The Return of SUPERGIRL (with a Twist!)

It has been reported in the news that Greg Berlanti is producing a new SUPERGIRL television show for CBS. Interesting little twist here is that HELEN SLATER, the actress who played Supergirl in the 1984 Jeannot Swarc movie, has been added to the cast, just as DEAN CAIN, formerly known as SUPERMAN in the series LOIS & CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN. No information has been released as to which characters they will be playing but it is very nice to have them aboard.

"It is unlikely however we'll be doing any flying on the show."

A Man for All Ages : LEONARD NIMOY (1931-2015)

Picture Courtesy of www.Variety.com

It is with a sad heart that I have to report the passing of Leonard Nimoy on this blog. Leonard Nimoy was of course the man we all knew as Mr. Spock on the television series STAR TREK and its subsequent films and spin-offs.
Born in Boston from a family originally from Ukrainian roots, Leonard Simon Nimoy took to acting from an early age and started off in bit parts in movies and many supporting parts in television. He often played bad guys whose roles did not last longer than one episode but when Gene Roddenberry saw him play a part in his show THE LIEUTENANT, Roddenberry knew Nimoy was a name to watch.

The Man From UNCLE : The STRIGAS Affair (also starring William Shatner)

One honorable mention is for an episode of the series THE MAN FROM UNCLE. The episode called THE STRIGAS AFFAIR starred Leonard as a Russian bad guy opposite William Shatner as an American called into the battle by Napoleon Solo and Mr. Kuryakin. Neither Nimoy nor Shatner had an inkling of the bond they would soon start to form. When Gene Roddenberry pitched STAR TREK as a Wagon Train To The Stars, no one could have known that Leonard Nimoy's role of the half Vulcan Mr. Spock would become so legendary.

Mr. Spock in STAR TREK (1966-1969)

STAR TREK ran from 1966 to 1969 and starred Nimoy amongst actors as William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols and Majel Barrett. During the show the friendship between these people grew strong, even if sometimes conflicts arose due to dramatic situations during the writing of the episodes.

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy off screen

The success of STAR TREK can be called strange because millions of people enjoyed the show each week while on the other hand from the production side, the show never really made it into the big time. So after having spent three years on the Enterprise, it seemed to be over and Leonard Nimoy made a move to another popular series, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, to fill in a spot vacated by Martin Landau. For two years, Nimoy played Paris, a master of disguises who would have another face each week in order to play a part in the team effort to overthrow that week's villain.

Leonard Nimoy in Mission Impossible

 After MISSION IMPOSSIBLE Nimoy also spent time in the theater and flexing his talent for photography, an activity he would return to every number of years. When STAR WARS however raked in tons of money, Paramount of course scrambled to get something of theirs in form. And so, STAR TREK was revived (after many false starts) to come to the big screen of the movie theater. STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE flew into cinema's in late 1979, however because the film was rushed no one felt it did justice to the characters. And the characters are what made the series so successful. STAR TREK II THE WRATH OF KHAN corrected this but allowed Leonard Nimoy his wonderful exit by having Mr. Spock sacrifice his life for the Enterprise and all his friend aboard her. 

"It was logical to do so. The good of the many outweighs the good of the few... or the one !"

The incredible success of STAR TREK II immediately cried out for another film and naturally, Paramount wanted Nimoy aboard. So with STAR TREK III THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK, Leonard Nimoy became a big name director as well. STAR TREK IV THE VOYAGE HOME was for many years the biggest box office hit and allowed for two more films of the Classic Trek cast to be made.

In the 1990s, Nimoy  wrote a follow up to his 1975 book I AM NOT SPOCK. But the 1995 book was called I AM SPOCK, because it dealt with his acceptance of the fact that he and Spock would often be seen as one, because Spock had also become part of Leonard Nimoy and Leonard Nimoy part of Spock. In these same years, Nimoy also became active again with his photography and in later years, came back to television, to the series FRINGE, before J.J. Abrams asked him to be the anchor of Classic Trek in his reboot of the franchise with 2009's  STAR TREK and STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. 

"I have been and always shall be your friend."

For the Abrams films, Nimoy had been talking to Zachary Quinto, who was to take on the role and take it into the future. It had been hoped Nimoy would have been able to do a small part with Shatner as the old Kirk and Spock for the upcoming Star Trek film, but now that Mr. Nimoy has left this world, it remains to be seen what will be done at all.

The Two Spocks, Nimoy and Quinto.

For me personally, I never had the opportunity to meet you, but you have meant a great deal to me. Your constant performances as SPOCK have enlightened my life and brought not only reason and logic in my life but also joy and caring  for others. For that, Mr. Nimoy, you have my deepest thanks.

May your afterlife be as rewarding as your life was interesting !

"A life is like a garden. 

Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.  

Live Long and Prosper"

The final message from Leonard Nimoy's Twitter Account.

