After Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney’s Fantasia, from 1940, was quite possibly the studio’s riskiest and definitely their most experimental film. Before 1938, the idea of animated feature was unheard of. The thought that a story could be created, and cartoon characters could be involving enough to carry an entire full length film…
Tag: music
Billy Elliot (2000) – Stephen Daldry
The final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my viewing of West Side Story isn’t necessarily a musical, but it definitely shares the same love of dance. Billy Elliot, which has since inspired a stage musical perfectly captures joy in dance and simultaneously juxtaposes the ordinary events of day…
Evita (1996) – Alan Parker
Let’s face it, they can’t all be winners. I’m enjoying the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, and have always enjoyed a good musical. Unfortunately, this one, Evita, a recommendation following my screening of West Side Story just couldn’t hold my attention. A theatrical adaptation of the long running stage musical featuring music…
Toronto After Dark 2017: Rabbit – Luke Shanahan
The Australian film, Rabbit from writer/director Luke Shanahan has it’s Canadian premiere tonight at Scotiabank Theatre for the Toronto After Dark film festival. The film, a slow burn character drama that messes with your mind, stars Adelaide Clemens as Maude, an identical twin who believes that her twin, Cleo, who has been missing for over…
Aladdin (1992) – Ron Clements and John Musker
The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Lion King, is yet another modern Disney classic, and once again like Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid features music by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Featuring a wonderfully manic performance by Robin Williams as…
Beauty And The Beast (1991) – Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
The new classics of the Disney renaissance continue as the recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Lion King brings me to Beauty and the Beast. Taking on the classic tale that had been visited in both film and television formats the story gets the Disney…
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) – Sergio Leone
The Great Movies – The 100 Years of Film book returns me to the western genre with this Sergio Leone epic that stars Jason Robards, Chalres Bronson, Henry Fonda and Claudia Cardinale. Playing against type, Fonda is the villain, Frank, who is working for the railroad, and trying to drive a woman, Jill McBain (Cardinale),…
My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2016) – Grady Hendrix
Where do I even start with this book? I enjoyed this one so much. We were in the local Chapters, and I was immediately caught by the cover. It’s designed to look like a 1980s horror movie on VHS. And the story embraces everything you loved about the 80s – the shows, the music, the…
The Twilight Zone (1962) – Showdown with Rance McGrew, Kick the Can, and A Piano in the House
Paramount Pictures has handed me the map, and I continue to explore the depths of The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series on blu-ray this week with another trio of episodes. First up is Showdown with Rance McGrew. Written by series creator Rod Serling from an idea by Frederick Louis Fox, this episode aired on 2…
Mamma Mia! (2008) – Phylida Lloyd
The final recommendation for my screening of Jailhouse Rock for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film is the beloved stage musical, Mamma Mia! Using the catchy tunes penned by cherished pop group, ABBA, the tale is a but of a post-modern Philadelphia Story as a young woman, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is on the…
