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Take Care,
D

Stay tuned for brand new website coming soon, demetrischristodoulides.com

New website coming along very soon, which will feature all my reviews gathered in one place, along with (hopefully soon) other, personal music projects' related stuff.

Stay tuned at demetrischristodoulides.com for more as it becomes available!

TOM TYKWER / REINHOLD HEIL / JOHNNY KLIMEK | The international (2009)

Tom Tykwer is a very special artist. Being able to combine his directional abilities with his musical side as a co-composer with the well-known Heil / Klimek duo (with whom he’s been working since day 1), he’s came up with some pretty impressive film work so far. The International is not an exception of the rule. The central character, an Interpol agent played by Clive Owen along with Naomi Watts are after one of the world's most powerful banks’ dirty work and the hunt down results in a grandly intensive ride. Tykwer manages to deliver an exceptionally shot and tightly acted political thriller, all under a fast plot, the kind of which Tony Scott tries so hard to reach every time with his similarly-oriented movies, but he usually fails into heady, dizzy messes.

Tykwer works closely with Heil and Klimek once again (with the apex of their career so far being the collaborative gem that listens to the name “PERFUME: The story of a murderer” back in 2006) delivering a dark, string-driven thriller score bond-together and led by aptly-performed, fitting electronics. The last are ambient sounds (musical and not) for atmosphere and tension creating purposes, or the repeated and instantly recognizable percussive / bassy motif that holds the entire score together and turns into music the very race against the clock, i.e. the movie’s basic theme. These, come exceptionally combined with the minimalistic orchestral lines , mostly low strings with a very sterile sound and brass crescendos, interrupted by occasional string ostinati, percussive bangs and crashes or even very intense glissandi whenever an appropriate chase scene or an agonizing scene down a dark and hostile alley comes up. So, you’ll love it -especially the last 2 pieces on the album, if you’re generally into modern thriller scores with correctly-balanced electronics that set up an anguishing, minimal ambience. These, combined with brooding string lines and heavy percussive passages are the successful form of that with which Harry Gregson Williams would come up, if he was a better composer. Still, you’ll definitely want to avoid it if you’re one of those people who run screaming, whenever the words “modern”, “electronics” and “minimalistic” come up in a film score discussion.

STEVE JABLONSKY | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

What’s interesting about this specific RC composer here is that the music he produces is sometimes actually listenable. Whilst his other colleagues mostly fail down metal oriented Zimmer-wannabe noisefests they massively produce, he manages to attract the attention of even film music listeners who aren’t used to this kind of film music. Especially with his orchestral ride for Steamboy a few years back or with his score for The Island.

The original Transformers’ score was a love it or hate it situation, pretty much just like the composer himself. With its massive “Remote Control” Studios with the trademarked powerhouse anthems , It provided a great kick that awed and excited the masses but also driven the RC-fans crazy. Contrary, via its particularly Zimmer-influenced sound it also managed to push the traditional film score fans away. This new installment here is rather a snoozer destroyed by electronically enhanced underscore of significantly darker tone which lasts forever. Gladly, there’s the exception of the typical RC anthems but which appear way less frequently than one would expect. If you’re one of those who loved the first score and would like a more matured and melodic but certainly less masculine re-take on the themes of the first one, you’ll love it for the grand opening in “The Prime”, the Fallen's theme in "The Fallen's Arrival", the ethnic vocals coloring a rather beautiful new Autobots theme in "Infinite White" and for the original Autobots theme which also appears a couple of times too. However, there’s always the very simplistic way of RC writing and their typical ethnic chick vocals, all in the overall rock-influenced, edgy and synthesized atmosphere. If this last sentence I just wrote makes you sick and if either the Zimmer’s Batman Begins / The Dark Knight or even Da Vinci Code / Angels and Demons material makes you feel even worse, then you will definitely want to stir way clear away from this.

TYLER BATES' "Watchmen"

Watchmen; Big sigh. As a (previous) follower of the work of Mr.Zack Snyder, mostly due to its aesthetic and primarily visual merits, I made the mistake of also watching this. Obviously not knowing how bad it actually is, i sat down through some 186 mins of the director's cut version (like if the initial 162 of the official release weren't enough). Watchmen is a very long, shallow, messed up and confused false-scientific nonsense about some aging retired half-super heroes who're trying to save the world from a third world war between USA and Russia and obviously, from a nuclear holocaust.


