FILM SCORE FRIDAY 5/3/02

Sony has announced that on June 4th it will release a CD of Danny Elfman's score to SPIDER-MAN, which opens in theaters today. This will come as a relief to diehard film music fans, who feared that a Spider-Man score album would have to wait for the film's video release, if even then.

Spider-Man is Elfman's third feature length collaboration with director Sam Raimi. Elfman previously wrote the scores for Raimi's Darkman and A Simple Plan, as well as writing the "March of the Dead" for Army of Darkness and appearing in a dream sequence cameo in Raimi's last film, The Gift. (A photo of Elfman from the film is on the back of both of the Gift CDs, even the album of Christopher Young's outstanding score.)

And if that isn't enough Danny Elfman news, BMI has sent us the following press release:

COMPOSER DANNY ELFMAN TO RECEIVE BMI AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CAREER ACHIEVEMENT

SPIDER-MAN, MEN IN BLACK II CONTINUE ELFMAN'S SUPERHERO STATUS IN FILM MUSIC WORLD

LOS ANGELES - April 30, 2002 - BMI today announced composer Danny Elfman will receive a BMI Award for Outstanding Career Achievement at the performing rights organization's annual Film/TV Awards dinner. The dinner will be held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles Wednesday, May 15. The award will be presented by BMI President & CEO Frances W. Preston and BMI Vice President Film/TV Relations Doreen Ringer Ross.

Elfman will be presented with the Crystal Award, named in honor of pioneering BMI Los Angeles Vice President Richard Kirk. The award is given out annually to the composer who has made significant contributions to the world of Film and TV music. Multi-talented Elfman was chosen for his outstanding work within the genres, both as a composer and songwriter. His scoring credits include "Spider-Man" (which opens May 3), "Men In Black II," "Planet of the Apes," "Proof of Life," "Spy Kids," "Sleepy Hollow," "Family Man," "A Simple Plan," "Good Will Hunting," "Men In Black, " "Mars Attacks!," "Mission: Impossible," "Dead Presidents," "To Die For," "Dolores Claiborne," "Black Beauty," "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Batman Returns," "Edward Scissorhands," "Batman," "Midnight Run," "Scrooged," "Beetlejuice," "Pee Wee's Big Adventure," "The Simpsons," "Tales From The Crypt," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Amazing Stories," as well as songs for such diverse films as "Ghostbusters 2," "Weird Science" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."

He's received a Grammy Award for "Best Instrumental" for "Batman"; received two Academy Award nominations; and a Saturn Award for the "Best Score" for "Nightmare Before Christmas."

More than 500 film and television composers, music publishers, executives and press are expected at the black tie event. The BMI Film/TV Awards recognize the composers of the top grossing films of the year and the highest-rated prime time television shows of the year. BMI established the Richard Kirk Award in 1986 and past winners include John Barry, Charlie Fox, Jerry Goldsmith, Earle Hagen, Michael Kamen, Alan Menken, Thomas Newman, Mike Post, Lalo Schifrin, Richard and Robert Sherman, Alan Silvestri, W.G. "Snuffy" Walden, John Williams, Patrick Williams and Hans Zimmer.

BMI, founded in 1940, is an American performing rights organization that represents approximately 300,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music. Through its music performance and reciprocal agreements with sister organizations around the world, it grants businesses and media access to its repertoire of approximately 4.5 million songs and compositions
 

Changing Lanes - David Arnold - Varese Sarabande
The Salton Sea - Thomas Newman - Varese Sarabande
A Shot at Glory - Mark Knopfler - Warner Bros.
Spider-Man - Songs, plus 2 Danny Elfman cues - Sony

Deuces Wild - Score by Stewart Copeland
A Shot at Glory - Score by Mark Knopfler - Score Album on Warner Bros.
Spider-Man - Score by Danny Elfman - Score Album on Sony, due June 4th

Varese Sarabande has announced two more new score releases due next month. On June 11th, they will release John Powell's score to THE BOURNE IDENTITY, Doug Liman's film of the Robert Ludlum thriller. The film was originally to have been scored by Carter Burwell, but I don't know if Burwell had a score rejected or was merely unavailable when the film was finally ready for scoring -- the movie's release date was pushed back several months to accommodate reshoots.

