly, none of this can go wrong.
But somehow, it goes wrong. Brahms is uninterested in Geordi’s personal interest in her and cares more about negging his engineering modifications. How can this be?
Meanwhile, the Enterprise has found a weird space-fish in orbit around a nearby planet. Since they’re ahead of schedule, they decide to check it out (would they have ignored it if they weren’t? “Captain, there’s some new life over there, should we seek it out?” “No Data,...
- 9/25/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
When Shaun decides to take the day off and have some fun, he gets a little more action than he bargained for. A mix up with The Farmer, a caravan, and a very steep hill lead them all to the Big City and it’s up to Shaun and the flock to return everyone safely to Mossy Bottom Farm.
Shaun The Sheep Movie powers through visual puns, sight gags and rollicking plot twists to arrive at a hard-won realization: there’s no place like home.
As there is no dialogue from any of the characters, the music plays such an important role in the movie. That’s where the fantastic, colorful score from composer Ilan Eshkeri comes in.
Complete with the Shaun the Sheep theme, lively cues, and songs, including the award-friendly “Feels Like Summer” song, Eshkeri score is a wonderful soundtrack for a very funny film.
Eshkeri’s recent film work includes Still Alice,...
Shaun The Sheep Movie powers through visual puns, sight gags and rollicking plot twists to arrive at a hard-won realization: there’s no place like home.
As there is no dialogue from any of the characters, the music plays such an important role in the movie. That’s where the fantastic, colorful score from composer Ilan Eshkeri comes in.
Complete with the Shaun the Sheep theme, lively cues, and songs, including the award-friendly “Feels Like Summer” song, Eshkeri score is a wonderful soundtrack for a very funny film.
Eshkeri’s recent film work includes Still Alice,...
- 8/13/2015
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Like so many great American films of the era, A Letter to Three Wives has a touch of trash at its core. Writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz crafts well-rounded characters, thoughtful explorations of class via small-town postwar America, and snappy dialogue to spare. But this is still a story that really kicks off when three women receive a letter from another claiming to have run off with one of their husbands, timed to a daylong excursion where she knows they can’t do a damned thing about it. Not that there’s anything wrong with that at all.
The bulk of the movie takes place in flashback, as each woman reflects on the more tumultuous moments in their relationships, and why each husband would be motivated to abandon ship for the highly-desirable Addie Ross. Addie seems to have gotten around often enough to have gotten around to those same husbands in some capacity.
The bulk of the movie takes place in flashback, as each woman reflects on the more tumultuous moments in their relationships, and why each husband would be motivated to abandon ship for the highly-desirable Addie Ross. Addie seems to have gotten around often enough to have gotten around to those same husbands in some capacity.
- 7/30/2015
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Music and Sex: Scenes from a life - A novel in progress by Roman AkLeff (first installment can be read here; second here; third here; fourth here; fifth here).
[Warning: the chapter below contains "adult situations." Seriously, this one's not for the faint-hearted.]
Walter’s new home, Carman Hall, was an utterly soulless pile of cinder blocks. No effort at all had been made, during its design and construction two decades earlier, to build in anything conveying the slightest sense of warmth. No carpeting in either the halls or in the suites, no wood anywhere except the doors, no decorative touches, nothing but bare straight lines. One imagined it had been designed so it could be hosed down with minimum effort between school years to as to be literally as well as aesthetically antiseptic. There was not even any accommodation made for cooking; not only were there no kitchen nooks, even hotplates were forbidden (though, given that they were horrific fire hazards, that made sense,...
[Warning: the chapter below contains "adult situations." Seriously, this one's not for the faint-hearted.]
Walter’s new home, Carman Hall, was an utterly soulless pile of cinder blocks. No effort at all had been made, during its design and construction two decades earlier, to build in anything conveying the slightest sense of warmth. No carpeting in either the halls or in the suites, no wood anywhere except the doors, no decorative touches, nothing but bare straight lines. One imagined it had been designed so it could be hosed down with minimum effort between school years to as to be literally as well as aesthetically antiseptic. There was not even any accommodation made for cooking; not only were there no kitchen nooks, even hotplates were forbidden (though, given that they were horrific fire hazards, that made sense,...
