The Master of Pop Saxophone

Musician David Sanborn has passed at 78. This saxophonist has been creating and performing jazz music for over a half century and won 6 Granmy Awards. He has played with a who's who of musical artists and was a sought after session musician on some of the greatest albums in pop music history like Born To Run with Bruce Springsteen, Gaucho with Steely Dan, Young Americans with David Bowie, The Long Run with The Eagles, An Innocent Man with Billy Joel, and so many others. One of his very best albums for me was the collaboration with Bob James, Double Vision, a sublime beauty of pop jazz. 

Producer Spawned Generations of Filmmakers

 

Producer/Director Roger Corman has passed at 98. Beginning in the 1950s and for decades, 'This King of the B Movies' produced (and frequently directed) hundreds of low budget films (including The Little Shop of Horrors, Attack of the Crab Monsters, and Dementia 13, mostly through American International Pictures specializing in scifi and horror (including a series of Edgar Allen Poe adaptations especially The Fall of the House of Usher). Later with New World Pictures, he helped import prestige foreign films like Cries and Whispers, Amacord, and The Tin Drum as well as action films like Death Race 2000. He hired and mentored some of the greatest Hollywood talent including Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, John Sayles, and so many more. He was boastful that virtually all his films made a profit despite tight budgets. He received an honorary Oscar in 2009.

Bridging a Gap in THE IDEA OF YOU

 

The Idea of You is an entertaining tale of chance encounters and a love story that features winning performances by its lead stars. As directed and co-written (from a novel) by co-writer Michael Showalter (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), it’s a winning story that should please its intended audience.

Solène (Anne Hathaway), soon to be 40 years old, is a single mom finding her own identity after splitting with her husband.  She unexpectedly accompanies her teen daughter to a rock concert featuring a boy band and its lead singer, Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine). When Solène has a random brush with Hayes, the two become attracted to one another, and soon a bond forms and develops into a relationship that defies age barriers and convention. Despite her being old enough to be his mother, Hayes invites her to his world tour and jet setting lifestyle. This creates an array of problems with privacy and having a normal, personal life amid social media wildfire and paparazzi. Will Solène and Hayes find happiness, or is this whirlwind romance doomed to fail before it gets going? Can true love win out?

The film’s simple premise about life’s lessons and experience, depends on the strength of its leads and their chemistry. Rest assured, sparks fly, and part of the fun is watching these appealing characters play off each other.  This is Hathaway’s show, and she is quite good, while Galitzine is appealing whether being a convincing rock star or heartthrob. 

The film is filled with pop tunes and is well-paced. Viewers who are true romantics will likely respond to this sweet, at times amusing drama that does have a heart. This is a must for Hathaway fans!

***1/2 of *****stars (add ½* for Hathaway)

On Amazon Prime