The Beatles‘ Revolver is one of the most important albums in rock history. It paved the way for a lot of the music that came after it. For example, one track from the album paved the way for the style and themes of George Harrison’s subsequent career.
A record from The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’ era | Adam Berry / Stringer 5. ‘Got to Get You Into My Life’
“Got to Get You Into My Life” was arguably the song on The Beatles’ Revolver with the most pop potential. The tune hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and inspired hit covers by both Earth, Wind & Fire and Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers. It’s not hard to see why. This upbeat slice of quasi-funk has a lot of energy.
In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul said “Got to Get You Into My Life” is about marijuana. It’s interesting...
A record from The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’ era | Adam Berry / Stringer 5. ‘Got to Get You Into My Life’
“Got to Get You Into My Life” was arguably the song on The Beatles’ Revolver with the most pop potential. The tune hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and inspired hit covers by both Earth, Wind & Fire and Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers. It’s not hard to see why. This upbeat slice of quasi-funk has a lot of energy.
In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul said “Got to Get You Into My Life” is about marijuana. It’s interesting...
- 3/7/2023
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Thomas Newman and Steven Soderbergh hadn’t worked together in nearly seven years when the director called the composer about joining his next film “Let Them All Talk” in October 2019. “I was in London finishing up ‘1917’ and he said he had this movie and he was interested in me doing it,” Newman tells Gold Derby at our Meet the Btl Experts: Film Composers panel (watch above). “It was like late October of 2019 and we did it in January, February, pretty soon after I got back from London. We were able to record when people could actually smile at each other and see their faces.”
The HBO Max film is the duo’s fourth collaboration, following “Erin Brockovich” (2000), “The Good German” (2006), which brought Newman one of his 15 Oscar nominations, and “Side Effects” (2013). But the score is arguably the most unique one Newman has done for the Oscar winner. For one, Soderbergh...
The HBO Max film is the duo’s fourth collaboration, following “Erin Brockovich” (2000), “The Good German” (2006), which brought Newman one of his 15 Oscar nominations, and “Side Effects” (2013). But the score is arguably the most unique one Newman has done for the Oscar winner. For one, Soderbergh...
- 1/27/2021
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Leave it to director Steven Soderbergh and composer Thomas Newman to go retro ’60s with the music for their fourth collaboration, “Let Them All Talk.”
Accompanying Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen, Dianne Wiest and the rest of Soderbergh’s cast crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2 is a jazz score that might easily have been penned by John Barry (“The Knack”), Neal Hefti (“The Odd Couple”) or Henry Mancini (“The Pink Panther”).
“Steven genuinely loves that kind of music,” Newman tells Variety. “It was fun to be doing something so different, so outspoken. I’m usually more into the sensuality of how music hits image and can shape and structure things. This was a lot of jazz waltzes.”
Soderbergh contacted Newman while the composer was finishing his “1917” score in London a year ago. They had previously collaborated on “Erin Brockovich,” “Side Effects” and “The Good German,” the last of...
Accompanying Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen, Dianne Wiest and the rest of Soderbergh’s cast crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2 is a jazz score that might easily have been penned by John Barry (“The Knack”), Neal Hefti (“The Odd Couple”) or Henry Mancini (“The Pink Panther”).
“Steven genuinely loves that kind of music,” Newman tells Variety. “It was fun to be doing something so different, so outspoken. I’m usually more into the sensuality of how music hits image and can shape and structure things. This was a lot of jazz waltzes.”
Soderbergh contacted Newman while the composer was finishing his “1917” score in London a year ago. They had previously collaborated on “Erin Brockovich,” “Side Effects” and “The Good German,” the last of...
- 12/14/2020
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
This mid-‘sixties black comedy from the mischievous George Axelrod defines and dissects ‘crazy California culture’ just as West Coasters were being slandered as godless weird-oh hedonists. It’s partly a sarcastic put-down, citing anecdotal extremes like drive-in churches (how 2020 can you get?), perverse youth encounter groups and mindless beach party movies. But Axelrod’s paints indelible images of maladjusted women of three age groups: Tuesday Weld, Lola Albright and Ruth Gordon. Where Roddy McDowall fits in is anybody’s guess — he’s meant to glue the satire together and instead turns it into a big Question Mark.
