ALAN PARKER
The roller coaster career of British director Alan Parker ended with his death in London at 76. Like David Lean and Alfred Hitchcock, he made most of his films here in America. He made some big winners, some big losers and some near misses.
Bugsy Malone (1976) sounds like a terrible idea but Parker somehow whipped it into a winner. Young children play the part of gangsters, lip syncing the lines spoken by adult actors. I know, I know, it sounds awful. But it isn’t. 
Midnight Express (1978) gave Parker his first Oscar nomination for Best Director. Alas, he lost to Michael Cimino for The Deer Hunter. Featuring a bravura performance by unknown Brad Davis, the film is unremittingly dark and grim for its first hour and a half.  It is based on the true story of Billy Hayes, a young American arrested for smuggling drugs out of Turkey. Actor Brad Davis died at 41, a brilliant career cut tragically short.
Mississippi Burning (1988) is the fictionalized story of the murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964. It stars Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe as FBI agents investigating the incident. They are not exactly welcomed with open arms by the locals. The film garnered seven Oscar nominations, but won only for cinematography. Parker lost to Barry Levinson for Rain Man.
Shoot The Moon (1982) stars Diane Keaton and Albert Finney as the dysfunctional couple from Hell with four innocent daughters. I found it a real downer, but I guess Parker did a pretty good job directing it. 
Evita (1996) is a tantalyzing near miss. A great story of the rags-to-riches wife of Argentinian dictator Juan Peron, and a great score from Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. And with Madonna and Antonio Banderas in the leads, what could go wrong? Well, something did.  It isn’t bad, really, but it just isn’t very good. I guess we have to hang the fault on Alan Parker, who somehow fails to get this off the ground. 
The Committments (1991), about an Irish rock band, is okay, just not to all tastes (including mine). Many critics blamed director Parker for the slow pacing and draggy dialog. 
Fame (1980) is a musical with top-heavy topics weighing it down. Actually loved by many fans, but disliked by more. A C+ for director Parker.
From there it’s pretty much downhill.. The Road To Wellville (1994) is from a really good book by T.C. Boyle about an eccentric clinic in Michigan. Though it has Sir Anthony Hopkins in the lead, it is pretty much a big mess. 
Angela’s Ashes (1999) is dragged kicking and screaming from Frank McCourt’s family memoir. It would be hard for anyone, including Alan Parker, to direct.. Finally, the really bad The Life of David Gayle (2003) is about capital punishment, sort of. It has Kevin Spacey, Laura Linney and Kate Winslett. And yet it is just unremittingly awful.
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups, who are hereby duly warned about the last three.