Film Score Friday 8/27/99
by Lukas Kendall
Tonight is Universal Night at the Hollywood Bowl -- I don't know what
they're playing, but I'll bet E.T. and Jurassic Park are
in there. Last year was Warner Bros. night, and two years ago was Fox night,
which was fantastic. See www.hollywoodbowl.org.
Intrada is pressing an Elia Cmiral
score promo of Stigmata, available in limited quantities this September.
The Virgin CD is all Billy Corgan and non-Cmiral material.
Ninth Gate Preview
From: Jean-Michel Cavrois, Jmcavrois@aol.com
After the... hum... noisy Matrix, the dumb Mummy, the awful Blair
Witch Sting and others French desperate flicks, I've been very pleased
by Roman Polanski's new movie, The Ninth Gate, starring Johnny Depp, Frank
"The Voice" Langella and (groovy, baby!) Emmanuelle Seigner.
The film tells about a rich and sophisticated collector (not Recordman!)
who hires a specialist in rare books to find a book written by... Satan
himself! The screenplay, based on the novel Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reberte,
is very clever, so telling more would be diabolical. But it is not your
typical summer surnatural thriller. This one is full of surprises.
The cinematography by Darius Khonji is gorgeous, in a very muted
way -- far from The Mummy, for example. Kilar's score is some kind of a
remake (a rip-off?) of his own Dracula: same smooth romantism, onirism
and thunderous climaxes. It is la-la-la-dzim-boom-boom-boooooooooooom.
If we forget that aspect, it's flamboyant, and, as always with Kilar, has
a life of its own. Kilar is a diabolical melodist. After seeing Portrait
of a Lady, the main theme didn't want to get out of my ears. And now, the
main theme from The Ninth Gate (a haunting waltz à la Love Theme
from Dracula) is sticking to my brain. I can't get rid of it! Kilar, be
damned!
So, don't expect a new Rosemary's Baby. But The Ninth Gate is a
clever jeu de piste, well directed and well interpreted.
Complete -- Again
Regarding Jason
Foster's 1M1 column this week:
From: Steve Latshaw, STLATSHAW@aol.com
Jason Foster's "MY THOUGHTS ON DIFFERENT THINGS..."
"Now don't get me wrong, the occasional complete score on cd
is fine. But I think that this kind of treatment should only be given when
a film and its score have had a lasting impact on the industry."
I can't speak for anybody else, but I really enjoy listening to
my complete John Barry LIVING DAYLIGHTS reissue. And Ditto my 100 RIFLES
cd. I don't think either film had any "lasting impact" on the
industry but I'm damn glad someone had the intelligence and appreciation
for good music to release them.
100 Rifles
is literally complete, but guess what? Living Daylights is pretty
darn comprehensive, but it doesn't have every last note. I helped Rykodisc
put that one together, and despite adding a half-hour of unreleased music
it omits various snippets of the themes that are completely redundant and
like 18 seconds long. I mean, do you need to hear a pennywhistle play some
traditional tune for source music? No, of course not. And you don't need
to hear an alternate of some cue where the last note is a sustain vs. a
"button." It's not that important. The Living Daylights
is such a fantastic album that it had you fooled it was complete -- those
are the kinds of albums I like.
An Idea...
From: "Daniel Brecher" <chiefjawa@hotmail.com>
I greatly admire your input into world of film scores and it is
clear to me you have a great passion for them and thier composers. It is
knowing this and knowing of your possibility to get various media products
with regard to film music made that I come to you with an idea.
This idea concerns DVD. Earlier today I was thinking to myself about
seeing John Williams conduct the LSO last July in London. That was an unforgetable
and phenomenal night for me, and I am so very well aware of he love I share
with those who have also seen him perform live. Sadyl though there is a
number who have missed such opportunities, yet there are also many who
want to re-live them, and suddenly something hit me, an inspiration! I
noticed these DVD releases of popular musical artists (bands) who have
thier live concert performances released onto the DVD format. These tend
to sell well, appealing to many for the exact reasons I state above about
missed opportunities and re-lived ones. I sit here now, typing to you continuing
to build up on the thought I had today of a composers live concert being
brought to the DVD format for all to experience.
I'm quite keen to know your interest on such an idea, and perhaps
seeing if you may even consider trying to produce such a disc?