007 James Bond in Licence To Kill 1989

After Timothy Dalton's first outing as Bond in The Living Daylights, screenplay writers Michael Wilson and Richard Maybaum put Bond in a unique position in the next film, Licence To Kill. Originally entitled Licence Revoked, this film would see Bond quit the Secret Service to exact vengeance on an unusually common criminal, a drugs dealer by the name of Franz Sanchez, played to the hilt by Robert Davi. The film would however quickly be retitled Licence To Kill because it was thought in England that Americans wouldn't know what 'revoked' means. Go figure !!

Robert Davi as Drugs Baron Franz Sanchez

The film starts rather brilliantly when old friend Felix Leiter, (played curiously by David Hedison, who hadn't been Leiter since Live &  Let Die) on the way to his wedding, is hailed by the DEA that Franz Sanchez is in the Bahamas and they might be able to get him. Bond joins in and they nab the drugs baron in a very entertaining and interesting way. However, because Sanchez promises anyone who helps free him a 2 million dollars reward, Sanchez is liberated and has his vengeance on Felix and his newly wed wife. (It is assumed she is killed but the way her eyes looked glazed, she might also have been given an overdose, this is not really specified.) Felix is fed to a shark, a scene also from Ian Fleming's novel Live & Let Die, curiously.

Bond then sets out to exact his own measure of vengeance on Sanchez and is assisted by Pam Bouvier, an ex-CIA agent and Q on a much bloodier battle in Mexico than we are really used to from the Bond films in the 1980s. This also drew some criticism from American audiences, who compared it to a Miami Vice episode. The film did manage good reviews but clearly under-performed in America, where people felt Dalton played Bond too seriously.

Carey Lowell as an exremely capable Pam Bouvier

The film turned out to be the last film Albert R. Broccoli produced himself, as legal battles kept Eon in court for some time in the early 1990s. It wasn't until 1995 that Bond would return with GOLDENEYE, in which Pierce Brosnan would take the part of Bond, and to which Broccoli would only be a Consulting Producer due to his poor health. However, also Maurice Binder would no longer be a staple for the Bond title squences, as he passed away in 1991.

Benicio del Toro as Dario, a crazed henchman of Sanchez's.

John Glen, who had directed all of the Bond films since For Your Eyes Only in 1981, also made his last film with Licence To Kill. Personally, I think Licence To Kill is a brilliant return to form for Bond and as a film, it is by far the best of the Bonds of the whole decade. But to me, the idea of a rogue agent, out for vengeance because of his personal involvement, that was a golden idea !

The lovely Talisa Soto as Lupe, Sanchez's girl friend.

If you look at the development of the Bond films over the years now, it was noteworthy that with the coming of Roger Moore, Bond lost his hard edge in the favor of humor but Dalton ended the 1980s again with a Bond as hard as Connery's had been. I would have loved to have seen another Bond film with Dalton but when production was delayed indefinitely because of the aforementioned court battles, Dalton felt he had to move on.

Timothy Dalton as James Bond in the Casino of Isthmus

Licence to Kill also sounds different than earlier Bond movies because of the absence of composer John Barry, who was not available during the production of the film. Michael Kamen filled in for him and delivered a score that was wonderfully effective, also all the while reminiscent of his music for the LETHAL WEAPON films. Unfortunately, for the American box office, this meant little as the film had to compete against films like BATMAN, STAR TREK V THE FINAL FRONTIER, DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER and INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE.

The title song Licence To Kill was sung by Gladys Knight, who had a hit with the song on the radio. A lackluster advertising campaign however also did not help the film at the box office. So, although the film made a lot of money, it is still seen as one of the less successful Bond films, which I do not agree with. But then, that's just me. Nevertheless, Timothy Dalton or not, we were promised as always, that JAMES BOND WOULD RETURN. And he did. In 1995's GOLDENEYE.

Composer Profile : Basil Poledouris (1945-2006)

Basil Poledouris was a Greek-American composer for music for film and television, who created many musical masterpieces in his relatively short career. Poledouris broke into film music by scoring John Milius' film BIG WEDNESDAY in the late 1970s. In the early 1980s he quickly followed this up with a very romantic score for THE BLUE LAGOON.

But it was again John Milius who put Poledouris on the spot for his film CONAN THE BARBARIAN, for which Poledouris created a score of epic proportions that would forever be identified with his name.

After also doing the sequel, Poledouris however quickly saw a chance to create another masterpiece of a score for a Paul Verhoeven action film, ROBOCOP. He had just worked with Verhoeven before on FLESH & BLOOD and apparently found Verhoeven a stimulating partner to work with.

 Verhoeven had wanted to make a historical action epic but somehow did not pull it off. But his first American film did allow Poledouris to make a real dramatic comeback.

In one of the last scores of the 1980s, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, Poledouris showed he was also very skilfully combining synthesizer music with his orchestral musical counterparts.

