"Spice World" debuted 25 years ago, signalling the absolute zenith of the Spice Girls' celebrity and the phenomenon of Girl Power.
They've got fire in their eyes, hunger in their bellies, and great big shoes on their feet. For any girl who grew up in the '90s, there was one quintet of sassy, stomping women who embodied the era more thoroughly than anyone else. The Spice Girls weren't just a pop band: they were a genuine phenomenon. They sold millions of records and defined a kind of fierce young feminism that seemed tailor-made for the turn of the millennium. While their star burned briefly, it was bright and continues to cast a shadow over 25 years later. For some of us, Ginger, Scary, Posh, Sporty, and Baby Spice symbolized a brand of endless possibility and feminine force that felt like someone had blown the doors off the entire decade. And for one film,...
They've got fire in their eyes, hunger in their bellies, and great big shoes on their feet. For any girl who grew up in the '90s, there was one quintet of sassy, stomping women who embodied the era more thoroughly than anyone else. The Spice Girls weren't just a pop band: they were a genuine phenomenon. They sold millions of records and defined a kind of fierce young feminism that seemed tailor-made for the turn of the millennium. While their star burned briefly, it was bright and continues to cast a shadow over 25 years later. For some of us, Ginger, Scary, Posh, Sporty, and Baby Spice symbolized a brand of endless possibility and feminine force that felt like someone had blown the doors off the entire decade. And for one film,...
- 1/23/2023
- by Kayleigh Donaldson
- Slash Film
Simon Brew Apr 6, 2017
It's 20 years since the Spice Girls headed to the big screen for their solo movie. And we've taken a look back...
I don’t think Spice World: The Movie is as good as Inception.
This winter marks the 20th birthday of a film that many had sneered at before its release, and many continue to sneer at now. Boasting a hard-won 3.4/10 score on IMDb, Spice World: The Movie pops up from time to time in lists slamming films involving pop stars, or, if it’s lucky, it appears on the ‘guilty pleasure’ carousel. For added fun, the late Roger Ebert had it as one of the films that he most hated. Yikes.
I don’t believe in guilty pleasures, personally, and have written about that before. Nor do I agree with Roger. For I do enjoy Spice World: The Movie for what it is: a daft, breezy,...
It's 20 years since the Spice Girls headed to the big screen for their solo movie. And we've taken a look back...
I don’t think Spice World: The Movie is as good as Inception.
This winter marks the 20th birthday of a film that many had sneered at before its release, and many continue to sneer at now. Boasting a hard-won 3.4/10 score on IMDb, Spice World: The Movie pops up from time to time in lists slamming films involving pop stars, or, if it’s lucky, it appears on the ‘guilty pleasure’ carousel. For added fun, the late Roger Ebert had it as one of the films that he most hated. Yikes.
I don’t believe in guilty pleasures, personally, and have written about that before. Nor do I agree with Roger. For I do enjoy Spice World: The Movie for what it is: a daft, breezy,...
- 4/3/2017
- Den of Geek
Simply Media
To celebrate the release of The Englishman’s Castle, Chandler and Co., A Picture of Katherine Mansfield, The Locksmith and Lazarus & Dingwall on DVD, we are giving 1 lucky WhatCulture reader the chance to win a bundle containing all five!
Simply Media
An Englishman’s Castle (1978) starring Kenneth More (Father Brown), Isla Blair (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and Anthony Bate (Tinker, Tailor, Solider Spy), is set in an alternate 1970s on an Earth where Germany won the Second World War and is now occupying England. Peter Ingram (More) is the lead writer of a popular soap opera set in Blitz-era London, and knowingly turns a blind eye to the local Nazi rule, opting for the easy life. But when faced with the stark reality of the situation Peter has a difficult decision to make.
Available to own on DVD from 5th October 2015.
Simply Media
Chandler and Co.
