Ryan Lambie Dec 7, 2016
Space horror in The Black Hole. Animated death in The Black Cauldron. Ryan looks back at a unique period in Disney's filmmaking history...
When George Lucas started writing Star Wars in the early 70s, the space saga was intended to fill a void left behind by westerns, pirate movies and the sci-fi fantasy of old matinee serials. "Disney had abdicated its rein over the children's market," Lucas once said, according to Peter Biskind's book, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, "and nothing had replaced it."
See related Close To The Enemy episode 4 review Close To The Enemy episode 3 review Close To The Enemy episode 2 review Close To The Enemy episode 1 review
Indeed, Disney was one of many Hollywood studios that Lucas had approached with Star Wars and they, just like Universal, United Artists and everyone other than 20th Century Fox boss Alan Ladd Jr, had turned it down flat.
Space horror in The Black Hole. Animated death in The Black Cauldron. Ryan looks back at a unique period in Disney's filmmaking history...
When George Lucas started writing Star Wars in the early 70s, the space saga was intended to fill a void left behind by westerns, pirate movies and the sci-fi fantasy of old matinee serials. "Disney had abdicated its rein over the children's market," Lucas once said, according to Peter Biskind's book, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, "and nothing had replaced it."
See related Close To The Enemy episode 4 review Close To The Enemy episode 3 review Close To The Enemy episode 2 review Close To The Enemy episode 1 review
Indeed, Disney was one of many Hollywood studios that Lucas had approached with Star Wars and they, just like Universal, United Artists and everyone other than 20th Century Fox boss Alan Ladd Jr, had turned it down flat.
- 12/6/2016
- Den of Geek
Today being international jazz day, there will be much celebrating of the greatness of its history. I’ve done that in the past; it is a great history. But it is not all back in historical times; jazz lives, and evolves, and continues to be great. Yet how many lists of the greatest jazz albums include anything from the current century?
That they do not is no indictment of them; only sixteen percent of the years when recorded jazz has existed (not counting the present year yet) are in the twenty-first century, after all, and some prefer to bestow the label of greatness after more perspective has been achieved than sixteen (or fewer, for newer releases) years.
Nonetheless, if people are to respect jazz as a living art form, a look back at the best of its more recent releases seems worthwhile. Here’s one man’s “baker’s dozen...
That they do not is no indictment of them; only sixteen percent of the years when recorded jazz has existed (not counting the present year yet) are in the twenty-first century, after all, and some prefer to bestow the label of greatness after more perspective has been achieved than sixteen (or fewer, for newer releases) years.
Nonetheless, if people are to respect jazz as a living art form, a look back at the best of its more recent releases seems worthwhile. Here’s one man’s “baker’s dozen...
- 4/30/2016
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
As the “Star Wars” films enter their period of new storylines, recurring characters, and calendar domination over the next decade, George Lucas only stands now to distance himself from his creation, and reportedly get to work on more intimate, experimental ventures. While we wait to see the results of those efforts, an older documentary on the man provides a close look on his life leading up and into his life-changing franchise. Commissioned to coincide with the 1997 “Star Wars” Special Editions, the BBC Omnibus “George Lucas: Flying Solo,” profiles the director as he discusses his formative years, as well as clips and insight into his 16mm short films, “Look at Life,” “Herbie,” and “Freiheit.” His experimental roots are indeed a large element of the documentary (directed by James Erskine), as an interview with Francis Ford Coppola poses Lucas' alternative path if the trilogy never happened. Interviews with his actors and collaborators.
- 6/12/2013
- by Charlie Schmidlin
- The Playlist
The jazz maestro talks about Miles Davis, the evolution of funk and writing the score for Death Wish
Three dishevelled young men slip into building. Mother and daughter enter flat. Men sneak along passage. Mother enters kitchen. Men trick daughter into opening door. Daughter screams. Men take money, rape daughter, kill mother, run away.
Herbie Hancock, who wrote the music for Death Wish, is proud of what he did to this scene. He builds up the action with hissing percussion, repeated piano chords, occasional violins, leading to drums and synthesiser. Rape and murder are covered by strings; as the muggers dash off, cellos acquire a chilly symphonic resonance.
He reckons the understatement works, and I agree. The point of the film, a Western transplanted to modern New York, is that it updates the conventions of the B-feature, rather than those of Ford or Hawk. Cardboard characters, no emotion nor interlocking relationships,...
Three dishevelled young men slip into building. Mother and daughter enter flat. Men sneak along passage. Mother enters kitchen. Men trick daughter into opening door. Daughter screams. Men take money, rape daughter, kill mother, run away.
Herbie Hancock, who wrote the music for Death Wish, is proud of what he did to this scene. He builds up the action with hissing percussion, repeated piano chords, occasional violins, leading to drums and synthesiser. Rape and murder are covered by strings; as the muggers dash off, cellos acquire a chilly symphonic resonance.
