FILM SCORE FRIDAY 1/31/03

One final reminder from Lukas Kendall: the complete collection of Film Score Monthly back issues will be available for $99.95 only through Sunday, Feb. 2nd, after which the price will go up to $189.95.

Go to this link to order.

Postage is free in the U.S., nominal surcharges for outside the country.

Lukas also recommends NPR's article on Leonard Slatkin's concert series "Soundtracks: Music and Film," which can be accessed at this link.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN - John Williams
CHICAGO - Danny Elfman/John Kander/Fred Ebb
GANGS OF NEW YORK - Howard Shore
THE HOURS - Philip Glass
THE PIANIST - Wojciech Kilar

As you may have noticed from the list, BAFTA doesn't have the strict guidelines for their music category that our own A.M.P.A.S. has, so their nominations include one film (Chicago) which only features fifteen minutes of scoring plus one new song, and another (Gangs of New York) which features no original scoring at all. By BAFTA standards, the Strausses could probably have been nominated for 2001: A Space Odyssey.

By this rule, Howard Shore's Two Towers score was originally disqualified, and Shore was preparing to appeal this ruling when the Music Branch decided to postpone the new rule for another year.

The new rule comes as a surprise, especially since sequel films (and scores) are so popular. If the rule had been implemented this year, it could easily have disqualified such other films as Attack of the Clones, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Die Another Day, Halloween: Resurrection (I know, not a likely nominee), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Jason X (as unlikely as Halloween), Men in Black II, Star Trek: Nemesis and Stuart Little 2.

It would be nice, however, if the new ruling meant a return to the discontinued "Best Original Song Score and Adaptation Score" category, under which such sequel scores as Return of the Seven, The Return of the Pink Panther, and Damien Omen II were once eligible.

Among the music Oscars on display are John Williams' Oscar for Star Wars and John Corigliano's for The Red Violin, as well as songwriting Oscars won by Henry Mancini (Days of Wine and Roses), Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast), Will Jennings (Titanic) and Irving Berlin ("White Christmas").

In the main lobby is "Academy Treasures: 75 Years of Collecting and Preserving," featuring an artifact (including posters, production skills, costume sketches, storyboards) representing a winning film from each year of the Oscars.

Of greatest interest to film music fans will be the piece representing 1976 - a page of sheet music from "The Dogs Attack" from Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar-winning score to The Omen, featuring the Latin lyrics and handwritten instructions such as "cup hands over mouth" and "Piano -- strike bass strings with bass drum stick."

The exhibits will be open through April 17, 2003. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 12 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Blvd. (between Almont and LaPeer) in Beverly Hills.

Bram Stoker's Dracula & Other Film Music - Wojciech Kilar - Marco Polo
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind - Alex Wurman (9 min. of score) - Domo
Re-Animator - Richard Band - LaLaLand
The Recruit - Klaus Badelt - Varese Sarabande
Two Weeks Notice - John Powell - Varese Sarabande

Amen - Armand Amar
Biker Boyz - Camara Kambon - Song CD on Dreamworks
Final Destination 2 - Shirley Walker
The Guru - David Carbonara - Song CD on Universal
The Recruit - Klaus Badelt - Score CD on Varese Sarabande
Suddenly Naked - Chris Ainscough

February 4
Gods and Generals - John Frizzell, Randy Edelman - Sony Classical
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 18
The Guys - Mychael Danna - Sony Classical
February 25
Goldfinger - John Barry - EMI/Capitol
Nicholas Nickleby - Rachel Portman - Varese Sarabande
Thunderball - John Barry - EMI/Captol
You Only Live Twice - John Barry - EMI/Capitol
March 4
Daredevil - Graeme Revell - Varese Sarabande
Darkness Falls - Brian Tyler - Varese Sarabande
The Day the Earth Stood Still - Bernard Herrmann - Varese Sarabande
The Quiet American - Craig Armstrong - Varese Sarabande
March 11
The Hunted - Brian Tyler - Varese Sarabande
Date Unknown
Amerika - Basil Poledouris - Prometheus
The Big Sky - Dimitri Tiomkin - Screen Archives/BYU
Captain From Castile - Alfred Newman - Screen Archives
Dr. Phibes Rises Again - John Gale - Perseverance
From Beyond - Richard Band - LaLaLand
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Denny Zeitlin - Perseverance
Mighty Joe Young, etc. - Roy Webb, et al - Monstrous Movie Music
Monte Walsh/The Crossfire Trail - Eric Colvin - LaLaLand
Prince Valiant - David Bergeaud - Perseverance
The Spirit is Wiling/The Busy Body - Vic Mizzy - Percepto
They - Elia Cmiral - LaLaLand
This Island Earth, etc. - Herman Stein, et al - Monstrous Movie Music

January 31 - Philip Glass born (1937)
February 1 - Herbert Stothart died (1949)
February 3 - Paul Sawtell born (1906)
February 3 - Lionel Newman died (1989)

DARKNESS FALLS - Brian Tyler

"[Director Jonathan] Liebesman's cast of virtually unknown actors do their best to retain their dignity even as they play second banana to the film's special effects, bombastic musical score and a creature designed by master makeup artist Stan Winston."

