Four film composers have died in just the last few weeks.
Sir George Martin died on March 8 at the age of 90. Early in his career Martin produced novelty and comedy albums, including the cast album for Beyond the Fringe, but of course earned his greatest success and fame working with The Beatles, producing most of their albums except Let It Be, and received an Oscar nomination for Music (Scoring of music - adaptation or treatment) for his work on A Hard Day's Night. He wrote a handful of film scores, most memorably Yellow Submarine and Live and Let Die, as well as Pulp and Honky Tonk Freeway (a shared credit with Elmer Bernstein).
Keith Emerson died on March 10 at the age of 71. The England-born rock keyboardist and composer was best known for his band Emerson, Lake and Palmer but also dabbled in film scoring, his credits including the 1981 thriller Nighthawks which pit NY cops Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams against international terrorist Rutger Hauer, as well as a handful of Italian horror films including Dario Argento's Inferno. He also contributed to the score for Toho's Godzilla: Final Wars under the pseudonym Kisu Emason.
Jean-Eudes Chanfrault died on March 11 at the age of 41. A French-born composer and "laptop musician," he released his first album, Computer Assisted Sunset, in 2005, and he wrote scores for features, shorts and television. A few of his films were released in the U.S., including the French thriller High Tension, the English suspense drama Donkey Punch, and the American supernatural teen drama Jamie Marks Is Dead.
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies died on March 14 at the age of 81. Born in Salford, England, he was best known for his concert works, including ten symphonies, but he also composed two films scores for director Ken Russell -- The Devils and The Boy Friend, the latter earning him a 1971 Oscar nomination for Music (Scoring: Adapation and Original Song Score), which he shared with Peter Greenwell; suites from his two film scores are available on CD.
Intrada plans to release one new CD next week.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Abel Korzeniowski: Early Works - Abel Korzeniowski - Caldera
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny - Shigeru Umebayashi - Sony
Eddie the Eagle - Matthew Margeson - Varese Sarabande
Fargo Year 2 - Jeff Russo - Sony
Gods of Egypt - Marco Beltrami - Varese Sarabande
I...Comme Icari - Ennio Morricone - Saimel
Knight of Cups - Hanan Townshend - Milan
Mr. Selfridge - Charlie Mole - Sony
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 - Christopher Lennertz - Backlot
IN THEATERS TODAY
Baskin - Ulas Pakkan
Born to Be Blue - Tobor Kodakov, Steve London - Soundtrack CD on Rhino
Fastball - Tony Morales
Get a Job - Jonathan Sadoff
I Saw the Light - Aaron Zigman
Lolo - Mathieu Lamboley
Take Me to the River - no original score
COMING SOON
April 1
Batman: The Mystery of the Batwoman - Lolita Ritmanis - La-La Land
The Great Buck Howard - Blake Neely - La-La Land
Link - Jerry Goldsmith - La-La Land
April 8
Goodnight Mommy - Olga Neuwirth - Naxos
The Invitation - Theodore Shapiro - Lakeshore
The Other Side of the Door - Joseph Bishara - Lakeshore
The Terminator - Brad Fiedel - Milan
April 15
Beyond: Two Souls - Lorne Balfe - Lakeshore
Despite the Falling Snow - Rachel Portman - Cube (import)
Eye in the Sky - Mark Kilian, Paul Hepker - Lakeshore
Green Room - Brooke Blair, Will Blair - Milan
The Jungle Book - John Debney - Disney
Lost Themes II - John Carpenter - Sacred Bones
Triple 9 - Atticus Ross, Claudia Sarne, Leopold Ross, Bobby Krlic - Filmtrax
Zoolander 2 - Theodore Shapiro - Lakeshore
April 22
The Huntsman: Winter's War - James Newton Howard - Backlot
Love - Lyle Workman - Lakeshore
April 29
