The latest release from La-La Land pairs two previously unreleased scores for Oscar-winning Paramount films composed by Marvin Hamlisch -- Robert Redford's directoral debut ORDINARY PEOPLE, the 1980 Best Picture winner which also won Oscars for Redford's direction, Alvin Sargent's screenplay and Timothy Hutton's "supporting" performance, for which Hamlisch based his score on Pachelbel's Canon in D; and the 1973 character study SAVE THE TIGER, directed by John G. Avildsen, for which Jack Lemmon won his second Oscar as a struggling Los Angeles businessman, also nominated for Jack Gilford's supporting performance and Steve Shagan's original screenplay.
The latest release in Varese Sarabande's LP to CD limited edition subscription series is the soundtrack for director John Frankenheimer's first-rate 1986 film version of Elmore Leonard's 52 PICK-UP, with Roy Scheider as a businessman facing a blackmail attempt from a trio of criminals (memorably played by John Glover, Clarence Williams III and palindromic character actor Robert Trebor), co-starring Ann-Margret, Vanity and Kelly Preston. The score was composed by Gary Chang, who went on to score seven more projects for Frankenheimer, including five TV movies and the 1996 remake of The Island of Dr. Moreau.
The latest release from Kritzerland features one of Bernard Herrmann's most romantic scores, from the 1943 version of Charlotte Bronte's JANE EYRE, starring Joan Fontaine in the title role and Orson Welles as Rochester. (The disc features the same tracks as Varese's out-of-print Bernard Herrmann at 20th Century Fox boxed set).
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Allonsanfan - Ennio Morricone - GDM
The Awakening - Claude Bolling - Quartet
The Cairo Declaration - Chad Cannon, Ye Xiaogang - MovieScore Media
Christus - Marco Frisina - Kronos
Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood - Peter Melnick - MovieScore Media
Fermate Il Mondo...Voglio Scendere! - Piero Piccioni - Beat
52 Pick-Up - Gary Chang - Varese Sarabande
The Huntsman: Winter's War - James Newton Howard - Backlot
Julieta - Alberto Iglesias - Quartet
L'arciere Delle Mille E na Notte/La Lotta Delluomo Per La Sua Spravvivenza - Mario Nascimbene - Digitmovies
Le Rose Di Danzica - Luis Bacalov - Beat
The Legend of Blood Castle - Carlo Savina - Quartet
L'insegnante Balla Con Tutta La Classe - Walter Rizzati - Beat
Lo Squartatore Di New York - Francesco De Masi - Beat
Love - Lyle Workman - Lakeshore
1 2 Della Formula 1 Alla corsa Piu Pazza, Pazza Del Mondo - Stelvio Cipriani - Digitmovies
Ordinary People/Save the Tiger - Marvin Hamlisch - La-La Land
Paper Lanterns - Chad Cannon - Quartet
Passage to Mars - Steffen Schmidt - JVA
Requiescant/O'Cangaceiro - Riz Ortolani - Beat
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea - Johnny Mandel - Kritzerland
IN THEATERS TODAY
Elvis & Nixon - Edward Shearmur - Score CD due May 20 on Lakeshore
An Eye for Beauty - Pierre-Philippe Cote
Hockney - John Harle
A Hologram for the King - Johnny Klimek, Tom Tykwer - Score CD due May 20 on Lakeshore
The Huntsman: Winter’s War - James Newton Howard - Score CD on Backlot
The Meddler - Jonathan Sadoff
Men & Chicken - Frans Bak, Jeppe Kaas
Nina - Ruy Fulguera
Sky - Francois-Eudes Chanfrault
COMING SOON
April 29
House of Cards: Season Four - Jeff Beal - Varese Sarabande
The Last Days on Mars - Max Richter - Filmtrax
The Man Who Knew Infinity - Coby Brown - Sony
Perfect Sense - Max Richter - Filmtrax
Ratchet & Clank - Evan Wise - Milan
May 6
Barbershop: The Next Cut - Stanley Clarke - Sony
Beyond: Two Souls - Lorne Balfe - Lakeshore
