Musical Artist Movie Hall of Fame

I'd be interested to see someone compare and contrast Taylor Hackford's direction in The Idolmaker and Ray.

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THE IDOLMAKER
Director Taylor Hackford put himself on the map with a sleeper from 1980 called The Idolmaker, a dazzling show business tale wrapped around a compelling character study that takes an up close look at the manufacturing of teen idols in the 1950's, which were more of a product than we realized that works primarily due to Hackford's service to a terrific story and the mesmerizing performance he pulled from his leading man.

This is a fictionalized look at the career of record promoter/producer Bob Marcucci who was responsible for the careers of Frankie Avalon and Fabian. Here, Marcucci becomes Vincent Vaccari, an ambitious Italian songwriter who, through reading teen idol magazines, has learned what it takes to be a star and has decided that a lot of it is based on a look, which he doesn't have, but he does see the look in a childhood friend and second rate sax player named Tommy D and grooms the reluctant wanna-be to a level of fame that goes to Tommy's head and just when he thinks he doesn't need Vincent's help anymore, Vincent tackles another project in the form of a 16 year old busboy named Guido, who has the look, but needs serious help with everything else involved in achieving teen idol status, but Guido, who Vincent renames Ceasare, begins to outgrow Vincent as well.

Hackford and screenwriter Edward Di Lorenzo have provided the classic cinematic look at show business stardom from another angle that really found its origins on the Broadway stage. Watch Vincent backstage during Tommy's first big show, duplicating every move Tommy is making onstage, it rings so true. Vincent Vacarri is a contemporary re-thinking of Rose Hovick, the stage mother from hell created on Broadway by Ethel Merman in Gypsy. Vincent has gotten it into his head that because he doesn't have the looks that stardom requires that he is going to live out his own show business aspirations vicariously through the grooming of Tommy and Ceasare and just like June and Louise in Gypsy, Tommy and Ceasare find Vincent's guidance turning into a strangle hold onto their lives from which they can't escape and find themselves torn between their gratitude to Vincent for what he has done for them and the desire to have their own lives back.

But it's not what's happening onstage with these two teen idols that makes this movie work, but watching Vincent's Svengali-like handling of these guys and how, even if they or the viewer don't want to admit it, it is clear that this guy knows exactly what he's doing, even if some of his methods aren't always kosher. I love the scene where after his initial approach of Guido which meets with reluctance from the young man, Vincent goes to the boy's grandmother with his plans for Guido and the entire conversation between the two is in Italian and even though the scene is done entirely in Italian, we know exactly what Vincent is telling Grandma and the melting of her initial icy exterior is obvious and a joy to watch.

In my reviews of other Taylor Hackford films, I have often spoke of his self-indulgence as a director and how sometimes his films are a little sluggish in his pacing of the story, but there is little of that here...everything Hackford does here serves the story, despite some cliched dialogue that sounds like discarded scripts from The Sopranos, there is very little wasted screentime here.

The late Ray Sharkey is simultaneously slick, explosive, and controlled in the title role, a performance that won him a Golden Globe and generated serious Oscar buzz and if the film had been released another year, might have garnered him a nomination. This was a gifted actor with mad onscreen charisma who was taken from us much too soon. I never really bought Peter Gallagher as a 16 year old, but he fully commits to the role of Guido/Ceasare giving a real movie star performance that lights up the screen, as does Paul Sand as Tommy D and an early turn from Joe Pantoliano as Vincent's BFF and music director. Tovah Feldshuh brings a substance to the role of the magazine editor who Vincent uses and abuses that really isn't in the screenplay and if you don't blink, you'll catch future Oscar winner Olympia Dukakis as Vincent's mom and Maureen McCormick from The Brady Bunch as a reporter who works for Feldshuh, but it is Hackford's direction and the sensational performance from Ray Sharkey that make this one sizzle through the closing credits.

@Gideon58

I'm glad you liked The Idolmaker so much. It's been a favorite movie of mine for many years, but nobody else seems to have even heard of it.

I agree that Ray Sharkey was great in the movie. I haven't read much about the movie, so I had no idea that he won a Golden Globe Award for his performance in it. He deserved it.

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OPEN FLOOR.

Having just watched both films pretty much back-to-back, I much prefer his direction on The Idolmaker...his crafting of what happens onscreen in The Idolmaker serves the story and nothing more. I think Hackford probably had a lot more on his plate with Ray that blurred his focus on the story. I'm sure there were pressures on him during Ray that weren't on him with The Idolmaker, most notably the fact that the subject of Ray was still alive and spent time on the set. I think Hackford also had a lot of delicate actor egos to deal with Ray dealing with some A list stars, where he was dealing with a lot of virtual unknowns with The Idolmaker who probably kept ideas and opinions about the production to themselves. I've seen a lot of Hackford's work and even though it was his first film, I think The Idolmaker is his masterpiece.