Some may remember that Ludlum's novel was previously filmed in the 80s as a TV miniseries, with Richard Chamberlain in the lead and an exciting score by Laurence Rosenthal (released on CD by Intrada). Let us hope that this is just the first of many films where Damon will reprise old Chamberlain roles. Personally, I'm hoping to see Damon play the wife-beating pederast in a 21st century remake of Petulia.

On June 18th, Varese will release John Debney's score to the smash hit THE SCORPION KING, which if nothing else is probably the highest grossing film to star someone whose name begins with "The."

On May 13th, Varese will announce their three new CD Club releases, as well as their first Masters Film Music release in many years. On the news page of their website, they trumpet the six consecutive number one films this spring whose scores they have released/are releasing -- The Time Machine, Ice Age, Blade II, Panic Room, Changing Lanes, and The Scorpion King. Pretty darn impressive.

Everyone who reads this column probably knows this already, but it would remiss of us not to mention it -- there is a longer version of the Attack of the Clones CD available in the U.S. -- but only at Target stores. This CD contains the same packaging as the regular release but features a fourteenth cue, a lighthearted action piece called "On the Conveyer Belt."

This cue, which runs 3:07, is not listed anywhere in the booklet or back cover -- the only way to identify the Target release is the sticker on the jewel box that reads "Includes Exclusive Bonus Track Only At Target." I went to my local Target and bought their only remaining copy -- it happened to have the Yoda cover. On the plus side, the disc was only $13.95, lower than most chain stores charge.

And if Clones doesn't satiate your hunger for Williams sci-fi music, DreamWorks Records will be releasing the soundtrack to Minority Report.

On June 4th, Elektra will be releasing the soundtrack to THE SUM OF ALL FEARS, scored by Jerry Goldsmith. Fears is the first feature film in ten years directed by Phil Alden Robinson, whose previous films as a director were In The Mood, Field of Dreams, and Sneakers. During the lost decade, Robinson spent a long time developing a romantic adventure film called The Age of Aquarius, with Harrison Ford as a helicopter pilot in war-torn Bosnia, which was cancelled due to budget concerns. He also helmed a TNT movie about the civil rights movement called Freedom Song, scored by Robinson's usual composer James Horner and choral group Sweet Honey In The Rock.

The Sum Of All Fears is the fourth film made from Tom Clancy's best-selling Jack Ryan series, following the wonderful The Hunt For Red October, the disappointing Patriot Games, and the exciting Clear and Present Danger. (In an earlier column, my confusing wording made it sound like there were only two previous Ryan films)

Filmgoers may be confused by the casting of Ben Affleck in the Ryan role, especially since in the last film in the series Ryan had become the head of the CIA. The filmmakers are cleverly taking a Batman: Year One approach by presenting Ryan as a junior agent yet setting the film in the present, as a way of starting the series all over again. The film, whose release was postponed out of concern for post-9/11 sensitivies, teams Affleck with a superb supporting cast -- Alan Bates, Colm Feore, Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Philip Baker Hall, and the great Morgan Freeman as the equivalent to James Earl Jones' character from the earlier films.

According to the Hollywood Reporter's recent film music issue, Fears (the movie, if not the album) will feature a song called "If We Could Remember," written by Goldsmith and Paul Williams. This will be Goldsmith's first movie song since "Spirit of Africa" from Congo, not counting the Powder song whose lyrics were commissioned by singer Sarah Brightman years after the film's release.

