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2/23/01 - Lover's Prayer: (Joel McNeely) "While the quantity
of his output of feature film scores has seemingly decreased recently,
Joel McNeely continues to score lesser known projects. His experience with
the composition of period music has been documented previously, including
the recent television score for the Sally Hemmings television film.
Although these films have often disappeared before even getting started,
McNeely's work for these films is often more notable than the films
themselves. The film Lover's Prayer, also known as All
Forgotten and starring Kirsten Dunst, is a class and character tale
from Britain of the 1800s, with manipulation, suitors, lust, deception,
and all the wonderful plots that extend from those basic elements. For the
film, McNeely once again proves his ability to compose intimate scores of
a classical influence. It's a genre that he first introduced to the mass
of serious score fans with Samantha in the early 1990's. Lover's
Prayer, though, is a more serious affair, with the piano replacing the
violin as the primary instrument...." **** Read the entire
review.
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2/19/01 - How the Grinch Stole Christmas: (James Horner)
-Promotional Album- "With almost every James Horner fan on the planet
crying foul over the mistreatment of his score on the commercial
Interscope Records album, it was only a matter of time before a bootlegged
album of Horner's How the Grinch Stole Christmas would surface. It
has been a while since a fan following of a single composer agreed in such
quantity that an album was inappropriate, and this should only be read as
testamony to the failure of the commercial album. It's not clear if the
expanded album is a promotional effort put forth by Horner after
witnessing the botched commercial album or if it is just another black
market bootleg. While most people in the industry consider it a
promotional album, I hold my reservations. To the die-hard Horner fan, of
course, it doesn't really matter. The expanded album contains over seventy
minutes of score --a vast improvement over the commercial album.
Unfortunately, more of this score doesn't automatically make it
better...." *** Read the entire
review.
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2/18/01 - Dungeons and Dragons: (Justin Caine Burnett)
"Whether or not you are a fan of the fantasy genre, one thing can really
help bring a picture - troubled or not - to life. That thing is a grand
immense musical score that defines the action and gives the film the
spirit it needs. Many fantasy films have been supported by such scores,
whether the movies were truly magical or a far cry from it. Given this
statement, it shouldn't come across as surprising that the soundtrack to
the recently released (and critically panned) Dungeons and Dragons
film qualifies as such a score. Composed by newcomer Justin Caine Burnett
(who, as an intern at Media Ventures, seems to have taken a strong
influence from Hans Zimmer), the score to Dungeons and Dragons
contains a very stirring, dramatic, and appropriately heroic theme that is
present throughout the entire album. Themes define a great soundtrack, and
apparently, Burnett understands it..." Read the
entire donated review.
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2/17/01 - Filmtracks Announces: The Cue Clue Contest! On the
newly updated Filmtracks Cool Stuff page, you'll
discover the first in a series of "name-the-clips" contests. All you have
to do is guess one of three mysterious film score clips correctly, and
you'll automatically be entered into the contest. The more clips you
identify correctly, the greater your chances of winning the prize! The
prizes for this and future contests are graciously provided by long-time
film score label Varèse
Sarabande. For this contest, you can win a copy of Varèse's
newest album: Cast
Away. Check out the Cool Stuff page for all
the juicy details. Good luck!
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2/16/01 - Africa: (Alex North) "In the late 1960's, Alex
North was facing a challenge. Even with his distinct record of producing
Academy recognized scores for major films, his atonal style of composing
was being abandoned by a changing Hollywood. Young composers such as Jerry
Goldsmith were producing similar music with a more modern edge, and
North's career was beginning to spin its wheels. In 1967, he was
approached about a four-hour television documentary about the history of
the African continent. The show was a cross between a National Geographic
expedition and an evolutionary science film. The depth of the show was
impressive, though by modern standards, it is the type of television
programming that is mocked by the younger, "Learning Channel" generation.
Alex North's music doesn't really help the film today, because it, too,
stands as a relic of that era of television scoring. After all, with the
massively lush and romantic IMAX and television scores being produced for
films along similar lines today, it's not hard to understand why the
contrast between new and old can be quite jarring...." ** Read the entire
review.
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2/13/01 - The 2000 Academy Award Nominations are out! For
"Best Original Score," there are five nominees: Rachel Portman for Chocolat,
Tan Dun for Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard for Gladiator,
Ennio Morricone for Malena, and John Williams for The
Patriot. The heavily-favored front-runner is Zimmer and Gerrard's
Gladiator. Ennio Morricone, Rachel Portman, and John Williams are
all favorites of the Academy, as reflected in their nominations. Tell
others what you
think!
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2/7/01 - The Election for Best Score of 2000 is over! The
final results of the Filmtracks January Theme
of the Month are in. The top five winners for "Best Album Release of
2000" are Tomorrow Never Dies (expanded - Chapter III), Total
Recall (expanded - Varèse Sarabande), Gladiator
(original - Decca), Superman (expanded - Rhino), and Star Wars:
The Phantom Menace (expanded - Sony). The top five winners for "Best
Composer of 2000" are James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer, Rachel Portman,
Lisa Gerrard, and Patrick Doyle. The top five winners for "Best New Score
of 2000" are Gladiator, The Legend of Bagger Vance,
Dinosaur, The Patriot, and Chicken Run. What do you
think about these results? Sound off at The Filmtracks
ScoreBoard!
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2/6/01 - The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle: (Mark
Mothersbaugh) "With a fond following of nostalgic fans from the original
television series featuring Rocky and Bullwinkle, it was inevitable that
the two would end up in a modern, live-action film. Like many other
cartoons gone live-action, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
was no less a disaster. The film was an embarrassment to its talented
cast, and with consistenly wretched reviews, the film spiraled out of the
public light before it even got started. Consequently obscured, therefore,
was the score by Mark Mothersbaugh, whose credits had previously included
the recent Rugrats film, which fared a bit better at the box
office. With one listen to the score for The Adventures of Rocky and
Bullwinkle, it is easy to understand what went wrong with the film.
Not for many years has a film score been so corny and slapstick; with a
new punchline waiting for your ears every thirty seconds...." *** Read the
entire review.
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2/1/01 - Traffic: (Cliff Martinez) "Steven Soderbergh has a
history of directing moody suspense, drama, and action films involving the
law, and Cliff Martinez, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' former drummer, has
been Soderbergh's regular composer for those projects. The two have
combined on such films as Sex, Lies and Videotape and Out of Sight, and
Martinez is accumulating a following of fans who enjoy his electronic,
ambient style. Working closely with Jeff Rona, who himself is garnering
attention at the moment for his writings about the scoring industry, the
music for Traffic is an offshoot of the Media Ventures group of
composers, the pioneers of the modern, synthesized genre of scoring.
Regardless of film score fans think of the album, the general populus has
greeted it warmly, with talk about award nominations and hefty sales
figures. Most editorials have referred to the score as highly evocative
and rich with subtle texture...." * Read the entire
review.
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