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6/30/05 - Mom and Dad Save the World: (Jerry Goldsmith) --Expanded
Review-- "Both composers Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner went through a "phase" of sorts
in the early 1990's during which they seemed to enjoy brainless comedy
assignments despite little involvement in the genre during the prior decade.
Most of the comedies had some basic redeeming quality; in Horner's case, the
call was towards the children's genre more than straight comedy. For
Goldsmith, with the aid of director Joe Dante, the comedies tended to be
aimed more for adults, sometimes with disastrous results. In Hollywood at
the time, the straight-to-video market was being diverted in many cases to
big-screen releases, often allowing ridiculously awful films to suffer a
week in theatres before disappearing. One such entry was the following
Warner Brothers disaster that nearly got the ax several times in
pre-production, and obviously should have. Mom and Dad Save the World
is a sci-fi spoof from Chris Matheson (the son of 50's sci-fi icon and Ray
Bradbury collaborator, Richard Matheson) and Ed Solomon..."
** Read the
entire review.
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6/26/05 - Malice: (Jerry Goldsmith) --Expanded Review-- "With a high
caliber cast and the same stylistically gloomy photography that Gordon Willis provided for
the Godfather films, Malice scratches and claws in its attempt to mimic the
intellectual complexities of a genuine Hitchcockian thriller. After several revisions by
multiple, independent screenwriters, the story for Malice took on a life of its own,
with so many convoluted plot lines throughout its length that the film works simply on the
basic fact that it keeps you scratching your head during every moment. Despite major logical
fallacies, the suspect script is floated by acting of Alec Baldwin (in a fitting role as a
surgeon with a God complex), Nicole Kidman (in the latter end of her poofy hair days), Bill
Pullman (who actually beats that
"hopeless nice guy" stereotype by the end), as well as enjoyable bit roles by Anne Bancroft
and George C. Scott. It's no surprise that director/co-producer Harold Becker would utilize
the services of veteran composer Jerry Goldsmith for Malice..." ** Read the
entire review.
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6/23/05 - Dennis the Menace: (Jerry Goldsmith) --Expanded Review--
"Attempting to continue the enormous fiscal success of Home Alone (one of the top few
grossing films of all time back in the early 1990's), producer John Hughes tells a very
similarly-themed live action tale of Dennis Mitchell, perhaps the most famous kid in the
history of comics. Created by Hank Ketcham and introduced in the newspaper comics in 1951,
Dennis has become a favorite in periodicals ever since, and his appearances have expanded to a
weekly television series, an animated program, and the 1993 feature film, Dennis the
Menace. The film was largely ignored by audiences that had already enjoyed their fill of
two Home Alone pictures and identified Dennis the Menace as a recycled old
formula. The casting and settings were very well done, often appearing in live action just as
you have expected them from reading the comics, but the film suffered from two fatal flaws:
first, the slapstick, cruel comedy towards Dennis' neighbor, Mr. Wilson, had already been
done..." *** Read the entire review.
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6/20/05 - Matinee: (Jerry Goldsmith) --Expanded Review-- "With the
collaboration between director Joe Dante and composer Jerry Goldsmith spanning several decades
and including many successful titles, it's easy for Matinee to slip through the cracks.
Arguably their least popular project together, Matinee is a film that accomplishes
several things at once for Dante: it's a "coming of age" picture for a group of pre-teen
youth, it pokes fun at the B-horror film industry of the 1950's and early 60's, and it plays
on the fears of nuclear proliferation that were at their height in October, 1962 (the time
frame of movie's setting). While the group of young actors is more than sufficient in their
roles, it's John Goodman who steals the show as showman Lawrence Woolsey, a character based
on the real-life horror movie experimenter William Castle. Attempting to capitalize on
nuclear fears and bring the third dimension of film back to theatres, Woolsey debuts a 'movie
within a movie' called "Mant" (half man, half ant) and includes drama with a live 'mant'
inside the theatre itself at the showing...." *** Read the entire review.
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6/17/05 - Angie: (Jerry Goldsmith) --Expanded Review-- "In a feature film
that was originally set to have starred Madonna as the title character, Angie takes
Geena Davis instead on a wild ride from New York comedy to larger American melodrama. Adapted
from Avra Wing's novel "Angie, I Says," Todd Graff's script is executed on the big screen by
director Martha Coolidge, whose involvement with the project would have seemed like an
appropriate one given her well-received work on another "woman's coming of age" film,
Rambling Rose. The problem with the film, however --and it was
greeted with indifference by both critics and audiences-- was the indecision about which
direction to take Angie in relation to its genre. The first half of the film is a very
funny, almost sitcom-style comedy, taking us on a journey of relational problems with
considerable New York flavour. The latter half of the film is much more heavy-handed on the
drama, exploring far deeper issues than the first half of the film could possibly foreshadow.
It is this twist of focus that either soured the lighthearted mood or saved you from it..."
