FILM SCORE FRIDAY 4/30/04

Inexplicably, April has been Violent Revenge Month at American movie theaters, with the releases of Man on Fire, Kill Bill Vol. 2, The Punisher, Walking Tall and even Dogville (which causes many filmgoers, including myself, to desire violent revenge against its director).

On June 8th, to belatedly help celebrate Violent Revenge Month, Varese Sarabande will release Harry Gregson-Williams' score to MAN ON FIRE, Tony Scott's remake of the 1987 Scott Glenn vehicle best known to film music fans for its John Scott score (and the tracking of its main theme into the epilogue of Die Hard).

Four other Varese releases have been announced for that same day. THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK is David Twohy's big-budget followup to Pitch Black, with Vin Diesel returning as the interstellar tough guy and Graeme Revell returning to write the score. Oh, and that woman who plays 'M' in the James Bond movies is also in it, leading one to hope that this will be merely the first in a series of Vin Diesel-Judi Dench vehicles. I see them as the Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan of the 21st century.

Ace score reconstuctors John Morgan and William Stromberg have written the original score to the direct-to-video sequel STARSHIP TROOPERS 2: HERO OF THE FEDERATION, which was written by Starship Troopers screenwriter Ed Neumeier and directed by its effects genius Phil Tippett.

Varese will also put out budget CDs of two more soundtracks from the Ryko catalog -- BATTLE OF BRITAIN, featuring both William Walton's original music and Ron Goodwin's replacement score, and Elmer Bernstein's classic THE GREAT ESCAPE.

FROM: "James Phillips"

Just to let you know as an addenda to your posting of this event is that John Barry will be on stage for a pre-concert interview at 7pm, on Tuesday, May 25th at Carnegie Hall, before the choral performance of THE LION IN WINTER. I was lucky to purchase my ticket on-line and got a front row seat, and honestly, I never thought I would ever be able to see and hear Barry in person.

Godsend - Brian Tyler - Varese Sarabande

Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius - James Horner - Score CD due May 11 from Varese Sarabande
Envy - Mark Mothersbaugh
Godsend - Brian Tyler - Score CD on Varese Sarabande
Laws of Attraction - Edward Shearmur - Score CD due from La-La Land Records
Mean Girls - Rolfe Kent
The Twilight Samurai - Isao Tomita
Two Men Went to War - Richard Harvey

May 4
The Thorn Birds - Henry Mancini - Varese Sarabande
Van Helsing - Alan Silvestri - Decca
May 11
Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius - James Horner - Varese Sarabande
Last Tango in Paris - Gato Barbieri - Varese Sarabande
The Lion in Winter - Richard Hartley - Varese Sarabande
Troy - James Horner - Warner Bros.
May 18
The Chase - John Barry - Sony Legacy
Dances With Wolves (expanded) - John Barry - Sony Legacy
The Day After Tomorrow - Harald Kloser - Varese Sarabande
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Ennio Morricone - Capitol/EMI
May 25
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - John Williams - Atlantic
June 8
Battle of Britain - Ron Goodwin/William Walton - Varese Sarabande
The Chronicles of Riddick - Graeme Revell - Varese Sarabande
Dirty Harry - Lalo Schifrin - Aleph
The Great Escape - Elmer Bernstein - Varese Sarabande
Man on Fire - Harry Gregson-Williams - Varese Sarabande
Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation - John Morgan, William Stromberg - Varese Sarabande
Van Helsing: The London Assignment - John Van Tongeren - Decca
Date Unknown
Basic Instinct (complete) - Jerry Goldsmith - Prometheus
Battle Cry - Max Steiner - Screen Archives/BYU
The Brave Little Toaster - David Newman - Percepto
Foxes of Harrow - David Buttolph - Screen Archives
The Keys of the Kingdom - Alfred Newman - Screen Archives
Laws of Attraction - Edward Shearmur - La-La Land
Narrow Margin - Bruce Broughton - Intrada Special Collection
The Punisher - Carlo Siliotto - La-La Land
The Reluctant Astronaut - Vic Mizzy - Percepto
The Shoes of the Fisherman - Alex North - Film Score Monthly
Son of Fury - Alfred Newman - Screen Archives
The Swan - Bronislau Kaper - Film Score Monthly
Timeline - Jerry Goldsmith - Varese Sarabande

May 1 - Heinz Roemheld born (1901)
May 1 - Citizen Kane released (1941)
May 1 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording score for Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (1972)
May 1 - Gordon Jenkins died (1984)
May 2 - Satyajit Ray born (1921)
May 2 - Elliot Goldenthal born (1954)
May 2 - Aram Khachaturian died (1978)
May 3 - Hugo Friedhofer born (1901)
May 4 - Albert Glasser died (1998)
May 5 - Patrick Gowers born (1936)
May 6 - Recording begins on Alfred Newman and Hugo Friedhofer's score to The Bravados in Munich (1958)
May 6 - Michel Legrand begins recording score to Ice Station Zebra (1968)

CLOSE YOUR EYES - Simon Boswell

"Augmented by Simon Boswell's layered soundtrack of voices coming from near and far, the atmospheric changes threaten to drive Michael mad and, the movie hints, turn him into a beast."

