FILM SCORE FRIDAY 2/15/08
By Scott Bettencourt
SUPERMAN BRINGS YOU THE GIFT OF MUSIC
FSM ANNOUNCES DATE OF ITS ANNOUNCEMENT
We're almost there, friends. The blue box will go on sale beginning
at 3:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern time on Thursday, February 21, 2008.
FSM's 8-CD box set, SUPERMAN: THE MUSIC (1978-1988), encompasses
a new fully remastered and complete edition of John Williams's SUPERMAN:
THE MOVIE along with previously unreleased presentations of the complete
scores for its three sequels: SUPERMAN II & SUPERMAN III
(adapted and conducted by Ken Thorne) and SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST
FOR PEACE (adapted and conducted by Alexander Courage and featuring
new themes by John Williams). The latter is spread across two full CDs
of never-before-released music and songs. Also included in the set is a
bonus disc of additional alternates, source music and songs, plus a full
disc of Ron Jones's music for the 1988 Superman animated
series, rounding out a full decade of Superman music. The 8 CDs are accompanied
by an in-depth, full-color 160 page hard-bound book, all housed in an elegant
blue slipcase box with the Superman "S" embossed in sliver.
The set is available as a limited edition of 3,000 copies priced at
$119.95 each, and may be ordered beginning at 3:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern time
on Thursday, February 21, 2008 via www.screenarchives.com.
Additional information and sound samples will be available at that time.
Why announce the announcement? Because we have a limited number of autographed
copies and want everybody to have the same chance at reserving one: Fifty
(50) copies of the enclosed book have been signed by composers Ken Thorne
and Ron Jones. These autographed editions will be available for $199.95
each on a first come-first served basis and with a limit of one (1) per
person -- also through Screen Archives Entertainment at the same date and
time.
SUPERMAN: THE MUSIC (1978-1988) is produced by Mike Matessino and Lukas
Kendall and celebrates the Man of Steel's official birthday of February
29 as well as a triple anniversary year.... The character made his debut
70 years ago when Action Comics #1 hit newsstands, and 30 years ago, on
December 15, 1978, SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE was released, introducing audiences
to Christopher Reeve's indelible portrayal and John Williams's classic
themes. Additionally, Warner Bros., the studio behind the Superman series,
celebrates its 85th anniversary in 2008. With SUPERMAN: THE MUSIC, Film
Score Monthly delivers a release befitting this multi-tiered celebration.
See you next Thursday!
New FSM ONLINE Issue Coming Today!
The Valentine edition of FSM ONLINE will be live by the end of
the day today. In this issue, you'll find Part 1 of our extensive bonus
coverage of FSM's release of the SUPERMAN BOX SET, beginning with
the lion's share of the brand new material: the cue sheets for SUPERMAN
II and III, a SUPERMAN II and III SCORE RESTORE,
and a new in-depth interview with KEN THORNE. Also in this issue
are Jim Lochner's article on JOHN CORIGLIANO and his score to the
controversial 1985 box-office bomb REVOLUTION; a special secret
video; Part 1 of BASIL POLEDOURIS' last-known interview, in which
he reminisces about Conan, Flesh + Blood and Robocop; an
interview with one-time Poledouris protege CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ
on his recent hits ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS and MEET THE SPARTANS;
more embedded audio clips, downloadable video and a lot more.
Subscribers, you'll get notification by email as soon as the issue is
live. Or, come end of day, just go here
to log in with your email and password. For those who want to subscribe
to FSM ONLINE, go here,
click on the big "Click to Subscribe!" button and follow the instructions.
And email us at support@filmscoremonthly.com
if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Your Friends at FSM ONLINE
Intrada
has announced two new limited edition releases. Their latest Special Collection
release presents Bruce Broughton's complete, Emmy-nominated score
for the 1982 Civil War miniseries THE BLUE AND THE GRAY on a two-disc
set, limited to 2000 copies.
Their latest Signature Edition presents Jay Chattaway's score
for the 1985 Chuck Norris action film INVASION U.S.A., in which
Norris defends the nation from a secret invasion of foreign people blowing
things up. Varese Sarabande released an LP of the score over two decades
ago, but Intrada's release presents the 73-minute score for the first time
in complete form. This disc is limited to 1000 copies.
