Topsy-Turvy: Criterion Collection
March 31, 2011
You have to hand it to Mike Leigh, a filmmaker who has the confidence to make a $20 million period musical with limited commercial appeal. In 1999, he released Topsy-Turvy, a musical drama chronicling W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s creation of The...
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
December 20, 2010
To say Head (1968) is a cinematic oddity is an understatement. Intent at topping The Beatles at their own game, The Monkees appeared in a film that Bob Rafelson directed and co-wrote with none other than Jack Nicholson and that was even more experimental...
Cher: The Film Collection
November 22, 2010
Here’s a film that I bet William Friedkin would like to forget. At a time when popular musical acts like The Beatles and The Monkees were starring in movie musicals, Sonny and Cher decided to cash in on the trend too with Good Times (1967). Bored between...
Stevie Wonder – Biography Channel
July 30, 2010
Stevie Wonder – or Steveland Hardaway Judkins to his mother – needs no introduction. Were he on a Top Trumps card, his stats would look something like this: Top ten US hits: 30 No.1 US Hits: 10, Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame: Inducted,...
The Red Shoes: Criterion Collection
July 15, 2010
The Red Shoes (1948) is steeped in the rich tradition of backstage musicals but instead of making a comedy – the norm for many musicals – filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger opted for a drama. The project actually began in 1934 when producer...
Can’t Stop the Music
June 28, 2010
For those not in the know, The Village People are a concept disco collective, formed in America. The brains of the outfit, Jacques Morali, was responsible for penning the tunes and formed the band after placing an ad in a music magazine which read ‘must...
Michael Jackson’s This Is It
February 19, 2010
It’s something of an understatement to say that I’m a big Michael Jackson fan. I don’t just have all of his albums, I have most of the singles – and many of them on 12” vinyl promo. I have an original full set of early 80s Michael Jackson dolls,...
Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker
July 7, 2009
With the events of the last couple of weeks it seems the world has once again fallen in love with Michael Jackson. It’s just a shame that it took something so drastic for this to happen, but often genius isn’t always recognised until someone passes...
Funny Face: Centennial Collection
January 16, 2009
Funny Face (1957) started as a 1927 Broadway musical starring Fred Astaire with songs by George and Ira Gershwin. Paramount Pictures decided to remake it into a film starring Astaire and based on an unproduced musical play by Leonard Gershe. MGM was originally...
The Nightmare Before Christmas: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition
August 26, 2008
When The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) debuted in theatres, it was a modest commercial success but hardly the massive hit Disney had hoped for, especially with the pedigree of Tim Burton’s name above the title. It was well-received by critics who...