Stephen Holden, New York Times

"Shot mostly in lesser-known neighborhoods, the film presents a London that many American moviegoers will not have seen before, set to Simon Boswell's trendy Hitchcock-goes-techno score."

Mark Jenkins, Washington Post

"Willing deftly uses back-projection and other anachronistic visual devices to reinforce the stylistic lineage from vintage British thrillers, an aspect further underlined by Simon Boswell's tense Hitchcockian score."

David Rooney, Variety

MAN ON FIRE - Harry Gregson-Williams

"Harry Gregson-Williams' suspense score is abetted by a host of source music, including significant amounts of Ronstadt, Nine Inch Nails and contempo Mexican sounds."

Todd McCarthy, Variety

FROM: "Tom Daish"

SUBJECT: Top Forty Part 6 - Maurice Jarre
 
I was under the impression that Maurice Jarre officially retired after scoring I Dreamed of Africa (slightly uneven, but with plenty of great moments and a typically terrific main theme), does anyone know for sure?

Also, our correspondent Daniel Schweiger informs us that Michael Convertino has recently scored two independent films -- Straight Into Darkness, a "surreal war film" from director Jeff Burr (The Offspring, Stepfather II) which will screen at L.A.'s Egyptian Theater on May 20 at 7:30 p.m., and Milwaukee, Minnesota, starring Troy Garity, Bruce Dern and Randy Quaid.

From: "Ron Broessel"

Dear Lukas,

I was compelled (dumbfounded is a better term) by the 'Upgrading Jerry' letter printed in last Friday's mailbag. Why does Jerry Goldsmith HAVE to be at the top of EVERY film score or composer list created? Aren't these 'lists', created by film score reviewers or polls, just a matter of opinion anyway? It's not like Goldsmith holds the film score composer league record for most home runs. He doesn't currently own the league's best batting percentage, or lead the league in RBI's. So without any real significant numerical comparisons of composer talent (does # of film scores or film gross really indicate the quality of the film score?), most of the 'Top 40 Countdown' type articles merely represent opinion and, in the case of this article, Hollywood trends. If Jerry Goldsmith is your (referring to film score fans) favorite composer and you think he is the best there ever was, then who really cares what other people think! He is not, and has never been, the TOP choice for every director, for every great movie ever made. He will not win the Academy Award every year. So what? I get the impression that some of his fans, likely with large collections of his scores, need constant validation for being such a big fan of his work!?!? Why? If you consider how much of his material is available, the constant amount of new material being issued by FSM and Varese Club (including a rather impressive box set), Jerry Goldsmith fans (of which I am one) have very little to bitch about. But then again, that is just my opinion.

Thanks for listening! Take care and keep up the great work, your releases are awesome!

SUBJECT: Goldsmith rejection comment
 
The industry has a remarkably short memory and generally poor musical taste, as evidenced by all the rejected scores by top composers in the last decade or so, including Goldsmith (The Public Eye, 2 Days in the Valley, Timeline)
 
The odd thing about these replacement scores of Goldsmith's (you forgot "Gladiator" and "Alien Nation"), is that most of the scores were replaced by far, far lesser achievements. That is what is really sad. To have your score replaced by Thomas Newman or somebody of that stature can be almost admirable, but these films lost out.
 
Goldsmith Rules!!! I love saying that.

FROM: "John Archibald"

SUBJECT:  Herrmann Suites

Messrs. MacDonald & Thomas:
 
I enjoyed your reviews of the 2 new Herrmann disks. Naturally, as a veritable Herrmann completist, I'm interested in all of his music.
 
Do you know if any further "Suite" albums are in preparation? Much of this music appeared on lp in the 70's, as I recall. I believe the politest expression to describe them is that they were "independently" released.
 
The cues from the 2 CDs you reviewed can be found on 3 of these: "Bernard Herrmann's Western Saga," "Have Gun Will Travel," and "Music of Bernard Herrmann Radio and Television." In addition, there are 2 others: "The Film Music of Bernard Herrmann," incorrectly titled, as it includes a general "Suite from TV Themes," as well as a suite from an episode of "The Virginian," titled "The Last Grave at Socorro Creek," and the second album, titled "The Outer Space Suite," comprising the title piece, consisting of 11 cues, with such labels as "Space Station," "Moonscape," "Airlock," etc. and the second side including a suite from "The Hitchhiker," as well as the aforementioned "Moat Farm Murders."
 
When I first got all these lps, I listened to them avidly, expecting the classic Herrmann sound of the 50's, my favorite period of his creativity. I found them to be mostly generic, as was their intention, and haven't given them all that much thought since, until this recent CD release. The sound is improved, and this helps, and I have even found I appreciate the music more now than I once did.
 
For Herrmann aficionados like myself, these recordings are more of a keepsake, because they were not only written but also conducted by the maestro. Further, in the case of the "Suites," he was given free rein to let his imagination take him, regardless of the needs of any given drama.
 
Herrmann wrote a trove of music for radio and television, all of which should one day be investigated. However, I'm of the opinion that it would be a better listening experience if it were edited into more cohesive suites and re-recorded. (The scores he wrote for the Orson Welles and Norman Corwin-produced radio dramas are fascinating as snippets, but would work better if assembled. If you want to get an idea of this kind of music of his, notice the background moods he brings to the "Hamlet" sections in his score for PRINCE OF PLAYERS.)
 
Thanks for discussing them.

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