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| Film Score Friday 8/2/24
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| Posted By
Scott Bettencourt
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8/1/2024 - 10:00 PM |
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The latest releases from Buysoundtrax and their related labels are - FALLEN ANGELS VOL. 1, featuring episode cues from the 1990s noir anthology TV series, scored by Peter Bernstein (this volume covers the entire six-episode first season, with episodes helmed by Tom Cruise, Alfonso Cuaron, Tom Hanks, Phil Joanou, Jonathan Kaplan, and Steven Soderbergh); THE GERALD FRIED COLLECTION VOL. 2, featuring the Emmy-winning/Oscar-nominated composer's music for the 1979 film of Sylvia Plath's classic novel The Bell Jar, and the 1976 action thriller Vigilante Force; and Kevin Kiner's score for the 1999 Showtime movie SAFE HOUSE (no relation to the Denzel Washington/Ryan Reynolds vehicle), starring Patrick Stewart.
In a recent column I listed Anthony Willis's score for 2023's SALTBURN as a new CD release. I just received my copy from Amazon, and despite what the Amazon site had implied, the CD is entirely a song album with none of Willis's score. (his score is available on LP, for those who are interested). |
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| Aisle Seat 7-30: MGM Catalog & New Release Wrap
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| Posted By
Andy Dursin
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7/29/2024 - 10:00 PM |
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| A few weeks ago Andrew McCarthy’s “Brats” documentary was released, profiling the at-times frustrating career trajectories of members of the ‘80s “Brat Pack.” That unofficial “gang” of rising stars found themselves being shut out of projects due to their “membership” in the Pack, though debate remains over what stars and movies are part of the list. Though not a film that’s usually associated with the Brat Pack, the 1983 Orion comedy CLASS (94 mins., 1983, R; MGM) was released right before the John Hughes teen era began, and offers a fascinating list of young and future ‘80s stars right on the cusp of stardom: Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, John Cusack, Alan Ruck, Casey Siemaszko, Virginia Madsen, Joan Cusack, and Lolita Davidovich all appear in this highly uneven, yet undeniably entertaining, mix of high school comedy and coming-of-age drama. |
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| Film Score Friday 7/19/24
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| Posted By
Scott Bettencourt
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7/18/2024 - 10:00 PM |
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The soundtrack world was saddened this week to learn of the passing of Douglass Fake (1952-2024). Fake founded the Intrada label in 1985, their first release an LP of Basil Poledouris' score for the original Red Dawn, and in the nearly 40 years since, he and his label released a treasure trove of film music on CD. While the label is probably most associated with Jerry Goldsmith, Bruce Broughton and Basil Poledouris, their catalog encompasses nearly every major composer in English-language cinema, including such current A-listers as Danny Elfman, Michael Giacchino, Thomas Newman, John Powell, Alan Silvestri and Hans Zimmer. One of the many wonderful things about Doug and his label was their genuine enthusiasm for all the composers they worked with and the scores they released. They have also produced expert film music re-recordings, and just this week their Kickstarter campaign to re-record Frank Skinner's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein reached its funding goal.
Our condolences to Fake's family and his Intrada colleagues. The label's website has a fitting and detailed tribute to Doug at this link.
