Halliwell's Film Guide 2004

by Halliwell, Leslie; Walker, John

• ISBN13: 9780060554088
• ISBN10: 0060554088
• Edition: 19th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-11-13
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

With entries on every film, from the classics to the latest blockbusters, "Halliwell's" has been completely revised and updated for 2004. Each entry includes a plot synopsis and critical evaluations; listings of all the major behind-the-scenes players; and DVD availability.

Author Biography

John Walker is one of Britain's leading film experts. He has edited Halliwell's Film and Video Guide and Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies since Leslie Halliwell's death in 1989. He lives in London

Table of Contents

Introduction to the 2004 Edition	p. vi
Explanatory Notes	p. vii
The Film Guide A-Z	p. 1
Academy Award Winners	p. 979
Four-Star Films--By Title	p. 982
Four-Star Films--Year by Year	p. 983
Three-Star Films--By Title	p. 985
Three-Star Films--Year by Year	p. 988
Index of Leading Directors	p. 991
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Halliwell's Film Guide 2004

Introduction

Welcome to the new edition of Halliwell's Film, Video and DVD Guide. As ever, packed into its many pages is as much information and detail as will fit about most of the films you are likely to encounter.

The Guide concentrates on movies made to be seen in the cinema, that temple of mass entertainment; it does also include films that, for one reason or another, failed to obtain a cinema release but which are available on video, DVD or can be seen on the often inadequate medium of television, which still treats them with contempt: butchering them to remove what it deems offensive, and chopping them up between distracting advertisements or even lengthy news bulletins. The Guide does not, however, include movies made for television, because, with very few exceptions, they are never more than time-wasters.

It has been another mixed year for movie enthusiasts, with Hollywood suffering from a failure of imagination, the British film industry in its usual state of disarray, and far too few foreign movies getting distribution here.

The highpoints included Roman Polanski's The Pianist, which deservedly won him an Oscar as director and Adrien Brody one as best actor; two very different but equally effective films from Philip Noyce -- Rabbit Proof Fence and the timely The Quiet American; Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine, which helped raise the profile of documentaries; the continuing collaboration of director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman with their wildly inventive Adaptation; Stephen Daldry's The Hours; and John Sayles' Sunshine State.

Unfortunately, Hollywood movies are becoming longer rather than better, turning into bloated monsters in which narrative and characterization are subordinated to special effects. Computer-generated effects have given modern directors the ability to show us brave new worlds and images never seen before, and all they can think of doing with this power is to compete with one another in staging ever-bigger and noisier car chases and crashes.

There was a telling correction in a recent edition of the film magazine Premiere, after stating that a new movie was to be made about the Roman emperor Constantine -- 'it is, in fact, based on the DC comic-book character, John Constantine.' Indeed, it did seem improbable that Hollywood would consider making a movie about Constantine the Great, a man who played a pivotal role in history, ensuring the survival of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, when there is still a comic-book character ripe for exploitation.

Just as every major Hollywood movie in the summer of 2003 was either a sequel or based on a comic-book, or both (with one exception, and that was inspired by a theme-park ride), so the future is equally uninspiring. There are currently a dozen comic-book movies in production and even more sequels and re-makes on the way.

Mouldering TV shows from the '70s are still being transformed into equally lacklustre big-budget movies. One studio recently had staff going through all its old movies to discover which could be re-made. Even past classics such as Kind Hearts and Coronets are not safe from meddling hands. The good news is that adventurous directors are becoming excited by the possibilities of shooting in digital video, perhaps inspired by the example of Iranian filmmakers who have shown that engrossing movies can be made on minimal budgets. The results so far have been patchy, but it gives hope for future originality and perhaps offers them and us a means of escape from the major studios' current stultifying attitudes.

I owe thanks to the many readers who have written to me with suggestions and criticisms. I'm grateful for the editorial skills of Monica Chakraverty and the technical expertise of Alan Trewartha at HarperCollins; and to the support of my agents Rivers Scott and Gloria Ferris, My love, as ever, goes to my wife Barbara, who lights my way out of the darkness in which I spend my working days.

John Walker

Halliwell's Film Guide 2004. Copyright © by Leslie Halliwell. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

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Excerpted from Halliwell's Film Guide 2004 by Leslie Halliwell
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