- 6/16/2015
- by RomanAkLeff
- www.culturecatch.com
I interviewed James Ellroy, the great American noir novelist, at La's venerable Pacific Dining Car in April 2001. We were there to discuss his latest book, The Cold Six Thousand, but wound up tackling a myriad of subjects over our three hour lunch. Ellroy sported a snappy fedora that I said would have looked great on Meyer Lansky. He barked a laugh and removed it, displaying his bald pate. When he looked at my full head of 33 year-old hair, his eyes narrowed: "That thing on your head real or a rug?" "Real," I replied. Ellroy exhaled for what seemed like a full minute, then murmured: "Cocksucker." We were off and running.
James Ellroy: Bark At The Moon
The "Demon Dog of American Fiction" sinks his teeth into Rfk, Mlk and Vietnam with The Cold Six Thousand
If there were any justice in this world, and in the world of James Ellroy that's debatable,...
James Ellroy: Bark At The Moon
The "Demon Dog of American Fiction" sinks his teeth into Rfk, Mlk and Vietnam with The Cold Six Thousand
If there were any justice in this world, and in the world of James Ellroy that's debatable,...
- 5/27/2015
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
The Britain's Got Talent live shows are just around the corner, and we now know the 45 acts who'll be entertaining us this week! Read on for your complete guide to the lucky hopefuls who made it through...
The Golden Buzzers
Calum Scott - 26, Hull
Talent: Singing
Golden buzzer: Simon Cowell
Remind me: Calum had to take to the stage just after his sister Jade had been rejected by the judges, but his rendition of 'Dancing On My Own' won over the panel.
Boyband - Mike (18), Mikey (19), Dylan (18), Corey (18), Jaih (17) from London
Talent: Dancing
Golden buzzer: Ant & Dec
Remind me: Ant & Dec bashed their golden buzzer for Boyband, who confused the judges with their name but then won them all over with a dance to 'Uptown Funk'.
Revelation Avenue - 20-30, London
Talent: Choir
Golden buzzer: Amanda Holden
Remind me: Revelation Avenue took to the stage just after a show choir who had not done well,...
The Golden Buzzers
Calum Scott - 26, Hull
Talent: Singing
Golden buzzer: Simon Cowell
Remind me: Calum had to take to the stage just after his sister Jade had been rejected by the judges, but his rendition of 'Dancing On My Own' won over the panel.
Boyband - Mike (18), Mikey (19), Dylan (18), Corey (18), Jaih (17) from London
Talent: Dancing
Golden buzzer: Ant & Dec
Remind me: Ant & Dec bashed their golden buzzer for Boyband, who confused the judges with their name but then won them all over with a dance to 'Uptown Funk'.
Revelation Avenue - 20-30, London
Talent: Choir
Golden buzzer: Amanda Holden
Remind me: Revelation Avenue took to the stage just after a show choir who had not done well,...
- 5/23/2015
- Digital Spy
In June 2014, moviegoers traveled to the village of Berk once again in How To Train Your Dragon 2. The film’s composer, John Powell, recently won Best Score – Animated Film for the movie at 5th Annual Hollywood Music in Media Awards.
Powell has scored films including Antz, Chicken Run, Shrek, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and X-Men: The Last Stand and has frequently collaborated with directors Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass, on films including the Bourne trilogy, United 93 and Green Zone.
His infectious score for How To Train Your Dragon earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Powell has also lent his voice to the score of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, and Ice Age 4: Continental Drift. Most recently, audiences heard his music on the scores to Rio 2, directed by Carlos Saldanha, as well as the Dragon 2 sequel.
With the latest adventures of Hiccup and Toothless released on DVD in November,...
Powell has scored films including Antz, Chicken Run, Shrek, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and X-Men: The Last Stand and has frequently collaborated with directors Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass, on films including the Bourne trilogy, United 93 and Green Zone.
His infectious score for How To Train Your Dragon earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Powell has also lent his voice to the score of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, and Ice Age 4: Continental Drift. Most recently, audiences heard his music on the scores to Rio 2, directed by Carlos Saldanha, as well as the Dragon 2 sequel.
With the latest adventures of Hiccup and Toothless released on DVD in November,...