Tyler Bates (300) was not as confused as his director and frequent collaborator who dressed his movie with source music ranging from Bob Dylan to Richard Wagner, Mozart, Philip Glass and even Jimi Hendrix. The original score then follows Tyler's usual recipe, i.e. rock / metal-oriented rhythmic guitar riffs in 300 self-plagiarisms, most notably in the piece "Prison fight" which escorts one of the film's very few prominent scenes. What fills the rest is the usual messy underscore based on moody electronic synths, percussive loops and sparse female vocals with synth male choirs. The also standardized american electric guitar on overdrive and light distortion is there to create atmosphere too, together with snippets of piano. The pseudo-apocalyptic choirs, orchestra and brass clusters that all sound too fake but are always under the Goldenthal-esque outbursts stamp, couldn't be absent either. This time they escort some idiotic pseudo-philosophical scenes on planet Mars, and surprise surprise - Graeme Revell's Red Planet tunes in here too. Overall, it really isn't as bad as some of his previous efforts, but the striking unbalance of Tyler's material in contrast to brilliant source music like Philip Glass' piece "Prophecies" from Koyaanisqatsi is ironic. You'll enjoy it if you're used to not-intruding background listens that demand nothing from you. What's sure though, it that you definitely want to avoid this if you seek any kind of melodic and thematic coherence in your film scores, or musical continuity and character whatsoever.

Back with a new format: Capsule reviews

Hi. During the past couple of years, a lot has been changed (and still is to be precise) in the film music business; from the composition of the fanbase to the film scores and movies themselves, but most importantly the way people listen to film (and not only) music nowadays.

From the days of the hard-earned CDs and concentrated listening sessions of the few relatively scores one could acquire but paid the utmost attention to, we've came to the almost uncontrollable and of course instant availability of almost everything, from game scores to little obscure European and World soundtracks, up to Bollywood and of course the major film music releases, coming to you at a blink of an eye via - almost 90% of the times, digital means.

As a result, people devote less and less time into habits that used to consume significantly more amount of focus and time in the past, such as watching movies, listening to music, or in fact, reading film score reviews, such as this blog deals with. Not only the amount of devotion and time-offered to new film scores has dramatically dropped for most people, amidst the frantic race to catch up with everything new that's being released and is quickly available to everyone, but it's also natural than through this fast-food entertainment quicky, people aren't prone to reading long and extensive analysis articles or grand reviews about film scores they obviously heard, some times even before the reviewer, anymore. And why should they? Of course there will always be the minority which likes to search things up a bit more and thrive for the musical analysis and the detailed reviewer's thoughts, but this kind of discussions can always be thoroughly expanded in the various well-known film music forums of the internet, but also don't appear to interest the majority of the listeners out there.

In this essence, i've decided to change the format of the reviews into much more frequently appearing but significantly shorter and highly condensed 2-paragraph reviews in which the reader will be able to read just the basic facts about the movie and the music, as well as my opinion on when to get it, and when not.

So, keep tuned, there's new stuff coming through and thanks for your patience!

D

Scoremagacine's blog | Film music news in english

We're just a couple of months prior to the new Scoremagacine.com launch and to accommodate the new changes, this new blog has been created.

For everything new and hot in the film music world - focused on new releases and interviews but not limited to, you can always visit the scoremagacine.com blog where you can be informed in ENGLISH about your favorite composers' new assignments and what's hot in the business. So come on in, join us and be informed 24/24 with daily updates!

http://scoremagacine.blogspot.com/

WANTED | Original Score composed by DANNY ELFMAN [2008]

What Elfman certainly wanted when starting to work on this, was inspiration. And God knows there’s a huge amount of inspiration for him within the movie as he evidently had so much fun working on it. Wanted; a 2008 summer flick whose poster most people will throw a look at thinking how deadly HOT Angelina Jolie looks once again, and then walk away carelessly; like I did as well. Walking down the street thinking how this earthbound Goddess manages to carry such ethereal charm combined with gorgeous looks each and every time, very few would have actually bothered to pay this film the viewing it so deserves.

