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Posted: |
Dec 1, 2023 - 9:49 AM
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By: |
c8
(Member)
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https://varesesarabande.com/products/randy-newman-pleasantville-original-motion-picture-score-deluxe-edition-cd
Pleasantville (1998) was a high-concept fantasy-comedy about high-school siblings (Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon) transported into an idyllic, black-and-white 1950s Leave It to Beaver-type TV show. In the hands of writer/director Gary Ross, the film is more than just a fish-out-of-water tale with dazzling VFX—it is a touching character study and potent Civil Rights allegory that received critical acclaim and is fondly remembered today.
Scoring Pleasantville was a master of Americana, humor and symphonic scoring, Randy Newman. Newman had cheeky fun with the show-within-the-film’s old-school traditions, but just as the story blossoms into a heartfelt tale of emotional awakening—with a beautiful performance by Joan Allen as a repressed mother—so does the gorgeous score.
“Randy is unique in the fact that he can write with a depth of emotion, and he’s also an accomplished satirist,” says Gary Ross in the new liner notes by Tim Greiving. “He could write to the vernacular of what the movie was, but not be limited by it. That’s what the film is trying to do, and it really needs someone who can understand the breadth of those intentions... I’ve never been happier with any score, on any movie.”
Features:
Varèse Sarabande released Pleasantville’s score album in 1998 as a 17-track, 31-minute edition. As the film celebrates its 25th anniversary, this Deluxe Edition features an expanded program of 34 tracks and 66 minutes.
Track List:
1. The Pleasantville Theme
2. Get Ready*
3. New TV Remote And The Fight*
4. We’re Stuck (The Breakfast Scene)*
5. School And Basketball*
6. Mr. Johnson And Missed Shots*
7. In The Bath
8. Bud’s A Hero
9. Make-Up
10. The Art Book
11. Real Rain (Extended Version)**
12. Let’s Go Bowling
13. Together
14. Waking Up
15. No Umbrellas (Extended Version)**
16. Nude Painting*
17. Punch
18. Burning The Books
19. The Aftermath (Extended Version)**
20. Mural
21. A New Day
22. Goodbye
23. Pleasantville Bumper*
24. The Sweater
Additional Music:
25. Make-Up (Film Version)*
26. The Art Book (Alternate)*
27. Together (Film Version)*
28. No Umbrellas (Alternate)*
29. The Aftermath (Alternate)*
30. Mural (Film Version)*
31. A New Day (Alternate)*
32. A New Bus (Film Construct)*
33. Pleasantville Theme Play-Off*
34. Pleasantville End Credits Suite*
* Previously unreleased
** Contains previously unreleased material
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Completely unfamiliar with this score. I'll have to sample it, but judging on the previous comments, colour me intrigued.
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I've been hoping they would expand this for a long time, but I assumed that I was the only one who would want it!
Not at all, my good sir! This is my favorite Varese Sarabande release of 2023, in fact, even though most might expect City Hall due to my Goldsmith obsession.
David Newman's Serenity is a solid score with some real highlights, and I will be also purchasing it. But it's a shame that it seems to be much more popular and overshadowing this far, far superior score -- my #1 favorite ever composed by Randy Newman. Sensitive and gorgeous scoring for a rather unique and sometimes profound film. I'm so glad the other half of the score has finally been released and I am similarly intrigued that it's longer than the isolated score track even. Can't wait to hear this; one of the expanded album GEMS of 2023 IMO.
Yavar
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They seem to not want to credit producers and engineers in their information, but I did this one and it was a very satisfying project.
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Even Mike has to bow at the VS altar. Wow.
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Just bizarre — don’t they know by now that saying Mike Matessino worked on something is a major selling point for film music fans? It doesn’t do them any favors, sales wise. Anyway, I’m personally even more excited for this album now, knowing that you worked on it Mike!
Yavar
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This is one of those out-of-left-field surprises that make Varese Sarabande still worth checking up on.
This film comes out of a time when feature film projection and digital sound were becoming routinely superb in new-built theaters. The theater in Dallas where I saw this one (Cinemark 17 – LBJ Freeway & Forest Hill Lane) was in this exhibition vanguard...until the demand for "stadium seating" compelled Cinemark to ruin the well-formulated acoustics of their top-line auditoriums by cutting all the reverb space in half to accommodate the seat risers.
This movie, and Mars Attacks! were shown in one of these top-line auditoriums before the acoustics were spoiled. At the time, it was shocking how good the clarity of music scores was in new films in these new auditoriums...and then it all disappeared nearly overnight.
So, I will gladly buy Varese's new expansion of Pleasantville, in nostalgia for a little window of time where movies got shown perfectly in one particular place in time; a time as far removed from today as the Pleasantville world was from 1998.
Though Pleasantville did comment on the periodic recurrence of McCarthyism, one surge of which we are experiencing today.
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Terrific Oscar-nominated score to a fascinating movie. Really happy to see it expanded.
A nice surprise, especially learning that Mike worked on it.
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Great post, BornOfAJackal!
Yavar
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Ordered, and zero regrets. La-La Land will not persuade me to double-dip on the original TV Star Trek re-issues. New stuff only!
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I get my copy of this today.
Considering the fact no one here has given this even a cursory review, I conclude sales of this are not that great.
Well, I will review it soon in hopes if juicing sales. We know the production is sound; will my persuasive skills be?
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I pre-ordered this and Serenity directly from Varese on December 4th. I still have not received them, and my order is still listed on the Varese site as "unfulfilled." (and I never heard anything from them about the delay until I wrote to them and basically asked "Hey, where's my s**t?")
So I ordered them from Screen Archives on February 9th. They arrived today, only 11 days later.
Can someone please explain how this makes any sense?
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