- 12/1/2014
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Is Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954) the greatest conductor ever? While there are some who, in preference to his highly inflected, interventionist style, would prefer a more straight-forward conductor such as his contemporary Arturo Toscanini, many cognoscenti believe that at the least Furtwängler, when heard in his favored 19th century Austro-Germanic repertoire, ranks supreme of his type in the pre-stereo era. The aforementioned Toscanini himself was an admirer; asked who aside from himself was the greatest conductor, he named Furtwängler, and also pushed for the German to take over the directorship of the New York Philharmonic when Toscanini relinquished its reins, though controversy prevented that.
While Furtwängler was a more versatile conductor than some observers give him credit for, his reputation is based firmly on his masterful conducting of the symphonies of Beethoven, Bruckner, and Brahms and the operas of Wagner. He said, "A well-rehearsed concert is one in which you have...
While Furtwängler was a more versatile conductor than some observers give him credit for, his reputation is based firmly on his masterful conducting of the symphonies of Beethoven, Bruckner, and Brahms and the operas of Wagner. He said, "A well-rehearsed concert is one in which you have...
- 12/1/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
London’s Roundhouse has always prided itself on its eclectic programming, and this summer’s line-up is no exception. Planted amongst the more obvious musical acts is the kind of cross-over event which has grown in increasing popularity of late, and is something of a real treat for both cinephiles and serious music fans – the live score.
While that opportunity to witness a key aspect of a film outside of the constraints of the screen is largely welcoming, this type of experience can also run the risk of having one element cancelling the other out – the sound potentially undermining the visuals, or the visuals taking away from the actual live performance. Luckily that wasn’t the case here, and the film in question was undoubtedly the reason behind a glorious and harmonious balance being struck.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s celebrated oil odyssey There Will Be Blood has already joined the...
While that opportunity to witness a key aspect of a film outside of the constraints of the screen is largely welcoming, this type of experience can also run the risk of having one element cancelling the other out – the sound potentially undermining the visuals, or the visuals taking away from the actual live performance. Luckily that wasn’t the case here, and the film in question was undoubtedly the reason behind a glorious and harmonious balance being struck.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s celebrated oil odyssey There Will Be Blood has already joined the...
- 8/8/2014
- by Adam Lowes
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
By Mireille Latil-Le-Dantec. Originally published in Cinématographe, no. 35, February 1978 in an issue with a Chaplin dossier.
Translation by Ted Fendt. Thanks to Marie-Pierre Duhamel.
The Chaplinesque Quest
The overbearing weight of interpretative studies devoted to Chaplin makes any pretension to some "fresh look" at a universe already studied from every angle seem absurd from the outset. At least, on the occasion of the homages currently being made in theaters to the little man who would become so big, a few fragmentary re-viewings more modestly allow for the rediscovery of the thematic unity of this body of work and the inanity of any artificial divide between the "excellent" Charlie films and the "mediocre" Chaplin films – a divide corresponding, of course, to the event which his art was not supposed to have survived: the appearance of those talkies that – in the excellent company of Eisenstein, Pudovkin, René Clair and many others – he...
Translation by Ted Fendt. Thanks to Marie-Pierre Duhamel.
The Chaplinesque Quest
The overbearing weight of interpretative studies devoted to Chaplin makes any pretension to some "fresh look" at a universe already studied from every angle seem absurd from the outset. At least, on the occasion of the homages currently being made in theaters to the little man who would become so big, a few fragmentary re-viewings more modestly allow for the rediscovery of the thematic unity of this body of work and the inanity of any artificial divide between the "excellent" Charlie films and the "mediocre" Chaplin films – a divide corresponding, of course, to the event which his art was not supposed to have survived: the appearance of those talkies that – in the excellent company of Eisenstein, Pudovkin, René Clair and many others – he...
- 7/22/2014
- by Ted Fendt
- MUBI
Episode 24 of 52: In which Katharine Hepburn shows off her talented fingers.
I have the strangest sense of deja vu. Kate’s stuck in another melodrama about a young artist in love with a tortured composer. The composer is played by another foreign leading man. And I’ve created another set of box office graphs to answer KHep career questions through science. It’s like we never left Rko! I know you have a lot of questions--one being ”are you really going to start calling her KHep?” (Answer: Yes.) But first, let’s talk about the movie.
