Intrada has released two new CDs this week, featuring four scores.
The gigantic success of the James Bond films in the 1960s spawned a flood of imitations, and among the most popular were the two films starring James Coburn as Derek Flint, OUR MAN FLINT and IN LIKE FLINT, whose colorful, campy style was a huge inspiration for the Austin Powers comedies. Jerry Goldsmith wrote the light-hearted, pop-jazz scores for both films, and the original soundtrack LPs were actually Goldsmith-conducted re-recordings of his music. While Varese Sarabande had released the original score tracks on one CD, Intrada's Flint release is the first CD release of the LP re-recordings, taken from the original stereo masters and featuring the original cover art by the great Bob Peak (Apocalypse Now, The Spy Who Loved Me, Star Trek 1-5).
Michel Legrand won his second Oscar, and his only one in the Original Score category, for 1971's nostalgic romantic drama SUMMER OF '42. When the soundtrack LP was release, the largely monothematic score was represented by only two cues, with the bulk of the LP consisting of Legrand's music for the barely released romance THE PICASSO SUMMER, starring Albert Finney and Yvette Mimieux and co-written by Ray Bradbury. Intrada's new two-disc expansion of that release features the complete 17-minute Summer of '42 score, the "Picasso Suite" from the LP as well as the complete Picasso Summer score.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Birdman - Antonio Sanchez - Milan
Code Black - James Lavino - Brookhaven [CD-R]
Crash - Howard Shore - Howe
Dead Ringers - Howard Shore - Howe
Fury - Steven Price - Varese Sarabande
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers - Alan Howarth - Buysoundtrax
Il Delitto Del Diavolo - Angelo Francesco Lavagnino - Digitmovies
La Buca - Pino Donaggio - Quartet
Lasa & Zabala - Pascal Gaigne - Quartet
Les Onze Mille Verges/Tarot - Michel Colombier - Music Box
Loreak - Pascal Gaigne - Quartet
Naked Lunch - Howard Shore - Howe
Our Man Flint/In Like Flint - Jerry Goldsmith - Intrada Special Collection
A Prayer for the Dying - Bill Conti - Quartet
Reclaim - Inon Zur - Silva
Summer of '42/The Picasso Summer - Michel Legrand - Intrada Special Collection
Tenue de Soiree - Serge Gainsbourg - Music Box
35 Whirlpools Below Sound - Thomas Newman, Rick Cox - Cold Blue
IN THEATERS TODAY
Advanced Style - Kelli Scarr
The Best of Me - Aaron Zigman - Song CD on Capitol Nashville
Birdman - Antonio Sanchez - Score CD on Milan
The Book of Life - Gustavo Santaolalla - Soundtrack CD due Oct. 27 on Sony
Dear White People - Kathryn Bostic - Song CD due Nov. 17 on Lakeshore
Default - Xander Lott
Felony - Bryony Marks
Fury - Steven Price - Score CD on Varese Sarabande
Housebound - Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper
Rudderless - Eef Barzelay - Soundtrack CD with 5 score cues due Oct. 27 on Lakeshore
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya - Joe Hisaishi
Watchers of the Sky - Dougie Bowne, Claudio Ragazzi
Young Ones - Nathan Johnson
COMING SOON
October 21
Addicted - Aaron Zigman - Varese Sarabande
Titan A.E. - Graeme Revell - La-La Land
October 28
The Hero of Color City - Zoe Poledouris-Roche, Angel Roche Jr. - Varese Sarabande
John Wick - Tyler Bates, Joel J. Richard - Varese Sarabande
Nightcrawler - James Newton Howard - Lakeshore
Revenge of the Green Dragons - Mark Kilian - Varese Sarabande
St. Vincent - Theodore Shapiro - Sony
Stonehearst Asylum - John Debney - Lakeshore
White Bird in a Blizzard - Robin Guthrie, Harold Budd - Lakeshore
November 4
The Theory of Everything - Johann Johannsson - Backlot
Tracks - Garth Stevenson - VMI
November 11
The Imitation Game - Alexandre Desplat - Sony
November 25
Big Hero 6 - Henry Jackman - Disney
Horns - Rob - Lakeshore
The Little Mermaid - Alan Menken - Disney
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History - David Cieri - PBS
December 9
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - Howard Shore - Watertower
Date Unknown
Chicago Fire: Season One - Atli Orvarsson - Phineas Atwood
