Arthur Kopit Movies
- 2009
- PG13
- Add Nine to Queue
From the creative team behind the Oscar-winning Broadway adaptation of Chicago comes a lavish feature take on the Tony award-winning musical inspired by Federico Fellini's whimsical classic 8 1/2. Directed by Rob Marshall, Nine details the effort made by world-class filmmaker Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) in realizing his latest cinematic vision while simultaneously balancing his relationships with the many passionate and influential women in his life, including his mistress, Carla (Penélope Cruz), and wife, Luisa (Marion Cotillard). Original lyricist and composer Maury Yeston serves as co-executive producer for the filmed version of his own 1982 Broadway hit. Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Fergie, and Judi Dench co-star in the Weinstein Co. production. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, (more)
- 1994
Originally made for cable television, Roswell is an entertaining mix of purported actual events and science fiction. The narrative unfolds primarily in flashbacks as retired Army officer Jesse Marcel (Kyle MacLachlan) attends a reunion of the 509th Bomber Group and tries to come to closure on events that had taken place 30 years earlier. Back in 1947, Major Marcel had been part of a military team that investigated a crash site on a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. The debris recovered from the site had exhibited some remarkable properties such as being able to repair itself instantly after being cut, suggesting that it might have been of extraterrestrial origin. The military brass had ordered Marcel to go along with their phony story that the material was ordinary metal foil from a weather balloon, and he had reluctantly complied. By the time of the 1977 reunion, Marcel is suffering from a terminal illness, and he feels compelled to try to find out what had really happened at Roswell all those years ago. MacLachlan gives an effective performance, particularly when he portrays Marcel as an older man trying to understand his past. Evocative location shooting in the American Southwest adds cinematic impact. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kyle MacLachlan, Martin Sheen, (more)
- 1990
This adaptation of Gaston Leroux's indefatigable "grand guignol" piece The Phantom of the Opera stars British actor Charles Dance as Erik the Phantom. This adaptation by playwright Arthur Kopit soft-pedals the horrific elements of the story to concentrate on the love the tragic Erik bears toward innocent chorus singer Teri Polo. The film boasts a stronger supporting cast than was usual for a TV movie, including Burt Lancaster (as the masked phantom's father), Ian Richardson and Jean-Pierre Cassel. The 1990 Phantom of the Opera reunited director Tony Richardson and composer John Addison, who'd both won Oscar for Tom Jones. Filmed on location in France, Phantom was originally telecast in two two-hour installments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Teri Polo, (more)
- 1976
- R
- Add Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson to QueueAdd Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson to top of Queue
"Truth is whatever gets the loudest applause." Debunking western myths even more than he did in McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), Robert Altman's Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976) sardonically explores the gap between western history and legend in show biz-obsessed America. Megalomaniac "Buffalo Bill" Cody (Paul Newman) assumes the legend created for him by writer Ned Buntline (Burt Lancaster), aided and abetted by his producer (Joel Grey) and his publicist (Kevin McCarthy), perpetuating myths of white triumph over savage "Injuns" in his Wild West show, as audiences cheer him on and buy his merchandise. But when Sitting Bull (Frank Kaquitts) joins the troupe with his interpreter (Will Sampson), his request for authenticity threatens to throw a wrench into the proceedings. Regardless of how Bill may feel about the facts, he must bow to the preferences of the paying public. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Joel Grey, (more)
- 1967
A domineering mother and her sheltered son fly face first into love, murder, and the meaning of family in this black comedy based on Arthur Kopit's Broadway play. Wealthy Madame Rosepettle (Rosalind Russell) and 25-year-old Jonathan (Robert Morse) arrive at the Port Royal Hotel on a tiny Caribbean island with the man of the family in tow, literally; he's been dead for many years and his stuffed corpse travels with them in a coffin. Madame is the kind of woman who keeps piranhas and Venus Flytrap plants as pets, and controls her son's life down to deciding what meal he'll have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (a hamburger and a maraschino cherry). Jonathan is kept indoors at all times and isn't allowed to mix with the outside world, though the hotel "babysitter," Rosalie (Barbara Harris), slips in through the window and flirts with the easily rattled young man. Madame is being courted by drunken millionaire Commodore Roseabove (Hugh Griffith), and while she welcomes his advances, her attention is diverted by trying to make sure that her son stays "pure." Rosalie isn't one to be put off by the meddling matriarch, so she doubles her efforts to get at Jonathan, who wants Rosalie too but might be pushed over the edge by the attention. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosalind Russell, Robert Morse, (more)