Song of Love is the highly inaccurate but very sweet story of Clara Wieck Schumann, a piano prodigy who marries tortured genius Robert Schumann (Paul Heinreid). Clara Wieck Schumann really was a piano prodigy, and she really did marry Robert Schumann and pop out babies like a human Pez dispenser. However, basically everything...
I have the strangest sense of deja vu. Kate’s stuck in another melodrama about a young artist in love with a tortured composer. The composer is played by another foreign leading man. And I’ve created another set of box office graphs to answer KHep career questions through science. It’s like we never left Rko! I know you have a lot of questions--one being ”are you really going to start calling her KHep?” (Answer: Yes.) But first, let’s talk about the movie.
Song of Love is the highly inaccurate but very sweet story of Clara Wieck Schumann, a piano prodigy who marries tortured genius Robert Schumann (Paul Heinreid). Clara Wieck Schumann really was a piano prodigy, and she really did marry Robert Schumann and pop out babies like a human Pez dispenser. However, basically everything...
- 6/11/2014
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
A classicist using Romantic harmonies, Johannes Brahms (1833-97) was hailed at age 20 by Robert Schumann in a famous article entitled "New Paths." Yet by the time Brahms wrote his mature works, his music was thought of as a conservative compared to the daring harmonies and revolutionary dramatic theories of Richard Wagner. But in the next century, Arnold Schoenberg's 1947 essay titled "Brahms the Progressive" praised Brahms's bold modulations (as daring as Wagner's most tonally ambiguous chords), asymmetrical forms, and mastery of imaginative variation and development of thematic material.
The son of a bassist in the Hamburg Philharmonic Society, Brahms was an excellent pianist who was supporting himself by his mid-teens. His first two published works were his Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2, and throughout his career he penned much fine music for that instrument, not only solo (including the later Piano Sonata No. 3) and duo but also his landmark Piano Concertos Nos.
The son of a bassist in the Hamburg Philharmonic Society, Brahms was an excellent pianist who was supporting himself by his mid-teens. His first two published works were his Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2, and throughout his career he penned much fine music for that instrument, not only solo (including the later Piano Sonata No. 3) and duo but also his landmark Piano Concertos Nos.
- 5/8/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
One month after Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood plays his sinewy score for There Will Be Blood for the first time ever, in London, he will perform the soundtrack live in New York City. Teaming with Wordless Music Orchestra, a New York band comprised of more than 50 musicians, Greenwood will play an early 20th Century amplified keyboard, the ondes Martenot, as the film plays on a 50-foot movie screen in the United Palace Theater; the Wordless Music website claims it's the second-largest movie screen in the city. The performances are scheduled for September 19th and 20th,...
- 5/6/2014
- Rollingstone.com
Review James Hunt 4 Apr 2014 - 07:22
Geordi has women trouble and the Enterprise is in danger in the latest of James' Star Trek: Tng look-backs...
This review contains spoilers.
3.6 Booby Trap
The episode opens with Geordi on a Holo-date with Christy (You remember Christy! Enterprise crew member, didn't exist before this episode.) but it's cut short when she spurns his advances, explaining that she doesn't feel "that way" towards him. Which kind of begs the question of why she agreed to go on a romantic holodeck walk at all, really, but maybe she really wanted to see his pain in person.
Meanwhile, the Enterprise has encountered an old debris field from a centuries old-war, and discovered a distress signal coming from a derelict ship. Picard can barely contain his excitement and goes full Comic Book Guy over his love of historical starships until the rest of the crew vote to...
Geordi has women trouble and the Enterprise is in danger in the latest of James' Star Trek: Tng look-backs...
This review contains spoilers.
3.6 Booby Trap
The episode opens with Geordi on a Holo-date with Christy (You remember Christy! Enterprise crew member, didn't exist before this episode.) but it's cut short when she spurns his advances, explaining that she doesn't feel "that way" towards him. Which kind of begs the question of why she agreed to go on a romantic holodeck walk at all, really, but maybe she really wanted to see his pain in person.
Meanwhile, the Enterprise has encountered an old debris field from a centuries old-war, and discovered a distress signal coming from a derelict ship. Picard can barely contain his excitement and goes full Comic Book Guy over his love of historical starships until the rest of the crew vote to...
