Cinemusic.net: News Archive... AKA The Old Blog

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

This is Hallowe-emo

Walt Disney will release a special 3D formatted Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas into select theaters this October. To capitalize on the 13 years worth of growth of the film's rabid fanbase, Walt Disney Records will also re-issue the originalNightmare songs and score in a 2-disc set, with the second disc comprised of cover songs from the film performed by MySpace creations, and reportedly major Elfman fans, Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco among others. More info at MTV.com.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

A 'Web' of a different kind

Host Claude Brodesser-Akner of The Business on KCRW, a Los Angeles area radio station, has interviewed Danny Elfman. Elfman goes through the oft-told story of his time in the business, but unique to this interview, demos a cue from his upcoming Charlotte's Web score. Listen to the interview.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

She Was A Real Lion


Taffy, one of two Keaveney family cats, passed away last night. She was nineteen years old. She would have been twenty in November. She will be missed.

Please download "She Was A Real Lion" from Patrick Doyle's Secondhand Lions as an audio tribute to this much-loved little oddball who loved roasted chicken, sleeping under a wheelbarrow and drinking pool water.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Shearmur Emmy 'Master'

58th Annual Creative Arts Primetime Emmys winners for music:

Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music:
Masters of Horror, Edward Shearmur

Outstanding Music Composition For A Series:
24 ("6:00 AM & 7:00 AM"), Sean Callery

Composition For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special:
Into The West, Geoff Zanelli

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

AFM applies smackdown

Shocking news via www.filmmusicmag.com...

US Musicians union threatens $50K fines against AFM composers and other members participating in scores recorded in Seattle

"In a Notice to Members, the U.S. Musicians Union (AFM) has threatened fines of up to $50,000 against AFM members who perform services including composing, arranging, orchestrating, copying, and other services related to film and television scores recorded in Seattle after October 1, 2006. The complete text of the AFM "Notice to All Members" is located at http://www.afm.org/public/press/seattle.pdf."

Monday, August 14, 2006

'Pulse' fails to quicken

There are no more loyal fans than those horror fiends, the gorehounds. They lovingly cherish even the most rank cinematic terror turds.

This weekend I had the rare opportunity to witness back-to-back the wide spectrum of horror product currently being churned out. Two movies, about a year old, one made a year ago and released in the UK to great acclaim, the other made a year ago and shelved as per studio (Dimension) policy.

The first is The Descent, a harrowing nightmare about a group of cave-diving women who literally descend into hell, falling victim to a race of hairless, pasty underground mole-people with an appetite for human innards (i.e., a metaphor for the destructive nature of men in these women's lives). Directed with a wheelbarrow-down-hill pace by Neil Marshall and scored by David Julyan, The Descent is truly top-notch horror filmmaking. I actually thought to myself while watching: "This is a real horror movie with a real horror movie score!" No synth loops, no atmospheres, no recording the orchestra and mixing it back in reverse. No gimmicks! Just pure orchestral terror.

On the opposite side of the spectrum is Pulse, the Wes Craven scripted remake of a J-horror "classic". From the opening scene -- a bar filled with college students, each and every one on some kind of cellphone or PDA -- you have to scream, "Okay, I get it -- we're all dependant on these technologies and it will be our doom!" Pulse is an horror film about the internet presumably made by people who have never used the internet. We're told a virus has been scripted to destroy a ghost permeating into our world from newly discovered frequencies. What we are never told is why our female lead's friends start to disappear one by one and all anyone can do is ask "Hey have you seen so and so?" "No, he didn't come to class today". Someone then will dial a cellphone, someone won't answer. No one actually gets off their ass to actually check in on that person.

Elia Cmiral's score isn't much better. Generating few thrills, it's the manipulated orchestra variety that seems to be appearing more often in horror pictures (Stay Alive was one recent example). Cmiral's synths and drones just add to the disconnect Pulse has with it's audience. This is disappointing because Cmiral's Wrong Turn was a solid horror score that effectively essayed the bumpkin terrors onscreen.

The Descent is now on CD from Cooking Vinyl.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Weekend listening

An update from Erik Woods at Cinematic Sound:

The On-Demand Show for this week is now on-line.