To celebrate the release of The Englishman’s Castle, Chandler and Co., A Picture of Katherine Mansfield, The Locksmith and Lazarus & Dingwall on DVD, we are giving 1 lucky WhatCulture reader the chance to win a bundle containing all five!
Simply Media
An Englishman’s Castle (1978) starring Kenneth More (Father Brown), Isla Blair (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and Anthony Bate (Tinker, Tailor, Solider Spy), is set in an alternate 1970s on an Earth where Germany won the Second World War and is now occupying England. Peter Ingram (More) is the lead writer of a popular soap opera set in Blitz-era London, and knowingly turns a blind eye to the local Nazi rule, opting for the easy life. But when faced with the stark reality of the situation Peter has a difficult decision to make.
Available to own on DVD from 5th October 2015.
Simply Media
Chandler and Co.
- 10/5/2015
- by Laura Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
Dean Jones: Actor in Disney movies. Dean Jones dead at 84: Actor in Disney movies 'The Love Bug,' 'That Darn Cat!' Dean Jones, best known for playing befuddled heroes in 1960s Walt Disney movies such as That Darn Cat! and The Love Bug, died of complications from Parkinson's disease on Tue., Sept. 1, '15, in Los Angeles. Jones (born on Jan. 25, 1931, in Decatur, Alabama) was 84. Dean Jones movies Dean Jones began his Hollywood career in the mid-'50s, when he was featured in bit parts – at times uncredited – in a handful of films at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer In 2009 interview for Christianity Today, Jones recalled playing his first scene (in These Wilder Years) with veteran James Cagney, who told him “Walk to your mark and remember your lines” – supposedly a lesson he would take to heart. At MGM, bit player Jones would also be featured in Robert Wise's...
- 9/2/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
“I told them before: if they wanted to be spontaneous they had to clear it with me first”
Spice World. I’ve never seen it. When I announced the title when I introduced the midnight show at the Tivoli a few weeks, I didn’t even know what it was. Apparently it’s a movie starring the Spice Girls (the British pop girl group formed in 1994) that was made in 1997 and has somehow managed to stay under my radar for the past 15 years. But when I declared that title it was met with cheers by the 18-25-year old audience that is the mainstay of the Reel Late at the Tivoli midnight series I host, so I guess, like Mean Girls, which played at midnight there to a healthy crowd a couple of weeks ago, Spice World is a cult movie for the current young generation. That’s fine with me,...
Spice World. I’ve never seen it. When I announced the title when I introduced the midnight show at the Tivoli a few weeks, I didn’t even know what it was. Apparently it’s a movie starring the Spice Girls (the British pop girl group formed in 1994) that was made in 1997 and has somehow managed to stay under my radar for the past 15 years. But when I declared that title it was met with cheers by the 18-25-year old audience that is the mainstay of the Reel Late at the Tivoli midnight series I host, so I guess, like Mean Girls, which played at midnight there to a healthy crowd a couple of weeks ago, Spice World is a cult movie for the current young generation. That’s fine with me,...
- 7/30/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
I've seen every single one of these episodes too many times to count. Doesn't matter a bit. This is timeless inventive, stuff. The kind of thing that you feel obligated to introduce to the unitiated and invite friends overt o watch and rewatch. The fact that the character of Basil Fawlty is based on a real person makes the show all the more rich. Like Seinfeld and other programs that expertly replicate human pettiness and folly Fawlty Towers is so cathartic that watching it leaves a viewer both lighter and enlightened.
There's a ton of new material on here and the series has never looked better. You get a new set of exclusive commentaries by John Cleese, brand new 2009 extended interviews, including exclusive interview with Connie Booth, John Cleese, Prunella Scales, and Andrew Sachs and Series One and Two directors commentaries with John Howard Davies and Bob Spiers as well...
There's a ton of new material on here and the series has never looked better. You get a new set of exclusive commentaries by John Cleese, brand new 2009 extended interviews, including exclusive interview with Connie Booth, John Cleese, Prunella Scales, and Andrew Sachs and Series One and Two directors commentaries with John Howard Davies and Bob Spiers as well...
