Mike Newell
131 connections found
Filmography
Four Weddings and a Funeral 1994 
Mona Lisa Smile 2003 
Love in the Time of Cholera 2007 
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2005 
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 2010 
Into the West 1992 
An Awfully Big Adventure 1995 
Donnie Brasco 1997 
The Awakening 1980 
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society 2018 
Dance with a Stranger 1985 
Enchanted April 1991 
Pushing Tin 1999 
Great Expectations 2012 View:
Connections, in both directions
This is a girly Dead Poets Society, covering the 1953-54 school year at Boston's posh Wellesley women's college.
…n the roster of holiday heart-swellers, this week brings a pair of distaff variations on pre-tested formulae: one a girls'-own Dead Poets Society, the other an XX-rated Full Monty.
Mona Lisa Smile, in which Julia Roberts (whose company produced the film) plays a freethinking, Berkeley-educated art-history professor at the all-girls Wellesley College in 1953, is being promoted as a chick-flick spin on Dead Poets Society, in which Robin Williams played a freethinking English teacher at an all-boys New England prep school in 1959.
Those who have seen multiple variations on the trusty "Teacher Who Changed My Life" theme, from "Dead Poets Society" to "The Emperor's Club," will recognize much of "Mona Lisa Smile."
It's Dead Poets Society as a chick flick, without the compelling drama and inspiration of Peter Weir's 1989 film.
So what we have here is another Dead Poets Society or To Sir With Love where the teacher eschews the "three R's" to teach kids about opening their hearts and taking a chance.
Wimbledon (2004)
Directed by Richard Loncraine
influenced by Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Themes Plot
The Anglo-American culture clash has been a common theme of numerous recent Britcoms, from "Four Weddings and a Funeral" to "Notting Hill" to "Love, Actually."
Working Title, the company that brought us Four Weddings and a Funeral and now serves up Richard Loncraine�s Wimbledon, can be depended on for films with an affable, low-key charm.
As I watched the film, I thought about how Hugh Grant in the role of Peter – especially since the producers are credited with “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and “Notting Hill.”
To say that Wimbledon borrows from other more successful Working Title romantic comedies, like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, is putting it mildly.
This insufferable rom-com from the production team responsible for Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill is built around the ludicrous notion that the best way for a tennis player to improve his game is to shag a young nymphet, preferably Spider-Man’s girlfriend.
Faring considerably better is Paul Bettany in "Wimbledon," a high lob of romantic fluff from the producers who confected "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill."
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
Directed by Raoul Walsh
influenced Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
Visuals Plot
The choreography of Dastan's jumping-jack athleticism borrows from the bouncy French tradition known as parkour (introduced to movie audiences in 2004's "District 13"), but the chaotic editing and frequent closeups sabotage the admirable work of the stunt men and disrupt the sense of genuine athleticism conveyed by (for example) daring Douglas Fairbanks in the silent "The Thief of Bagdad," an Arabian Nights genre predecessor.
He's an orphan; his birth parents are two movies, the Douglas Fairbanks Sr. (1924) and Michael Powell (1940) versions of “ The Thief of Bagdad .”
The Big Wedding (2013)
Directed by Justin Zackham
influenced by Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Themes
And let's get this straight right now: "The Big Wedding" has none of the tough, slice-of-life sting of 2008's " Rachel Getting Married ," nor the feel-good vibes of something akin to 1994's "Four Weddings and a Funeral."
Robin Williams has what amounts to a very odd cameo (reminiscent of Rowan Atkinson's turn as a priest in Four Weddings and a Funeral) and Ana Ayora's skinny dipping scene serves as The Big Wedding's lone highlight.
Don Johnson had a lot of great moments doing it on “Miami Vice,” and when you think back to the Johnny Depp performances that were still rooted in the real world, certainly one of the highlights was his intricate and mournful work as the undercover cop in “Donnie Brasco.”
But it pales next to a similar scene in "Donnie Brasco," because there's no follow-through, no sense that this agent has been playing a character so long he's beginning to become it.
Ellen Brown Furman ’s screenplay too often plays like an amalgamation of “ Scarface ,” “ Donnie Brasco ,” “ The Departed ” and any number of episodes of “Miami Vice,” and when it seems to begin moving into somewhat more uncharted waters—such as a scene in which Mazur’s real and ersatz wives wind up meeting—nothing comes of it.
Anyone who’s ever seen an undercover crime drama (think Donnie Brasco and The Departed) will recognize just about every in-too-deep beat of The Infiltrator: Mazur’s concern that partner Emir Abreu (John Leguizamo) is a loose cannon, their hilariously hard-bitten boss (Amy Ryan, wasted), the near-misses, the strain on Mazur’s home life with wife (Juliet Aubrey) and kids, and the tug of sympathy on Mazur and his fake fiancé (Diane Kruger’s agent Kathy Ertz) for the mark, high-ranking lieutenant Roberto Alcaino (Benjamin Bratt).
