Music Box has announced two upcoming limited edition CDs - the first-ever release of Georges Delerue's score AMERICAN FRIENDS, the 1991 period romantic comedy written by and starring Michael Palin, co-starring Connie Booth and Trini Alvarado; and an expanded version of Ennio Morricone's evocative score for Adrian Lyne's controversial 1998 remake of LOLITA, starring Jeremy Irons, Dominique Swain, Melanie Griffith and Frank Langella as Quilty.
On December 17, Varese Sarabande will release the score for the period martial arts fantasy 47 RONIN, starring Keanu Reeves and Rinko Kicuchi. Filmed over two years ago, the film had had a tumultous production (or at least post-production). Like the upcoming remake of Oldboy (another Varese release), 47 Ronin has gone through three composers -- Oscar winner Atticus Ross (The Social Network), Oscar nominee Javier Navarrete (Pan's Labyrinth) and finally Ilan Eshkeri, who is having a busy year, having also scored Austenland, Justin and the Knights of Valour, and the upcoming Dickens biopic The Invisible Woman.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
The Counselor - Daniel Pemberton - Milan
Disney's A Christmas Carol - Alan Silvestri - Intrada/Disney
Goodbye & Amen - Guido & Maurizio DeAngelis - GDM
La Cage Aux Folles III - Ennio Morricone - GDM
Prancer - Maurice Jarre - Intrada Special Collection
The Thanksgiving Promise - Bruce Broughton - Intrada Special Collection
Thor: The Dark World - Brian Tyler - Intrada/Disney
IN THEATERS TODAY
Aftermath - Jan Duszynski
The Best Man Holiday - Stanley Clarke - Song CD on RCA
Charlie Countryman - Christophe Beck
Cold Turkey - William C. White
Dear Mr. Watterson - Mike Boggs
Go for Sisters - Mason Daring
In the Name Of - Pawel Mykietyn, Adam Walicki
Nebraska - Mark Orton - Score CD due Nov. 19 on Milan
Sunlight Jr. - J. Mascis
COMING SOON
November 19
Arrested Development - David Schwartz - Varese Sarabande
The Book Thief - John Williams - Sony
Nebraska - Mark Orton - Milan
November 26
Frozen - Christophe Beck - Disney
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - James Newton Howard - Universal Republic
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom - Alex Heffes - Decca
December 10
Bonnie and Clyde - John Debney - La-La Land
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Howard Shore - Watertower
Hours - Benjamin Wallfisch - Varese Sarabande
Oldboy - Roque Banos - Varese Sarabande
Person of Interest: Season Two - Ramin Djawadi - Varese Sarabande
Saving Mr. Banks - Thomas Newman - Disney
December 17
47 Ronin - Ilan Eshkeri - Varese Sarabande
Date Unknown
Aegis (re-release) - Trevor Jones - Island
Agalja - Zbigniew Preisner - Quartet
Airport (re-release) - Alfred Newman - MCA (import)
Airport 1975 (re-release) - John Cacavas - MCA (import)
American Friends - Georges Delerue -Music Box
The Angel Trilogy - Craig Safan/Christopher Young/Eric Allaman - Buysoundtrax
The Best of Silent Hill - Akira Yamaoka - Perseverance
Che Casino Con Pierino/3 Supermen Contro Il Padrino - Nico Fidenco - Beat
The Doll Squad - Nicholas Carras - Monstrous Movie Music
Exploding Sun - James Gelfand - MovieScore Media/Kronos
Fitzwilly - John WIlliams - Music Box
Frida (re-release) - Elliot Goldenthal - Universal (import)
Heaven Can Wait/Racing with the Moon - Dave Grusin - Kritzerland
Jurassic Park (re-release) - John Williams - MCA (import)
The Little Wizard - Panu Aaltio, Mark Timon Barcelo, Miguel Cordeiro - MovieScore Media/Kronos
Lolita - Ennio Morricone - Music Box
The Man from the Deep River - Daniele Patucchi - Beat
Music from The X-Files: 20th Anniversary Celebration (re-recordings) - Mark Snow - Buysoundtrax
Neinte Rose Per OSS 117 - Piero Piccioni - Beat
Patrick - Pino Donaggio - Quartet
Poveri Ma Bellie - Giorgio Fabor - Digitmovies
Recycling Lily - Phillip Schweidler, Moritz Schneider - MovieScore Media/Kronos
Rollercoaster (re-release) - Lalo Schifrin - MCA (import)
Saladino - Angelo Francesco Lavagnino - Kronos
A Secret/Menachem & Fred - Zbigniew Preisner - Quartet
Shine (re-release) - David Hirschfelder - Phillips (import)
Thief - Tangerine Dream - Perseverance
Un Dollaro Bucato - Gianni Ferrio - Digitmovies
Visit to a Small Planet/The Delicate Delinquent - Leigh Harline/Buddy Bregman - Kritzerland
Whatever Happened to Toto Baby/The Honorables - Armando Trovaoili - Digitmovies
The World Is Not Enough (re-release) - David Arnold - MCA (import)
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
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 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Where Silence Has Lease" (1988)
November 17 - Wilfred Josephs died (1997)
November 18 - Carter Burwell born (1955)
November 18 - Ben-Hur released (1959)
November 18 - Lalo Schifrin begins recording his score for The Mean Season (1984)
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)
November 20 - David Raksin begins recording his score for Across the Wide Missouri (1951)
November 20 - Kevin Gilbert born (1966)
November 21 - Malcolm Williamson born (1931)
November 21 - The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York (1946)
November 21 - Don Ellis begins recording his replacement score for The Seven-Ups (1973)
November 21 - Ralph Burns died (2001)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
THE BOOK THIEF - John Williams
"Brian Percival (an Emmy-Award winning director of 'Downton Abbey') utilizes a remarkable self-control over the material. There is a surprising amount of levity here, including an indoor snowball fight, that helps to lighten the mood. Despite the heavy subject matter, we are still experiencing the story through the eyes of a child. The film avoids strict melodrama, building to an emotionally resonant crescendo (with the help of a remarkable score by the legendary John Williams). The audience is spared a non-stop tearjerker, but 'Amour' is the last time I was in a screening where you could palpably feel that every person in the room was sobbing in unison."