Coming from a relatively unknown 47 year-old Russian-Kazakh director, Timur Bekmambetov, Wanted stars Atonement's freshman James McAvoy as Wesley along with the not so freshman Morgan Freeman and the hotness impersonated that is Angelina Jolie, as Fox. The whole premise - dealing with a frustrated office worker who learns that he is the son of a professional assassin and shares his father's superhuman killing abilities combined with the cast and poster, spread the air of your average 2-hour fast-food summer flick which you wouldn't even remember the slightest of, once it's over. Well, how terribly wrong this is.

Fast-paced and ridiculously good-looking, this heart-stopping, adrenaline-pumped show brings a wholly new dimension to the term "action movie" and "entertainment" as well as turning the much-known "Bullet Time" from the Matrix movies into a brilliantly revised and enhanced spectacle that is going to riterally leave you in awe. The story reaches up and touches familiar Batman / super hero areas with the whole "finding who you really are in life, discovering new ethics, living by honoring your parents" theme as well as blending into the whole "family" (real or mafia-induced) territory we've seen done so many times within the cinematic frame. But this is done so perfectly in all aspects, from the jaw-dropping visuals and massive sfx to the tight performances and fast plot, springing a wholly different new air from within each frame.

And then comes Danny Elfman, in indissoluble connection to the film's own core with one of the freshest scores he has ever written to date. Following a - thankfully pleasant, large departure from his renowned earlier style of whimsical female choirs, bells and chimes, organ, theremin and such celebrated soundscapes, Elfman features a more matured and up-to-date sound although always faithful to his past. For Wanted, Elfman based his musical approach on recent experiments of his into the modern and electronic. Some of it found grounds of existence in recent works like the wholly electronic and percussive obscure sound of The Kingdom, combined with the organic orchestral nature of his also recent Standard Operating Procedure. Admittedly, what he came up with for this is impressive to say the least.

Following the film's incredibly fast-moving pace and tight rhythm, Elfman's score is an energetic and imaginative trip down the musical lanes of Orchestral vs. Rock and modern; a score that makes limited use of the choir in contrast to several of his works of the past, a score of subtle electronics and genuine sound design used ably and discreetly, with the same applying for the middle eastern / western orchestral percussion sections. However, all this is constantly led by a very prominent strings section and most importantly - melody. Efman's score is firmly bound on melody and musical coherency; this is the greatest advantage of his in 2008, something that both sets him apart the hordes of talented musicians but impersonal composers which dominate the field today and also serves as a "Who's your daddy" reminder. And here's where we are at, the actual themes, the meaningful motifs, the memorable musical ingredients as opposed to noisy pseudo-orchestral / electronic or rock-guitar pounding and headache-imposing film scores coming out during the couple of years.


Elfman's very "Success Montage" makes you quickly realize what you're into here. Setting the tone for the mysterious fraternity of textile weavers-turned-assassins, enclosed in their dark tower in command of the whole story here, an introductory basic string ostinato (and thank God there's lots of them in Wanted) set beneath a very clever fugue (Wesley’s theme), the melodic and elegant head-start has already occurred. Slowly building up with added electronics, the composer never goes over the top and uses them in perfect balance with the musical whole. Louder brass and percussion combined with his trademarked complex writing for the string section, pump up and make this cue is a real winner. Both managing to set the tone in perfection and also drawing the listener's ears, the piece's ending gets rough and dirtier with the ground already ready for the imposing main theme to appear.

Serving as the fraternity theme, this main theme - musical child of the composer, is essentially a bold 4 chord-driven thematic statement which bears something of a modern James Bond / Mission Impossible quality to it. And this is done pretty cleverly as well; whereas the very syncopated orchestral nature of the main theme wouldn't dictate as such, sound-wise and via use of specific orchestral chords and instrumentation (el.guitars, electronics) Elfman brings the afore-mentioned air within its score. Carried in various forms in almost all of the pieces as the basic ingredient, the main theme - along with its escorting raw electronics and percussion, sends directly to what a John Powell or a far better Harry Gregson Williams or even a far more inspired Hans Zimmer would whistle out, but always journeying through the typically complex and dirty Elfman arrangements.