He reckons the understatement works, and I agree. The point of the film, a Western transplanted to modern New York, is that it updates the conventions of the B-feature, rather than those of Ford or Hawk. Cardboard characters, no emotion nor interlocking relationships,...
- 2/12/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
When I was putting together my best jazz albums of 2012 article, Ivo Perelman's productive year had him dominating the list, so I made him artist of the year and then compiled a separate top ten of new recordings and a top five of older recordings mostly given their first releases this year. There were still plenty of excellent jazz albums to choose from. Jazz isn't dead, it just has to live on a fixed income.
Artist of the Year: Ivo Perelman
Brazilian tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman's album The Hour of the Star was #18 on my Best New Jazz of 2011 list. He was just warming up for an amazing 2012 in which Leo Records released six -- Six!!! -- Perelman CDs. All of them are excellent (and none of them, alas, are on iTunes yet).
Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp/Gerald Cleaver The Foreign Legion Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp/Whit Dickey The Clairvoyant...
Artist of the Year: Ivo Perelman
Brazilian tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman's album The Hour of the Star was #18 on my Best New Jazz of 2011 list. He was just warming up for an amazing 2012 in which Leo Records released six -- Six!!! -- Perelman CDs. All of them are excellent (and none of them, alas, are on iTunes yet).
Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp/Gerald Cleaver The Foreign Legion Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp/Whit Dickey The Clairvoyant...
- 1/1/2013
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Corey Wilkes: Kind of Miles: Live at the Velvet Lounge (Katalyst)
Greg Spero Quartet: Radio over Miles (Katalyst)
These are not quite new releases (copyright 2011 and 2010 respectively), but they're new to me, and new enough that, in combination with their sterling quality and unjustly low profiles (outside Chicago, that is), a review seems eminently deserved. They are linked by more than the label releasing them (Chicago-based Katalyst Entertainment specializes in Chicago-linked jazz performers, both new releases and reissues). There's the Miles Davis repertoire reflected in the album titles, and three-quarters of Spero's band -- him, trumpeter Wilkes, and bassist Junius Paul -- is half of the sextet on Wilkes's album, with Spero's electric keyboards integral to the sound of both groups.
Newer release first. The idea of a trumpeter doing a Miles-themed album may seem too obvious to be more than a pale imitation, but Wilkes and the band have...
Greg Spero Quartet: Radio over Miles (Katalyst)
These are not quite new releases (copyright 2011 and 2010 respectively), but they're new to me, and new enough that, in combination with their sterling quality and unjustly low profiles (outside Chicago, that is), a review seems eminently deserved. They are linked by more than the label releasing them (Chicago-based Katalyst Entertainment specializes in Chicago-linked jazz performers, both new releases and reissues). There's the Miles Davis repertoire reflected in the album titles, and three-quarters of Spero's band -- him, trumpeter Wilkes, and bassist Junius Paul -- is half of the sextet on Wilkes's album, with Spero's electric keyboards integral to the sound of both groups.
Newer release first. The idea of a trumpeter doing a Miles-themed album may seem too obvious to be more than a pale imitation, but Wilkes and the band have...
- 7/15/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Herbie Goes Bananas
Written by Don Tait, based on the novel Car, Boy, Girl by Gordon Buford
Directed By Vincent McEveety
USA, 1980, imdb
Listen to our Mousterpiece Cinema Herbie Goes Bananas podcast or read Josh‘s extended thoughts about the film.
*****
Some films acquire a bad reputation that sticks like a bad smell, driving potential viewers away before they ever see it. Everyone knows that Alien³ and Alien Resurrection are terrible even especially those who have never seen the film. This fate happens particularly to notorious bombs – especially to films that (temporarily) kill off franchises. There is a perverse feedback loop in place, the film bombed because no one went to see it, and since the film bombed it must be terrible, so no one wants to watch it.
But this is confusing quality with popularity. They can be linked, but films bombing may result from any number of factors...
Written by Don Tait, based on the novel Car, Boy, Girl by Gordon Buford
Directed By Vincent McEveety
USA, 1980, imdb
Listen to our Mousterpiece Cinema Herbie Goes Bananas podcast or read Josh‘s extended thoughts about the film.
*****
Some films acquire a bad reputation that sticks like a bad smell, driving potential viewers away before they ever see it. Everyone knows that Alien³ and Alien Resurrection are terrible even especially those who have never seen the film. This fate happens particularly to notorious bombs – especially to films that (temporarily) kill off franchises. There is a perverse feedback loop in place, the film bombed because no one went to see it, and since the film bombed it must be terrible, so no one wants to watch it.
But this is confusing quality with popularity. They can be linked, but films bombing may result from any number of factors...
