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DINOSAUR – James Newton Howard
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
A mammoth majestic effort of immense proportions and great beauty, James Newton Howard’s score for the Disney animated epic Dinosaur is far and away the best work of his career to date. Previously defined by taught, almost themeless thriller and horror works with the odd landmark standout (Waterworld, Wyatt Earp), Dinosaur is highly recommended for anyone who was underwhelmed by The Sixth Sense or bored by Snow Falling on Cedars. It is the James Newton Howard score I have been waiting all my life to hear. As a film, Dinosaur’s themes and messages are rooted in the grand Disney tradition. Right from The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, through The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Mulan, the mouse house have continually recycled the old story line chestnuts again and again – an outsider comes to be part of a new community, is initially shunned by the group, but is eventually accepted when he/she/it stands up to an aggressor and proclaims the merits of teamwork, loyalty and understanding. In this case, the outsider is a young dinosaur named Aladar, who is orphaned at birth and raised instead by a family of lemur-like monkeys on a small island. When the island is devastated by a meteor shower, Aladar and the survivors hook up with a group of other dinos who are searching for “The Nesting Grounds”, a mythical place where land and water are bountiful, but who are continually avoiding the deadly carnotaur predators who track their every move. Initially shunned by the herd, Aladar eventually makes friends with Neera, a female, and offers help to three elders who are slowing down the group – and making an enemy of Kron, the leader, in the process. Read more…
SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS – James Newton Howard
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
It was with a combination of surprise and great disappointment that I first listened to Snow Falling on Cedars, James Newton Howard’s fifth and final score of 1999. The word of mouth had hitherto been wholly positive, with many citing the rich ethnic textures, beautiful string themes and powerful choral passages supposedly inherent in the score. Well, I’m sorry to say that, with a few brief exceptions, I was totally bored by the whole experience, and was left wondering whether the rest of the world was listening to the same score as me. Read more…
THE SIXTH SENSE – James Newton Howard
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Every year has its “twist” movie – from The Usual Suspects in 1994 and Primal Fear in 1995 to Fallen and Wild Things last year. 1999’s sting in the tale comes from The Sixth Sense, a superior thriller starring Bruce Willis as troubled child psychologist Malcolm Crowe who, after a failed consultation drives a former patient over the brink, sees a chance of personal and professional redemption in the case of 10-year old Cole Sear. You see, Cole has a dark and terrible secret which even his mother (Toni Collette) doesn’t know about. In his own words, he “sees dead people, walking around like regular people”, and Malcolm believes that if he can help this terribly frightened young child, it will also rescue his waning relationship with his estranged wife Anna (Olivia Williams). Read more…
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