Varese Sarabande plans to release three new CDs in their limited edition series of contemporary film music next week.
Choreographer Matthew Bourne has created dance pieces inspired by the films The Servant (Play without Words) and Edward Scissorhands, so it should be no surprise that his latest piece, THE RED SHOES (opening at L.A.'s Ahmanson Theater on September 15th, closing October 1st), is adapted from the classic Powell-Pressberger film.
But what is surprising is that the show's musical accompaniment, arranged by Bourne's regular collaborator Terry Davies, is not based on Brian Easdale's Oscar-winning score for the film but on the music of Bernard Herrmann. This article features Bourne discussing scores that inspired the ballet -- Citizen Kane, Fahrenheit 451, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Hangover Square, Mysterious Island, North by Northwest, Obsession, Taxi Driver and Vertigo -- though it's not entirely clear from the piece if music from all of these films is featured in the score. (The Bourne ballet was discussed in a comment thread in April of last year).
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
American Gods - Brian Reitzell - Milan
Dunkirk - Hans Zimmer - WaterTower
The Great Race - Henry Mancini - La-La Land
Riverdale: Season 1 - Blake Neely - La-La Land
Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre - Chuck Cirino - Kritzerland
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets - Alexandre Desplat - Europacorp
War Machine - Nick Cave, Warren Ellis - Lakeshore
The Wild Wild West - Robert Drasnin, Harry Geller, Dave Grusin, Richard Markowitz, Jack Pleis, Walter Scharf, Richard Shores, Fred Steiner - La-La Land
IN THEATERS TODAY
Amnesia - Lucien Nicolet
Dunkirk - Hans Zimmer - Score CD on WaterTower
False Confessions - Bruno Coulais
First Kill - Ryan Franks, Scott Nickoley
Girls Trip - David Newman
The Gracefield Incident - Noah Sorota
Killing Ground - Leah Curtis
Landline - Chris Bordeaux, Clyde Lawrence, Jordan Cohen
The Midwife - Gregoire Hetzel
Swim Team - Mark Suozzo
COMING SOON
July 28
Genius - Lorne Balfe - Milan
Transformers: The Last Knight - Steve Jablonsky - La-La Land
August 4
The Emoji Movie - Patrick Doyle - Sony (import)
Robin Hood - George Bruns - Disney
War for the Planet of the Apes - Michael Giacchino - Sony
August 11
The Glass Castle - Joel P. West - Milan
Good Time - Oneohtrix Point Never - Warp
August 18
The Dark Tower - Tom Holkenborg - Sony
The Hitman's Bodyguard - Atli Orvarsson - Milan
August 25
The Handmaid's Tale - Adam Taylor - Lakeshore
Hellraiser - Christopher Young - Lakeshore
September 1
Bushwick - Aesop Rock - Lakeshore
Castlevania - Trevor Morris - Lakeshore
Popeye - Harry Nilsson, Tom Pierson - Varese Sarabande
Wind River - Nick Cave, Warren Ellis - Lakeshore
September 8
Bunyan & Babe - Zoe Poledouris-Roche, Angel Roche Jr. - Notefornote
Twin Peaks: The Event Series - Angelo Badalamenti - Rhino
Date Unknown
The Basil Poledouris Collection vol. 2 - Basil Poledouris - Dragon's Domain
Il Relitto - Angelo Francesco Lavagnino - Alhambra
Io, Emmanuelle - Gianni Ferrio - Quartet
L'Assassino - Piero Piccioni - Quartet
Les As de La Jungle - Olivier Cussac - Music Box
Roma Violenta - Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - Beat
Sky Pirates - Brian May - Dragon's Domain
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
July 21 - Jerry Goldsmith died (2004)
July 22 - George Dreyfus born (1928)
July 22 - Alan Menken born (1949)
July 22 - Nigel Hess born (1953)
July 22 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for Warning Shot (1966)
July 22 - Lalo Schifrin records his score for Mission: Impossible’s third season premiere, “The Heir Apparent” (1968)
July 22 - John Barry begins recording the orchestral score to King Kong (1976)
July 22 - Alan Silvestri begins recording his score for the Amazing Stories episode "Go to the Head of the Class" (1986)
July 23 - George Greeley born (1917)
July 23 - Bill Lee born (1928)
July 23 - L. Subramaniam born (1947)
July 23 - Recording sessions begin for Hugo Friedhofer’s score to The Blue Angel (1959)
July 23 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for Rio Conchos (1964)
July 23 - Leith Stevens died (1970)
July 23 - Georges Auric died (1983)
July 23 - John Addison records his score for the Amazing Stories episode "The Greible" (1986)