Matt Shiverdecker, Paste Magazine
"While director Percival ('Downton Abbey') elicits estimable performances from his cast, especially Nelisse, Rush and Watson, the visible world he embeds them in looks like a set from an old studio movie or a '50s TV sitcom. Heaven Street, the provincial thoroughfare is called, and its airbrushed quaintness is as dreamily reassuring as John Williams' score, despite (or because of?) the heavily fetishized Nazi flags that seem to festoon every available inch of screen space."
Godfrey Chesire, RogerEbert.com
"Reading is an active enterprise; it demands an effort to translate the words on the page into images, ideas, emotions, people. Watching a movie is passive; one need only stay awake to have consumed it. So a film of 'The Book Thief' has an uphill climb to stir the same intensity as the novel did. The movie, directed by Brian Percival ('Downton Abbey') and scripted by Michael Petroni, is a sort of illuminated manuscript -- a picture book of the book. Proceeding at a stately pace to a subtly melodic John Williams score, this honorable adaptation telescopes a 552-page story into a series of anecdotes covering Liesel’s five years on Himmelstrasse (Heaven Street) with the Hubermanns."
Richard Corliss, Time Magazine
"I can’t imagine that the creators of 'The Book Thief' were aware of their movie’s underlying message that it really wasn’t that bad. John Williams’s score -- a quieter, more somber echo of his music for “Schindler’s List” -- lends the film an unearned patina of solemnity, for 'The Book Thief' is a shameless piece of Oscar-seeking Holocaust kitsch."
Stephen Holden, New York Times
"Impeccable design contributions are highlighted by Florian Ballhaus’ somber but handsome widescreen lensing, and an excellent score by John Williams that reps his first feature work for a director other than Steven Spielberg in years."
Dennis Harvey, Variety
"John Williams' uncharacteristically understated score is one of his more effective in recent years."
Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter
GREAT EXPECTATIONS - Richard Hartley
"As the pages turn faster, focusing on the hows and whys of a major crime central to the plot, this concision and velocity make the film feel like a modern thriller. Booo. In that contemporary (which is to say shockingly primitive) spirit, Richard Hartley's musical score tells us just when to worry or cry. The presence of always-fun character actors like Robbie Coltrane and Ewen Bremmer, as the cynical/compassionate lawyer-bill collector duo Jaggers and Wemmick, made me wish for a lavish sendup by the 'Hot Fuzz'/'The World's End' guys."
Steven Boone, RogerEbert.com
"One of the strengths of this version is its impressive sense of place. Cinematographer John Mathieson lends the rural marshland setting of the opening a desolate beauty that serves the story well. And production designer Jim Clay’s detailed recreation of early Victorian London is suitably grimy, full of seedy locales and streets paved with mud, teeming with rowdy humanity. Also atmospherically rendered is Miss Havisham's crumbling mansion, surrounded by overgrown foliage. Richard Hartley’s music provides fluid underscoring for the story’s shifts through melodrama, romance, mystery and tragedy."
David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
HOW I LIVE NOW - Jon Hopkins
“Actual mechanics of the war are left unseen -- there are rumblings of terrorists, contamination, and overrun borders -- and the conflict is largely (and wisely) kept to Daisy’s close reaction to Britain’s collapsing infrastructure. Opening moments aside, Ronan carries that gradual shift wonderfully, hinting at her character’s anorexia and constant anxiety with a vulnerability unlike anything else she’s done previously. The acting amongst the children is strong as well, with Holland and Bird naturally playing the most naïve members of the group—caught between reality and imagination as they encounter society’s decline. And it does decline -- twitchily overseen by electronic artist Jon Hopkins’ superb, propulsive score, Daisy and Piper journey from town to countryside, witnessing bloody and dire circumstances of their friends along the way.”
