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Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Bill Condon - Director
Bill Condon
Yet another shining example of the former genre filmmaker who has since emerged to become one of Hollywood's premier players (see Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson), writer/director Bill Condon first made an impression on audiences with the clever slasher parody Strange Behavior (1981) before breaking into the mainstream with Gods and Monsters -- a thoughtful tribute to Bride of Frankenstein director James Whale -- in 1998.
A lifelong film fanatic, Condon was born in New York City in 1955. It was during his early years that the future director would take in a steady stream of such classic horrors as Bride of Frankenstein and House on Haunted Hill, and following his graduation from Columbia University (where he earned his degree in philosophy) Condon began expressing his love for the medium as a film journalist. Later, when producer Michael Laughlin contacted Condon to offer praise for an article that the writer had penned for Millimeter, the pair fast became friends and agreed to collaborate on the quirky horror thriller Strange Behavior. Though it didn't necessarily score a direct hit at the box office, the film did manage to earn a small cult following, and two years later the duo would re-team for the semi-sequel Strange Invaders. It was now official; Condon didn't simply write about films anymore, he made them.
In 1987, Condon made the leap from writer to director with the horror-flavored Southern Gothic thriller Sister, Sister. Though, as with his previous efforts, Sister, Sister didn't necessarily break any box-office records, it did earn faint praise for its unsettling atmosphere in addition to offering Condon the opportunity to work with such well-known actors as Eric Stoltz and Jennifer Jason Leigh. While many who had been tracking Condon's career may have suspected that his subsequent turn to made-for-television features in the years between 1991 and 1994 marked something of a step backward, it not only provided him the opportunity to work with such talents as Gregory Hines, Pierce Brosnan, and Gwyneth Paltrow, but it also allowed him to sharpen his skills as a writer while learning how to become an efficient filmmaker. In 1991, Condon collaborated with Australian star Bryan Brown on both the made-for-television Dead in the Water and the eagerly anticipated sequel F/X 2. Before long, Condon finally realized his lifelong dream of directing his first straight-up horror film -- Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh.
Now with two feature films and a collection of made-for-television movies to his name, it was time for Condon to truly test his mettle. Though he knew without question that he could craft a compelling feature film out of author Christopher Bram's acclaimed novel The Father of Frankenstein, Condon soon found himself up against a wall when Hollywood producers weary by the financial failure of Tim Burton's Ed Wood were loathe to commit to a biopic detailing the life of a semi-obscure genre filmmaker (in this case, Bride of Frankenstein director James Whale). Fortunately for all involved Condon persisted, and when it came time for the Academy to honor the best films of 1998, stars Ian McKellen and Lynn Redgrave received nominations while the screenwriter and director himself walked away with an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Shot for three million dollars over the course of just 24 days, Gods and Monsters proved the unmitigated success that blindsided skeptical producers and suddenly thrust the director onto the A-list.
Another Best Adapted Screenplay nomination followed when Condon received a nod for his screenplay to Chicago in 2002, and it appeared that the one-time schlock-master could do no wrong in the eyes of the Academy when his 2004 biopic Kinsey -- a dramatic meditation on the life of human sexuality researcher Alfred Kinsey (portrayed in the film by Liam Neeson) -- earned actress Laura Linney an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
It was now official -- Condon was a key player in the Hollywood elite. He had worked with some of the biggest names in the business, and earned the respect of the powers that be. The only mystery now was what the director would do with his newfound status. When Condon was a child, his father had taken him to a performance by the Supremes, and as an adult he had sat captivated at the opening night of the hit Broadway musical Dreamgirls. Since Condon had previously achieved success in the realm of musicals (Chicago) and biopics, it seemed only natural that he would express interest in bringing Dreamgirls to life on the big screen. A thinly veiled account of the stratospheric rise and meteoric fall of the Supremes, Condon's Dreamgirls featured a powerhouse cast that included Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Beyoncé Knowles, and Danny Glover, and seemed to have all the makings of a box-office hit. When Dreamgirls received Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Song, and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, the near-unanimous critical praise heaped upon the film seemed to be well justified. On the night of the actual awards ceremony, Dreamgirls would take home three Golden Globes (Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress), leaving many to speculate that it could make a similar sweep at the upcoming Academy Awards. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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MOVIE TITLE
