“Do I have regrets?” asks Sylvester Stallone at the beginning of “Sly,” the Thom Zimny documentary about him that served as the closing-night film at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday. “Hell yeah, I have regrets.”
Putting that quote up front is a smart way to introduce a film about the man whose career sometimes seems to have resulted in equal parts iconography and mockery. The actor, screenwriter and director created the classic characters Rocky Balboa and John Rambo, but struggled to find respect and made more than his share of terrible films.
Another smart move: New conversations with Stallone run throughout the film, but these are not the usual talking-head interviews in which the subject sits in a chair and runs through his life. Instead, Stallone almost always talks to the camera while standing up and moving around.
Zimny’s camera stays on the go, bobbing and weaving...
Putting that quote up front is a smart way to introduce a film about the man whose career sometimes seems to have resulted in equal parts iconography and mockery. The actor, screenwriter and director created the classic characters Rocky Balboa and John Rambo, but struggled to find respect and made more than his share of terrible films.
Another smart move: New conversations with Stallone run throughout the film, but these are not the usual talking-head interviews in which the subject sits in a chair and runs through his life. Instead, Stallone almost always talks to the camera while standing up and moving around.
Zimny’s camera stays on the go, bobbing and weaving...
- 9/17/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
What do we want out of a training montage?
I mean that question seriously. What, do movie viewers truly want out of a sequence where the main character improves, grows stronger, and collects a new set of skills in a matter of minutes as the magic of movie editing compresses hours (even days or weeks) of backbreaking, bone-crushing work into a few shots? If you were to quiz the pop culture zeitgeist at large, the answer would be clear: bombast. The big picture view of the training montage is one that is inherently silly, one that is easily parodied, one that suggests anyone can get better at anything as long as they have some great music and some rapid cuts of them leaping from one activity to another. Training montages are silly, pop culture tells us, and the zanier and wilder and bigger they are, the more we remember them.
I mean that question seriously. What, do movie viewers truly want out of a sequence where the main character improves, grows stronger, and collects a new set of skills in a matter of minutes as the magic of movie editing compresses hours (even days or weeks) of backbreaking, bone-crushing work into a few shots? If you were to quiz the pop culture zeitgeist at large, the answer would be clear: bombast. The big picture view of the training montage is one that is inherently silly, one that is easily parodied, one that suggests anyone can get better at anything as long as they have some great music and some rapid cuts of them leaping from one activity to another. Training montages are silly, pop culture tells us, and the zanier and wilder and bigger they are, the more we remember them.
- 3/2/2023
- by Jacob Hall
- Slash Film
"Rocky" has endured as one of the most uplifting sports films of all time thanks in large part to its heartfelt portrayal of two social misfits falling haltingly in love as one of them trains for an unlikely, yet plausible shot at the heavyweight boxing title. Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire give lovely, lived-in performances that are painful to watch at times because Rocky has no idea how awkwardly his gregariousness lands, while Adrian seems terrified that anyone would find her worthy of affection.
For most of its runtime, "Rocky" is a human drama about losers. It soars to life during its Bill Conti-scored training montage that explodes the film into its exhilarating third act. Interestingly, the final match isn't all that long. From the opening bell to the end of the fifteenth round, it occupies a scant eight-and-a-half minutes of screen time. But it feels like trench warfare...
For most of its runtime, "Rocky" is a human drama about losers. It soars to life during its Bill Conti-scored training montage that explodes the film into its exhilarating third act. Interestingly, the final match isn't all that long. From the opening bell to the end of the fifteenth round, it occupies a scant eight-and-a-half minutes of screen time. But it feels like trench warfare...
- 1/13/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
John G. Avildsen was an expert in the art of the feel-good finale. He knew how to end a movie on a high, and send the audience floating on air out of the theater. He did it with "Rocky" in 1976, and again in 1984 with "The Karate Kid." Once the big fight is over in both these films, Avildsen lets Bil Conti's music crescendo, cuts to a close-up, freezes the frame and, boom, credits. How effective is this? Both movies were also blockbusters that launched franchises that remain active and hugely-popular to this day, with even more spinoffs and sequels on the way.