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

"The performers service underwritten parts with little gusto, while the technical credits, from the extreme close-up photography, overburdening music and mechanical special effects, aren't worthy of a TV movie."

Paul West, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

THE SLAUGHTER RULE - Jay Farrar

"Suffused with the cruel, crisp beauty of winter light, and accompanied by No Depression ballads and a Jay Farrar score rich in strum, twang, and drone (the soundtrack is out on Bloodshot next month), The Slaughter Rule derives its metaphoric density from the brutality and intimacy of contact sport."

Dennis Lim, Village Voice

In a recent Film Score Friday, letter writer Jon Bell had harsh words to say about the late film music critic Page Cook. Here are the responses:

FROM: "Preston Jones" <pjones@fulpat.com>

What a surprising non-sequitur to close off today's column was Mr. Bell's diatribe against the late Page Cook. It might have helped if either Mr. Bell, or you, had provided some context, because I doubt that every visitor to your site has been around long enough to remember "Page Cook," whose column on film music ran in FILMS IN REVIEW magazine.

I'm not sure of the dates, but I believe the column began in the fifties and lasted until the writer's death in the late sixties or early seventies. [He actually survived until at least the eighties -- SB] Actually, the eccentric Mr. Cook committed a number of literary sins which Mr. Bell doesn't even mention, such as making up his own words and musical terminology, and sometimes devoting whole columns to imaginary movies and composers he'd invented out of whole cloth. (He's credited with the liner notes to the RCA Gerhardt album of Alfred Newman scores, but producer George Korngold once told me that they'd had to completely re-write the mess that Cook had submitted.) He also sometimes announced the news of recordings which were really just wish-fulfillment on his part. He once proclaimed that Bernard Haitink was going to conduct an album of Philip Sainton's score to MOBY DICK. What a mad dream that was at the time, but I'm glad I've lived long enough to see Morgan and Stromberg make it come true.

What surprises me is that Mr. Bell has bothered to resurrect the ghost of Mr. Cook purely for the purpose of beating the poor dead horse. For one thing, in terms of "Did They Mention the Music?," Mr. Bell has had to yank Cook in from left field because, unlike all the other scribes we've seen quoted, Cook was not a film critic who occasionally mentioned scores, his was a column devoted ENTIRELY to scores, so naturally he ALWAYS "mentioned" the music. You can confirm this or correct me if I'm wrong, Dear Editor, but I imagine the likelihood that you've been on the verge of quoting Page Cook has been nil. What's most surprising, however, is simply that Mr. Bell is still so worked up, all these years later, over Mr. Cook's largely forgotten oeuvre. With so much good music to be listening to, and so many good books to read, I marvel that Mr. Bell felt compelled to take the time and energy to lash out at the ghost of poor old Page.

Finally, although it should be obvious by now that I'm not what one might call a "defender" of Page Cook, I do think it worth pointing out that, however misguided the fellow was, and whatever his mental or emotional issues may have been, his was for many years the lone voice crying out in the wilderness, the one column in any respected film journal which took film music seriously as something worth attending to and worth writing about. (And yes, despite his prejudices, there was much film music that he loved and wrote about positively.) Tony Thomas accomplished a great deal with his books, albums and liner notes, but Cook's column, for better or worse, was the only one of its kind published on a regular basis. Perhaps it's a sad sign of the times that in those days film music's only consistent in-print champion was the loony Page Cook, so why don't we just be grateful that the world has grown up to the point where there is a lot more respect for film music, and a lot less snobbishness against it, and let the shade of poor old pioneer Page rest in peace?

Page Cook certainly had his faults (his syntax and terminology were often more entertaining than his comments), but I don't think critics need be taken so seriously or required to be accomplished in the field that they critic. Sure his diatribes could go on and on but, when I discovered his writings in the early 70s, he was the lone source of published film music appreciation and my introduction to the art. His "Best of the Year" lists, from 1959 on, are still a reliable guide. His "venomous vituperation" aimed at various "rock, pop, bebop" contributions to film making did belie a genuine passion for the art. He wasn't so blind as to ignore a real achievement (Jarre's POPE JOAN was cited as one of the best scores of the year) and his in-depth articles on BEN-HUR, ALL ABOUT EVE, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, among others, have some merit.