Charlie Schmidlin, The Playlist
"In any event, Daisy is at first very reluctant indeed to join her young cousins in their little war games or forays to a gorgeous pond and waterfall near their rambling, cozy house. The lyricism of the Wordsworth-worthy setting is underscored by a nice selection of English folk-rock on the soundtrack; but soon an ominous electronic score by Jon Hopkins replaces the sounds of Fairport Convention and Nick Drake. The only adult in the house happens to be a diplomat; she flies off for an important conference, the kids are disturbed/exhilarated by a V-formation of fighter jets, and soon after that, the news comes that London's been nuked."
Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com
"Shot in the Welsh countryside, the movie briefly evokes a life attuned to natural rhythms. Daisy's goth-girl facade slips as she visits the local swimming hole, and watches Edmond chat with cows and tend to an injured hawk. Bucolic 1970s British folk-rock (Nick Drake, Fairport Convention) alternates with Jon Hopkins' techno score as Daisy and Edmond fall in love."
Mark Jenkins, NPR
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older films, at the following L.A. movie theaters: AMPAS, American Cinematheque: Aero, American Cinematheque: Egyptian, LACMA, New Beverly, Nuart, Silent Movie Theater and UCLA.
November 15
THE GODFATHER (Nino Rota) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
LABYRINTH (Trevor Jones) [Nuart]
NEW YORK STORIES, FOUR ROOMS (Combustible Edison) [New Beverly]
REDES (Silvestre Revueltas), LET'S GO WITH PANCHO VILLA (Silvestre Revueltas) [LACMA]
VALLEY GIRL [New Beverly]
YELLOW EARTH (Zhao Jiping), RED SORGHUM (Zhao Jiping) [UCLA]
November 16
ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE [Silent Movie Theater]
NEW YORK STORIES, FOUR ROOMS (Combustible Edison) [New Beverly]
QUE VIVA MEXICO [LACMA]
RAVENOUS (Michael Nyman, Damon Albarn) [New Beverly]
SHAUN OF THE DEAD (Daniel Mudford, Pete Woodhead), HOT FUZZ (David Arnold), THE WORLD'S END (Steven Price) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
TRUE HEART SUSIE [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT (Michel Legrand) [UCLA]
November 17
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (Carmen Dragon), THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (Dimitri Tiomkin) [New Beverly]
ORLANDO (David Motion, Sally Potter) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE PRINCESS BRIDE (Mark Knopfler) [UCLA]
SO'S YOUR OLD MAN, RUNNING WILD [UCLA]
WEST SIDE STORY (Leonard Bernstein, Saul Chaplin,Johnny Green, Sid Ramin, Irwin Kostal) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
November 18
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (Carmen Dragon), THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (Dimitri Tiomkin) [New Beverly]
November 19
SALOME (George Duning) [LACMA]
November 20
ZIEGFELD FOLLIES [Silent Movie Theater]
November 21
THE HUNGER GAMES (James Newton Howard) [Arclight Hollywood, Arclight Sherman Oaks]
THE SPECTACULAR NOW (Rob Simonsen), THE WORLD'S END (Steven Price) [New Beverly]
November 22
THE ARCH (Tsan-luan Yu), CHINA BEHIND [UCLA]
A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME (Philip Glass) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE FUGITIVE (Richard Hageman), TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA (Ennio Morricone) [LACMA]
JOHN F. KENNEDY: YEARS OF LIGHTNING, DAY OF DRUMS (Bruce Herschenson) [AMPAS]
OLDBOY (Yeeong-wook Jo) [Nuart]
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 3 (Barry Goldberg) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE SPECTACULAR NOW (Rob Simonsen), THE WORLD'S END (Steven Price) [New Beverly]
November 23
CONVOY (Chip Davis) [Silent Movie Theater]
LA DOLCE VITA (Nino Rota) [Cinematheque: Aero]
THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA (Benjamin Frankel) [LACMA]
THE SPECTACULAR NOW (Rob Simonsen), THE WORLD'S END (Steven Price) [New Beverly]
UNDER THE VOLCANO (Alex North) [LACMA]
UNFINISHED BUSINESS (Franz Waxman), LADY IN A JAM (Frank Skinner) [UCLA]
YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH (Morris Stoloff) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
November 24
A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME (Philip Glass) [Silent Movie Theater]
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (Earle Hagen) [UCLA]
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (Leith Stevens), THE TIME MACHINE (Russell Garcia) [New Beverly]
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