24 Hour Party People (2002) or, Tony Wilson's Factory

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Steve Coogan's large head and the styles of the European dance set of the latter part of the 20th century make up this poster for Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People

Tony Wilson is a TV-host and a music pioneer in 1970s Manchester, and in the dozen or so years to come he helps punk and rave groups to emerge and break out on his Factory Records.

24 Hour Party People is written by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Millions (2004)), based on the actual Wilson and his record company, and directed by Michael Winterbottom (Butterfly Kiss (1995)).
Steve Coogan (The Look of Love (2013)) is terrific as Wilson, and the film has an original concept, in which Wilson himself comments the story directly to us from time to time, breaking the fourth wall.
24 Hour Party People has some funny episodes, and the title sequence seems designed to induce epileptic seizures. The music, save for that by Joy Division, is unimpressive, and the majority of the musicians around Wilson appear to be faceless losers.

Related post:

Michael Winterbottom: The Killer Inside Me (2010) - Despite minor qualities, Winterbottom's adaptation is a nasty failure

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 2.8 mil. $
= Uncertain 
[24 Hour Party People premiered 13 February (the UK) and runs 117 minutes. Shooting took place in England. The film opened #59 to a 34k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #32 and in 37 theaters (different weeks), grossing 1.1 mil. $ (39.3 % of the total gross). The rest of the film's gross sheet is incomplete; but it only grossed 379k $ (13.5 %) from its apparent 2nd biggest market, production home the UK. It won 1/2 British Independent Spirit award nominations and was shown in competition in Cannes, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to 3 notches higher than this review. Winterbottom returned with In This World (2002). Coogan returned in 6 TV and video projects before his theatrical return in Coffee and Cigarettes (2003). 24 Hour Party People is certified fresh at 86 % with a 7.27/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of 24 Hour Party People?

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) - Newell, Curtis and a stellar cast's romcom triumph

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+ Best British Movie of the Year + Best $ Return of the Year: 55.84 + Best Mega-hit Movie of the Year + Best On-screen Couple of the Year: Hugh Grant & Andie MacDowell + Most Profitable Movie of the Year: 93.88 mil. $ range + Best Romcom of the Year

The main characters of Mike Newell's Four Weddings and a Funeral are squashed together on this bright poster for the film

At a wedding our awkward hero, an indecisive, English heartbreaker, meets the one and only, who is a warm-blooded American. But, but, but ...

Four Weddings and a Funeral is written by Richard Curtis (Trash (2014)) and directed by great British filmmaker Mike Newell (Donnie Brasco (1997)). It is an extraordinarily well-greased romcom; well-written and acted, - and directed with an enormous flair.
Hugh Grant (Restoration (1995)), Andie MacDowell (Mighty Fine (2012)), Kristin Scott Thomas (Nowhere Boy (2009)), John Hannah (Overboard (2018)), Rowan Atkinson (Keeping Mum (2005)) and Simon Callow (Creditors (2015)) as the festive Garth, who passes away, are all outstanding.
There's poor sound in a few scenes, and the film maybe repeats its own conventions a bit too willingly, but these are minor asides to one of the best and most widely loved romances of the 1990s.

Related posts:

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2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) - Newell straddles too much in fair action-adventure 

2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Love in the Time of Cholera (2007) - Newell's Márquez adaptation is a disaster

Donnie Brasco (1997) - Newell's fantastic, authentic gangster tale

1994 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 4.4 mil. $

Box office: 245.7 mil. $

= Blockbuster (returned 55.84 times its cost)