Much as I often disagreed with Cook's opinions (particularly when it comes to Maurice Jarre and, especially, John Barry), even while I enjoyed his colorful vocabulary, I must take issue with Bell's recollection of what he calls Cook's attacks on the likes of Herrmann, Goldsmith and Williams. It's been a few years, but I recall Cook heaping great praise on these giants (though he was less than fond of those Indiana Jones scores, if memory serves).  And, Page Cook extolled Herrmann's opera WUTHERING HEIGHTS as one of the best of the century, and Herrmann himself as "one of the century's finest hearts and minds."

SUBJECT: Mr. Bell's comments on Page Cook
 
Balderdash, Mr. Bell.

There are perfectly valid forms of criticism by men and women who do not compose or direct or act or write or sing or paint or take photographs.

They bring taste, talent and an aesthetic sensibility to their criticism. I'm fairly certain that your own tastes have been formed by "informed opinions" of folks who were not professionals in the crafts who shared their insights with you. Thus it has been and shall ever be.

We, the unpaid critics, generally agree or disagree. But to "dis" Page Cook's right to critique because he never composed is as "ignorant" as your same criticism of him.

You don't like him -- that's fine. You may or may not have a critic you do like to read.

If you read all of Page Cook's columns, you'd have learned that there were several first-rate musicians in the film music world who agreed with some of his perspectives, including Hugo Friedhofer and Ken Darby -- men I would readily choose to believe over you.

You'd be amazed at how severe film musicians can be about each other.

The world is too full of this glad-handing "it's-all-good" mentality. It isn't all good. Quite a bit of it is CRAP!

Page Cook thought some film music was crap and said so. Others find the music he admired to be crap, too. One man's crap is another man's joy.

No one has to agree with him. But he was right about much of it! Shame on you for suggesting his voice be silenced.

Please excerpt some of Mr. Cook's work. He had a genuine love of film music, as many who disliked him do. He had his blind spots, as we all do, but his praise of such scores as Sarde's Fort Saganne, Mancini's Lifeforce and (though faint) Horner's Search for Spock were quite interesting. Many of today's score fans have never read a word of the late Mr. "Cook's" words and would enjoy his analysis.

Maybe his critical writings are not for everyone. Whose are?

The comments on Page Cook that closed last week's "Film Score Friday" column have inspired me to offer this appreciation of Cook's unique brand of film music criticism.

Sometime in the late 70's I stumbled upon his writings while perusing my Father's collection of "Films In Review." His was the only film music criticism I could find at the time and I was fascinated. Here was a guy who wrote about film scoring with an enthusiasm that compelled my attention. If he liked the music he was grandiose in his praise - if he didn't like it he was cutting and dismissive. There seemed to be no middle ground for Page Cook.

He most highly regarded the "golden age" composers like Alfred Newman, Miklos Rozsa, Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann, Hugo Friedhofer and their like. He alternately praised and damned the work of our current "old guard" - John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith and Elmer Bernstein. He absolutely detested the likes of Dimitri Tiomkin, Maurice Jarre, and Ennio Morricone. He so routinely flogged the work of Quincy Jones that Elmer Bernstein was moved to complain by letter that he should give the guy a break.

His views certainly reflected a snobbery towards more progressive forms of film music composition and they often clashed with my own tastes. However, I quickly learned that when he said a thing was good - it generally was. He opened my ears to composers like Alfred Newman and Hugo Friedhofer - whose work I had not been exposed to. Had he lived to see them, I'm sure he would've heaped much praise on the "Film Score Monthly Golden Age Classics" series (although, by the same token, he'd probably not be as kind to the "Silver Age" releases). It is certain that without Cook's articles, I would not be buying these CDs as much as I have been.

I always found his flowery prose style to be highly amusing. When he dismissed a score he used phrases (in addition to "meandering droolings") like "non- regenerative and overblown" (THE RIGHT STUFF), "solemnity via sonambulism" (SILKWOOD), "mediocre majesties" (RETURN OF THE JEDI), "noisome saccharinities" (SIX WEEKS), and "bird-brained galumphings" (FIREFOX). These non-technical cut- downs made Cook sound something like a soundtrack obsessed Dr. Smith.

When praising a score he fell into high-flown descriptive passages like the following quoted from his review of David Shire's RETURN TO OZ score in reference to the end titles music:
 
"Scored as a duet for violin and cello with orchestra, the development, the very unalterable genius of the scheme, the bridge, the key change, coalesce with one of the most devastatingly beautiful melodies ever created from the strands and tissues of innocence, memory and the future."
 
It may seem over-stated at first glance, but what he is attempting to communicate is a feeling about the music that goes beyond the technical and literal. This was something he did better than almost any other film music critic I've ever read - give expression to the intangible things brought out in the music, free from the images.

I didn't agree with everything he wrote about, but he certainly influenced my appreciation for the art of film scoring and for that I will always be grateful.

SUBJECT: RE: Jon Bell's dumping on Page Cook

Shush, child.