It's hard to imagine "Rocky," in particular, ending any other way, but Avildsen and Sylvester Stallone (who wrote the movie's screenplay in addition to starring as the Italian Stallion) had a decidedly different idea for the original conclusion -- one that might've sabotaged the sweet-natured film and cost...
It's hard to imagine "Rocky," in particular, ending any other way, but Avildsen and Sylvester Stallone (who wrote the movie's screenplay in addition to starring as the Italian Stallion) had a decidedly different idea for the original conclusion -- one that might've sabotaged the sweet-natured film and cost...
- 1/12/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Paul Mazursky’s affectionate memoir of the New York bohemian life circa 1953 has a feel for the milieu and an honest appraisal of the kooky culture therein: artists, actors, users, takers, sweethearts, neurotics and phonies. Lenny Baker’s main character may have an amorous relationship with his girlfriend Ellen Greene, but his strongest connection is with his overbearing mother, played to perfection by Shelley Winters. She was a Best Supporting Actress nominee for The Poseidon Adventure but not for this? Honestly.
Next Stop, Greenwich Village
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1976 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / Street Date May 22, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Lenny Baker, Shelley Winters, Ellen Greene, Lois Smith, Christopher Walken, Dori Brenner, Antonio Fargas, Lou Jacobi.
Cinematography: Arthur Ornitz
Film Editor: Richard Halsey
Original music: Bill Conti
Production Designer: Phil Rosenberg
Produced by Paul Mazursky and Tony Ray
Written and Directed by Paul Mazursky
Fans of Paul...
Next Stop, Greenwich Village
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1976 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / Street Date May 22, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Lenny Baker, Shelley Winters, Ellen Greene, Lois Smith, Christopher Walken, Dori Brenner, Antonio Fargas, Lou Jacobi.
Cinematography: Arthur Ornitz
Film Editor: Richard Halsey
Original music: Bill Conti
Production Designer: Phil Rosenberg
Produced by Paul Mazursky and Tony Ray
Written and Directed by Paul Mazursky
Fans of Paul...
- 6/5/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“May you live to be a thousand years old, sir.” Still the most widely unheralded great movie on the books, John Patrick Shanley’s lightweight/profound fable is an unmitigated delight. See Tom Hanks at the end of the first phase of his career plus Meg Ryan in an unacknowledged career highlight. How can a movie be so purposely insubstantial, and yet be ‘heavier’ than a dozen pictures with ‘big things to say?’
Joe Versus the Volcano
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1990 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date June 20, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Abe Vigoda,
Dan Hedaya, Barry McGovern, Amanda Plummer, Ossie Davis
Cinematography Stephen Goldblatt
Production Designer Bo Welch
Film Editors Richard Halsey, Kenneth Wannberg
Original Music Georges Delerue
Produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steven Spielberg and Teri Schwartz
Written and Directed by John Patrick Shanley
I think I found...
Joe Versus the Volcano
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1990 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date June 20, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Abe Vigoda,
Dan Hedaya, Barry McGovern, Amanda Plummer, Ossie Davis
Cinematography Stephen Goldblatt
Production Designer Bo Welch
Film Editors Richard Halsey, Kenneth Wannberg
Original Music Georges Delerue
Produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steven Spielberg and Teri Schwartz
Written and Directed by John Patrick Shanley
I think I found...
- 6/6/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
One of the better-remembered ’80s sci-fi horror thrillers is back in an improved Blu-ray, with a pile of extras. Dennis Quaid gets to act with Max von Sydow Christopher Plummer, Eddie Albert and Kate Capshaw, as they deal with a Cronenberg-like device that can invade human dreams.
Dreamscape
Blu-ray
Scream Factory (Shout! Factory)
1984 / Color /1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 / 29.93
Starring Dennis Quaid, Max von Sydow, Christopher Plummer, Eddie Albert, Kate Capshaw, David Patrick Kelly, George Wendt.
