Film Score Friday 6/18/99
by Lukas Kendall
Jeff Bond saw a screening of Iron Giant, Warner Bros' upcoming
animated film that takes place in the '50s, and says it's the best movie
of the year. The soundtrack (Michael Kamen score plus '50s rock) will be
out from Rhino on August 3.
As mentioned earlier this week, Silva Screen has re-recorded John Barry's
complete Raise the Titanic score for release late this summer.
Scoring assignments:
It's Hans Zimmer, not Danny Elfman, on Mission: Impossible 2,
due to the John Woo connection.
Marco Beltrami will score the next Crow movie. I think we're
up to #3.
David Newman will score The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas. Hope
that's not the funniest joke in the movie (the subtitle, not David Newman).
Dave Williams is replacing Burkhard Dallwitz on Supernova --
director Walter Hill has departed the film as well. (Dave Williams is not
related to John.)
Mychael Danna will score Girl Interrupted, starring Winona Ryder.
Does anyone know for sure whether or not "Jocelyn Pook," the
credited composer on Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, is or is
not Kubrick's daughter, Vivian? She earlier scored Full Metal Jacket
using the pseudonym, Abigail Mead. I don't know re: EWS and neither
does anyone I've asked.
Current Poll
Wow, got some interesting letters already about whether
most collectors buy their soundtrack CDs with or without having seen
the movie:
From: AdamT70@aol.com
Most of my soundtracks are from films I've seen, but its often the
case that I see them after buying the CD, particularly in the case of John
Williams. So I usually see them at some point, but often its not till some
time afterwards.
From: Russ Center <russc@usxchange.net>
That's an interesting question, but an even more interesting one
would be: How many people saw a movie after hearing the soundtrack? How
many saw a movie after hearing the soundtrack BECAUSE of the soundtrack?
Perhaps follow-up polls?
From: kurkoskt@oit.edu
My vote was just barely a yes. I've bought a lot of soundtracks
on reputation, like Planet of the Apes. Sometimes I'll buy a score from
a favorite composer, like Williams, and see the movie later out of interest
in the score.
The most common reason that I will buy a score to which I haven't
seen the film is that it was cheap (often at a used CD shop) and I've liked
the composer's other works (or the score was recommended).
Most of my score purchases, however, come from watching the film.
Everything from The Mission to Beavis and Butthead Do America have impressed
me when I watched the films and I was inspired to buy the soundtrack. I
was whistling the theme from The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came
Down a Mountain for days after seeing it in the theatre and finally broke
down and bought Endelman's quirky score.
From: Jim Rutherford, IMRud@aol.com
Just a quick follow up to my poll vote. I'd say the majority of
soundtracks I own (around 700) are from films I've seen, but with a steady,
growing number that I haven't, the percentage at this point for the "have
nots" topping out at over a third. From the mid sixties to the mid
eighties, the scores I collected were almost exclusively from films I'd
seen, either recent releases or from older films I'd come across on TV
and in revival theaters. Since I now have a pretty good feel for which
composers I'm going to enjoy, I'm more likely to take a chance on a CD
without seeing the film. Also, in all honesty, there seem to be fewer and
fewer films that I get excited about, and even the few that I do look forward
to, often disappoint. Although I spend less and less time at the movies,
my soundtrack habit continues unabated -- thanks in large part to the efforts
of Film Score Monthly -- both because of the reviews for recent releases
and your monthly offering of one great overlooked score after another.
From: Mark5760@aol.com
I think a more interesting poll question would be do you ever buy
soundtracks before seeing the movie. I have seen the vast majority of movies
of which I own soundtracks. I would say, however, that I frequently buy
soundtracks before I have viewed the movie.
From: Virginia Thompson <lanet@ufl.edu>
Seen the movie? You bet. The only exception in my 200+ collection
would be Krull, but I've seen parts of it, after I heard the score. And,
it's not really an exception, but I did buy Phantom Menace before I saw
the movie, along with Tarzan (and past Disney summer flicks). However,
I didn't/won't listen to either of them until after I've seen the movie.
From: Brad Taylor, JBT9955@aol.com
This is a great question. I answered yes because it's true that
I have seen most of the movies of which I own the scores, but if you'd
asked "Have you seen the movie of most of the currently released recent
scores you've bought lately?" the answer would be no. Because of the
craziness of my life (working two jobs, raising a family, trading CDs,
etc.), I don't end up seeing most films until they are on cable (and often
long after that!). Of course, for something special, I'll somehow make
the effort to see it on the big screen. And even though I've already taken
my daughter to see Phantom Menace, in the next couple of weeks it will
be shown with digital projection using two different systems at two different
theaters, and I figure I've got to check that out. But to get back to my
original point, I often pick up new scores, particularly by composers I'm
a fan of, and I often enjoy their music long before I see the film.
