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Posted: |
Mar 26, 2017 - 9:25 PM
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By: |
bobbengan
(Member)
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Not exactly maligned, but man, David Newman's Ducktales is ridiculously underrated, and I had no idea just how fantastic it was until Intrada released it. It's everything wonderful about his classic Brave Little Toaster score (though for a better movie in that case), but beefed up to eleven. Practically every character gets a memorable theme/motif (I especially love the 'action' theme, first heard in the opening and blasted beautifully in the ten-minute finale), and it's just a relentlessly exciting listen from start to finish, with the orchestra giving a pretty dang passionate performance considering the film they're contributing to. My favorite of the composer's, easily. I do hope to one day read professional evaluation of the work, as I believe it deserves that kind of attention.
Interesting. I'll have to check this out - thanks for bringing it to my attention!
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I just don't trust them and their conniving grins.
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Posted: |
Mar 27, 2017 - 1:43 AM
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By: |
Tobias
(Member)
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What are some maligned scores that you enjoy (either sincerely or as a guilty pleasure)?
I have a sort of embarrassing fondness for Jerry Goldsmith's "Link", as well as the film itself. Along with finding every King Kong film at least watchable and my affection for Monkey Shines, I think I just have a thing for apes/monkeys. Except chimpanzees. I hate those things. Well anyway, I've witnessed some pretty scathing reviews for Goldsmith's contributions to Link, and I admittedly used to be among them. On one hand, it IS pretty much a less passionate Gremlins. But on the other hand, a less passionate Gremlins is still immensely fun to put on as a pallet cleanser, and the main theme gets stuck in my head more than I'd like to admit. Does it really suit the film? Probably not. But since the movie's so silly, does it really matter?
I understand why James Horner was often bashed for his recyclings (either from himself or others), and I don't have much of a counter-arguement for that. All I can muster is..it doesn't bother me! I wish it could, but it just doesn't. I hear a great deal of John Williams scores and think "oh, that sounds like Indiana Jones" or Jerry Goldsmith and think "oh, that sounds like Rambo, doesn't it?", Christopher Young often sounding Hellraiser-esque, etc. And those examples usually don't bother me either! Baby isn't nearly as riveting as Rambo, but it's a fun listen anyway, just as The Fly II plays well as a sort of "Hellraiser III" work. So I can only hold the same carefree indifference for James Horner's monotony. The Horner bashing reached a point where I previously never bothered to give a lot of his 'lesser' works a chance. But seeing as how I could never drum up much enthusiasm for Wrath of Khan (wonderful in the film, but I rarely desire to put on the CD), Cocoon is a little TOO overtly sappy for even my tastes, and anything to do with Titanic or Avatar makes me ill, I was soon left with no choice but to seek pleasures elsewhere when I was recently on a Horner kick (my first in a pretty long time, as after he passed away, I couldn't bear to listen to his stuff for awhile). I was startled to discover just how much FUN a lot of his lesser works are. They can hardly be referred to him on his A-game, but listening to We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story, The Pagemaster and Mighty Joe Young (which I never heard beyond Windsong, which IS certainly the best part) were much more jovial, invigorating experiences than I had anticipated. The Amazing Spider-Man also remains one of the few superhero scores of any era that makes me happy. Again, anyone who's too uncomfortable with his recycling, I get where you're coming from, and I have no desire to debate about it. Just let me have my naive fun. I desperately needed some good swashbuckling music when wallowing in my usual pit of depression, and Pagemaster supplied that quite nicely. Are Cocoon, Avatar, Titanic and Wrath of Khan stronger works? Certainly. But I guess my ears just found greater comfort elsewhere.
And lastly, Michael Giacchino doesn't exactly seem especially popular here, and seeing his name practically everywhere in mainstream films nowadays indeed gets a little tiring, but eh, he has his moments for me. Jurassic World's score was a mixed rather low in the film (I think the film only lets the music be heard when he's using the John Williams themes), and the CD sounds a little dry, but there are a few moments of power that I love. I think "Chasing the Dragons" is a wonderful piece of action music, and the music for the dimorphodon attack sequence leaves me to think he should try horror more often. Zootopia suffers from a lack of a main theme (and is once again mixed pretty low in the film), but I find it a fun listen anyway. Though as someone who was raised on Looney Tunes and classic Disney shorts, I think I've built up a pretty strong 'tolerance' for mickey-mousing.
Many of the things you write about I totally agree. I thought I was one of the few if not the only one who actually love both the film Link and the score.