Cinematography Brian Tufano
Film Editor Richard Halsey
Original Music Maurice Jarre
Written by David Loughery, Chuck Russell, Joseph Ruben
Produced by Bruce John Curtis
Directed by Joseph Ruben
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
I have a previous Blu-ray of 1984’s Dreamscape but this edition is a big improvement, both in the transfer and its extras. Dreamscape is a commercially successful thriller that places a superior star cast in a science fantasy with plenty of potential.
Dreamscape
Blu-ray
Scream Factory (Shout! Factory)
1984 / Color /1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 / 29.93
Starring Dennis Quaid, Max von Sydow, Christopher Plummer, Eddie Albert, Kate Capshaw, David Patrick Kelly, George Wendt.
Cinematography Brian Tufano
Film Editor Richard Halsey
Original Music Maurice Jarre
Written by David Loughery, Chuck Russell, Joseph Ruben
Produced by Bruce John Curtis
Directed by Joseph Ruben
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
I have a previous Blu-ray of 1984’s Dreamscape but this edition is a big improvement, both in the transfer and its extras. Dreamscape is a commercially successful thriller that places a superior star cast in a science fantasy with plenty of potential.
- 12/19/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Now this is a list that could result in a lot of fascinating dissection and thanks to HitFix it comes to our attention almost three years after it was originally released back in 2012, celebrating the Motion Picture Editors Guild's 75th anniversary. Over at HitFix, Kris Tapley asks, "Is this news to anyone elsec" Um, yes, I find it immensely interesting and a perfect starting point for anyone looking to further explore the art of film editing. In an accompanying article we get the particulars concerning what films were eligible and how films were to be considered: In our Jan-feb 12 issue, we asked Guild members to vote on what they consider to be the Best Edited Films of all time. Any feature-length film from any country in the world was eligible. And by "Best Edited," we explained, we didn't just mean picture; sound, music and mixing were to be considered as well.
- 2/4/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
A random bit of researching on a Tuesday night led me to something I didn't know existed: The Motion Picture Editors Guild's list of the 75 best-edited films of all time. It was a feature in part celebrating the Guild's 75th anniversary in 2012. Is this news to anyone else? I confess to having missed it entirely. Naturally, I had to dig in. What was immediately striking to me about the list — which was decided upon by the Guild membership and, per instruction, was considered in terms of picture and sound editorial as opposed to just the former — was the most popular decade ranking. Naturally, the 1970s led with 17 mentions, but right on its heels was the 1990s. I wouldn't have expected that but I happen to agree with the assessment. Thelma Schoonmaker's work on "Raging Bull" came out on top, an objectively difficult choice to dispute, really. It was so transformative,...
- 2/4/2015
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
‘Captain Phillips’ (edited by Christopher Rouse, A.C.E.) and ‘American Hustle’ (edited by Jay Cassidy, A.C.E., Crispin Struthers & Alan Baumgarten, A.C.E.) won Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) and Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy/Musical) respectively at the 64th Annual Ace Eddie Awards tonight where trophies were handed out in ten (10) categories of film, television and documentaries. The black-tie ceremony was held in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel with over 1,000 in attendance to celebrate the year?s best editing. ?Frozen? (edited by Jeff Draheim) won Best Edited Animated Feature Film and ?20 Feet From Stardom? (edited by Douglas Blush, Kevin Klauber & Jason Zeldes) won Best Edited Documentary (Feature). Television winners included ‘The Office Finale’ (edited by David Rogers & Claire Scanlon) for Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television, ‘Breaking Bad’ Felina (edited by Skip MacDonald, A.C.E.) for Best Edited One-Hour Series for Commercial television,...
- 2/8/2014
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
© Linda Treydte / Tilt Photo
Captain Phillips (edited by Christopher Rouse, A.C.E.) and American Hustle (edited by Jay Cassidy, A.C.E., Crispin Struthers & Alan Baumgarten, A.C.E.) won Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) and Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy/Musical) respectively at the 64th Annual Ace Eddie Awards Friday evening where trophies were handed out in ten (10) categories of film, television and documentaries.
