Archive
A SERIOUS MAN – Carter Burwell
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
A wry black comedy from the critically acclaimed Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel, and set in 1967, A Serious Man tells the story of an ordinary Midwestern man named Larry Gopnik, who watches helplessly as his life unravels around him: his wife Judith has left him for one of his colleagues, his feckless brother Arthur is sleeping on his couch, his son Danny is flunking out of school, one of his students is blackmailing him, and his pretty neighbor is not helping matters by continually sunbathing in the nude. It’s a typically quirky look at life, relationships, and the extraordinary situations in which everyday folks sometimes find themselves, and has been heavily tipped to be a major player at the 2009 Oscars, with lead actors Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Sari Lennick and Fred Melamed all receiving a great deal of critical acclaim. Read more…
TWILIGHT – Carter Burwell
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
It has recently become apparent to me that, without my knowledge or active participation, I have become old and out of touch. I had this revelation when I realized that, until about three weeks ago, I had never heard of Twilight. I knew nothing about Stephenie Meyer’s novels. I had never heard of Edward Cullen or Bella Swan. I had no clue that teenage girls the length and breadth of America were going to bed at night dreaming of being swept up into the arms of a hunky young vampire and being made one of the sexy undead. I guess this is what happens when you turn 33 and you realize that all your cultural touchstones now date back almost 20 years. Read more…
BURN AFTER READING – Carter Burwell
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The Coen Brothers return to the comedy arena after sweeping the 2007 Oscars with No Country For Old Men; Burn After Reading stars John Malkovich, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt and follows the fortunes of a pair of clueless health club employees who, after accidentally finding the memoirs of a retiring CIA operative, mistake the memoirs for top-secret classified information, and attempt to blackmail him. As usual, the Coens composer is Carter Burwell, whose music for Burn After Reading ignores the comedic elements in the score almost entirely, instead concentrating on the darker, more thriller-esque parts of the story. Read more…
IN BRUGES – Carter Burwell
Original Review by Clark Douglas
Acclaimed playwright Martin McDonagh has made the leap to the big screen with his directorial debut, “In Bruges” (which he also wrote, of course). The film stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as a couple of hit men hiding out in the lovely city of Bruges after a hit goes sour. Ralph Fiennes also plays a supporting role, and reviews have mostly been quite positive (including a four-star rave from Roger Ebert). McDonagh seems to be a pretty intelligent guy, and like a lot of intelligent directors in Hollywood (such as Joel and Ethan Coen, Spike Jonze, David Mamet, David O. Russell, and others), he has picked Carter Burwell to provide the score. Only Thomas Newman is able to rival Burwell in his ability to snag high-profile indie film assignments. Read more…
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN – Carter Burwell
Original Review by Clark Douglas
I hesitate to write about “No Country for Old Men”, because I fear my words can’t do it justice. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a motion picture. It is a film that is frightening and breathtaking, crafted with enormous levels of skill by two very gifted filmmakers, Joel and Ethan Coen. The Coen Brothers have been making very good and sometimes great films for a couple of decades now, and in the past few years some began to wonder if they had lost their touch. “Intolerable Cruelty” and “The Ladykillers” seemed to be missing the magic that the Coens brought to their films. “No Country for Old Men” brings them back to the front of the battlefield with a mighty vengeance. This is the best movie I’ve seen in a long time, kids. Read more…
BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD – Carter Burwell
Original Review by Clark Douglas
2007 has seemed like a bit of a dismal year at the movies for most of it’s duration, but during the final stretch, masterpieces continue to trickle in. One of the latest is director Sidney Lumet’s “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”, a non-linear crime story. If the name Sidney Lumet sounds familiar, it should… he’s been directing high-quality dramatic films for some fifty years now, a remarkable feat. If you’re any kind of movie fan, surely you’ve seen some of his work… “Twelve Angry Men”, “Serpico”, “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Network” are among his achievements. However, his career was generally considered to be coming to a quiet close by many critics, as Lumet turned out decent but generally middling efforts like “Find Me Guilty”. The Academy Awards gave Lumet the Lifetime Achievement Award, speeches were made, and everyone moved on. Read more…
KINSEY – Carter Burwell
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Regular readers of Movie Music UK will know that I have often found Carter Burwell to be a ‘hit and miss’ composer. For as much as I enjoyed his work on things like Fargo, Conspiracy Theory, The Hi-Lo Country and Rob Roy, I was left unimpressed with Gods & Monsters, Hamlet, The General’s Daughter, and many of his more popular and successful scores for the Coen Brothers. I don’t really know what my problem is – he is obviously intelligent, talented, and well-liked by directors such as James Foley, Michael Caton-Jones and Spike Jonze, who return to him time after time to score their films. The only think I can chalk it up to is personal musical taste – his scores just don’t “do” it for me on a regular basis. However, having said all that, I safely say that Kinsey is most definitely one which will join the list of Burwell works I admire – for me, it’s easily his most satisfying score of the last five years. Read more…
HAMLET – Carter Burwell
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
One of the worst things about being a soundtrack reviewer is that, sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t think of anything to write about a particular score. I’ve struggled with Carter Burwell’s Hamlet for months, never being able to properly put into words my feelings about the music. I’ve listened to it a dozen times, and never been able to form any kind of opinion about the score, either positive or negative. And then it dawned on me that my basis for review should be precisely that: when I listen to Hamlet, I feel absolutely nothing. It provokes absolutely no reaction in me whatsoever. And, for a film score, that is probably the most damning criticism of all. Read more…
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