In Memory of Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020)

Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020)

Considered the last surviving actress of Hollywood's Golden Age, Olivia de Havilland passed away at age 104 on July 26, 2020. Most famously, she is best known for her role as Melanie Hamilton Wilkes in "Gone with the Wind", the biggest box-office hit of all time when adjusted for inflation.

De Havilland's film career began in 1935 when director Max Reinhardt had seen her in a stage production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in California before casting Olivia in his 1935 film interpretation. Later, she entered a seven-year contract with Warner Bros and became Errol Flynn's romantic partner in movies like "Captain Blood", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "The Adventures of Robin Hood", etc. In 1939, Olivia got borrowed from Warners to play the sympathetic sister-in-law to the selfish main heroine in "Gone with the Wind", for which Olivia received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress that she lost to her co-star Hattie McDaniel. McDaniel was the first African-American actress to win the award. In the late 1940s, she has become one of the top actresses to grace the silver screen. In 1943, Olivia sued Warner Bros for trying to extend her seven-year contract, which had already expired. During that time, actors faced the threat of unpaid suspension from their contracts with the major studios if they turned down roles that didn't suit them.

Her victory at the court proved that celebrities have more dominance than any major studios when that power gets shifted to them. To this day, it is known as the Havilland Law. Olivia won two Oscars for Best Actress, the first for "To Each His Own" in 1946 and the second for "The Heiress" in 1949. Her other roles include "The Snake Pit", "My Cousin Rachel", "Light in the Piazza", and "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" with Bette Davis.

De Havilland retired from acting in the late 1980s but continued to make public appearances and receive honours for her long-term career, like the National Media of Arts in 2008 and France's Legion of Honor in 2010.

She was the sister of another famous actress, Joan Fontaine, and they both had a rivalry regarding their achievements.

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Brock: Over the Top Review

Brock: Over the Top


Release Date: 22nd June 2020 - Australia


Production Companies
Universal Pictures Australia (present)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (present)
Wildbear Entertainment
Screen Queensland (in association with)
The Port Lounge (in association with)

Distribution
Bonsai Films


Genre: Documentary

Rating: M

Runtime: 103 minutes

Box Office Gross: A$12,638 (Australia)

Plot Summary
This documentary chronicles the history of Australia's famous race car driver, Peter Brock, detailing his personal life, glory and dark side.

Cast

Craig Lowndes - Himself 
Phil Brock - Himself

Lewis Brock - Himself
Ian Tate - Himself
Allan Moffat - Himself
Dick Johnson - Himself
Bev Brock - Herself
Garry Wilkinson - Himself

Michelle Downes - Herself

Julie Bamford - Herself
James Brock - Himself
Robert Brock - Himself
Alexandra Brock - Herself
Phil Scott - Himself

David Hassall - Himself

Greg Rust - Himself

John Harvey - Himself

John M Wright - Himself

Tim Pemberton - Himself

Brian Sampson - Himself

Craig Fletcher - Himself

Graeme Brown - Himself

Mick Hone - Himself

Jim Richards - Himself

Jane Caro - Herself

Peter Brock - Himself (Voice)

(Archive Footage)

Bill Tuckey - Himself (Voice)

(Archive Footage)

Harry Firth - Himself (Voice)

(Archive Footage)

Crew
Writer/Director - Kriv Stenders

Original Concept/Producer - Veronica Fury

Associate Producer - Rudy Schmidt
Executive Producer - Alan Erson
Director of Photography - Mark Broadbent
Editor - Tania Nehme

Sound Designer - Paul Pirola

Re-Recording Mixer - Brendan Coxon
Music - Jason Fernandez


Review
Racing legend Peter Brock was known all over Australia as "The King of the Mountain" and "Peter Perfect". However, his life was far from perfect as those closest knew him of his inner turmoils and hunger to win and for fame. I've never reviewed a feature-length documentary except for Michael Jackson's This Is It, but I'm willing to watch this one in theatres since it was re-opened amidst the COVID-19 crisis. Years before, I had barely heard of Peter Brock until he died in a rally car accident, which I had listened to on the radio. I'm not a big Brock fan because of his partnership with Holden, as I am a proud Ford supporter. BROCK: OVER THE TOP was an introspective look at the famous Aussie race car driver on how he gained ten consecutive wins at Mount Panorama and his business deals with Holden.