The black-tie ceremony was held in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel with over 1,000 in attendance to celebrate the year’s best editing.
Frozen (edited by Jeff Draheim) won Best Edited Animated Feature Film and 20 Feet From Stardom (edited by Douglas Blush, Kevin Klauber & Jason Zeldes) won Best Edited Documentary (Feature).
June Squibb and Will Forte flank Best Animated Feature winner, Jeff Draheim (‘Frozen’). © Linda Treydte / Tilt Photo
Television winners included ”The Office – Finale” (edited by David Rogers & Claire Scanlon) for Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television,...
Captain Phillips (edited by Christopher Rouse, A.C.E.) and American Hustle (edited by Jay Cassidy, A.C.E., Crispin Struthers & Alan Baumgarten, A.C.E.) won Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) and Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy/Musical) respectively at the 64th Annual Ace Eddie Awards Friday evening where trophies were handed out in ten (10) categories of film, television and documentaries.
The black-tie ceremony was held in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel with over 1,000 in attendance to celebrate the year’s best editing.
Frozen (edited by Jeff Draheim) won Best Edited Animated Feature Film and 20 Feet From Stardom (edited by Douglas Blush, Kevin Klauber & Jason Zeldes) won Best Edited Documentary (Feature).
June Squibb and Will Forte flank Best Animated Feature winner, Jeff Draheim (‘Frozen’). © Linda Treydte / Tilt Photo
Television winners included ”The Office – Finale” (edited by David Rogers & Claire Scanlon) for Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television,...
- 2/8/2014
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Captain Phillips and American Hustle won Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) and Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy/Musical) respectively at the 64th Annual Ace Eddie Awards on Friday night (7).
The Los Angeles ceremony also saw Frozen scoop the Best Edited Animated Feature Film, while 20 Feet From Stardom took home the Best Edited Documentary (Feature) award.
Tom Hanks presented Paul Greengrass with the Ace Golden Eddie Filmmaker Of The Year honour.
Lifetime Career Achievement Awards went to Richard Halsey and Robert C Jones. The Heritage Award, which has only been presented a few times in the organisation’s history, went to Randy Roberts.
The Los Angeles ceremony also saw Frozen scoop the Best Edited Animated Feature Film, while 20 Feet From Stardom took home the Best Edited Documentary (Feature) award.
Tom Hanks presented Paul Greengrass with the Ace Golden Eddie Filmmaker Of The Year honour.
Lifetime Career Achievement Awards went to Richard Halsey and Robert C Jones. The Heritage Award, which has only been presented a few times in the organisation’s history, went to Randy Roberts.
- 2/8/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The American Cinema Editors (Ace) will present Richard Halsey and Robert C Jones with lifetime career achievement awards at the 64th Annual Ace Eddie Awards in February.
Dean of the UCLA School Of Theater, Film And Television Teri Schwartz will present to Halsey and Warren Beatty will present to Jones.
Halsey won the Oscar for Rocky and his credits include Edward Scissorhands (pictured), American Gigolo and Sister Act.
Jones won an Oscar for writing Coming Home and among his editing credits are Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, Shampoo, Heaven Can Wait, Bulworth and Days Of Thunder.
Randy Roberts will receive the Heritage Award from Ace president Alan Heim.
As previously announced, Paul Greengrass will receive the Ace Golden Eddie Filmmaker Of The Year honour from Tom Hanks.
The 64th Annual Ace Eddie Awards ceremony will take place on February 7 in Los Angeles.
Dean of the UCLA School Of Theater, Film And Television Teri Schwartz will present to Halsey and Warren Beatty will present to Jones.
Halsey won the Oscar for Rocky and his credits include Edward Scissorhands (pictured), American Gigolo and Sister Act.
Jones won an Oscar for writing Coming Home and among his editing credits are Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, Shampoo, Heaven Can Wait, Bulworth and Days Of Thunder.
Randy Roberts will receive the Heritage Award from Ace president Alan Heim.
As previously announced, Paul Greengrass will receive the Ace Golden Eddie Filmmaker Of The Year honour from Tom Hanks.