Lord Love a Duck
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1966 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date September 22, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Roddy McDowall, Tuesday Weld, Lola Albright, Martin West, Ruth Gordon, Harvey Korman, Sarah Marshall, Lynn Carey, Donald Murphy, Max Showalter, Joseph Mell, Dan Frazer, Martine Bartlett, Jo Collins, Judith Loomis, Gay Gordon,...
Lord Love a Duck
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1966 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date September 22, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Roddy McDowall, Tuesday Weld, Lola Albright, Martin West, Ruth Gordon, Harvey Korman, Sarah Marshall, Lynn Carey, Donald Murphy, Max Showalter, Joseph Mell, Dan Frazer, Martine Bartlett, Jo Collins, Judith Loomis, Gay Gordon,...
- 9/22/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Halloween is on the horizon, but Nashville space-country duo Steelism are getting into the spirit a little early with the release of the surprise new Superhero Themes Ep. The centerpiece of the three-song effort is a hard-charging, riff-heavy take on “Batman Theme,” the title song of the sixties TV show, Batman, originally composed by Neal Hefti.
In line with Steelism’s typical psych-twang experimentation, guitarist Jeremy Fetzer and pedal steel player Spencer Cullum Jr. dress up the original tune’s surf-rock groove with squalls of swirling fret acrobatics, while drummer...
In line with Steelism’s typical psych-twang experimentation, guitarist Jeremy Fetzer and pedal steel player Spencer Cullum Jr. dress up the original tune’s surf-rock groove with squalls of swirling fret acrobatics, while drummer...
- 10/19/2018
- by Jedd Ferris
- Rollingstone.com
Filtered through her experience as an unequalled comic performer, writer-director Elaine May scores a bulls-eye with this grossly underappreciated gem, fashioned in a style that could be called ‘black comedy lite.’ And that’s the release version mangled by the producer. What might it have been if May had been allowed to finish her director’s cut?
A New Leaf Olive Signature
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1971 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 102 min. / Street Date December 5, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.99
Starring: Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston, George Rose, James Coco, Doris Roberts, Renée Taylor, William Redfield, David Doyle.
Cinematography: Gayne Rescher
Original Music: Neal Hefti
Written by Elaine May from a story by Jack Ritchie
Produced by Hilliard Elkins, Howard W. Koch, Joseph Manduke
Directed by Elaine May
Olive’s next title up for Signature Collection status is A New Leaf, the directing debut of comedienne-writer Elaine May. It’s certainly a worthy title.
A New Leaf Olive Signature
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1971 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 102 min. / Street Date December 5, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.99
Starring: Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston, George Rose, James Coco, Doris Roberts, Renée Taylor, William Redfield, David Doyle.
Cinematography: Gayne Rescher
Original Music: Neal Hefti
Written by Elaine May from a story by Jack Ritchie
Produced by Hilliard Elkins, Howard W. Koch, Joseph Manduke
Directed by Elaine May
Olive’s next title up for Signature Collection status is A New Leaf, the directing debut of comedienne-writer Elaine May. It’s certainly a worthy title.
- 12/9/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Mike Cecchini Sep 9, 2019
The 1967 Spider-Man animated series has an amazing theme song, but also featured some incredible background music.
Everyone knows the iconic theme tune to the Spider-Man animated series that ran from 1967-1970 on ABC, and then endlessly in syndication after that. You know the one I'm talking about. It has the lyrics that want you to know that the title character "does whatever a spider can" and that he "spins a web, any size" and "catches thieves, just like flies" thanks, of course, to his "radioactive blood." The fact that they managed to get the words "radioactive blood" into a theme song will never not be amazing to me.
The tune is such a big deal that it made its way (in various sneaky forms) into Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, and most recently, in full orchestral form thanks to Michael Giacchino in Spider-Man: Homecoming. The Ramones put...
The 1967 Spider-Man animated series has an amazing theme song, but also featured some incredible background music.
Everyone knows the iconic theme tune to the Spider-Man animated series that ran from 1967-1970 on ABC, and then endlessly in syndication after that. You know the one I'm talking about. It has the lyrics that want you to know that the title character "does whatever a spider can" and that he "spins a web, any size" and "catches thieves, just like flies" thanks, of course, to his "radioactive blood." The fact that they managed to get the words "radioactive blood" into a theme song will never not be amazing to me.