After missing out the sequel, he opted to come back for ROBOCOP 3 but this new direction the film took, did not exactly prove succesful. Still the score was pretty damn good!

Poledouris got one more chance to work with Paul Verhoeven for STARSHIP TROOPERS, a very over the top science fiction film based on a book by Robert Heinlein, in which insectoid aliens attack the earth and the earth has to mobilize and send soldiers to stop the bugs.

In the 1990s he also scored the first two FREE WILLY movies as well as a new LASSIE movie. He passed away in 2006, aged 61 years old, due to cancer. His musical presence was only heard a short time but his voice is sorely missed. Rest in Peace, Basil.

Basil Poledouris (1945-2006)

Composer Profile: Ennio Morricone (1928)

Ennio Morricone is the most famous Italian composer of film music in the world. Born in Rome in 1928, Morricone worked as an arranger before he started composing but worked with many famous artists, arranging songs for RCA. In the 1960s, he began writing for the Italian cinema, scoring films from westerns to crime thrillers, comedies and horror. His breakthrough in the field came with his innovative scores for Sergio Leone's westerns, resulting in legendary scores such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Once Upon A Time In The West.

 The first Sergio Leone Western in The Man With No Name Trilogy

              The Second film in the Trilogy

The third film by Sergio Leone in The Man With No Name Trilogy

 Morricone used the pseudonym Leo Nichols for this film

The most famous Sergio Leone Western of the 1960s, originally conceived for Clint Eastwood.

Working for Sergio Leone put Ennio Morricone in a favored position as Leone would often ask him to compose themes before the film was shot because by playing the themes for the actors, Leone would be able to influence the actors in their performances and thereby also 'direct' them.

Morricone and Leone in the 1980s

Moving on from westerns and the other mentioned genres, Morricone became a much sought after composer and worked with many renowned directors in his days. Also in the 1970s, he created a great many interesting scores, both for television and film.

 With Le Clan des Siciliens by Henry Verneuil Morricone also conquered French Cinema in 1971.

Based on the novel of JAWS author Peter Benchley

 

 A well known social drama of the mid-70s

For My Name Is Nobody Morricone would even lampoon his own style of Spaghetti Western Music.

 

A masterful dramatic film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci starring Robert De Niro and many others.

A beautiful example of an American Drama scored by Morricone in the 1970s.

Spielberg did Jaws with John Williams. Ennio Morricone did ORCA !

The music of this horror film was excellent, the film itself was not so good.

 Burt Lancaster played Moses in this 6 hour television series scored by Ennio Morricone. 

 The 1980s brought Morricone a very large choice of select productions from renowned artists as well as lesser known directors. His music however developed into fully orchestral scores with beautifully melodic themes.

Butterfly was an early example of erotically charged films in Morricone's career.

 Marco Polo was a highly rated 10 hour television series that Morricone scored.

Basil Poledouris scored Conan the Barbarian, Ennio Morricone scored Red Sonja.

 Ennio Morricone scares us to hell for John Carpenter's highly rated The Thing.

 Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn star in this highly charged dramatic VietNam war movie.

An Italian series that deals with the Mafia and that has gone into many, many seasons.

 Roland Joffe's highly acclaimed historical drama where Morricone uses a very dramatical choir.

Another very interesting Italian television series that Morricone scored.

 In this French thriller Ennio Morricone re-used the popular theme Chi Mai.

Romy Schneider starred in a drama in the French financial world.

My personal favorite: Brian De Palma's The Untouchables in which Elliot Ness defeats Al Capone, with masterful performances by Robert de Niro, Kevin Costner and Sean Connery.

Sergio Leone also teamed up with Ennio Morricone again in the 1980s for Leone's Gangster Epic Once Upon A Time In America, starring Robert De Niro, James Woods and many others.

In the 1990s Morricone scored Shakespearean drama's...

...historical television series....

...dramas based on controversial literary material...

...and more gangster movies.

He also scored drama's by Giuseppe Tornatore...

...as well as ludicrous American horror films...

...more historical drama's.....

....love stories from the past...

 ....as well as high octane thrillers.

Morricone has also scored science fiction films although this is not a genre that has come to him by nature. Brian De Palma however set Morricone to work for Mission to Mars.

And Giuseppe Tornatore asked Morricone to score his latest drama as well:

In recent years, Morricone has been spending a lot of time going on a world tour, playing his most famous themes all over the world. Only recently he performed in Amsterdam at the Ziggo Dome and in London at the O2. Mind you, he had had to postpone a good many concerts due to problems involving his back. Well, he is not exactly a young man anymore, you know. 

Still, Ennio Morricone is one the greatest Composers of Music for the Cinema today. He has fans all over the world and will leave an enormous legacy of work when he passes away. Which, to our all hope, is still a good, long time away. GRAZIE, Signor Morricone !