The Last Days on Mars - Max Richter - Filmtrax
Perfect Sense - Max Richter - Filmtrax
May 13
X-Men: Apocalypse - John Ottman - Sony
Date Unknown
The Awakening - Claude Bolling - Quartet
Bahnovik Strahinja - Alfi Kabiljo - Kronos
Le Motorizzate - Carlo Savina - Kronos
The Legend of Blood Castle - Carlo Savina - Quartet
The Long Good Friday - Francis Monkman - Silva
L'ultima Violenza - Mario Nascimbene - Kronos
The Night Manager - Victor Reyes - Silva
The Return of the Musketeers - Jean-Claude Petit - Quartet
Sinful Davey - Ken Thorne - Quartet
Sun Valley Serenade/Orchestra Wives - Harry Warren, Mack Gordon, Alfred Newman, Emil Newman - Kritzerland
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
March 25 - Riz Ortolani born (1926)
March 25 - Recording sessions begin for Frederick Hollander’s score for The Great McGinty (1940)
March 25 - Elton John born (1947)
March 25 - Bronislau Kaper wins his only Oscar, for the Lili score (1954)
March 25 - John Massari born (1957)
March 25 - Henry Mancini begins recording his score for 99 & 44/100 % Dead (1974)
March 25 - Ken Thorne begins recording his score for Superman II (1980)
March 25 - Luis Bacalov wins his first Oscar, for Il Postino; Alan Menken wins the first Comedy or Musical Score Oscar, as well as Best Song, for Pocahonatas (1996)
March 26 - Larry Morey born (1905)
March 26 - Leigh Harline born (1907)
March 26 - Charles Dumont born (1929)
March 26 - Alan Silvestri born (1950)
March 26 - Bernard Herrmann begins recording his score for White Witch Doctor (1953)
March 26 - Louis Silvers died (1954)
March 26 - Noel Coward died (1973)
March 26 - John Williams begins recording his score for SpaceCamp (1986)
March 26 - Alan Menken wins Oscars for The Little Mermaid score and its song "Under the Sea" (1990)
March 26 - John Corigliano wins his first Oscar, for The Red Violin score (2000)
March 26 - Fred Karlin died (2004)
March 27 - Ferde Grofe born (1892)
March 27 - Dave Pollecutt born (1942)
March 27 - Tony Banks born (1950)
March 27 - Lalo Schifrin begins recording his score for Coogan’s Bluff (1968)
March 27 - Charlie Chaplin et al win score Oscar for Limelight (1973)
March 27 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score to Winter Kill (1974)
March 27 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for Gremlins (1984)
March 27 - Hans Zimmer wins his first Oscar, for The Lion King score (1995)
March 27 - Dudley Moore died (2002)
March 27 - Recording sessions begin for Nathan Barr's score to Hostel Part II (2007)
March 28 - Jay Livingston born (1915)
March 28 - Alf Clausen born (1941)
March 28 - Arthur Bliss died (1975)
March 28 - Waldo de los Rios died (1977)
March 28 - Carmen Dragon died (1984)
March 29 - William Walton born (1902)
March 29 - Tito Arevalo born (1911)
March 29 - Richard Rodney Bennett born (1936)
March 29 - Vangelis born (1943)
March 29 - Franz Waxman wins his first of two consecutive score Oscars, for Sunset Blvd. (1951)
March 29 - John Williams wins his second Oscar and his first for Original Score, for Jaws (1976)
March 29 - Jerry Goldsmith wins his only Oscar, for The Omen score; the film music community presumably exclaims “Finally!” (1977)
March 29 - John Williams wins his third Oscar, for the Star Wars score (1978)
March 29 - Dave Grusin wins his first Oscar, for The Milagro Beanfield War score (1989)
March 29 - James Horner begins recording his score for In Country (1989)
March 29 - Alan Menken wins his fifth and sixth Oscars, for the Aladdin score and its song "A Whole New World" (1993)
March 29 - Ulpio Minucci died (2007)
March 29 - Maurice Jarre died (2009)
March 30 - Kan Ishii born (1921)
March 30 - Luis Bacalov born (1933)
March 30 - Eric Clapton born (1945)
March 30 - Dimitri Tiomkin wins Oscar for The High and the Mighty score (1955)
