Music On Film

Farewell to FSM

Jonathan Shearon — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:11:22 +0000

As most of you reading this probably know by now, Lukas Kendall and the gang at Film Score Monthly have decided to cease their line of venerable CD releases later this year with the arrival of their 250th disc. That will be a sad day indeed in soundtrack land as the label has lovingly produced some of the most eclectic and desired soundtracks ever made in its decade plus run. In that spirit, we celebrate some of our favorites by each choosing five discs from their catalog, some familiar and some not.

Elfman to score Hunger Games, Oz

Jonathan Shearon — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:09:43 +0000

It looks as though Danny Elfman will compose the music for the much anticipated film adaptation of the bestselling Hunger Games series, the composer revealed in an interview with Buzzine. This should be a good chance for Elfman to continue his move away from comic book franchises and into something a little different, although let’s hope he can give it a more distinctive sound than some of his recent work.

Perhaps more surprising is that Elfman will score the upcoming Sam Raimi film Oz, The Great and Powerful, despite the seemingly bitter disagreement the two had on Raimi’s Spiderman 2. I guess time heals all wounds, especially in Hollywood.

Also on slate for Elfman are Tim Burton projects Frankenweenie and Dark Shadows (Elfman scoring Burton? Shocking, I know.) and the sequel nobody asked for except Will Smith, Men In Black 3: We can’t do any worse than the last one.

Source: Buzzine via Coming Soon

John Barry Retrospective

Jonathan Shearon — Sat, 28 May 2011 07:19:41 +0000

John Barry’s 50 year career in film ended this January 30th with the composer’s passing. What he left was a legacy of incredible film music that stands tall amongst his contemporaries, beginning with brassy jazz for the James Bond series and culminating in an epic sweeping style that would win him multiple awards for films like Dances With Wolves. On this podcast, we’ll examine his extensive contributions to the world of film music and his distinctive, inimitable style.

Goldsmith’s Alien Theme as Disco

Jonathan Shearon — Sun, 08 May 2011 00:49:46 +0000

Yeah, you read that right. Apparently the disco-ization of great science fiction film scores didn’t stop with Meco’s version of the Star Wars theme. One can only imagine the eye-rolling from the ponytailed maestro as this blasted across the airwaves in the early eighties. Not only did he have one of his most brilliant scores hacked to bits by Ridley Scott, but also besmirched by the unwavering banality of crappy dance music. Listen and weep:

via Io9.com

2010 Year In Review

Jonathan Shearon — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 06:27:52 +0000

Let’s face it: 2010 was a lousy year at the movies. Aside from a few gems, Hollywood seemingly left creative storytelling and original ideas at the door for lots of stupid in glorious 3-D.

New film music didn’t fare much better, which made it especially hard to do our annual year end best-of episode. So we cheated. Instead of a top ten list, we decided to open up the conversation and let the chips fall where they may. That means we discuss not only some of our favorite new releases of the year, but also the mountain of expanded editions and older scores released for the first time on the boutique labels.

Joining us for this episode (and hopefully more in the future) is special guest Mike Joffe, a producer at BSX Records and a respected member of the soundtrack community. Mike really adds some great insights that you’ll not want to miss.

Soundtracks discussed include: Inception, Tron: Legacy, How to Train Your Dragon, Predators, Krull, Star Trek III and V, and much, much more.

Jade

Jonathan Shearon — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 07:45:06 +0000

Jade is one of those James Horner releases that I suspect will be prized more for its collectibility than its musical content. I’ve often marveled at those who would spend hundreds of dollars on eBay for the out-of-print Vibes CD when one of his many in-print albums would be a lot more interesting. Those will probably be the same sort of completists that will seek out this album.

Neither commercially or critically successful, Jade was one of the less ludicrous entries in the sleazy “erotic thriller” genre that enjoyed a brief boom in the early nineties, thanks to the success of Basic Instinct, the – ahem – climax of the genre. While Jade didn’t sink to the absurd depths of dreck like Madonna’s Body of Evidence, it wasn’t too far off – let’s just say Linda Fiorentino is no Sharon Stone and David Caruso is no Michael Douglas.

Musically, Jade is all over the map. There’s James Horner’s brooding string and synthesizer sections, numerous pieces of traditional Chinese music, excerpts from Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Loreena McKennitt’s world music extravaganza “The Mystic’s Dream”. It all adds up to a weird cultural/stylistic mishmash that never really coheres into something that makes much sense.

I think the one thing that puts me off most about this disc is Horner’s insistence on using primarily synthesizers that have dated the music badly some twenty years later. Ever wonder what a James Horner Law and Order episode would sound like? Well, here you go. There are a few nice ideas here, like the little theme in “Driving to the Airport” and “Governor’s Boy Visits”, that could have made this into a fun moody noir score had they been fleshed out by a real orchestra. As presented here however, it sounds cheap. And don’t get me started on the ridiculous “oohs” and “aahs” of the fake chorus in “Matt Gets Turned On”, patched straight in from the Casio keyboard you got for you 15th birthday.

I don’t want to be too hard on James Horner for writing this or La-La Land for releasing it, but considering this was the same year he did Braveheart, Apollo 13 and Jumanji, it’s hard to think of Jade as anything other than a footnote in Horner’s career. If you’re a collector who wants to fill a gap, this is a quality representation of the score – probably more than it deserved. If however, you’re considering a blind buy because it’s a James Horner score, you might want to listen to the samples first.