Captain America: Civil War - Henry Jackman - Hollywood
Florence Foster Jenkins - Alexandre Desplat - Decca (import)
Hardcore Henry - Dasha Charusha - Sony
Home Fires - Samuel Sim - Sony
Pee-Wee's Big Holiday - Mark Mothersbaugh - Varese Sarabande
Salt and Fire - Ernst Reijseger - Winter & Winter
May 13
Goodnight Mommy - Olga Neuwirth - Naxos
Love & Friendship - Mark Suozzo - Sony
Sunset Song - Gast Waltzing - Milan
Zoolander 2 - Theodore Shapiro - Lakeshore
May 20
Criminal - Brian Tyler, Keith Power - Lakeshore
Elvis & Nixon - Edward Shearmur - Lakeshore
A Hologram for the King - Johnny Klimek, Tom Tykwer - Lakeshore
Maggie's Plan - Michael Rohatyn - Milan
May 27
Confirmation - Harry Gregson-Williams - Lakeshore
Deadpool Reloaded - Tom Holkenborg - Milan
X-Men: Apocalypse - John Ottman - Sony
June 3
The Family Fang - Carter Burwell - Lakeshore
Last Days in the Desert - Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans - Lakeshore
The Venture Bros. Vol. 2 - J.G. Thirlwell
June 10
Darling - Giona Ostinelli - Phineas Atwood
Date Unknown
The Cat O'Nine Tails - Ennio Morricone - GDM
Fighting Back - Piero Piccioni - Quartet
Il Viaggio/Amanti - Manuel DeSica - Quartet
Jane Eyre - Bernard Herrmann - Kritzerland
L'arche et les deluges - Gabriel Yared - Music Box
L'ira di Achille - Carlo Savina - Digitmovies
Maciste Contro Il Vampiro - Angelo Francesco Lavagnino - Alhambra
The Night Manager - Victor Reyes - Silva
Omicidio Per Vacazione - Stefano Torossi - Digitmovies
Revenge - Jack Nitzsche - Dragon's Domain
The Saint - Serge Franklin - Music Box
Shy People - Tangerine Dream - Dragon's Domain
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
April 22 - Isao Tomita born (1932)
April 22 - Bride of Frankenstein released (1935)
April 22 - Jack Nitzsche born (1937)
April 22 - Lalo Schifrin begins recording the soundtrack to Kelly's Heroes (1970)
April 22 - Steven Price born (1977)
April 22 - Craig Safan records his score for the Remo Williams TV pilot (1987)
April 23 - Sergei Prokofiev born (1891)
April 23 - Louis Barron born (1920)
April 23 - Patrick Williams born (1939)
April 23 - Alain Jomy born (1941)
April 23 - Jay Gruska born (1952)
April 23 - Kenji Kawai born (1957)
April 23 - Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson born (1958)
April 23 - Christopher Komeda died (1969)
April 23 - Jonsi born (1975)
April 23 - Satyajit Ray died (1992)
April 23 - James Horner begins recording his score for House of Cards (1992)
April 23 - Robert Farnon died (2005)
April 24 - Hubert Bath died (1945)
April 24 - Barbra Streisand born (1942)
April 24 - Dana Kaproff born (1954)
April 24 - Lennie Hayton died (1971)
April 24 - Georges Delerue records his score for the Amazing Stories episode "The Doll" (1986)
April 24 - Tristam Cary died (2008)
April 25 - Franz Waxman records his score for Stalag 17 (1952)
April 25 - David A. Hughes born (1960)
April 25 - John Williams begins recording his score for How to Steal a Million (1966)
April 25 - Alec Puro born (1975)
April 25 - Gary Hughes died (1978)
April 25 - Brian May died (1997)
April 26 - Francis Lai born (1932)
April 26 - Giorgio Moroder born (1940)
April 26 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score for Green Fire (1954)
April 26 - Reinhardt Wagner born (1956)
April 26 - Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter record their score for Kronos (1957)
April 26 - John M. Keane born (1965)
April 26 - Jerry Fielding begins recording his score for Gray Lady Down (1977)
April 26 - Bruce Broughton begins recording his score The Blue and the Gray (1982)
April 26 - Bronislau Kaper died (1983)
April 26 - Barry Gray died (1984)
