LA NOUVELLE GUERRE DES BOUTONS/WAR OF THE BUTTONS – Philippe Rombi
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The story of La Nouvelle Guerre des Boutons was adapted from Louis Pergaud’s 1912 novel and is a remake of Yves Robert’s 1962 film of the same name. It is a comedy with an anti-war narrative sub-text. Set in France circa 1944, it tells the tale of schoolboys from the neighboring villages of Longeverne and Velrans have formed two opposing factions, which have been waging a mock war for as long as anyone can remember. After each battle the victor’s spoils would be the taking of buttons off the clothes of the vanquished. Hoping to turn the tide of the conflict, one team of the boys employ a strategy of running into battle naked, thus depriving the opposing boys nothing to steal. Fate would have it however that after this amazing victory, one of the boys defects to the other side. This turncoat reveals a weakness in his former camp that allows his new teammates to launch a secret attack that brings victory. The traitor’s betrayal is discovered and he is punished for his treachery. Not done, he informs his superiors and parents that he has been beaten up by bullies. This upsets the entire apple cart as his mom and dad escalate the conflict with the opposing schoolmates resulting in jail time. Read more…
À VOUS DE JOUER MILORD – François de Roubaix
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
À Vous de Jouer Milord was a 1974 spy drama mini-series of six episodes directed by the famous French director Christian-Jaque. The national security storyline concerned the theft of design schematics for the new generation French tank, the AMX 30. Justifiably alarmed by the loss of the schematics, the government resolved to call back into service their retired agent Hubert de Pomarec (AKA Milord) played by Henri Piégay to regain the stolen plans. Christian-Jaque imbued the mini-series with a comic book sensibility and robust action scenes with his lead performing his own stunts. While entertaining, it received no critical acclaim. Read more…
CASA DE MI PADRE – Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Casa de Mi Padre is an intentionally silly spoof of those wonderfully cheesy but enormously popular Spanish-language telenovelas, especially ones from the 1970s which have a Grindhouse-esque quality. English-speaking audiences are generally unaware of their success and popularity, but they form a cornerstone of Latin popular entertainment, especially in countries like Mexico, Spain, Portugal, and most of South and Central America. The brainchild of actor/producer Will Ferrell, screenwriter Andrew Steele and director Matt Piedmont, the film stars Ferrell as Armando Alvarez, the good-natured but dim-witted son of a wealthy Mexican landowner (the late Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.), whose life is thrown into turmoil when his younger brother Raul (Diego Luna) returns to the family home with a beautiful new fiancée, Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez) to take over the business. However, Raul has fallen in with the wrong company, and soon Armando finds himself caught up in the middle of a bitter feud between Raul and the evil drug kingpin Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal). Yes, despite the rather serious plot, it is a comedy, and yes, it’s entirely in Spanish, and the jokes come thick and fast, with intentionally bad continuity, poor special effects, and hilarious psychedelic inserts competing with the broad slapstick and clever wordplay Ferrell brings to the table. Read more…
WRATH OF THE TITANS – Javier Navarrete
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
I have to admit, when I learned that Javier Navarrete was scoring Wrath of the Titans, I was pretty excited. The original film to which this is a sequel – 2010’s Clash of the Titans – was solidly panned by the majority of film critics, and had a pretty risible score by Ramin Djawadi that adhered to every Remote Control cliché ever invented. Everything was revamped this time, with a new director in the shape of Jonathan Liebesman, a new supporting cast including Rosamund Pike and Bill Nighy behind leads Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes, and a brand new composer, whose track record promised to provide everything that Djawadi’s score was lacking in terms of thematic identity and orchestral intelligence. Navarrete is, of course, the Spanish composer of such excellent works as Pan’s Labyrinth, Inkheart, Mirrors and Cracks, and this would be far his biggest assignment in the Hollywood mainstream to date. Read more…
EMMANUELLE 4/S.A.S. À SAN SALVADOR – Michel Magne
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The original Emmanuelle (1974) was adapted from the novel by Emanuelle Arsan. It proved to be a box office sensation, which spawned a franchise. Director Francis Leroi, well known for his work with erotica, took up the Opus 4 story line with an added twist. Sylvia (Sylvia Kristen) is desperately trying to escape from her former lover Marc, and so she goes to Brazil where renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Santamo transforms her into the beautiful Emmanuelle. Her new more youthful identity now played by Mia Nygren potentiates a profound sexual awakening, which is complicated by her memories of Marc. It suffices to say that the plot offers unexpected plot twists, which provide multiple opportunities to fully explore the characters.
