Werner Herzog

Nuttiest Zorro Song Ever Written, and More...

• Mar 14, 2007 08:46 PM ET
• by Maitland McDonagh
• 8 Comments

Send your movie questions to FlickChickSee Maitland McDonagh and Ken Fox review this weeks new flicks in Movie TalkQuestion I remember seeing a Zorro movie probably in the late 70s or early 80s that featured a song I remember distinctly I havent been able to find the title but I believe Zorros alter ego was either the king or some other aristocrat The song lyrics are something like He used to be the kingFa la la laZorros back Please help me get this question answered so I can get this song out of my head Everett FlickChick The movie was a Spanish version of Zorro made in 1975 with French actor Alain Delon as The Fox The song is Zorro Is Back written by Maurizio and Guido De Angelis and someone called S Duncan Smith which sounds like a pseudonym but could be for real I have no idea The De Angelises who contributed to a number of European movie soundtracks in the 1970s also recorded under the name Oliver Onions named after a 19th-century read more

In the "Meeting Mr. Kurtz" ...

• Mar 30, 2006 04:00 AM ET
• by Maitland McDonagh

Question: In the "Meeting Mr. Kurtz" chapter of Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost, he writes that of the three movie versions of the book Heart of Darkness, two weren't even set in Africa. He notes Apocalypse Now as one and I e-mailed him asking whether Werner Herzog's excellent Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972) was the other. He said it wasn't but couldn't remember the other title, though he said it was set in the time of the Spanish Civil War. Do you know what Hochschild was referring to?

Answer: I don't know and my research didn't turn up what I would call a definitive answer. But I think it might be Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón's El Corazón del Bosque (1979), which is set 10 years after the Spanish Civil War. It revolves around a young man who sets out on a journey deep into the heavily forested Spanish hills in search of a legendary loyalis read more

What do you think are the ...

• Mar 2, 2006 03:00 AM ET
• by Maitland McDonagh

Question: What do you think are the most overrated Oscar nominees this year?

Answer: You know, almost any other year I could have come up with a list a foot long. But the 2005 Academy Award nominees are a really strong bunch — among the major categories I can honestly say that there isn't a single one I strongly feel doesn't belong in the running. That said, I don't think John Williams merits two nominations in the category for best original score — for Munich and Memoirs of a Geisha. But I'm consistently at odds with the prevailing opinion on him. I find the overwhelming majority of his compositions overblown and totally ordinary — just because he can orchestrate up the yin-yang doesn't mean he has to do it every single time. He has 36 prior music nominations (all but three for original score), many of which represent two films in a single year; he also has five wins t read more