WOLFEN (REJECTED SCORE) – Craig Safan
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Director Michael Wadleigh chose to adapt Whitley Strieber’s novel Wolfen to film, as he believed it afforded him an opportunity to infuse depth and intelligence into the horror genre. The story is a mytho-historical tale that reveals the existence of a hidden intelligent species called Wolfen that have co-existed with humans for centuries. After a city cop (Albert Finney) is assigned to solve a horrific set of violent murders, he gradually unravels the mystery that are the Wolfen who will now do anything to ensure their anonymity. Replete with Indian legend and folklore about wolf spirits, the story was heralded for its sophistication and effort to elevate the horror genre. Regretfully, the film ran seriously over budget and Wadleigh was fired and never allowed to complete his vision. The film was not a commercial success, however critics acknowledged it as an unusual and ambitious effort. Read more…
THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN – Geoff Zanelli
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
A couple of years ago I wrote a review of the soundtrack for the film Gamer, by Geoff Zanelli and Robb Williamson, in which I posted my now-famous ‘polar bear with a migraine’ photo, and basically called it was one of the worst film scores I have ever heard in my life. Despite hating the music for that particular film, I was very careful not to criticize the composer himself, who was clearly providing exactly what the director and producer of that film wanted in terms music – which just happened to be music I cannot tolerate. A lot of us tend to forget, myself included sometimes, that a film composer’s primary motivation is to support with music the director’s vision of the film being made, and any secondary life the music takes on apart from the film is entirely inconsequential to the reason the music exists in the first place. A composer might be asked to write grating and grinding electronics for one film, as Zanelli was on Gamer, and a less-experienced critic might call him a hack, or whatever other derogatory terms spring to mind. But all composers, by necessity, have to be versatile, and Geoff Zanelli’s versatility and talent is highlighted by his work on The Odd Life of Timothy Green, a film score at the other end of the musical spectrum from Gamer as it is possible to be. Read more…
L’AFRICAIN/THE AFRICAN – Georges Delerue
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Director Philippe De Broca had three passions; Africa, adventure and comedy. So when he was offered an opportunity to direct L’Africain, he needed no coaxing. The story concerns Victor (Philippe Noriet) and Charlotte (Catherine Deneuve) who have separated, only to have fate bring them back together in unusual circumstances. He is a bush pilot and conservationist who has fled civilization to Africa where he has setup a floating grocery store. Charlotte has also come to Africa to build a tourist center by Lake William where she hopes to study pygmies who live near by. She quickly realizes that Victor’s site is the best location to build and so they reunite and join in common cause. Yet soon old conflicts reemerge and when a gang of ruthless ivory smugglers, elephant stampedes, crocodiles and pygmies are thrown into the mix all hell breaks loose! Read more…
THE EXPENDABLES 2 – Brian Tyler
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Had it been made in 1989, The Expendables 2 would without a doubt have been the biggest box office draw of the year. At the height of the action hero era, any film with a cast that included Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis alongside Jean Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and Chuck Norris… well, the testosterone quotient alone might have been enough to make any cinema screen explode with sheer masculinity. Add in modern action stars Jason Statham, Liam Hemsworth and Jet Li, a competent director in Simon Wells, and a concise and self-aware screenplay, and you have a film that is both a nostalgic throwback to that macho era, and an enjoyable contemporary popcorn adventure that pulls no punches when it comes to blood, bullets, fists, and slow-motion walks towards the camera. Stallone stars as the leader of a band of good-guy mercenaries for hire, who are sent by the CIA into the mountains of Albania to retrieve the contents of a safe lost in a plane crash. It looks like a walk in the park, until one of their number is killed by the suavely ruthless (and unambiguously named) arms dealer Jean Vilain – played with icy coolness by Van Damme – who is also after the contents of the safe, and all hell breaks loose as the Expendables look for revenge. Read more…
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES – Hans Zimmer
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The Dark Knight Rises is director Christopher Nolan’s eagerly-awaited final installment in the Batman trilogy he initiated with Batman Begins in 2005, and continued with The Dark Knight in 2008. Set seven years after the conclusion of the second film, The Dark Knight Rises finds the billionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) living in seclusion, having allowed his crime-fighting alter-ego Batman to take the blame for the crimes committed by the former DA Harvey Dent, including the murder of Wayne’s soul-mate, Rachel. However, Wayne’s self-imposed isolation is threatened by two very different interlopers into Gotham City: the formidable masked terrorist Bane (Tom Hardy), who seems to be masterminding a plan to undermine the very fabric of contemporary society, and sophisticated cat burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), who breaks into Wayne Manor to steal a necklace, but comes away with much more. To combat the rising threat, Wayne is forced to become Batman once more, but is he strong enough – mentally, and physically – to face the challenge? The film has an all-star supporting cast, including Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard, and has become one of the most popular and successful box-office hits of 2012, ending Nolan’s vision on an undisputed high note, but cleverly paving the way for future installments by different directors. Read more…
Marvin Hamlisch, 1944-2012
Composer Marvin Hamlisch died on August 6, 2012, at his home in Los Angeles, California, after a brief illness. He was 68.