MPAA
RELEASE DATE
Shortcut to Happiness
2007
PG13
Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, Kim Cattrall, Dan Aykroyd, and Jennifer Love Hewitt star in this re-imagining of Walter Huston's The Devil and Daniel Webster - this time concerning a struggling writer who sells his soul to Old Scratch (Hewitt) in a desperate bid to find fame and fortune on the literary circuit. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Love Hewitt , ( more )
Dreamgirls
2006
PG13
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Director Bill Condon brings Tom Eyen's Tony award-winning Broadway musical to the big screen in a tale of dreams, stardom, and the high cost of success in the cutthroat recording industry. The time is the 1960s, and singers Effie (Jennifer Hudson), Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose), and Deena (Beyoncé Knowles) are about to find out just what it's like to have their wildest dreams come true. Discovered at a local talent show by ambitious manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx), the trio known as "the Dreamettes" is soon offered the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of opening for popular singer James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy). Subsequently molded into an unstoppable hit machine by Taylor and propelled into the spotlight as "the Dreams," the girls quickly find their bid for the big time taking priority over personal friendship as Taylor edges out the ultra-talented Effie so that the more beautiful Deena can become the face of the group. Now, as the crossover act continues to dominate the airwaves, the small-town girls with big-city dreams slowly begin to realize that the true cost of fame may be higher than any of them ever anticipated.
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles , ( more )
Kinsey
2004
R
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Alfred Kinsey was an entomologist who taught at Indiana University and had a keen interest in an area of human behavior that had seen little scholarly research -- human sexuality. While the courtship and reproductive patterns of animals had been carefully documented, Kinsey believed that most "established facts" about human sexual behavior were a matter of conjecture rather than research and that what most people said about their sex lives was not born out by the evidence (a subject that had personal resonance for him given the troubles he and his wife Clara Kinsey had in the early days of their marriage). After introducing a course in "Marriage" at Indiana University which offered frank and factual information on sex to students, Kinsey began an exhaustive series of interviews with a wide variety of people from all walks of life in order to find out the truth about sex practices in America. When he published Sexual Behavior and the Human Male in 1948, his findings were wildly controversial, indicating that most men had a wider variety of sexual experiences than most people imagined, including a number of practices commonly thought to be dangerous or perverted (including pre-marital sex, same-sex contacts, and masturbation). An even greater outcry greeted Kinsey's next volume, Sexual Behavior and the Human Female, which contradicted common notions than most women went into marriage sexually inexperienced. Kinsey is a film biography written and directed by Bill Condon which examines Kinsey's life and work from his strict childhood until his death in 1956. Liam Neeson plays Alfred Kinsey, and Laura Linney co-stars as Kinsey's wife and colleague Clara. John Lithgow highlights the supporting cast as Kinsey's repressed and moralistic father, while Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, and Timothy Hutton play members of Kinsey's research team and Tim Curry appears as an IU faculty member at odds with Kinsey's teachings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Liam Neeson, Laura Linney , ( more )
Chicago
2002
PG13
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A starry-eyed would-be star discovers just how far the notion that "there's no such thing as bad publicity" can go in this screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Chicago, originally directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse. In the mid-'20s, Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) is a small-time chorus dancer married to a well-meaning dunderhead named Amos (John C. Reilly). Roxie is having an affair on the side with Fred Casley (Dominic West), a smooth talker who insists he can make her a star. However, Fred strings Roxie along a bit too far for his own good, and when she realizes that his promises are empty, she becomes enraged and murders Fred in cold blood. Roxie soon finds herself behind bars alongside Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a sexy vaudeville star who used to perform with her sister until Velma discovered that her sister had been sleeping with her husband. Velma shot them both dead, and, after scheming prison matron "Mama" Morton hooks Velma up with hotshot lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), Velma becomes the new Queen of the scandal sheets. Roxie is just shrewd enough to realize that her poor fortune could also bring her fame, so she convinces Amos to also hire Flynn. Soon Flynn is splashing Roxie's story -- or, more accurately, a highly melodramatic revision of Roxie's story -- all over the gutter press, and Roxy and Velma are soon battling neck-to-neck over who can win greater fame through the headlines. A project that had been moving from studio to studio since the musical opened on Broadway in 1973, Chicago also features guest appearances by Lucy Liu and Christine Baranski. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger , ( more )
