On Saturday I was lucky enough to attend a very special charity evening in aid of the Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation. It took place, as you might have guessed at the legendary Pinewood Studios just outside London near Windsor. The event was in aid of the Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation, a charity that helps people with disabilities to increase independence and improve life skills.
The event was named the Pinewood Legends evening for a reason. Invited along as guests of the Foundation were:
Roy Button OBE (Senior Vice President & MD of Warner Bros.) Paul Weston (Stunts, Daylight, Superman I, II, III) Terence Clegg (Producer, Out of Africa, A Clock Work Orange) Mike Moran (Movie music score composer) Joss Williams (Special Effects Supervisor on Green Zone, Hell Boy 2, Rambo, The Bourne Ultimatum) Anthony Waye (Producer, Casino Royale) Saeed Jaffrey (Actor, Gandhi) Paul Hitchcock (Producers, Mission Impossible, Firefox)
The evening started with...
The event was named the Pinewood Legends evening for a reason. Invited along as guests of the Foundation were:
Roy Button OBE (Senior Vice President & MD of Warner Bros.) Paul Weston (Stunts, Daylight, Superman I, II, III) Terence Clegg (Producer, Out of Africa, A Clock Work Orange) Mike Moran (Movie music score composer) Joss Williams (Special Effects Supervisor on Green Zone, Hell Boy 2, Rambo, The Bourne Ultimatum) Anthony Waye (Producer, Casino Royale) Saeed Jaffrey (Actor, Gandhi) Paul Hitchcock (Producers, Mission Impossible, Firefox)
The evening started with...
- 12/8/2009
- by David Sztypuljak
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
As many of you will have seen, this coming Saturday is the Pinewood Legends evening in aid of Queen Elizabeth Foundation. Nearly all the tickets for the event have gone (follow details here to apply but be quick!) but you can still be part of the evening.
At the event, The Pinewood Legends will doing a Q&A and we want to give you the chance to ask them some questions.
Put your questions in the comments below and make sure you say specifically who you want your question to go to from the following list:
Roy Button OBE (Senior Vice President & MD of Warner Bros.) Paul Weston (Stunts, Raiders of the Lost Ark) Joss Williams (Special Effects Supervisor on Green Zone, Hell Boy 2, Rambo, The Bourne Ultimatum) Tony Waye (Producer, Bond Franchise) Terence Clegg (Producer, Out of Africa, A Clock Work Orange) Paul Hitchcock (Producer – Mission Impossible I & II) Saeed Jeffrey (Actor,...
At the event, The Pinewood Legends will doing a Q&A and we want to give you the chance to ask them some questions.
Put your questions in the comments below and make sure you say specifically who you want your question to go to from the following list:
Roy Button OBE (Senior Vice President & MD of Warner Bros.) Paul Weston (Stunts, Raiders of the Lost Ark) Joss Williams (Special Effects Supervisor on Green Zone, Hell Boy 2, Rambo, The Bourne Ultimatum) Tony Waye (Producer, Bond Franchise) Terence Clegg (Producer, Out of Africa, A Clock Work Orange) Paul Hitchcock (Producer – Mission Impossible I & II) Saeed Jeffrey (Actor,...
- 12/3/2009
- by David Sztypuljak
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical theater powerhouse "The Phantom of the Opera" still contains its memorable lyrics and score, but this "Phantom" is a pale -- dare we say ghostly? -- copy of the original coup de theatre directed by Harold Prince. Part of the problem can be laid to miscasting and an overindulgence in set design. But the element of camp, which admittedly lurked in the wings of the stage musical, explodes into full view here before unforgiving cameras.
A Baz Luhrmann might have found a way to make the film version hip and relevant to younger audiences. But Webber clearly maintained a tight grip on his baby as producer and screenplay collaborator with director Joel Schumacher, so little rethinking of the stage show went into the filmization. Consequently, audiences for the musical skew older, with little to attract young males.
The story from Gaston Leroux's 1911 pulp horror novel tells of a disfigured musical genius who haunts the catacombs of a Paris opera house. He secretly mentors a young female singer, whom he adores, but a hideous face behind a half mask forces him to hide both himself and his love from the woman.
The film opens strongly with a black-and-white prologue in 1919, where the aging Vicompte Raoul de Chagny buys an old music box at auction in a decaying theater. As an organ strikes the Phantom's theme, the movie then flashes back in brilliant color to that theater in full swing in 1870 where singers, costumers, set builders and the ballet corps ready the next grand production.
The film gains further momentum when the brilliant and beautiful Emmy Rossum comes onscreen as the young chorus girl Christine Daae. A classically trained singer who made a dazzling debut in the underrated "Songcatcher" in 2000, Rossum has a crystal-pure voice that conveys the soft innocence of the Phantom's beloved. She also handles the mood shifts well, confused when caught in a romantic tug of war between the Phantom and her lover, Raoul, then later finding the backbone to stand up to her mentor.