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch was born in June 1944 in New York City to Austrian Jewish parents. He was a child prodigy who entered Juilliard at age seven, and then attended Queens College, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967.
A rare winner of the EGOT – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards – Hamlisch was one of the most decorated and versatile musicians of his generation. His work ranged from heartfelt ballads to rousing film scores, from Broadway showstoppers to pop hits, all marked by his melodic gift and deep emotional accessibility. He began his career as a rehearsal pianist for Barbra Streisand early in his career, later becoming her musical director and collaborator. His songs became hits for numerous artists, and his work as a conductor with major orchestras further expanded his artistic reach; his popular songs include “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows” and “California Nights” for Lesley Gore, and “The Travelin’ Life” for Liza Minnelli.
His first film score was for 1968’s The Swimmer. He also wrote music for several early Woody Allen films, including Take the Money and Run (1969) and Bananas (1971). Hamlisch’s film work brought him three Academy Awards, all in 1974: two for The Way We Were (Best Original Score and Best Song, shared with lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman), and one for his adaptation of Scott Joplin’s ragtime music for The Sting. Other notable film and TV scores in his career include Kotch in 1971, Save the Tiger in 1973, the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977, Ice Castles in 1978, Ordinary People in 1980, Sophies Choice in 1982, Shirley Valentine in 1989, and The Mirror Has Two Faces in 1996. Read more…
BEL AMI – Lakshman Joseph de Saram, Rachel Portman
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Bel Ami is a historical romantic drama based on the 1885 novel by Guy de Maupassant. Directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, the film is set in Paris in the late 1880s and stars Robert Pattinson as the amoral Georges Duroy, a journalist for the newspaper La Vie Française, who rises from being a junior officer in the French Army in Algeria, to being one of the most powerful and influential men in the city, which he achieves by manipulating a series of well-connected, intelligent, and wealthy mistresses. The film also stars Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas and Christina Ricci as the women Duroy takes advantage of – both morally, socially and sexually – as he makes his ascent through the decadent world of the rich and the privileged. The film’s equally rich and decadent score is by Lakshman Joseph de Saram and Rachel Portman, who share composing duties equally between them. Read more…
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER – Henry Jackman
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is the first movie based on the very popular series of “mashup” novels by Seth Grahame-Smith, in which a real, famous person or an established literary classic is re-imagined with a science fiction or horror twist. Other entries in the mini-genre include “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”, “Queen Victoria: Demon Slayer” and “Unholy Night”, but Abraham Lincoln is the first to make the transition to the big screen. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov, the film stars as Benjamin Walker as the 16th President of the United States, recounting the story of his early life: having discovered that his beloved mother was murdered, young Lincoln vows vengeance against the man responsible, Jack Barts (Marton Csokas), but is overpowered and almost killed by Barts, who is actually a vampire. Lincoln is rescued and nursed back to health by the enigmatic Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper), who trains Lincoln to be a vampire hunter, and promises the idealistic young man that he can exact his revenge when the time is right. The film, which also stars Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Rufus Sewell, was originally going to be scored by the Oscar-winning duo of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, before the film eventually fell into the hands of one of the most talented and creative recent graduates from Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control stable, Henry Jackman. Read more…
MOONRISE KINGDOM – Alexandre Desplat
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
