Film Score Friday 3/08/02

It's here! It's here! Yes, after taunting you for over a week with their imminence and their eminence, we have the new FSM CDs, LOGAN'S RUN and LUST FOR LIFE, in stock, and we have begun shipping them.

In the least surprising film music news of the week, Jerry Goldsmith has been officially announced as the composer of the upcoming feature Star Trek: Nemesis, due from Paramount at the end of the year. This will be his fifth score for the series, not counting his Emmy winning theme for Star Trek: Voyager, and his tendency to putter around his house in a bathrobe singing the songs from "The Way to Eden." Yay, brother.

Goldsmith was pretty much a shoo-in for the Nemesis gig, since he composed not only the last two Trek features but the two other films directed by Nemesis helmer Stuart Baird, Executive Decision and U.S. Marshals.

But on the other hand, one would have thought James Horner was a shoo-in to score The Sum of All Fears, as he scored the previous two Jack Ryan movies as well as the last three (including the TV movie "Freedom Song") films from Fears director Phil Alden Robinson. But that job went to -- Jerry Goldsmith. Coincidence?

Apparently the plot of Star Trek: Nemesis concerns some kind of spaceship -- excuse me, folks, looks like they call it a "starship" -- named Enterprise, whose crew includes some men, some girls, and what the Our Gang kids would call a "row-butt."

Shoo-in. It's a fun word. Just wanted to use it again.

The score to the third collaboration between composer Howard Shore and director David Fincher, the thriller Panic Room, will be released by Varese Sarabande on April 16th. In the script by struggling screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, The Lost World), Jodie Foster plays a woman who must protect her young daughter from three burglars inside their immense New York brownstone. The thieves are played by Forest Whittaker, Dwight Yoakam, and Jared Leto, so the intruders' deadly specialties will be acting brilliantly, singing country, and looking pretty.

Reader Roman Deppe (roman.deppe@planet-interkom.de) has seen a cut of the film and offers this review:

If you like horror-psycho-thrillers, then you can't ask for much more than this. David Fincher shows again why he is THE thriller-director and influences over and over again countless upcoming directors. But as all his movies before: This is not intended for the Squeamish and not at all for children. Great to see a horror movie aimed at a mature audience again.

All About the Benjamins - Score by John Murphy - Song Album on New Line Records
The Time Machine - Score by Klaus Badelt - Album on Varese Sarabande, due March 19th

This item was submitted to us by a Master Lukas Kendall:

The hit WB series Smallville recently asked us for permission to use Film Score Monthly Vol. 6, No. 10 in a set dressing. We have no idea if the magazine will be visible in the finished episode, but we're thrilled to be asked. Maybe a high school movie music fan with evil composing powers will be terrorizing Smallville?

Here is the final tally on our most recent poll, "Which new score are you most looking forward to in 2002?"

Attack of the Clones (Williams)                          297  votes      32.8 %
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Shore)      137  votes      15.1 %
Spider Man (Elfman)                                        103  votes      11.4 %
Star Trek: Nemesis (Goldsmith)                          82  votes        9.1 %
Minority Report (Williams)                                46  votes        5.1 %
The Sum of All Fears (Goldsmith)                      35  votes        3.9 %
Bond 20 (Arnold)                                               31  votes        3.4 %
Gangs of New York (Bernstein)                           26  votes        2.9 %
Enigma (Barry)                                                  25  votes        2.8 %
Harry Potter & Chamber of Secrets (Williams)   18  votes         2.0 %
Frida (Goldenthal)                                             15  votes         1.7 %
The Four Feathers (Horner)                               14  votes        1.5 %
The Road to Perdition (T. Newman)                   12  votes        1.3 %
Windtalkers (Horner)                                        11  votes         1.2 %
The Scorpion King (Debney)                             10  votes         1.1 %
Spider (Shore)                                                   9  votes          1.0 %
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (Zimmer)          7  votes          0.8 %
Austin Powers 3 (Clinton)                                   6  votes          0.7 %
The Bourne Identity (Burwell)                            6  votes          0.7 %
Femme Fatale (Doyle)                                       5  votes           0.6 %
The Trouble With Charlie (Portman)                  3  votes          0.3 %
Dreamcatcher (Howard)                                     2  votes          0.2 %
Men in Black 2 (Elfman)                                    2  votes           0.2 %
Possession (Yared)                                              2  votes          0.2 %
Panic Room (Shore)                                          1  vote            0.1 %