The tune is such a big deal that it made its way (in various sneaky forms) into Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, and most recently, in full orchestral form thanks to Michael Giacchino in Spider-Man: Homecoming. The Ramones put...
- 7/3/2017
- Den of Geek
Nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh
Nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh
Batman!
Wow. I never thought I’d miss that little ditty. Granted, whenever that tune consumes my brainpan it’s the version recorded by The Who and not the one from the ancient teevee series. I find myself humming Neal Hefti’s remarkably enduring theme song every time a new Batman movie screws up. Yup, this means I’ve been humming it a lot lately.
The latest batastrophe – as of this writing – came down last week when the director of the upcoming release The Batman quit the picture. That’s a big problem, as he is also the co-writer of the movie… and, oh yeah, also its star.
Arguably worse, the top choice for replacing director Ben Affleck, Matthew George Reeves (no relation to anybody who starred as Superman), quickly dropped out of the negotiations. One is reminded their March 16, 2018 release,...
Nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh
Batman!
Wow. I never thought I’d miss that little ditty. Granted, whenever that tune consumes my brainpan it’s the version recorded by The Who and not the one from the ancient teevee series. I find myself humming Neal Hefti’s remarkably enduring theme song every time a new Batman movie screws up. Yup, this means I’ve been humming it a lot lately.
The latest batastrophe – as of this writing – came down last week when the director of the upcoming release The Batman quit the picture. That’s a big problem, as he is also the co-writer of the movie… and, oh yeah, also its star.
Arguably worse, the top choice for replacing director Ben Affleck, Matthew George Reeves (no relation to anybody who starred as Superman), quickly dropped out of the negotiations. One is reminded their March 16, 2018 release,...
- 2/22/2017
- by Mike Gold
- Comicmix.com
Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar will reprise their 1960s TV Batman roles – in vocal form, at least – for the new animated film Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders. In a trailer, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, Batman (West) and Robin (Ward) approach death in a giant oven (conveniently labeled "Giant Oven") before hatching an escape plot.
"Holy spoiler alert!" Robin exclaims. Batman teases the film, vowing, "A good crime-fighter always keeps his fans informed." Caped Crusaders – available October 11th on Digital HD and November 1st as a Blu-Ray...
"Holy spoiler alert!" Robin exclaims. Batman teases the film, vowing, "A good crime-fighter always keeps his fans informed." Caped Crusaders – available October 11th on Digital HD and November 1st as a Blu-Ray...
- 8/17/2016
- Rollingstone.com
The Piano Guys have paid homage to Batman.s iconic soundtrack with a four minute and 21 second video homage that zips from the 1966 television series to Tim Burton.s 1989 cinematic reboot before finally ending on Christopher Nolan.s lauded Dark Knight trilogy with aplomb. It.s an amazing celebration of Neal Hefti, Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer.s work, and if you call yourself a Batman fan you need to spend a good portion of your day watching the above video. I know, I know . it.s pretty special isn.t it? This isn.t the first time that The Piano Guys have taken on classic movie material though, and over the last few years the group -- which consists of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek -- have replicated Star Wars, Frozen, and the Bourne trilogy.s soundtracks, while their first three major-label...
- 9/29/2014
- cinemablend.com
Compilation albums are great fun, aren’t they? I’ve talked at some length before about them, and how they can be hit or miss with their intended audiences. Silva Screen Records’ latest offering – Super Themes – is no different, but it does contain a lot of really great tunes that the cult fan will appreciate having in their collection. While there are some moments where you just want to know what the criteria was in order to be picked, some are really spot-on.
The two-disk set is chock full of goodies spanning the last 40-plus years of superhero television and movies, and much of it is great. From the swinging sixties we have jazz composer Neal Hefti’s surf guitar theme for Batman, which is one of those guilty pleasures every geek can enjoy. In fact, this rounds out the first seven tracks of the album, all of which are...
The two-disk set is chock full of goodies spanning the last 40-plus years of superhero television and movies, and much of it is great. From the swinging sixties we have jazz composer Neal Hefti’s surf guitar theme for Batman, which is one of those guilty pleasures every geek can enjoy. In fact, this rounds out the first seven tracks of the album, all of which are...
