Mike Ockrent Movies
Mike Ockrent's professional career was largely dedicated to directing for the theater, which he had great success doing. Ockrent was born in London and educated at Edinburgh University, obtaining a degree in physics. In the late '60s and throughout the 1970s, Ockrent spent the majority of his time working with various theater groups throughout Great Britain. It was the 1980s and 1990s that he would enjoy his greatest amount of success, and, naturally, he tried his hand at film. His first film, Dancin' Thru the Dark, played at the 1990 Venice Film Festival with some success, but his main interests seemed to be in theater and he would only work on a couple more films in various capacities. At the time of his death in late 1999, at age 53, he was working on a number of plays and musicals that were in various stages of preproduction. ~ All Movie Guide
Differentiating this TV-movie version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol from the hundreds of other adaptations of the same Yuletide classic is its tongue-in-cheek ambience and a bundle of memorable tunes by perennial Disney composer Alan Menken and former Schoolhouse Rock lyricist Lynn Ahrens. Inspired by a stage musical which used to be presented annually at New York's Madison Square Garden, this Christmas Carol stars Kelsey Grammer as tight-fisted Ebenezer Scrooge, who sees the errors of his ways just in time to oversee the "best Christmas ever" for his long-suffering clerk Bob Cratchit (Edward Gower) and "God Bless Us Everyone" Tiny Tim (Jacob Moriarty). On this occasion, the spirits materializing for Scrooge's benefit include Jason Alexander as a neurotic Jacob Marley, Jesse L. Martin as a laid-back Ghost of Christmas Present, Jane Krakowski as a sexy Ghost of Christmas Past, and Geraldine Chaplin as a spooky Ghost of Christmas Future (in Wizard of Oz tradition, three of these four actors also appear as "real" people in Scrooge's everyday life). Highlights include the song "Link by Link," wherein the ghostly Marley and a chorus of wraiths perform a lively ball-and-chain dance number, and the outsized Christmas celebration in the home of Scrooge's first boss, Mr. Fezziwig (Brian Bedford), which features among other things a "pole dance" by the Ghost of Christmas Past! Filmed on-location in Budapest (which sort of looks like Dickensian London if you squint real hard), A Christmas Carol: The Musical won an Emmy award for musical director Michael Kosarin -- and, alas, tanked in the ratings when first telecast by NBC on November 28, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kelsey Grammer, Jesse L. Martin, (more)
Loosely inspired by the true story of the heavy metal band Judas Priest, this music industry fable from director Stephen Herek is based on a script by actor-turned-writer/director John Stockwell. Mark Wahlberg stars as Chris Cole, a wannabe rock star who works by day as a copy machine repairman and by night as the lead singer of Blood Pollution, a Pennsylvania tribute band that imitates the best-selling heavy metal rockers of Steel Dragon. Although he's supported by his girlfriend Emily (Jennifer Aniston), Chris is devastated when his friends kick him out of the band he founded. His humiliation doesn't last long, however, as Chris soon learns that he's been tapped to replace the lead singer of Steel Dragon, literally becoming a rock star overnight. Chris soon has everything he's ever wanted but is disappointed to discover that being a superstar isn't everything it's cracked up to be. Rock Star was produced under two other titles, "Metal God" and "So You Want to Be a Rock Star." ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Aniston, (more)
- 1999
Crazy for You, Ken Ludwig's 1992 adaptation of George and Ira Gershwin's 1930 musical comedy Girl Crazy, had already won a Tony award when this PBS TV adaptation was taped at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse. As if it matters, the plot concerns Bobby Child (Jim Walton), the son of a prominent East Coast banker. Though he'd rather be a song-and-dance man, Bobby is forced to enter the family business -- and his first assignment is to foreclose on the Gaiety Theater in Deadrock, AZ. But when he falls in love with Polly Baker (Stacey Logan), daughter of the Gaiety's owner (Larry Linville), Bobby dedicates himself to saving the theater. And how does any self-respecting musical comedy hero accomplish this task? By staging a fabulous show, naturally, with Bobby himself in the lead. Of course, the plot is a mere peg upon which to hang some of the Gershwins' best-loved songs, including "Embracable You," "Bidin' My Time," and the show-stopping "I Got Rhythm," belted out con brio by Stacey Logan. Crazy for You was first telecast on October 20, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
British playwright Willy Russell (Shirley Valentine, Educating Rita) adapts his play Stags and Hens for the screen and, with director Mike Ockrent, who also directed the stage production of Educating Rita, succeeds in conveying the cocky-eyed and aimless textures of working-class Liverpool ("It's like Beirut without the sun" one character points out) in Dancin' Thru the Dark. In this atmosphere-laden character piece, Linda (Claire Hackett) is out cavorting with her friends on the night before her wedding at a Liverpool nightery. But then her husband-to-be and his friends arrive to celebrate at the same joint. As if that weren't enough coincidence to go around, pop singer Peter (Con O'Neill), Linda's ex-boyfriend, and his rock band arrive in town to play a gig -- and it happens to be at the same club. Then Linda's past and future come together like two smashing beer mugs. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Con O'Neill, Angela Clarke, (more)