- 4/4/2014
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
As we rightfully celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' rockin'-vasion of America, it is also worth noting the 40th anniversaries of progressive rock albums released in 1974 -- a banner year for the genre.
In alphabetical rather than chronological order, here is just a short list, along with links to a representative composition from each album.
Enjoy!
Apostrophe (Frank Zappa)
Although Zappa had been "at it" since 1966 -- as one of the earliest progenitors of progressive rock -- and although he had already put out over a dozen important albums, Apostrophe (and the immediately prior album, Over-Nite Sensation) arguably brought him to the masses through his cross-over "hit," "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow," which, despite its length, received regular airplay on FM stations. It didn't hurt that the album also included two of his funniest, most fun songs, "Cozmik Debris" and "Stinkfoot."
Hamburger Concerto (Focus)
For those who only know Focus via their 1971 novelty mega-hit,...
In alphabetical rather than chronological order, here is just a short list, along with links to a representative composition from each album.
Enjoy!
Apostrophe (Frank Zappa)
Although Zappa had been "at it" since 1966 -- as one of the earliest progenitors of progressive rock -- and although he had already put out over a dozen important albums, Apostrophe (and the immediately prior album, Over-Nite Sensation) arguably brought him to the masses through his cross-over "hit," "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow," which, despite its length, received regular airplay on FM stations. It didn't hurt that the album also included two of his funniest, most fun songs, "Cozmik Debris" and "Stinkfoot."
Hamburger Concerto (Focus)
For those who only know Focus via their 1971 novelty mega-hit,...
- 3/30/2014
- by Ian Alterman
- www.culturecatch.com
As always, there are biases at play here; my greatest interests are symphonic music, choral music, and piano music, so that's what comes my way most often. There are some paired reviews; the ranking of the second of each pair might not be the true, exact ranking, but it works better from a writing standpoint this way.
1. Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1-4; Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 Tragic Overture, Op. 81; Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a; 3 Hungarian Dances; 9 Liebeslieder Waltzes; Intermezzi, Op. 116 No. 4 & Op. 117 No. 1 Gewandhausorchester/Riccardo Chailly (Decca)
It is not easy, at this point in recording history, to match the giants of the baton in a Brahms cycle, but Chailly has done it (this is my fiftieth Brahms cycle, and I have more than another fifty Brahms Firsts, and upwards of thirty each of the other symphonies outside those cycles, so I've got some basis for comparison...
1. Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1-4; Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 Tragic Overture, Op. 81; Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a; 3 Hungarian Dances; 9 Liebeslieder Waltzes; Intermezzi, Op. 116 No. 4 & Op. 117 No. 1 Gewandhausorchester/Riccardo Chailly (Decca)
It is not easy, at this point in recording history, to match the giants of the baton in a Brahms cycle, but Chailly has done it (this is my fiftieth Brahms cycle, and I have more than another fifty Brahms Firsts, and upwards of thirty each of the other symphonies outside those cycles, so I've got some basis for comparison...
- 1/6/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Two music-themed films and a love story from The Rocket director Kim Mordaunt are among the 15 features to secure new development money from Screen Australia.
The Musician, produced by Brian Rosen and Su Armstrong, is about how Richard Goldner, a violinist who arrived in Australia from Vienna as a refugee, set up Musica Viva, one of the largest presenters of chamber music in the world.
Clara, which is being developed by producer Sue Maslin and writer/director Jocelyn Moorhouse, tells of the deep bonds between Clara Schumann, one of the foremost classical pianists of the Romantic era, her husband, the composer Richard Schumann, and their protégé Johannes Brahams – and that included a love triangle.
“Jocelyn has wanted to tell this story for years,” Maslin told ScreenDaily, adding that the film is set in Austria and Germany.
“It is a very international film, with great music and a story that’s little known.”
Maslin and Moorhouse...
The Musician, produced by Brian Rosen and Su Armstrong, is about how Richard Goldner, a violinist who arrived in Australia from Vienna as a refugee, set up Musica Viva, one of the largest presenters of chamber music in the world.
Clara, which is being developed by producer Sue Maslin and writer/director Jocelyn Moorhouse, tells of the deep bonds between Clara Schumann, one of the foremost classical pianists of the Romantic era, her husband, the composer Richard Schumann, and their protégé Johannes Brahams – and that included a love triangle.
