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1/28/05 - Alias (TV): (Michael Giacchino) --Updated Review--
"...The second album (with music from Season 2) does partially solve the
weakness of stylistic wandering, however, because, as Giacchino explains, the
dramatic stakes in the show are always increasing and the more consistent use
of live players, therefore, is necessary. This move is logical by Giacchino
and Abrams, and it is even more refreshing to hear a continued loyalty to
live musicians in the television genre. Consisting of mostly a string section
and a handful of brass, you occasionally hear the shriek of a flute, but most
of the orchestral underscore is straight-forward string writing with brass
counterpoint over the top. In its dramatic intensity, the music does build up
the steam that finally blows in "Hitting the Fan" and "Balboa and Clubber," a
pair of Bernard Herrmannesque cues that leave no doubt that the series is
losing some of its flashier pop angles. Giacchino still does maintain a tad
of that James Bond/David Arnold flash of high style jazz (in "On the Train"
and "Going Down?")..." *** Read the entire
review.
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1/25/05 - The Academy Award nominations for 2004 have been
announced, and the list contains a few surprises. Nominated for 'Best
Score' are Jan A.P. Kaczmarek for Finding
Neverland, John Williams for Harry Potter
and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Thomas Newman for Lemony
Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, John Debney for The Passion of
the Christ, and James Newton Howard for The Village.
Notable contending scores that were eliminated from consideration for
eligibility issues included Howard Shore's The Aviator,
Craig Armstrong's Ray, and Clint
Eastwood's own score for Million Dollar Baby. The dark horse favorite
for the award this year is John Debney, whose work is widely known in
Hollywood but not often recognized outside the industry. This is the tenth
straight awards in which John Williams has been nominated during years he has
composed at least one score, and his departure from the popular Harry
Potter franchise might yield considerable sentimental votes for him. Tell
us what you think of the nominations at the Filmtracks
ScoreBoard.
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1/22/05 - The Chorus (Les Choristes): (Bruno Coulais) --All
New Review-- "A smash hit in its native country of France, The
Chorus is the country's submission for "Best Foreign Film" for the 2004
Academy Awards. Despite its familiar storyline, The Chorus launched
past its competition in French cinema and became the most popular film during
the past year in the country. A feel-good story in the genre of "good teacher
versus bad students," the drama follows the kind-hearted, washed up composer
Clement Mathieu (Gerard Jugnot) who becomes a teacher at a reformatory school
in 1949 France. Appropriately named "Le Fond De L'Etang" ("Rock Bottom"), the
school has your usual collection of young boys who are brats and thieves, and
the institution is run by a militaristic headmaster in a castle-like
structure. The new teacher slowly assembles the delinquents boys into a
choir, a move that sets him at odds with headmaster, but eventually proves
that a little tender loving care and the inspiration of music can turn the
boys around...." **** Read the entire
review.
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1/18/05 - Ray: (Craig Armstrong) --All New Review--
"Released shortly after the death of the music icon Ray Charles in 2004,
Ray is a biographical telling of the performer's life from 1930 to
1966. For younger audiences familiar with Charles' glowingly positive aura
in the final 40 years of his career, there might not be as much knowledge
about the very troubled childhood and early career that Charles was forced
to navigate through to achieve control over his own addictions. It is safe
to say that the life of Ray Charles is an ultimate study in victory of
tragedy, although Charles certainly had enough tragedy to fill an entire
film. In the movie Ray, we view the horrific, emotionally
paralyzing death of Charles' brother as Ray watches; it is one of the few
lasting memories of sight once Charles goes blind later in his childhood.
Upon moving to Seattle to ignite his performing career, his addictions to
pot and heroine were twenty years in the conquering, and he never really
was able to resist the plethora of women who threw themselves at him...."
**** Read the entire
review.
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1/15/05 - Spanglish: (Hans Zimmer) --All New Review--
"As if almost on cue, James L. Brooks' newest comedy/drama about
interpersonal relationships arrives on the scene just in time to sweep away
critics and audiences with its charm during the awards season. While perhaps
no effort will eclipse the superbly acted As Good As It Gets in 1997,
the oddly assembled cast of Spanglish has done pretty well in its own
part. Starring Adam Sandler in a substantially serious role, Spanglish
portrays the story of a Mexican woman and her daughter who arrive in the
employment of a wealthy Los Angeles family. Unlike the more deadly serious
variations on that story in past films, Spanglish treats the Mexican
woman as a sort angelic presence who helps --through the language barrier--
to give sound advice to help with the eccentricities of the her American
employers. While the film does border on more serious topics (such as
adultery, for instance), the aim of the film is to win your heart in the end,
and Spanglish has done just that for many critics just prior to the
2004 awards nominations...." **** Read the entire
review.
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1/11/05 - Cellular: (John Ottman) --All New Review-- "If
you're the type of person who hates cell phones, then perhaps this film's not
for you. The screenwriter of Phone Booth, Larry Cohen, must have
decided that he had conquered the market on phone booth terror, so he turned
to every possible method of terrifying a person with the familiar concept of
a failing cell phone. In essence, a tenuous and random cell phone connection
between a woman being held hostage in her own home and an average Joe on the
streets sends the young man on a race against time and his cell phone battery
to help this woman and her family. Despite the numerous plot holes that
always arise when you stretch a topic like this one to such great limits, the
film does survive on its performances and twists in plot. Though suffering
only mild slaps from critics, the film still didn't hold well enough with
audiences to keep it in the theatres very long. Director David R. Ellis had
been a fan of composer John Ottman's work for The Usual Suspects and
X-Men 2, and thus successfully pursued Ottman for the scoring duties
on Cellular...." *** Read the entire
review.
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1/8/05 - Shrek 2: (Harry Gregson-Williams) --All New
Review-- "Riding the wave created by the monumental success of
Shrek a few years before, this direct sequel begins right where the
first tale left off. Several new peripheral characters adorn Shrek 2
with even more eccentric humor than before, and despite a tendency for such
sequels to have the many straight-to-video kinds of production faults,
Shrek 2 suffers no such problems. While purists will cling to the
original film to the very end, Shrek 2 was both a critical and popular
success, not only continuing the massive fiscal success of the now-series at
the box office, but gaining a surprisingly positive response from hardened
critics as well. The music for the first film was very much a mirror of the
story's pop-culture range, with Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell
providing an orchestral punch-line comedy score. While popular and successful
in and of itself, that original score provided some challenges when enjoyed
apart from the film; the slapstick nature of the film translated directly to
the music..." **** Read the entire
review.
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1/2/05 - Hollywood '95: (Compilation) --Expanded
Review-- "The Royal Scottish National Orchestra has recorded hundreds of
film music works for release by the Varèse Sarabande label. At the
helm for most of their early recordings of the mid-1990's was
conducter/composer Joel McNeely, considered at the time to be a student and
possible successor for film music legend John Williams. The collaboration of
the RSNO and Joel McNeely had proven moderately successful during a recording
of the previous year's scores (provided on an album called, of course,
Hollywood '94), and the enormous success of Hollywood '95 would
lead to one more similar collection of recordings the following year before
the collaboration would take a few years off. The RSNO would continue to
re-record entire scores to be released by Varèse Sarabande, and like
any performing group, they have their days when they excel and days when
wrong notes miserably blurt out in nearly every cue. Such is the habit of any
performing group, however, especially when performing the works of a composer
for the first time...." ***** Read the entire
review.
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