Director Kriv Stenders may not have made a biopic about Peter Brock, but he clearly examined the facts of his personal life and put it together in this kind of documentary. This film deals well with sensitive issues, particularly his troubled marriage with Michelle Downes, his relationships with Bev and Julie and his fallout with Holden over the Energy Polariser.

BROCK: OVER THE TOP is a must-see film that will attract fans for his life story. If you're a fan of Peter Brock or want to know more, this documentary is for you.

Star rating: (8/10) Very Good Movie

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In Memory of Ennio Morricone (1928-2020)

Ennio Morricone (1928-2020)

Legendary Italian film composer Ennio Morricone died on July 6th, 2020, at 91. An accomplished music maestro has composed more than 500 scores for cinema and television over 66 years, such as "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly", "The Untouchables", "The Mission", and "The Hateful Eight". Morricone was born in Rome and is the son of a trumpeter. He began writing music at age six and entered a conservatory to study music at age twelve. His classmate in school was filmmaker Sergio Leone, with whom he started collaborating with him by composing his spaghetti westerns that are part of his trilogy with its actor Clint Eastwood. Their careers took off with "A Fistful of Dollars", which has achieved him some prominence. However, one of his most influential scores in cinema history is "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly".

Morricone's other movie scores include "Once Upon a Time in the West", "Days of Heaven", John Carpenter's "The Thing", "The Mission", "Cinema Paradiso", "The Untouchables", "Bugsy", "Malena" and "Ripley's Game". In 2016, he became the oldest recipient to earn an Academy Award for Best Original Score in Quentin Tarantino's western "The Hateful Eight". Before that, in 2007, he was given an Honorary Award statuette for his contributions to the art of film music. Morricone's style of movie compositions helped several film composers in a deal of his inspiration to compose their soundtracks, like Hans Zimmer.

We will surely miss him. Here are the highlights of his film scores.

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In Memory of Carl Reiner (1922-2020)

Carl Reiner (1922-2020)

Hollywood comic legend and filmmaker Carl Reiner died of natural causes at age 98 on June 29th, 2020. Carl was best known as Mel Brooks' long-time collaborator, co-starring in the classic TV sitcom "The Dick Van Dyke Show", and was the director of such hit comedies like "The Jerk" and "The Man with Two Brains" that featured Steve Martin.

Reiner was born to Jewish immigrants in New York City in 1922 and served in the Air Force during World War II. He got recruited by a performing unit and did a lot of shows to entertain the troops. After the war, Reiner moved to showbiz and performed in several Broadway musicals. In 1950, he joined a popular TV sketch comedy show from Sid Caesar called "Your Show of Shows", where he collaborated with Mel Brooks and Neil Simon. After working with Caesar in the 1950s, Reiner later developed his TV sitcom, which got ultimately picked up by the CBS network and changed into a vehicle for Dick Van Dyke with Mary Tyler Moore as the show is now titled "The Dick Van Dyke Show". Because of the success of the hit show, Reiner's career has gravitated towards filmmaking, where he made his directing debut in "Enter Laughing". The other movies that soon followed are "Oh God", which stars actor George Burns and "The One and Only" with Henry Winkler. Reiner was instrumental in directing Steve Martin in what would be his film debut in the hit comedy "The Jerk", and they later collaborated on three more films that were also successful, like "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", "The Man with Two Brains" and "All of Me".

In his later years, Reiner made his comeback role as the con artist Saul Bloom in Steven Soderbergh's remake of "Ocean's Eleven". Later, he would return to his role in the film's two sequels. His last film role was Carl Reineroceros in "Toy Story 4" in 2019.

He even made guest appearances in shows like "Fraiser", "King of the Hill", "The Larry Sanders Show", "Ally McBeal", "Two and a Half Men", etc. Reiner was the father of Rob Reiner, an actor but a director in his successful movies.

My condolences go to his family and friends.

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