March 30 - Georges Delerue begins recording his score for Rapture (1965)
March 30 - Ennio Morricone, inexplicably, doesn't win the Best Score Oscar for The Mission, which was pretty much the only score album anyone in Hollywood listened to during the late '80s; Herbie Hancock wins Oscar for Round Midnight score instead (1987)
March 30 - Alan Menken wins his third and fourth Oscars, for Beauty and the Beast's score and title song (1992)
March 31 - Arthur B. Rubinstein born (1938)
March 31 - Alejandro Amenabar born (1972)
March 31 - Michael Gore wins his first two Oscars for Fame's score and title song (1981)
March 31 - Cliff Eidelman begins recording his score for The Meteor Man (1993)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
HIPPOCRATES - Sylvain Ohrel, Alexandre Lier, Nicolas Weil
"Rounding out the sturdy tech package is a groovy electro-rock score by Sylvain Ohrel, Alexandre Lier and Nicolas Weil, and editing by Christel Dewynter that sometimes gets lost in the details, especially midway through. Certain scenes, including a running gag involving a spinal tap, are not for the faint-hearted."
Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter
"As the icily malignant leader of 'the Syndicate,' the twisty-faced Sean Harris is like a medieval demon with thick glasses. He and Hunt have a splendid climactic stare-down -- elegantly staged and surprising. And McQuarrie has one foolproof weapon: Lalo Schifrin’s original TV theme, blasted so triumphantly whenever Cruise and Company do something right that it’s like the action-movie equivalent of Beethoven’s 'Ode to Joy.'"
David Edelstein, New York
"Overall, 'Rogue Nation' is a solid, mildly subversive entry into the series that will have you humming Lalo Schifrin’s indelible theme music for the rest of the week, but probably not lingering over the finer points of the plot. Accept the mission and pass the popcorn."
Josh Kupecki, The Austin Chronicle
"But whatever the filmmaking may lack in visual or visceral impact, McQuarrie (whose past collaborations with Cruise include directing 'Jack Reacher' and scripting 'Edge of Tomorrow') more than compensates on the written front; his screenplay (based on a story conceived with Drew Pearce) achieves an admirable complexity without sacrificing coherence in the process. On the face of it, 'Rogue Nation' is another patchwork of Hitchcockian tropes and James Bondian cliches, as familiar as the recurring strains of Lalo Schifrin’s classic musical theme: Carefully encrypted messages are transmitted, bank-account numbers are copied and deleted, and high-tech explosives are armed and disarmed."
Justin Chang, Variety
"Along with the great international locations, the film benefits from ace creative contributions all down the line, nowhere more so than from Joe Kraemer's virtually non-stop score, which seamlessly blends strains of Lalo Schifrin's original TV series theme and Puccini into his own rambunctious but not overbearing work. The presentation in the IMAX format at the press screening looked and sounded terrific."
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter
PAPER TOWNS - Ryan Lott
"If you’re outside of the John Green demographic, your enjoyment of 'Paper Towns' will rely upon your willingness to stomach certain contrivances, not to mention a soundtrack stuffed with the songs of today’s youth. (Composer Ryan Lott’s score can barely get a note in edgewise.) But even those adults who remained resolutely dry-eyed during 'The Fault in Our Stars' might find themselves wanting to hop aboard for this journey, even if the seats are covered in Cheetos dust."
Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
"An often abrasive electronic score by Ryan Lott is accompanied by an unexciting selection of songs on the soundtrack."