Gods and Monsters
1998
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Gods and Monsters was promoted from the outset as an artistic drama, but the publicity tended to play coyly on the possibility of a homosexual romance between the retired film director James Whale, played by Ian McKellen and his hunky gardener Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser). While the film does involve romance, the central relationship between the director and his gardener is about the development of a genuine friendship between two outwardly dissimilar but inwardly kindred spirits. In the story, Whale has been living for many years in peaceful, if not entirely contented retirement, under the loving and watchful eye of his contentious and argumentative Hungarian housekeeper (Lynn Redgrave). His earlier celebrity as the director of the original Frankenstein movie and its sequel, The Bride of Frankenstein, results in his being visited occasionally by disagreeable young men who have come to bask in the reminiscences of this creator of two "camp" classics. His reputation as a fairly outrageous homosexual comes into play here, when one particularly unpleasant and effeminate young man comes by seeking cinematic tidbits: the director challenges the boy to a game of stripping off one article of clothing for every revelation he shares about his moviemaking past. He had gotten the boy down to his briefs when he is stricken with one of his ever-recurring bouts of epilepsy, the result of a series of strokes. By way of contrast, while he is clearly interested in his gardener as a sex-object, gradually luring him into ever closer association, the openness and vulnerability of this awkwardly aggressive heterosexual boy inspires him to reveal the history of his heart. It turns out that, like the young man who is modeling for his supposed artworks, he came from a poor and difficult background. By the time naïve gardener learns of the director's homosexuality from the housekeeper, he has been drawn too deeply under the man's spell to stay away from their meetings for long. While the tension between the men never departs, a genuine relationship of caring develops between them. Meanwhile, Whale has been clearly observing the progressive deterioration of his mental faculties, and is increasingly being overwhelmed by vivid memories and visions. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser , ( more )
The Man Who Wouldn't Die
1995
Roger Moore stars as a writer whose art imitates life in this made-for-TV thriller. Moore stars as Ken Brown, a mystery writer who's central character is based on the profile of a real-life criminal. When the criminal (Malcolm McDowell) escapes from prison by faking his death, he sets out to bring Brown's stories to life and begins a murder spree. Nancy Allen co-stars as a psychic who teams up with Brown to catch the killer. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
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Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh
1995
R
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This sequel to director Bernard Rose's superb, metaphorical Candyman is a more straightforward Gothic horror project, discarding any association with the events of the previous film (which was based on the short story "The Forbidden" by horror surrealist Clive Barker) aside from the title entity, played again by the imposing Tony Todd. A melancholy but extremely deadly ghost, Candyman is revealed -- in a compelling sequence of flashbacks -- as the vengeful spirit of Daniel Robitaille, a black portraitist in post-Civil War Louisiana who was set upon and horribly mutilated by an angry white mob in retaliation for his affair with a plantation owner's daughter. In present-day New Orleans, at the height of Mardi Gras festivities (the film's title refers to the literal translation of the Latin "Carnival"), Candyman walks the realm of the undead, with a hook in place of the hand he lost to the lynch mob, waiting to be summoned by the recitation of his name five times into a mirror. The latest victims of his evisceration skills include members of the Tarrant family, with young schoolteacher Annie (Kelly Rowan) next in line. Her family's connection with the Candyman legend is eventually revealed when Annie visits the family estate to uncover the link between her ancestors and Daniel Robitaille himself. This is a well-executed horror film, with fine performances and good use of the subtle menace underlying the Mardi Gras ambience, but the deft hand of Barker is clearly absent, leaving a standard horror plot without the mythical resonance of the original. The chilling Philip Glass score is a definite plus, though. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Tony Todd, Kelly Rowan , ( more )
Deadly Relations
1993
In this brooding drama, the lives of four sisters are nearly destroyed by the machinations of their overbearing father. He singles out one daughter in particular to take part in a deadly insurance scam. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Robert Urich, Shelley Fabares , ( more )
White Lie
1991
