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| 5/31/07
- | Little Giants: (John Debney)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you're a sucker for inspirational kiddie sports music... the kind of hopelessly optimistic
marches that John Debney has seemingly perfected.
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Avoid it... |
if, like the film, the score is so formulaic that its endlessly positive orchestral vibes
become tiresome after ten minutes.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 5/28/07
- | The Shawshank Redemption: (Thomas Newman)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you are among the Thomas Newman collectors who prefer the composer's harmonic melodies and
layered orchestral constructs.
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Avoid it... |
if not even one of Newman's most effective and popular scores in the orchestral realm can
compete with your preference for his instrumentally eclectic and synthetic side.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 5/24/07
- | Renaissance Man: (Hans Zimmer)
- All New Filmtracks Review, Replacing a Donated Review |
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Buy it... |
if you dig Hans Zimmer's early electronic jazz stylings and want to hear a
well-balanced, dynamic merging of his synthetics with an orchestra.
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Avoid it... |
if parody march music for dumb military settings tries your patience after only 30 seconds.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 5/21/07
- | City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's
Gold: (Marc Shaiman)
- All New Filmtracks Review, Replacing a Donated Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek a score with the same themes and humor of City Slickers, but with a far
more boisterous, dramatic, and muscular orchestral and choral presence.
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Avoid it... |
if no amount of dramatic elegance in this score can counter Marc Shaiman's usual
shamelessly upbeat and overly-enthusiastic attitude.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 5/18/07
- | Gremlins: (Jerry Goldsmith)
- All New Filmtracks Review, Replacing a Donated Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you've already sought and enjoyed the more readily available (and possibly easier to
appreciate) Gremlins II score on album.
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Avoid it... |
if you tend to be annoyed by Goldsmith's harsher electronic tones that existed primarily in
his mid-80's scores.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 5/15/07
- | Schindler's List: (John Williams)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you're not afraid of being moved by an emotional, artistic masterpiece, a more
subtle triumph in the career of John Williams.
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Avoid it... |
only if the subject matter bothers you too greatly to enjoy its powerful musical
accompaniment.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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| 5/12/07
- | My Life: (John Barry)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you typically relax to John Barry's soothing, thematically simplistic compositions for
strings and woodwinds in the 1990's.
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Avoid it... |
if Barry's other early 1990's dramas tend to put you into a funk of boredom and restlessness.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 5/9/07
- | Much Ado About Nothing: (Patrick Doyle)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you're a fan of Kenneth Branagh's Shakespearian adaptations and want the Patrick Doyle
score that most heavily influenced a Branagh film of the era.
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Avoid it... |
if Doyle's hopelessly optimistic orchestral and vocal themes are nothing more to you than
useless, whimsical fluff.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 5/6/07
- | The Man Without a Face: (James Horner)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you are comfortable hearing trademark James Horner styles performed with dramatic restraint
for a simple, but lovely score.
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Avoid it... |
if Horner fails to impress you with his relative lack of diversity within the light drama
genre.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 5/2/07
- | Jurassic Park: (John Williams)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you want a superior John Williams crossover score that connects the high-flying fantasy of
his early 1980's efforts with the more complex rhythms, instrumentation, and density of his
1990's scores.
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Avoid it... |
only if you have clearly established that you have no interest in Williams' large-scale action
and adventure scores.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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