Archive
PSYCHO – Bernard Herrmann
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
After the much-heralded success of North by Northwest in 1959, Alfred Hitchcock chose to change career paths and direct his first Horror genre film. His secretary found an obscure novel, Psycho by novelist Robert Bloch, and it was exactly for what Hitchcock was seeking. He purchased the film rights for a mere $9,500, and then bought as many copies of the book as possible as he was determined to keep it’s ending a secret. He however ran into headwinds immediately when Paramount studio executives were taken aback by the sordid nature of the story. Yet Hitchcock was determined and negotiated a small budget, agreed to shoot in black and white on the Universal lots, agreed to employ his television series crews, and asked that Paramount only manage the film’s distribution. In addition he offered to take 60% of the film profits in lieu of his customary salary of $250,000. Paramount agreed as they expected the film to lose money. Remarkably, and to Paramount’s chagrin, the film was enormously profitable. In the end, Hitchcock had the final laugh, earning an astounding $15 million! Read more…
SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE – Alexander Courage, John Williams
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The original 1978 Superman film was a groundbreaking motion picture in many respects. It essentially introduced the concept of the contemporary comic book super hero to the movie world, it made a star out of its granite-jawed leading man Christopher Reeve, and it spawned one of the greatest scores in motion picture history, penned by the incomparable John Williams. However, as the 1980s progressed, each successive Superman sequel diminished in quality, until the franchise reached its nadir with 1987’s Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Despite the presence of both Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman in the cast, and a potentially interesting environmentally aware plot involving nuclear energy, the film was an utter disaster. An increasingly shrinking budget put the film in a constant state of flux, and forced director Sidney J. Furie to shoot the film mostly in the English provincial town of Milton Keynes instead of New York. Special effects were left apparently half-finished, the script was constantly being re-written and footage re-shot, and the actors were disgruntled throughout. The terrible reviews of the film once it opened signaled the death knell of the franchise at that point, and Superman would not be seen on the silver screen again until 2006’s Superman Returns. Read more…
Daniel Licht, 1957-2017
Composer Daniel Licht died at his home in Topanga, California, on August 2, 2017, at the age of 60, following a battle with a rare form of sarcoma.
Best known for his darkly playful music for all eight seasons of Dexter, Licht enjoyed a career spanning film, television and video games, with other notable credits including Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice, Hellraiser: Bloodline, Thinner, Silent Hill: Downpour and the Dishonored series.
Daniel James Licht was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March 13, 1957. He began studying clarinet at eight and guitar four years later, playing jazz professionally while still in high school. At Hampshire College in Massachusetts he studied composition, jazz and world music, interests which subsequently took him far beyond conventional Western orchestral traditions.
After graduating, Licht moved to New York and became involved in the Lower East Side experimental music scene. He performed with jazz musicians including Don Cherry, Jaki Byard and David Amram, while travelling through Europe composing for theatre and dance companies. His fascination with non-Western music took him to Japan and Indonesia, where he studied gamelan music in Java and Bali. These experiences profoundly influenced his later scores, which frequently incorporated exotic instruments and unusual percussion. Read more…
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