** Read the
entire review.
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6/14/05 - The River Wild: (Jerry Goldsmith) --Expanded Review-- "While
the collaboration between composer Jerry Goldsmith and director Curtis Hanson would be best
known for yielding the popular L.A. Confidential several years later, their work
together began with The River Wild in 1994. If the classic film Deliverance was
the guys' late-night, squeal-like-a-pig version of the "city folk go into nature only to
discover that man is the true enemy" formula, then The River Wild is the somewhat
family friendly mid-day interpretation of the same idea. Instead of Appalachia, the scene this
time is Montana, where a former river guide from the area (Meryl Streep) takes her now
city-dwelling family on a rafting vacation to her old haunts. Lucky for them, three goons get
into another raft and follow the family like a group of predators. Eventually there are
hostages, unbelievable and frustrating twists of plot, and ultimately, of course, the need to
run the Gauntlet, a particularly nasty portion of river that only professionals can
navigate...." *** Read the entire review.
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6/11/05 - Bad Girls: (Jerry Goldsmith) --Expanded Review-- "From the
dusty streets of a cliche Old West town, Bad Girls tells us the story of four women who
aren't necessary bad, but badly unappreciated. A group of four prostitutes in the unsavory
town of Echo City, Colorado are forced to band together to escape local religious fanatics and
a hangman's noose after one of them shoots an unreasonable customer. Cody, Anita, Eileen, and
Lilly traverse the plains to Texas, where their uncanny knowledge of shooting and explosives
comes in handy. They also seem to have the knack for riding horses without upsetting their
nicely arranged hair, putting the film into perspective for any confused soul who might have
ventured across this amusing spectacle. The babes in the tale are portrayed by a well-known
lot of actresses who seem at home in more urban settings (Madeleine Stowe, Mary Stuart
Masterson, Drew Barrymore, and Andie MacDowell), adding to the film's charm perhaps while also
dooming any serious intent it may have had. The problem with Bad Girls turned out to be
the attempt by the filmmakers to actually make a serious film of the script..." *** Read the
entire review.
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6/8/05 - The Shadow: (Jerry Goldsmith) --Expanded Review--
"Who knows what guilty pleasures lurk in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows...
In fact, if there were ever to be the need to identify the ultimate
"score of guilty pleasure," then Jerry Goldsmith's
The Shadow could be it. The lavish 1994 film suffered from a somewhat
incoherent plot (and was thus a total critical flop), but its loyalty to the
1930's setting and the legend of the original radio show (not to mention
some outstanding art direction and sound effects editing) have allowed it a
limited cult following. Goldsmith's music for the endeavor is the type of
score that you'd never know about unless you were there to hear it when it
hit the theatres (which was unlikely for most of you, considering its
concurrent release with The Lion King). The quirky personality of
both the film and score, led by its charge to mimic the very superhero genre
it belonged to, caused the pair to be an undeniable romp for suckers of that
kind of film...." **** Read the entire
review.
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6/5/05 - City Hall: (Jerry Goldsmith) --Expanded Review--
"A political thriller penned in part by Nicholas Pileggi, a New York
investigative reporter, City Hall tells the rather gloomy tale of how
one side of the law helps the other, and does it without anybody knowing it.
The tough workings of an inner city, and all of the unsavory handshakes that
exist without the public's knowledge, are the setting for a clash between two
characters' ideals. The city here is New York, and the primary characters are
the mayor, deputy mayor, and a handful of cops, mafia sorts, and attorneys.
Directed by Harold Becker, City Hall exposes the dealings of an
administration at its best and worst, with intriguing concepts that the film
delivers in one of its many fascinating scenes. But the plotline also sinks
the film in the end, between the inclusion of unnecessary story threads and
the equally needless addition of a chipper ending on an otherwise darkly
realistic picture. Even the strong cast could not salvage City Hall
from the depths of box office despair in the early winter months of 1996..."
*** Read the entire
review.
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6/2/05 - Executive Decision: (Jerry Goldsmith) --Expanded
Review-- "After spending much of the early 1990's trudging though the less
popular fields of children's films and light comedies, Jerry Goldsmith
returned with force to the modern action genre in 1995 and 1996. The results
of this return to arms were very mixed, varying from highly memorable to
merely mediocre. One of the more mediocre ventures was Executive
Decision, one of numerous projects for which Goldsmith's usual standard of
action writing managed to save the film from total obscurity. At the time,
Executive Decision was a largely advertised summer release that --along
with Chain Reaction-- failed to add any little new substance to
Goldsmith's career. The film touted its portrayal of a stealth aircraft in
action, assisting a team of commandos board a hijacked plane full of... you
guessed it: crazed Arabs. In this case, there's not only a load of people to
save on the plane, but there's also a wicked bomb in its cargo hold that
presents a significant danger once the plane crosses over America. The story
is familiar, surely..." ** Read the entire
review.
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