James here with Movie Music Monday.
Three selections from James Newton Howard’s body of work, specifically his collaborations with M. Night Shyamalan. I like all three pieces for the same reasons — effective blending of fear and wonder, aural establishment of the film’s iconography. Good music. Yep.
James here with Movie Music Monday.
Three from various films of the noir persuasion…
There is no better noir theme in existence than this classic piece for Carol Reed’s ‘The Third Man’, played here by a talented kid on a guitar, while the original was performed on a zither.
Well, maybe Nat King Cole could contend for it. This is the theme for ‘Kiss Me Deadly’.
It’s difficult to get away from Carter Burwell and his memorable contributions to the Coen brothers’ repertoire. This thematically dissonant theme for the under-appreciated neo noir ‘Miller’s Crossing’ sounds like it could accompany an Oscar bait biopic, and I mean that in the best way possible.
James here with Movie Music Monday.
Three selections from the Oscar nominated scores of 2010.
‘The King’s Speech’ has a marvelous score by Alexandre Desplat, as warm and human as the film. The title track blends reserved whimsy with tension and unfolding tragedy.
‘The Social Network’ won the Best Score Oscar, and it deserved it. Very inventive and memorable, it’s a shame that the Academy didn’t recognize the same level of invention present in the film itself.
‘How To Train Your Dragon’ is a film I haven’t seen. John Powell, one of the most prolific working composers these days, really outdid himself here. Evocative, with unique instrumentation and lovely progression. Truly listenable.
James here with Movie Music Monday.
Three pieces from the Coen brothers’ longstanding collaboration with composer Carter Burwell, representing Burwell’s musical range in conjunction with the Coen’s flexible command of the cinematic language.
‘No Country For Old Men’ is so brutally present that the filmmakers kept the score very minimalist. Only during the end credits do they find occasion to lean on Burwell’s scary, evocative theme.
Ah, ‘Raising Arizona’. Downright joyful.
Of all the colorful villains in the Coen brothers’ canon, the German Nihilists from ‘The Big Lebowski’ are probably the most hilariously pathetic. This fake krautrock-esque piece is Burwell’s diegetic compliment to their characterization, heard on a boombox during the “fight scene” in the bowling alley parking lot.
James here with Movie Music Monday!
These three pieces are from my favorite cinematic moments of 2010, those exaltant, transcendant scenes that make me cry buckets, even just hearing the music. It’s what it’s all about.
The Coen brothers manage some of the best endings possible. They leave me hanging, in a good way. This isn’t quite the ending of ‘True Grit’ — but it’s the final scene between Mattie and Rooster, and certainly the defining moment.
This ending cannot help but leave an impression. It’s joyous, mysterious, and appropriately dreamlike. I stole this song for my short film ‘Point A’. Then again, I pretty much stole the whole score from ‘Inception’ for its purposes.
‘Toy Story’, with its third and best installment yet, has achieved cinematic apotheosis. Randy Newman’s score is a big part of this.
By contributor Patrick Zabriskie
In most films that aren’t musicals, the music is meant to bolster the action in a scene and add weight to it; occasionally though, there are moments in movies in which the music happens to be so powerful that it completely overwhelms the scene itself, and thus, the tail wags the dog. These moments in which the action bolsters the music (and not the other way around) often come out of the blue and have little to no bearing on the plot, but they sure are entertaining. Anyways, here’s my pick for the top five “Random Music Moments” in film.
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – ‘Wayne’s World’
Chances are if you’re a guy, more than once you’ve been in a car with your buddies, music blaring, singing along to your favorite tunes. 1992’s ‘Wayne’s World’ celebrates this beautifully as they perform a cappella to the latter half of Queen’s grandiose epic while driving through suburban Chicago.
‘Johnny B. Goode’ — ‘Back to the Future’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox1pkvNHZko (Embedding disabled; I don’t know why – The Editor)
80’s teenager Marty McFly gets sent back through time to the 50’s and must help his parents fall in love, save his own existence, and find a way to get back to the future, but not before picking up the electric guitar and jamming to an old rock and roll staple.
‘Dueling Banjos’ — ‘Deliverance’
A chance encounter sparks an impromptu banjo-guitar duel between an inbred hillbilly and a southern city-boy; and people have never looked the same way at the banjo since.
