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1/27/01 - The Filmtracks Links Page has finally been updated
to include links to all the currently popular film score web sites. Each
link is accompanied by a capsule review or summary information about the
site. Review, dataabase, composer, and magazine sites include information
about their nationality, their year of founding, and the name of their
webmasters. Industry links include professional reference sites, radio
shows, specialty purchasing stores, and record labels. Be sure to browse our links and
support the other film score sites!
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1/22/01 - The Voting Period for the January Theme of the
Month is halfway over. The annual election
allows Filmtracks fans to vote for their favorite CD release, composer,
and "score as heard in a film" from the past year. Remember, you can vote
once per week, so let your voice be heard! So far, the most popular albums
of 2000 include re-releases of Tomorrow Never Dies and Total
Recall. For best composer and best new score, Hans Zimmer, Rachel
Portman, and James Newton Howard are the leaders thus far. What do you
think about the results of these elections? Sound off at The Filmtracks
ScoreBoard...
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1/20/01 - Wonder Boys: (Christopher Young) "Damned from the
very beginning, Wonder Boys was released twice by Paramount Studios
in the year 2000. Despite some critical success it received at the start
of the year, the film was an enormous flop at the box office and, to stir
up some possible awards consideration for the film, Paramount decided to
release the film to theatres a second time at the end of the year. Even
with more critical acclaim the second time around, the film was a lousy
attraction once again. So it has forever slipped away into obscurity.
Christopher Young's music for Wonder Boys, therefore, was not only
composed quite a long time before its album release, but has also fallen
completely off the face of the planet as far as the public is concerned.
While I don't like to see talented composers' works fall to such depths,
this particular score is unfortunately not worth the trouble anyway...."
* Read the entire
review.
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1/18/01 - Heavy Metal 2000: (Frederic Talgorn) "For the year
2000 animated adaptation of Heavy Metal, there is perhaps no better
candidate than Frederic Talgorn to score the film. A veteran of producing
scores for such B-sci-fi/action films as Fortress and
Robotjox, Talgorn has been known by a wider audience more recently
for his conducting of spectacular re-recordings of famous modern film
music themes under contract by the Varese Sarabande label. For his
original works, Talgorn is a talented artist at the integration of a full
orchestra to create rousing soundtracks. His scores of the genre often
feature loud and heroic brass-dominated themes and a substantial level of
volume throughout. Like so many of his other work, too, Heavy Metal
2000 is dominated by one singular, stunning track. The same greatness
exhibited in this one track is the one flaw, however, that hinders many of
Talgorn's efforts...." *** Read the
entire review.
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1/17/00 - Dune: (Toto/Brian Eno) --Updated review--
"Well, if you aren't confused as of yet, then now it's time to let you
know that a remastered edition of the 1997 Dune release has
experienced a limited release. The 2001 release is edited so that the
wobbles and voices are minimized to near extinction, and the overall sound
quality of the whole album is improved. Only at the end of the "Prelude"
track does a new distortion take place, though this is insignificant
because that track has appeared without problem on both the other
releases. In short, the 2001 album is what the 1997 one should have
been... but even this 2001 album has its negatives. The 2001 album, of
course, does not comfort those who purchased the 1997 one. Because of the
constraining agreement between distributor SuperCollector and the now
defunct P.E.G. Recordings, no exchanges of the faulty 1997 product can be
accepted. In turn, this means that those who want the correct edit of the
music have to pay for the album twice, and this is completely
unacceptable. The same agreement dictated that even the errors in
packaging could not be corrected, meaning that there is no way to tell
from the outside packaging whether or not you are purchasing the 1997 or
2001 release. Good luck!..." *** Read the entire
review.
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1/15/01 - On the Beach: (Christopher Gordon) "It is very
easy to overlook the made for TV movie On the Beach, scored by a
not so well know composer, Christopher Gordon, with only one other major
score that has been composed being Moby Dick. I have not seen the
movie as of writing this review, but from reading summaries on the web and
from track listings of the CD it was easy to get a strong idea of the
entire film. On the Beach is a cable TV remake of the 1959 film.
The story is about a war between America and China that results in world
destruction because of a radioactive cloud that has been generated that's
spreading across the globe destroying all life in its path. The only
remaining country left is Australia, which only has two months before the
cloud arrives. The focus point of both the film and Christopher Gordon's
emotional score is how a few people spend the remaining days of their
lives before the total end of mankind... It is a shame that this score is
so underrated...." Read the entire
donated review.
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1/11/01 - The Insider: (Lisa Gerrard, Pieter Bourke, and
Graeme Revell) "If I had to describe this album in one word, it would be
eclectic. Much of it does stand alone rather well - especially the
Gerrard/Bourke pieces. "Dawn of the Truth," on its own, is a soothing
combination of electronics that almost sound like vocals, and "Sacrifice"
is filled with more electronics and strong, deep male vocals. The only
Gerrard/Bourke piece that does not stand well on its own is the first one,
"Tempest" and only if you haven't seen the movie. It was used to score a
car ride through the village surrounding a Middle Eastern terrorist's
fortress in the film, and it is not unpleasant, but it repeats the same
movement over-and-over again which can be annoying if one is not in the
right mood. Revell's pieces work in the film itself, but on CD they're
repetitive...." Read the entire
donated review.
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1/7/01 - The January Theme of the Month is the annual election of
Filmtracks fans' favorite CD release, composer, and "score as heard in a
film" from the past year. While John Williams, James Horner, and Jerry
Goldsmith have dominated the past four annual elections at Filmtracks, the
year of 2000 proved to be more diverse than those those past. The vote
started January 6th, 2001, and will conclude February 6th, 2001. Check it out!. The
final results from last month's "Best of the 1990's"
vote are also now available. What do you think about the results of
these elections? Sound off at The Filmtracks
ScoreBoard...
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