There seems to be some quite fantasic possibilities on offer with
such a release I feel. In my mind I picture a full concert on a disc presented
in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround with supplemental features such as interviews
with the composer, their filmography, behind the scenes footage and more!
With the knowledge of Filmscore Monthly producing media products related
to film music I reach out to you sir and ask for you opinions and thoughts
on producing such a DVD.
We have explored doing this on a few occasions but it has always come
down to costs -- as in, there are too many! You're looking at musician
union costs for one -- plus you don't always get the best performance captured
for the world. Milan did a video several years ago of Maurice Jarre in
concert which was pretty good. And there are many PBS broadcasts of "Evening
at Pops" with Williams which you can get from the network.
Asians
Regarding Cary
Wong's piece this week on Asian-related film scores:
From: Travers <tsr@alphalink.com.au>
I enjoyed Cary Wong's article about Asian-American film scores,
as I do in fact have my CD collection arranged in a way that separates
such titles from the rest of the soundtrack I own.
Cary's assessment of each score mentioned was pretty much spot-on,
and I was delighted to see the recognition of Goldenthal's "Golden
Gate", which is by far one of the best score's of that composer's
career, and a much under-rated soundtrack.
I also hope that the score used from the original Japanese version
of Princess Mononoke (I have the Symphonic CD version) is used in Disney's
English-version release, as it's absolutely brilliant.
However, there was some obvious omissions, I feel.
"Oliver Stone's HEAVEN + EARTH" - A brilliant score, one
of the best this decade, IMO, and anyone that I've met that has seen the
Vietnam war film or heard the CD has positively remarked about Kitaro's
amazing, emotional music, which uses Oriental instruments in a Western
symphonic way. Possibly one of the saddest soundtracks of all time, too.
Oh, and it won the Golden Globe award.
"BEYOND RANGOON" - I'm not a great Hans Zimmer fan, but
I see this as one of his best and most effective scores, and superior to
his "Black Rain". After all, part of this score was temp-tracked
into the "Mulan" trailer!
"CASUALTIES OF WAR" - Another emotional and atmospheric
score from legend Ennio Morricone, once again a score concerning the Vietnam
war.
and finally, though not a film score, but instead a TV soundtrack,
a special mention to
"KUNG-FU The LEGEND CONTINUES" - Jeff Danna, brother of
film composer Mychael, constructed wide-ranging musical emotions, but mostly
within an Oriental style, producing a soundtrack that not only is superior
to the actual series, but made the ordinary television show quite watchable!
Ha ha
Final 1985 Thoughts
From: skye@lightlink.com (Paul Andrew MacLean)
I'm probably late, but I have a few comments about the "Best
of '85" article...
I'm in wholehearted agreement with Roger Feigelson about film scores
in 1985. However there are two titles which I would also mention...
Revolution -- John Corigliano Although better than the critics and
box office would indictate, Revolution was certainly a flawed film. John
Corigliano's score however remains one of the best things he's ever written,
and was a major asset the production. This is one of those scores which
is so good it makes the film worth watching. Highly eclectic, its styles
ranged from vibrantly classical, to romantic, to jaggedly avant garde,
and featured the virtuoso flute playing of James Galway. Incidentally Corigliano's
music for the battle scene was later re-used as part of the first movement
in his "AIDS" symphony.
Ran -- Toru Takemitsu Ran is one of Takemitsu's finest acomplishments,
a surging blend of large orchestra with traditional Noh-styled music. Although
his battle cue was not scored as the composer intended -- Takemitsu wanted
to score it acapella; Kurosawa insisited on a brooding symphonic approach
like Mahler -- it is far more than a mere pastiche, and remains a highlight
of the film, and one of the most powerful uses of music ever in a film.
Takemitsu's more personal style does pervade the score however, with non-linear
writing punctuated by silences, and the blend of symphonic and traditional
Japanese instruments (as in his concert works like "November Steps"
and "Autimn"). One Japanese critic refered to the score for Ran
as "the sound of gods weeping."
Both of these scores are also notworthy in that they were written
by composers who enjoyed tremendously successful careers writing concert
music. Nevertheless they were able to flourish within the parametres of
dramatic film scoring (which not all "concert" composers have
been able to do).