The 64th Annual Ace Eddie Awards ceremony will take place on February 7 in Los Angeles.
- 1/28/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Academy Award winning editor for Sylvester Stallone.s .Rocky,. is crewed up on .The City of Gardens.movie. The film is produced by Four Fish Films/Dragon Tree Media. Richard Halsey (.The Net,. .American History X,. .Edward Scissorhands,. .Sister Act,.) brings movie history to The City of Gardens. The intense action/drama, is the story of a free-spirited American surfer who attempts to rid himself of his father.s wealth by running off to Peru where he is accused of trafficking cocaine and is sent to prison. Background Halsey has been responsible for crafting together almost 60 films in his distinguished career. His talent led to his winning the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for the 1976 film .Rocky.. Also nominated for...
- 8/6/2010
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
Richard Halsey, who won an Academy Award for his editing on Sylvester Stallone's 1976 classic Rocky, has begun work on action-drama The City of Gardens.
Among the film's cast are two werewolves: Alex Meraz from the Twilight films and Grant Bowler from True Blood. Meraz is pictured above (on right) alongside lead actor John Robinson (Lords of Dogtown, Seraphim Falls, Transformers, Elephant).
Produced by Four Fish Films/Dragon Tree Media, the film is now entering into post-production. It tells the story of a free-spirited American surfer who attempts to rid himself of his father's wealth by fleeing to Peru, where he is accused of trafficking cocaine and sent to prison.
Editor Richard Halsey has also worked on such films as Sister Act, Edward Scissorhands, Beaches and American Gigolo.
Halsey, who began his career at 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros in sound and film editing, said: "I knew immediately that...
Among the film's cast are two werewolves: Alex Meraz from the Twilight films and Grant Bowler from True Blood. Meraz is pictured above (on right) alongside lead actor John Robinson (Lords of Dogtown, Seraphim Falls, Transformers, Elephant).
Produced by Four Fish Films/Dragon Tree Media, the film is now entering into post-production. It tells the story of a free-spirited American surfer who attempts to rid himself of his father's wealth by fleeing to Peru, where he is accused of trafficking cocaine and sent to prison.
Editor Richard Halsey has also worked on such films as Sister Act, Edward Scissorhands, Beaches and American Gigolo.
Halsey, who began his career at 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros in sound and film editing, said: "I knew immediately that...
- 7/29/2010
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
Even when grief is overwhelming, funerals can be absurd gatherings full of awkward drama and unintentionally funny ritual by rote. In the case of Eulogy, writer-director Michael Clancy's feature debut, there's no troublesome sadness to get in the way of the quirk factor. Character eccentricities and off-kilter group dynamics play out with a comic vengeance.
Although this black comedy doesn't always achieve its intended laughs and sometimes pushes too hard for them, at its best it offers droll glimpses of the cosmic abyss that often serves as a family's connective tissue. The terrific ensemble cast finds the right deadpan tone to deliver the dysfunction. The presence of Debra Winger will up the draw for niche theatrical audiences, and Eulogy should enjoy a long afterlife on home video.
Unshowy tech contributions, led by DP Michael Chapman (Raging Bull) and editor Richard Halsey (Rocky), put the actors front and center in this concise comic portrait of a clan numbed by disappointment. Winger plays Alice, the oldest, loudest and angriest of the four Collins siblings, returning home to Rhode Island for the funeral of the father they barely knew (Rip Torn). His passing barely dents their self-centered orbits, and even his widow (Piper Laurie) responds with a vacant impassiveness, notwithstanding a couple of badly misfired suicide attempts.
The unlikely voice of sanity and compassion within the sorry lot is college student Kate (Zooey Deschanel, exuding practicality and emotional translucence). When she's not struggling to write the eulogy her clear-eyed grandmother requested, she's avoiding neighbor Ryan (Jesse Bradford), confused over the romantic turn their lifelong summer friendship has taken.
