The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector [film review & director interview]

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector
Directed by Vikram Jayanti

Review & interview by Allan Tong

There's a moment in this film where Phil Spector discusses John Lennon's assassin, but he could be describing himself: a madman who is so "out of it" that he callously takes another life. It's a chilling moment uttered by a deranged man who's now serving hard time for killing B-movie actress Lana Clarkson in his secluded L.A. mansion in 2003.

Spector, of course, is the legendary record producer who built the "wall of sound," constructing Wagnerian pop symphonies for the Righteous Brothers ("You've Lost That Loving Feeling"), Tina Turner ("River Deep, Mountain High"), the Ronettes ("Be My Baby") and ex-Beatles John and George. Spector is also famous for his guns and violent paranoia.... [click to read more at Exclaim! magazine]

PIRATE RADIO (DVD review)

An audio commentary by the director and his stars, plus some deleted scenes, can't save an unfunny comedy.

That's the problem with Pirate Radio, directed by Richard Curtis, who gave us lightweight commercial films such as Four Weddings and A Funeral.

Let's backtrack. Ironically, as the British Invasion took the world by storm in the mid-'60s, Britons could only hear the Beatles, Stones and Who an hour a day on official radio. That changed when some ambitious young rock fans launched floating radio stations that broadcast rock and soul music from the waters surrounding the British Isles. Nearly half of UK listeners tuned in, and that infuriated the uptight British government, whose BBC had a lock on the airwaves.


Instead of focusing on the battle between free expression and state censorship (and drawing a parallel between today's torrent sites, like the Pirate Bay, versus the courts), Curtis is more interested in relating the sex lives of his one-dimensional characters. ... {click to keep reading at:}

NOWHERE BOY (capsule review)

Based on the memoirs of John Lennon's half-sister, Nowhere Boy is an ambitious, but flawed dramatization detailing the formative years of the legendary singer-songwriter. The film succeeds in pinpointing the lifelong angst Lennon suffered from a dysfunctional childhood, but falls short in miscasting some key characters, starting with the teenage Lennon himself.

Newcomer Aaron Johnson is rarely convincing playing such a complex character. Lennon's angst, insecurity and creative drive feel forced. (Ian Hart nailed it in 1994's Backbeat.) Though the nascent Beatles barely figure in this movie, Thomas Sangster as teenager Paul McCartney is another bad casting choice. True, Sangster delivers a good performance, but he's much smaller and younger-looking than Johnson. Their scenes together are confusing.

Redeeming the film is Kristin Scott Thomas as the stern Aunt Mimi who actually raised John nearly steals the film.  And to be fair, this is Wood's first feature and on the whole it isn't bad. However, she has yet to deliver on the promise of her acclaimed short films.

Already released in the U.K.  North America general release TBA.  Special screening at Toronto's Canadian Music Week  on Saturday, March 13.