FILM SCORE FRIDAY 12/06/02

Award season begins! The National Board of Review has given Elmer Bernstein their award for music composition for his widely acclaimed score to FAR FROM HEAVEN.

Other NBR winners include -- The Hours, best film; Campbell Scott (Roger Dodger), best actor; Julianne Moore (Far From Heaven) best actress; Chris Cooper (Adaptation), best supporting actor; Kathy Bates (About Schmidt), best supporting actress; Philip Noyce (The Quiet American, Rabbit-Proof Fence) best director; Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Human Nature), screenwriter of the year; Conrad Hall (Road to Pedition), best cinematography.

However, McCarthy reserves harsh words for Williams' Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone -- "the single most bombastic score of his entire career" (he does, however, take care to praise Williams' "genuinely resourceful" music for A.I.), and the recent output of James Horner, John Debney, and Klaus Badelt.

Whatever one may think of McCarthy's views, it's refreshing that he takes the time to list great composers of the past and present in his essay, showing an impressive awareness of film music history which is distressingly rare among today's critics.

Analyze That - David Holmes - TVT
Miracle on 34th Street - Bruce Broughton - Intrada Special Collection

December 10
About Schmidt - Rolfe Kent - New Line
Catch Me If You Can - John Williams - Dreamworks
The Hours - Philip Glass - Nonesuch
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Howard Shore - Warner Bros.
Pinocchio - Nicola Piovani - Virgin
Solaris - Cliff Martinez - Superb
December 17
8 Women - Krishna Levy - Rhino
Gangs of New York - Howard Shore - Interscope
February 11
Diamonds Are Forever - John Barry - EMI/Capitol
Live and Let Die - George Martin - EMI/Capitol
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - John Barry - EMI/Capitol
February 25
Goldfinger - John Barry - EMI/Capitol
Thunderball - John Barry - EMI/Captol
You Only Live Twice - John Barry - EMI/Capitol
Date Unknown
Amerika - Basil Poledouris - Prometheus
The Big Sky - Dimitri Tiomkin - Screen Archives/BYU
The Busy Body/The Spirit is Willing - Vic Mizzy - Percepto
Fear No Evil - Frank LaLoggia - Percepto
Gods and Generals - Randy Edelman, John Frizzell - Sony Classical
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - Jerry Goldsmith, et al - Film Score Monthly
The Package - James Newton Howard - Prometheus CD Club
The Seventh Sin - Miklos Rozsa - Film Score Monthly
The Swarm - Jerry Goldsmith - Prometheus CD Club

Adaptation - Carter Burwell - Score CD on Astralwerks
Analyze That - David Holmes - Score CD on TVT
Equliibrium - Klaus Badelt

EXTREME OPS - Normand Corbeil, Stanislas Syrewicz

"Working from a by-the-numbers script by Michael Zaidan, director Christian Duguay ("The Art of War") relies heavily on pumped-up techno-pop score and montages of extreme-sports action to sustain some semblance of narrative momentum."

Joe Leydon, Variety

RABBIT PROOF FENCE - Peter Gabriel

"Peter Gabriel's score, which utilized aboriginal instruments and themes, is also very fine, and the tight editing wraps things up in 94 minutes."

David Stratton, Variety

SOLARIS - Cliff Martinez

"Cliff Martinez's resourceful score makes unusual use of steel drum and gamelan instrumentations, and sound mix is exceptional."

Todd McCarthy, Variety

"The chill is only accentuated by Cliff Martinez's ethereally melancholy score of synthesized pulses filtered through strings."

Stephen Holden, New York Times

"The effect is, in fact, trance-like and trance-inducing, and this quality is only emphasized by Cliff Martinez's minimalist Philip Glass-like score."

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

"The mood of frozen bewilderment is sustained by a color scheme of varying shades of blue and by electronic music that arrives in prolonged slabs, pinning your brain to the base of your skull."

David Denby, The New Yorker

THEY - Elia Cmiral

"As she prepares to defend her thesis, the city she lives in is menaced by rolling power shortages, spooky music (by Elia Cmiral) and incessant rain, and her childhood friend Billy shows up raving about the scary creatures that are pursuing him."

A.O. Scott, New York Times

FROM: Stéphane Michaud

SUBJECT: Should they mention the music?

In last week's "Film Score Friday" we could read:

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS - John Williams, William Ross

"The greatest relief of all: The volume and aggressiveness of John Williams' calamitous score for the original has been reduced several times over, to the point where the musical accompaniment, which still remains more ever-present than absolutely necessary, nonetheless functions in a properly supportive and helpful manner.

Todd McCarthy, Variety

We may or may not agree on the virtues, "volume and aggressiveness" of the SORCERER'S STONE soundtrack, but if one has to qualify it, "calamitous" should definitely NOT be the first word that comes to mind...