[Four Weddings and a Funeral premiered 20 January (Sundance Film Festival, Utah) and runs 117 minutes. The script was reportedly inspired by Curtis' having attended 65 weddings in 11 years and at one of them turned down a proposal, which he forever regretted. Grant was considering giving up acting before he got the part, which became his mainstream breakthrough. He was paid 40k £, with the other co-stars getting 17.5k £ per head. The tight budget meant that wedding extras wore their own garbs, and that shooting had to be completed in 36 days, taking place in England, including London, from May - July 1993. The US distributor objected to the film's profanity and tried, unsuccessfully, to have its title changed. The film opened in 5 theaters to a 138k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #1, spending a total of 6 weeks in the top 5 (#1-#2-#3-#2-#5-#5), grossing 52.7 mil. $ (21.4 % of the total gross). The US distributor, on realizing the film's popularity, spend 11 mil. $ on marketing it there. It grossed 27.8 mil. £ in the UK, and still stands as the highest-grossing UK film of all time. It was nominated for 2 Oscars: It lost Best Picture to Forrest Gump and Original Screenplay to Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary for Pulp Fiction. The film won 1/4 Golden Globe nominations, 4/11 BAFTA noms, a César award, was nominated for 2 David di Donatello awards, won a National Board of Review award and many other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, in line with this one. Newell returned with An Awfully Big Adventure (1995). Grant returned in Sirens (1994), MacDowell in Bad Girls (1994). Four Weddings and a Funeral is certified fresh at 96 % with a 7.64/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Four Weddings and a Funeral? 

Elizabeth (1998) - Kapur and Blanchett succeed with grand biopic

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+ Best Biopic of the Year + Best English Movie of the Year + Best Historical Drama of the Year + Breakthrough Actress of the Year: Cate Blanchett

 

Cate Blanchett appears as a woman to be reckoned with on this poster for Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth

1558, England: When Catholic Queen Mary of England during her fatal illness decides against convicting her Protestant sister Elizabeth to death, the country soon have a new queen, who finds herself under pressure to establish herself by marrying. 

Cate Blanchett (Hanna (2011)) plays with captivating vigor, impulsiveness and humanity in the title lead and enjoys first-rate backup from John Gielgud (Prospero's Books (1990)), Richard Attenborough (All Night Long (1962)), Joseph Fiennes (Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon (2016, TV movie)), Vincent Cassel (The Crimson Rivers/Les Rivières Pourpres (2000)) and more in the impressive ensemble.
Elizabeth is a very exciting and handsomely produced biopic with some extravagantly long music sequences (David Hirschfelder (The Dressmaker (2015)) has composed the fine score). It is a confident and great piece of very vividly rendered historical filmmaking. It is written by Michael Hirst (Vikings (2013-17)) and directed by great Britisth-Indian director Shekhar Kapur (Bandit Queen (1994)).

 

Related post:

 

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 30 mil. $
Box office: 82.1 mil. $
= Box office success
[Elizabeth premiered 8 September (Venice International Film Festival) and runs 124 minutes. Shooting took place in England, New Zealand and Australia. Blanchett was a widely unknown Australian actress at the time. Marlon Brando was in consideration to play the pope, which eventually was played by Gielgud. Kapur has related how he suggested, in vain, that the legendary Thespian acquire an Italian accent, which horrified every English actor within earshot. The film opened #17 in 9 theaters to a solid 275k $ in North America, where it peaked at #8 and in 624 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 30 mil. $ (36.5 % of the total gross) in its 26 week-long release there. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 15.8 mil. $ (19.2 %) and the UK with 9 mil. $ (11 %). The film won the Oscar for Best Makeup and was nominated for an additional 6: It lost Best Picture to Shakespeare in Love, Actress to Gwyneth Palthrow in Shakespeare in Love, Cinematography to Janusz Kaminski for Saving Private Ryan, Art-Set Direction and Costumes to Shakespeare in Love, and Score to Nicola Piovani for Life Is Beautiful/La Vita è Bella. It was also nominated for a two Golden Globes, winning one for Blanchett, 12 BAFTAS, winning 6, won 2 National Board of Review awards, an award in Venice and more. The film was accused of being anti-Catholic, and it is also fraught with countless historical inaccuracies. It was followed up by Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) about the second part of Elizabeth's reign, again by Kapur and with Blanchett, - but not a hit. Elizabeth is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.3 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Elizabeth?