In White Lie, a drama based on Samuel Charters' novel Louisiana Black, Gregory Hines plays Len Madison Jr., a New York-based mayoral press secretary who learns that his father was lynched in the South three decades earlier. Madison returns to the South, where he is intent on learning the truth about his father's death. Along the way, he is helped by a doctor (Annette O'Toole), the daughter of the white woman whom Madison's father allegedly raped and killed. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Gregory Hines, Annette O'Toole , ( more )
Dead in the Water
1991
Made for cable TV, this thriller finds a lawyer (Bryan Brown) plotting the murder of his wealthy wife so he can make off with his secretary. The wrong person ends up dead, however, and he finds himself accused of the crime. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Bryan Brown, Teri Hatcher , ( more )
F/X 2
1991
PG13
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In F/X2: The Deadly Art of Illusion, Bryan Brown returns as movie special effects designer Rollie Tyler. Having barely escaped with his life after being duped and exploited by the villains in the first F/X, he isn't too eager to channel his talents into police work again. He'd much rather design harmless playthings for the kiddies. Still, detective Mike Brandon (Tom Mason) manages to convince Rollie to help the cops trap a dangerous voyeur. When Brandon is killed, Rollie suspects there's more to the story than meets the eye. With the aid of his old buddy Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy, likewise a veteran of the first F/X), Rollie uncovers a vast conspiracy involving both the police and organized crime. Of course, this compels Rollie to come up with a series of dazzling live-action special effects to confound the bad guys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy , ( more )
Murder 101
1991
After English professor Charles Lattimore (Pierce Brosnan) assigns his class to plot the perfect murder, he finds himself the prime suspect in a police investigation after a student and another faculty member wind up dead. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Pierce Brosnan, Dey Young , ( more )
Sister, Sister
1987
R
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In this thriller, sisters Charlotte (Judith Ivey) and Lucy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) Bonnard reside in the Louisiana home left to them by their parents. As Charlotte cares for her troubled younger sister, the two make a living by renting out rooms in the huge, gloomy mansion. However, when Matt Rutledge (Eric Stoltz) comes to stay, he stumbles across a number of the Bonnards' dark secrets that were best left hidden. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Eric Stoltz, Jennifer Jason Leigh , ( more )
Strange Invaders
1983
PG
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In this subtly humorous, alien-invasion film by Michael Laughlin, who co-wrote the screenplay with William Condon, the aliens infiltrate a small Midwestern town in 1958 and beam the "spirits" of several of the townspeople up to their spacecraft in little blue bubbles, while they settle into the bodies of their new farm personae. But Margaret (Diana Scarwid), one of their number, leaves for life and marriage in New York and has a daughter Elizabeth by her earthling husband Charles Bigelow (Paul LeMat), a professor. After two decades or so go by, the aliens opt for returning to their home planet, but they have to first go to the city dressed as farmers and round up Margaret and her daughter. Soon Charles figures out what is going on with the help of the tough, optimistic Betty Walker (Nancy Allen), a reporter for a tabloid paper, and the two head to the town where it all started.The light contrast between the bucolic '50s and the street-wise '80s gives way to a few shocking scenes of repugnant aliens in transformation with formidable special effects. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Paul Le Mat, Nancy Allen , ( more )
Strange Behavior
1981
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Dead Kids, aka Strange Behavior, is a creepy exercise from director Michael Laughlin--who conceived this as part one of an abortive "Strange Trilogy" which also included 1983's Strange Invaders. Although lensed in New Zealand, the film is set in a sleepy American town, in which a series of gory murders committed by local teenagers are linked to a twisted brainwashing scheme by a deranged behavioral psychologist (note irony please). Despite some humorous details (e.g. one killer dons a Tor Johnson mask) and a nostalgia for '50s pulp horrors (not to mention a fondness for splattery death scenes), the disparate plot elements don't come together as well as they should, failing to live up to the premise's potential for guilty chuckles or gasps of horror. Fiona Lewis is sexually menacing as the mad doc's assistant, but Louise Fletcher's wasted role may make viewers pine for Nurse Ratched. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Michael Murphy, Louise Fletcher , ( more )
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Yet another shining example of the former genre filmmaker who has since emerged to become one of Hollywood's premier players (see Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson), writer/director Bill Condon first made an impression on audiences with the clever slasher parody Strange Behavior (1981) before breaking into the mainstream with Gods and Monsters -- a thoughtful tribute to Bride of Frankenstein director James Whale -- in 1998.
