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10/31/04 - Tuesday is presidential election day in the United
States, challenging Americans with one of the toughest decisions of
modern times. In 1996 and 2000, Filmtracks endorsed Bill Clinton and Al Gore,
and those preferences were based on traditional social and economic beliefs
held by the owners of this site. In 2004, though, the situation is different
because Filmtracks has for the first time felt the indirect reactions of
presidential politics in its daily dealings with its own readers. Over the
past two years, soundtrack collectors all around the world have continued
sending their usual flow of music-related remarks and inquiries to
Filmtracks. But in that time, it has become frightfully common for these
e-mails to be ended with comments such as "I think your site is awesome, but
I don't like what your country is doing in Iraq," "no offense, but how can
you stand being led by that war-mongering Bush?," and our favorite, "if
George Bush was the American submarine captain in The Hunt for Red
October, his cowboy diplomacy would have killed the entire lot!" Such
comments may seem frivolous, but their frequency is alarming.
When American
politics become so unpopular around the world that these issues invade
e-mails about soundtracks from readers, then you know that the importance of
this election transcends the last ones. The readers of this site come from
countries all over the world, and they are typically younger, educated
people. Despite what George W. Bush tells Americans in his speeches, the
opinions of these folks in other nations do count. They will forgive the
American electoral system for installing Bush despite his minority tally in
the 2000 popular vote; after all, every country makes mistakes. But Americans
run the dangerous risk of rejecting the world's readiness to give them a
second chance... a chance to prove that the United States isn't just another
isolationism-touting nation using its culture and capitalism as means of
subversive, imperial influence. Not a single Filmtracks reader has e-mailed
the site with a soundtrack comment and subsequently expressed support for
Bush and America's global military efforts.
The pleas for "anyone but Bush"
are loud and clear, though, and with these last two years of Filmtracks
e-mails in mind, we wholeheartedly support John F. Kerry for
president. Remember to vote, Americans!
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10/29/04 - Fahrenheit 9/11: (Jeff Gibbs) --All New
Review-- "Not much needs to be said to introduce this highly
controversial film and the determined minds behind it. After the highly
successful film Bowling for Columbine a few years earlier, liberal
filmmaker Michael Moore sought to produce the ultimate anti-George W. Bush
"documentary" as part of his personal effort to harm Bush's re-election
chances against 2004 challenger John Kerry. President Bush is made to look
silly and incompetent in the film, balancing between comedy and drama in its
pursuit of exposing the less refined aspects of Bush's last three years. No
effort has been made to mask Fahrenheit 9/11 as a straight
documentary; the purpose of the film is quite clear to all in a year when
half of America, along with the majority of the world's onlookers, hope for
an end to Bush's controversial (and, as some would say, illegitimate)
presidency. The difference between Fahrenheit 9/11 and most other
propaganda films..." ** Read the entire
review.
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10/26/04 - Aladdin: (Alan Menken) --Expanded, Updated
Review-- "Flying on its own magic carpet ride in the early 1990's, the
collaboration between Disney and Alan Menken soared from The Little
Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast to Aladdin in 1992 without
even the slightest hiccup. Despite the failing health of Menken's lyricist,
Howard Ashman, who would pass away before the final cut of the film,
Aladdin maintained the outrageously profitable Disney musical craze
with viewers and listeners of all ages. Following Beauty and the Beast
was no small task, however, with the Aladdin predecessor rivaling live
action films at both the box office and awards ceremonies (the latter of
which is even more rare today than ever). Still, audiences were ready to soak
up nearly anything from Disney in 1992, and Aladdin was yet another
enormous box office and music chart success story. None of Menken's songs for
this final entry in the "Great Disney Musical Trilogy" would achieve the same
lasting greatness as those in the other two, though..." *** Read the entire
review.
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10/22/04 - Chill Factor: (Hans Zimmer/John Powell/Jeff Rona)
--All New Review-- "Do film studios really take us for such fools that
we wouldn't be able to figure out that Chill Factor is a badly twisted
and poorly conceived remake of the popular 1994 film Speed? This time,
instead of a bus rigged to explode if it slows below 50 mile per hour, you
have a nasty biological weapon that will explode and defoliate plants, melt
human flesh, etc, if it is warmed above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Worse yet, the
bomb's name is Elvis and the vehicle this time is an ice cream truck. The
plot is one of those buddy adversity ones, putting Cuba Gooding Jr. and Skeet
Ulrich in the position of being forced to carry the bomb to a target chosen
for reasons of revenge by a government-brainwashed villain who has gotten
free from the clutches of the law. One of the famously dumb quotes from the
film was "I'd like to kick your ass like last year's underwear." Sound
stupid? Indeed it is, and the film plummeted to the depths of obscurity
within a week or two after its theatrical release...." ** Read the entire
review.
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10/16/04 - Toys: (Hans Zimmer/Trevor Horn) -Updated,
Expanded Review-- "Reportedly the first idea for a film that director
Barry Levinson had ever wanted to make, Toys was a dozen years in the
making and just a few weeks in the crumbling. Hailed as a shining star right
before its opening in 1992, Toys teamed Levinson once again with Robin
Williams (the wildly successful pairing from Good Morning, Vietnam),
Joan Cusack, and Michael Gambon as the evil 'General' (long before stepping
into the role of Dumbledore after the death of Richard Harris). But despite a
stunning array of colors and an equally intriguing set of ideas, Toys
failed miserably in its task. It's tale of a family battle in an idealic toy
factory, with a struggle for control of the manufacturing focus between the
benevolent son (Williams), who wants to continue the wholesome nature of the
business, and the militaristic uncle (Gambon), who has insane visions of
producing violent, dangerous toys of war. There are really too many parallels
and sub-plots in Toys to discuss..." **
Read the entire
review.
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10/9/04 - The Road to El Dorado: (Elton John/Hans Zimmer/John
Powell) --All New Review-- "As part of Dreamworks' continuing attempt
to steal the heart of the animated film genre away from Disney, the studio
followed up their hit film The Prince of Egypt in 1999 with The
Road to El Dorado the following year. Despite spirited performances by
Kenneth Branagh and Kevin Kline, The Road to El Dorado would meet the
same doom that Sinbad would meet a few years later. Audiences spoiled
with spectacular leaps forward in animated film graphics and photography tend
to shun animations unless their have either spectacular new visuals or, if
that fails, fantastic songs. Indeed, The Road to El Dorado would
suffer from a lack of advancement in animation technology, and perhaps
knowing this ahead of time, the producers of the film decided to make the
project a musical extravaganza. With composer Hans Zimmer and his Media
Ventures organization established as the tested and successful score
producing entity..." ** Read the entire
review.
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10/2/04 - Cherry 2000: (Basil Poledouris) --Expanded,
Updated Review-- "In 2004, Prometheus Records attained the rights to both
Cherry 2000 and Poledouris' No Man's Land (also an early CD
release by Varèse Sarabande, and certainly out of print and as
difficult to find as its Club title companion) from Varèse and pressed
them as a non-limited album. The inclusion of No Man's Land is an
unexpected, but logical bonus. Both scores came from Poledouris during a
distinct and specific point in his career, and both were out of print. The
music is presented here in the full length of the original 30-minute album,
although the "Porsche Power" and "Drive My Car?" cues have been combined into
one track. No Man's Land is a cop thriller long forgotten, and the
score was Poledouris' first chance to produce an entirely synthetic pop and
drama effort for the big screen. After such a hectic 1987 (including the
incredibly long score for the TV series Amerika), Poledouris perhaps
should have passed on No Man's Land...." **** Read the entire
review.
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