April 26 - Maurice Jarre begins recording his score for Distant Thunder (1988)
April 26 - Carmine Coppola died (1991)
April 27 - Christopher Komeda born (1937)
April 27 - The Thing opens in Los Angeles (1951)
April 27 - Christopher Young born (1954)
April 27 - Federico Jusid born (1973)
April 27 - Scott Bradley died (1977)
April 27 - Henry Brant died (2008)
April 28 - Blake Neely born (1969)
April 28 - Billy Goldenberg records his score for High Risk (1976)
April 28 - Christopher Young records orchestral passages for his Invaders from Mars score (1986)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
"The lack of dialogue makes 'Shaun The Sheep' easy for younger children all over the world to understand, and the film is undeniably intended for that demographic. It’s a far less complicated operation than many other Aardman projects, paring down the Rube Goldberg-ish slapstick and eliminating the British-accented wordplay of the studio’s best work. But even attempting to entertain children who might get fidgety during the more explicitly British 'Curse Of The Were-Rabbit' or 'The Pirates! Band Of Misfits,' Aardman locates and meets a formal challenge. With sound limited primarily to animal noises, human grunts, and 'Great Escape'-like theme music, it creates a farm where virtually all of the side characters--a duck who accepts bread-based bribes, rude and confrontational pigs--provide moments of delight."
Jesse Hassenger, The Onion AV Club
"With grunts, muffled laughs, and other sounds replacing human speech, and with most of the action involving animals that communicate in bleats, barks, and the occasional chalkboard diagram (Shaun, the group leader, sometimes lays out his plans in the form of an elaborate drawing or a pantomime), this is essentially a silent movie in the Buster Keaton/Harold Lloyd tradition, a series of highly kinetic, sometimes brilliant sight gags set to music. That formula works wonderfully in some scenes, like the opening montage and the frenetic destruction of the restaurant, which is scored by silent-movie-style piano music. It works less well when the animals are first introduced to the Big City, in a scene set to a song (Eliza Doolittle's 'Big City') whose lyrics spell out what the characters are experiencing. But that kind of literal-mindedness is rare in this generally inventive and light-footed movie."
Elis Nakhnikian, Slant Magazine
"Though realized on a more modest scale than other Aardman features, the film is still an absolute delight in terms of set and character design, with sophisticated blink-and-you’ll-miss-it detailing to counterbalance the franchise’s cruder visual trademarks. (Every sheep’s mouth, for example, still emerges sporadically from the side of its face; no wonder they never speak.) Production designer Matt Perry deftly evokes the shifting, half-gentrified streetscape of London without resorting to obvious landmarks. Composer Ilan Eshkeri, taking a breather from scoring the more solemn likes of 'Still Alice' and 'The Invisible Woman,' contributes suitably jangly accompaniment, though assorted pop contributions on the soundtrack don’t quite mesh with the wordless story world at hand. (An exception, of course, is the series’ Vic Reeves-sung theme tune, here given a rascally makeover by British hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks.)"
Guy Lodge, Variety
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older films, at the following L.A. movie theaters: AMPAS, American Cinematheque: Aero, American Cinematheque: Egyptian, Arclight, Crest, LACMA, New Beverly, Nuart, Silent Movie Theater and UCLA.