It is becoming apparent to me that I just don’t get Wes Anderson. The writer-director of a series of quirky comedies with highly specific visual and narrative aesthetics, Anderson’s films – which have included Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and the animated Fantastic Mr. Fox – tend to polarize cinema audiences, who either connect with his wholly unique hipster sensibilities, or find them impenetrable and slightly pretentious. Unfortunately; I fall into the latter camp. His latest film, Moonrise Kingdom, is a similarly oddball comedy-drama about two teenagers falling in love on a New England island in the 1960s: nerdy orphan Sam (Jared Gilman), who is camping there with his scout troupe, and rebellious Suzy (Kara Hayward), who lives on the island with her parents. Sam and Suzy, having met briefly during the previous summer, conspire to run away together, sending the island’s adults into a lather as they frantically comb the island for the missing children. Read more…
ISLAND AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD – Maurice Jarre
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The screenplay for Island at the Top of the World was based on the novel “The Lost Ones”, which was written by Ian Cameron and set in the location of Prince Patrick Island. The film is a classic adventure and discovery tale set in London circa 1907. British nobleman Sir Anthony Ross organizes a rescue party to the Arctic in a desperate search to recover his lost son Donald, who had embarked on an expedition in search of the fabled isle – the “Graveyard of Whales”. Joined by famous archaeologist Professor Ivarsson and Captain Brieux, an aeronaut who pilots the expedition, the team sets off in the Hyperion, an incredible mechanized French dirigible. Fate would have it that they discover an uncharted island named Astragard, or “Garden Of The Gods”, which is home to a lost colony of Vikings separated from humanity for centuries. The team ultimately must contend with a romance between Donald and the Viking Freyja, xenophobic Vikings who are unwilling to let their existence be revealed to the outside world, a fanatical High Priest Godi intent on executing these “invaders”, and lastly, killer whales that defend their sacred Graveyard. The film regretfully was neither a critical or commercial success. It suffered from inferior production quality, rare for a Disney film, and just did not resonate with the public. Read more…
TED – Walter Murphy
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Picture the scene: it’s the mid 1980s in suburban America. You’re a ten year old boy, and not very popular, but on Christmas morning your parents give you the most adorable, cuddly teddy bear imaginable. You suddenly have a new best friend – and, that night, you make a wish on a shooting star that your bear would come to life. Amazingly, through the magical power of a young boy’s dreams, the bear does come to life, and everyone lived happily ever after… except that, 25 years later, the bear is still with you, smokes pot out of a bong in your living room, brings hookers home to party, and is a constant irritation to your friends and family. This is the premise of Ted, the live-action cinematic debut of the television-animation icon Seth MacFarlane, whose comic creations on the small screen include Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show. Mark Wahlberg stars as John Bennett, the poor schmuck whose life is constantly being ruined by his furry friend, Mila Kunis supports as his beautiful long-suffering girlfriend Lori, and MacFarlane himself voices the eponymous bear. It sounds ridiculous but, truthfully, Ted is one of the funniest films I have seen in a LONG time, filled with a wonderful combination of gross-out humor, verbal sparring and absurd physical violence, but counterbalanced with a genuinely heartwarming story of love, friendship and forgiveness. Read more…
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN – James Horner
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Despite it only being ten years since Sam Raimi brought the latest incarnation of Spider-Man to the silver screen with Tobey Maguire in 2002, Sony Pictures have given the world one of the dreaded “re-boots” of the story in The Amazing-Spider Man, intending to re-ignite interest in a franchise which has struggled to maintain popularity since the disappointing Spider-Man 3 in 2007. Sam Raimi is replaced in the director’s chair by the aptly-named Marc Webb; Tobey Maguire is replaced by Andrew Garfield; Kirsten Dunst as Mary-Jane Watson is replaced by Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey, and the entire supporting cast is changed too. The film is yet another origin story, explaining how the mild-mannered science buff Peter Parker is transformed into the Astonishing Arachnid Boy by way of a helpful spider bite, and sets about cleaning up New York City in the face of a super-villain, the Lizard. The truly amazing thing about The Amazing Spider-Man is that, contrary to all expectations, it’s better than Raimi’s Spider-Man on almost all levels: story, screenplay, acting, special effects, and even its score, which sees James Horner replacing Danny Elfman (and Christopher Young and all the uncredited ghost writers). Read more…
