Archive
BATMAN RETURNS – Danny Elfman
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Studios execs used a significant salary increase and offer of creative control to induce resistant Tim Burton to reprise his role and direct the next installment in the Batman franchise. Burton rejected a sequel, stating “I wanted to treat this like it was another Batman movie altogether.” So, a new Batman, new villains and a grim and darker Gotham City were introduced. The plot pits Batman against an evil tycoon Max Shreck (Christopher Walken), who seeks to enrich himself by monopolizing the city’s power supply, the pathetic deformed and inwardly mutated Penguin who harbors unresolved anger for being abandoned by his parents, and lastly the schizophrenic and mercurial Catwoman played by Michelle Pfeiffer. The film was not a critical success, however it was a commercial success and so spawned a third installment in the franchise. Read more…
John Barry, 1933-2011
Composer John Barry died on January 30, 2011, at his home in Oyster Bay, New York, after suffering a heart attack. He was 77.
John Barry Prendergast was born in York, England in November 1933, where his father owned a chain of cinemas. He played the organ at York Minster and, after spending some time as a classical pianist, formed a jazz band, The John Barry Seven in 1957. The Seven had a number of popular instrumental hits in the UK, including a cover of “Walk Don’t Run” and the theme from the TV show Juke Box Jury, “Hit and Miss”, before moving into cinema.
Barry made his film music composing debut in 1960 writing music for the Adam Faith film Beat Girl at the age of 27, before establishing himself as a major force in the British film industry when he wrote the score for the second James Bond film, From Russia With Love, in 1963. Barry wrote music for 10 more Bond films, including Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Diamonds Are Forever, while simultaneously establishing himself as one of the pre-eminent composers in American and British film from the 1960s through to the early 1980s through popular and successful films such as Zulu, Born Free. The Lion in Winter, Midnight Cowboy, Walkabout, King Kong, Robin and Marian, The Black Hole, Somewhere in Time and Out of Africa. Read more…
Academy Award Nominations 2010
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) have announced the nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards, honoring the best in film in 2010.
In the Best Original Score category, the nominees are:
- ALEXANDRE DESPLAT for The King’s Speech
- JOHN POWELL for How to Train Your Dragon
- A. R. RAHMAN for 127 Hours
- TRENT REZNOR and ATTICUS ROSS for The Social Network
- HANS ZIMMER for Inception
These are the first Oscar nominations Powell, Reznor, and Ross, although Reznor and Ross picked up a Golden Globe nomination for The Social Network earlier in the season. This is the 4th Oscar nomination for Desplat, the 2nd Oscar nomination for Rahman, who won the Award in 2009 for Slumdog Millionaire, and the 9th Oscar nomination for Zimmer, who previously won in 1994 for The Lion King.
In the Best Original Song category, the nominees are:
- TOM DOUGLAS, TROY VERGES and HILLARY LINDSEY for “Coming Home” from Country Strong
- ALAN MENKEN and GLENN SLATER for “I See The Light” from Tangled
- RANDY NEWMAN for “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3
- A.R. RAHMAN, DIDO ARMSTRONG and ROLLO ARMSTRONG for “If I Rise” from 127 Hours
The winners of the 83rd Academy Awards will be announced on February 27, 2011.
STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER – Jerry Goldsmith
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Star Trek V is at its heart a mystical quest film concerned with a question that has aroused humanity’s curiosity for millennia. It explores our search for that sacred omphalos from whence we arose – the Garden of Eden. In metaphysics Eden symbolizes primordial perfection, the source of all life and the state of perfect communion between humanity and God. It is from this inner longing, this yearning that the saga which is Star Trek V unfolds. William Shatner lobbied very hard to direct the film and although he managed to win the directorship, he regretfully would not enjoy critical success. Production and financing problems forced a dramatic scaling back of the movie’s climactic scene where he had planned a dramatic display of immense stone gollums and the earth opening up to reveal scenes of Dante’s ten levels of Hell. It suffices to say that the lack of resources served to mortally wound the story’s narrative and resulted in what many believe to be the weakest film in the Star Trek franchise. Read more…
BAFTA Nominations 2010
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced the nominations for the 64th British Academy Film Awards, honoring the best in film in 2010.
In the Best Original Music category, which is named in memory of the film director Anthony Asquith, the nominees are:
- ALEXANDRE DESPLAT for The King’s Speech
- DANNY ELFMAN for Alice in Wonderland
- JOHN POWELL for How to Train Your Dragon
- A.R. RAHMAN for 127 Hours
- HANS ZIMMER for Inception
This is the 5th BAFTA nomination for Desplat, the 2nd BAFTA nomination for Elfman, the 3rd BAFTA nomination for Powell, the 2nd BAFTA nomination for Rahman (who won the award in 2008 for Slumdog Millionaire), and the 5th BAFTA film nomination for Zimmer.
The winners of the 64th BAFTA Awards will be announced on February 13, 2011.
Golden Globe Winners 2010
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) have announced the winners of the 68th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and American television of 2010.
In the Best Original Score category composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won the award for their score for David Fincher-directed Facebook movie The Social Network. In their acceptance speech, Reznor said:
“This is really flattering to be recognized in this field, thank you very much. A year ago I had no idea I’d be having the opportunity to score a film, and the idea of standing up here accepting this award is completely surreal. Thank you. We would like to collectively thank David Fincher, Aaron Sorkin, Scott Rudin, Amy Pascal, Lia Vollack, Ren Klyce, and everyone involved with this picture, as well as our wives and families. Thank you so much.”
The other nominees were Alexandre Desplat for The King’s Speech, Danny Elfman for Alice in Wonderland, A.R. Rahman for 127 Hours, and Hans Zimmer for Inception.
In the Best Original Song category, the winner was Diane Warren won for her song “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from the Christina Aguilera/Cher screen musical Burlesque. Warren dedicated her award to the late music publicist Ronni Chasen, who had been tragically murdered several weeks previously.
The other nominees were Christina Aguilera, Samuel Dixon and Sia Furler for “Bound to You” from Burlesque; Bob Di Piero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey and Troy Verges for “Coming Home” from Country Strong; Alan Menken and Glenn Slater for “I See the Light” from Tangled; and Carrie Underwood, David Hodges and Hillary Lindsey for “There’s a Place for Us” from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
HOME ALONE – John Williams
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Writer-producer John Hughes, best known for his 80’s teen movies “16 Candles”, “The Breakfast Club” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” conceived a new twist on the holidays when he took on “Home Alone”. The story opens with the McAllister family preparing for a Christmas vacation in Paris, France. As the family is packing, Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) gets into a scuffle with his older brother Buzz and is sent to his room on the third floor. As the out of control family rushes to depart the next morning, Kevin is somehow overlooked and left “Home Alone.” When Kevin awakes and finds himself alone he makes the best of it, as any kid would, by having fun, eating pizza, making a mess and jumping up and down on his parents’ bed. The real fun begins however when Kevin discovers two burglars, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) planning to rob his house on Christmas Eve and devises all sorts of booby traps and outrageous schemes to defend his house at all costs. The film stretched credulity from the start, but through its slap-stick humor, Christmas sentimentality and Culkin’s endearing screen persona, it won the hearts of the public and became a huge commercial success. The film made Culkin an instant star, spawned a sequel and to this day remains an enduring holiday favorite. Read more…
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