Film Freak Central

Music of the Heart (1999)

**/****
starring Meryl Streep, Angela Bassett, Aidan Quinn, Jane Leeves
screenplay by Pamela Gray
directed by Wes Craven

by Bill Chambers I should start this review by telling you how much I hate the generic title Music of the Heart. Wes Craven's bid for prestige was more evocatively (and appropriately) called 50 Violins in development, and the switch only proves how far distributor Miramax has strayed from its edgier roots. Almost as infuriating is the positioning of an 'N Sync/Gloria Estafan duet as Music of the Heart's theme song: a nigh unlistenable ballad opens and closes a film about music appreciation.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) - DVD

**/**** Image B+ Sound A-
starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Mickey Rooney
screenplay by George Axelrod, based on the novella by Truman Capote
directed by Blake Edwards

by Bill Chambers Would Paul Varjak (George Peppard) be in love with Holly Golightly if she didn't look like Audrey Hepburn? That's the question I kept asking myself as I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's, the story of a batty woman who overcomes her personality enough to make her downstairs neighbour, a published author, fall for her. She's a socialite too busy for housework; he'd be destitute if he didn't have a sugar mama (Patricia Neal). Both are humoured by the champagne crowd, but ultimately, Paul can't even afford a mid-priced gift for Holly when they go shopping together at Tiffany's.