- 11/21/2009
- Screen Anarchy
As quintessentially British a show as was ever devised, the beloved Fawlty Towers, re-released here in its entirety to celebrate the series 30th anniversary, was in fact born out of simple truth rather than any strokes of comic genius. Co-creators John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth conceived this fast paced, farce-based sitcom from their own experience. While filming Monty Python’s Flying Circus the troupe had the misfortune to stay in a rundown Torquay hotel managed by a puffed-up grouch named Donald Sinclair, a man Cleese described as being “Gratuitously rude.”
The basis for the now legendarily eccentric Basil Fawlty, the abrasive Sinclair was witnessed, amongst other things, flinging a timetable at one guest who inquired about a bus into town, rearranging the “clearly American” Terry Gilliam’s silverware in the middle of his dinner, and hiding Eric Idle’s briefcase behind a wall at the far end...
The basis for the now legendarily eccentric Basil Fawlty, the abrasive Sinclair was witnessed, amongst other things, flinging a timetable at one guest who inquired about a bus into town, rearranging the “clearly American” Terry Gilliam’s silverware in the middle of his dinner, and hiding Eric Idle’s briefcase behind a wall at the far end...
- 10/22/2009
- by Neil Pedley
- JustPressPlay.net
Former Fawlty Towers director Bob Spiers has died aged 63 following a long illness.
The Glasgow-born star began his career as an assistant floor manager before becoming one of British television's most revered sitcom directors.
Spiers directed episodes of a number of popular comedy series including Fawlty Towers, Absolutely Fabulous, French and Saunders, and Dad's Army, and was also behind the camera for the Spice Girls' movie Spice World in 1997.
Spiers died in Devon, England, surrounded by his family, but until recently had been living in Acapulco, Mexico. Further details about the cause of death were not available as WENN went to press.
The Glasgow-born star began his career as an assistant floor manager before becoming one of British television's most revered sitcom directors.
Spiers directed episodes of a number of popular comedy series including Fawlty Towers, Absolutely Fabulous, French and Saunders, and Dad's Army, and was also behind the camera for the Spice Girls' movie Spice World in 1997.
Spiers died in Devon, England, surrounded by his family, but until recently had been living in Acapulco, Mexico. Further details about the cause of death were not available as WENN went to press.
- 12/8/2008
- WENN
Funnyman Tom Green has signed on to topline director Bob Spiers' comedy Bob the Butler, London-based sales and finance house Park Entertainment said. The project is billed by the filmmakers as a comedy in the vein of the Robin Williams starrer Mrs. Doubtfire and details the story of an American (Green) traveling to the United Kingdom to train as a butler before traveling back to the States to work. A U.K./Canada co-production, the project will be produced by Gavin Wilding and Esther Randall from a script penned by Jane Walker Wood and Steven Manners. Veteran U.K. television director Spiers' credits include Fawlty Towers and Absolutely Fabulous. "Tom Green as an actor and performer is perfect to portray an unemployed, naturally accident-prone enthusiast," Spiers said. Park is repping worldwide sales outside North America, and North American rights are being repped by the co-producers.
- 2/26/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Having already conquered the pop world, Mel B, Emma, Mel C, Geri and Victoria, aka The Spice Girls, have taken their act to the big screen and the results are decidedly mixed.
The good news is the spunky quintet, neatly defined characters all, have a winning rapport with a nice blend of team effort and good-natured ribbing.
Unfortunately, rather than trust them to carry a movie bearing their name, this "A Hard Day's Night" wannabe -- it actually shares more with the old "Monkees" TV series -- has been padded with tired subplots and a gaggle of over-the-top supporting characters.
As a result, while the picture may nevertheless give preteen female fans what they want (what they really, really want), the previously unconverted will unlikely be swayed. Don't expect Girl Power to fuel ticket sales much beyond the opening weekend.