A lifelong film fanatic, Condon was born in New York City in 1955. It was during his early years that the future director would take in a steady stream of such classic horrors as Bride of Frankenstein and House on Haunted Hill, and following his graduation from Columbia University (where he earned his degree in philosophy) Condon began expressing his love for the medium as a film journalist. Later, when producer Michael Laughlin contacted Condon to offer praise for an article that the writer had penned for Millimeter, the pair fast became friends and agreed to collaborate on the quirky horror thriller Strange Behavior. Though it didn't necessarily score a direct hit at the box office, the film did manage to earn a small cult following, and two years later the duo would re-team for the semi-sequel Strange Invaders. It was now official; Condon didn't simply write about films anymore, he made them.
In 1987, Condon made the leap from writer to director with the horror-flavored Southern Gothic thriller Sister, Sister. Though, as with his previous efforts, Sister, Sister didn't necessarily break any box-office records, it did earn faint praise for its unsettling atmosphere in addition to offering Condon the opportunity to work with such well-known actors as Eric Stoltz and Jennifer Jason Leigh. While many who had been tracking Condon's career may have suspected that his subsequent turn to made-for-television features in the years between 1991 and 1994 marked something of a step backward, it not only provided him the opportunity to work with such talents as Gregory Hines, Pierce Brosnan, and Gwyneth Paltrow, but it also allowed him to sharpen his skills as a writer while learning how to become an efficient filmmaker. In 1991, Condon collaborated with Australian star Bryan Brown on both the made-for-television Dead in the Water and the eagerly anticipated sequel F/X 2. Before long, Condon finally realized his lifelong dream of directing his first straight-up horror film -- Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh.
Now with two feature films and a collection of made-for-television movies to his name, it was time for Condon to truly test his mettle. Though he knew without question that he could craft a compelling feature film out of author Christopher Bram's acclaimed novel The Father of Frankenstein, Condon soon found himself up against a wall when Hollywood producers weary by the financial failure of Tim Burton's Ed Wood were loathe to commit to a biopic detailing the life of a semi-obscure genre filmmaker (in this case, Bride of Frankenstein director James Whale). Fortunately for all involved Condon persisted, and when it came time for the Academy to honor the best films of 1998, stars Ian McKellen and Lynn Redgrave received nominations while the screenwriter and director himself walked away with an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Shot for three million dollars over the course of just 24 days, Gods and Monsters proved the unmitigated success that blindsided skeptical producers and suddenly thrust the director onto the A-list.
Another Best Adapted Screenplay nomination followed when Condon received a nod for his screenplay to Chicago in 2002, and it appeared that the one-time schlock-master could do no wrong in the eyes of the Academy when his 2004 biopic Kinsey -- a dramatic meditation on the life of human sexuality researcher Alfred Kinsey (portrayed in the film by Liam Neeson) -- earned actress Laura Linney an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
It was now official -- Condon was a key player in the Hollywood elite. He had worked with some of the biggest names in the business, and earned the respect of the powers that be. The only mystery now was what the director would do with his newfound status. When Condon was a child, his father had taken him to a performance by the Supremes, and as an adult he had sat captivated at the opening night of the hit Broadway musical Dreamgirls. Since Condon had previously achieved success in the realm of musicals (Chicago) and biopics, it seemed only natural that he would express interest in bringing Dreamgirls to life on the big screen. A thinly veiled account of the stratospheric rise and meteoric fall of the Supremes, Condon's Dreamgirls featured a powerhouse cast that included Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Beyoncé Knowles, and Danny Glover, and seemed to have all the makings of a box-office hit. When Dreamgirls received Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Song, and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, the near-unanimous critical praise heaped upon the film seemed to be well justified. On the night of the actual awards ceremony, Dreamgirls would take home three Golden Globes (Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress), leaving many to speculate that it could make a similar sweep at the upcoming Academy Awards. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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MOVIE TITLE
MPAA
RELEASE DATE
Shortcut to Happiness
2007
PG13
Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, Kim Cattrall, Dan Aykroyd, and Jennifer Love Hewitt star in this re-imagining of Walter Huston's The Devil and Daniel Webster - this time concerning a struggling writer who sells his soul to Old Scratch (Hewitt) in a desperate bid to find fame and fortune on the literary circuit. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Love Hewitt , ( more )
Dreamgirls
2006
PG13
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Director Bill Condon brings Tom Eyen's Tony award-winning Broadway musical to the big screen in a tale of dreams, stardom, and the high cost of success in the cutthroat recording industry. The time is the 1960s, and singers Effie (Jennifer Hudson), Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose), and Deena (Beyoncé Knowles) are about to find out just what it's like to have their wildest dreams come true. Discovered at a local talent show by ambitious manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx), the trio known as "the Dreamettes" is soon offered the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of opening for popular singer James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy). Subsequently molded into an unstoppable hit machine by Taylor and propelled into the spotlight as "the Dreams," the girls quickly find their bid for the big time taking priority over personal friendship as Taylor edges out the ultra-talented Effie so that the more beautiful Deena can become the face of the group. Now, as the crossover act continues to dominate the airwaves, the small-town girls with big-city dreams slowly begin to realize that the true cost of fame may be higher than any of them ever anticipated.
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles , ( more )
Kinsey
2004
R
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Alfred Kinsey was an entomologist who taught at Indiana University and had a keen interest in an area of human behavior that had seen little scholarly research -- human sexuality. While the courtship and reproductive patterns of animals had been carefully documented, Kinsey believed that most "established facts" about human sexual behavior were a matter of conjecture rather than research and that what most people said about their sex lives was not born out by the evidence (a subject that had personal resonance for him given the troubles he and his wife Clara Kinsey had in the early days of their marriage). After introducing a course in "Marriage" at Indiana University which offered frank and factual information on sex to students, Kinsey began an exhaustive series of interviews with a wide variety of people from all walks of life in order to find out the truth about sex practices in America. When he published Sexual Behavior and the Human Male in 1948, his findings were wildly controversial, indicating that most men had a wider variety of sexual experiences than most people imagined, including a number of practices commonly thought to be dangerous or perverted (including pre-marital sex, same-sex contacts, and masturbation). An even greater outcry greeted Kinsey's next volume, Sexual Behavior and the Human Female, which contradicted common notions than most women went into marriage sexually inexperienced. Kinsey is a film biography written and directed by Bill Condon which examines Kinsey's life and work from his strict childhood until his death in 1956. Liam Neeson plays Alfred Kinsey, and Laura Linney co-stars as Kinsey's wife and colleague Clara. John Lithgow highlights the supporting cast as Kinsey's repressed and moralistic father, while Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, and Timothy Hutton play members of Kinsey's research team and Tim Curry appears as an IU faculty member at odds with Kinsey's teachings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Liam Neeson, Laura Linney , ( more )
Chicago
2002
PG13
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A starry-eyed would-be star discovers just how far the notion that "there's no such thing as bad publicity" can go in this screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Chicago, originally directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse. In the mid-'20s, Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) is a small-time chorus dancer married to a well-meaning dunderhead named Amos (John C. Reilly). Roxie is having an affair on the side with Fred Casley (Dominic West), a smooth talker who insists he can make her a star. However, Fred strings Roxie along a bit too far for his own good, and when she realizes that his promises are empty, she becomes enraged and murders Fred in cold blood. Roxie soon finds herself behind bars alongside Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a sexy vaudeville star who used to perform with her sister until Velma discovered that her sister had been sleeping with her husband. Velma shot them both dead, and, after scheming prison matron "Mama" Morton hooks Velma up with hotshot lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), Velma becomes the new Queen of the scandal sheets. Roxie is just shrewd enough to realize that her poor fortune could also bring her fame, so she convinces Amos to also hire Flynn. Soon Flynn is splashing Roxie's story -- or, more accurately, a highly melodramatic revision of Roxie's story -- all over the gutter press, and Roxy and Velma are soon battling neck-to-neck over who can win greater fame through the headlines. A project that had been moving from studio to studio since the musical opened on Broadway in 1973, Chicago also features guest appearances by Lucy Liu and Christine Baranski. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger , ( more )
