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8/31/00 - The September Theme of the Month identifies
Filmtracks' choices for the 10 most underrated scores of the 1990s. One of
Filmtracks' proudest achievements is the suggestion of underrated scores
to people who had simply not known that they either exist or are worth the
price. Every year has that great forgotten score, and it's our job to find
it for you. The Filmtracks list contains readily available titles by
mainstream composers, and as the month progresses, more titles will be
revealed... leading to the #1 most underrated score of the decade. Every
three days in September, another entry in the list will be added, and a
teaser for that score will appear in Filmtracks' On Cue. These scores may
not be your favorites, but they should be... Read More.
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8/29/00 - A quick rundown of trailer music for popular films
of this summer and autumn: The biggest stir caused by the music in a
trailer this summer has been for the upcoming Pearl Harbor, which
features a spectacular use of Hans Zimmer's score for A Thin Red
Line (third track, a few minutes in). For Space Cowboys, a
cue was taken from Zimmer's Broken Arrow. In the most recent X-Men
trailers, music was taken from Mark Snow's X-Files
(sixth/third track) and Trevor Jones' Dark City
(fourteenth track). The Hollow
Man trailer takes a cue from Christopher Young's Copycat.
The Thirteen Days one utilizes, in part, a theme from Zimmer's The
Peacemaker. As you might notice, the music of Hans Zimmer is in
high demand.
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8/28/00 - Michael Jordan to the Max: (John Debney) Released
on August 22nd by Chapter III
Records, the album for this NBA sponsored film contains a variety of
R&B, older rock, new and old funk hits, and some favorite basketball
rallying tunes (Glitter's "Rock & Roll"). Included are also two score cues
by John Debney. For the project, Debney takes a page from Jerry
Goldsmith's style for Hoosiers and produces a strong electronic
beat and fast-paced repetitions of thematic mixes. While similar in sound
to the Media Ventures variety of synthesized composing, Debney's music
--especially during the first track-- excels in its use of sound effects,
bass guitars, and keyboards. Only two score tracks exist, however, and
they total about five minutes of music. The Debney tracks aren't enough
alone to get film music followers too excited about the album, but they
would be a very welcome addition to a Debney compilation in the future. It
is a more diverse and interesting approach from Debney as of late. *** Available at Amazon.com.
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8/26/00 - More opinions about Mission: Impossible 2 are
questioning the statement that Hans Zimmer's score for that film is the
biggest disappointment of the year. One fan writes, "Call it a guilty
pleasure if you
will, but this score has all the elements of a cult favorite. The score
to M:I-2 is a truly spectacular score, consisting of classic Zimmer
work, lush Spanish music, Lisa Gerrard's moody singing and yes, heavy
distorted action cues. This last point was certainly not well received
by film music enthusiasts, and I do believe that this is due to their
traditional taste in music. This is a score for the new generation -
people who get their juices flowing while listening to Metallica and The
Chemical Brothers. This is why the inclusion of the guitar music is
actually a rather logical step. Orchestras and distortion have met
before on film, but given M:I-2's subject matter and John Woo's
bravura filmmaking, I wonder if Zimmer had any other choice." Read reviews and
visitor comments of M:I-2...
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8/24/00 - Legends of the Fall, for which James Horner's
music has received much critical and popular success, is back once again
--in the ultimate way. On October 17th of this year, Columbia/Tristar
Studios will release a "Special Edition" DVD of the film, loaded with
considerably more extra treats than the already-existing DVD for the film.
One of the new features of the "Special Edition" DVD will be an isolated
score track. More details will follow about the exact nature of this
feature as the release of the new DVD approaches, but you can currently
view more technical info about the new Legends of the Fall DVD at
its Amazon.com
product listing.
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8/23/00 - Are you a fan of the Superman film series? After
John Williams' departure after the first classic film, the scores for
Superman II and Superman III --while making use of
Williams' themes-- were lacking in depth, sound quality, and creativity.
With Superman IV in 1987, however, came an injection of new
material by Williams and Alexander Courage. To this day, however, no album
has been released for Superman IV, and the rights to the music are
currently locked. Information about a new
online petition for the release of this score has been announced.
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8/21/00 - Chicken Run: (Powell/Gregson-Williams) After the
popular success of Antz nearly eighteen months before, upstart
composers John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams were offered yet another
animated animal film in Chicken Run. While still remaining a part
of the Media Ventures group of composers under the watchful eye of Hans
Zimmer, Powell and Gregson-Williams have managed to create their own
special blend of musical style that begins to deviate from the traditional
electronic trademark of other Media Ventures composers. For Chicken
Run, Powell and Gregson-Williams painstakingly create a satirical
salute to famous scoring motifs of eras past, and perform them with
vigorous ensembles of orchestral and specialty instruments..." *** Read the entire
review.
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8/20/00 - Talk amongst Goldsmith fans continues regarding
Hollow Man. One fan writes, "While it is true that the score for
Hollow Man is similiar in tone with Basic Instinct, it
certainly isn't lackluster. I'm sure when Goldsmith and director Paul
Verhoeven were discussing the film's music, Basic Instict most
likely came up. The brooding theme permeates the music throughout,
weaving through the orchestral fabric of sound to produce a collage of
colors. He's able to create
excitement and intensity with each motif. His orchestrations (aided by
Alexander Courage) are superior in every way. I especially enjoy
Goldsmith's use of meter. He constanly shifts meters, bringing to mind
the great Igor Stravinsky. There are echoes of the late Bernard
Herrmann and Stravinsky in Goldsmith's writing, but that only
demonstrates the brillance of this man and his capabilities. Like Bernard
Herrmann, Goldsmith film legacy will be long and enduring." Read the review
and comments about Hollow Man...
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8/19/00 - Bless the Child: (Christopher Young) Returning
once again to the horror genre, Young employs a large orchestra and
various choral elements to create a dark, religious atmosphere. While
retaining the volume and ambition of his prior horror successes
Hellraiser 2 and The Fly 2, Bless the Child lacks the
strong thematic coherence or melodic power of those scores. To his credit,
Young utilizes a wide variety of voices, including chanting, full adult
singing, and boy soprano. Even these, however, become a bit cliche by the
final track. The album from GNP
Crescendo contains five lengthy suites for a total of 53 minutes
running time, and it is released to stores on August 22nd. *** Available at Amazon.com.
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8/1/00 - An update on our move to new offices: We're still a
few weeks away from resuming our normal review schedule. However, while
waiting for construction to progress, a new ScoreBoard Forum has been introduced with many new
features. Check it out! Within a few
days, the ScoreBoard will expand to several album review pages, allowing
you to debate the merits of individual scores right after each review!
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7/6/00 - Our apologies for the recent slowdown in review
quantities and on cue listings. Our move to new offices has turned out to
be a marathon of Olympic proportions and is taking much longer than
anticipated. However, we have many great albums to review later this
month, so keep checking back...
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