Tron: Legacy

Jonathan Shearon — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 01:49:05 +0000

When it was announced that the French electronic duo Daft Punk would be scoring the hotly anticipated sequel to Tron, the elephant in the room was whether this was “stunt casting” on the part of the producers or a legitimate attempt to infuse something unique into the film’s soundtrack. One could argue that Disney made a similarly unusual choice in Wendy Carlos, the composer of the original film. While it’s true she was a Hollywood outsider, she did have a proven track record of fusing electronic music with a classical orchestra. Daft Punk on the other hand were primarily known for their infectious, sometimes maddeningly repetitious dance music and their eccentric stage shows.

I’m sure there was a strong expectation from many that the pair would simply fill an album with throbbing techno and call it a day, but their music for Tron: Legacy proves to be more subtle and sophisticated. What is immediately surprising is how conventional some of the score is, at least in a modern context. In the three decades since the original film, electronic music is no longer new or novel, and it has unquestionably been “mainstreamed” in the Hollywood film score by the ever growing army of Hans Zimmer protégés. In fact, large chunks of the score sound like they could have by written by Hans Zimmer.

Starting with the anthemic “Overture”, it’s clear the Punk don’t intend to fall back on their dance music heritage. Instead we get a slow, grand theme for horns accompanied by full orchestra and a hint of synthesizer. The theme is repeated in “The Grid” (which loses points for the intrusive Jeff Bridges voiceover – why, Disney, why?) except now fully synthesized. This sense of classicism also pops up in the gorgeous baroque dirge “Adagio for Tron” and the Finale, which reprises the main title theme.

Even with these traditional flourishes, Daft Punk’s strongest assets are still their compact melodies and trademark syncopated grooves. Tracks like “Derezzed” and “End of Line” (my favorite on the album) are positively danceable pop confections that dare you not to bob your head as you watch the light cycles whizz by. “Nocturne” and “Solar Sailor” are sly nods to Daft Punk’s electronic forefathers, sounding a little like mid-Eighties Giorgio Moroder or Tangerine Dream.

Because of their pre-existing fanbase, Daft Punk’s contribution has attracted an unusual amount of attention for a film score, even getting frequent mention in the film’s ubiquitous promotional campaign. Those reviewing it as a Daft Punk album seem to feel that it falls short of their previous work. As a film score it is neither as quirky or as iconic as Wendy Carlos’ score for the original Tron, but the icy slick sound the duo have crafted match the black glassy visuals of the new film perfectly.

Hans Zimmer to score Superman

Jonathan Shearon — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:11:57 +0000

It what is sure to be the first of many surprises for the project, Hans Zimmer has confirmed that he will be scoring the rebooted Superman, to be directed by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) and produced by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight). Zimmer made the announcement informally at the Inception DVD release party, as reported by Thompson On Hollywood. Perhaps more shocking, the composer (talking to NBC San Diego) said that he would not reuse John Williams iconic Superman theme in the new film, saying:

“It’s a hard one, but I followed one of the most iconic things on ‘Batman’ with Chris as well, and it’s the same thing. You are allowed to reinvent, but you have to try to be as good or at least as iconic and it has to resonate and it has to become a part of the zeitgeist. That’s the job. On Gladiator I remember people always talking about ‘Spartacus’ and I kept telling them, ‘When you saw Spartacus and how it affected it you, that’s how I want a modern audience to be affected by what we do now.’ So I think ultimately you’re supposed to reinvent.”

While I’m not surprised that one of the most successful composers in Hollywood and a previous collaborator with Nolan would get picked to write this music, I can’t help but feel that Zimmer is all wrong for Superman. It worked for the new Batman films because Nolan’s vision of the character required a more contained, atmospheric score – something Zimmer is great at. But Supes is a different animal altogether. Even if you are going to go darker with the character, you still need a fluid heroic score to accompany him, or frankly it’s not Superman anymore.

Hollywood has unsuccessfully been trying to “update” and “reinvent” Superman for two decades, with lots of half-baked false starts and one mediocre film (Superman Returns) that more or less just gave up and remade the original. Even if I’m not so sure about Zimmer scoring, I have faith in Nolan/Snyder to at least make something interesting. It can’t possibly be any worse than this:

or this:

Stay tuned for more…

Shore confirmed as Hobbit composer

Jonathan Shearon — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:07:33 +0000

It probably comes as no surprise to anyone who’s been following the on-again, off-again preproduction saga of “The Hobbit”, but it looks like things are finally coming together for the previously troubled project. With director Peter Jackson officially back at the helm, there was little doubt that the director would reunite with Howard Shore, who won two Oscars for his Lord of the Rings scores.

Well, that’s just what has happened. Shore made the announcement in an interview with The Province, saying:

“We’ve talked about making these movies for many years, at least since 2002,” Shore says.

“It looks like finally it’s going to be happening. I’ll be working on it for the next three years — it’s going to consume a lot of my time and work now.”

That’s good news for fans of the saga, who frequently cite Shore’s intricate score for the Rings films as pivotal to the series success. We won’t know if lightning can strike twice for the pair until the film’s release, but in the interim, this is certainly a big announcement and something for film music fans to look forward to.

From the Deathly Hallows scoring stage

Jonathan Shearon — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:16:16 +0000

Whether or not you are a Harry Potter fan, you know by now that part one of the final installment hits theaters this Friday. To tide you over until then, here’s some video from the scoring session and a short interview with composer Alexandre Desplat.