Gods and Monsters
1998
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Gods and Monsters was promoted from the outset as an artistic drama, but the publicity tended to play coyly on the possibility of a homosexual romance between the retired film director James Whale, played by Ian McKellen and his hunky gardener Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser). While the film does involve romance, the central relationship between the director and his gardener is about the development of a genuine friendship between two outwardly dissimilar but inwardly kindred spirits. In the story, Whale has been living for many years in peaceful, if not entirely contented retirement, under the loving and watchful eye of his contentious and argumentative Hungarian housekeeper (Lynn Redgrave). His earlier celebrity as the director of the original Frankenstein movie and its sequel, The Bride of Frankenstein, results in his being visited occasionally by disagreeable young men who have come to bask in the reminiscences of this creator of two "camp" classics. His reputation as a fairly outrageous homosexual comes into play here, when one particularly unpleasant and effeminate young man comes by seeking cinematic tidbits: the director challenges the boy to a game of stripping off one article of clothing for every revelation he shares about his moviemaking past. He had gotten the boy down to his briefs when he is stricken with one of his ever-recurring bouts of epilepsy, the result of a series of strokes. By way of contrast, while he is clearly interested in his gardener as a sex-object, gradually luring him into ever closer association, the openness and vulnerability of this awkwardly aggressive heterosexual boy inspires him to reveal the history of his heart. It turns out that, like the young man who is modeling for his supposed artworks, he came from a poor and difficult background. By the time naïve gardener learns of the director's homosexuality from the housekeeper, he has been drawn too deeply under the man's spell to stay away from their meetings for long. While the tension between the men never departs, a genuine relationship of caring develops between them. Meanwhile, Whale has been clearly observing the progressive deterioration of his mental faculties, and is increasingly being overwhelmed by vivid memories and visions. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser , ( more )
The Man Who Wouldn't Die
1995
Roger Moore stars as a writer whose art imitates life in this made-for-TV thriller. Moore stars as Ken Brown, a mystery writer who's central character is based on the profile of a real-life criminal. When the criminal (Malcolm McDowell) escapes from prison by faking his death, he sets out to bring Brown's stories to life and begins a murder spree. Nancy Allen co-stars as a psychic who teams up with Brown to catch the killer. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
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Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh
1995
R
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This sequel to director Bernard Rose's superb, metaphorical Candyman is a more straightforward Gothic horror project, discarding any association with the events of the previous film (which was based on the short story "The Forbidden" by horror surrealist Clive Barker) aside from the title entity, played again by the imposing Tony Todd. A melancholy but extremely deadly ghost, Candyman is revealed -- in a compelling sequence of flashbacks -- as the vengeful spirit of Daniel Robitaille, a black portraitist in post-Civil War Louisiana who was set upon and horribly mutilated by an angry white mob in retaliation for his affair with a plantation owner's daughter. In present-day New Orleans, at the height of Mardi Gras festivities (the film's title refers to the literal translation of the Latin "Carnival"), Candyman walks the realm of the undead, with a hook in place of the hand he lost to the lynch mob, waiting to be summoned by the recitation of his name five times into a mirror. The latest victims of his evisceration skills include members of the Tarrant family, with young schoolteacher Annie (Kelly Rowan) next in line. Her family's connection with the Candyman legend is eventually revealed when Annie visits the family estate to uncover the link between her ancestors and Daniel Robitaille himself. This is a well-executed horror film, with fine performances and good use of the subtle menace underlying the Mardi Gras ambience, but the deft hand of Barker is clearly absent, leaving a standard horror plot without the mythical resonance of the original. The chilling Philip Glass score is a definite plus, though. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Tony Todd, Kelly Rowan , ( more )
Deadly Relations
1993
In this brooding drama, the lives of four sisters are nearly destroyed by the machinations of their overbearing father. He singles out one daughter in particular to take part in a deadly insurance scam. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Robert Urich, Shelley Fabares , ( more )