From: Steve Latshaw, STLATSHAW@aol.com
In response to the mail bag comment by CCW <galt1138@prodigy.net>:
"The very idea that a film by director such as Sydney Pollack...
would bomb without Barry's score... if anything, it is Barry who benefited..."
Agreed - Sydney Pollack is one of the most brilliant film director's
we have working today... and OUT OF AFRICA was - and is - a magnificent
film.
However, in a television interview a few years back Pollack indicated
he clearly wanted and needed a John Barry score for the film... temp scoring
it with tracks from THE LAST VALLEY.
Soundtrack Related
From: sahutchi@iupui.edu
www.bucknergarcia.com
has _Pac-Man Fever_ on CD. It's not the classic album though, CBS is sitting
on that and has no intention of releasing it. Buckner & Garcia decided
there was enough demand to re-record the whole thing on CD. All eight songs
are included, with mixed results. My favorite, "Goin' Berzerk,"
was the biggest disappointment, but "Pac-Man Fever sounds virtually
identical save for the background vocals. I think the greatest weakness
is that Jerry Buckner uses modern synthesizers instead of the Moog originals
with their unique sound. They also sound like they're getting a little
too old to sing this kind of stuff, and lack the energy of the original
recordings.
From: Tim Kurkoski, kurkoskt@oit.edu
As well as being a film score fan, I'm a fan of the Disney theme
parks (mostly the original in Anaheim). Today I came across a recording
of the music used in the version of Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris:
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/9844/paris.html
or http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Cove/1998/ParisMaster.mp3
for the actual mp3 file
Almost the entire thing is a lift of Williams's Adventures on Earth
from E.T. I'm sure it sounds good in the ride, but man, that there is some
temp track magic. At least when they added music to the Anaheim version
they came up with something (sort of) new- Dick Dale performing Carnival
of the Animals.
If you read the info on that page, apparently Horner's music from
Rocketeer or Krull is used in the queue at the Paris attraction. Guess
they must have totally ran out of cash when it came to the music.
Poseidon Adventure Question
This isn't particularly about the music, but it is a title we've released
(go here for info on our Poseidon
CD), so I don't mind drumming up interest. Can anyone help? This is
obviously a very important matter...
From: berkart@berk.com.au (berk - berkart)
Let me tell you a little story, and perhaps you can shed some light
on the thing for me. Poseidon was released in Australia March 3, 1973.
It ran a year in the city, till March 6, 1974. Then, it started its suburban
rounds. I followed the film around Sydney, seeing it at most cinemas. (I
have all these dates catalogued, too) At the end of its first suburban
release, then it started the drive-in circuit. This was late in 1974.
I rock up to a drive-in on 30 December, 1974 and low and behold,
the film starts, and it's a different version. The first inkling I had
was the text at the end of the credits. I had seen the film 19 times by
then, and it always started with "At midnight, on New Year's Eve....."
This version, started with "In the Early morning hours of January
1st....", which was the catchline on the earlier, teaser onesheets.
Well, I died. And died from then on during the film at intervals. Several
scenes were longer with more dialogue, Stella and Ernie actually kiss after
the fight about the captain's table "you're a crazy son of a bitch"
she says, there's music in the film where there wasn't before (and visa-versa)
AND an extra scene in the Barber's shop where Carol says to Red "Why
do people always kiss when they say goodbye" and more dialogue, and
ends with "Can I please kiss you, hello?"
And the end line, instead of the helicopter captain just saying
"No", he says "No. Alright, we'll take all of you up together.
Come on, hurry!" Followed by the music you have on your CD, followed
by a shot of the stern of the ship out of the water while the credits roll.
Well. I ended up seeing that version quite a few times, as I followed
the film around Sydney, as you can imagine.
Anyhow. Is this version of the film an early version - I know they
had a midnight screening on New Year's Eve in New York in 1972 and questionnaires
were handed out. Did they change the film after this?
OR
The catchline on the 1974 American re-release pressbook says "If
you've only seen it once - you haven't seen it all!" Am I guessing
right, and the re-release version was this longer version? I have often
wondered.
Anyway, if you can shed some light on it for me, I'd be grateful.
I have often hoped that this version of the film would end up on a special
video release, but as yet, no dice.
Anyway, I just thought I'd ask you the question as your fabulous
CD has the different end title music. If it's all a big secret, and you
can't tell me, that's okay - I just thought I'd ask.
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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