Anticipated Scores

Compiled by Lukas Kendall

Wondering what's coming up? As per our 4/8/98 column, the readers have spoken and here are some of the things to look forward to:

From: Zack Appleton <abyss@eden.rutgers.edu>

1. Saving Private Ryan, by John Williams. 2. Superman Lives, by Danny Elfman. 3. The Truman Show, by Philip Glass. 4. The Mighty, by Trevor Jones and Peter Gabriel. 5. Quest for Camelot, by Patrick Doyle

Private Ryan looks like the kind of project James Horner would take on (Spielberg notwithstanding) and I look forward to Williams teaching the young upstart how it's done.

I must include the next installment of the Superman saga even though it's slated for release in '99 because Elfman's home is doing superhero movies with Tim Burton. I can't wait!

Philip Glass has been a source of massive innovation in film scores, and of late he's been involving himself more and more in the industry (excuse that vulgar word). He'll have to abandon his style just a bit here, I think, and the outcome shold be very interesting.

Peter Gabriel is my favorite popular musician, and I love his score to Last Temptation. If anything is lacking in his film music, it's its relevance to the scene, and Trevor Jones is certainly a master at that. This will be Gabriel's third score (I believe) and his first collaborative effort, so I wait with baited breath, or something like that.

Quest for Camelot seems crafted for Patrick Doyle. His grand scores lend themselves to medeival fantasy. Finally, Menken seems to have been unseated!

From: "Brown, Alphonse V." <ABrown@tmh.tmc.edu>

Saving Private Ryan - John Williams. A Perfect Murder - James Newton Howard. Mulan - Jerry Goldsmith. The Mask of Zorro - James Horner. Godzilla - David Arnold

From: Bryant Burnette, bburnett@ua1vm.ua.edu

1) Saving Private Ryan: Do I even need to explain why?

2) The X-Files: I love Mark Snow's scores for the television series. It should be interesting to see how he scores a big film version.

3) Godzilla: I'm a David Arnold fan. I'm looking forward to seing what he does with such a, uh, big subject.

4) Prince of Egypt: I have a feeling this entire project is goiing to be extremely memorable.

5) The Truman Show: I was highly impressed with Philip Glass's score for Kundun, so I'm curious to see how he does with this one.

From: Michael Schuermann <mschuermann@bigfoot.com>

I'm in a huge cringe of anticipation for John Williams' score to Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. The buzz on the film itself is incredibly positive, with many saying that this could be Spielberg's year again. As for the buzz on the score, it's equally positive. Pretty much all of us have seen the excerpts from the Boston paper about the scoring session, how gorgeous the music is, etc. I don't know about you, but I think lately Williams has been writing some of the most gorgeous works of his career, and so this one's definitely up there on my list.

I'm also anxious to hear what David Arnold does with Godzilla. I've loved every score of Arnold's with the exception of Independence Day, which fit the film nicely, but unfortunately, also shared its biggest flaw, which was an extremely generic nature. I don't expect much more from the film Godzilla, but hopefully Arnold can produce a score more like his wonderful Stargate or Tomorrow Never Dies.

One score that I haven't heard anyone really talking about is Basil Poledouris' score to Les Miserables. I for one love Basil's work, and am interested in hearing him tackle an epic period piece (has he already? None I can think of). I haven't heard much on the film, but I'm still pumped anyways.

For number 4, I have to refer to a score that probably won't see the light of day until very late this year or possibly next. I'm referring to Hans Zimmer's Prince of Egypt. I've had the opportunity to see a few scenes from this baby through a friend involved with the project, and wow is it impressive. No sound as of yet, but the possibilities here are astounding. I'd love to hear Hans bust out a full symphonic score for once, with huge brass fanfares and everything. Keep this one on your lookout.

From: Karl Scott <karl_scott@opcode.com>

Another anticipated summer score is Jerry Goldsmith's Little Soldiers. The Joe Dante film due for July release is a combo live action computer animation typical Joe Dante thriller. JGs sessions are in LA in June.

From: Your Name <yourname@jmu.edu>

1. MULAN (Goldsmith). 2. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (Williams). 3. LES MISERABLES (Poledouris). 4. STAR TREK: PRIME DIRECTIVE (Goldsmith). 5. THE TRUMAN SHOW (Glass).

Sorry, I forget who "your name" is--damn these e-mail programs!

From: Robert Griffin <GRIFFINR@wmich.edu>

Here is my list for five most anticipated upcoming scores:

1) The Mask of Zorro: Here's hoping Horner can deliver the goods.

2) Armageddon: Ditto.

3) Saving Private Ryan: A Spielberg/Williams collaboration is always a moment of great anticipation. Let's hope this one is better than The Lost World.

4) Eyes Wide Shut: If it ever comes out. I'm a huge Kubrick fan, and he always makes interesting music choices. Personally, I think either Danny Elfman or Howard Shore would be ideal for a Kubrick film.

5) Star Wars Episode I: Of course. Even though it won't be out until next year, I am anicipating no other score as much as this one.

Thanks everyone for your comments. Send more choices to: MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com. Also, we'll hopefully update our list of upcoming assignments soon; we do include an updated list in every issue of FILM SCORE MONTHLY, the hardcopy magazine.