Chicago Fire: Season Two - Atli Orvarsson - Phineas Atwood
Die Hebamme - Marcel Barsotti - Alhambra
Duel of the Titans - Piero Piccioni - Digitmovies
Jona Che Vise Nella Balena - Ennio Morricone - Beat
Miss Arizona - Armando Trovajoli - Saimel
New York Chiama Superdrago - Benedetto Ghiglia - Digitmovies
Rio Conchos - Jerry Goldsmith - Kritzerland
Sinfonia Per Due Spie - Francesco De Masi - Beat
Take Five - Giordiano Corapi - Beat
Vieni Avanti Cretino - Fabio Frizzi - Beat
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
October 17 - Luis Bonfa born (1922)
October 17 - Around the World in Eighty Days premieres in New York (1956)
October 17 - Bullitt opens in New York (1968)
October 17 - Jay Livingston died (2001)
October 17 - Vic Mizzy died (2009)
October 18 - Frederick Hollander born (1896)
October 18 - Rene Garriguenc born (1908)
October 18 - Allyn Ferguson born (1924)
October 18 - John Morris born (1926)
October 18 - Peter Best born (1943)
October 18 - Howard Shore born (1946)
October 18 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score for East Side, West Side (1949)
October 18 - Bernard Herrmann begins recording his score to The Wrong Man (1956)
October 18 - Wynton Marsalis born (1961)
October 18 - Pete Carpenter died (1987)
October 19 - Fiorenzo Carpi born (1918)
October 19 - George Fenton born (1950)
October 19 - Victor Young begins recording his score to Scaramouche (1951)
October 19 - Recording sessions begin on James Newton Howard’s score for Falling Down (1992)
October 19 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
October 20 - Adolph Deutsch born (1897)
October 20 - Frank Churchill born (1901)
October 20 - Tom Petty born (1950)
October 20 - Thomas Newman born (1955)
October 20 - Lucien Moraweck died (1973)
October 20 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Booby Trap" (1989)
October 21 - Joseph Mullendore born (1914)
October 21 - Malcolm Arnold born (1921)
October 21 - John W. Morgan born (1946)
October 21 - Brian Banks born (1955)
October 21 - Lyle Workman born (1957)
October 21 - Jerry Goldsmith records his replacement score for Seven Days in May (1963)
October 21 - David Newman begins recording his score for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1987)
October 21 - Gianni Ferrio died (2013)
October 22 - Giorgio Gaslini born (1929)
October 22 - Hans J. Salter begins recording his score for The Far Horizons (1954)
October 22 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score to Bhowani Junction (1955)
October 22 - Marc Shaiman born (1959)
October 22 - Hugo Friedhofer begins recording his score to Never So Few (1959)
October 22 - Bernard Herrmann records his score for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode "Body in the Barn" (1963)
October 22 - Nuno Malo born (1977)
October 23 - Manos Hadjidakis born (1925)
October 23 - Graeme Revell born (1955)
October 23 - David Kitay born (1961)
October 23 - Ray Ellis died (2008)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
THE JUDGE - Thomas Newman
"'The Judge' is a tale of family dysfunction, the sins of the father and all that. It's about a guy who has shut down emotionally, and whose trip home forces him to do some self-reflection. It's a tale with too many tangents, with a Thomas Newman score to cue the meaningful moments, and a saccharine Bon Iver song ('Holocene') that must have been used in a dozen movies by now -- and twice in this one."
Stephen Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
"Film music doesn’t get much more annoying than in 'The Judge.'"
James Verniere, Boston Herald
"[David] Dobkin, who directed Vince Vaughn’s sharpest comedy of the past decade ('Wedding Crashers') and his worst ('Fred Claus'), moves to drama with a slower rhythm -- 'The Judge' runs, or ambles, at a running time of 2 hours and 21 minutes -- but the same nudging of the audience: double-takes from the actors, a sudden storm during a big confrontation, the Thomas Newman score that points at the rise of any emotion like a grade-school teacher wielding a yardstick."
