(Alan Parker, 1988; Second Sight, 18, DVD/Blu-ray)
Made 27 years ago, a quarter of a century after the sensational murders of three civil rights workers in a small deep south township by Ku Klux Klan members that it recreates, Mississippi Burning is wearing well. Arguably the finest of Alan Parker’s 17 feature films, it’s a vivid, passionate political thriller combining melodrama and semi-documentary realism to powerful effect. Had it not been for a campaign directed against its British director from both blacks and whites for the alleged imbalance in its treatment of racial issues, most especially for giving insufficient emphasis to the African Americans’ role in the civil rights movement, this masterly film would have won more than the single award for cinematography it received after being nominated for seven major Oscars.
Mississippi Burning opens with two brilliantly contrasted sequences. The first is the blood-chilling pursuit at night on a straight,...
Made 27 years ago, a quarter of a century after the sensational murders of three civil rights workers in a small deep south township by Ku Klux Klan members that it recreates, Mississippi Burning is wearing well. Arguably the finest of Alan Parker’s 17 feature films, it’s a vivid, passionate political thriller combining melodrama and semi-documentary realism to powerful effect. Had it not been for a campaign directed against its British director from both blacks and whites for the alleged imbalance in its treatment of racial issues, most especially for giving insufficient emphasis to the African Americans’ role in the civil rights movement, this masterly film would have won more than the single award for cinematography it received after being nominated for seven major Oscars.
Mississippi Burning opens with two brilliantly contrasted sequences. The first is the blood-chilling pursuit at night on a straight,...
- 10/11/2015
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Ron Moody as Fagin in 'Oliver!' based on Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist.' Ron Moody as Fagin in Dickens musical 'Oliver!': Box office and critical hit (See previous post: "Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' Actor, Academy Award Nominee Dead at 91.") Although British made, Oliver! turned out to be an elephantine release along the lines of – exclamation point or no – Gypsy, Star!, Hello Dolly!, and other Hollywood mega-musicals from the mid'-50s to the early '70s.[1] But however bloated and conventional the final result, and a cast whose best-known name was that of director Carol Reed's nephew, Oliver Reed, Oliver! found countless fans.[2] The mostly British production became a huge financial and critical success in the U.S. at a time when star-studded mega-musicals had become perilous – at times downright disastrous – ventures.[3] Upon the American release of Oliver! in Dec. 1968, frequently acerbic The...
- 6/19/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The actors, producers, directors and crew of the Harry Potter series tell Ryan Gilbey the inside story of the defining film franchise of the last decade
Tanya Seghatchian, co-producer/executive producer, Harry Potter 1-4: I started working with David Heyman at Heyday Films in 1997. We had a deal with Warner Bros to be the eyes and ears of the studio in the UK. I remember a friend of mine, Tony Garnett, who produced Kes, saying to me: "Listen, this deal will only last if you find Warners the equivalent of the Bond franchise." I read an article on a book that was due to be published, about a boy who discovers he's a wizard. It said it was going to be one in a series – so that's a franchise. I rang Christopher Little, Jo Rowling's agent, to introduce myself and win him over if I could.
David Heyman, producer,...
Tanya Seghatchian, co-producer/executive producer, Harry Potter 1-4: I started working with David Heyman at Heyday Films in 1997. We had a deal with Warner Bros to be the eyes and ears of the studio in the UK. I remember a friend of mine, Tony Garnett, who produced Kes, saying to me: "Listen, this deal will only last if you find Warners the equivalent of the Bond franchise." I read an article on a book that was due to be published, about a boy who discovers he's a wizard. It said it was going to be one in a series – so that's a franchise. I rang Christopher Little, Jo Rowling's agent, to introduce myself and win him over if I could.
David Heyman, producer,...
- 7/7/2011
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
DVD Playhouse—January 2010
By
Allen Gardner
The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment) Absorbing character study follows the leader (Jeremy Renner) of a bomb squad unit in Iraq and his growing addiction to the adrenaline-fueled life and death edge that he and his men must walk on a daily basis. Director Kathryn Bigelow, an unheralded great filmmaker for nearly two decades, has finally hit paydirt with this gut-wrenching examination of war as drug, as opposed to hell. That said, The Hurt Locker is 2/3 of a great movie that takes a wild left turn in a subplot involving Renner’s character and that of a local boy to whom he takes a shine, and never quite recovers its momentum. In spite of that hiccup, it remains one of the best films of 2009 and, thus far, the finest cinematic exploration of America’s war in the Middle East. Also available on Blu-ray disc, in...
By
Allen Gardner
The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment) Absorbing character study follows the leader (Jeremy Renner) of a bomb squad unit in Iraq and his growing addiction to the adrenaline-fueled life and death edge that he and his men must walk on a daily basis. Director Kathryn Bigelow, an unheralded great filmmaker for nearly two decades, has finally hit paydirt with this gut-wrenching examination of war as drug, as opposed to hell. That said, The Hurt Locker is 2/3 of a great movie that takes a wild left turn in a subplot involving Renner’s character and that of a local boy to whom he takes a shine, and never quite recovers its momentum. In spite of that hiccup, it remains one of the best films of 2009 and, thus far, the finest cinematic exploration of America’s war in the Middle East. Also available on Blu-ray disc, in...
- 1/19/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
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