The score's tone is already set; make no mistake, this is a clear winner. Darefully and attention-grabbing, modern Bourne / Spy game like sounds carry us throughout the score. Like in the brilliant segment of the film where the viewer follows Wesley's painfully miserable life in the office, Elfman - complete with Middle Eastern percussion and dense timpani lines, always manages to typically stamp the whole with his own, distinct musical voice on-top, despite the references. Apart the cool modernity however, there's darkness and gloomy atmosphere behind the fraternity, echoed by some certain shifts of the afore-mentioned main theme. Whenever the camera pans over dark depths of temples and mystical organization hideouts, Elman injects his music with prolonged string hints of the main theme on-top of Gregorian “Libera Me” male choir chants ("fraternity suite", "welcome to the fraternity"). A mystique and very imposing quality is being brought within the musical color, usually to give way to bold marching timpani serving as the rhythmic basis for the main theme to appear. But, everything done with a meaning: as Wesley's rise of blood pressure and heart-beat are sonically dominating the whole film and are always beginning slowly and then gradually ascending into frantic rhythms, Elfman's score is following in core. Grand string statements of the main theme escorted by male choir via medium tempi and marching, captivating atmospheres are always the musical goal as well. Firstly though and by following the cinematic premise, the composer slowly builds up via hinted thematic references and then gradually become more prominent and bold, until they reach full-range brass and percussive, dissonant climaxes; Elfman is blending in and becoming one with the film’s auditory universe.

In Wanted also lies tragedy in the form of human character clashes, most prominently through Angelina Jolie's character, Fox. Being forced to watch her father's enslavement and agonizing death as a little child, Fox's every step spells revenge. The dark ages of her past are portrayed musically in "Fox's story" and "Fox's decision" via a new lullaby-like melody, carried by elegiac female choir, smooth bells and chimes along with a mesmerizing armenian duduk on a fragile melody. This, although not standing up to the rest of the score's quality, is still a very pleasant break and change of sonic scenery.

This movie found Elfman in a very inspired mode and when he does that, the results are outstanding. The complex musical combinations he performs for this score are admittedly impressive; take "Rats", "The Train" and "Revenge" (and the similarly oriented "Fox in control" for instance) i.e. the score's three large action sets; String ostinati, fox’s theme interweaved with dense statements and renditions of the main theme, orchestral, very clever mixings of the rock sounds with wistful fanfare-like woodwind renditions of the fugue theme (Wesley's theme). Agonizing, intense, dissonant and bold (like "the train" which sends directly to his for work Spiderman), Elfman takes us through a violent and at the same time impressively elegant musical trip, all the way up to the big climax. "Revenge". A very direct, rhythmic and raw rock rendition of the fugue (Wesley's theme) by full orchestra standing on-top of marching percussion, full drums set and bass complete with leading heavy metal guitars on distortion; the score's top adrenaline-pumped moment.

Wanted is loud but never loses control. Always via very impressive orchestral writing, Elfman puts to shame all the noise some younger and inexperienced composers are endowing us these days. As I come to the end of this stunning modern work, I am also at the final conclusion: Young blood is always welcome and exciting to discover and listen to within any genre, especially if we are talking about such a vastly variformed one as film music. But whenever something's lacking, the film music greats will always come in to save the day. Whereas Elfman's is loud, he never goes overboard. His orchestral writing is balanced and metered and his sound is not illogically fat or loud. His music is both refined and complex. Balance is the key word, Elfman always has control; an absolute mastery of musical coherency and melody that - sadly, so few are carrying these days; it appears that a lot of younger ones have the guts, knowledge and musicianship to master a full-blown orchestral assault as we speak but whenever one feels that something vital is missing, the great ones are always the place where one should seek for it. 4

New updates soon

There's a lot of new stuff coming in and while i caught myself deep-busy with my thesis which i am manically writing in order to catch up with some stiff deadlines, September is going to see our website (scoremagacine.com) under a new face and new stuff will follow here as well.