Pierre Bachelet, Francis Lai and Serge Gainsbourg had respectively scored the first three films of the franchise. Michel Magne, well known for his neo-romantic style was a natural choice for the film. Like his predecessors, he infused his writing with a modern romanticism and provided a number of beautiful songs. You will notice immediately how Magne provides a rich musical palate, which spans from the chaotic, to the playful, to the sensual erotic. Read more…
A TROLL IN CENTRAL PARK – Robert Folk
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Producers Don Bluth and Gary Goldman had a long history of successful animated films that included “An American Tail” and “The Land Before Time”. With their company now set in Ireland, Bluth decided to utilize traditional Celtic mythology for his next film. In this new story, Stanley is a friendly troll blessed with the gift of a wondrous and magical green thumb that allows him to grow flowers by merely sticking it into the ground. Unfortunately the evil troll Queen Gnorga banishes him from her realm to modern day Manhattan for his life generating gift and kindness to humans. Stanley adapts to his new cave home in Central Park and befriends Gus and Rosie who unknown to their parents have set out on a magnificent adventure. But all is endangered when Queen Gnorga journeys to Manhattan, armed with her purple thumb intent on turning everything she touches to stone. As is fitting, goodness prevails and our heroes defeat and overthrow the evil Queen. The film was not a critical success and failed at the box office, not even coming close to recovering its production costs. Read more…
JOHN CARTER – Michael Giacchino
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Already tainted as one of the biggest box-office disasters in cinema history, John Carter looks set to go down in negative notoriety rather than with the acclaim and applause many expected at Disney when the project was first announced. A large scale action science-fiction epic, the film is a big screen mishmash adaptation of several of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Barsoom novels, which were first written in 1912 and stand as some of the first works of interplanetary science fiction ever written. The film, which is directed by Andrew Stanton, stars newcomer Taylor Kitsch as the eponymous Carter, a civil war veteran from Virginia who, while prospecting out west, finds himself inexplicably transported to Mars, where he becomes embroiled in a second civil war between the planet’s inhabitants, who call their world Barsoom. The film co-stars Lynn Collins as the beautiful princess Dejah Thoris, Ciaran Hinds and Dominic West as the two rival jeddak kings in whose lengthy battle Carter gets caught, and Willem Dafoe and Samantha Morton in motion-capture as two of the multi-armed Tharks, who help and hinder Carter in his quest with equal measure. Read more…
Movie Music UK Awards 2011
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Robert B. Sherman, 1925-2012
Composer Robert B. Sherman, one of the greatest and most influential songwriters in the history of Hollywood, died on March 6, 2012, at his home in London, after a short illness. He was 86 years old.
Robert Bernard Sherman was born in New York, New York, in December 1925, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. His father, Al, was a composer and arranger in Tin Pan Alley in New York, and was a contemporary of George Gershwin; the Shermans eventually relocated to Los Angeles in 1937, and Robert attended Beverly Hills High School. Robert joined the Army in 1943 aged 17, and was awarded the Purple Heart medal after being shot in the knee in 1945, an injury which forced him to walk with a cane for the rest of his life. After completing his national service, Sherman and his brother Richard started a songwriting company, and they enjoyed success writing popular songs for artists including Annette Funicello. This success brought them to the attention of producer Walt Disney, who eventually hired them as staff songwriters for the Walt Disney Studio. Read more…
Academy Award Winners 2011
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) have announced the winners of the 84th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film in 2011.