From: "tom linehan" <tojosline@hotmail.com>

No doubt your eagle-eared readers know that John Barry's music from the film Midnight Cowboy (Fun City) is featured in the new TV commercial for Polo Sportswear. It features well dressed yuppies frolicking and living the good life in their Polo clothes. I always found Fun City to be a jazzy and seductive piece, not a merchandising tool. I hope Mr. Barry got a BIG HONKING Fat check for it.

Keep that mute button ready...

Normally, I don't reprint the results of a FSM weekly poll, but the latest one managed to stay online for five days with apparently no vote tampering, so I just had to celebrate.

Which is the best score for a Frankenstein movie?

Bride of Frankenstein (Waxman)                              162  votes  38.8 %
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (Doyle)                          73  votes  17.5 %
Young Frankenstein (Morris)                                    45  votes  10.8 %
House of Frankenstein (Salter, Dessau)                      37  votes  8.9 %
The Bride (Jarre)                                                     36  votes  8.6 %
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (Skinner)       14  votes  3.3 %
Gods and Monsters (Burwell)                                  12  votes  2.9 %
The Monster Squad (Broughton)                              9  votes  2.2 %
Frankenstein Conquers the World (Ifukube)               8  votes  1.9 %
Frankenstein: The True Story (Melle)                        8  votes  1.9 %
Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (Gizzi)                          5  votes  1.2 %
Frankenstein Unbound (Davis)                                 4  votes  1.0 %
Son of Frankenstein (Skinner)                                  4  votes  1.0 %
Curse of Frankenstein (Bernard)                               1  vote  0.2 %
Frankenstein Created Woman (Bernard)                     0  votes  0 %
Lady Frankenstein (Alessandroni)                              0  votes  0 %

Total Votes: 418

I have come up with a little game which I call "Where Are the Mark Snows of Yesteryear?" The object is to find a Golden or Silver Age composer and pair them up with a composer working today. The two composers should have at least a vaguely similar approach to scoring, and the object is to find films of the older composer that parallel (in subject matter, if not in musical approach) the younger. The apotheosis of this game is Danny Elfman (whom some of us think of as the new Jerry Goldsmith, despite his rock background) scoring the Planet of the Apes remake.

Our first entry is the comedy team of Bernard Herrmann and Howard Shore:

Anna and the King of Siam - M. Butterfly
The Bride Wore Black - Single White Female
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir - Prelude to a Kiss
A Hatful of Rain - Naked Lunch
It's Alive - The Fly
Jason and the Argonauts - The Lord of the Rings
The Man Who Knew Too Much - Ransom
North by Northwest - The Game
Prince of Players - Esther Kahn (or Looking For Richard)
Psycho - The Silence of the Lambs
Sisters - Dead Ringers
Taxi Driver - After Hours
The Trouble With Harry - Nobody's Fool
The Wrong Man - An Innocent Man

Any suggestions?

Personally, I think it's the names:

Elmer Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Peter Bernstein

Danny Elfman
Randy Edelman
Cliff Eidelman
Stephen Endelman

Ernest Gold
Jerry Goldsmith
Joel Goldsmith
Jonathan Goldsmith
Billy Goldenberg
Elliot Goldenthal
William Goldstein

Quincy Jones
Ron Jones
Trevor Jones

Henry Mancini
Harry Manfredini
Mark Mancina

Dennis McCarthy
Mark McKenzie
Joel McNeely

Alfred Newman
David Newman
Emil Newman
Lionel Newman
Randy Newman
Thomas Newman

J. Peter Robinson
Peter Manning Robinson

David Shire
Howard Shore
Ryan Shore

Herman Stein
Ronald Stein
Fred Steiner
Max Steiner

Christopher Stone
Richard Stone

John Williams (aka Johnny Williams & John T. Williams)
Patrick Williams
Paul Williams

And most of all, those damnable Britons:

John Addison
Richard Addinsell
William Alwyn
Malcolm Arnold
David Arnold
Arnold Bax
Arthur Bliss

Not to mention that every major composer of the last few decades seems to be named John, Jerry or James.

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