White Lie
1991
In White Lie, a drama based on Samuel Charters' novel Louisiana Black, Gregory Hines plays Len Madison Jr., a New York-based mayoral press secretary who learns that his father was lynched in the South three decades earlier. Madison returns to the South, where he is intent on learning the truth about his father's death. Along the way, he is helped by a doctor (Annette O'Toole), the daughter of the white woman whom Madison's father allegedly raped and killed. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Gregory Hines, Annette O'Toole , ( more )
Dead in the Water
1991
Made for cable TV, this thriller finds a lawyer (Bryan Brown) plotting the murder of his wealthy wife so he can make off with his secretary. The wrong person ends up dead, however, and he finds himself accused of the crime. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Bryan Brown, Teri Hatcher , ( more )
F/X 2
1991
PG13
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In F/X2: The Deadly Art of Illusion, Bryan Brown returns as movie special effects designer Rollie Tyler. Having barely escaped with his life after being duped and exploited by the villains in the first F/X, he isn't too eager to channel his talents into police work again. He'd much rather design harmless playthings for the kiddies. Still, detective Mike Brandon (Tom Mason) manages to convince Rollie to help the cops trap a dangerous voyeur. When Brandon is killed, Rollie suspects there's more to the story than meets the eye. With the aid of his old buddy Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy, likewise a veteran of the first F/X), Rollie uncovers a vast conspiracy involving both the police and organized crime. Of course, this compels Rollie to come up with a series of dazzling live-action special effects to confound the bad guys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy , ( more )
Murder 101
1991
After English professor Charles Lattimore (Pierce Brosnan) assigns his class to plot the perfect murder, he finds himself the prime suspect in a police investigation after a student and another faculty member wind up dead. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Pierce Brosnan, Dey Young , ( more )
Sister, Sister
1987
R
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In this thriller, sisters Charlotte (Judith Ivey) and Lucy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) Bonnard reside in the Louisiana home left to them by their parents. As Charlotte cares for her troubled younger sister, the two make a living by renting out rooms in the huge, gloomy mansion. However, when Matt Rutledge (Eric Stoltz) comes to stay, he stumbles across a number of the Bonnards' dark secrets that were best left hidden. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Eric Stoltz, Jennifer Jason Leigh , ( more )
Strange Invaders
1983
PG
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In this subtly humorous, alien-invasion film by Michael Laughlin, who co-wrote the screenplay with William Condon, the aliens infiltrate a small Midwestern town in 1958 and beam the "spirits" of several of the townspeople up to their spacecraft in little blue bubbles, while they settle into the bodies of their new farm personae. But Margaret (Diana Scarwid), one of their number, leaves for life and marriage in New York and has a daughter Elizabeth by her earthling husband Charles Bigelow (Paul LeMat), a professor. After two decades or so go by, the aliens opt for returning to their home planet, but they have to first go to the city dressed as farmers and round up Margaret and her daughter. Soon Charles figures out what is going on with the help of the tough, optimistic Betty Walker (Nancy Allen), a reporter for a tabloid paper, and the two head to the town where it all started.The light contrast between the bucolic '50s and the street-wise '80s gives way to a few shocking scenes of repugnant aliens in transformation with formidable special effects. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Paul Le Mat, Nancy Allen , ( more )
Strange Behavior
1981
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Dead Kids, aka Strange Behavior, is a creepy exercise from director Michael Laughlin--who conceived this as part one of an abortive "Strange Trilogy" which also included 1983's Strange Invaders. Although lensed in New Zealand, the film is set in a sleepy American town, in which a series of gory murders committed by local teenagers are linked to a twisted brainwashing scheme by a deranged behavioral psychologist (note irony please). Despite some humorous details (e.g. one killer dons a Tor Johnson mask) and a nostalgia for '50s pulp horrors (not to mention a fondness for splattery death scenes), the disparate plot elements don't come together as well as they should, failing to live up to the premise's potential for guilty chuckles or gasps of horror. Fiona Lewis is sexually menacing as the mad doc's assistant, but Louise Fletcher's wasted role may make viewers pine for Nurse Ratched. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
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Starring:
Michael Murphy, Louise Fletcher , ( more )
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