In the Best Original Score category French composer Ludovic Bource won the award for his score for the silent film The Artist. In his acceptance speech, Bource said:
“Wow. I want to pay, first of all, tribute for the power of the music, and I want to thank you and pay tribute to my co-nominees, Mr. Williams, Mr. Shore and Mr. Iglesias. Hans Zimmer is downstairs, he refused to submit this year, so I thank you charity Hans Zimmer, I don’t know if you can see. Thank you to all the musicians tonight, it’s a wonderful show. Can I have ten second more, Hans? Sorry, I have a little speech. I’d like to thank the Academy for this Oscar. You have given a man a special honor. To all of you, please accept me, because I have got so much love to give. I’ve got so much love to give to you. My wife Sara is there {speaks French}, thank you for all. Thank you Michel [Hazanavicius].”
The other nominees were Alberto Iglesias for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Howard Shore for Hugo, John Williams for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, and John Williams again for War Horse.
In the Best Original Song category, the winners was New Zealand-born musician Bret McKenzie from the musical comedy group Flight of the Conchords for the song “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets.
The other nominees were Sérgio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett for “Real in Rio” from Rio.
IFMCA Award Winners 2011
JOHN WILLIAMS WINS FIVE AWARDS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS INCLUDING SCORE OF THE YEAR FOR “WAR HORSE”
The International Film Music Critics Association announces the winners of its eighth annual awards for excellence in musical scoring in 2011 with John Williams’ score for Steven Spielberg’s WAR HORSE topping the list, winning Film Score of the Year, Best Score for a Drama Film and Individual Cue for “The Homecoming.” Williams also wins Composer of the Year and Best Score for an Animated Film for THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN. French composer Ludovic Bource wins Breakout Composer of the Year for his score to THE ARTIST.
Cliff Martinez wins Best Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film for Nicolas Winding Refn’s DRIVE. Best Score for a Comedy Film is given to THE RUM DIARY by Christopher Young. Michael Giacchino wins his 11th career award for JJ Abrams’ SUPER 8 in the Best Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film category. Turkish composer Pinar Toprak wins Best Score for a Documentary Film for her score to THE WIND GODS.
In the non-film categories, Arnau Bataller wins Best Score for a Television Series for the Spanish telenovela ERMESSENDA. Veteran Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi wins Best Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media for the Level-5 / Studio Ghibli game NI NO KUNI: WRATH OF THE WHITE WITCH.
The Best Archival Release goes to the massive Warner Bros sixteen-disc, retrospective box-set THE DANNY ELFMAN & TIM BURTON 25TH ANNIVERSARY MUSIC BOX, which was housed in a Zoetrope box and included an exclusive historical book. The winner of Best Archival Re-recording goes to conductor William Stromberg and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra for their re-recording of Bernard Herrmanm’s THE BATTLE OF NERETVA and THE NAKED AND THE DEAD. Best Record Label of the Year goes to La-La Land Records, their second win in a row in this category, for such notable 2011 expanded release soundtracks as 1941, SPACE ABOVE AND BEOND, FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY, COMMANDO and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION COLLECTION VOLUME 1.
