The Year of Phantom Music plus Oscar Nom. List
by Cary Wong
Oscar Nominations alert! They're out for 1999:
Best Score:
American Beauty, Thomas Newman
Angela's Ashes, John Williams
The Cider House Rules, Rachel Portman
The Red Violin, John Corigliano
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Gabriel Yared
Best Original Song:
"Blame Canada," South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut,
music and lyrics by Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman
"Music of My Heart," Music of the Heart, music and lyrics
by Diane Warren
"Save Me," Magnolia, music and lyrics by Aimee Mann
"When She Loved Me," Toy Story 2, music and lyrics by
Randy Newman
"You'll Be in My Heart," Tarzan, music and lyrics by Phil
Collins
1999 was a pretty pathetic way to end the first century
of film music. In a year when many major directors tried their hands at
different genres (Wes Craven directing Meryl Streep in Music of the
Heart? David Lynch made a G-rated The Straight Story? Mike Leigh
directing a historical drama about Gilbert and Sullivan in Topsy Turvy?)
film composers stuck closely to the genre they know. Jerry Goldsmith scored
a haunted house movie (Poltergeist or The Haunting?), John
Williams does Yoda (The Empire Strikes Back or The Phantom Menace?),
Thomas Newman goes to a Stephen King prison (The Shawshank Redemption
or The Green Mile?) and Celine Dion sings yet another (and maybe
her last, if her retirement threat holds true) James Horner song (Titanic
or Bicentennial Man?)
And while the bulk of last year's score lived up to the generic name
of background music, some score were memorable enough to rise above the
muck. But it does say something when two of the better scores of 1999 (Bill
Conti's The Thomas Crown Affair being one) were distracting or out
of place in the movie they're in, but are both one of their composers'
best works.
Here are, in my estimation, the standouts of 1999:
10. Titus (Eliot Goldenthal)
Talk about over the top! Goldenthal has never been known as a subtle
composer (how soothing is Interview with a Vampire or Alien3?),
but this score (at least on the CD) seems to hit every tonal notes available
to the composer. A grand adventure for the ears. The inclusion of a track
from A Time to Kill on the CD seems curious, since the director
of Titus is Goldenthal's girlfriend. So? What's up with the temp
track?
9. Princess Mononoke (Jo Hisaishi)
Although this film has been around for years, it's finally arrived stateside
with the great Hisaishi score in tact. Lush and quiet at the same time,
this score perfectly matches the movie's themes. Although the score doesn't
work as well on CD as it does on film, the main theme will break your heart.
8. Anna and the King (George Fenton)
Did we need another retelling of this story? What with a musical and
an animated feature, a non-musical version would seem redundant. However
Fenton's score makes up for the lack of songs with a gorgeous and grand
score. The movie itself turns out to be an underrated soaper with surprisingly
good performances by the leads. The musical highlight is an execution scene
where you should pay close attention to the piano. It's heartbreaking.
7. The Cider House Rules (Rachel Portman)
Portman is the master of the simple, clean melody as she has shown in
The Joy Luck Club and Emma. She has done it again in this
tale of an orphan who tries to discover his place in the world. Although
there's not much variation to her themes, her score is memorable and sentimental,
which matches the themes of one of the best movies of the year.
6. Ride with the Devil (Mychael Danna)
Talk about doing something different. Danna, who's best been known for
his understated scores for Atom Egoyen's movie, has written a score that
gave him a chance to flex his musical muscles for action scenes and epic
themes. Radically different from his score for his first collaboration
with Ang Lee (the beautiful The Ice Storm), Danna music made this
overly long movie bearable and even rousing. A great addition to the western
musical genre.
5. The Insider (Lisa Gerrard, Peter Bourke, Graeme Revell)
Operatic at times, modern at other, this score is again a collaboration
of diverse musical talents which makes each Michael Mann movies distinctive
(remember Randy Edelman and Trevor Jones' non-collaborative collaboration
that made The Last of the Mohicans such a rich score). How in the
world does Mann make a movie about a news program seem like Armageddon?
Along with fancy camera work and flashy editing, the score almost became
a character in itself.
4. For Love of the Game (Basil Poledouris)
The best score of a movie that was just way too over the top for the
movie it was in. Wildly romantic and outrageously triumphant, you would
think Poledouris was scoring another Conan movie. But however over-the-top
it is on screen, the music is immensely listenable and one of Poledouris'
best.
3. American Beauty (Thomas Newman)
Reminiscent of his score for The Player, Newman's eclectic music
for this movie of familial strife is an American beauty in itself. The
score kept us on our toes with its unpredictability. What a miracle it
is that Dreamworks released a score-only CD after the fact.
2. The Phantom Menace (John Williams)
Is it for sentimental reasons or for true talent that I like this score
as much as I do? Star Wars, for me, was the starting point of this
madness I call film music fandom, and anything Star Wars related
will sure to be golden in my eyes. Still, the movie didn't live up to expectations
(what could?) but really, how good was Return of the Jedi? However,
when Williams juggles new music as well as keeping some of the themes and
spirit of the first 3 movies, and ends up with the great Duel of the Fates
as well as the deconstructed Imperial March in Anakin's Theme, well, Williams
has indeed pulled it off.
1. The Red Violin (John Corgliano)
Let's welcome the brilliant Corgliano back into the movie world. After
a brief foray into film music with Altered States two decades ago,
this modern classical composer returns with a musical score that challenges
his modern sensibility. A historical panorama with some of the best solo
violin music ever scored for a movie, this movie jumps all over the map
and Corgliano is there step for step. Special mention to violinist Joshua
Bell (who also makes a cameo in that "other" violin movie Music
of the Heart.) who performed Corgliano's complicated music. Bravo!
HONORABLE MENTIONS: The Mummy (Jerry Goldsmith), Three
Seasons (Richard Horowitz), The Legend of 1900 (Ennio Morricone),
The Talented Mr Ripley (Gabriel Yared) and the Talented Mr. Newmans:
Toy Story 2 (Randy), The Green Mile (Thomas), and Galaxy
Quest (David).
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
| 