Walk The Line

This is a rewatch and this time around I found an even closer connection and fuller enjoyment of Johnny Cash and June Carter.
This is a great movie with the troubles and eventual better life that Cash had and would have with June.
There's already been discussions regarding Phoenix and Reese's performances so I'll skim over that and talk about some of the other parts of this film.
One of the things I enjoyed was seeing a line of other performers; Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Orbison, Carl Perkins and Jennings' son playing his dad Waylon. Really enjoyed that.
I also liked just how many times June told John no. Not sure why, it just seemed to express a real love as opposed to a fairy tale. Along with the final n placards (which I had forgotten) saying June had died in 2003 and John followed 4 months later. Something very very beautiful about that.

There is a solemn note to this film and, having finished it only moments ago, I am very much of the same and therefore the words seem to have little meaning and a bit flitting.
Which I think is a very good thing. I means that the impact of the film was very real.

Excellent movie and a d@mn excellent nomination, @SilentVamp. Thank you.

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I haven't seen many of Taylor Hackford's movies, but my two favorites are The Idolmaker and White Nights (1985).

White Knights bored the hell out of me.

I like what you wrote, Ed. I felt the same way about the movie. Walk The Line showed me the troubled yet spiritual man, that was Johnny Cash. I could sense from the movie a real weight on his shoulders...and that brooding inner conflict is the center of the man in black and where his music comes from.

I have two more movies to watch Sweet Dreams and The Wall. I expect to like them both, but it's going to be hard to find another film in this Hof that will impact me more than Walk The Line. Glad to see there's another fan of that.

Skipping the reviews for now, but I will read them and add them to the first post as soon as I get my computer back fro the shop. Just wanted to let you know so that you don't think I abandoned this HoF that I created.

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Couldn't agree more.
and this answers my question from the live action thread. GOOD LUCK with your computer!!

Sweet Dreams (1985)

I had high hopes for this bio pic about the legendary country singer Patsy Cline. Sadly any type of a moving story never materialized, thanks to a lack luster script. While the two leads, Jessica Lange and Ed Harris are up for the project, they are literally left high and dry by a script that doesn't know how to bring the characters to life and fails to take us along for the meteoric ride that was Patsy Cline's life.

Unlike the bio pic about Loretta Lynn - Coal Miner's Daugher, a movie that stirred the emotions while making us feel we were watching a special person's career unfold before our eyes....Sweet Dreams...on the other hand doesn't do that. Largely the scenes are filler material that don't move the story forward or build the character into a three dimensional person. The scenes never give us deep insight into Patsy Cline. What we get is a bunch of rehashed fightin', boozin', singin' scenes that begin to blur after awhile.

I never felt like I was part of Patsy Cline's life story, I never really cared about her or her music...and yet she obviously had a dramatic life story that needed to be told...Patsy Cline was one of the great country singers...but I would never know that from this movie.

AMADEUS - Director's Cut
The Oscar winning Best Picture of 1984, Amadeus is the sumptuous and expensive cinematic rendering of Peter Shaffer's Broadway smash that takes us to 18th century Vienna to provide insight into one of our greatest classical composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with a slightly different cinematic path than most biopics. This film looks at Mozart through the people in his orbit and how they interpreted his extraordinary talent and its effect on Mozart the human being.

Based on Shaffer's 1980 Broadway play that ran on Broadway for over 1100 performances, the story begins as we meet an aging composer named Antonio Salieri, who has been confined to an insane asylum, claiming that he is responsible for the death of Mozart, which prompts the visit of a priest who encourages Salieri to confess to anything that would free his conscience and it is through this offer of spiritual purging that the story unfolds.

We are introduced to Salieri, a man whose passion for music has been all-consuming and he has dedicated his entire life to. He has vowed chastity and given up everything else in life, including the love and respect of his father, in order to serve his passion for music, which in his mind, mirrors his passion for God. His passion is so sincere that the death of his father comes as a relief, allowing him to pursue his passion and he is able to work his way into the position of court composer for Austria's Emperor Joseph II. As dedicated as he is to his passion, he finds himself consistently outdone by a brash, vulgar, skirt-chasing, nut case named Mozart whose passion is outwardly not as all-consuming, but his music is superior to Salieri's which makes him crazy, despite the general consensus among the Emperor and most of Austria that Mozart's music has "too many notes".

This film is a feast for the eyes and ears, as we watch lavish recreations of Mozart's greatest work and the conflicted reactions it brings to Salieri, who is driven inwardly crazy about the effortless skill in Mozart's work and Mozart's disdain of Salieri's, yet Mozart cannot deny the beauty and artistry of this vulgar creature's work and it is that conflict, along with the attention and acclaim that Mozart's work brings him, something Salieri never achieved.