“Jocelyn has wanted to tell this story for years,” Maslin told ScreenDaily, adding that the film is set in Austria and Germany.
“It is a very international film, with great music and a story that’s little known.”
Maslin and Moorhouse...
- 12/12/2013
- by Sandy.George@me.com (Sandy George)
- ScreenDaily
In 2014 Tanglewood welcomes Andris Nelsonsfor his first festival appearances as Bso Music Director Designate. His first of four concerts with the Bso will be an all-Dvoak program, with the composer's symphonic poem The Noonday Witch, the Violin Concerto with soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter, and the Symphony No. 8 711. For his second Bso program on July 19, Maestro Nelsons will be joined by Swedish trumpeter Hakan Hardenberger performing his compatriot Rolf Martinsson's Trumpet Concerto, on a program with music by Brahms and Tchaikovsky. The following Sunday afternoon 720, Maestro Nelsons will open his Bso program withChristopher Rouse's Rapture, followed by Lalo'sSymphonie espagnole, with violin soloist Joshua Bell, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.
- 11/21/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Paul Henreid: Actor was ‘dependable’ leading man to Hollywood actresses Paul Henreid, best known as the man who wins Ingrid Bergman’s body but not her heart in Casablanca, is Turner Classic Movies’ Star of the Month of July 2013. TCM will be showing a couple of dozen movies featuring Henreid, who, though never a top star, was a "dependable" — i.e., unexciting but available — leading man to a number of top Hollywood actresses of the ’40s, among them Bette Davis, Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland, Eleanor Parker, Joan Bennett, and Katharine Hepburn. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of Paul Henreid movies to be shown on Turner Classic Movies in July consists of Warner Bros. productions that are frequently broadcast all year long, no matter who is TCM’s Star of the Month. Just as unfortunately, TCM will not present any of Henreid’s little-seen supporting performances of the ’30s, e.
- 7/3/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced their 2013-2014 season. The Bso will tour China and Japan May 1-11 under the direction of Lorin Maazel. See the entire schedule below courtesy of the Bso: The Bso season of 2013-14 subscription season opens September 21:with Christoph Von DOHNÁNYI Leading An All-Brahms Program Featuring Augustin Hadelich And Alban Gerhardt In The Double Concerto Forviolin And Cello; Season Closes April 25 With Lorin Maazel Leading Aprogram Of Music By Glinka, Rachmaninoff, And Berlioz 2013-14 Season Features Bso In Major, Varied Repertoire Including Mahler.S Symphonies 2 And 5 And Das Lied Von Der Erde; Strauss.S Ein Heldenleben;Elgar.S Enigma Variations; Berlioz.S Symphonie Fantastique; Ravel.S Complete Daphnis And CHLOÉ; And Stravinsky.S Symphony Of Psalms, As...
- 4/23/2013
- by April Neale
- Monsters and Critics
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat is a monthly newspaper run by Steve DeBellis, a well know St. Louis historian, and it’s the largest one-man newspaper in the world. The concept of The Globe is that there is an old historic headline, then all the articles in that issue are written as though it’s the year that the headline is from. It’s an unusual concept but the paper is now in its 25th successful year! Steve and I collaborated last year on an all-Vincent Price issue of The Globe and I’ve been writing a regular movie-related column since. Since there is no on-line version of The Globe, I post all of my articles here at We Are Movie Geeks as well. When Steve informed me that this month’s St. Louis Globe-Democrat is written as if it’s 1934, I jumped at the chance to write about the...
- 3/21/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The connection between music and animation is an incredibly close one. In 1940, Walt Disney pioneered with his first animated full-length feature, a musical telling of Snow White and even before, cartoons were common in movie theaters, rounding out the double bills along with newsreels and comedy shorts. For decades, audiences watched shorts this way and several studios duked it out for cartoon supremacy, from Disney (Silly Symphonies) to Warner Bros. (Looney Tunes) to MGM (Tom and Jerry). For the generations raised on the radio broadcasts of Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra, classical music was a common and valued source of entertainment and so it was a natural choice for animators as inspiration for some of their greatest cartoons. With the rise of television, however, shorts became less and less popular and prevalent in movie theaters and it seemed they may become like so many great classic films- underseen and...