What is arguably the best unreleased score of 2007 is
finally being released on CD in a 500-disc limited edition on March 11th,
thanks to MovieScore
Media. JOSHUA is a Bad Seed-style suspense thriller about
a Manhattan family disrupted when their prodigy son feels threatened by
the arrival of a new sibling. The film was well regarded at Sundance but
didn't get much attention when it was released by Fox Searchlight last
summer. Nico Muhly, a 26-year-old
composer who has worked as an editor, keyboardist and conductor for Philip
Glass, wrote the striking original score.
The following week, they will release a CD featuring two scores by composer
Jeff Grace (The Last Winter). TRIGGER MAN is a thriller
about three hunters who find themselves being hunted, while THE ROOST
is a horror film whose score was previously released by MovieScore Media
as a download-only.
Varese Sarabande will announce its latest CD
Club releases after midnight on February 25th, for all of you who will
still be awake and furious after Gustavo Santaolalla wins his third consecutive
Best Score Oscar despite not even being nominated this year.
The label has also announced
releases of four new scores by major composers for late March and early
April.
Three new releases are due on March 25. LEATHERHEADS is a comedy
about the early days of professional football, directed by its star, George
Clooney, and scored by Randy Newman, his first feature since Cars.
The same day, they will release two scores by John Powell for
widely differing projects, the CGI film version of the Dr. Seuss classic
HORTON HEARS A WHO, and the Iraq War vet drama STOP-LOSS,
the first film from director Kimberly Peirce since her 1999 Oscar winner
Boys Don't Cry.
One week later, they will release Patrick Doyle's score for NIM'S
ISLAND, a children's adventure with elements of Romancing the Stone,
starring Jodie Foster as an agoraphobic adventure novelist who tries to
help a young girl (Abigail Breslin) and her father (Gerard Butler, who
also plays the hero of Foster's novels).
Christopher Gunning won BAFTA's Music award for
his original score to LA VIE EN ROSE.
Michael Giacchino has won the Grammy for Best Score
Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media for
his score to Ratatouille. Siedah Garrett and Henry Krieger
won for Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual
Media for Dreamgirls' "Love You I Do." Terence Blanchard
won for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem
for Katrina). Bruce Springsteen won for Best Rock Instrumental
Performance for his rendition of Once Upon a Time in the West from
the album We All Love Ennio Morricone.
Randall Larson's latest Soundtrax
column features an interview with Brian Tyler about his new RAMBO
score, as well as reviews of new soundtracks including Surf's Up
and In Bruges.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
The Blue and the Gray - Bruce Broughton - Intrada Special Collection
The Film Music of Phillip Lambro - Phillip Lambro - Perseverance
In Bruges - Carter Burwell - Lakeshore
Invasion U.S.A. - Jay Chattaway - Intrada Signature Edition
Klimt - Jorge Arriagada - MovieScore Media
IN THEATERS TODAY
Definitely, Maybe - Clint Mansell
Diary of the Dead - Norman Orenstein
Jumper - John Powell
The Spiderwick Chronicles - James Horner - Score CD on Lakeshore
Step Up 2 the Streets - Aaron Zigman - Song CD on Atlantic
COMING SOON
February 19
American Gangster - Marc Streitenfeld - Varese Sarabande
February 26
The Legend of Butch and Sundance - Basil Poledouris - MovieScore
Media
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - Paul Englishby - Varese Sarabande
The Other Boleyn Girl - Paul Cantelon - Varese Sarabande
Vantage Point - Atli Orvarsson - Varese Sarabande
March 4
Best of Mark Isham - Mark Isham - Lakeshore
March 11
Fool's Gold - George Fenton - Varese Sarabande
Joshua - Nico Muhly - MovieScore Media
10,000 BC - Harald Kloser, Thomas Wander* - Decca
March 18
Justice League: The New Frontier - Kevin Manthei - La-La Land
Trigger Man/The Roost - Jeff Grace - MovieScore Media
March 25
Horton Hears a Who! - John Powell - Varese Sarabande
Leatherheads - Randy Newman - Varese Sarabande
Stop-Loss - John Powell - Varese Sarabande
April 1
Nim's Island - Patrick Doyle - Varese Sarabande
Date Unknown
Mutant - Richard Band - Perseverance
* 10,000 B.C.'s Austria-born co-composer Thomas Wander
may be more familiar to fans of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and The
Day after Tomorrow as Thomas Wanker. Hard to imagine why he'd change
his professional name, isn't it?