Alas, the movie stumbles badly with the appearance of Scottish actor Gerard Butler as the Phantom. The role, so memorably created by Michael Crawford onstage, usually falls to an older actor since the Phantom has supposedly been Christine's "angel of music" since childhood. Yet Butler is nearly the same age as Patrick Wilson, who plays Christine's childhood friend Raoul. The change possibly reflects a misguided notion that a younger Phantom will attract a younger crowd, but it throws off the dynamics of the romantic triangle. Much more damaging is the fact Butler is not a trained singer. He manages to get by but lacks the vocal range and richness to do justice to some of the show's finest songs.
The role of Raoul is always problematic. Webber and Schumacher invent a ludicrous sword fight between Raoul and the Phantom in a graveyard so his character is a little less wimpy than onstage. Nevertheless, Wilson struggles, as do all Raouls, to give the character color or dimension.
Minnie Driver, as the opera's impossible diva, is terrific fun, hamming things up in a fake Italian accent and raging ego. Miranda Richardson is suitably grave and levelheaded as the ballet mistress who knows more than she pretends.
Simon Callow and Ciaran Hinds give comic zest to the theater's two new managers, but the roles have always been the show's weakest as they require vaudevillian turns at odds with the musical's often horrific tone.
What the film most damagingly lacks though is a sense of mystery and danger. When the Phantom magically transports Christine through the bowels of the opera to his lair, Schumacher has cinematographer John Mathieson light the passages so brightly -- the better to show off all those expensive sets, apparently -- it feels more like a fun frolic than a journey into the heart of darkness. There is even a horse standing by to help out. What on earth is a horse doing down there?
Similarly, in the scene where Christine visits her father's grave to sing "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," Schumacher has Rossum traipse miles through a grotesque set of towering, campy headstones and monuments before she finally arrives at a sarcophagus befitting an emperor. The only trouble is, her father was a poor violinist.
In the story's one major change, the famous scene in which the Phantom causes a chandelier to crash during a performance has been moved to the end to put more "wow" into the climax. Fine, only the audience now has no idea until the end how far this mad genius will go to claim his love from his rival. Except when Rossum is onscreen, this "Phantom" is but a hallow visual effects show.
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures presents in association with Odyssey Entertainment A Really Useful Films/Scion Films production
Credits:
Director: Joel Schumacher
Screenwriters: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Joel Schumacher
Based on the novel by: Gaston Leroux
Producer: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Executive producers: Austin Shaw, Paul Hitchcock, Louise Goodsill, Ralph Kamp, Jeff Abberley, Julia Blackman, Keith Cousins
Director of photography: John Mathieson
Production designer: Anthony Pratt
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics: Charles Hart
Additional lyrics: Richard Stilgoe
Choreographer: Peter Darling
Costumes: Alexandra Byrne
Visual effects supervisor: Nathan McGuinness
Editor: Terry Rawlings
Cast:
Phantom: Gerard Butler
Christine: Emmy Rossum
Raoul: Patrick Wilson
Mme. Giry: Miranda Richardson
Andrew: Simon Callow
Firmin: Ciaran Hinds
Carlotta: Minnie Driver
Buquet: Kevin R. McNally
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 140 minutes...
A Baz Luhrmann might have found a way to make the film version hip and relevant to younger audiences. But Webber clearly maintained a tight grip on his baby as producer and screenplay collaborator with director Joel Schumacher, so little rethinking of the stage show went into the filmization. Consequently, audiences for the musical skew older, with little to attract young males.
The story from Gaston Leroux's 1911 pulp horror novel tells of a disfigured musical genius who haunts the catacombs of a Paris opera house. He secretly mentors a young female singer, whom he adores, but a hideous face behind a half mask forces him to hide both himself and his love from the woman.
The film opens strongly with a black-and-white prologue in 1919, where the aging Vicompte Raoul de Chagny buys an old music box at auction in a decaying theater. As an organ strikes the Phantom's theme, the movie then flashes back in brilliant color to that theater in full swing in 1870 where singers, costumers, set builders and the ballet corps ready the next grand production.
The film gains further momentum when the brilliant and beautiful Emmy Rossum comes onscreen as the young chorus girl Christine Daae. A classically trained singer who made a dazzling debut in the underrated "Songcatcher" in 2000, Rossum has a crystal-pure voice that conveys the soft innocence of the Phantom's beloved. She also handles the mood shifts well, confused when caught in a romantic tug of war between the Phantom and her lover, Raoul, then later finding the backbone to stand up to her mentor.