On the program this week we will be listening to music from Lady In The Water (Howard), The Lake House(Portman), United 93 (Powell), Cars (Newman), Abominable (Schifrin), The Omen (Beltrami), Evil (Shaw), The Sisters (Morse), The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift (Tyler), and more. View Playlist.

In other audio news...

The latest Film Score Monthly podcast is online. Doug Adams, Al and Jonathon Kaplan discuss the M. Night Shyamalan/James Newton Howard collaboration, from The Sixth Sense to Lady In The Water. Details at the FSM Message Board.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Naked Vampires From Space!

Henry Mancini fans can safely stow their copies of Lifeforce, the infamous nude Vampire babe thriller from Tobe Hooper, as BSX (BuySoundtrax) Records will release a two disc set featuring Mancini's complete original score (26 tracks), plus Michael Kamen's additional score (as 10 never-before-released tracks) and the complete original Lifeforce album presentation (11 tracks).

Intrada has also announced a second volume of Amazing Stories television soundtracks. The line-up consists of:
BOO! (Jerry Goldsmith)
WHAT IF... (Billy Goldenberg)
DOROTHY AND BEN (Georges Delerue)
THE MAIN ATTRACTION (Craig Safan)
SUCH INTERESTING NEIGHBORS (David Newman)
THANKSGIVING (Bruce Broughton)
HELL TOUPEE (David Shire)
ONE FOR THE ROAD (Johnny Mandel)
REMOTE CONTROL MAN (Arthur B. Rubenstein)
THE GREIBBLE (John Addison)
NO DAY AT THE BEACH (Leonard Rosenman)
SANTA '85 (Thomas Newman)
Ordering info is available at intrada.com.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Bendiksen: 'Greatest Good'


I was watching HD PBS last night, like I often do, and caught a great doc on the history of the U.S. Forest Service titled The Greatest Good.

There's a lot of great programming on PBS, and a lot of it has great music. Most of it is scaled down orchestral meat and potatos, but it is often very uplifting, melodic and pleasant to listen to.

The Greatest Good features a score by Norwegian/American composer Lance Bendiksen and is available at CD Baby (w/ clips available). While the dominant main theme leans into Legends of The Fall / Wyatt Earp territory, the score is appropriately evergreen and Americana.

In the hundreds-of-channels-universe, filled with pounding stock action music library tracks, PBS remains one of the last places you'll find consistently good orchestral music on TV.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Goodnight, and Good Luck

It's a slow day when this is all the news you have to report...Proving that CBS will spare no expense to launch Katie Couric as there national news anchor, the net has hired James Horner to compose the new musical theme for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, which debuts on Tuesday, Sept. 5 (6:30-7:00 PM, ET). The musical theme is expected to be integrated into other CBS News programs over time. No word on whether the theme will be more Apollo 13/Balto/"Whistler's Theme" from Sneakers or Searching For Bobby Fisher/A Beautiful Mind/The Missing.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Rabin's 'Gang' on 9/12

Varese has announced three new titles: Trevor Rabin's Gridiron Gang, John Debney's Idlewind and Marcelo Zarvos' Hollywoodland. All are due in stores on September 12th. More info: varesesarabande.com.

Silva will repackage older re-recordings with a handful of recent re-recordings from titles like King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia for Greatest Cinema Choral Classics, a 2CD set due in the fall.

A note about updates: new reviews are ready to add to the site. The editor (me) is extremely busy with his day job. Ready and waiting: Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Superman Returns, Curse of The Werewolf, Breakheart Pass and True Grit. My apologies to all interested parties for the delay in getting these online!

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Lennertz and 'Supernatural'

Cinescape's Randall D. Larson has interviewed Christopher Lennertz regarding his Emmy-nominated music for Supernatural. Read the interview...

Danny Elfman's 8-minute original piece to be given it's World Premiere at the Hollywood Bowl in September now has a name: "Overture To A Nonexistant Musical". Elfman says its: "a big, fun, boisterous and slightly crazy piece written to bid goodbye to one of film music's biggest supporters. I imagined it as a grand overture to something that doesn't actually exist. Many themes... as if taken from a larger work... some kind of imaginary musical or ballet."

Joel Goldsmith will score the videogame Call of Duty 3. Previous installments of the series were scored by Michael Giacchino (1) and Graeme Revell (2).

A bilingual official website for Georges Delerue has been launched.