Kate's father, Dan (Hank Azaria), is an adult-film actor looking through a cannabis haze for his big break, having reached his show business zenith in a peanut butter commercial at age 8. Skip (Ray Romano) is a lawyer of sorts with a most unfortunate mustache, and adolescent twins (Curtis and Keith Garcia) who, when they're not being plain evil, toss around sex-talk swagger as though they've listened to Howard Stern one too many times.
The twins take a sudden interest in the gathering when their feisty aunt Lucy (Kelly Preston) shows up with her easygoing "life partner," Judy (Famke Janssen). This rather forced self-introduction is the first sign that Clancy is going to use the lesbian relationship a bit too insistently. While Alice's three children cower in silence and her husband (Mark Harelik) burbles incoherently, she all but puts Lucy and Judy on trial. By the time they announce their wedding plans, you can only wonder why the brides-to-be would want this variously mean-spirited and clueless bunch at the festivities.
But the utter irrationality of family is Clancy's point. It's no wonder Grandma sees no reason to explain her eagerness to check out. And while her suicide attempts aren't as, well, funny as they're meant to be, they do land her in the inexpert care of a dippy nurse (Glenne Headly, in sweet ditz mode) who turns out to be a crucial figure from Alice's past.
As good as it is to see Winger onscreen, her character is too strident a conception, the explanation for her malice a bit too easy. But to Clancy's credit he doesn't try to tie it all up with a feel-good ending. The dark undercurrents remain as the Collinses bid Dad farewell. The twins are still obnoxious. And Romano's Skip is still sporting that mustache.
EULOGY
Lions Gate Films
A Myriad Pictures presentation in association with Ovation Entertainment, Equity Pictures Medienfonds and S.R.O. Entertainment AF
Credits:
Director-writer: Michael Clancy
Producers: Steven Haft, Richard B. Lewis, Kirk D'Amico
Executive producers: Lucas Foster, Kendall Morgan, Bo Hyde, Rory Rosegarten, Jonas McCord, Shelly Glasser
Director of photography: Michael Chapman
Production designer: Dina Lipton
Music: George S. Clinton
Co-producers: Stefan Jonas, Jeanne Van Cott
Costume designer: Tracy Tynan
Editor: Richard Halsey
Cast:
Daniel Collins: Hank Azaria
Ryan Carmichael: Jesse Bradford
Kate Collins: Zooey Deschanel
Samantha: Glenne Headly
Judy Arnolds: Famke Janssen
Grandma Collins: Piper Laurie
Lucy Collins: Kelly Preston
Skip Collins: Ray Romano
Grandpa Collins: Rip Torn
Alice Collins: Debra Winger
Burt: Mark Harelik
Parson Banke: Rene Auberjonois
MPAA rating: R
Running time -- 85 minutes...
Although this black comedy doesn't always achieve its intended laughs and sometimes pushes too hard for them, at its best it offers droll glimpses of the cosmic abyss that often serves as a family's connective tissue. The terrific ensemble cast finds the right deadpan tone to deliver the dysfunction. The presence of Debra Winger will up the draw for niche theatrical audiences, and Eulogy should enjoy a long afterlife on home video.
Unshowy tech contributions, led by DP Michael Chapman (Raging Bull) and editor Richard Halsey (Rocky), put the actors front and center in this concise comic portrait of a clan numbed by disappointment. Winger plays Alice, the oldest, loudest and angriest of the four Collins siblings, returning home to Rhode Island for the funeral of the father they barely knew (Rip Torn). His passing barely dents their self-centered orbits, and even his widow (Piper Laurie) responds with a vacant impassiveness, notwithstanding a couple of badly misfired suicide attempts.
The unlikely voice of sanity and compassion within the sorry lot is college student Kate (Zooey Deschanel, exuding practicality and emotional translucence). When she's not struggling to write the eulogy her clear-eyed grandmother requested, she's avoiding neighbor Ryan (Jesse Bradford), confused over the romantic turn their lifelong summer friendship has taken.
Kate's father, Dan (Hank Azaria), is an adult-film actor looking through a cannabis haze for his big break, having reached his show business zenith in a peanut butter commercial at age 8. Skip (Ray Romano) is a lawyer of sorts with a most unfortunate mustache, and adolescent twins (Curtis and Keith Garcia) who, when they're not being plain evil, toss around sex-talk swagger as though they've listened to Howard Stern one too many times.