July 23 - Hans J. Salter died (1994)
July 23 - Piero Piccioni died (2004)
July 24 - Robert Farnon born (1917)
July 24 - Wilfred Josephs born (1927)
July 24 - Marcello Giombini born (1928)
July 24 - Les Reed born (1935)
July 24 - Alan Rawsthorne died (1971)
July 24 - Leo Shuken died (1976)
July 24 - Norman Dello Joio died (2008)
July 25 - Don Ellis born (1934)
July 25 - Denis King born (1939)
July 25 - Thurston Moore born (1958)
July 25 - Bruce Broughton records his unused adaptations of Bach for The Accidental Tourist (1988)
July 26 - Tadeusz Baird born (1928)
July 26 - Bronislau Kaper and Scott Bradley begin recording their score for Courage of Lassie (1945)
July 26 - David Raksin begins recording his score for Too Late Blues (1961)
July 26 - Robert Drasnin records his score for the Mission: Impossible episode “The Mercenaries” (1968)
July 26 - Robert Drasnin records his score for the Mission: Impossible episode “Run for the Money” (1971)
July 26 - Buddy Baker died (2002)
July 27 - Marc Wilkinson born (1929)
July 27 - Bernard Herrmann records the Piano Concerto for the Hangover Square score (1944)
July 27 - Michael Linn born (1952)
July 27 - Stefan Nilsson born (1955)
July 27 - Alex North begins recording his score to The Outrage (1964)
July 27 - Max Steiner begins recording his score for Those Callaways (1964)
July 27 - Harry Lubin died (1977)
July 27 - Georges Delerue records his score for Exposed (1982)
July 27 - Jerome Moross died (1983)
July 27 - Miklos Rozsa died (1995)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
11 MINUTES - Pawel Mykietn
"What it all means is admittedly oblique. Given the constant undercurrent of uneasiness accentuated by a sinister atonal score, there's an overriding Big Brother vibe, which might suggest that in society's all-consuming efforts to record everything for posterity we're losing sight of a bigger, more immediate picture."
Michael Rechtshaffen, Los Angeles Times
"What happens between 5 and 5:11 p.m. on a breezy Warsaw day to warrant 83 minutes of your attention? Everything and nothing. A young woman walks a dog. A hot dog vendor chats with a group of nuns. A sleazy filmmaker conducts an audition. A couple watch pornography on a laptop. A motorcycle courier speeds away from an adulterous liaison toward an appointment in a downtown high-rise. A young man rides a bus. An ambulance crew comes to the assistance of a woman in labor. An old man paints a landscape. We have a hunch -- abetted by the menacing throb of the music and the sneaky, splintered editing of the scenes -- that the fates of these characters and the others in Jerzy Skolimowski’s '11 Minutes' will converge and that the convergence will be catastrophic. An illusion of simultaneity is produced by repeating certain moments from different perspectives and by punctuating the action with recurring sights and sounds."
A.O. Scott, New York Times
IN THE SHADOW OF WOMEN - Jean-Louis Aubert
"What distinguishes In the Shadow of Women are its naturalistic performances -- especially Courau's -- and its elegantly composed shots and offhand rhythm. The narrative cadence is accented by infrequent use of Jean-Louis Aubert's modern chamber-music score."
Mark Jenkins, NPR
"Employing droll third-person narration (read by the director’s son, actor Louis Garrel) and a sparse score, 'In The Shadow Of Women' follows step-by-step as Pierre (Stanislas Merhar, who looks like a Slavic Mads Mikkelsen) sabotages his personal and professional life on the principle that he is entitled to both infidelity and jealousy, and his wife isn’t."
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, The Onion AV Club
"Garrel was aided in this candid self-examination by three screenplay collaborators -- Caroline Deruas and Arlette Langmann (who collaborated on his previous 'Jealousy') and the legendary Jean-Claude Carriere -- resulting in a more conventionally scripted tale than many of his more improvisational efforts. Yet, while there’s an evident structure here, it never overwhelms the film, or dilutes Garrel’s instinctive eye for those in-between moments when the unpredictability of life suddenly disrupts the frame. Paris looks timeless, and as cozy as a small village, in d.p. Renato Berta’s gorgeously composed frames. Composer Jean-Louis Aubert’s simple but effective piano-and-guitar score suggests romantic pop music minus the lyrics."