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter
STRANGERLAND - Keefus Ciancia
"Given all its vagueness with regard to any absolutes in the investigation, 'Strangerland''s ultimate thematic suggestion should come as no surprise: Whatever harm has been done to Lily and Tommy in the desert is a metaphorical representation of the harm already done to them by simply being victims of incompetent and dishonest parenting. This kind of heavy-handed moralizing would be tedious enough if it weren't also tied to an aesthetic that hoists upon it big dollops of gloomy seriousness: shadowy indoor lighting that further legitimizes Lily and Tommy's impulse to go get some sun, an effectively ominous score by Keefus Ciancia that would be put to better use in something of actual gravitas, and plenty of hard cuts from small-scale squabbles to menacing late-afternoon landscape shots. To further elevate a fundamentally domestic crisis, Farrant even carts in a mystical element with the fairly racist inclusion of a mysterious ethnic woman who may or may not have avant-garde methods for pinning down the whereabouts of the children. All the while, Strangerland operates as if under the presumption that the sketchiness of its various insights will be smoothed over, or at least disguised, by the sheer solemnity of the execution. Everything's fogged over anyway, right?"
Carson Lund, Slant Magazine
"Making her first narrative feature after several documentaries and short films, Farrant taps into a long lineage of Australian classics ('Walkabout' and 'Wake in Fright' not least among them) in which the stark, unyielding landscape lends the drama a mythic dimension and holds up a sort of mirror to the characters’ madness. To that end, she has a gifted collaborator in cinematographer P.J. Dillon, whose gorgeous overhead shots of the vast, mountainous terrain (the film lensed in Sydney as well as the more remote towns of Canowindra and Broken Hill) add stunning visual punctuation to the story, accompanied by the ominous thrum of Keefus Ciancia’s score. Farrant is clearly after something raw and elemental here: a family tragedy in which the characters are undone from within and without, their fears and missteps amplified by ancient, unknowable forces stirring beneath their feet. But too much of 'Strangerland' simply feels dodgy and overdetermined, veering between art-film pretensions and melodramatic gestures, and governed by ambitions that outstrip the filmmakers’ abilities."
Justin Chang, Variety
"Helicopter or drone shots of vast, empty stretches of the outback and the eerie, rather minimalist score from 'True Detective'’s Keefus Ciancia try to add a layer of mystery and foreboding to the proceedings, though the film seems not all that interested in the police investigation proper (indeed, Rae’s character is awkwardly introduced and never properly tied into the main plot). Instead, it focuses increasingly on the emotional well-being of Catherine and (to a lesser extent) Matthew, whose desperation grows with each passing hour, as it’s the middle of a scorching summer and it would be hard to survive for long without water. To make matters worse, a gigantic, partially CGI sandstorm also blankets the small town in orange dust just after the kids have disappeared, as if nature itself had swallowed the children."
Boyd van Hoeij, Hollywood Reporter
THE YOUNG AND PRODIGIOUS T.S. SPIVET - Denis Sanacore
"Canada’s magnificent landscapes do just fine masquerading as U.S. territory, with the areas around Copper Top Ranch especially golden, like a dream imagining of the fruited plains. Occasionally scene arrangements feel slightly off, as if Jeunet couldn’t bear to cut a few sequences and so dropped them, like unnecessary flashbacks, into places they don’t belong. Denis Sanacore’s score hits the spot."
Jay Weissberg, Variety
"With 'Spivet,' Jeunet supplies an outsider’s vision of America which is more critical than celebratory, and there's a fair amount of myth-puncturing on display – among other targets, we find the suffocating weight of cowboy culture, the imagination-stifling conservatism of its institutions and, more obviously and clumsily, the dangerous distortions of reality TV, a filmic subject on which an embargo should surely now be placed. Luckily, Jeunet and Laurant have enough depth, wit and brio to import new life into such stale subjects. Denis Sanacore’s simple, affecting guitar score is used judiciously throughout."
Jonathan Holland, 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, Crest, LACMA, New Beverly, Nuart, Silent Movie Theater and UCLA.