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
February 15 - Georges Auric born (1899)
February 17 - Ron Goodwin born (1925)
February 17 - Alfred Newman died (1970)
February 17 - Jerry Fielding died (1980)
February 18 - Nathaniel Shilkret died (1982)
February 19 - Marvin Hamlisch begins recording his score for
I Ought to Be in Pictures (1982)
February 20 - William Lava died (1971)
February 20 - Recording sessions begin on Jerry Goldsmith's
score for Alien (1979)
February 21 - Ron Grainer died (1981)
February 21 - Morton Gould died (1996)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
FOOL'S GOLD - George Fenton
"[Kate] Hudson no longer seems to care that she hasn't come close to
discovering how good she could be in movies. Instead, she spends a lot
of screen time pointing out who in 'Fool's Gold' is dumb and who's dumber.
(She never gets around to the composer whose brass-and-steel drum score
says 'Weekend at Bernie's 5.') Of course, if Hudson were so smart she wouldn't
be here, floating around a movie that makes the most beautiful waters seem
like they've been colored with 2000 Flushes."
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
"Production values, from Don Burgess' sun-drenched cinematography to
George Fenton's calypso-infused score, do their bit to set the breezy tone,
but where's Jimmy Buffett when you really need him?"
Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter
IN BRUGES - Carter Burwell
"Carter Burwell, who works with the Coen brothers, contributes a sad
and beautiful little musical score, teasing out the dread and loss in the
killers' hurry-up-and-wait circumstance."
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
"[Colin] Farrell, who just played a remarkably similar tortured killer
for hire in Woody Allen's 'Cassandra's Dream,' finds just the right tone
for this twitchy, funny, emotionally volatile thug; for once, he seems
to know exactly what movie he's in. So does Brendan Gleeson, the big, shambling,
sad-eyed Irish actor known to American audiences mainly for his role in
the last two Harry Potter movies. The problem is, the audience has no idea
what movie we're in. 'In Bruges' is neck-deep in atmosphere, awash in music
(an overheated score from Carter Burwell), and jam-packed with references
and tropes from Orson Welles, Quentin Tarantino, and David Mamet."
Dana Stevens, Slate.com
"But the action grows more ludicrous by the minute, and even the usually
reliable and interesting composer Carter Burwell can't effectively pump
things up."
Robert Koehler, Variety
"And assisted by the glowing cinematography of Eigil Byrld and plaintive
music of Carter Burwell, it's a life even bad guys find worth living."
James Greenberg, Hollywood Reporter
My predictions for this year's Oscar winners (followed
by the nominees I personally would vote for in parentheses):
PICTURE: Juno (There Will Be Blood)
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis (Tommy Lee Jones)
ACTRESS: Marion Cotillard (Ellen Page)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Javier Bardem (Casey Affleck)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett (Saiorse Ronan)
DIRECTING: Joel & Ethan Coen (Paul Thomas Anderson)
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Juno (The Savages)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Atonement (No Country for Old Men)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Atonement (The Assassination of Jesse James
by the Coward Robert Ford)
FILM EDITING: The Bourne Ultimatum (There Will Be Blood)
ART DIRECTION: Atonement (There Will Be Blood)
COSTUME DESIGN: Atonement (Sweeney Todd)
ORIGINAL SCORE: Atonement (Ratatouille)
ORIGINAL SONG: "Falling Slowly" ("That's How You Know")
SOUND MIXING: The Bourne Ultimatum (Ratatouille)
SOUND EDITING: The Bourne Ultimatum (No Country for Old Men)
VISUAL EFFECTS: Transformers (Transformers)
MAKEUP: La Vie en Rose (Norbit)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Sicko (No End in Sight)
DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Freeheld (Freeheld)
LIVE ACTION SHORT: The Mozart of Pickpockets (The Tonto Woman)
ANIMATED SHORT: Peter and the Wolf (Peter and the Wolf)
ANIMATED FEATURE: Ratatouille (Ratatouille)
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FEATURE: The Counterfeiters (Beaufort)
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