- 9/20/2012
- Shadowlocked
Back in 1989 when director Tim Burton‘s big-screen adaptation of Batman hit theaters, not only was it a rebirth for the big. black bat, it also brought composer Danny Elfman‘s musical gifts into mainstream consciousness. Elfman’s theme for the film would go on to become the theme song for Batman: The Animated Series as well, and finally replace Neal Hefti‘s Batman theme from the 60s TV show as The Batman Theme in popular culture.
As a fan of Elfman and his Batman theme, I was disappointed when Christopher Nolan chose not to use the song for his Batman, simply because I (and many others) now equate that song with the Batman character, not just Burton’s Batman.
While I’ve always thought Elfman’s theme was near-perfect, thanks to American guitarist and composer Mat Graham, I finally realize the one element that Elfman’s theme had been missing all this time.
As a fan of Elfman and his Batman theme, I was disappointed when Christopher Nolan chose not to use the song for his Batman, simply because I (and many others) now equate that song with the Batman character, not just Burton’s Batman.
While I’ve always thought Elfman’s theme was near-perfect, thanks to American guitarist and composer Mat Graham, I finally realize the one element that Elfman’s theme had been missing all this time.
- 8/13/2012
- by Jason Moore
- ScifiMafia
DC Comics has announced the impending release of what amounts to a DC Comic geek’s soundtrack. The Music of DC Comics: 75th Anniversary Collection contains some great superhero tunes, ranging from 1941′s Superman March, through the theme for the 2008 animated tv show, Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Check out the cover and full track listing below.
The Music of DC Comics: 75th Anniversary Collection
1. Superman March – Sammy Timberg (1941)
-Previously unavailable. Digitally remastered. From the Academy Award Nominated cartoon series “Superman” produced by Max Fleischer. This was the first Superman cartoon.
2. Theme From Superman (Album Version) – John Williams (1978)
- From the live-action film “Superman.” Digitally remastered.
3. The New Adventures of Superman – John Gart (1966)
- Previously unavailable. Digitally remastered. From the Filmation cartoon “The New Adventures of Superman.”
4. Lois and Clark / The New Adventures of Superman – Jay Gruska (1993)
- From the live-action TV Series “Lois and Clark”. Digitally remastered.
Check out the cover and full track listing below.
The Music of DC Comics: 75th Anniversary Collection
1. Superman March – Sammy Timberg (1941)
-Previously unavailable. Digitally remastered. From the Academy Award Nominated cartoon series “Superman” produced by Max Fleischer. This was the first Superman cartoon.
2. Theme From Superman (Album Version) – John Williams (1978)
- From the live-action film “Superman.” Digitally remastered.
3. The New Adventures of Superman – John Gart (1966)
- Previously unavailable. Digitally remastered. From the Filmation cartoon “The New Adventures of Superman.”
4. Lois and Clark / The New Adventures of Superman – Jay Gruska (1993)
- From the live-action TV Series “Lois and Clark”. Digitally remastered.
- 9/1/2010
- by Jason Moore
- ScifiMafia
Neal Hefti, composer of the memorable Batman television theme music, passed away on October 11. He was 85 and had been in poor health for some time his son Paul reported.
In a career spanning many decades, the big band trumpeter was finally known for the theme in addition to other memorable film and television scores including The Odd Couple.
Hefti’s catchy “Batman Theme” was released as a single and went as high as #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A version by the Marketts did better, cracking the Top 20 at #17. The theme song has been covered throughout the years by the Who, the Kinks, and virtually every surf-band on Earth.
A 1966 episode of the television series Hullabaloo, hosted by George Hamilton, featured two dozen girls dressed in faux-Batman costumes dancing to the LP version of the theme song.
His career began with writing musical charts for Nat Towles before moving...
In a career spanning many decades, the big band trumpeter was finally known for the theme in addition to other memorable film and television scores including The Odd Couple.
Hefti’s catchy “Batman Theme” was released as a single and went as high as #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A version by the Marketts did better, cracking the Top 20 at #17. The theme song has been covered throughout the years by the Who, the Kinks, and virtually every surf-band on Earth.
A 1966 episode of the television series Hullabaloo, hosted by George Hamilton, featured two dozen girls dressed in faux-Batman costumes dancing to the LP version of the theme song.
His career began with writing musical charts for Nat Towles before moving...
