NED KELLY – Klaus Badelt
Original Review by Peter Simons
Now here’s a composer who has shot to stardom at rocket speed: Klaus Badelt. Whether or not he really deserved all the projects he’s worked on remains a hot issue on many a forum. I, for one, have yet to hear a soundtrack by Badelt that is not remarkably derivative of other scores. That is not to say his albums aren’t enjoyable, no siree! His music for The Time Machine, albeit severely “inspired” by many other scores, was one of last year’s highlights. Badelt’s latest, Ned Kelly, is no exception. It too shares so many similarities with other scores that I’ve had to look at the cover to remember which CD I put on. Not that the score isn’t enjoyable, though. It is in fact quite beautiful, if you can get past the obvious influences. Read more…
STARSKY & HUTCH – Theodore Shapiro
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
It is de rigueur in Hollywood at the moment to re-make classic TV shows of the 70s and 80s as big-budget cinema outings: we’ve already had Charlie’s Angels and SWAT, and there are rumors of A-Team and Knight Rider movies in the pipeline. Starsky & Hutch was one of the comedy successes of the min-genre, paying loving homage to the well-loved original series while gently lampooning the fashions and morals of the decade. Directed by Todd Phillips, the film starred Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller as the eponymous Bay City detectives, the roles made famous by David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser. Here, they find themselves on the trail of shady businessman Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughan), who they believe is a drug dealer; along the way they are helped by their flamboyant jive-talking snitch Huggy Bear (Snoop Dogg), and hindered by their cantankerous boss Captain Doby (Fred Williamson). Plot is, of course, secondary in a film like this, which revels instead in the comedy set pieces, and the sense of nostalgia in the production: everything, from the classic Ford Torino, to the costumes and hairstyles, and the sexual attitudes, are a prefect recreation of the original setting. It’s a blast. Read more…
TRAFFIC: THE MINISERIES – Jeff Rona
Original Review by Peter Simons
A mini series based on a film which itself was based on a mini series, Traffic shows the public a glimpse of the grim world of drug trafficking. The show, directed by Eric Bross and Stephen Hopkins, is a three-part event starring Elias Koteas, Balthazar Getty and Martin Donovan. In the first episode, Mike McKay (Koteas) is sent to Afghanistan to dismantle its drug export operation. In the second episode, Ben Edmonds (Getty) deals with illegal aliens that are being transported from China to the US in cargo containers. Finally, Adam Kadyrov (Donovan) is an illegal immigrant in the US awaiting the arrival of his wife and child. Soon he learns that the ship carrying his family has sunk. As he starts his personal investigation he discovers a grim truth. Read more…
Academy Award Winners 2003
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) have announced the winners of the 76th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film in 2003.
In the Best Original Score category, Canadian composer Howard Shore won the Academy Award for his score for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the third film in Peter Jackson’s epic fantasy trilogy based on the novel by J. R. R. Tolkien. In his acceptance speech Shore said:
It’s incredible. Just breathe a bit. Many thanks to the Academy. I’d like to share this Oscar with all of the amazing musicians and great vocal artists who played on this piece. Special note to Annie Lennox, Renee Fleming, Sir James Galway, Ben del Maestro. I was incredibly inspired by Tolkien’s great work, Peter Jackson’s visionary filmmaking, the great writing of Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens. Elizabeth, my darling, I love you. Thank you for your love and support. Mae, for your wonderful encouragement. All the people who have helped us through this making of these films: Bob and Michael, Paul and Lori, Barrie Osborne, Rick Porras, Sam and Mike, Ronald, Jean-Jacques, I thank you, Robby Kearns, Mark Willsher and, of course, Stephen Einhorn. Thanks so much. Thank you, Academy.
The other nominees for Best Original Score were Danny Elfman for Big Fish, Gabriel Yared for Cold Mountain, Thomas Newman for Finding Nemo, and James Horner for House of Sand and Fog.
In the Best Original Song category, Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox won the Academy Award for “Into the West,” also from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
The other nominees for Best Original Song were Sylvain Chomet and Benoît Charest for “Belleville Rendez-vous” from The Triplets of Belleville; Michael McKean and Annette O’Toole for “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” from A Mighty Wind; T Bone Burnett and Elvis Costello for “The Scarlet Tide” from Cold Mountain; and Sting for “You Will Be My Ain True Love,” also from Cold Mountain.