- 3/9/2013
- by Kate Kulzick
- SoundOnSight
The quintessentially American story of classical piano hero Van Cliburn -- the Texan who at the height of the Cold War won the first Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, when he was 23 years old, received a ticker tape parade in New York City on his return (as shown at left), made the first million-selling classical album, and (mostly) retired at age 44, having shrewdly invested his earnings in real estate -- is told in carefully balanced detail in Anthony Tommasini's lengthy obituary for The New York Times.
That obit includes the fact that some said that Cliburn didn't live up to his potential as a pianist, outside of his favorite repertoire, he did not always play with equal inspiration. While greater versatility would have been commendable, the same charge could be aimed at many pianists. In his comfort zone, though -- the music of Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, and of course...
That obit includes the fact that some said that Cliburn didn't live up to his potential as a pianist, outside of his favorite repertoire, he did not always play with equal inspiration. While greater versatility would have been commendable, the same charge could be aimed at many pianists. In his comfort zone, though -- the music of Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, and of course...
- 2/28/2013
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat is a monthly newspaper run by Steve DeBellis, a well know St. Louis historian, and it’s the largest one-man newspaper in the world. The concept of The Globe is that there is an old historic headline, then all the articles in that issue are written as though it’s the year that the headline is from. It’s an unusual concept but the paper is now in its 25th successful year! Steve and I collaborated last year on an all-Vincent Price issue of The Globe and I’ve been writing a regular movie-related column since. Since there is no on-line version of The Globe, I post all of my articles here at We Are Movie Geeks as well. When Steve informed me that this month’s St. Louis Globe-Democrat is written as if it’s 1934, I jumped at the oppurtunity to write about the...
- 2/27/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Reposted For 2013 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
It was playing Bach that brought Canadian pianist Glenn Gould worldwide fame when his recording of the Goldberg Variations – at the time, 1955, a rather esoteric corner of the repertoire – and certainly a hefty percentage of his albums over the course of his career were devoted to the German Baroque master's keyboard output. But in celebrating the 80th anniversary of his birth on September 25, 1932 (and looking forward with sadness to the 30th anniversary of his death of a stroke on October 4, 1982), it's worth remembering that he was interested in many more composers. I didn't have to make too much of a conscious effort to diversify this baker's-dozen list until I got down to the last two spots. (All the recommended recordings were issued by Columbia Records/CBS Masterworks/Sony Classical.)
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, Bwv 988; Sweelinck: Fantasia in D major; Schoenberg: Piano Suite Op.
It was playing Bach that brought Canadian pianist Glenn Gould worldwide fame when his recording of the Goldberg Variations – at the time, 1955, a rather esoteric corner of the repertoire – and certainly a hefty percentage of his albums over the course of his career were devoted to the German Baroque master's keyboard output. But in celebrating the 80th anniversary of his birth on September 25, 1932 (and looking forward with sadness to the 30th anniversary of his death of a stroke on October 4, 1982), it's worth remembering that he was interested in many more composers. I didn't have to make too much of a conscious effort to diversify this baker's-dozen list until I got down to the last two spots. (All the recommended recordings were issued by Columbia Records/CBS Masterworks/Sony Classical.)
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, Bwv 988; Sweelinck: Fantasia in D major; Schoenberg: Piano Suite Op.
- 2/11/2013
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
There's nothing quite like the sustained pleasure of immersing one's self in a huge chunk of a top-notch artist's output for a significant period of time. This was easily accomplished in 2012, because lately it seems like the classical arms of the major labels are trying to get all their best material into budget-priced box sets (in Europe even more than in the U.S., so check the imports, especially for Sony). And anything they aren't doing that with, another label would be happy to license. In that sense, it's a great time to be a classical fan. Nonetheless, I'm keeping this list shorter than my new releases list, because, well, there's too much to listen to all of it! So to make my list, these items had to make me very, very happy in 2012.
1. Hilliard Ensemble: Franco-Flemish Masterworks (Virgin Classics)
This eight-cd box is a delight for fans of choral music,...
1. Hilliard Ensemble: Franco-Flemish Masterworks (Virgin Classics)
This eight-cd box is a delight for fans of choral music,...
- 1/3/2013
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
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