Based on an idea by The Spice Girls and screenwriter Kim Fuller (brother of their recently ousted manager Simon Fuller), "Spice World" concerns itself with a summer in the life of a wildly successful British band called The Spice Girls and how they deal with fame and fortune, not to mention a raving manager (Richard E. Grant), an arrogant documentarian (Alan Cumming) and diabolical paparazzi (as embodied by the omnipresent Richard O'Brien).
One hopes they didn't overly tax themselves coming up with that idea. To be fair there are additional elements, including a slobbering media giant (Barry Humphries) who's obsessed with crushing Girl Power; the mysterious Chief (Roger Moore), who dispenses wisdom in the form of Zen-like non-sequiturs; and a Hollywood producer (George Wendt) and a hyper screenwriter (Mark McKinney) determined to make the girls movie stars. But none of the peripheral stuff works particularly well.
Worse, under the direction of Bob Spiers ("Absolutely Fabulous", Disney's "That Darned Cat" remake), "Spice World" makes the fatal mistake of dragging its platform heels. This type of vehicle begs for an MTV pace, but even their musical performances have been blandly and quite statically shot.
There are still moments of satisfaction to be had here, mainly from the group's own partially improvised interactions and during the picture's satirical fantasy interludes, which feature amusing cameos from the likes of Elton John, Elvis Costello, Bob Hoskins and Meat Loaf as the girls' loyal tour bus driver.
Not surprisingly, production and costume design steal focus on the technical front, with Grenville Horner's bold primary color schematics providing the perfect backdrop for Kate Carin's shiny, bright anything-goes threads.
The soundtrack, essentially, is composed of The Spice Girls' two albums worth of inconsequential but admittedly infectious bubble gum which, like the picture itself, begins to lose its flavor after a few satisfying snaps.
SPICE WORLD
Columbia Pictures
A Spice Girls/Fragile Films production
in association with ICON Entertainment International
and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Director:Bob Spiers
Producers:Uri Fruchtmann and Barnaby Thompson
Screenwriter:Kim Fuller
Based on an idea by:the Spice Girls and Kim Fuller
Executive producer:Simon Fuller
Director of photography:Clive Tickner
Production designer:Grenville Horner
Editor:Andrea MacArthur
Costume designer:Kate Carin
Music:Paul Harcastle
Casting:Vanessa Pereira & Simone Ireland
Color/stereo
Cast:
Baby Spice:Emma Bunton
Ginger Spice:Geri Halliwell
Scary Spice:Melanie Brown
Sporty Spice:Melanie Chisholm
Posh Spice:Victoria Adams
Clifford:Richard E. Grant
Deborah:Claire Rushbrook
Piers Cutherton-Smyth:Alan Cumming
Chief:Roger Moore
Martin Barnfield:George Wendt
Dennis:Meat Loaf
Nicola:Naoko Mori
Damien:Richard O'Brien
Kevin McMaxford:Barry Humphries
Graydon:Mark McKinney
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
The good news is the spunky quintet, neatly defined characters all, have a winning rapport with a nice blend of team effort and good-natured ribbing.
Unfortunately, rather than trust them to carry a movie bearing their name, this "A Hard Day's Night" wannabe -- it actually shares more with the old "Monkees" TV series -- has been padded with tired subplots and a gaggle of over-the-top supporting characters.
As a result, while the picture may nevertheless give preteen female fans what they want (what they really, really want), the previously unconverted will unlikely be swayed. Don't expect Girl Power to fuel ticket sales much beyond the opening weekend.
Based on an idea by The Spice Girls and screenwriter Kim Fuller (brother of their recently ousted manager Simon Fuller), "Spice World" concerns itself with a summer in the life of a wildly successful British band called The Spice Girls and how they deal with fame and fortune, not to mention a raving manager (Richard E. Grant), an arrogant documentarian (Alan Cumming) and diabolical paparazzi (as embodied by the omnipresent Richard O'Brien).