Of course you have, and who can blame you; you’ve seen this story a million times before, on countless television shows and in films from Donnie Brasco (the gold standard) to Deep Cover to In Too Deep to The Departed to Point Break to Miami Vice (film and television versions).
The picture is entertaining throughout, but it never plumbs the dramatic depths of a film like “Donnie Brasco,” instead remaining content with a lurid surface sheen and a generalized tone of menace and corruption.
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Directed by Jon M. Chu
influenced by Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Themes
By 1994, in Four Weddings and a Funeral Hugh Grant could only invoke the lyrics of the Partridge Family with: “I think I love you.”
You could think of its as something akin to “Sex and the City” by way of “Four Weddings and a Funeral” with a fuller body, greater nuance and a twist of zest.
This is the longwinded way of saying, in spite of its familiar, sometimes even ingratiating mien, “Crazy Rich Asians” is, mostly, quite delightful, funny and sweet—everything you really want from a romantic comedy, and a kind of classic, “Four Weddings And A Funeral“-esque tenor.
In fact, this is a movie carved directly from the Richard Curtis school, and it’s a film that could easily join the rotation of “Love Actually” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral” as another romantic minor classic.
Love Wedding Repeat (2020)
Directed by Dean Craig
influenced by Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Plot Themes
It would have been interesting to see what British rom-com maestro Richard Curtis (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill,” “Love Actually”) might have made out of “Love Wedding Repeat,” writer-director Dean Craig’s problematic English-language, Italian-set remake of the 2012 French film “Plan de Table” (No great shakes itself if its 28% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is any indication).
Still, there’s much to enjoy in the film’s first hour, which plays out a bit like an updated “Four Weddings and a Funeral.”
The credited adaptation source for Love Wedding Repeat might be a minor French comedy from 2012 called Plan de table , but the model for this strained opera buffa is two Brit hits from the 1990s: Sliding Doors and Four Weddings and a Funeral .
The multiple get-togethers of 1994's Four Weddings And A Funeral are condensed here into a single wedding in an Italian mansion, no less.
The obvious major influence here is Four Weddings and a Funeral , one of the great rom-coms of British cinema.
Instead of a fresh take on Four Weddings and a Funeral , Craig offers a shameless ripoff of that 1994 rom-com classic without a trace of its champagne fizz.
Imagine Me & You (2006)
Directed by Ol Parker
influenced by Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Themes Plot
Imagine Me & You is a little like watching Four Weddings and a Funeral on a magic TV that has been slightly more esoterically calibrated.
In other words, what we have here is sort of a lesbian version of "Four Weddings and a Funeral," and in spots Parker's movie finds some of that film's charm.
Producers angling for the next Four Weddings And A Funeral would be wise to scoop up Goode for any role Hugh Grant turns down.
Written and directed by Ol Parker, "Imagine Me & You" is reminiscent of the works of Richard Curtis, the screenwriter of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and the writer-director of "Love Actually."
Like Jim Sheridan's and Mike Newell's "Into the West,"…
Much like Into the West the result is exuberant and compelling.
Thus it recalls last year's tale of Irish Gypsies, "Into the West."
District B13 (2004)
Directed by Pierre Morel
influenced Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
Visuals
Director Mike Newell doesn't just steal from "Pirates" - he borrows the Pierre Morel stunts from "District B13" and an Arab whip-master who goes all the way back to the first Indiana Jones.
Sure, the constant careening off walls and pillars and rooftops is more District B13 than Disney, but when you’ve got the man who made Pirates of the Caribbean into an entertainment zombie (read: almost impossible to kill), and a video game basis to guide your spectacle, we should expect a little unrealistic bravura.
Judas is like JFK (except the conspiracy is real) with Kaluuya instead of Kevin Costner or Donnie Brasco with LaKeith Stanfield instead of Johnny Depp.
It’s a familiar dramatic beat, found in undercover-agent narratives as varied as Donnie Brasco and Point Break .
We've seen movies like this before ( The Departed , Donnie Brasco ) but never with quite these circumstances.
Judas and the Black Messiah is almost like a mob movie in the style of Donnie Brasco, The Departed, or Carlito’s Way, but from an emotional, societal, and – most importantly – non-white perspective, King’s film stands for so much more.
Judas and the Black Messiah concerns that betrayal, playing as a sort of Donnie Brasco undercover drama that unfolds within the weighty context of sociopolitical fury and sorrow.
The themes of the film remind of "Goodfellas" or "Reservoir Dogs", but the film remains original.