- 7/10/2012
- by Michael Ryan
- SoundOnSight
The Star Wars Blu-ray release may have broken sales records, but what extras could have been included on the discs? Here’s Cameron’s list of annoying omissions…
Although I am perfectly happy with my Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray box set (and boy, am I happy), the word "complete" has slightly irked me. Though there are over forty hours of juicy space opera goodness in the extras, I still think it isn’t quite complete.
Apart from essentials, such as trailers and TV spots, there are also a wealth of materials from previous DVD releases missing, such as the deleted scenes from the prequels and numerous documentaries. So, it’s probably best to hang on to those older discs.
Anyway, included below are five slices of Star Wars ephemera that would have been much appreciated if they had been included – maybe we’ll see them next time on the 3D box set…...
Although I am perfectly happy with my Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray box set (and boy, am I happy), the word "complete" has slightly irked me. Though there are over forty hours of juicy space opera goodness in the extras, I still think it isn’t quite complete.
Apart from essentials, such as trailers and TV spots, there are also a wealth of materials from previous DVD releases missing, such as the deleted scenes from the prequels and numerous documentaries. So, it’s probably best to hang on to those older discs.
Anyway, included below are five slices of Star Wars ephemera that would have been much appreciated if they had been included – maybe we’ll see them next time on the 3D box set…...
- 9/26/2011
- Den of Geek
“Source” music in a movie can be dicey. This is music that plays within the movie in such a way that we understand the characters in the scene can hear it, rather than music that plays over the film solely for our benefit. American Graffiti wasn’t the first movie to use source music effectively by any means, but perhaps no film before or since has used it as well. If for some reason you’re part of the 67% of Flickcharters who shamefully have not seen the movie, the premise is simple enough: four teenage friends spend the last night of Summer, 1962 together. The whole film spans that one night, from sundown to sunup. The various characters split off and reunite throughout the film, their individual and collective stories told across Modesto, California.
Anchoring the vignettes is the film’s soundtrack. In fact, because the licensing costs for the original recordings were so high,...
Anchoring the vignettes is the film’s soundtrack. In fact, because the licensing costs for the original recordings were so high,...
- 8/29/2011
- by Travis McClain
- Flickchart
Esperanza Spalding may have won the Grammy for Best New Artist, but some have reveled in her talent for years.
A 26-year old, classically trained jazz/chamber music fusion musician and singer, Spalding has been making headlines in the jazz world since before her 2006 debut solo album, "Junjo." Having attended the Berklee Academy of Music, where she immediately became a professor after graduating at 20 years old, she began to travel with well known jazz musicians -- and then, the President.
Showing prescient hipness, President Obama selected Spalding to perform at the Oslo City Hall when he accepted his 2009 Nobel Prize, as well as at a White House poetry jam.
"Chamber Music Society" is actually her eighth overall album, including her teenage band and collaborations with famous jazz musicians. But she's still excited to be considered Best New Artist.
"I feel really lucky that I got to be acknowledged on this...
A 26-year old, classically trained jazz/chamber music fusion musician and singer, Spalding has been making headlines in the jazz world since before her 2006 debut solo album, "Junjo." Having attended the Berklee Academy of Music, where she immediately became a professor after graduating at 20 years old, she began to travel with well known jazz musicians -- and then, the President.
Showing prescient hipness, President Obama selected Spalding to perform at the Oslo City Hall when he accepted his 2009 Nobel Prize, as well as at a White House poetry jam.
"Chamber Music Society" is actually her eighth overall album, including her teenage band and collaborations with famous jazz musicians. But she's still excited to be considered Best New Artist.
"I feel really lucky that I got to be acknowledged on this...
- 2/14/2011
- by The Huffington Post/AP
- Huffington Post
Tune in alert for Thirsday, September 16 from PBS NewsHour. PBS is committed to the arts as an important aspect of their news coverage . not only as a recognition that the arts are a vital aspect of daily life, but also for the unique perspective artists bring to global issues and events. In just the latest example of this type of coverage, PBS Newshour features an interview with Herbie Hancocktonight, Thursday, September 16, 2010 (check local listings.) Jeffrey Brown traveled to Los Angeles to talk to jazz legend Herbie Hancock about .The Imagine Project. - an international recording and film project featuring more than 60 artists from seven countries who joined forces in hopes their music might change the...
- 9/16/2010
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
Getting pumped and ready to review the new Clash of the Titans, I of course went back to watch the original version. It would be fair to say that its special effects have not aged well. Then again, they were touchingly out-of-date even at the time. Made in 1981, Clash was the last movie to feature the special-effects magic of Ray Harryhausen (who produced the film), the wizard of stop-motion imagery whose heyday was the 1950s and '60s, when he was known for the then-wondrous effects in movies like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), and One Million Years B.C....
- 4/1/2010
- by Owen Gleiberman
- EW.com - The Movie Critics
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