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11/29/03 - Sylvia: (Gabriel Yared) --All New Review--
"One really has to wonder why films like this get made, especially when every
educated person entering the theatre knows that they will be disturbed and
saddened when leaving it. The film is a true, biographical depiction of the
marriage between American poet/novelist Sylvia Plath (Gwyneth Paltrow) and
English poet Ted Hughes (Daniel Craig). Anyone knowledgeable about this most
famous literary pairing of the 20th Century is familiar with the glorious
beginning to their partnership as well as their unceremonious end. In short,
after a passionate, but rocky marriage, Hughes leaves Plath (who was quite
neurotic to begin with) for another woman, and Plath successfully kills
herself by sticking her head in a gas oven, leaving her brilliant writings
and two children behind. Hughes would live another 35 years after the 1963
suicide of Plath, and would largely be blamed for her death over the course
of his own successful writing career. The film stays true..." *** Read the entire
review.
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11/26/03 - Alias: (Michael Giacchino) --All New
Review-- "One of the most popular television series of the 2000's,
Alias is the inevitable idea of a female James Bond in disguise,
running around the world under cover for the CIA and other interests. Actress
Jennifer Garner won a Golden Globe award for her role as the sleek and tough
Sydney Bristow, and the exposure of her rather silly and unsophisticated real
life personality only adds to the mystique of her on screen performances. Amid
showers of critical praise, Alias has been spawned off into a video
game and now a soundtrack of underscore from the series. The album, not
missing the opportunity to fill its packaging with pictures of Jennifer Garner
from front to back, is being released along with a previous season on DVD, the
video game, and the continuation of the show's third season. It's a rare case
when the popularity of an action television series demands special treatment
of its music, and yet, with the rate at which composer Michael Giacchino is
becoming known in the realms of video and television music..." *** Read the entire
review.
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11/23/03 - Elf: (John Debney) --All New Review-- "In a
project perfectly constructed for composer John Debney, Elf is a
personality-driven urban fantasy film with plenty of fluff to go around. The
story of the human toddler who accidentally ended up in Santa's bag of toys
and was adopted by elves at the North Pole doesn't sound like a sure winner,
but Elf debuted strongly at the start of the 2003 holiday movie
season. As the manchild raised by elves (being a manchild raised by elves is
still better than being a manchild raised by Michael Jackson, no?) is
re-integrated into urban society, the film follows the comedy of his
acclimation until its heartwarming, feel-good conclusion. John Debney seems
to find himself involved in countless silly projects such as this, and his
comedy skills would lend themselves well to the project. Debney's Snow
Dogs the previous year was the most recent adventurous activity for
Debney in snowy climates, and his music for the setting is always complete
with appropriate holiday percussion...." *** Read the entire
review.
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11/19/03 - Beyond Borders: (James Horner) --All New
Review-- "With three other, concurrent scoring projects set for release
in late 2003, composer James Horner's effort for Beyond Borders
quickly faded (along with the picture) among competition with his other
works. Director Martin Campbell's love story painted on a canvas of the
world's ills didn't last long at the box office, failing to make either a
political or romantic statement. Despite a publicity campaign that sat
actress Angelina Jolie next to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan
(perhaps the unlikeliest of combinations) at a screening, the romance and
politics didn't mesh on screen, placing Horner's score into the role of
choosing which part of the film to accentuate. While some faint hints of
Horner's romantic tendencies do shine through his largely electronic and
solo-inclined score, his attention seemed to be squarely aimed at capturing
the essence of the poverty-struck conditions in the film's locations. Horner
collectors will remember his well known collaboration with Campbell..." *** Read the entire
review.