Total Votes: 905

I guess the resounding victory of Attack of the Clones, the most popular film composer of all time's latest score for the most popular movie series of all time, shouldn't be a big surprise. My own vote went to Minority Report, as I'm thrilled at the prospect of Williams treading into classic Goldsmith territory with this futuristic thriller.

The low scores for Men in Black 2, Panic Room, and Dreamcatcher surprised me. Dreamcatcher is William Goldman and Lawrence Kasdan's adaptation (directed by Kasdan) of the recent Stephen King bestseller, and should offer some interesting scoring opportunities for James Newton Howard.

On Monday March 4th, Elmer Bernstein was scheduled to receive the very first WORLD SOUNDTRACK LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, at a ceremony at the London Residence of the Ambassador of Belgium to the UK, H.E. Mr. Lode Willems.

Elmer Bernstein was expected in Ghent last fall to give a concert of his film music, and to receive the award, to celebrate his 50th anniversary as a film composer. The tragic events of 11 September however made it impossible for him to attend the festival.

The World Soundtrack Award is a new initiative developed by the Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent aimed at the promotion, education, preservation and recognition of film music as a true art form. Well over 150 composers from around the world already joined the World Soundtrack Academy. For more information: www.worldsoundtrackawards.com

From: Les Jepson <LJepson@GDEngineering.co.uk>

In the Friday 1st of March Mail Bag I saw the sentence, "I had hopes that Horner would recycle his fishing boat music from Humanoids in his Perfect Storm score, but it was not to be." A film music fan bemoaning the fact that James Horner has NOT recycled something? What are things coming to? Is it time to surrender yet? Are these crayons non-toxic? Help!

I also think it would be nice to hear him rip off some of his great early stuff for a change, like Wolfen or the main title to The Hand. James, leave the Sneakers alone. Find some new shoes.

And no, the crayons are toxic. Please be careful.

From: JEDIMAESTRO@cs.com

Anybody know what the marvelous Tim Morrison is up to these days? He graced so many wonderful scores and Boston Pops recordings throughout the later 80's and 90's with his beautifully precise and resonant trumpet sound. I may be wrong but the last score he played on was Saving Private Ryan I think.

Talking of excellent soloists, the French Horn solos are simply stunning on James Horner's Iris. Respect to Joshua Bell, but the aforementioned soloist should have been credited also. Having said that there are many more examples of uncredited musicians! If engineers and their assistants can get credit, how about the actual persons that bring the music to life, eh?

From: "LOUIS BANLAKI" <lbanlaki@hotmail.com>

Some people may complain that there are too many Deluxe Editions of scores by Jerry Goldsmith released by Varese but I don't think there is such a thing as too many Goldsmith albums. He is still my top favorite of all composers for film (Williams comes in second for me, of course).

I was a little chagrined to see Horner's score for ALIENS get the deluxe treatment when Goldsmith's score to the original is truly far more deserving of a Deluxe Edition. The music is simply creepier and the orchestrations so much more interesting. Had Goldsmith scored the first two sequels as well I'm sure it would have become another great trilogy under his belt. I joked with one of my friends once of how we should send a terminator to prevent the birth of Horner but I must admit that's a bit much. Perhaps Varese will one day release an expanded edition of Alien and maybe the complete Sand Pebbles as well unless your label at FSM does it.

