publicist

 

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - Michael Giacchino

 

A closer inspection of Giacchino's new score solidifies the general impression of it in the movie: like Abrams' movie, it has a certain flair for the BIG moments but is disappointingly shallow  in connecting all the dots. Giacchino has proven that he's adept at solid orchestral writing so his dependence on very simple (and very tiring) rhythmic devices comes as a surprise for such a kinetic venture. The theme from 2009 is proudly paraded around without doing anything that it didn't do the last time, only Spock's theme gets some serious workout in a fight sequence and the new thematic material tends to be so mousy that your enjoyment largely depends on how you like the themes from the first film. Obvious deviations from the established orchestral formula are LONDON CALLING and KRONOS WARTET, one which satisfies itself with doing an uninspired Philip Glass impersonation, the other giving us a war cry similar to countless video games and last year's DARK KNIGHT RISES (it's symptomatic that the track titles are far more inspired than the actual music).

 

So while it's far from being a disgrace within current blockbuster parameters it seems to lack anything that rises above dutiful and a bit joyless handiwork. 

Now i know how the pure, true and honest heartland people of America sound. Thanks, Hans.

 

 

STOKER - Clint Mansell

 

After a longer pause, Mansell delivers a interesting new score that floats on a delicate mixture of pronounced piano work, strings and some electronic backing. The morbid story inspired a  dense and harmonically rich work that might be one of the best of 2013 yet, only that it takes some time to get used to it. One should if the deja vu of scores like OZ, IRON MAN & Co. isn't quite all you ever wanted from film music.

 

 

 

DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES - Henry Mancini

 

Mancini switching gears between his patented fluffy cocktail source tunes and dramatic variations on his famous title theme - mostly on somber strings. As the tune is strong, he is able to wring out some very poignant and long-lined cues (NO GUTS and I WANT COME HOME both run over 7 minutes). It is not necessarily essential to people only listening to tutti STAR TREK/WARS stuff, but if you love Mancini's tunes, it's a wonderful gift to see him deconstruct them in a dramatic way.

I think it stands to reason that being subjected to those little ideological pills over the years of course is a) a mirror of society at large and b) a subtle way of introducing certain 'realities' to people feeding on them. I know that most will chuckle at the thought that TWILIGHT, TRANSFORMERS & Co. and their implied subtexts have any bearing on society as a whole - i'm sure it does although i admit i'm not sure in what way, exactly.

 

If anything, this belongs in a thread devoted to Michael Bay, who is one of the number one sledgehammer salesmen for this line of stuff.

 

@Wojo: stop being facetious. BEN HUR's subtitle is 'A TALE OF THE CHRIST', not OCEAN'S RISE, CITIES FALL, HOPE SURVIVES'

DEEP IMPACT is mushy christian propaganda with a really despiceable ideology behind it. It was dethroned by I AM LEGEND nine years later, though.

On the other hand, that movies 'reject themes' does not automatically mean they must be objected to Zimmer pop/rock stylings. I keep on saying how the biggest problem of RCP & Co. is the underscore: here the lack of musical form is most apparent and appalling.

Ts....

 

Not to forget that the last TINTIN didn't exactly took the world by storm, so it's not like PJ directs E. T. Part II now.

 

From what i've read, Spielberg respects fellow artists too much to Bruckheimer his way through their approach. I initially wrote 'artits' which is a much more apt description of PJ after having watched the colossal mediocrity the HOBBIT was.

 

Do you know what I always wonder?

 

What Williams would think when he heard Zimmer's music? I mean his real opinion, that maybe he couldn't speak out..

 

 

That he doesn't really care either way?

 

Well, i can't believe that a composer with his knowledge and status, doesn't have ANY opinion at all.

 

 

Why should he? Obviously he stopped watching those kind of movies a  long time ago (the man has taste, after all) and would just realize that the music has become simplified and pop-oriented. And still, they are worldwide blockbusters, so he likely would deduce that it's the kind of music this generation craves - why bother listening to a 70-minute onslaught of it?

Film music-wise it must have been (excluding catchy tv themes):

 

Early collector years:

 

Main Title/STAR WARS (Skywalker Symphony)

Main Title/SUPERMAN (OST)

End Credits/ESB (OST)

The House Raising/SECRET OF NIMH (OST)

End Title/DRACULA (JW) (OST)

Finale/CEOTK (OST)

Abandoned and Pursued/E. T. (OST)

End Title/THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (OST)

Gremlin Credits/GREMLINS 2 (OST)

 

Middle collector years:

 

King Richard/LIONHEART (OST)

Main Title/POLTERGEIST (OST)

Late for Work/GREMLINS (OST)

SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET (OST)

The Meld/STAR TREK (OST)

Love Scene/EL CID (re-recording 1995)

RIP, Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer!

And it's Elfman's most ebullient and ravishing since THE WOLFMAN. Nothing new stylistically (the main theme is classic Tim-Burton-style) but so well done and thematically apt that it's hard to resist.

 

Two great fantasy scores in two weeks...the good times are coming?

The messageboard discord about who's worthiest happily does not affect the subjects discussed:

 

 

 

FLIGHTPLAN - James Horner

 

Surprisingly engaging thriller score built on a deceptively simple three note tune...it's hornerism galore, but he actually develops things neatly along the way and, for whatever insane reason, seems to be channeling Jerry Goldsmith in that he scores a better version of the movie (in a genre he usually sleepwalks through) than the one he got delivered.

I might go and see Lincoln tonight. Is it worth 8 quid?

Karol

I might say that it is a good movie (great opening scene) with the old Spielberg problem when he's making ADULT entertainment: too preachy, too many melodramatic tricks which are not really needed and are always a clear reminder that he knows that he's doing 'worthy', leaden Oscar style.

In a nutshell: for every scene with Day-Lewis and David Strathairn there is a scene with Day-Lewis and Sally Field.