Scott Foundas, Variety
IP MAN 3 - Kenji Kawai
"Quality tech credits by the predominantly Hong Kong crew help cover up some of the film’s narrative inadequacies. Extra kudos to Cheung Ka-fai, editor of the two earlier episodes, for setting a subtly balanced rhythm to so many loose and tonally incompatible scenes; ditto Kenji Kawai’s score, which moves from somber to rousing without bombast, in tandem with Kinson Tsang’s orotund sound mix. D.p. Tse Chung-to highlights the action with steady camerawork and occasional high-angle flourishes. Mak Kwok-keung’s lavishly retro production design doesn’t show how Hong Kong was in the ’60s, but how it looked in the movies of that era."
Maggie Lee, Variety
MARTYRS - Evan Goldman
"Most of these changes are, if not exactly imaginative, respectful to the original film’s intentions. The Goetzes also infuse their version with an eerie slow-burn vibe distinctly its own, exemplified most of all by Evan Goldman’s portentously droning electronic score. But if the original ended on a nihilistic punchline, the Goetzes’ more sentimental finale is scarcely an improvement, forgoing Laugier’s perverse spiritual aspirations for a mundane confirmation of the two female main characters’ emotional bond, which is strong enough to transcend death. Though passable, the remake rarely summons the scarring and unsettling experience of Laugier’s darker and grimier original."
Kenji Fujishima, Slant Magazine
MOJAVE - Andrew Hewitt
"Back in L.A. the movie becomes a moody, stalker-like thriller. The clock ticks as Thomas deals with his moral transgressions, Jack creeps into the city, slowing circling his prey like a shark, and we tensely await the sparks to fly. But 'Mojave' is just too tonally inconsistent for all of this to work. For one, the film’s Hitchcock-ian score in the second half is way too on the nose and different musically from what we heard earlier. The mood shift is jarring."
Rodrigo Perez, IndieWire
MONSTER HUNT - Leon Ko
"Yohei Taneda’s production design blends ethereal inkbrush landscapes with period sets that range from mundane to spectacular. The tussles between humans are choreographed by Ku Huen-chiu with snappy, cartoonish timing, but remain bound by Hong Kong high-wire stunt conventions. Leon Ko’s score is jam-packed with pop tunes that work a spell as kiddie singalong, but may drive foreign viewers up the wall with their sappiness."
Maggie Lee, Variety
SYNCHRONICITY - Ben Lovett
"A critic could spend a whole review cataloguing the films 'Synchronicity' vaguely resembles; only summarizing the story would take longer. Visually, it’s a discount 'Blade Runner,' creating a nameless, overcast metropolis -- smudgy digital skyline, modern architecture subbing in for futuristic urban planning -- to amplify its noir flavor. (A throbbing Moog soundtrack, augmented with stray blares of lonely saxophone, pushes that vibe further.)"
A.A. Dowd, The Onion AV Club
"In 'Synchronicity,' writer-director Jacob Gentry and cinematographer Eric Maddison offer a smorgasbord of derivative sci-fi imagery that’s meant to affirm their bona fides as upstart visionaries. Their intricately layered interior tableaus, shrouded in fastidious shards of white noirish light, are often ludicrously rich in twirling fans, mirrors, lamps, book shelves, and silk screens, per the 'Blade Runner' playbook. Futuristic cityscapes are bathed in melancholy blues and grays a la 'Minority Report.' Certain canted shots of buildings suggest 'Alphaville' and 'Dark City.' Tying everything together is Ben Lovett’s synth score, which represents a bald act of theft from Vangelis, who, lest we forget, composed the music for 'Blade Runner.'"
Chuck Bowen, Slant Magazine
"The writer-director Jacob Gentry obviously loves the genre he’s taken on, or at least he loves 'Blade Runner,' to judge by the shadows, window blinds and synthesizer flourishes ornamenting 'Synchronicity.' They’re a mistake. The history of movies is also a history of filmmakers engaging with their cinematic influences through sleights of hand, cribbed camera moves, copied shots, mirrored gestures. Some filmmakers use their influences as portals to creativity; others never escape them, becoming lost in a prison-house of allusionism. In movies like 'Synchronicity' this type of cinephilia only underscores that you’re watching a copy, not the real deal."