PROMETHEUS – Marc Streitenfeld, Harry Gregson-Williams
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Prometheus sees the eagerly-awaited and highly anticipated return to the Alien franchise of director Ridley Scott, whose groundbreaking science fiction films in the late 1970s and early 80s help shaped the genre as we know it today. While not a direct prequel to his 1979 masterpiece, the film does take place before the events of that classic film, and within the same general universe. However, whereas the original Alien was essentially a haunted house movie in space, Prometheus asks bigger questions about the meaning – and origins – of life itself. Noomi Rapace and and Logan Marshall-Green star as a pair of scientists who, via some ancient cave paintings, discover a “star map” which they think will lead them across the universe to where life on Earth began. Years later, the pair arrive on a distant planet with a cadre of associates funded by the Weyland corporation: icy administrator Charlize Theron, ship’s captain Idris Elba, geologist Rafe Spall, biologist Sean Harris, plus a sentient android named David, played with clinical conviction by Michael Fassbender. However, upon their arrival and initial forays onto the planet, the team find much more than they anticipated, and a great deal of danger. Read more…
STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY – Cliff Eidelman
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Star Trek VI was envisioned by Paramount executive Frank Mancuso as a rebound from the disaster that was the Star Trek V film, and a hand off the franchise to the Next Generation crew. As such he again hired Leonard Nimoy to write a script that would bring a memorable final adventure for our legendary crew. Drawing upon Gorbachev’s Glasnost initiative that catalyzed the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Nimoy fashioned a classic morality play, which dealt with the issues of racial prejudice, revenge, mistrust and humanity’s eternal search for “The Undiscovered County” – a lasting peace. The film begins dramatically with a cataclysmic explosion on the Klingon moon Praxis. The moon’s destruction fatally cripples energy production and the Klingons face the inevitable depletion of their ozone layer in 50 years, which will bring an irradiating end to their civilization. Chancellor Gorkon resolves to forge peace with the Federation and so bring to an end 70 years of unremitting hostilities, which he understands they can no longer sustain. Captain James Kirk and his crew are called upon by the Federation Council to escort the Chancellor to Earth, however reactionary elements on both sides jointly conspire to covertly sabotage the peace mission by attacking Gorkon’s vessel and assassinating him. Since the Enterprise appears to be responsible, Kirk and McCoy are remanded to Klingon authorities where they are tried, convicted and sent to certain death at the penal colony on Rura Penthe. A daring escape allows Kirk to regain the Enterprise and again save the day. He defeats the traitorous General Chang in battle and foils a second assassination of Klingon emissaries by Federation officers. The movie restored the franchise’s vitality, received critical acclaim and was a huge commercial success. Read more…
THE RAVEN – Lucas Vidal
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The Raven is a fun but forgettable period thriller based around the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. Directed by James McTeigue – still most famous for his work on V for Vendetta – the film is set in Baltimore in the 1840s and stars John Cusack as the famed author Poe, the twisted mind behind such classic tales of the macabre as The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, and of course the timeless poem from which the film takes its title. Already down on his luck, both financially and personally, Poe’s life becomes even more difficult when it becomes apparent that a murderer is on the loose, and using the macabre deaths described in Poe’s books as inspiration for real-life atrocities. Things become even worse when Poe’s young paramour Emily (Alice Eve), the daughter of wealthy businessman Captain Hamilton (Brendan Gleeson) is kidnapped by the murderer, who begins taunting the increasingly frantic poet with mysterious clues and additional killings based on Poe’s stories. To solve the crime, Poe teams up with the dogged and inquisitive detective Fields (Luke Evans), who must work together to solve the mystery before poor Emily takes her last breath and becomes one of the dear departed. Read more…
Shop at the Movie Music UK Store
Member of the
MOVIE MUSIC UK 