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| 6/30/09
- | Land of the Lost: (Michael Giacchino)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if and only if you appreciated the unconventional merging of timeless musical elements as
heard in the context of the film, because on album this score suffers from the same completely
aimless personality as the rest of the production.
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Avoid it... |
if the existence of an intelligent blend of instruments from several genres and eras isn't
alone enough to constitute a worthy score without the assistance of any memorable underlying
development.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 6/28/09
- | The Matrix: (Don Davis)
- All New Filmtracks Review, Replacing a Donated Review |
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Buy it... |
on the 1999 commercial album only if you want a sneak peak at Don Davis' often difficult,
postmodern score (and on the limited 2008 product only if you consider yourself an established
fan of the franchise's music).
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Avoid it... |
if you demand the greater role of thematic harmony that develops in the two sequel scores by
Davis, both featuring a more interesting blend of challenging dissonance and quasi-religious
harmony.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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6/20/09 - | Welcome to the Newest Version
of Filmtracks! |
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The most significant upgrades to Filmtracks since early 2003 are nearing completion.
Most of the major sections of the site have now switched to the new 2009 design and
underlying software, including the home page, reviews, composer tributes, and indices
for the reviews and viewer ratings. The remaining sections of the site will continue to
start reflecting these changes over the coming days. There will undoubtedly be errors
in the rendering of the site during that time; if these problems persist, please contact
the site or post about it at the Scoreboard. Within a week, all of the remaining upgrades
scheduled for this switch should be completed. Soon, an accelerated schedule of reviews
will be the long-awaited next phase of this site's lifetime. Thanks again to all of those
who have assisted in proofing, optimizing, and supporting the testing process of this new
layout and software over the past two months. Read more...
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| 6/17/09
- | Dinosaur: (James Newton Howard)
- All New Filmtracks Review, Replacing a Donated Review |
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Buy it... |
if you regularly enjoy dynamic and entertaining animation scores that paint with as many
vibrant colors as the films' visuals.
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Avoid it... |
if you require more than an obvious rearrangement of styles and themes from Hans Zimmer's The
Lion King and Jerry Goldsmith's The Ghost and the Darkness.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 6/16/09
- | Diamonds: (Joel Goldsmith)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek something other than Joel Goldsmith's well known television/sci-fi music, for
Diamonds is a lovable romantic comedy score.
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Avoid it... |
if you're easily annoyed by scores that borrow inspiration heavily from several contemporary,
mainstream composers.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 6/15/09
- | The Contender/Deterrence: (Larry Groupé)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you are curious about the interesting solo work of the orchestrator behind many of John
Ottman's dynamic and creative early scores.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect any of the material from the two functional scores represented on this album to
achieve the same engaging personality of Ottman's music of the era.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 6/14/09
- | The Closer You Get: (Rachel Portman)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you are attracted to Rachel Portman's quirky comedy rhythms and want to hear her make the
most out of a small and eclectic (but enthusiastic) ensemble.
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Avoid it... |
if nothing about the standard whimsical style of Portman's lighter shades appeals to your
preference for her weightier romantic dramas.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 6/13/09
- | Chicken Run: (John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you love having your concentration completely consumed by wildly rambunctious and enthusiastically
spirited parody scores of the highest symphonic order.
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Avoid it... |
if the buzzing sound of a swarm of kazoos could give you nightmares, wilt your houseplants, send pets
fleeing, and stunt the intellectual development of your children.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 6/12/09
- | Bounce: (Mychael Danna)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you have always appreciated Mychael Danna's intelligent knowledge of world music (and its
exotic instruments) and seek a faint reminder of that style in an easier, contemporary
package.
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Avoid it... |
if the prospect of hearing Danna journey well into the mainstream betrays your love of his
truly innovative tendencies.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 6/11/09
- | Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2: (Carter Burwell)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you have an immense amount of expendable income and think that you might actually be
entertained by a mindless 40 minutes of atmospheric sound effects.
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Avoid it... |
if you prefer not to indulge in a boring, not so scary, scrambled mess of aural
unpleasantness.
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| Rating: | *
Read the entire review
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| 6/10/09
- | Autumn in New York: (Gabriel Yared)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you typically avoid Gabriel Yared's melancholy music for dramatic tragedies, because this score (along with
Message in a Bottle) has a warmth and lyricism that transcends the film's many ills.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect the chilly and detached character of Yared's more popular works for The English Patient and The
Talented Mr. Ripley.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 6/8/09
- | American Beauty: (Thomas Newman)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you have an open mind to eclectic and eccentric film scores with catchy rhythms and a
variety of bizarre instrumentation for a seemingly incongruous concept on screen.
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Avoid it... |
if you assume that the score will be as attractive on album as it certainly is in the film.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 6/7/09
- | The 6th Day: (Trevor Rabin)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if the edgy, electronic action material of Trevor Rabin is as satisfying for you as his usual,
pleasantly harmonic anthems.
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Avoid it... |
if you mock largely stock synthetic scores for their childish and embarrassing lack of
complexity or style.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 6/6/09
- | The 10th Kingdom: (Anne Dudley)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you're a Mariam Stockley enthusiast and have a general affection for the consistent quality
of the fantasy scores contributed by major composers to television mini-series during their
renaissance in the late 1990's.
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Avoid it... |
if you anticipate hearing the kind of overwhelming melodic lyricism that often existed in
other contemporary fantasy scores on television.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 6/5/09
- | The Sword and the Sorcerer: (David Whitaker)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you're a fan of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Golden Age swashbuckler style, which should be a
surprising recommendation
given the genre of this film.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect this score to exhibit many of the same superior qualities as its sword and sorcery
contemporaries from
the early 1980's.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 6/3/09
- | Star Trek: The Motion Picture: (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you are unfamiliar with the feature Star Trek scores and seek the original classic of
romance, adventure, and suspense that influenced most of the subsequent sequel music.
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Avoid it... |
if you are content with the original 1986 CD album and have no use for 25 minutes of somewhat
redundant score material and an entire CD of interviews on the expanded 1999 set.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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| 6/2/09
- | Raise the Titanic: (John Barry)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you consider yourself any remote fan of John Barry's romantically dramatic themes and
rhythmic structures of the 1980's and 1990's, or if you seek possibly the best re-recording of
a complete score in history.
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Avoid it... |
if the origins of Barry's trademark dramatic sound, regardless of its superior incarnation at
the outset, are still simply too boring for you to overlook the style's majestic qualities.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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| 6/1/09
- | The Incredible Hulk (TV): (Joe Harnell)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you still have a soft spot for the lonely piano theme that often accompanied David
Banner on his quest for a cure to his maddening problem.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect that solitary theme for the scientist, as well as the pretty theme for his love
interests, to be able to carry the otherwise badly dated action cues and disco material from
the series.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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