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11/18/03 - Composer Michael Kamen has died at the age of 55
after suffering from multiple sclerosis for several years, according to
his agent. Initial reports point to a heart attack, but further details
were not immediately available. Kamen, one of Hollywood's most successful
composers, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996, but did not go
public about the disease until late September of this year. Kamen grew up
in Queens, the son of liberal activists. In the late 1960s, he helped
found the New York Rock 'n' Roll Ensemble, and in the 1970s, he scored
ballets, served as musical director for David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs"
tour, and began writing scores for film. His major film scores include
the Lethal Weapon series, Die Hard, Robin Hood:
Prince of Thieves, Mr. Holland's Opus, and X-Men. Most
recently, Kamen scored the HBO series Band of
Brothers and this year's Open
Range. Filmtracks and all fans of film music extend the best
of wishes to all of those who were close to Kamen, and you can discuss
his life and career at Filmtracks
Scoreboard.
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11/16/03 - The Rising Place: (Conrad Pope) --All New
Review-- "For the directorial debut of Tom Rice, The Rising Place
is a simple love story set in the deep American South during World War II,
with themes of racial relations, religious connections, and sorrowful loss.
The film is saturated with all that is Americana, combining several different
musical requirements into one little piece of history and location. The film
passed without much attention in 2002, as did the score. For a long time,
Conrad Pope has been orchestrating scores for major composers, including John
Williams, but he served notice to the film music community in 2001 that he
was hitting the composing business himself in a big way. His score for
Pavilion of Women went equally unnoticed by many mainstream fans,
however those who had the fortune of hearing it were almost always positive
about its orchestral mastery. The Rising Place marks the second score
that Pope has experienced on album. It features a strong, Americana effort
from Pope, with several songs by Grammy award-winning performer Jennifer
Holliday..." *** Read the entire
review.
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11/13/03 - The Scarlet Letter: (John Barry) --Expanded
Review-- "If modern cinematic disasters are to be ranked on a list, this
sorry entry would fit somewhere in the middle ranges of that dubious
distinction. Accomplished director Roland Joffe decided, for some reason, to
film a loose adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel about 17th
Century northeast America, complete with witchcraft, adultery, and the harsh
realities of immigrant (and womens') life at the time. Critics pounded this
film like a drum, with Demi Moore receiving much of the brutal criticism many
weeks before the film was even released. Those few people who actually
subjected themselves to the film would find two partially redeeming elements:
the cinematography and the score. The story of the music for The Scarlet
Letter is just as disastrous as the film's overall production. Film
scoring veteran Elmer Bernstein was hired to write and record a score, both
of which he did. But, as was happening to Bernstein more and more often at
the time, his music was rejected..." **** Read the entire
review.
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11/11/03 - Secondhand Lions: (Patrick Doyle) --All New
Review-- "In one of the more eccentric and imaginative endeavors in
modern film, Secondhand Lions tells the story of African adventures
while set in the cornfields of Texas. As improbable as that concept may seem,
the film's storytelling heart allows the imagination of a young boy (Haley
Joel Osment) to run wild while listening to the tall tales of youthful
adventures in Africa as told by his recently rich, but equally eccentric
uncles (Michael Caine and Robert Duvall). While the actual setting of the
film is rooted in America's South, the cartoonish adventures span the globe
in Indiana Jones fashion, and before production even began on
Secondhand Lions, director Tim McCanlies had his heart set upon the
services of composer Patrick Doyle to bring out the varied emotions of these
travels. Although McCanlies was a fan of Doyle's classics of the past 15
years, the director had chosen to use a Korngold approach of swashbuckling
heroics for his temp score...." **** Read the entire
review.
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11/10/03 - Runaway Jury: (Christopher Young) --All New
Review-- "The newest adaptation of a John Grisham novel to the big
screen, Runaway Jury is the first venture by composer Christopher
Young into Grisham's courtroom dramas. Casual viewers of Grisham stories on
screen will probably recall Dave Grusin's style for the Academy
Award-nominated The Firm a decade ago, and Young doesn't stray too far
from that tested formula. The film was directed by Gary Fleder, whose films
often feature the work of composer Mark Isham. While Isham may have succeeded
with an adequate score for Runaway Jury, Felder went with Young, who
has proven himself versatile in urban thriller settings. The film itself, on
the other hand, took many of the wrong turns for Grisham fans. Instead of
featuring a landmark court case against big tobacco at the heart of the
story, the filmmakers have twisted the bad guys around towards the gun
industry. Even with that major change aside, the screenplay suffered from
some poor choices in adaptation..." *** Read the entire
review.