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST – John Debney
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The furore surrounding Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ began almost before a shot was filmed, and continued unabated through principal photography, post-production, and the publicity process. In a nutshell, the crux of the matter was that several prominent Jewish groups accused the cast and crew, and especially Gibson, of intentionally inciting anti-Semitic feelings by portraying the Pharisees of the Jewish Temple in old Jerusalem as the ones who were ultimately responsible for causing the death of Christ (something made worse following some rather off the wall comments from Gibson’s father). As this is a soundtrack review, I’m not going to go into a great deal of detail as to why this film has become one of the most controversial in recent memory, but I do want to say this in regard to my own faith, and my view of the film: Read more…
THE WEEPING MEADOW – Eleni Karaindrou
Original Review by Peter Simons
Sometimes you would almost forget that films are not only produced in Hollywood. The Weeping Meadow, for example, is the latest film from Greek director Theo Angelopoulos. It is the first in an intended trilogy and tells a bitterly dramatic story of Eleni, a Greek immigrant from Russia, who is raising her two children alone while her husband is off to America in search of a better life for his family. This personal story unfolds against the backdrop of major 20th century events. Read more…
Academy Award Nominations 2003
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) have announced the nominations for the 76th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film in 2003.
In the Best Original Score category, the nominees are:
- DANNY ELFMAN for Big Fish
- JAMES HORNER for House of Sand and Fog
- THOMAS NEWMAN for Finding Nemo
- HOWARD SHORE The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- GABRIEL YARED for Cold Mountain
This is the 3rd Oscar nomination for Elfman, the 7th nomination for Horner, the 7th nomination for Newman, the 2nd nomination for Shore, and the 3rd nomination for Yared. Horner previously won for Titanic in 1997. Shore previously won for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001.
In the Best Original Song category, the nominees are:
- T-BONE BURNETT and ELVIS COSTELLO for “Scarlet Tide” from Cold Mountain
- BENOÎT CHAREST and SYLVAIN CHOMET for “Belleville Rendezvous” from The Triplets of Belleville
- MICHAEL McKEAN and ANNETTE O’TOOLE for “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” from A Mighty Wind
- ANNIE LENNOX, HOWARD SHORE, and FRAN WALSH for “Into the West” from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- GORDON SUMNER (STING) for “You Will Be My Ain True Love” from Cold Mountain
The winners of the 76th Academy Awards will be announced on February 29, 2004.
BAFTA Nominations 2003
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced the nominations for the 57th British Academy Film Awards, honoring the best in film in 2003.
In the Best Original Music category, which is named in memory of the film director Anthony Asquith, the nominees are:
- ALEXANDRE DESPLAT for Girl with a Pearl Earring
- ROBERT DIGGS (RZA) for Kill Bill, Volume 1
- BRIAN REITZELL and KEVIN SHIELDS for Lost in Translation
- HOWARD SHORE for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- GABRIEL YARED and T-BONE BURNETT for Cold Mountain
These are the first nominations for Desplat, Diggs, Reitzell, and Shields. It is the second nomination for Burnett, the third nomination for Yared, and is the fourth nomination for Shore. Yared previously won for The English Patient in 1996.
The winners of the 57th BAFTA Awards will be announced on February 15, 2004.
Remembering Jay Blackton, 1909-1994
Composer, arranger, orchestrator and conductor Jay Blackton died at Granada Hills Community Hospital in Los Angeles ten years ago today, on January 8, 1994, at the age of 84, from heart failure.
One of the great behind-the-scenes figures of the American musical theatre, Blackton served as musical director, conductor or arranger on more than 25 Broadway productions, including Oklahoma!, Annie Get Your Gun, Call Me Madam, Guys and Dolls and Hello, Dolly!. His comparatively small film career nevertheless brought him an Academy Award for the screen version of Oklahoma!.
Blackton was born Jacob Schwartzdorf in New York City on March 25, 1909. He studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard School and initially intended to pursue a career in opera. In 1927 he became assistant conductor of the New York Opera Comique, and from 1937 until 1942 served as conductor at the St. Louis Municipal Opera, one of America’s most important summer musical-theatre companies.