On a personal note, I first met Doug in 1980, when he was selling soundtrack LPs out of what was otherwise a movie memorabilia shop called CineMonde on Vallejo Street in San Francisco (in a location that is now a pilates studio). I was there with a friend to shop for movie posters and lobby cards, so finding Doug and his LPs there must rank as one of the most momentous accidental discoveries of my life. I bought my first "expensive soundtrack" there (an innocent time when a $15 Japanese import LP of Game of Death could count as "expensive") and remained a loyal customer ever since - until their business moved from San Francisco to Oakland, a trip to their store was always my first priority when I would visit the Bay Area after moving to Los Angeles in 1982. I was also lucky enough to able to contribute liner notes to some of their releases, an opportunity for which I will always be grateful. Doug will always be one of the true heroes of the soundtrack world, a genuinely nice man whose work enriched the lives of film music lovers around the world. (For the record, my personal favorite Intrada release is probably their two-disc edition of Goldsmith's remarkable Alien, but there are countless other spectacular and treasured releases to choose from.) |
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| 7-16-24: OCN Summer Rundown
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| Posted By
Andy Dursin
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7/15/2024 - 10:00 PM |
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| Guiseppe Tornatore’s ENNIO (156 mins., 2021; Music Box) has at last reached the shores of the U.S. after having been released elsewhere around the world over the last couple of years. So what took this terrific documentary so long to find a U.S. distributor? One wonders, since Morricone’s legacy – a list of literally hundreds of movie soundtracks and concert works, plus a massive influence on both Italian and worldwide pop music that came before them – spans decades of popular film scores, some of which transcended the cinematic creations they originally accompanied. |
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| Film Score Friday 7/5/24
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| Posted By
Scott Bettencourt
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7/4/2024 - 10:00 PM |
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The latest release from La-La Land is a two-disc, expanded edition of the score for LAST ACTION HERO, the 1993 fantasy action comedy which starred Austin O'Brien (My Girl 2) as a young boy who finds himself transported into the movie world of his favorite action character (Arnold Schwarzenegger in a double role). Directed by John McTiernan, the film was a box-office disappointment at the time of its release but has found a devoted following in the three decades since, largley due to the witty script by Shane Black and David Arnott (from a story by Zak Penn and Adam Leff) and Schwarzenegger's performance, one of his finest. For the score, McTiernan reunited with his Die Hard composer, Michael Kamen, and the La-La Land edition features the full score plus the original CD sequencing and extras.
The latest releases from Buysoundtrax and its associated labels are THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION VOL. 5, featuring the scores from the original Invaders from Mars (by Raoul Kraushaar) and The Terrornauts (Elisabeth Lutyens); THE ALBERT GLASSER COLLECTION VOL. 7 - FILM NOIR THRILLERS, featuring Glasser's scores for Please Murder Me and Treasure of Monte Cristo; the third volume of the LEGENDARY HOLLYWOOD: FRANZ WAXMAN series (including re-recordings of cues from Waxman scores such as The Nun's Story and Peyton Place); and THE BEST OF THE FAIRYTOPIA SAGA, by Eric Colvin (Monte Walsh).
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
The David Michael Frank Collection Vol. 4 - David Michael Frank - Dragon's Domain
Death Hunt - Jerrold Immel - Dragon's Domain
Franz Waxman: Legendary Hollywood Vol. 2 - Franz Waxman - Citadel
Giornata nera per l'ariete - Ennio Morricone - Quartet
The Golden Age of Science-Fiction Vol. 4 - Elisabeth Lutyens, Ronald Stein - Dragon's Domain |
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| Aisle Seat 7-2: 4th of July Fireworks, From Kung Fu to 4K
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| Posted By
Andy Dursin
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7/1/2024 - 10:00 PM |
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| Growing up in the ‘80s, Saturday afternoons on local Boston affiliate WLVI TV 56 used to include a “Creature Double Feature” of Godzilla fare, followed sometimes by an Abbott & Costello movie or, occasionally, a kung-fu adventure. These often didn’t star Bruce Lee but “Bruce Li,” and would offer cheap genre action with limited dramatic engagement – it was all about the martial arts, and these quickly-paced genre exercises are now the centerpiece of one of the year’s best Blu-Ray box sets. Severin’s THE GAME OF CLONES: BRUCEPOLITATION COLLECTION VOL. 1 streets next week and provides no less than a full dozen wild and woolly kung fu flicks with ersatz Bruce Lee stand-ins, mostly low budgets but lots of energy to spare, plus fantastic extras which put this entire, bizarre filmmaking era into proper historical context. |
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Today in Film Score History:
September 7 |
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| Carlos Camilleri born (1931) |
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| Fred Steiner's score for the Star Trek episode "Mudd's Women" is recorded (1966) |
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| Gianni Marchetti born (1933) |
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| Herman Stein records his score for the Lost in Space episode "Space Circus" (1966) |
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| Leonard Rosenman born (1924) |
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| Mark Isham born (1951) |
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| Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score for The Power (1967) |
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| Owen Pallett born (1979) |
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| Recording sessions begin for Christopher Young’s score for The Core (2002) |
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| Sonny Rollins born (1930) |
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| Waldo de los Rios born (1934) |
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