By Roger Crane Dear Fellow Fans of the Good Stuff The 1954 Love Me or Leave Me was a superb movie and soundtrack. It is certainly Doris Day’s greatest musical performance as an actress. In fact, for decades, many film critics, fans, writers would view the Academy’s failure to nominate Day for her portrayal of… Read More A ROGER SONG SCOUT AURAL BACK RUB: “It All Depends on You” by the flawless Doris Day
By Mike Finkelstein On Friday night at the Egyptian Theatre, the American Cinematheque screened what could possibly have been the only showing of Midnight to Six, a truly entertaining and satisfying tutorial on the career of the legendary Pretty Things. This is one of five (so far) projects focusing on influential bands of the British… Read More Film: “Midnight to Six” at the Egyptian Theatre
Chico & Rita Directed by Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal, Tono Errando Screenplay by Fernando Trueba, Ignacio Martínez de Pisón Music by Bebo Valdés By Fernando Gonzalez “Chico y Rita” has been presented at several film festivals but does not yet have commercial distribution. It is being reviewed here for its evocation of a significant period… Read More Film Review: Chico & Rita
By Don Heckman The tease line for the film Remembering Phil is “Even in Hollywood, you never know how your own script will end.” And that’s pretty much on target for a picture about a screenwriter who unexpectedly finds himself in a real life version of a story he may well have written. Except for… Read More Film Review: “Remembering Phil”
By Roger Crane In the world of jazz, a “riff” is a repeated series of improvised notes, chord progressions or musical patterns. Since City Island’s screenwriter/director, Raymond de Felitta, is also a noted and practicing jazz pianist, it make sense that this movie feels like a jazz riff. City Island introduces us to the Rizzos,… Read More Film Review: “City Island”
By Michael Katz Jazz has had a rich history in the film business, but lately the opportunities for jazz influenced film scores have not been abundant. Composers leap at the chance to do scores that feature music they love when the opportunity arises; often these opportunities come in independent film, as is the case of… Read More Film Review: “Handsome Harry”
The International Review of Music 