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine
"Over engineered for critical approval (which it likely won't get) and audience appreciation (perhaps), the slickly produced 'The Judge' is the kind of movie that would've been an Oscar contender in the era of 'Driving Miss Daisy' (which the film references in a joke during one of Downey Jr.'s verbal riffs) but feels musty and dated now, right down to Janusz Kaminski's consistently honeyed cinematography (which feels out of place, and almost a bit too Thomas Kinkade) and Thomas Newman's chintzy score. 'The Judge' is certainly a cinematic misdemeanor, a movie that wants to wear the robes and bang the gavel, but barely earns the right to take the stand.
Kevin Jagernauth, The Playlist
"Fitting Dobkin’s heightened ambitions, the technical contributions are considerably more accomplished than in the director’s prior efforts. Janusz Kaminski’s 35mm cinematography lends a depth of polish to the picture, lensed primarily in the historic Massachusetts village of Shelburne Falls, whose waterfalls provide lovely background distraction at certain moments. Thomas Newman’s score manages, not without strain, to accommodate the film’s gradual shift from glib comedy to brooding dramatics."
Justin Chang, Variety
"Even more than usual, cinematographer Janusz Kaminski lays on the backlight flare very thickly, often distractingly so. Thomas Newman's score is emotionally obvious and indulges the film's pokey pace. Meanwhile, posh Massachusetts locations stand in unconvincingly for the Indiana farmland setting."
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter
LEFT BEHIND - Jack Lenz
[this is the very beginning of the review] "'What is this f****** music?” is the very first thing I wrote in my notebook while watching 'Left Behind.' Two pages later, I wrote again, 'No, seriously, what is this f****** music?' Indiscriminately scored to what appears to be the soundtrack from an '80s infomercial, and directed with all the nuance that suggests, the early scenes of 'Left Behind' quickly cement its place in the Bad Movie Hall of Fame. But it’s the later scenes, when the plot becomes thoroughly unhinged, that the movie enters another plane altogether. Adapted from Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins’s best-selling evangelical novels about the end times, 'Left Behind' is biblical in its silliness."
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture
"For a disappointingly subdued Cage, it means finding himself alone at the controls of a hackneyed doomed-airliner TV movie with a Benetton-worthy assortment of characters: the worried single mom, the relapsed junkie, the not-a-terrorist Muslim, the corporate fat cat, the angry dwarf, and a hunky journalist (Murray) whose chance meeting with Chloe at the terminal already has him determined to return to his sudden true love. For teary-eyed Thomson, it means enduring lousy digital effects, terrible child performances, bad jump scares, largely unconvincing extras, and a hilariously overwrought musical score that can never quite decide which kind of movie it actually belongs to."
William Goss, The Austin Chronicle
"The music sounds like it was recorded in a casino elevator. Make that three separate casino elevators. It ranges from plinking lounge music to swelling strings to pounding outtakes from a made-for-TV disaster flick."
Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post
"'Left Behind' clearly wants to be the first of many; after all, there are 16 novels in the series on which to draw. But it carries with it the whiff of a TV movie, from the mostly B-list cast to the so-so special effects, and a score that sounds as though it was cut and pasted from another film."
Chris Knight, National Post
"Director Vic Armstrong loves him some terrible sax-heavy score, and never really lets Cage run wild."
Luke Y. Thompson, Topless Robot
"The movie unravels in its own destruction. Every effort to milk the tragedy of the apocalypse is met with terrible music, acting and effects that soak (and drown) the pathos in camp fare. The sound levels felt out-of-whack and consist of all-Christian pop music, even in non-Christian’s cars. The effects are only a few notches above the low-budget details of Veggie Tales. In 'Left Behind,' the plane looks straight out of a cheap training video, with the cockpit proportions incredibly out of proportion, and Capt. Steele’s cockpit controls resembling modified iPad minis. Houston, we have a problem."
Monica Castillo, Paste Magazine
THE NOTEBOOK - Johann Johansson
"Yet there's little that's sadistic about Szász's humanism, which understands that true acts of insight happen through messier, more elusive presentations. That helps to explain an excellent, unusual synth and percussion score by Jóhann Jóhannsson, as well as luminous cinematography from Christian Berger, apparently on loan from Michael Haneke. Even when Szász does opt to delve into the twins' imagination, such as the corners of their notebook being used as a flip book, it's to have startling gunshots suddenly ring out, as the perfidies of death loom around every corner."