- 10/15/2008
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
Neal Hefti, composer of the memorable Batman television theme music, passed away on October 11. He was 85 and had been in poor health for some time his son Paul reported.
In a career spanning many decades, the big band trumpeter was finally known for the theme in addition to other memorable film and television scores including The Odd Couple.
Hefti’s catchy “Batman Theme” was released as a single and went as high as #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A version by the Marketts did better, cracking the Top 20 at #17. The theme song has been covered throughout the years by the Who, the Kinks, and virtually every surf-band on Earth.
A 1966 episode of the television series Hullabaloo, hosted by George Hamilton, featured two dozen girls dressed in faux-Batman costumes dancing to the LP version of the theme song.
His career began with writing musical charts for Nat Towles before moving...
In a career spanning many decades, the big band trumpeter was finally known for the theme in addition to other memorable film and television scores including The Odd Couple.
Hefti’s catchy “Batman Theme” was released as a single and went as high as #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A version by the Marketts did better, cracking the Top 20 at #17. The theme song has been covered throughout the years by the Who, the Kinks, and virtually every surf-band on Earth.
A 1966 episode of the television series Hullabaloo, hosted by George Hamilton, featured two dozen girls dressed in faux-Batman costumes dancing to the LP version of the theme song.
His career began with writing musical charts for Nat Towles before moving...
- 10/15/2008
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
The composer of the theme from the Batman TV series has died.
Neal Hefti died at his home in Los Angeles on Saturday at the age of 85.
Hefti was famed for writing the iconic piece of music, which he described as the "hardest piece I ever wrote".
It charted in the U.S. and U.K. and won a Grammy Award in 1966 for best instrumental theme.
Hefti was also an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger.
He worked with Frank Sinatra on two albums, Sinatra and Swingin' Brass, plus Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First.
Neal Hefti died at his home in Los Angeles on Saturday at the age of 85.
Hefti was famed for writing the iconic piece of music, which he described as the "hardest piece I ever wrote".
It charted in the U.S. and U.K. and won a Grammy Award in 1966 for best instrumental theme.
Hefti was also an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger.
He worked with Frank Sinatra on two albums, Sinatra and Swingin' Brass, plus Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First.
- 10/15/2008
- WENN
Depending on how you look at it, the latest Walter Matthau-Jack Lemmon matchup could either be called "The Odd Couple II" or "Grumpy Old Men III" (or IV if you count "Out to Sea").
Even with Neil Simon's name in the title, moviegoers are in for more of the same -- and that isn't necessarily a bad thing when you've got crack comic veterans like Lemmon and Matthau casually firing off the banter with the deadly aim of professional assassins.
With director Howard Deutch ("Grumpier Old Men") adding to the reunion festivities, the picture can't escape a certain warmed-over feel, but audiences of a certain age should turn this pleasant, lightweight retread into a moderate hit for Paramount. Expect a bigger payoff when it reaches the WFV ("Wait For Video") set.
When Oscar Madison's actor son Brucey (Jonathan Silverman) calls his Sarasota, Fla.-ensconced dad from Los Angeles inviting him to his wedding, Oscar is delighted to hear the news. That is, until he's informed the father of the bride is none other than former roommate Felix Ungar.
The ensuing reunion more or less picks up where it left off three decades earlier, as Oscar and Felix embark on a disastrous road trip, with mishap after mishap threatening to prevent them from reaching the quaint little town of San Malina in time for the wedding.
As Neil's vehicles go, this stuff is fairly Simple Simon. Dusting off an unfinished script he had started in the '80s, Simon completed it last spring with the provision that Lemmon and Matthau again do the honors.
With apologies to Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, nobody can toss off lines like Lemmon or do physical shtick like Matthau. Even the slightest of bits comes off like sparkling comedic gems in the capable hands of these two Billy Wilder-weaned pros.
Given that expertise, Deutch could have afforded to employ even a lighter touch in the scene choreography. Instead, he relies a little too strongly on music cues to underscore or at times even signal the jokes. His rule of pacing appears to be, when in doubt, crank up the old "Odd Couple" theme.
Supporting players Christine Baranski and Jean Smart spice things up with their portrayal of biker chicks, on the run from their husbands, who go by the names of Thelma and, nope, Holly. And, in the picture's funniest sequence, Barnard Hughes is a hoot as a kindly professorial type who offers Felix and Oscar a lift in a vintage auto that apparently takes a very long time to warm up.