But any movie featuring Italian American dons, wise guys and a bevy of such expressions as "forget about it" (pronounced "fuhgedabowdid") will be compared, inevitably, to the superior gangster pictures of Francis Ford Coppola (the "Godfather" movies) and Martin Scorsese ("GoodFellas").
And they're not making the movie to get jacked up on the garish show-biz style of their hoods, the way Martin Scorsese and Nicolas Pileggi were in "Goodfellas" and "Casino."
Donnie Brasco may not have the epic qualities of Coppola's Godfather series, nor the dynamic construction of Scorcese's Goodfellas , but this under-rated Mafia film ranks at the top when it comes to emotional intensity, character development, and revealing the inside nature of the Mob.
Comparison with GoodFellas is inevitable, though these wiseguys are no high-rollers, and the tone is much more measured; low-key, even.
The story plays like a companion to "GoodFellas", with the same lore, the same fierce Mafia code, the same alternation between sudden violence and weird comedy.
Spartacus (1960)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
influenced Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
Characters
His character's zest may be in a broader vein than Peter Ustinov 's peerless turn in "Spartacus."
A Little Princess (1995)
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
influenced Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Music
Instead a slithering snake and portentous music (composer Patrick Doyle, "A Little Princess," working with John Williams's themes) are our entry into Harry's nightmare, which Newell breaks us out of with a bit of aural trickery right out of Hitchcock's "39 Steps."
The script’s from Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually), and like a lot of his work, it’s funny and fleet of foot, but a bit flimsy when you start examining it closely.
With that promising set-up, a screenplay from the crown prince of sentimental storytelling Richard Curtis (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill,” “Love, Actually”) and directed by the electrically talented Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “28 Days Later”), the jukebox musical drama/comedy “Yesterday” was atop the charts of my most anticipated movies of the Summer of 2019.
The screenplay by TV veteran Jack Barth and the legendary Richard Curtis (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”) does not miss a beat.
Imagine a world in which the Beatles never existed and you'll get the high concept behind this comedy from the rather unlikely team of screenwriter Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually) and director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), both 62.
Yesterday is written by Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Life Actually) so no surprise that the romantic leads are nothing if not moral, dedicated and sweet.
Curtis, who’s made his bones on all number of quirky British rom-coms like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love, Actually, is much less interested in the mechanics of the Beatle-less world he’s created than he is with cultivating yet another treacly tale of unrequited love between Jack and Ellie.
For what it’s worth, I prefer Song of the Sea.) Moore has also cited The Jungle Book and Mike Newell’s Into the West as influences, but I keep coming back to Miyazaki.
The Mummy (1999)
Directed by Stephen Sommers
influenced Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
Visuals
The film's marketing campaign is highlighting connections with Pirates of the Caribbean and, despite the influence of a different director, the look and pacing are not dissimilar, although one could as easily compare Prince of Persia with Stephen Sommers' The Mummy .
Its bombastic $150-million budget is wasted on a garish onslaught of CGI that could have been stolen right out of 1999's " The Mummy ," while the script from Boaz Yakin (2004's " Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights ") and Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard (2009's " The Uninvited ") is a hodgepodge of whiplash-inducing storytelling, frumpy dialogue, and repetitive action scenes set in unattractive, yellow-tinted locations.
India Sweets and Spices (2021)
Directed by Geeta Malik
influenced by Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Plot
Using a template nostalgically reminiscent of “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” Malik roughly structures “India Sweets and Spices” around a number of these parties thrown both by Sheila, and in turn, various other unforgivingly gossipy “Aunties” (playfully referred to as “sari-wearing zombies” by Alia in one scene) in their wealthy circles.
Love, Rosie (2014)
Directed by Christian Ditter
influenced by Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Plot
Love, Rosie is a comedy of errors in the vein of When Harry Met Sally… and Four Weddings and a Funeral, complete with every imaginable stumbling block that could keep its leads apart, from controlling girlfriends (Tamsin Egerton and Suki Waterhouse) to unfortunate flight delays to (yes) multiple weddings and even a funeral.
Clearly, there’s romantic-comedy potential in this situation, since variations on it have been done before—and far, far better in, for example, Four Weddings and a Funeral and My Best Friend’s Wedding.
Much of the blame has to rest with Juliette Towhidi (Calendar Girls), whose screenplay based on Cecelia Ahern’s bestseller Where Rainbows End, fails to do much beyond playing second fiddle to Four Weddings and A Funeral.
With his wavering British accent and $200 million abs, Jake Gyllenhaal is about as authentically Persian as Charlton Heston was a Mexican in Touch Of Evil, but he certainly cuts a good figure, and cinematographer John Seale, who won an Oscar for The English Patient, flatters him in every shot.