One hopes they didn't overly tax themselves coming up with that idea. To be fair there are additional elements, including a slobbering media giant (Barry Humphries) who's obsessed with crushing Girl Power; the mysterious Chief (Roger Moore), who dispenses wisdom in the form of Zen-like non-sequiturs; and a Hollywood producer (George Wendt) and a hyper screenwriter (Mark McKinney) determined to make the girls movie stars. But none of the peripheral stuff works particularly well.
Worse, under the direction of Bob Spiers ("Absolutely Fabulous", Disney's "That Darned Cat" remake), "Spice World" makes the fatal mistake of dragging its platform heels. This type of vehicle begs for an MTV pace, but even their musical performances have been blandly and quite statically shot.
There are still moments of satisfaction to be had here, mainly from the group's own partially improvised interactions and during the picture's satirical fantasy interludes, which feature amusing cameos from the likes of Elton John, Elvis Costello, Bob Hoskins and Meat Loaf as the girls' loyal tour bus driver.
Not surprisingly, production and costume design steal focus on the technical front, with Grenville Horner's bold primary color schematics providing the perfect backdrop for Kate Carin's shiny, bright anything-goes threads.
The soundtrack, essentially, is composed of The Spice Girls' two albums worth of inconsequential but admittedly infectious bubble gum which, like the picture itself, begins to lose its flavor after a few satisfying snaps.
SPICE WORLD
Columbia Pictures
A Spice Girls/Fragile Films production
in association with ICON Entertainment International
and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Director:Bob Spiers
Producers:Uri Fruchtmann and Barnaby Thompson
Screenwriter:Kim Fuller
Based on an idea by:the Spice Girls and Kim Fuller
Executive producer:Simon Fuller
Director of photography:Clive Tickner
Production designer:Grenville Horner
Editor:Andrea MacArthur
Costume designer:Kate Carin
Music:Paul Harcastle
Casting:Vanessa Pereira & Simone Ireland
Color/stereo
Cast:
Baby Spice:Emma Bunton
Ginger Spice:Geri Halliwell
Scary Spice:Melanie Brown
Sporty Spice:Melanie Chisholm
Posh Spice:Victoria Adams
Clifford:Richard E. Grant
Deborah:Claire Rushbrook
Piers Cutherton-Smyth:Alan Cumming
Chief:Roger Moore
Martin Barnfield:George Wendt
Dennis:Meat Loaf
Nicola:Naoko Mori
Damien:Richard O'Brien
Kevin McMaxford:Barry Humphries
Graydon:Mark McKinney
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 1/22/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Darn disappointing, Disney's lackluster remake of 1965's "That Darn Cat!" features Christina Ricci ("Casper") in the Hayley Mills role, while venerable Dean Jones ("The Shaggy D.A".) appears as a supporting character. Some basic elements of the story line have remained, but the new film's family-oriented humor is even more stilted and tame than the original.
British TV director Bob Spiers' feature debut has a few rewarding moments, but its target audience of kids and cat lovers will not be generating strong word-of-mouth. "That Darn Cat" is based on the novel "Undercover Cat" by the Gordons and their screenplay of the first film, co-written by Bill Walsh.
Besides veterans Jones and Estelle Parsons, the movie's eclectic cast includes Peter Boyle, Bess Armstrong, Dyan Cannon and Michael McKean in a very silly tale of a feline informant and nutty New Englanders on both sides of the law.
Alas, 1997's "That Darn Cat" is light years away from the original's drive-ins, muscle cars and mainstream mid-'60s comedy, not to mention the cast that included William Demarest, Elsa Lanchester, Frank Gorshin and Neville Brand.
No one performer is at fault, certainly not Doug E. Doug, who tries hard as a twitchy, manic FBI agent to make this cinematic fleabag come to life. But Ricci has little to do with her underwritten character, and a subplot involving a lonely butcher (Megan Cavanaugh) and two gung-ho security guards (Tom Wilson, Brian Haley) is mildly amusing at best.