Clayton Dillard, Slant Magazine
"This chilly piece of work is beautiful to look at and listen to, with captivating images by cinematographer Christian Berger ('The White Ribbon') and Johann Johannsson's nerve-jangling music score. But the feeling of emptiness remains, as if the toughened-up twins at the center of the maelstrom were meant to only reflect the general chaos, not necessarily to take up arms against it or move past it. Our guided trip to historical hell is vivid and disturbing, but we never lose the sense that we're only strangers passing through."
Kelly Vance, East Bay Express
TRACKS - Garth Stevenson
"And what landscape it is. Not since Nicolas Roeg’s 'Walkabout' has the fearsomely beautiful variety of the nation’s barren countryside been so well showcased, thanks to sterling photography from Mandy Walker (who manages to top her already-impressive work on Baz Luhrmann’s 'Australia'), her work proving clean, crisp and very beautiful indeed -- shots of Wasikowska and her camel train crossing blinding white sands, or of their shadows on cracked earth are among the year’s most impressive. The score, by first-time feature composer Garth Stevenson, is equally lovely, making the film a pleasure for the ears as well as the eyes."
Oliver Lyttleton, The Playlist
"As subtle and skillful an actress as Wasikowska is, she’s a naturally reserved performer; in a film like this, with Robyn spending most of the running time trudging alone and in close-up, she needed to be pulled out of her shell a bit more to make the character compelling. Curran is content to stand back and give us a pretty travelogue, complete with an overly present score and some predictable developments (the arrival of hostile wild animals, a sand storm, encounters with kindly Aborigines) providing emotional cues."
Jon Frosch, The Atlantic
"Curran's dreamy, semisurreal visuals, along with Mandy Walker's shimmering cinematography and Garth Stevenson's fluid score, help us see the world through Davidson's eyes. What 'Tracks' can't quite do is take us into Davidson herself. She remains a mystery, which probably suits her just fine."
Rafer Guzman, Newsday
"Mostly, though, Robyn puts one foot doggedly in front of the other, armed with little more than four camels, her faithful dog, a hunting rifle and a plaintive soundtrack. Refusing all help other than that of the Aboriginal natives and a few rugged whites, she plugs along through sandstorms, unbearable heat and dusty foliage."
Ella Taylor, NPR
"So it's like 'Into the Wild,' but terrible, scored as a child or James Horner would score it and directed like a not-on-purpose horror film in the way that people who've never seen any horror films...or other films...shoot in locations like these. It's also a crowd-pleaser that will attract everyone who doesn't want to be challenged by a movie -- hink 'Rabbit-Proof Fence,' without the corollary benefit of making the middlebrow believe they're not racist.
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
"Lensed at the beginning of the hot season in the deserts of South Australia and the Northern Territory, 'Tracks' further benefits from d.p. Mandy Walker’s magnificently composed and textured widescreen images; the result is a film so persuasive in its aridity (borne out by Robyn’s increasingly disheveled appearance and sun-damaged skin) that it demands to be seen with an ice-cold beverage in hand. Dusty oranges and rusty reds dominate a palette heavily influenced by Smolan’s photographs (singled out in the credits), as well as such atmospheric classics of ’70s outback cinema as Nicolas Roeg’s 'Walkabout' and Ted Kotcheff’s 'Wake in Fright.' Alexandre de Francesci’s well-judged editing and Garth Stevenson’s gently moving score round out an excellent technical package; credit camel wrangler Andrew Harper and his team for ensuring that the 19 camels used maintain the production’s high acting standards."
Justin Chang, Variety
"Alexandre de Franceschi’s fluid editing is another invaluable asset, making exquisite use of dissolves. Garth Stevenson’s score seems to take its cues directly from nature, undulating in sync with the film’s shifting rhythms. These contributions help Curran shape a film that is beautifully modulated at every turn, reflecting an onscreen quote from Davidson: 'Camel journeys do not begin or end, they merely change form.'"
David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
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, Arclight, LACMA, New Beverly, Nuart, Silent Movie Theater and UCLA.
