Michael-Gambon Movie Reviews

What I am very disapointed about is that it leaves SO MANY conductors out; what is surprising about the list of conductors on this video may be who's NOT on it such as Solti, Levine, Bohm, Muti, Abaddo, Bonyage, Slatkin, Norrington, Maazel, Mitropolous, Kaplan, Mackerras, Carlos Kleiber, Leisendorf, Giulini, Mehta, Sinopoli, Marriner, and Placido Domingo (THAT would have been good). Had the video been longer and shown all of these conductors, I would have given this 5 Stars. But oh well...

also, the clips of conductors that ARE there, are extremely short; for Toscanini, we don't see his successes at the Met, La Scala, or the NBC or BBC symphony. Instead, we see him in a rehearsal of the famous Forza overture, and then throws a fit when his orchestra messes up during a Traviata rehearsal. that's it. For Klemperer, we hear him talk a little about Walter, and we hear how crabby he is during a rehearsal of the Egmont Overture. that's it. For Karajan, we don't see his successes with the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic, La Scala, the Met or clips of the films he produced and directed. What we do see is a clip of him disscussing the success of the Japanese tour that the Berlin Philharmonic gave. Although it is nice to see these, one wishes there were more about these renowed conductors.

Quibbles aside, this is a very good video. You will enjoy seeing Leonard Bernstein rehearse Shostakovich, Walter getting his violins to "sing", a funny story about Reiner, and seeing the humor of Beecham and Szell (!) . You will enjoy this video. But if you want to see the the conductors that are left out of this video mentioned above, look elsewhere.

Take Leopold Stokowski, for example. In the early 20th century, he put the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on the map and then took the Philadelphia Orchestra to the top. He premiered a lot of American music as well as a lot of difficult new music, at a time when most audiences only wanted Romantic warhorses. He was a pioneer in many ways, and he took a lot of arrows for it early in his career. Yet in this documentary, the Stokowski segment presents a familiar cliché. We see the long-haired ham producing his luscious, dowager-pleasing strings sound, and hear some chin-tugging by the guest expert about how, in its own way, maybe it wasn't so bad.

Or take Toscanini. We don't see his charitable wartime work, his defiance of Hitler and Mussolini, his whipping of the lazy Bayreuth festival orchestra into shape, or his triumphs with the Met. However, we do see one of his famous temper tantrums.

So, since the television medium sometimes forces unjust brevity onto its subjects, it's best to regard this program as a sampler. All of the people included could have been the subject of documentaries equalling this show's length.

As for the "art" part of The Art of Conducting, the program delivers. It is fascinating to watch Sir John Barbirolli ironing out a bassline, or Bruno Walter, with his light but firm touch, getting his violins to "sing", or Sir Thomas Beecham playing the maestro role semi-tongue-in-cheek. And the concert footage is generous and usually free of annoying voice-overs. So get this video, certainly-but don't let it be the final word for you.

My favorite (Fritz Reiner) is featured in this video. In the 1961 performance of excerpts from the first movement of the Beethoven Seventh with the Chicago Symphony, it is most interesting to compare how he conducts the work with an earlier 1954 complete performance with the same ensemble. The 1954 performance is available in the "Historic Telecasts" series. The 1961 performance featured here presents Reiner conducting with his legendary "vest pocket", small-gesture beat, virtually void of motion. The 1954 complete performance shows a much more lively Reiner, clearly conducting from his baton and occasionally using the free hand to signal to his players. Eye contact with his players is more evident in the 1954 than the 1961 performance. In the years between 1954 and 1961, Reiner had had two heart attacks, and suffered also from extreme neck pain, the latter likely a result of his rigid conducting. I believe his change in style was the result of his decline in health.

The follow-up companion to this video looks at other famous conductors, filling important gaps left with this volume. Despite that, there are still important names left out, such as Karl Boehm, Hermann Scherchen, Dimitri Mitropoulos, and Igor Markevitch. Meanwhile, until these and other gaps are filled, buy both videos as important reference additions to your library of regular recorded music!