The twins take a sudden interest in the gathering when their feisty aunt Lucy (Kelly Preston) shows up with her easygoing "life partner," Judy (Famke Janssen). This rather forced self-introduction is the first sign that Clancy is going to use the lesbian relationship a bit too insistently. While Alice's three children cower in silence and her husband (Mark Harelik) burbles incoherently, she all but puts Lucy and Judy on trial. By the time they announce their wedding plans, you can only wonder why the brides-to-be would want this variously mean-spirited and clueless bunch at the festivities.
But the utter irrationality of family is Clancy's point. It's no wonder Grandma sees no reason to explain her eagerness to check out. And while her suicide attempts aren't as, well, funny as they're meant to be, they do land her in the inexpert care of a dippy nurse (Glenne Headly, in sweet ditz mode) who turns out to be a crucial figure from Alice's past.
As good as it is to see Winger onscreen, her character is too strident a conception, the explanation for her malice a bit too easy. But to Clancy's credit he doesn't try to tie it all up with a feel-good ending. The dark undercurrents remain as the Collinses bid Dad farewell. The twins are still obnoxious. And Romano's Skip is still sporting that mustache.
EULOGY
Lions Gate Films
A Myriad Pictures presentation in association with Ovation Entertainment, Equity Pictures Medienfonds and S.R.O. Entertainment AF
Credits:
Director-writer: Michael Clancy
Producers: Steven Haft, Richard B. Lewis, Kirk D'Amico
Executive producers: Lucas Foster, Kendall Morgan, Bo Hyde, Rory Rosegarten, Jonas McCord, Shelly Glasser
Director of photography: Michael Chapman
Production designer: Dina Lipton
Music: George S. Clinton
Co-producers: Stefan Jonas, Jeanne Van Cott
Costume designer: Tracy Tynan
Editor: Richard Halsey
Cast:
Daniel Collins: Hank Azaria
Ryan Carmichael: Jesse Bradford
Kate Collins: Zooey Deschanel
Samantha: Glenne Headly
Judy Arnolds: Famke Janssen
Grandma Collins: Piper Laurie
Lucy Collins: Kelly Preston
Skip Collins: Ray Romano
Grandpa Collins: Rip Torn
Alice Collins: Debra Winger
Burt: Mark Harelik
Parson Banke: Rene Auberjonois
MPAA rating: R
Running time -- 85 minutes...
- 10/29/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Even Wayne Campbell would blow chunks at ''So I Married an Axe Murderer.''
Mike Myers' new vehicle suggests, with the ''So'' in the title, an off-handed, postmodern take on an overheated Roger Corman flick. But the film assumes anything but a wry, ironic tone -- it, and Myers in particular, try way too hard.
The result is a sloppy, nearly two-hour riff on that tiredest most tired of sitcom conceits -- the suspicion that a close comrade is hiding a dark secret. With generic characterizations and a far-too-easily solved mystery, the film will likely be passed over by audiences, who will wait to see Myers on the big screen again when he re-emerges from his Aurora, Ill., basement.
Myers stars as Charlie Mackenzie, a commitment-shy young man who apparently makes a living at a San Francisco coffeehouse reciting poetry of the sort that would have Jack Kerouac -- or, indeed, any decent poet -- spinning in their graves (a limp variation on Myers' ''Saturday Night Live'' routine ''Sprockets''). Once Charlie meets a beautiful butcher named Harriet (Nancy Travis), the film devotes perhaps the least amount of effort a major studio release has ever expended on developing a credible relationship.
Then, evidence turns up hinting that Harriet may have killed three other men. Flimsy as the possibility may be, it's enough for Charlie to bail out on yet another promising romance. But then, no one ever said love would be easy.