Alas, the movie stumbles badly with the appearance of Scottish actor Gerard Butler as the Phantom. The role, so memorably created by Michael Crawford onstage, usually falls to an older actor since the Phantom has supposedly been Christine's "angel of music" since childhood. Yet Butler is nearly the same age as Patrick Wilson, who plays Christine's childhood friend Raoul. The change possibly reflects a misguided notion that a younger Phantom will attract a younger crowd, but it throws off the dynamics of the romantic triangle. Much more damaging is the fact Butler is not a trained singer. He manages to get by but lacks the vocal range and richness to do justice to some of the show's finest songs.
The role of Raoul is always problematic. Webber and Schumacher invent a ludicrous sword fight between Raoul and the Phantom in a graveyard so his character is a little less wimpy than onstage. Nevertheless, Wilson struggles, as do all Raouls, to give the character color or dimension.
Minnie Driver, as the opera's impossible diva, is terrific fun, hamming things up in a fake Italian accent and raging ego. Miranda Richardson is suitably grave and levelheaded as the ballet mistress who knows more than she pretends.
Simon Callow and Ciaran Hinds give comic zest to the theater's two new managers, but the roles have always been the show's weakest as they require vaudevillian turns at odds with the musical's often horrific tone.
What the film most damagingly lacks though is a sense of mystery and danger. When the Phantom magically transports Christine through the bowels of the opera to his lair, Schumacher has cinematographer John Mathieson light the passages so brightly -- the better to show off all those expensive sets, apparently -- it feels more like a fun frolic than a journey into the heart of darkness. There is even a horse standing by to help out. What on earth is a horse doing down there?
Similarly, in the scene where Christine visits her father's grave to sing "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," Schumacher has Rossum traipse miles through a grotesque set of towering, campy headstones and monuments before she finally arrives at a sarcophagus befitting an emperor. The only trouble is, her father was a poor violinist.
In the story's one major change, the famous scene in which the Phantom causes a chandelier to crash during a performance has been moved to the end to put more "wow" into the climax. Fine, only the audience now has no idea until the end how far this mad genius will go to claim his love from his rival. Except when Rossum is onscreen, this "Phantom" is but a hallow visual effects show.
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures presents in association with Odyssey Entertainment A Really Useful Films/Scion Films production
Credits:
Director: Joel Schumacher
Screenwriters: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Joel Schumacher
Based on the novel by: Gaston Leroux
Producer: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Executive producers: Austin Shaw, Paul Hitchcock, Louise Goodsill, Ralph Kamp, Jeff Abberley, Julia Blackman, Keith Cousins
Director of photography: John Mathieson
Production designer: Anthony Pratt
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics: Charles Hart
Additional lyrics: Richard Stilgoe
Choreographer: Peter Darling
Costumes: Alexandra Byrne
Visual effects supervisor: Nathan McGuinness
Editor: Terry Rawlings
Cast:
Phantom: Gerard Butler
Christine: Emmy Rossum
Raoul: Patrick Wilson
Mme. Giry: Miranda Richardson
Andrew: Simon Callow
Firmin: Ciaran Hinds
Carlotta: Minnie Driver
Buquet: Kevin R. McNally
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 140 minutes...
- 1/10/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Val Kilmer puts on many disguises in "The Saint", but they mask neither his own wooden performance nor the leaden dynamic of this Paramount release. Look for "The Saint" to open with some measure of beneficent offering, but then, based on negative word-of-mouth, to do a prolonged term in boxoffice purgatory.
In this topical but dull scenario, Kilmer stars as the epicurean master thief Simon Templar whose voracious appetite for big-time bucks as a savvy international thief knows no bounds. Simon's approaching the $50 million goal he has set for himself, and not overly burdened with ethics, he looks quickly forward to exiting his occupation with wads of Swiss-bank cash.
Cynical and self-absorbed, Simon doesn't expect to get waylaid in any kind of modern scam. As such, he's sucked into the life of an idealistic scientist, Emma (Elisabeth Shue), whose life is in danger owing to the thuggery of post-glasnost Russia.
In a story line sagely put together from contemporary headlines, screenwriters Jonathan Hensleigh and Wesley Strick have patched a tall but believable tale about crime in modern-day Red Square, and, not surprisingly, they've fitted it around a megalomaniac leader (Rade Serbedzija) who is obsessed with not only ruling the former Soviet republics but ruling the world. Unfortunately, this bright notion is dashed by desultory writing: Unintentionally funny dialogue, preposterous plotting and weak backdrop mar the promising complications.
Further dulling the dynamic is director Phillip Noyce's woefully slow pacing, with perfunctory exposition scenes clotting the caper. There is little spark nor polished sheen in this dull filmic facsimile, and soon the story itself dulls completely.
In essence, Kilmer does a male Julia Roberts here, trying on a lot of hats, etc. For his lead performance, one must acknowledge that Kilmer does possess many thick accents, as if having eaten a lot of gravy on Interstate 80, yet he never invigorates his performance with any personality. In all, his performance resonates with all the aplomb of an Indianapolis dentist who is doing some moonlighting as a thespian.