October 17
FAUST, FAUST [LACMA/AMPAS]
LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH (Hiroshi Kamayatsu, Hideaki Sakurai), SHOGUN ASSASSIN (W. Michael Lewis, Mark Lindsay) [New Beverly]
POLTERGEIST (Jerry Goldsmith) [Arclight Hollywood]
PSYCHO II (Jerry Goldsmith) [Nuart]
RESERVOIR DOGS [New Beverly]
October 18
COUNT DRACULA AND HIS VAMPRIE BRIDE [THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA] (John Cacavas) [New Beverly]
DRACULA'S DAUGHTER [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF (Ira Newborn), THE BREAKFAST CLUB (Keith Forsey, Gary Chang) [LACMA/AMPAS]
FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (Graeme Revell) [Arclight Hollywood]
LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH (Hiroshi Kamayatsu, Hideaki Sakurai), SHOGUN ASSASSIN (W. Michael Lewis, Mark Lindsay) [New Beverly]
THE OLD WELL (Youfu Xu) [UCLA]
TROLL (Richard Band) [Silent Movie Theater]
October 19
CORPSE BRIDE (Danny Elfman) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
GREMLINS (Jerry Goldsmith) [Arclight Hollywood]
HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE (Joe Hisaishi) [Cinematheque: Aero]
MEMENTO (David Julyan) [Arclight Hollywood]
RAGE (Lalo Schifrin), THE SAVAGE IS LOOSE (Gil Melle) [New Beverly]
October 20
THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (Christopher Komeda) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Johan Soderqvist) [Arclight Hollywood]
NIGHTBREED (Danny Elfman) [Silent Movie Theater]
RAGE (Lalo Schifrin), THE SAVAGE IS LOOSE (Gil Melle) [New Beverly]
October 21
FIST OF FURY (Joseph Koo), FIST OF FURY PART TWO (Fu Liang Chou) [New Beverly]
MY MAN GODFREY (Charles Previn) [LACMA/AMPAS]
NIGHTBREED (Danny Elfman) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE SHINING (Wendy Carlos, Rachel Elkind) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
October 22
AMERICAN PSYCHO (John Cale) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
THE GETAWAY (Quincy Jones), JUNIOR BONNER (Jerry Fielding) [New Beverly]
October 23
THE GETAWAY (Quincy Jones), JUNIOR BONNER (Jerry Fielding) [New Beverly]
METROPOLIS [Silent Movie Theater]
October 24
THE DIRTY DOZEN (Frank DeVol) [New Beverly]
GHOSTBUSTERS (Elmer Bernstein) [Cinematheque: Aero]
HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (John Carpenter, Alan Howarth) [Nuart]
M, WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (Herschel Burke Gilbert) [LACMA/AMPAS]
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (Charles Bernstein), A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY'S REVENGE (Christopher Young), A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET III: DREAM WARRIORS (Angelo Badalamenti), A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET IV: THE DREAM MASTER (Craig Safan), A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET V: THE DREAM CHILD (Jay Ferguson), FREDDY'S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE (Brian May), WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE (J. Peter Robinson) [Silent Movie Theater]
PREDATOR (Alan Silvestri), ACTION JACKSON (Herbie Hancock, Michael Kamen) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THE THING (Ennio Morricone) [Arclight Hollywood]
October 25
AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (Elmer Bernstein) [Arclight Hollywood]
THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
CREEPSHOW (John Harrison), GARGOYLES (Robert Prince), THE THING (Ennio Morricone), THE NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS (Raul Lavista), THE DEADLY SPAWN (Michael Perilstein), BASKET CASE (David Maswick, Gus Russo), ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST [Cinematheque: Aero]
THE DIRTY DOZEN (Frank DeVol) [New Beverly]
SLEEPY HOLLOW (Danny Elfman), EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (Danny Elfman) [LACMA/AMPAS]
TEEN WITCH (Richard Elliot) [Silent Movie Theater]
October 26
BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (Franz Waxman) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (Laurie Johnson) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THE GENERAL [Cinematheque: Aero]
HOLD THAT GHOST [UCLA]
INCEPTION (Hans Zimmer) [Arclight Hollywood]
MASTER OF THE WORLD (Les Baxter), STRANGER AT MY DOOR (R. Dale Butts) [New Beverly]
RIVER WITHOUT BUOYS (Youfu Xu) [UCLA]
THE SHINING (Wendy Carlos, Rachel Elkind) [Arclight Hollywood]
THE TINGLER (Von Dexter) [Silent Movie Theater]
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