Welcome to 5 Favorites. Each week, I will put together a list of my 5 favorites (films, performances, whatever strikes my fancy) along with commentary on a given topic each week, usually in relation to a specific film releasing that week.
There aren’t a lot of great new releases and I previously covered Stephen King films, so to tackle Firestarter, it was something of a mixed bag. I had to pick up actors, the composer, and Stephen King as well…albeit with reluctance. The craftsmen didn’t have a lot to choose from and the director doesn’t either. Lead actor Zac Efron got the nod along with supporting actors Kurtwood Smith and Gloria Reuben. The composer was none other than John Carpenter, which is a rare treat as he seldom composes scores for films other than his own.
Halloween (1978)
Carpenter is no stranger to Stephen King films having composed the score to the 1983 adaptation of Christine, but he will always best be known for his authorship of the original Halloween film, not only as its director, but as its composer. Like fellow director-and-composer Clint Eastwood, Carpenter’s scores are very simple with few complexities that would make them a challenge to play by any talented musician.
That said, it’s deceptively simple featuring a ticking beat with a core piano theme plus other electronic keyboard sounds that produce the entirety of the theme, a haunting and terrifying effect that builds with the tension of the film, creating suspense and horror at the perfect moments. That the film uses precious little violence, the heavy lifting the score performs is magnificent.
No original review available.
Deep Impact (1998)
For most, actor Kurtwood Smith is best known for his role as Red Forman on That ’70s Show. That isn’t the only thing he’s been in. His filmography is deeply populated with terse characters from series regular to guest stars. His television credits are an amazing 103 entries long. His film credits are sparse by comparison, but 45 credits is nothing to sneeze at. In 1998, he was one of a number of TV actors who appeared in Mimi Leder’s disaster flick Deep Impact.
Having recently discussed the film, there’s not a lot left to say. Leder’s film is a humanistic look at a looming disaster, that of a comet on a collision course for earth. What these actors are able to do with the material is a testament to the benefit they have of developing and growing characters over time on television and infusing their performances with that experience as the audience is gutted by the events depicted in the film.
No original review available.
Lincoln (2012)
For Gloria Reuben, the choice of films was clear. Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln was a near-perfect historical record of the fight to ratify the thirteenth amendment outlawing slavery in the United States. Daniel Day-Lewis stars as the 16th President of the United States as he attempts to rally support for an amendment that would come to define his presidency. Sally Field plays his wife Mary Todd Lincoln, David Strathairn is William Seward, and Tommy Lee-Jones features as Thaddeus Stevens.
For political junkies, the film is a masterful exploration of the struggle Lincoln faced in bringing recalcitrant senators into the fold as the strain begins to take its mental toll. Facing off against a hostile congress while fighting the Civil War was no easy task and the film shows that. Reuben plays Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave who was also Mary Todd’s dressmaker and confidant. Not a huge role in the grand scheme of things, but she acquits herself nicely as does everyone in the cast.
The Greatest Showman (2017)
Zac Efron has struggled to find roles that suit his talents as a singer, dancer, and actor. He is no great shakes as an actor, but when put into roles that also involve his other skills, he shines. The Greatest Showman is a terrific example of this. In the film, he plays the son of a wealthy couple who is lured into partnership with the titular showman, P.T. Barnum, played wonderfully by Hugh Jackman.
The film jumbles together Barnum’s life into a musical extravaganza following him from humble beginnings to the top of the heap as one of the most successful entertainers in history. While it glosses over some of his more questionable moments, it repurposes his life into a celebration of our differences. His show of oddities, cast off by society, are given a place to feel they are safe and protected and we’re joyously brought in for the ride.
The Shining (1980)
The number of times I’ve talked about the unparalleled best adaptation of a Stephen King novel is pretty astronomical. It’s one of those rare feats of putting a visionary filmmaker together with a fascinating premise. In this 1980 feature film, Jack Nicholson plays a father who takes his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd) to a remote mountain lodge where he is to act as caretaker. Within this snowbound retreat, Jack begins seeing visions and hearing voices of the hotel’s past denizens. His alcoholic past is reawakened supposedly by the demons trapped within the hotel.
Danny can also see the spirits of the massive resort, including a naked woman in a bathtub, twin girls who want him to come play, and many more frightening visions, including a bank of elevators that open to allow a tidal wave of blood to pour out into the hallway. Director Stanley Kubrick was a master of the visual form and The Shining was a culmination of his myriad years of creative energy. King notoriously disliked the version Kubrick created, but no other adaptation has been so artistically brilliant, regardless if it isn’t the adaptation he wanted.
No original review available.
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