Intrada has just released two new Special Collection CDs, both featuring scores from 1978 by three-time Oscar nominee Jerry Fielding.
GRAY LADY DOWN is a disaster thriller about the attempt to rescue a sunken nuclear submarine. The film was directed by David Greene (Sebastian, Godspell) and the cast included Charlton Heston, David Carradine, Stacy Keach, and Christopher Reeve in his first feature film role. The Intrada CD represents the first-ever release of Fielding's score, and is limited to 2000 units.
THE BIG SLEEP was the Michael Winner-directed remake of Raymond Chandler's classic private eye novel, updated to contemporary England, with Robert Mitchum repeating his role as Philip Marlowe from the 1975, period-faithful version of Farewell, My Lovely. The all-star cast included Sarah Miles, Candy Clark, Oliver Reed, Richard Boone, Joan Collins, Edward Fox and James Stewart, and Intrada's CD, limited to 1500 copies, features the complete Fielding score (a suite from the score had been included on one of Bay Cities' Fielding compilation CDs) as well as the gorgeous poster art by the late, great Richard Amsel.
Buysoundtrax has announced two new CDs, to begin shipping at the end of the month. Basil Poledouris managed to express his love of the sea musically in two scores paired by the label on one disc (1500 units) - the Carroll Ballard boat-racing romance WIND (previously released on CD in Japan and by Citadel), and the previously unrelased score for the TV movie A WHALE FOR THE KILLING. The label's other new CD is the first release (1000 units) of the score to the 1975 Western WINTERHAWK, with music by Lee Holdridge and additional music by William Goldstein and Nicholas Flagello.
A few months ago, Varese Sarabande began a new series of limited edition CDs featuring contemporary scores with their releases of Marco Beltrami's In the Electric Mist and John Debney's The Stoning of Soraya M. This Monday, they plan to announce two new CDs in this series.
Most of our readers are probably aware of this already, but two of the most eagerly anticipated scores of 2010 have been rejected.
Mel Gibson returns to the screen in EDGE OF DARKNESS, a conspiracy thriller directed by Martin Campbell (GoldenEye, The Mask of Zorro, Casino Royale) which is a remake of an English miniseries from the 1980s (coincidentally, it was the score for the original Edge of Darkness, composed by Michael Kamen and Eric Clapton, that won them the assignment of scoring Gibson's breakthrough Hollywood film, Lethal Weapon). The remake's original score was composed by the acclaimed concert composer John Corigliano, whose three previous film scores include an Oscar nominee (Altered States) and an Oscar winner (The Red Violin), but Corigliano has been replaced by a similarly talented and uncompromising composer, Howard Shore.
A more surprising replacement came with the upcoming, long-delayed remake of THE WOLFMAN, starring Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt. Danny Elfman had already recorded his orchestral score when it was announced that Paul Haslinger (who scored the first and third Underworld films) would replace him. Even the brand new Wolfman trailer, which features a more modern, rock-ish musical accompaniment, still lists Elfman as the film's composer.
The latest Soundtrax column from Randall D. Larson features interviews with Brian Tyler and Tyler Bates as well as reviews of recent releases including Rolfe Kent's Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and 17 Again.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
IN THEATERS TODAY
Dare - David Poe, Duncan Sheik
Endgame - Martin Phipps
Fantastic Mr. Fox- Alexandre Desplat - Score and Song CD on Abkco
The Little Traitor - Deborah Lurie
Love Hurts - Mark Adler
Oh My God - Alexander Bubenheim
Pirate Radio - Song CD on Republic; 2-disc song CD The Boat That Rocked on Mercury (import)
2012 - Harald Kloser, Thomas Wander - Score CD on RCA
Women in Trouble - Robyn Hitchcock
COMING SOON
November 17
The Fourth Kind - Atli Orvarsson - Varese Sarabande
November 24
Merlin, Season Two - Rob Lane, Rohan Stevenson - MovieScore Media
New Moon - Alexandre Desplat - E1
Ninja Assassin - Ilan Eshkeri - Amazon [CD-R]
The Princess and the Frog - Randy Newman - Disney
The Prisoner - Rupert Gregson-Williams - Varese Sarabande
A Serious Man - Carter Burwell - Lakeshore
Surrogates - Richard Marvin - Lakeshore
Zombieland - David Sardy - Relativity Music
December 1
Cracks - Javier Navarrete - Varese Sarabande (import)
Wind/A Whale for the Killing - Basil Poledouris - Buysoundtrax
Winterhawk - Lee Holdridge - Buysoundtrax
December 8
Avatar - James Horner - Atlantic
Invictus - Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens - New Line
December 15
Alice - Ben Mink - Varese Sarabande
December 22
The Last Station - Sergei Yevtushenko - Varese Sarabande
Date Unknown
Americans - John Barry - Universal France
Inspector Clouseau - Ken Thorne - Kritzerland
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
November 13 - Andre Previn begins recording his score to Dead Ringer (1963)
November 13 - Henry Mancini begins recording his score for The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1972)
November 13 - Carlo Rustichelli died (2004)
November 14 - Aaron Copland born (1900)
November 14 - Wendy Carlos born (1939)
November 14 - Jean-Claude Petit born (1943)
November 14 - Yanni born (1954)
November 14 - Dave Grusin begins recording his score for The Scorpio Letters (1966)
November 14 - Sol Kaplan died (1990)
November 14 - Michel Colombier died (2004)
November 14 - Irving Gertz died (2008)
November 15 - Gianni Ferrio born (1924)
November 15 - John Williams begins recording his score to The Cowboys (1971)
November 15 - Richard Addinsell died (1977)
November 15 - Alexandre Tansman died (1986)
November 16 - The Lost Weekend is released in theaters (1945)
November 17 - David Amram born (1930)
November 17 - Wilfred Josephs died (1997)
November 18 - Carter Burwell born (1955)
November 18 - Ben-Hur released (1959)
November 18 - Paul Bowles died (1999)
November 18 - Michael Kamen died (2003)
November 18 - Cy Coleman died (2004)
November 19 - Paul Glass born (1934)
November 19 - Joel Goldsmith born (1957)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
THE BOX - Win Butler, Regine Chassagne, Owen Pallett
"So much of 'The Box' is deftly unshowy; it builds suspense the old-fashioned way, sometimes seeming more like a movie actually made in the '70s than a contemporary one set in that era. Kelly uses long takes -- accompanied by Win Butler, Régine Chassagn and Owen Pallett's chilly, atmospheric music -- to capture every shadow of emotion crossing his actors' faces."