It was in St. Louis that Blackton attracted the attention of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who brought him back to New York for their revolutionary first collaboration, Oklahoma! in 1943. Blackton conducted the original Broadway production and served as its musical director, helping shape the orchestral and vocal sound of a show that transformed American musical theatre by integrating songs, dance and drama more completely than had previously been customary. Read more…
PAYCHECK – John Powell
Original Review by Nate Underkuffler
Budda-budda-bumpa. Is that what film music has become? There has been an undoubtable trend in the past decade, perhaps even for the last half of the century, of an increased use of alternative elements in film music apart from the symphony orchestra. Composers such as Goldsmith and Herrmann experimented and implemented synthesizer and other effects into their scores, later composers like Hans Zimmer in part defined themselves by it, and now a young writer like John Powell sees no inappropriateness or novelty in the idea. Powell has thus put his own spin on the techniques, and created unique soundscapes through both an orchestra and anything he can get his hands on in the studio. Nearly all of Powell’s recent scores since breaking away from Media Ventures and his productive tenure on children’s films with fellow MV student Harry Gregson-Williams have been driven by a quirky set of samples and percussion, as well as his now distinctive orchestral style. His latest score, Paycheck, continues this approach, but now adapts it for a futuristic film noir. Read more…
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING – Howard Shore
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
And so, five years after his journey began, Howard Shore’s travels through the musical word of Middle Earth and the spectacular Lord of Rings trilogy comes to an end with The Return of the King, the final installment of Peter Jackson’s groundbreaking adaptation of the classic fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkein. To say that Shore has come a long way is understatement indeed. Before Lord of the Rings, Howard Shore was “the David Cronenberg guy” who specialized in dark, tortured scores for dark tortured movies. Now, he is the undisputed king of the epic adventure, with the potential to become the benchmark by which all future sword-and-sorcery scores are measured. Before Lord of the Rings, Howard Shore was a well-respected, but largely unheralded member of the film music world. Now, he is a household name, with an Oscar on his mantle, who sells out concert halls worldwide. It’s been one massive ride for the quiet, unassuming Canadian – and with the strength of this final score, his stock can only rise. Read more…
Golden Globe Nominations 2003
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) has announced the nominations for the 61st Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and American television of 2003.
In the Best Original Score category, the nominees are:
- ALEXANDRE DESPLAT for Girl With a Pearl Earring
- DANNY ELFMAN for Big Fish
- HOWARD SHORE for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- GABRIEL YARED for Cold Mountain
- HANS ZIMMER for The Last Samurai
This is the first nomination for Desplat, the second nomination for Elfman, the second nomination for Shore, the third nomination for Yared, and the fifth nomination for Zimmer. Yared previously won for The English Patient in 1996. Zimmer previously won for The Lion King in 1994 and Gladiator in 2000.
In the Best Original Song category, the nominees are:
- PAUL HEWSON (BONO), GAVIN FRIDAY, and MAURICE SEEZER for “Time Enough For Tears” from In America
- ELTON JOHN and BERNIE TAUPIN for “The Heart of Every Girl” from Mona Lisa Smile
- ANNIE LENNOX, FRAN WALSH, and HOWARD SHORE for “Into the West” from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- GORDON SUMNER (STING) for “You Will Be My Ain True Love” from Cold Mountain
- EDDIE VEDDER for “Man of the Hour” from Big Fish
The winners of the 61st Golden Globe Awards will be announced on January 25, 2004.
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING – Alexandre Desplat
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch baroque painter who lived in the city of Delft from 1632-1675, and left behind him a legacy of art that can equal that of other Dutch masters such as Van Gogh and Rembrandt. One of his most famous works is entitled “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, painted around 1665, and currently on display in the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague. Although much of Vermeer’s life is undocumented, Tracey Chevalier’s celebrated novel romanticized the creation of this famous piece of art – and is now the inspiration for the directorial debut of Peter Webber. Colin Firth stars as Vermeer, a talented yet tortured painter, trapped in a loveless marriage to the whiny, perpetually pregnant Catharina (Essie Davis), domineered by his mother in-law (Judy Parfitt), and harassed by his lecherous patron and chief source of funding, Van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson). However, into Vermeer’s household comes a young peasant girl named Griet (Scarlett Johansson), who after a while becomes more interested in Vermeer’s work, and in Vermeer himself. Gradually, the two become attracted to each other, and Griet begins to “sit” for Vermeer (resulting in the famous painting) – much to the disgust of his wife, and Griet’s potential suitor Pieter (Cillian Murphy). Read more…
ANGELS IN AMERICA – Thomas Newman
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The quality of original television music in recent years has improved immeasurably. Long gone are the days when all a TV-movie could hope for was a rising star or ageing has-been hiring a small orchestra or, worse still, mocking it all up on synths at home. Now, with recent excellent works like Brian Tyler’s Children of Dune, Laura Karpman’s Taken and Michael Kamen’s Band of Brothers, the upper echelons of television scoring is equaling – and occasionally surpassing – that of the cinema. One of these scores which surpasses almost everything written for the cinema is Thomas Newman’s Angels in America, by far one of the best scores written for any medium in 2003. Read more…
THE LAST SAMURAI – Hans Zimmer
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The star of Hans Zimmer continues to grow as, year by year, he and his crew at Media Ventures continue to become attached to some of the most high profile, prestigious projects in Hollywood. With Klaus Badelt, Steve Jablonsky, and former alumni such as Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell all having successful years, Zimmer has increasingly found himself in an “over-seeing” role, or leading a team of composers in a multi-faceted approach to a project, such as this year’s Tears of the Sun. Only occasionally does Zimmer approach a score on his own: these projects being the ones which have the potential to become box-office blockbusters, or which could garner awards. The Last Samurai is one of these scores. Read more…
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