One last word: maybe somehow your label or whoever could somehow release Williams' score from Black Sunday. I still can't believe that after all these years there hasn't been an album of that terrific score. It was his last pre-Star Wars score so that should be of some historical importance (then again, maybe not). I also plan to order the complete Logan's Run score, of course. I love your magazine and all the great work you're doing. Thank you.

HOLLYWOOD--Feb. 27, 2002--Originally released on Silence Records back in 1970 and then on Charisma Records in 1972, Bo Hansson's "(Music Inspired By) Lord of the Rings" is being re-released on May 21, 2002, by Virgin Records to coincide with the phenomenal success of the recent film.

The concept album, an all-instrumental album inspired by the literary trilogy written by J.R.R. Tolkien, has been remastered, repackaged and comes complete with a bonus track, "Early Sketches From Middle Earth," recorded in the same sessions as the rest of the album but left off the original release. Bo Hansson's original impression of the soundtrack to the books is the ideal companion to the current O.S.T. and the 1978 soundtrack to the animated film version.

All of the music on this record was recorded in the winter of 1969 by Anders Lind in a summerhouse in the archipelago of Stockholm where he and Hansson lived for half a year while recording. The two of them created a little world of their own, reading the books and recording the music. Bo played most instruments himself but drummer Rune Karlsson came and stayed for prolonged periods. After the session in the summerhouse they finished recording and mixing in Studio Decibel in Stockholm.

"(Music Inspired By) Lord of the Rings" became a great success in many areas of the world (the album received Gold Record awards in England and Australia) and for most people this was the one and only musical interpretation of the classic books. The music captures the mystery and the beauty of the tale; it helps you fill in the blanks and leaves a lot to your own imagination. Time does not affect the music; it is undated like the books.

From: "G. D. Hamann" <gdhamann@juno.com>

4/27/1946 Daily News (Los Angeles) Mildred Norton

Hollywood film composers have now banded together to form a Screen Composers Assín, a group organized to cope with what they feel are unjust conditions facing their craft today.

Among these are the present operation of film employment contracts and the ASCAP system of royalty distribution and membership requirements. The film composers think they should have some voice in what becomes of the music they compose. A majority of producers insist upon owning all the rights to the music written for their films. This is all right with the composers, in those cases where the producer is willing to have the music published and kept before the public. But too often the music is merely shelved and never heard again.

They also feel that, Hollywood tenures being what they are, the composers are entitled to a guarantee of royalty and performing rights in their later life.

In Europe, performing rights societies allocate a portion of cinema performance receipts to the composer, provided he is a member; otherwise his share goes to the publisher member. Since over 60 percent of composers are non-members they cannot share unless the producer agrees to split receipts. This, say the film composers, the producers have uniformly declined.

Unlike the foreign performing rights societies, ASCAP requires that a composer must have had at least one piece of music published before he is eligible for membership. Film music is rarely published, hence many film composers are excluded from membership and the possibility of deriving any performance revenue either from foreign countries or from the 15,000 picture houses in this country licensed by ASCAP.

For those who disapprove of my recent writings here, one reader offers an object lesson in how to elegantly insult me in this recent, unedited e-mail:

From: sporboyz <sporboyz@mediaone.net>

You go girl! Tell 'em what's for...

Due to a bottleneck of columns, the Top Forty Countdown will not resume until the week of March 18-22. You may use your now copious free time to go out and see a good movie. Or else just see Rollerball. If you can still find it.

Man, it's bad. If you've ever wanted to see a large-scale action sequence shot on video and tinted a grainy green to look like night vision, this is the movie for you.

With this and Thomas Crown Affair, John McTiernan has made two consecutive remakes of Norman Jewison films. I hope he doesn't do Moonstruck next. Perhaps Bogus might be more his speed.

A website tribute to the late, great Mario Nascimbene:

http://www.geocities.com/fanfaremusic/NASCIMBENE

And an online article on horror movie scores:

http://www.creature-corner.com/columns/scarysounds3.php3

MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com