Archive
OBI-WAN KENOBI – Natalie Holt, William Ross, John Williams
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The expansion of the Star Wars universe into live action episodic television began in 2019 with The Mandalorian – which introduced the world to the now ubiquitous ‘baby Yoda’ character – and continued in late 2021 with The Book of Boba Fett, a spin-off series focusing on the bounty hunter character originally introduced in The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. This third standalone series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, follows the adventures of the titular character in the chronological period between the events of Revenge of the Sith and the original Star Wars, after the fall of the Jedi and the rise of the Galactic Empire, when he is in exile on the planet Tatooine watching over young Luke Skywalker, the son of his former apprentice Anakin, now Darth Vader. The plot kicks into high gear when Kenobi is contacted by Bail Organa, the adoptive father of Luke’s sister Leia, after she is kidnapped by sinister forces related to the Inquisitors, Jedi hunters working for Vader. Read more…
THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX – William Ross
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
A delightful animated adventure based on the popular children’s book by Kate DiCamillo, The Tale of Despereaux follows the fortunes of the titular mouse, a dashing knight gentleman in a fantasy kingdom who sets out to save a beautiful, lonely princess from unscrupulous rats, and bring sunshine back to his home. The film has an astonishing voice cast, including Sigourney Weaver, Matthew Broderick, Emma Watson, Dustin Hoffman, Robbie Coltrane, Christopher Lloyd, Kevin Kline, Tracey Ullman, Richard Jenkins, Frank Langella, William H. Macy and Stanley Tucci, and has a score by the grossly under-valued William Ross.
Following the two appalling, annoying songs (“Soup” and “It’s Great to Be a Rat”) which open the album, Ross’s score finally begins, and what a charming affair it is. Read more…
SEPTEMBER DAWN – William Ross
Original Review by Clark Douglas
Based on a true story, the controversial “September Dawn” has raised a fair amount of buzz. It tells the tale of over 100 people who were massacred by a group of Mormons on September 11th (gasp!), 1857. Apparently the film makes attempts to tie major Mormon figures like Brigham Young to the massacre, offering a message that organized religion and Mitt Romney are dangerous. Much of the film is spent with a young couple who are falling in love, and the knowledge that they will be killed must make “September Dawn” a very unhappy viewing experience for many who go see it. Read more…
THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES – William Ross
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The original choice of composer for director David Anspaugh’s film The Game of Their Lives was Jerry Goldsmith, who sadly died before he was able to contribute any music to the project. While it would have been a thrill to hear one last, potentially great score from Goldsmith, his sad loss ultimately provided an opportunity for William Ross to come in and make the old man proud. Ross, whose career is taking a definite upward shift off the back of films such as Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Ladder 49, has responded to the film with a warm, melodic, uplifting score which will surely have great appeal. Read more…
LADDER 49 – William Ross
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
For some reason, there aren’t very many movies made about fire fighters – Ron Howard’s 1991 blockbuster Backdraft being one of the few high-profile exceptions. This phenomenon is odd, as their exploits are inherently cinematic, approaching as they do raging infernos with a degree of selflessness and heroism that makes their exploits an engaging movie-going experience. Also, since many members of the New York Fire Department were killed in the aftermath of 9/11, the lives of the men and women who battle fires on a daily basis have taken on noble, almost mythic proportions in American culture – and it is this angle that director Jay Russell’s film Ladder 49 explores. Read more…
HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS – John Williams and William Ross
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
It’s funny how John Williams always manages to get himself attached to supremely successful movie franchises: whether through skill and good judgement, or simply because of his vast reputation, the man still regarded as Hollywood’s premier composer has lucked out in being involved with the Star Wars movies, Indiana Jones and now Harry Potter, the series of movies based on J.K. Rowling’s enormously popular tales of witchcraft and wizardry. The Chamber of Secrets is the second in the series of films, following Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and is, in every conceivable way, both in terms of movie AND music, a more pleasing experience. Read more…
TUCK EVERLASTING – William Ross
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
William Ross has had a busy 2002. As well as assisting John Williams in writing and adapting the score for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, he was afforded scoring duties on the sweet and sentimental Disney movie Tuck Everlasting. Adapted from the popular novel by Natalie Babbitt, and directed by Jay Russell, the film stars young Alexis Bledel as Winnie Foster, a privileged young woman in 1900’s upstate New York who, after running away from home, meets and falls in love with Jesse Tuck (Jonathan Jackson), the youngest son of the reclusive Tuck family, headed by mother and father Mae and Angus (Sissy Spacek and William Hurt). However, the Tucks harbor a secret – one hundred years previously, they unknowingly drank from a fountain of youth and attained immortality, leaving them blessed (or cursed?) to remain at their current ages until the end of time. Read more…
MY DOG SKIP – William Ross
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton:
First of all, let me say that My Dog Skip has possibly the cutest CD cover in Varèse Sarabande’s long history. Is there anything better at making you say “aaah!” than a picture of a little doggie sitting on a rug, gazing dolefully up at a toilet bowl? I have no knowledge about how this image fits in with the movie, as I have not yet seen it, and have not read Willie Morris’s “classic true story” on which the movie is based. I can make an educated guess about the film’s plot (lonely young boy makes friends with stray dog and gets into lots of adventures?), and I know the film is directed by Jay Russell and stars Diane Lane and Kevin Bacon. Best of all, though, is the fact that My Dog Skip has a truly delightful score by William Ross. Read more…
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