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Thanks!!! More Armstrong is always welcome
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Bob, it just depends on the assignment Portman is given. Try Never Let Me Go. I think it's a masterpiece. Nothing fluffy about it.
Yavar
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Posted: |
Mar 19, 2015 - 5:44 PM
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By: |
bobbengan
(Member)
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Bob, it just depends on the assignment Portman is given. Try Never Let Me Go. I think it's a masterpiece. Nothing fluffy about it.
Yavar
I'll look into that one, Yavar. So many of her scores, for me, lack memorable content and are just so... Predictable. CIDER HOUSE RULES must be one of the most trite, lazy-sounding scores ever; The very first time I listened to it, I could hum the melody alongside it as I was hearing it *for the first time*. The chord progressions feel so ordinary, formulaic, the orchestration so maudlin and lacking in creativity or vitality or true passion. I can think of few scores by a non-Media Ventures composer that sounds more asleep at the wheel!
Hold up, lemme step down off my soapbox here...
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Saw the film this evening and really enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I'm a fan of the original but this is also excellent with fine performances, gorgeous photography and a wonderful score by Craig Armstrong. In particular the scene where Troy and Bathsheba kiss in the woods is stunningly scored. Will be picking up the CD, for sure.
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For me, a Rachel Portman comparison is NEVER a good thing.
Amen, brother! Truckloads of forgettable scores.
Haven't heard the Armstrong yet, but I'm cautiously optimistic. The Bennett score is a classic though.
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The influx of Portman hate here is more distressing than not being able to see this film in my area.
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Posted: |
Jun 24, 2015 - 4:33 PM
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By: |
Bob S
(Member)
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Have already seen the new Madding Crowd twice and highly recommend. It’s the perfect palate cleanser in the midst of the seemingly endless current onslaught of summer blockbusters. John Schlesinger’s 1967 version was shot as a widescreen epic, one of the last in a long string of such giant films that seemed to go out of style when 1970 rolled around. It was very much a star vehicle, capitalizing especially on Julie Christie’s newfound fame from Darling and Doctor Zhivago.
Thomas Vinterberg’s 2015 version is a different kind of film, intimate and understated art house fare, a glowing “coffee table” movie that will certainly be remembered when it is time to nominate for Best Cinematography. The cast is little known, allowing the story to take center stage.
Richard Rodney Bennett’s bold, Oscar-nominated score deftly complimented the broad images on the 1967 screen, and Craig Armstrong’s more subtle, nuanced work is aptly suited to the sepia-toned 2015 version. Both employ traditional English folk themes to good effect. I was especially moved to hear Carey Mulligan (joined by Michael Sheen) in the new film sing “Let No Man Steal Your Thyme,” a rarely performed English ballad perfectly suited to the romantic plight of Miss Bathsheba Everdene.
Craig Armstrong’s Far From the Madding Crowd is the best original score I have heard this year, and I expect it to receive notice when Oscar season rolls round. I especially hope is avoids the fate suffered by Carter Burwell’s True Grit in 2010, not nominated when the Academy judged that perfect score contained too much traditional music to be “original.”
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