Shue scurries to make sense of her role of heart-stricken scientist and, to her credit, wins our affections. Perhaps best among the players is Serbedzija, whose stirringly scary performance as the vainglorious Russian billionaire sobers us to the realization that things are very out of control in that region.
Technical contributions are inconsistent: The film's feeble story line and plot rendering is constantly overwhelmed by Graeme Revell's overzealous score. In addition, the dark scopings of cinematographer Phil Meheux add little in the way of thematic counterpoint to this murky, sin-filled "Saint".
THE SAINT
Paramount Pictures
in association with Rysher Entertainment
A David Brown and Robert Evans production
Producers David Brown, Robert Evans,
William J. MacDonald
Director Phillip Noyce
Screenwriters Jonathan Hensleigh, Wesley Strick
Story Jonathan Hensleigh
Director of photography Phil Meheux
Production designer Joseph Nemec III
Editor Terry Rawlings
Executive producers Paul Hitchcock,
Robert S. Baker
Associate producer Lis Kern
Music Graeme Revell
Costume designer Marlene Stewart
Casting Patsy Pollock, Elisabeth Leustig
Sound mixer Ivan Sharrock
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Simon Templar Val Kilmer
Dr. Emma Russell Elisabeth Shue
Ivan Tretiak Rade Serbedzija
Ilya Tretiak Valery Nikolaev
Dr. Lev Botvin Henry Goodman
Chief Inspector Teal Alun Armstrong
Tretiak's aide Michael Byrne
Running time -- 113 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
In this topical but dull scenario, Kilmer stars as the epicurean master thief Simon Templar whose voracious appetite for big-time bucks as a savvy international thief knows no bounds. Simon's approaching the $50 million goal he has set for himself, and not overly burdened with ethics, he looks quickly forward to exiting his occupation with wads of Swiss-bank cash.
Cynical and self-absorbed, Simon doesn't expect to get waylaid in any kind of modern scam. As such, he's sucked into the life of an idealistic scientist, Emma (Elisabeth Shue), whose life is in danger owing to the thuggery of post-glasnost Russia.
In a story line sagely put together from contemporary headlines, screenwriters Jonathan Hensleigh and Wesley Strick have patched a tall but believable tale about crime in modern-day Red Square, and, not surprisingly, they've fitted it around a megalomaniac leader (Rade Serbedzija) who is obsessed with not only ruling the former Soviet republics but ruling the world. Unfortunately, this bright notion is dashed by desultory writing: Unintentionally funny dialogue, preposterous plotting and weak backdrop mar the promising complications.
Further dulling the dynamic is director Phillip Noyce's woefully slow pacing, with perfunctory exposition scenes clotting the caper. There is little spark nor polished sheen in this dull filmic facsimile, and soon the story itself dulls completely.
In essence, Kilmer does a male Julia Roberts here, trying on a lot of hats, etc. For his lead performance, one must acknowledge that Kilmer does possess many thick accents, as if having eaten a lot of gravy on Interstate 80, yet he never invigorates his performance with any personality. In all, his performance resonates with all the aplomb of an Indianapolis dentist who is doing some moonlighting as a thespian.
Shue scurries to make sense of her role of heart-stricken scientist and, to her credit, wins our affections. Perhaps best among the players is Serbedzija, whose stirringly scary performance as the vainglorious Russian billionaire sobers us to the realization that things are very out of control in that region.
Technical contributions are inconsistent: The film's feeble story line and plot rendering is constantly overwhelmed by Graeme Revell's overzealous score. In addition, the dark scopings of cinematographer Phil Meheux add little in the way of thematic counterpoint to this murky, sin-filled "Saint".
THE SAINT
Paramount Pictures
in association with Rysher Entertainment
A David Brown and Robert Evans production
Producers David Brown, Robert Evans,
William J. MacDonald
Director Phillip Noyce
Screenwriters Jonathan Hensleigh, Wesley Strick
Story Jonathan Hensleigh
Director of photography Phil Meheux
Production designer Joseph Nemec III
Editor Terry Rawlings
Executive producers Paul Hitchcock,
Robert S. Baker
Associate producer Lis Kern
Music Graeme Revell
Costume designer Marlene Stewart
Casting Patsy Pollock, Elisabeth Leustig
Sound mixer Ivan Sharrock
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Simon Templar Val Kilmer
Dr. Emma Russell Elisabeth Shue
Ivan Tretiak Rade Serbedzija
Ilya Tretiak Valery Nikolaev
Dr. Lev Botvin Henry Goodman
Chief Inspector Teal Alun Armstrong
Tretiak's aide Michael Byrne
Running time -- 113 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 3/31/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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