Personally, what I find "calamitous" is that irksome tendency some demeaning film critics like this or Pauline Kael have, out of pure snobbery, to double as musical experts too. Who says a guy like Leonard Maltin is the finest essayist there is? Yet, one private pleasure is opening up his Movie Guides and reading one of his innumerable, heartfelt and mostly positive snippets about scores in general. On the other hand, how come someone like the completely tone-deaf Roger Ebert, who's supposed to be so much more knowledgeable, refined, cerebral, never has anything to say, good or bad, about a film soundtrack? It all comes down to one's private interests, and most of them should leave it at that if they don't know any better. When asked about the overall appreciation of film music, I keep quoting THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: "To those who believe, no explanation is necessary; to those who don't, no explanation is possible."

However, I have never forgiven Roger Ebert (along with the late Gene Siskel) for taking time out on the original Sneak Previews, where films scores were rarely mentioned, to pan Goldsmith's score for Night Crossing. Night Crossing, for goodness sake. We're not talking S*P*Y*S or Mr. Baseball, here. What's wrong with Night Crossing? (And believe me, they weren't complaining that the main title theme was too derivative of Capricorn One)

Film score picks and pans from the writings of Pauline Kael:

BAY OF ANGELS

The music by Michel Legrand is integral to the film -- in a way music has rarely been used since Rene Clair's first talkies.

(from 5001 Nights at the Movies, published by Henry Holt & Co)

The tautness of Carradine's voice is betrayed by the Leonard Rosenman score, which uses conventional instrumentation on Woody Guthrie themes.

(from When the Lights Go Down, published by Henry Holt & Co.)

The score, by Danny Elfman, has an antic sweep to it.

(from Movie Love, published by Plume)

Their search is also a search for the divine in all of us, and John Williams' grandiose score tips us when the searchers are getting hot.

(from Movie Love, published by Plume)

Roman Vlad contributes a witty score with a little theme for each mistress.

(from 5001 Nights at the Movies, published by Henry Holt & Co.)

Audience morale sinks audibly when the reporter and the schoolteacher start playing scare pranks on each other while the Lalo Schifrin score works on us so our hearts will pound when the reporter approaches his girl in her shower, or when she hides in the back seat of his car an puts a hand the size of Bigfoot's print on his shoulder.

(from State of the Art, published by Bookthrift Co.)

SUBJECT: Scott, please don't stop --

-- including the Kael musings. I was afraid that some of the film score "religious right" might dissuade you from continuing with Pauline excerpts. I wrote to you some time ago telling you that I agree with you whole-heartedly that she was one of the very best (arguably THE best) film critics that ever lived. Even when I passionately disagreed with her, I respected her encyclopedic knowledge so much that I still enjoyed what she had to say. Her taste in film music is as quirky as her taste in films and I guess some people forget that opinions (even when it comes to John Williams) are subjective. It's kind of fun reading her pokings at some of the revered in filmusicdom. What's really amusing is that Ms. Kael would have loved all of the dissention!

Also, I really enjoy the lists. They are very imaginative ("The Devil's Tritone") and great fun to read. Also, they balance the intellectual ramblings of some of your colleagues.

All in all, keep up the great work!

Hans Zimmer gives THE RING one of the best scores he's ever written, creepy and effective, making deft use of that old standby Dies Irae. (I still have no idea why there's no soundtrack album. Maybe those people who own the rights to "Happy Birthday to Me" have bought Dies Irae and are gouging everyone who uses it.)

Ex-rocker Trevor Rabin was a fitting choice to score THE BANGER SISTERS, though his scattered cues make little impression amongst all the songs.

Two talented composers, George Fenton and Terence Blanchard, give disappointingly mickey-mouse-y scores to two surprise hits, respectively -- SWEET HOME ALABAMA and BARBERSHOP.

David Shire's score for ASH WEDNESDAY begins well with a Conversation-like piano theme and has a moving love theme as well, but by the end both themes have been heard far too often and with too little variation. Still, Shire's music is still infinitely better than this near-unwatchable vanity piece.

George S. Clinton's big scale orchestral score for THE SANTA CLAUSE 2 lacks the wit of his music for the Austin Powers movies, as well as the delicacy that Michael Convertino brought to the original film.

Two impressive but hard-to-watch true life dramas contain virtually no score. BLOODY SUNDAY features only an unimpressive, faux-military main title by Dominic Muldowney, while THE GREY ZONE features stark, effective main and end titles by Jeff Danna, but no score in between.

Richard Gibbs brings a little much needed energy to I SPY, but his generic action score unwisely neglects to incorporate any of Earle Hagen's classic theme for the TV series. The film is so depressing and uninspired that it actually makes one long for the visual grandeur and relative fidelity of Barry Sonnenfeld's Wild Wild West.