March 25
BORN IN FLAMES [Silent Movie Theater]
DAYS OF HEAVEN (Ennio Morricone), BADLANDS (George Tipton) [Cinematheque: Aero]
DR. STRANGELOVE (Laurie Johnson), THE KILLING (Gerald Fried) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
EATING RAOUL (Arlon Ober) [Silent Movie Theater]
GAS FOOD LODGING (J. Mascis) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
GRINDHOUSE: PLANET TERROR/DEATH PROOF (Robert Rodriguez, Graeme Revell) [New Beverly]
March 26
THE GODFATHER (Nino Rota) [CInematheque: Egyptian]
GRINDHOUSE: PLANET TERROR/DEATH PROOF (Robert Rodriguez, Graeme Revell) [New Beverly]
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (Michael Phillips) [New Beverly]
MILDRED PIERCE (Max Steiner) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
SILENT RAGE (Peter Bernstein, Mark Goldenberg) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
STRANGER THAN PARADISE (John Lurie) [Silent Movie Theater]
TEMPEST (Hugo Reisenfeld), THE BAT [UCLA]
THE THIN BLUE LINE (Philip Glass) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE THIN RED LINE (Hans Zimmer) [Cinematheque: Aero]
March 27
THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (David Raksin) [Silent Movie Theater]
JOHNNY GUITAR (Victor Young), THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (Miklos Rozsa) [CInematheque: Egyptian]
LATITUDE ZERO (Akira Ifukube) [New Beverly]
LIQUID SKY (Slava Tsukerman, Brenda I. Hutcherson, Clive Smith) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE PROMISE (David Shire), THE ANONYMOUS VENETIAN (Stelvio Cipriani) [New Beverly]
SLEEPWALK (Phil Kline) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE TREE OF LIFE (Alexandre Desplat) [Cinematheque: Aero]
March 28
BLAZING SADDLES (John Morris) [Arclight Santa Monica]
THE PROMISE (David Shire), THE ANONYMOUS VENETIAN (Stelvio Cipriani) [New Beverly]
March 29
ALLIGATOR (Craig Huxley), DARK AGE (Danny Beckerman) [New Beverly]
THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (Heinz Roemheld) [LACMA]
MAJOR LEAGUE (James Newton Howard) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
MIDNIGHT RUN (Danny Elfman) [Arlight Hollywood]
OSLO, AUGUST 31ST (Ola Flottum, Torgny Amdam) [Silent Movie Theater]
March 30
THE BIG LEBOWSKI (Carter Burwell) [Arclight Hollywood]
BLAZING SADDLES (John Morris) [Arclight Culver City]
JEANNE DIELMAN, 23,QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 [Silent Movie Theater]
JEZEBEL (Max Steiner), THE FLAME OF NEW ORLEANS (Frank Skinner) [New Beverly]
March 31
CAPE FEAR (Bernard Herrmann), SPELLBOUND (Miklos Rozsa) [Cinematheque: Aero]
FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (Ray Cooper) [Arclight Hollywood]
JEZEBEL (Max Steiner), THE FLAME OF NEW ORLEANS (Frank Skinner) [New Beverly]
SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (George Martin) [Silent Movie Theater]
URBAN COWBOY [Silent Movie Theater]
April 1
BLUE RUIN (Brooke Blair, Will Blair) [Silent Movie Theater]
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (Elmer Bernstein), THE STALKING MOON (Fred Karlin) [Cinematheque: Aero]
TRUE ROMANCE (Hans Zimmer) [Crest]
WITHNAIL & I (David Dundas, Rick Wentworth) [Silent Movie Theater]
April 2
ARTHUR (Burt Bacharach) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE 'BURBS (Jerry Goldsmith) [Silent Movie Theater]
NEWS FROM HOME [Silent Movie Theater]
April 3
THE BAD NEWS BEARS (Jerry Fielding), THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (David Shire) [Silent Movie Theater]
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (Frank DeVol) [Silent Movie Theater]
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