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
"It's more weight than the story can comfortably support, yet 'The Box' keeps buckling without collapsing. That's partly because stars James Marsden and Cameron Diaz, distracting accents and all, convey real warmth as the financially overextended central couple. But it's mostly because of Kelly's skill at bringing an atmosphere of creeping dread to the most banal settings. The film makes an off-ramp motel and a library outfitted in high-'70s décor as frightening as any spookhouse. (A foreboding score by Win Butler and Régine Chassagne of The Arcade Fire, plus their occasional collaborator Owen Pallett, helps as well.)"
Keith Phipps, The Onion
"Despite the overkill, Kelly gains some arresting imagery from his multiple plotlines, with d.p. Steven Poster and production designer Alexander Hammond providing a groovy monotone look, replete with '70s gadgets and backed by Arcade Fire's retro score."
Jordan Mintzer, Variety
A CHRISTMAS CAROL - Alan Silvestri
"I like the way that Zemeckis does it. He seems to have a more sure touch than many other directors, using 3-D instead of being used by it. If the foreground is occupied by close objects, they're usually looming inward, not out over our heads. Note the foreground wall-mounted bells that we look past when Scrooge, far below, enters his home; as one and then another slowly starts to move, it's a nice little touch. Another one: The score by Alan Silvestri sneaks in some traditional Christmas carols, but you have to listen for such as 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen' when its distinctive cadences turn sinister during a perilous flight through London.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"So deck the halls with praise for the crew -- cinematographer Robert Presley, designer Doug Chiang, animation supervisor Jenn Emberly, visual effects supervisor George Murphy and Alan Silvestri for his robust score. But a rousing humbug to those who confuse the media for the message."
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter
THE FOURTH KIND - Atli Orvarsson
"The budget isn't all that's cheap about 'Paranormal Activity' - the ending is eye-rollingly desperate. But its long takes, extended silences, and use of rhythm demonstrate a rare, reassuring belief in an audience's patience. Its success is all the more exciting given the hackwork that so consistently is permitted to stand for moviemaking, even by the standards of schlock. 'The Fourth Kind' leans on a trendy gimmick while following the old formula of a hundred cuts per minute plus a score that never sleeps."
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
"The irony is that the 'documentary' moments of patients videotaped under hypnosis - often regrettably placed side by side with their reenactments - contain the only genuine shocks, whereas the 'directed' scenes traffic in telegraphed scoring, excessive photographic effects and laughable histrionics."
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
"That truth, as any 'X-Filer' knows, is out there, but in 'The Fourth Kind,' it's loopy in a way that's completely unintended. Osunsanmi, whose only other movie is the awful exploitation flick 'The Cavern,' invests so much time and energy trying to convince the audience of the events' veracity that he forgets to create even a rudimentary sense of tension. His split-screen divide between 'reality' and 're-enactment' is almost as distracting as composer Atli Orvarsson's boom-boom score."
Glenn Whipp, Associated Press
"Adding to that artifice is an insistent orchestral score by Atli Orvarsson that constantly feels at odds with the production's desire to be taken as the real deal."
Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter
THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS - Rolfe Kent
"Despite a backbeat of perky music and sarcastic voice-over, 'The Men Who Stare at Goats' lacks pizzazz."
J. Hoberman, L.A. Weekly
"While it's amusing to hear uniformed men talk earnestly about embracing the code of the Jedi (especially when they're sharing this code with McGregor, who knows a thing or two about Jedi), 'Goats' relentless whimsicality and boisterous 'Are we having fun yet?' score works much harder than it needs to."
Noel Murray, The Onion | 