Personally i am not particularly excited about the current state of film music, at all i'd say - apart the sparse sparks of excitement from really good scores, and Paul Hasliner's latest noisefest ("Death Race") hasn't helped me at all; but thankfuly there's always good outcome coming our way, despite the fact that it gets rarer and rarer with each passing day and you usually have to look for it elsewhere (Europe anyone?). Let's hope that current Hollywood trend that wants modern "hot" scores being as loud and meaningless as your 14 year old nephew's electric guitar banging and scratching down the basement, will soon give way to actualy music to come.

Take care,
D

No updates? Read on

Hey all,

I've been absent from film music reviewing for a while, and not without a reason. Apart maintitles.net - my favorite place of hanging out with dear friends and a place where I also frequently expressed the concerns I’ll also carry in here in a moment, there has been silence on my behalf when it comes to film music reviewing;

Not that modern film music is not good; rather the contrary I’d say. Yes, not everything is pure gold of course but I couldn’t be located farer than the pessimistic few that view the entire modern film music outcome as soulless recycled junk of no value, I rather view the whole within a more realistic – in my opinion, frame: as the balance of musical quality has been slowly and steadily shifting toward European and non-US territories during the last 6 years or so, it's been something extremely distinctive during the last couple of years where the vast majority of Hollywood - and generally US, based composers (with exceptions) has been coming up with more and more standardized musical scores; scores that are simply there to merely serve the on-going visuals but lack emotion, soul and the power to aesthetically and artistically underline and elevate the emotional background of the movie they accompany, if any.

Yes, If any; 'cause there's a significant drop of quality regarding the latter Hollywood's movie outcome as well, something that might have inevitably influenced in negative ways the work of the relevant composers too. That is subjective though as all and all the causes of the drop in musical quality when it comes to Hollywood scores of the last 5 years are pretty well known; from current trends to the easy, fast-food approach to film music by the studio, producers, some directors and even composers themselves, from heavy temp-track love and stubborn directors who will deprive artistic freedom from their composers in order to get the next, cold - but to their ears, cool sounding Remote Control / Zimmer imitator score and down to the severe lack of talent among a large part of the youngest generation of composers working in those territories today, everything is there and is strongly affecting a large portion of the film music outcome from those areas.

Thankfully, there are exceptions. Both US / HOLLYWOOD - based (See the upcoming review of The Happening for one, a film and score which sparked my interest to resume reviews again, and i'll explain below more about it) but more precisely, Europe. France's Alexandre Desplat, Gabriel Yared and Philippe Rombi with his gorgeous last year score for Angel, Javier Navarrete, Alberto Iglesias and Roque Banos from Spain, Canada's Jeff and Mychael Danna, Italy's Dario Marianelli, England's George Fenton and Israeli Armand Amar with Finland's Tuomas Kantelinen and his gorgeous Kingdom of Heaven-esque ARn but most notably the most amazing Tae Wang Sa Shin Gi/The Story of the Great King and the Four Gods by Joe Hisaishi from Japan are just the leading team of the great non Us-based composer who are currently underlying everything that's passionate, true and honest, beautiful and emotional in today's film music outcome.

A lot of facts and changes when it comes to some traits of film music during the last couple of years have frequently sent me wondering about whether reviewing film music any more actually made any impact or had any value whatsoever.

What facts I am talking about? Well, the vastly rapid spread of fast internet for one (combined with the continuingly illogical and high CD prices of new music along with some other factors) has helped boost piracy and / or easy hand-to-hand distribution of music to extreme levels. Each of us can easily - if he chooses so - have any slice of new film music that's out there, either in the forms of isolated tracks or rather in complete album as well, and instantly preview new material first hand.

Triggering a logical chain of events, most film music-related record labels, partly influenced by the afore mentioned situations and in combination with their own problems and challenges they have to face through the vastly shifting album selling scenery, they have been sending out less and less PROMO CDs, cutting them down to selected and limited-numbered specific channels instead. Now, to forerun specific thoughts you mind have in your minds, no, film music reviewing isn't colligative by the number of promotional CDs being sent to us; it has never been like this nor will ever be, especially now. But nobody can deny that it has a very positive echo on the outcome of a reviewer, as most of us do it as a side-activity out of love for the genre and certainly not as the a money making profession.