What makes this different from your standard biopic is that the subject is really looked at through Salieri's eyes. We don't ever really get inside Mozart and what drives him except for some daddy issues, which come to full fruition after his father's death and the opera it inspired, "Don Giovanni", and it is this work that triggers the gifted composer's eventual downfall. One thing the film makes clear about Mozart's process is that every note he wrote, he wrote in his head first and then committed to paper.

It is this conflict in Salieri's mind that really is the heart and soul of this cinematic spectacle. The fascination of watching Salieri struggle with his jealousy of Mozart's artistry yet being unable to deny its existence is what is at the core of this story and looking past all the pomp and elaborate visual trappings, this is what the story is about. Mozart's alleged kookiness as a human being is consistently offset by Salieri's elaborate verbal descriptions of his music while the music vividly fills the audio.

Milos Foreman won his second Best Director Oscar for his meticulous direction, which might include some pandering to Peter Shaffer's Oscar-winning adaptation of his own play, which might spend a little too much time recreating some of Mozart's work and could have spent a little more time looking at the man himself. However, there is no denying the artistry that went into this production.

In addition to the film, Foreman, and Shaffer, a virtually unknown actor named F. Murray Abraham won the Oscar for Outstanding Lead Actor for his deeply moving performance as the conflicted Salieri...I actually preferred his work as the elder Salieri at the end of his life and Tom Hulce brings a surprising goofiness to Mozart that we don't see coming in a film like this, but it makes the character so human and likable. And though we have to wait for it, it's these two actors' work together near the end of the film when they are working together to put Mozart's "Requiem" to paper, is worth the price of admission, just a joy to watch. Mention should also be made of a superb supporting performance from Jeffrey Jones as Emperor Joseph II. The film is a little long, but is never anything less than riveting. Bouquets all around.

always enjoy your in depth and technical reviews, @Gideon58
VERY cool!!

For a head's up . . . I've watched at least half of these films. I first want to read through the thread, and see where I feel like replying. A process I will get started on no longer than right after Mother's day, but possibly sooner. This next reply doesn't really count. . . .

Thanks for that review. I love this movie, and also agree with Sissy's acting abilities, as well as her amazing singing voice. She is simply amazing in this movie. Thanks again for the review, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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I have just linked the most recent reviews.

Please take a look at the list and tell me if there are any of yours that are missing. I am pretty sure I have all of them.


Also, I am not sure if Once and Get Him To The Greek are still eligible. As of right now, if you have not seen them yet, please wait a little longer to do so. I am leaning towards them being disqualified, but I will give it a little more time before I make a definite decision about them.

You've got all of mine linked, so we are good!!
Let me know about Get Him To The Greek, sorry to hear Once isn't gonna make it, but that is how it goes.

School of Rock

An over zealous rocker gets kicked out of his band and pretends to be his room mate to get quick cash and finds a class room of musically gifted children.

Today's Lesson?

HOW TO ROCK OUT, MAN!!

And so begins the sojourn of Jack Black ideology of freedom through rock and roll, instilled upon structured kids, and like many similar scenarios; it is the children that teach Jack a thing or do.

For me, the real star is Joan Cusack. I always enjoy her. There is always some kind crazy turbulance beneath the calm waters and she gets to let the storms let loose; no matter how badly her character wishes not to. Loved it when she got drunk and sang along to Stevie Nicks.

The Buddy Holly Story

Quite the endearing and very well made production.

It's easy to fill a movie with drama and the bad times and so much more fulfilling to see a more rounded story of Buddy, his two friends, their rise and a more in depth study of the musician instead of personal demons or character flaws. And with this movie we actually get that.

It's always a great joy to see the person behind the music AS WELL as what occurred as the music was created.
I loved the insane disc jockey in New York who continually played one song for some 14 hours and his boss and the police breaking down his door. That scene cracked me up.

I remember hearing how when he first started touring how a lot of folks thought he was black when they heard the music and after the initial shock of a white boy playing with such soul, it didn't matter, what so ever. And getting a peek into that bit was very cool.

This has also been a movie I had not seen since the late seventies on TV and so very happy to revisit and find a rejuvenated thrill at seeing it again.
Thank you so much, @Citizen Rules for nominating this.


I'm gonna try to do a double bill in the next few days with your La Bamba since it's so wonderfully fitting.

Glad you liked it I have a third movie that goes well with the other two. Well, I'll save it for the Musical Artist Movie Hall of Fame Part 2

I have one more movie Pink Floyd's The Wall, and then I'm done.

What?! Have you found a Big Bopper movie that nobody else knows about?!
Immediately I start to think about what this third movie could be.....
I honestly am coming up with nothing! I suppose I will just have to wait and see like everyone else.