However, nostalgia aside, this is in my opinion of the best children's books ever read. The underlying moral and religious themes are rather subtle and the reader can take what they want from this book. I can't describe what it has meant to me but the "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" chapter seems to capture better than any other piece of literature the awe and mystery of religious experience (and this is coming from a rather non-religious person). The whole book seems to capture the sense of wonder that is associated with childhood. Read it to your children -- they will stay interested because of the twisting plot and memorable characters. Or read it as an adult and you will perhaps appreciate the subtle and complex allegory of this masterpiece.

MIDNIGHT IN ST. PETERSBURG,is...in my estimate...classy exercise in bogosity.Yes,the cast is excellent.Harry Palmer, now very high priced post-Cold War private investigator, even has implied help of 007 himself in person of protege/assistant,Jason Connery as cultured,hard-fighting,Russian speaking interpreter, Nick.The Russian locales are authentic. Plot involving terrorists and Russian Mafia cliques violently crossing and double-crossing over smuggled cache of nuclear-bomb quality plutonium would seem to provide SPY BACK OUT IN THE COLD conflict to rival Le Carre. But the movie doesn't work. Post-Cold War tension is Nada to the max. There's never real sense of danger/suspense generated and when denouements finally arrive,"Who Cares?" is the attitude of this viewer who seemed to detect it in spy-turned-detective Palmer throughout the MIDNIGHT case.Harry Palmer's personna and exploits are successfully tapped in other films:FOURTH PROTOCOL...based on Frederick Forsyth's thriller(starring James Bond/Pierce Brosnan as Russian mole planted to plant a nuclear bomb to blow-up half of London and all of the NATO alliance);and BLUE ICE,a virtual Ipcress File reprise, where Harry's last name is "Anders" to fool Len Deighton's secret literary agent and copyright guardian. Both these movies are the right stuff. If Harry Palmer weren't featured, MIDNIGHT IN ST. PETERBURG would not cut it even as curiosity.That it does is tribute to how cool Michael Caine was(still is). But as Col.Ross might have said, apprising this pile of ersatz spy stuff,"CLOSE THE DOOR PALMER!"(3 stars is generous)

I am not familiar with Rattigan's original stage play, so I am not in a place to make comparisons. The 'Figgis version' certainly did it for me. The beautiful location filming, the score, and the excellent supporting cast are all worthy of recommendation. Overall, the film is executed without fanfare or overstatement, relying on an affecting story told persuasively by a superb ensemble of actors.

I wish the script could have been a bit more agressive, making Helena's character more ploying and devious. This would have made her more dynamic of a villian. Like maybe help her dying friend along by slipping some cyanide into her glass of wine?

Linus Roach (Was he also in Pulp Fiction?) looked gorgeous in this film. You would have thought the filmakers opted for Hugh Grant, but it was nice to see someone less famous play the role.

The Wings of the Dove casts you into the stylish world of Great Britain and offers intoxicating glimpses of Venice as well. A dreamy, magical place where love lives and dies in the same breathe. A beautiful escape.

Helena Bonham Carter is Kate, a passionate beauty in love with Martin (Linus Roache), a man without money. Charlotte Rampling is her rich aunt, who may force her to marry well, but not for love. Kate has a fire burning beneath her dark beauty, however, and when fate gives her an opportunity to show Martin how she loves, a dangerous journey down winding currents is begun, and neither she nor Martin will be prepared for what awaits them at the river's end.

Alison Elliot is simply marvelous as Millie, her finest role since "The Spitfire Grill." Millie is a charming American girl of great wealth reaching out to touch life before it passes by. She and Kate will become fast and inseparable friends, but Millie's attraction to Martin and a secret discovered by Kate will set in tenuous motion a plan to solve all their problems. When the maneuvering of lives like chess pieces involves both the human heart and someone as special as Millie, however, unforseen complications can arise.

Helena Bonham Carter may have received all the nominations as the beautiful and passionate Kate, but Alison Elliot's portrayel of the sweet and open Millie, rich but lonely, and hoping for love, deserved an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination as well. Italy is beautifully recreated from the period in a film of both depth and beauty.