The Association is also bestowing a Special Award to SYMPHONY OF HOPE: THE HAITI PROJECT, a benefit recording collaboration between 25 film and TV composers, including John Debney, Christopher Young, Dave Grusin, Marvin Hamlisch, and Christopher Lennertz who produced with Steve Schnur. The recording is available as a download on itunes and Amazon among other outlets with proceeds going to Haiti Earthquake Relief. More information can be found at http://www.haitisymphony.com. Read more…
STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME – Leonard Rosenman
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Coming off his directorial success with Star Trek III, Leonard Nimoy again assembled our iconic crew for a thoughtful eco-story that spoke to humanity’s poor stewardship of the Earth. The film opens with a massive space probe of unknown origin en route to Earth. When it arrives it delivers a cryptic message in a language that seems unintelligible. In addition, its power system neutralizes the Earth’s power grid and begins to vaporize its oceans. The exiled Captain Kirk and his fugitive crew correctly determine that the message is directed not to humanity, but instead to an extinct species, the Humpback whale. As such, they resolve to time travel back to late 20th century Earth to recover two humpback whales, hoping to bring them back to the future so they can respond to the probe’s message. Set in 20th century urban San Francisco, this new adventure was comic, light-hearted and proved to be a huge commercial success, earning profits of more than five times it’s production costs. Read more…
BAFTA Winners 2011
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) have announced the winners of the 65th British Academy Film Awards, honoring the best in film in 2011.
In the Best Original Score category composer Ludovic Bource won the award for his score for the critically acclaimed silent film The Artist. In his acceptance speech, Bource said:
“Sorry, I have no speech! Harvey [Weinstein], you reassured me, I know that after all. But, I have just one word, George Clooney, said always, ‘amazing’, ‘you are amazing guy’, so thank you for this award. It’s an amazing evening for me, I am so proud to receive this BAFTA, so thank you BAFTA. [Addressing Stephen Fry] Your speech was fantastic. Bien sur, thank you so much. I love Britain, and God save the Queen. Thank you so much! ”
The other nominees were Alberto Iglesias for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Howard Shore for Hugo, and John Williams for War Horse.
IFMCA Award Nominations 2011
JOHN WILLIAMS RECEIVES 7 INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS AWARD NOMINATIONS, INCLUDING TWO FOR FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
The International Film Music Critics Association announces its list of nominees for excellence in musical scoring in 2011 with veteran composer John Williams leading the field with 7 nods including WAR HORSE (3 nominations) and THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN (3 nominations) for Film Score of the Year. Also nominated in this category are Ludovic Bource’s THE ARTIST (3 nominations), Mark McKenzie’s score to THE GREATEST MIRACLE (2 nominations) and Howard Shore’s HUGO (2 nominations).
Williams is short-listed for Film Composer of the Year along with Bource; last year’s winner, Alexandre Desplat (whose many scores include HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2, THE TREE OF LIFE, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, THE IDES OF MARCH, A BETTER LIFE); Michael Giacchino (SUPER 8, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL, 50/50, MONTE CARLO, CARS 2) and Alberto Iglesias (TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, LA PIEL QUE HABITO (THE SKIN I LIVE IN), TAMBIÉN LA LLUVIA, LE MOINE). Read more…
CONAN THE DESTROYER – Basil Poledouris
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The immense worldwide success achieved by “Conan the Barbarian” lead, to the surprise of no one, to an inevitably sequel. Producer Dino De Laurentiis hired director Richard Fleischer to revisit the mythic Hyborean world and offer us the classic mythic adventure. In the tale we see that at the bequest of the evil Queen Tamaris of Zamora, Conan is promised that his dead lover Valeria will be resurrected if he would bring to her the sacred Horn of Dagoth. In reality the duplicitous Tamaris plans to betray Conan and sacrifice her niece Jehenna to reanimate the god Dagoth with whom she plans to mate and generate a new progeny of gods. A colorful and eclectic cast lead again by Arnold Schwarzenegger (Conan) was assembled and featured the fierce Amazon warrior Zula (Grace Jones), virginal Princess Jehenna (Olivia d’Abo), the wise wizard Akiro (Mako), the comic thief Malak (Jeff Corey) and the treacherous Bombaata (Will Chamberlain). A parade of directors and a truly feeble script soured Schwarzenegger as he chose to not return for a third film. Never the less, fantasy films were at their zenith in the 80s and the film was a commercial success, doubling its $18 million production costs. Read more…
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