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11/8/03 - Varèse Sarabande: A 25th Anniversary Celebration,
Volume Two: (Compilation) --Updated, Expanded Review-- "...With 74
cues, the selections on 'Volume Two' are a tad lengthier and more inclined to
represent composers like Cliff Eidelman, Joel McNeely, Mark Isham, Patrick
Doyle, and George Fenton. Also featured are several more cues from the
original Club series and cuts from more albums that are largely difficult to
find on the market. Hidden gems like Richard Harvey's Animal Farm and
Conrad Pope's Pavilion of Women are more plentiful on the second set
as well. The only cue choice that seems rather odd on the second set is the
inclusion of the mundane opening titles of Charlie Mole's Othello
rather than the score's explosive end titles of roughly the same length. One
interesting factoid about the two sets is the historical lack of James Horner
material pressed by Varèse, with only one cue (from Brainstorm
on the first set) represented. Completely missing from the sets is David
Arnold..." **** Read the entire
review.
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11/7/03 - Home Alone: (John Williams) --Expanded
Review-- "It had been a while since John Williams had composed a score
specifically aimed at children --if ever, really-- and when he accepted the
assignment of Home Alone from his friend, director Chris Columbus, in
1990, it was an entirely new genre for the maestro. Not only was it exciting
for Williams' fans, but the composer tackled it with a refreshing new
enthusiasm that carried over into his composition. After a year which
included the dramatic, often tense scores for Presumed Innocent,
Stanley & Iris, and Always, Williams shed all of that weight
and provided the essential Christmas score. Ever since Home Alone
first won the hearts of audiences with an outstanding record-producing
showing at the box office, Williams' score has been the highest standard for
Christmas music from Hollywood. The score and its original title song would
be nominated for two Academy Awards..." **** Read the entire
review.
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11/5/03 - The Star Trek Album: (Compilation/The City of Prague
Philharmonic) --All New Review-- "It has been several years since the
Silva family of labels released their last major, critically acclaimed sci-fi
collection of film music. After the success of their "Space and Beyond" album
in 1997, they produced two sequel albums in the series (in 1998 and 2000).
Over the course of those three albums, the City of Prague Philharmonic
performed nearly every major piece of Star Trek music available at the
time, and while most of it appeared on the first album in that series, there
were additional piece sprinkled throughout the two follow-up albums. All of
these double-CD sets offered interesting performances of the selections, and
while some of them were better performed than others, the overwhelming
magnitude of available re-recordings from Prague remains staggering. Other
labels that have recorded Star Trek music on their various
compilations, including the Telarc releases of Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops
and Varèse Sarabande releases of the Royal Scottish National
Orchestra..." **** Read the entire
review.
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11/2/03 - Braveheart: (James Horner) --Expanded Review--
"There can be no discounting of the ongoing popularity of the film
Braveheart. The Mel Gibson epic, telling a romantic version of the
Scottish legend William Wallace and his peoples' fight for territorial
freedom, was an outstanding success at its release in 1995, although the true
sign of the film's legacy is its continuing almost-cult following many years
later. Despite its graphic violence, disturbing methods of killing, and
themes of romance lost, the film's quirky sense of humor combined with
arguably Gibson's career performance float the legacy with a maddening stream
of interest. The same crowds that flock to the film's bandwagon often
discover James Horner's score along the way, and these Braveheart
junkies have caused Horner's score on two albums to reach phenomenal sales
levels." **** Read the entire
review. Note: On October 29th, Braveheart passed Star Wars: The
Phantom Menace as the most read review ever at Filmtracks. Phantom Menace had
held the #1 place since December, 1999. See the top 50 rankings.
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