Shot primarily outdoors with a bright, sunny crispness courtesy of Jamie Anderson ("Grosse Pointe Blank"), the film has solid production values all around, although Alan Silvestri's score relies a tad too heavily on the aforementioned Neal Hefti original.
Neil Simon's THE ODD COUPLE II
Paramount Pictures
A Cort/Madden production
A Howard Deutch film
Director: Howard Deutch
Producers: Neil Simon, Robert W. Cort and
David Madden
Screenwriter: Neil Simon
Director of photography: Jamie Anderson
Production designer: Dan Bishop
Editor: Seth Flaum
Music: Alan Silvestri
Color/stereo
Cast:
Felix Unger: Jack Lemmon
Oscar Madison: Walter Matthau
Thelma: Christine Baranski
Beaumont: Barnard Hughes
Brucey Madison: Jonathan Silverman
Holly: Jean Smart
Hannah Ungar: Lisa Waltz
Felice: Mary Beth Peil
Blanche Madison Povitch: Doris Belack
Francis Ungar Melnick: Ellen Geer
Running time -- 97 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Even with Neil Simon's name in the title, moviegoers are in for more of the same -- and that isn't necessarily a bad thing when you've got crack comic veterans like Lemmon and Matthau casually firing off the banter with the deadly aim of professional assassins.
With director Howard Deutch ("Grumpier Old Men") adding to the reunion festivities, the picture can't escape a certain warmed-over feel, but audiences of a certain age should turn this pleasant, lightweight retread into a moderate hit for Paramount. Expect a bigger payoff when it reaches the WFV ("Wait For Video") set.
When Oscar Madison's actor son Brucey (Jonathan Silverman) calls his Sarasota, Fla.-ensconced dad from Los Angeles inviting him to his wedding, Oscar is delighted to hear the news. That is, until he's informed the father of the bride is none other than former roommate Felix Ungar.
The ensuing reunion more or less picks up where it left off three decades earlier, as Oscar and Felix embark on a disastrous road trip, with mishap after mishap threatening to prevent them from reaching the quaint little town of San Malina in time for the wedding.
As Neil's vehicles go, this stuff is fairly Simple Simon. Dusting off an unfinished script he had started in the '80s, Simon completed it last spring with the provision that Lemmon and Matthau again do the honors.
With apologies to Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, nobody can toss off lines like Lemmon or do physical shtick like Matthau. Even the slightest of bits comes off like sparkling comedic gems in the capable hands of these two Billy Wilder-weaned pros.
Given that expertise, Deutch could have afforded to employ even a lighter touch in the scene choreography. Instead, he relies a little too strongly on music cues to underscore or at times even signal the jokes. His rule of pacing appears to be, when in doubt, crank up the old "Odd Couple" theme.
Supporting players Christine Baranski and Jean Smart spice things up with their portrayal of biker chicks, on the run from their husbands, who go by the names of Thelma and, nope, Holly. And, in the picture's funniest sequence, Barnard Hughes is a hoot as a kindly professorial type who offers Felix and Oscar a lift in a vintage auto that apparently takes a very long time to warm up.
Shot primarily outdoors with a bright, sunny crispness courtesy of Jamie Anderson ("Grosse Pointe Blank"), the film has solid production values all around, although Alan Silvestri's score relies a tad too heavily on the aforementioned Neal Hefti original.
Neil Simon's THE ODD COUPLE II
Paramount Pictures
A Cort/Madden production
A Howard Deutch film
Director: Howard Deutch
Producers: Neil Simon, Robert W. Cort and
David Madden
Screenwriter: Neil Simon
Director of photography: Jamie Anderson
Production designer: Dan Bishop
Editor: Seth Flaum
Music: Alan Silvestri
Color/stereo
Cast:
Felix Unger: Jack Lemmon
Oscar Madison: Walter Matthau
Thelma: Christine Baranski
Beaumont: Barnard Hughes
Brucey Madison: Jonathan Silverman
Holly: Jean Smart
Hannah Ungar: Lisa Waltz
Felice: Mary Beth Peil
Blanche Madison Povitch: Doris Belack
Francis Ungar Melnick: Ellen Geer
Running time -- 97 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
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