April 22
BABY FACE, FEMALE [UCLA]
COOL HAND LUKE (Lalo Schifrin), THE HUMAN FACTOR (Ennio Morricone) [Cinematheque: Aero]
DEAD RECKONING (Marlin Skiles), KEY WITNESS (Mischa Bakaleinikoff) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
DICK TRACY (Danny Elfman), DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA (Paul Sawtell) [New Beverly]
RIVER OF GRASS (John Hill) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE THING (Ennio Morricone) [Nuart]
TRUE ROMANCE (Hans Zimmer) [New Beverly]
April 23
AIRPORT (Alfred Newman), AIRPORT 1975 (John Cacavas), AIRPORT '77 (John Cacavas) [Cinematheque: Aero]
THE CRIMSON GHOST [New Beverly]
DAZED AND CONFUSED [Crest]
DECEPTION (Erich Wolfgang Korngold), HOLLOW TRIUMPH (Sol Kaplan) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
DICK TRACY (Danny Elfman), DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA (Paul Sawtell) [New Beverly]
REGROUPING [UCLA]
RIVER OF GRASS (John Hill) [Silent Movie Theater]
WHERE THE BOYS ARE (Sylvester Levay), THE BEACH GIRLS (Michael Lloyd) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
April 24
ARMY OF DARKNESS (Joseph LoDuca) [Arclight Hollywood]
THE CAPTIVE CITY (Jerome Moross), BUY ME THAT TOWN [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH (Bruce Smeaton), UTU (John Charles) [New Beverly]
DICK TRACY (Danny Elfman) [New Beverly]
FANTASTIC MR. FOX (Alexandre Desplat) [Cinematheque: Aero]
FANTASTIC VOYAGE (Leonard Rosenman) [Cinematheque: Aero]
LA COLLECTIONNEUSE (Giorgio Gomelsky) [Silent Movie Theater]
RIVER OF GRASS (John Hill) [Silent Movie Theater]
TOO LATE FOR TEARS (Dale Butts) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
April 25
THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH (Bruce Smeaton), UTU (John Charles) [New Beverly]
April 26
GOLDEN EIGHTIES (Marc Herouet) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE MISFITS (Alex North) [LACMA]
ROCK ALL NIGHT (Buck Ram), SKI TROOP ATTACK (Fred Katz) [New Beverly]
April 27
FOOTLIGHT PARADE, FOLLOW THE FLEET (Max Steiner) [New Beverly]
THE SOUND OF MUSIC (Richard Rodgers, Irwin Kostal) [Arclight Culver City]
SUNSET BLVD. (Franz Waxman) [Arclight Santa Monica]
April 28
ALIENS (James Horner) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN (Zdenek Liska) [Silent Movie Theater]
FOOTLIGHT PARADE, FOLLOW THE FLEET (Max Steiner) [New Beverly]
THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT (Dee Barton), THE EIGER SANCTION (John Williams) [Cinematheque: Aero]
April 29
COMBAT SHOCK (Ricky G) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE DIRTY DOZEN (Frank DeVol), EARTHQUAKE (John Williams) [Cinematheque: Aero]
THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN (Zdenek Liska) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE HARD WAY (Heinz Roemheld), WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD? (Max Steiner) [UCLA]
THE MASK OF ZORRO (James Horner), ZORRO RIDES AGAIN [New Beverly]
TRUE ROMANCE (Hans Zimmer) [New Beverly]
A WOMAN IS A WOMAN (Michel Legrand) [Silent Movie Theater]
April 30
THE EROTIC ADVENTURES OF ZORRO (William Loose) [New Beverly]
A JOURNEY TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME (E.F. Burian, Frantisek Strangmuller) [Silent Movie Theater]
LAST NIGHT AT THE ALAMO (Chuck Pinnell, Wayne Bell) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE HARD WAY (Heinz Roemheld), WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD? (Max Steiner) [UCLA]
THE MASK OF ZORRO (James Horner), ZORRO RIDES AGAIN [New Beverly]
THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF POLICE SQUAD (Ira Newborn), THE NAKED GUN 2 1/2: THE SMELL OF FEAR (Ira Newborn), THE NAKED GUN 33 1/3: THE FINAL INSULT (Ira Newborn) [Cinematheque: Aero]
SUPER FUZZ (Michelangelo La Bionda) [New Beverly]
May 1
THE FABULOUS WORLD OF JULES VERNE (Zdenek Liska) [Silent Movie Theater]
GONE WITH THE WIND (Max Steiner) [Arclight Santa Monica]
JAWS (John Williams) [Arclight Hollywood]
THE STOLEN AIRSHIP (Jan Novak) [Silent Movie Theater]
SUPER FUZZ (Michelangelo La Bionda) [New Beverly]
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