Manohla Dargis, New York Times
"Sleek packaging manages a glossy day-after-tomorrow feel on doubtless modest means, with Eric Maddison’s widescreen lensing and Ben Lovett’s old-school synth score making a particular effort to evoke the retro-futurist aesthetics of fondly remembered 1970s and early ’80s sci-fi films."
Dennis Harvey, 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, LACMA, New Beverly, Nuart, Silent Movie Theater and UCLA.
July 21
THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (Gil Melle), THE TERMINAL MAN [New Beverly]
APRIL LOVE (Alfred Newman, Cyril Mockrdige) [Cinematheque: Aero]
DJANGO UNCHAINED [New Beverly]
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (Alejandro Jodorowsky) [Nuart]
IF... (Marc Wilkinson), PERFORMANCE (Jack Nitzsche) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
NIGHT OF THE CREEPS (Barry De Vorzon) [Silent Movie Theater]
UNDER THE VOLCANO (Alex North) [UCLA]
July 22
THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (Gil Melle), THE TERMINAL MAN [New Beverly]
CLAIRE'S KNEE [Silent Movie Theater]
DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES (Henry Mancini), CRIME IN THE STREETS (Franz Waxman) [UCLA]
FEMALE TROUBLE, HEAVY TRAFFIC (Ed Bogas, Ray Shanklin) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
SCANNERS (Howard Shore) [New Beverly]
SPACECAMP (John Williams) [New Beverly]
July 23
THE DEVILS (Peter Maxwell Davies) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE (Joe Hisaishi) [Arclight Santa Monica]
KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE (Joe Hisaishi) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
MOBY DICK (Philip Sainton) [UCLA]
9 TO 5 (Charles Fox), THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS (Carol Hall, Patrick Williams) [Cinematheque: Aero]
RACHEL, RACHEL (Jerome Moross), THE GLASS MENAGERIE (Henry Mancini) [New Beverly]
SERIE NOIRE [Silent Movie Theater]
SISTER ACT 2: BACK IN THE HABIT (Miles Goodman) [Silent Movie Theater]
SPACECAMP (John Williams) [New Beverly]
July 24
KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE (Joe Hisaishi) [Arclight Santa Monica]
KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE (Joe Hisaishi) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
RACHEL, RACHEL (Jerome Moross), THE GLASS MENAGERIE (Henry Mancini) [New Beverly]
STALKER (Edward Artemyev) [Silent Movie Theater]
July 25
BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM (Shirley Walker) [Silent Movie Theater]
PARTS: THE CLONUS HORROR (Hod David Schudson), THE CLONES (Allen D. Allen) [New Beverly]
ZORBA THE GREEK (Mikis Theodorakis) [LACMA]
July 26
DESERT HEARTS [Cinematheque: Aero]
SECRET AGENT SUPER DRAGON (Benedetto Ghiglia), OSS 117: MURDER FOR HIRE (Piero Piccioni) [New Beverly]
July 27
SECRET AGENT SUPER DRAGON (Benedetto Ghiglia), OSS 117: MURDER FOR HIRE (Piero Piccioni) [New Beverly]
July 28
THE BACHELOR PARTY, BABY, THE RAIN MUST FALL (Elmer Bernstein) [UCLA]
BARFLY (Jack Baran), REVERSAL OF FORTUNE (Mark Isham) [Cinematheque: Aero]
DJANGO UNCHAINED [New Beverly]
MANIAC (Jay Chattaway), THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (David Hess), CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (Riz Ortolani) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
SANTA SANGRE (Simon Boswell) [Nuart]
TOTAL RECALL (Jerry Goldsmith), THE RUNNING MAN (Harold Faltermeyer) [New Beverly]
July 29
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN (Maurice Jarre), THE MACKINTOSH MAN (Maurice Jarre) [UCLA]
LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (Franz Waxman) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE VALLEY (OBSCURED BY CLOUDS) (Pink Floyd), MORE (Pink Floyd) [Cinematheque: Aero]
THE VILLAIN (Bill Justis) [New Beverly]
July 30
THE DRAUGHTSMAN'S CONTRACT (Michael Nyman), PROSPERO'S BOOKS (Michael Nyman) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE (Fred Karlin) [UCLA]
WHERE'S POPPA? (Jack Elliott), FIRE SALE (Dave Grusin) [New Beverly]
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