Mainly these, in combination with some personal work-related factors have sent me wondering, if it's still worth it, if people are still interested in a reviewer's opinion since they are in a position to actually listen to the score via a couple of easy and quick steps, many times even before the very reviewer does. I asked myself whether there’s any value whatsoever in all this, if people are still going for it.

Somewhere along these lines and through relative discussion and filtering of opinions of both good friends but also stemming from around the wider film music community combined with me taking some time off to relax and think, something very logical came to me; in order for an organism or a phenomenon or one's work to survive in an ever-changing, quickly-evolving surrounding environment - as such are the reviews within the current world of modern film music - one has to co-evolve and change itself along as well; you can’t remain stable and not take into account that people -through the afore-mentioned conditions and newly established data, are naturally tired of the same ol' reviewing routine that mostly described film music on album.

As what our beloved music primarily is, i.e different in comparison to all the other film music genres in respect to its programme nature (music written to underline and accompany a pre-set scene and narrative storyline with on-screen visuals) it has a specific purpose and as such it must be viewed.

As one who has particularly liked reviewers by colleagues and friends who proceeded a step further with their own writings by studying the use of the music within the film it was written for, I found them much more interesting and intriguing than the usual, average dry descriptions of film music on CD. I thought that I’d rather cut down significantly on the quantity of reviews and focus on the quality instead, writing and presenting to you reviews that will be created through and after the movie-going process, after the function and role of the very film music has been viewed and studied within the accompanying visuals as well as on the score CD, combined with interweaved mini-reviews of the film itself where possible.

Starting soon with James Newton Howard brilliant thriller / horror score for M.Night Shyamalan's latest The Happening, I plan to take it from there and see where it’ll lead. I really hope you're still with me; because it DOES worth it in the end; the whole film music genre, its lovers, the followers, the whole alive and breathing organism.

See you soon,
Demetris

DARIO MARIANELLI'S "ATONEMENT" is the new Academy Award Winner for BEST ORIGINAL SCORE, 2007

45 year-old Italian composer Dario Marianelli is the proud winner of the BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC) category for this year's ACADEMY AWARDS. Atonement is the work that awarded him this honor, coming along as one of 2007 definite best works and I'd like to express my deepest congratulations and gratitude for his win.

ATONEMENT:

His deeply melodic and classically-colored musical work of lush arrangements and beautiful themes was evidently a real gem right from the very beginning, one that elevated the movie it accompanied greatly. Dario cleverly incorporated the sounds of a typewriter into his music, sounds which are integrally connected to the movie's storyline and also attribute his score with a distinct breath of fresh air. Also featuring what's possibly one of the most captivating and sentimental single film music compositions of the last decade, "Elegy For Dunkirk" altogether with the romantic nature and musicality of the themes Dario wrote for the movie make Atonement one of the year's brightest musical highlights and his win a wholly deserved one.


Atonement is also the winner of the International Film Music Critics Association's Award for the Score of the Year, Best Original Score for a Drama Film, and Film Music Composition of the Year categories, the latter for the afore-mentioned "Elegy for Dunkirk". More info about the Awards and Dario can be found here.


DARIO MARIANELLI:

Dario was previously nominated for an another Academy Award back in 2005 under the same category with PRIDE & PREJUDICE (2005) and is also the composer of V for Vendetta, The Brothers Grimm and Shooting Dogs (Beyond the Gates) which is reviewed in this blog.

Clicking on the following link will get you WATCHING THE ACCEPTANCE SPEECH (VIDEO) for which you can read the transcript below:

DARIO MARIANELLI ACADEMY AWARD ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

" Well, that was a very long walk, it felt like. I feel like -- I'm a very lucky man. Thank you very much, Academy. I'm very lucky because I was part of a fantastic group of people that made a fantastic film. It's called "movie" because it's a moving film. I'm really grateful, above all to Joe Wright, the director, to have included me in this fantastic group of gifted people. I'm very grateful to my good friends for supporting me through lots of things, through these years, and my family, who I love very much. My girls, and my father and my mother. Thank you for passing on a very deep and strong love of music. Thank you. "


The official Academy Awards' Best Original Score page also contains a Film Synopsis and the Other Nominees for this year's said category.