This film is a true cinematic masterpiece. Fine Italian lace is gently lifted back to reveal an emotionally naked look at the human heart. It is substance with beauty and beauty with substance, and is not to be missed....

The lead role in this western actually belongs to Kevin Costner, who plays Spearman's trail partner and employee, Charlie Waite. Boss is a cattleman that practices free-range grazing, i.e. driving his herd from place to place, only staying long enough for the animals to deplete the available food supply. But it's 1882, ranchers are beginning to fence in the West, and freegrazers are an endangered species. So, its no surprise when Charlie and Boss are ordered to take their beeves and get out of Dodge, so to speak, by big time rancher Baxter (Michael Gambon), who also owns the local town and its sheriff. Waite and Spearman are soon backed into a corner when the latter's two other hired hands, Mose (Abraham Benrubi) and Button (Diego Luna), run seriously afoul of Baxter's thugs.

It would be hard to choose between the better performance - Costner or Duvall - both playing characters so strong, self-reliant and silent that neither knows the other's full name. And they've been riding the West together for ten years! Nor does Boss know Charlie's violent history, which included being a Civil War raider, and then a hired gun much like the ones now working for Baxter. When Charlie falls in love with Sue (Annette Bening), the spinster sister of the local sawbones, his guilt over his rough-edged past is a self-imposed handicap that Sue, who sees Waite's inner goodness, must overcome.

Moviegoers accustomed to a steady diet of mindless, FX-laden action thrillers may find the first three-quarters of OPEN RANGE slow going. It's called "character and plot development", an intelligent change of pace. And when the final shoot-out comes, it's perhaps the best ever filmed. While most such western confrontations seem like a choreographed ballet, this one shows them for what they were: relatively short, extremely violent, chaotic, and lacking in fancy gunplay and sharpshooting finesse.

Big Screen westerns are such a rarity nowadays that it's hard to compare this one with any other in recent memory. Though perhaps not as memorable as DANCES WITH WOLVES, this Old West morality play is certainly the best since UNFORGIVEN. Admittedly, we've seen similar plots before: the small homesteader/Big Ranching feud in the classic SHANE, and Big Mining vs. the small prospector in PALE RIDER, Clint Eastwood's transparent re-scripting of the former. However, the acting, cinematography and costuming of OPEN RANGE are excellent. Duvall surely deserves a Best Supporting Actor nomination, and the production as a whole may merit a Best Picture nod. My only complaint lies with the editing, which left in one too many leave-takings between Charlie and Sue, the last being completely superfluous. That said, however, this is a five-star tribute to loyalty, rugged individualism, integrity, and simply doing what's right. I think, sometimes, that Hollywood has forgotten what those qualities are all about.

Set in 1882, OPEN RANGE stars Costner and veteran Robert Duvall as cattlemen only trying to drive their cattle across the open prairie of Montana. But they soon run afoul of a ruthless land baron (Michael Gambon) out to rid the land of free-grazers like Duvall and Costner; and to prove his point, Gambon has one of Duvall's men (Abraham Benrubi) killed and another (Diego Luna) seriously wounded. The stage is set for a traditional but classic shoot-out to the finish.

If not on the epic level of Costner's 1990 Oscar-winner DANCES WITH WOLVES, or the standards set by people like Clint Eastwood, John Ford, Howard Hawks, or Sam Peckinpah, OPEN RANGE nevertheless demonstrates Costner's comfortability with the Western. His is a determined performance, and his direction is equally fine, with stunning photography, done on location in southern Canada, and a fine Michael Kamen score. Gambon is about as nasty a villain as there has been in any film in recent times, and James Russo does his natural evil best as a half-crazed town sheriff. It is Duvall, a veteran of many westerns (TRUE GRIT; LAWMAN), however, who really shines, as is typical of this kind of caliber actor. Always offering some wry advice but ready to take retaliation for having been wronged, Duvall is a tower of strength. Annette Benning also does good work as the town doctor's sister, who also becomes Costner's love interest.