With a woefully mechanical story line, and an alternately cloying and flat performance from Myers -- he's more entertaining in the small role of Charlie's loopy father than he is playing Charlie -- the film is redeemed, slightly, by the all-star bit turns. Alan Arkin is hilarious as a soft-spoken police lieutenant trying to play a TV-style tough guy, as is Myers' ''SNL'' cohort Phil Hartman as an Alcatraz Island tour guide.
Cameos by Steven Wright, Charles Grodin and Michael Richards also help put a little snap into the otherwise dreary proceedings.
Travis manages some charm in a role that would require additional work to be called ''underwritten.'' Anthony LaPaglia, Brenda Fricker and Amanda Plummer are wasted as Charlie's best friend, his mother and Harriet's sister, respectively.
Director Thomas Schlamme didn't have a chance to make a decent movie, given Myers' uneven work and the weak script (credited to Robbie Fox, although Myers did major rewrites). Tech credits are competent if undistinguished. Put Wayne's wig back on, Mike.
SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER
TriStar
Producers Robert N. Fried, Cary Woods
Director Thomas Schlamme
Screenplay Robbie Fox
Executive producer Bernie Williams
Director of photography Julio Macat
Editors Richard Halsey, Colleen Halsey
Music Bruce Broughton
Color/stereo
Cast:
Charlie-Stuart Mike Myers
Harriet Nancy Travis
Tony Anthony LaPaglia
Rose Amanda Plummer
May Brenda Fricker
Running time -- 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Mike Myers' new vehicle suggests, with the ''So'' in the title, an off-handed, postmodern take on an overheated Roger Corman flick. But the film assumes anything but a wry, ironic tone -- it, and Myers in particular, try way too hard.
The result is a sloppy, nearly two-hour riff on that tiredest most tired of sitcom conceits -- the suspicion that a close comrade is hiding a dark secret. With generic characterizations and a far-too-easily solved mystery, the film will likely be passed over by audiences, who will wait to see Myers on the big screen again when he re-emerges from his Aurora, Ill., basement.
Myers stars as Charlie Mackenzie, a commitment-shy young man who apparently makes a living at a San Francisco coffeehouse reciting poetry of the sort that would have Jack Kerouac -- or, indeed, any decent poet -- spinning in their graves (a limp variation on Myers' ''Saturday Night Live'' routine ''Sprockets''). Once Charlie meets a beautiful butcher named Harriet (Nancy Travis), the film devotes perhaps the least amount of effort a major studio release has ever expended on developing a credible relationship.
Then, evidence turns up hinting that Harriet may have killed three other men. Flimsy as the possibility may be, it's enough for Charlie to bail out on yet another promising romance. But then, no one ever said love would be easy.
With a woefully mechanical story line, and an alternately cloying and flat performance from Myers -- he's more entertaining in the small role of Charlie's loopy father than he is playing Charlie -- the film is redeemed, slightly, by the all-star bit turns. Alan Arkin is hilarious as a soft-spoken police lieutenant trying to play a TV-style tough guy, as is Myers' ''SNL'' cohort Phil Hartman as an Alcatraz Island tour guide.
Cameos by Steven Wright, Charles Grodin and Michael Richards also help put a little snap into the otherwise dreary proceedings.
Travis manages some charm in a role that would require additional work to be called ''underwritten.'' Anthony LaPaglia, Brenda Fricker and Amanda Plummer are wasted as Charlie's best friend, his mother and Harriet's sister, respectively.
Director Thomas Schlamme didn't have a chance to make a decent movie, given Myers' uneven work and the weak script (credited to Robbie Fox, although Myers did major rewrites). Tech credits are competent if undistinguished. Put Wayne's wig back on, Mike.
SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER
TriStar
Producers Robert N. Fried, Cary Woods
Director Thomas Schlamme
Screenplay Robbie Fox
Executive producer Bernie Williams
Director of photography Julio Macat
Editors Richard Halsey, Colleen Halsey
Music Bruce Broughton
Color/stereo
Cast:
Charlie-Stuart Mike Myers
Harriet Nancy Travis
Tony Anthony LaPaglia
Rose Amanda Plummer
May Brenda Fricker
Running time -- 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 7/19/1993
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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