If I understand it correctly many film score fans (especially those who are older than I am) comes from classic music and more or less discovered film scores . I guess they are more experts in classic music so they can quite easily hear if James Horner (or other composers as well) sounds like a specific classical composition. But for me I do not come from the classical or other music background, I came into film scores after have been a fan of watching movies my entire life from early childhood. Heck, I even at one time in my life worked as a film critic. So because of that background I am not qualified to say that this or that score sounds like this or that classical piece so therefore I do not care since it does not bother me if it sounds like a classical piece. And I have not heard every score out there so I can not say that this or that score sounds more or less exactly like that one. So I understand your point of view Kaseykockroach.
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I like Jerry Goldsmith's LINK.
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I've always enjoyed Harry Robinson's Hawk the Slayer. It rips off both Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds and Ennio Morricone quite unashamedly, but so what? The bottom line is it's perfectly enjoyable. Cheesy but fun.
Another one that is connected in a more genuine way to Wayne's classic is Ken Freeman's electronic score for the failed family tv slot adaptation of The Tripods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zkZPzeqyt8
Sadly the series, largely a replacement for Doctor Who during it's almost cancellation in the mid-eighties, was cancelled before it got to the third leg. Freeman was involved in WotW, and it shows. Apart from similar subject matter the music isn't a million miles away in style.
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The Transformers Movie - no, not that one, the REAL one from 1986!  Go go Vince DiCola!
If you had asked me twenty years ago if I had ever heard it or wanted to, I would have laughed and laughed. And yet it's been one of my most listened to soundtracks ever since the Intrada version came out. It's just a pure delight for me.
And I, too, love Link!
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And on topic. Titles that I like, which might not get laurels here. There might be more.
• Captain America Civil War. A score that not excels in depth, agreed. But the modern feel, the brassy fanfare-like two note theme and the sonore tone fit the film like a glove and listing to it separated form the picture gets me back in what I enjoyed watching it.
• Hannibal – Brian Reitzell. Perhaps not *not* loved, but it doesn't get a lot of response. Reitzell's avantgardist and even experimental approach is daring, and to the surreality of the show. Without leaving an emotional texture. It's a fantastic and embracing work!
• Social Network / The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo / Gone Girl — Trent Reznor. Unmelodic, unromantic, unacoustic thus automatically unloved here. Nevertheless, these scores are in your face and yet nuanced in their emotional spectrum. No small feat.
John, I think highly of all these, but have been surprised that I haven't enjoyed Hannibal soundtracks apart from the show. They are so deeply integrated into the show (which I have VERY mixed emotions about but recognize its strengths in design, mood and atmosphere), that the music/sound design really doesn't stand alone for me. Probably because it is such a collage.
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I didn't buy the Hannibal recordings, only listened on Spotify. And now I see they just have one track per volume, but I thought they had the whole albums up for a while. Maybe not, and that's why I didn't get into them. Just can't remember.
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Another shout-out to an underrated gem: John Powell's "Horton Hears a Who".
This was one of THE most fun listening experiences I have ever had. The opening theme (weirdly split into three tracks on the album, but it doesn't affect the listening for me), all those kooky sound effects and variety of instruments (dog squeaky toy!), the Mountain Chase cue, the entire finale and Horton Suite, and that's just naming a few spiritual highlights. The album presentation is really chaotic, but I have a feeling it's deliberate.
It is just sixty minutes of pure concentrated delight. Easily one of Powell's best in my opinion. It's a shame his animation scores are usually looked down upon by critics (HTTYD excepted) by virtue of being passionate music provided for, well, silly kids movies. But I'll sure as hell take those Blue Sky movies over any of that superhero nonsense other composers are stuck with.
Have I mentioned the finale is insane? Because it is.
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Posted: |
Apr 2, 2017 - 8:14 AM
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By: |
MikeP
(Member)
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Nobody really has to "defend" anything, we like what we like.
Hey, I love Goldsmith's Rent A Cop. When you're faced with a kinda below average thriller with a not-his-best-day Burt Reynolds and um, Liza Minnelli, what else can you do? Support the movie as best you can, and this synth heavy score adds the right layer of gloss.
Any my wacky idea is that in his mind, even though he knew he was using lots of electronics, Goldsmith was writing a 60's jazzy thriller score. The theme is pure 60's beautiful music/easy listening, and you can very easily hear the music orchestrated in a jazz thriller style.
Love this one, if no one else does, fine 
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