Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Albert Finney

Scrooge 1970 Uplifting Christmas Spirit

So, it ain’t “Oliver!” What it is is a surprisingly potent bowl of warming Christmas punch. Just as Albert Finney’s Scrooge imbibes from the Cup of Human Kindness, so the viewer is uplifted, welcome or welcome not, by the high Spirits of “Scrooge” (1970). Leslie Bricusse’s hit-and-miss musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic ends in an explosion of joy unrivaled in its boisterous onscreen ecstasy. Thank you very much, indeed!

I can’t say that last night’s discussion scaled quite those same delirious heights, but we did our best to wring the Dickens out of it.

Next week, it’s our hope to conclude 2022 with something very special indeed. Unless it falls through, which it probably will, in which case we’ll have to push it back to January and do something else instead. Watch this space for further developments!

At the very least, I won’t make the same mistake as last night and will be sure to have a cup of cheer on hand to toast you, when you join us in the comments section. We’ll be slow-dancing to Guy Lombardo on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, when we livestream on Facebook, YouTube, etc., next Friday evening at 7:30 EST!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

December 23, 2022
Scrooge 1970 A Christmas Carol Holiday Review

Is there a more jubilant conclusion to any version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol?” Oh my! Thank you very much, indeed!

Albert Finney’s make-up as “Scrooge” (1970) is a bit of a distraction (he was only 33 at the time, in this, his first big-screen “character role”) and Leslie Bricusse’s hit-and-miss score makes “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” seem like Noel Coward, but the choreography and energetic commitment to the enterprise make it a satisfying entry in the unlikely craze for Dickens musicals, unleashed by Lionel Bart’s “Oliver!”

This characterization of the Humbug-spouting miser isn’t as straightforward as some. Finney and director Ronald Neame (“The Horse’s Mouth,” “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” “The Poseidon Adventure”) offer us premature glimpses of Scrooge’s nascent goodness and almost childlike humor, stirred by metaphoric spiritual visitations and the “milk of human kindness,” but willfully tamped down by obstinate backslidings. Until, of course, his redemption inspires the usual eruption of joy.

I have to confess, I was a little cranky when I sat down to watch it late last night, but the film succeeded in instilling a little holiday spirit and made me miss what movies used to be able to accomplish.

The discussion will be generous when Roy and I dive headlong into this Christmas pudding, on a special holiday edition of Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. All the punch will be in the comments section, when we livestream on Facebook, YouTube, etc., at a special time, THIS THURSDAY EVENING AT 7:00 EST!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

December 21, 2022
Black Panther Score Wins plus a Superman Memory

No Jerry Goldsmith. No John Williams. No Max Steiner. Alexandre Desplat already won twice in the past five years.

So the Academy Award for Best Original Score went to Swedish composer Ludwig Görannson for his work on “Black Panther.”

Actually, there was some John Williams, during the “In Memoriam” segment, for which Gustavo Dudamel conducted the wheat field music from “Superman.” Here’s how it was heard in the movie.

Which reminds me, why did no one tell me that Albert Finney died???

Music from “Black Panther,” who by the way was one of my favorite comic book characters when I was a kid, so don’t think I’m hating on T’challa!

February 25, 2019

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