‘Descent into Mystery’ — ‘Batman’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGAKYVGuPqE&hd=1 (Embedding disabled; what the frak? – The Editor)
Tim Burton’s music here is so sweeping, dark, and epic that you almost forget that Batman is just driving back home with his girlfriend. It ties with the title track for the best part of this amazing score.
‘Ecstasy of Gold’ — ‘The Good the Bad and the Ugly’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PwpOmjAu1M (Embedding disabled; where is the logic in this? – The Editor)
The bandit Tuco, aka “The Ugly” has come across a thousand-grave-strong cemetery with a fortune buried in just one of them. So he spends the next three minutes running through it, looking for the name of that single grave, accompanied by some of the most lively, dramatic, and powerful music of composer Ennio Morricone’s career. This piece is so awesome and enduring, in fact, that Metallica has used it to open up their concerts for the past twenty-five years.
James here with Movie Music Monday!
Three from the films of Stanley Kubrick. If you’re a filmmaker, you’re required by law to appreciate Kubrick. If you don’t, you get dropped out of a bomber over Russia. Bring your cowboy hats, ye condemned.
The ending to ‘Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb’ is one of Kubrick’s finest moments. This song plays over a truly lovely montage of giant mushrooms growing all over the globe. What is ‘We’ll Meet Again’? Soundtrack Dissonance for 500, Alex.
Among the similarities between Kubrick and Tarantino are their use of long takes and iconic, violent sequences set to surf rock, such as this Trashmen hit in ‘Full Metal Jacket’. What is ‘Surfin’ Bird’? I’ll take Classical Film for 200, please.
In ’2001: A Space Odyssey’, Stanley Kubrick famously used classical music to frame sequences of silent space flight, such as this piece used over a docking sequence. What is ‘Blue Danube’?
And just like that, I take the lead, but lose next round to the spectacled gentlemen who knows all the math questions. I do, however, avoid a very explosive fate on a Serbian mountain range. Kubrick, love him or hate him, sure knew how to weave music into his works. I think the Tarantino comparison is kinda neat, too.
James here with Movie Music Monday!
Three pieces from random sources today. They’re all somber in tone. I gravitated in that direction, so here we are.
Oh, boy. The ending of Ishiro Honda’s classic ‘Gojira’, scored by Akira Ifakube. Serious stuff.
Ah, ‘Blood Simple’. Chilling neo-noir. The Coen Brothers’ first feature — if I recall correctly — and their first collaboration with Carter Burwell, who showed just as much skill as his creative partners. This is a very Carpenteresque theme.
Now here’s something somber for you. Johan Söderqvist’s theme for ‘Let The Right One In’ is beautiful. That’s all.
James here with Movie Music Monday!
Standing before you guilty of loving James Bond movies, I present in my defense three (or so) classic pieces from composer John Barry, who scored the series’ majority until ‘The Living Daylights’. I hope they can convince you to be lenient in your sentencing.
‘You Only Live Twice’, with its screenplay by Roald Dahl, bizarre hijinks, and Bond made up ambiguously Asian, is one of the chief reasons I was brought before this honorable court. To offset its awesome British badness, I offer this gorgeous instrumental of its famous theme song.
George Lazenby was a great Bond, I think. ’On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ was pretty darn entertaining, which is why I chose this video to illustrate this point and hopefully rebuff some of my accusers, your honor.
I confess! Timothy Dalton’s underrated turn as James Bond turned out my favorite of the series, ‘The Living Daylights’. You might as well haul in the chair right now and fry me. This medley of the main themes as performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic sums up its musical appeal. Now, where’s the priest and my last meal? Can I get chocolate chip cookies for that?
James here with Movie Music Monday!
I love Bernard Herrmann. There’s not much more I can say. I do find it a little odd that he decided to change his physical form and become John Williams, but different strokes for different super-intelligent alien entities, I suppose.
‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ is a classic film, but for me the most impressive aspect will always be the music. This piece, which helps the film segue along from overture and titles to the flying saucer’s approach, is unforgettable.
I know I’m a stodgy old coot for saying this, but in my learned opinion, composers these days tend to horribly fail at writing music that evokes a specific film. Never mind that films from earlier eras and their attached composers had the same general problems — that would undermine my premise and prevent me from ranting uselessly. Like the previous track, this is unforgettable stuff, truly iconic. Is it derived from previous material? Yes. Does it get away with it by elevating the raw material? Yes.
For a film about psychopathy, ‘Taxi Driver’ has one chill score. This is classic Americanus Urbanus. It’s what we called jazz, baby.