John Powell gives the much-maligned THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH a catchy main theme, but even he seems to grow tired of the film and scores the finale with an exhausting, nonstop Silvestri riff.

I'm ashamed to say that though I saw both THE TRANSPORTER (score by Stanley Clarke) and FORMULA 51 (by Headrillaz), I can remember nothing of either score. But if you're forced to see one of those films, definitely pick Transporter.

Uwe Fahrenkrog Petersen's score for IGBY GOES DOWN is an interesting mix of styles but the cues often become overbearing, especially during the opening sequence.

Rachel Portman contributes some pleasant cues to Jonathan Demme's godawful Charade remake THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE (one of the most profoundly irritating films of an especially depressing movie year), but her work is often hard to pick out amidst the wall-to-wall world music Demme shovels onto the soundtrack.

David Hirschfelder makes effective use of vocals in his score for the long-on-the-shelf THE WEIGHT OF WATER, though many of his cues are intrusive and don't help an already dramatically uneven film.

FROM: "Bryant Burnette"

Gosh, how anyone can even question the title of "The Man with the Golden Gun" as the worst James Bond song ever is a mystery to me. Even more of a mystery to me is why someone would do so in such a mean-spirited fashion. What the hell did Madonna ever do to you, guy? I'm not the world's biggest fan of her, myself, but I find her song for "Die Another Day" to be one of the better entries in the series's recent history. Certainly it's one of the most adventurous. God forbid someone try something a little bit out of the ordinary, though. Anyways, I don't think this Scott Bettencourt fella knows his a****** from his elbow, and you feel free to tell him I said so.

I wholeheartedly agree with you -- Madonna usurps all and now owns the distinction of writing the WORST Bond song in history. It's sad, really -- gone are the long, expressive songs whose themes were interwoven into the fabric of the film for continuity. Where's the collaboration? Has the audience of the new century become so "attention deficit" that music, like film, is affected by a quick cutting mindset which leaves one writhing on the floor in agony? What happened to MUSIC? Madonna was never the best singer, and her embrace of European techno dance stuff is just another stage in a pathetic career full of vain attempts to cover up her lack of musical integrity and abilities with controversy and "rebellion". It doesn't work, and it's a shame that kd Lang wasn't brought back to rectify the mistake made in TOMORROW NEVER DIES. I guess the classic audience doesn't count anymore -- Bond has to complete with sub-mental stuff like XXX, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS, and GONE IN 60 SECONDS and the audiences those films are marketed to -- too bad for us.

And none other than three-time Bond composer David Arnold himself (in London's Sunday Express) has proclaimed it the worst Bond song ever.

I think the big problem is that when producers hire a superstar like Madonna to do their theme song, they lose all their leverage. There's no possible way they can reject the song, or ask for improvements. When you let Madonna do your theme song, you're stuck with whatever she gives you. Sigmund Freud, analyze this, analyze this, analyze this.

I thought the movie as a whole was pretty disappointing, especially since director Lee Tamahori did a superb job with The Edge, one of the best adventure films of the last decade. The first half of Die takes a lot of refreshing chances with the Bond formula, but the second half falls apart utterly, with a lightweight villain, poorly used trendy editing styles (jump framing, double printing), confusing action scenes and a gorgeous but unimpressive female lead (structurally, it barely seemed like Brosnan and Berry were in the same movie. How many scenes did they even have together? ) Maybe I'll like it more when I see it a second time.

And damn it, I LOVE the Man With the Golden Gun song.

From: Roman Deppe <roman.deppe@planet-interkom.de>

I thought this may be of interest to your readers: The German DVD of the new Andy Garcia movie THE UNSAID features an extra bonus CD, featuring the complete score by Don Davis. Almost 70 minutes of LA-recorded stuff -- wonder how that happened!? A beautiful, sad thriller score, very much in the vein of James Horner (though the movie was temp tracked with all kinds of Christopher Young thrillers) -- highly recommend. The movie hasn't been released so far in the US, so it's quite a curiosity - the movie itself is so-so, therefore the real reason for buying this DVD is the score (which for sure won't get a commercial album for itself, at least not with this duration). Highly recommended. Available at www.amazon.de.

FROM: Andre Dursin

Re: FAR AND AWAY and its un-inclusion on the poll.

With all due respect, simply because you feel it's forgettable isn't reason enough to leave it off the poll for everyone else to select! I'd take a dozen Williams scores over THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, which is a nice and effective score, but really has only that one cue that I'd want to listen to over again.

The facts are that FAR AND AWAY has always had too much melody for the dissonannce-loving editors of FSM.

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