From: Greg Bryant <bryant_g@hccanet.org>
I HAVE seen the movie...
Which probably explains why some of my purchasing of scores by major
composers is down over the past several years...I just haven't been interested
in seeing the movies they worked on. That also explains the drop in purchasing
scores by Jerry Goldsmith, whom I still count as my favorite. The films
he's chosen just haven't been very interesting. I don't know if that's
a reflection on the choices he's making, or on the films being offered
him, either by the studio or his agent (however that process works). I
just haven't been interested in many of the films for which he has composed
lately. On the other hand, I have been seeing a lot of small films and
have purchased more scores by those composers.
From: Guy McKone <guymck@cims.net>
Time was - before 1991 - I saw the movie at the local theater before
buying the album. If an album was available, that is. Nowadays, I might
catch it on TV or video, but not always. I tend to go by the composer's
"track record" as it were. I weaned myself off of buying all
these composers' promos because I hadn't seen any of the films first, and
also backed off of buying CDs when first released in concert with the film's
release - mainly because they're just too damned expensive. When I first
"got into" soundtracks, they were deleted from the catalogs,
and going for around 49 to 99 cents. IF you hadn't seen the film - or heard
of the music - who cared? It was "musical economics", to me.
Oh, I know that albums (of the vinyl kind) were edging up to around
$15 a pop just before the CD boom of 1985, but I still say to get a "feel"
for the film' s music - you MUST see the film first. Very recent case in
point: Monte Walsh.
So - I'm buying much more music from the past, since I'm more familiar
with it (and I've had a chance to "live with" the film or TV
show or whatever).
In case anyone is interested in my habits, I would say that I have
many soundtracks in my collection for which I haven't seen the movie --
but I almost always enjoy the music more after having seen the film.
Kurosawa Comment
Regarding Jeff
Wilson's column on music for the director from earlier this week.
From: Piet van de Merwe, StichtingMnemosyne@direct.A2000.nl (Stichting
Mnemosyne)
Missing from this review are two words: Ravel and Bolero. When you
see or listen to Rashomon, you cannot avoid these two words. Since this,
for a change, is about a director and the music for his films, it would
have been interesting to read something about what this particular director
thinks music should be and do in his films.
Also, there is a Japanese LP with music from Rashomon on one side
and Seven Samurai on the other. This is without the sound effects and dialogue.
And if you only listen to the music, never having seen the films, you would
have a tough time guessing this was Japanese film music. I can't read Japanese
and this LP doesn't give me any clue what source was used and neither does
the CD box set.
I'm waiting if the word Mahler shows up sometime in the future.
Questions That Need Answers
If anyone can help, please write these folks:
From: Hayley, SIRDUKE93@aol.com
Dear Lucas, I was wondering if you could help me out! I have been
searching for the music to an A @ E original movie called, "Horatio
Hornblower". John Keane Composed the Music for it. Now, I know he
composed the music to the movie "Sentinel". I was hoping you
could help me in some way to try and figure out this music mystery! Everyone
is looking to purchase the music. Also tons of people want the promo music
that A @ E used to promote the movie. Do you know anything about this use
of music that they use for movies? Do you also know if there is anyway
I can reach John Keane to ask him myself? So many people are searching
for these answers. If you can possibly get back to me i would greatly appreciate
it.
From: Sandy Singer, KardWizard@aol.com
Questions That Aren't Supposed to Have Answers
From: STEVENS Greg S <greg.s.stevens@co.multnomah.or.us>
Why have none of the Goldsmith fanatics commented on the score for
The Trouble with Angels? This could be Goldsmith's most atypical score.
While the comic aspects of the score may be forced, the main theme has
numerous permutations. The real value of the score is its effectiveness
for the dramatic moments ("The Death of Sister Ligouroi" , "Rachel
Says Goodbye"), especially as it relates to the changing of the seasons
throughout the film. Of course, the score is much more than the film deserves.
From: Terry, Thseamon@aol.com
When is the music of David Raksin going to get more attention? It
deserves it, in my humble opinion. I recently played the old RCA CD and
was transported again by his wonderful music for Laura, Forever Amber and
The Bad and the Beautiful. What about his other film scores? Is anyone
planning to re-record anything of his? Look forward to your update. Keep
up the good work.
Right now I'm enjoying Varese Sarabande's 2CD set restoration of The
Song of Bernadette, a classic Alfred Newman score. Hope this whets
people's appetites for our Newman Golden Age Classic release, in July.
Find out what it is... later!
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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