Darn Cat, or "D.C". as his mistress Patti (Ricci) calls the gray beast, pussyfoots around the neighborhood one night and finds the kidnapped maid of the Flints (Jones, Cannon), obnoxious millionaires reluctant to pay the hefty ransom. The ridiculous scenario has the FBI becoming involved in a nocturnal tracking of D.C. by several agents.
George Dzundza plays the cranky boss of Doug's character, who goes through many humiliating experiences before making the cat angle payoff. Boyle and Rebecca Schull are unimpressive as an aging couple who play a major role in the overblown climax.
Just as in Robert Stevenson's version, which featured a Siamese, the lead feline is never quite made as endearing as one expects, with the attention focused on the humans and their mundane conflicts.
THAT DARN CAT
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Walt Disney Pictures
Director Bob Spiers
Producer Robert Simonds
Writers S.M. Alexander, L.A. Karaszewski
Executive producer Andrew Gottlieb
Director of photography Jerzy Zielinski
Production designer Jonathan Carlson
Editor Roger Barton
Costume designer Marie France
Music Richard Kendall Gibbs
Casting Gary Zuckerbrod
Color/stereo
Cast:
Patti Christina Ricci
Zeke Doug E. Doug
Mr. Flint Dean Jones
Boetticher George Dzundza
Pa Peter Boyle
Peter Michael McKean
Judy Bess Armstrong
Running time -- 89 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
British TV director Bob Spiers' feature debut has a few rewarding moments, but its target audience of kids and cat lovers will not be generating strong word-of-mouth. "That Darn Cat" is based on the novel "Undercover Cat" by the Gordons and their screenplay of the first film, co-written by Bill Walsh.
Besides veterans Jones and Estelle Parsons, the movie's eclectic cast includes Peter Boyle, Bess Armstrong, Dyan Cannon and Michael McKean in a very silly tale of a feline informant and nutty New Englanders on both sides of the law.
Alas, 1997's "That Darn Cat" is light years away from the original's drive-ins, muscle cars and mainstream mid-'60s comedy, not to mention the cast that included William Demarest, Elsa Lanchester, Frank Gorshin and Neville Brand.
No one performer is at fault, certainly not Doug E. Doug, who tries hard as a twitchy, manic FBI agent to make this cinematic fleabag come to life. But Ricci has little to do with her underwritten character, and a subplot involving a lonely butcher (Megan Cavanaugh) and two gung-ho security guards (Tom Wilson, Brian Haley) is mildly amusing at best.
Darn Cat, or "D.C". as his mistress Patti (Ricci) calls the gray beast, pussyfoots around the neighborhood one night and finds the kidnapped maid of the Flints (Jones, Cannon), obnoxious millionaires reluctant to pay the hefty ransom. The ridiculous scenario has the FBI becoming involved in a nocturnal tracking of D.C. by several agents.
George Dzundza plays the cranky boss of Doug's character, who goes through many humiliating experiences before making the cat angle payoff. Boyle and Rebecca Schull are unimpressive as an aging couple who play a major role in the overblown climax.
Just as in Robert Stevenson's version, which featured a Siamese, the lead feline is never quite made as endearing as one expects, with the attention focused on the humans and their mundane conflicts.
THAT DARN CAT
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Walt Disney Pictures
Director Bob Spiers
Producer Robert Simonds
Writers S.M. Alexander, L.A. Karaszewski
Executive producer Andrew Gottlieb
Director of photography Jerzy Zielinski
Production designer Jonathan Carlson
Editor Roger Barton
Costume designer Marie France
Music Richard Kendall Gibbs
Casting Gary Zuckerbrod
Color/stereo
Cast:
Patti Christina Ricci
Zeke Doug E. Doug
Mr. Flint Dean Jones
Boetticher George Dzundza
Pa Peter Boyle
Peter Michael McKean
Judy Bess Armstrong
Running time -- 89 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 2/14/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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