The Western genre has not run out of stories or ideas, and never will; it just needs people of integrity like Costner to keep it going. OPEN RANGE proves that in spades.

The lead role in this western actually belongs to Kevin Costner, who plays Spearman's trail partner and employee, Charlie Waite. Boss is a cattleman that practices free-range grazing, i.e. driving his herd from place to place, only staying long enough for the animals to deplete the available food supply. But it's 1882, ranchers are beginning to fence in the West, and freegrazers are an endangered species. So, its no surprise when Charlie and Boss are ordered to take their beeves and get out of Dodge, so to speak, by big time rancher Baxter (Michael Gambon), who also owns the local town and its sheriff. Waite and Spearman are soon backed into a corner when the latter's two other hired hands, Mose (Abraham Benrubi) and Button (Diego Luna), run seriously afoul of Baxter's thugs.

It would be hard to choose between the better performance - Costner or Duvall - both playing characters so strong, self-reliant and silent that neither knows the other's full name. And they've been riding the West together for ten years! Nor does Boss know Charlie's violent history, which included being a Civil War raider, and then a hired gun much like the ones now working for Baxter. When Charlie falls in love with Sue (Annette Bening), the spinster sister of the local sawbones, his guilt over his rough-edged past is a self-imposed handicap that Sue, who sees Waite's inner goodness, must overcome.

Moviegoers accustomed to a steady diet of mindless, FX-laden action thrillers may find the first three-quarters of OPEN RANGE slow going. It's called "character and plot development", an intelligent change of pace. And when the final shoot-out comes, it's perhaps the best ever filmed. While most such western confrontations seem like a choreographed ballet, this one shows them for what they were: relatively short, extremely violent, chaotic, and lacking in fancy gunplay and sharpshooting finesse.

Big Screen westerns are such a rarity nowadays that it's hard to compare this one with any other in recent memory. Though perhaps not as memorable as DANCES WITH WOLVES, this Old West morality play is certainly the best since UNFORGIVEN. Admittedly, we've seen similar plots before: the small homesteader/Big Ranching feud in the classic SHANE, and Big Mining vs. the small prospector in PALE RIDER, Clint Eastwood's transparent re-scripting of the former. However, the acting, cinematography and costuming of OPEN RANGE are excellent. Duvall surely deserves a Best Supporting Actor nomination, and the production as a whole may merit a Best Picture nod. My only complaint lies with the editing, which left in one too many leave-takings between Charlie and Sue, the last being completely superfluous. That said, however, this is a five-star tribute to loyalty, rugged individualism, integrity, and simply doing what's right. I think, sometimes, that Hollywood has forgotten what those qualities are all about.

Set in 1882, OPEN RANGE stars Costner and veteran Robert Duvall as cattlemen only trying to drive their cattle across the open prairie of Montana. But they soon run afoul of a ruthless land baron (Michael Gambon) out to rid the land of free-grazers like Duvall and Costner; and to prove his point, Gambon has one of Duvall's men (Abraham Benrubi) killed and another (Diego Luna) seriously wounded. The stage is set for a traditional but classic shoot-out to the finish.

If not on the epic level of Costner's 1990 Oscar-winner DANCES WITH WOLVES, or the standards set by people like Clint Eastwood, John Ford, Howard Hawks, or Sam Peckinpah, OPEN RANGE nevertheless demonstrates Costner's comfortability with the Western. His is a determined performance, and his direction is equally fine, with stunning photography, done on location in southern Canada, and a fine Michael Kamen score. Gambon is about as nasty a villain as there has been in any film in recent times, and James Russo does his natural evil best as a half-crazed town sheriff. It is Duvall, a veteran of many westerns (TRUE GRIT; LAWMAN), however, who really shines, as is typical of this kind of caliber actor. Always offering some wry advice but ready to take retaliation for having been wronged, Duvall is a tower of strength. Annette Benning also does good work as the town doctor's sister, who also becomes Costner's love interest.

The Western genre has not run out of stories or ideas, and never will; it just needs people of integrity like Costner to keep it going. OPEN RANGE proves that in spades.