International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) Award Winners 2007

2007 AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED BY INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS ASSOCIATION

Dario Marianelli's Atonement named Best Score of 2007

February 15, 2008. The members of the International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) have announced the winners of the 4th Annual IFMCA Awards, honoring achievements in film and television music in 2007.

The Score of the Year award goes to Italian composer Dario Marianelli, for his score for director Joe Wright’s ATONEMENT, which is based on the best-selling romantic novel by Ian McEwan. Marianelli spent the majority of his early working career in the United Kingdom and Ireland before coming to international prominence in 2005 with his scores for THE BROTHERS GRIMM and PRIDE & PREJUDICE, the latter of which received an Academy Award nomination.

In addition to the main award, ATONEMENT picked up two other awards, including Best Original Score for a Drama Film, and Film Music Composition of the Year for Elegy for Dunkirk. ATONEMENT has been one of the soundtrack successes of 2007, winning the Golden Globe for Best Score, receiving Academy Award and BAFTA nominations, and being mentioned by numerous film critics organizations in their annual reviews. ATONEMENT is available on CD from Decca Records.

Alexandre Desplat, who led the 2007 nominations, wins two awards: Composer of the Year, and Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science-Fiction film for his score New Line Cinema’s adaptation of Philip Pullman’s convention-challenging children’s fantasy THE GOLDEN COMPASS. The French composer, who was also IFMCA’s Composer of the Year in 2006, enjoyed a similarly stellar year in 2007. In addition to THE GOLDEN COMPASS, his works included director Ang Lee’s controversial political drama LUST, CAUTION, the whimsical fantasy MR. MAGORIUM’S WONDER EMPORIUM (co-composed with Aaron Zigman), and the French language feature L’ENNEMI INTIME, which received the Best Score award at the 2008 Cèsar Awards, France’s version of the Oscars.

Other winners in specific genres include Alan Menken, who wins the Best Original Score for a Comedy award for his tongue-in-cheek homage to classic Disney on ENCHANTED; John Powell, who wins Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure Film for his score for THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, the third film based on Robert Ludlum’s best-selling spy thrillers; David Shire, who wins Best Original Score for a Horror/Thriller for his return to mainstream scoring after almost 20 years on director David Fincher’s ZODIAC; and Michael Giacchino, who wins Best Original Score for an Animated Feature for his Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated score for the gastronomic delight RATATOUILLE.

The Best Original Score for Television award goes to Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi and his work on the Korean television series TAE WANG SA SHIN GI (THE STORY OF THE GREAT KING AND THE FOUR GODS), while the inaugural award in the new Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media category goes to John Debney for his epic score for LAIR, and recognizes the increasing level of compositional excellence for this exciting and popular media.

British composer Ilan Eshkeri is named Best New Composer of 2007, for his score for Matthew Vaughn's adaptation of the classic Neil Gaiman fantasy adventure, STARDUST. Eshkeri, a former protégé of the late Michael Kamen, helped complete his mentor’s score for the German animated film BACK TO GAYA after Kamen’s death in 2003, and also worked alongside Shigeru Umebayashi on the high-profile Silence of the Lambs prequel HANNIBAL RISING in 2007, cementing his place as one of the most exciting new composers to emerge in recent years.

The Film Music Label of the Year honor again goes to Oakland, California-based Intrada Records, who somehow managed to surpass their own high standards by re-releasing a number of classic, groundbreaking scores in extended versions with re-mastered sound and expansive packages. Amongst their 2007 releases were a pair of Jerry Goldsmith’s finest - ALIEN (Winner of Best New Release/Re-Release/Re-Recording of an Existing Score) and THE WIND AND THE LION – as well as Alex North’s rejected score from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, and the third installment in their anthology of scores from the groundbreaking AMAZING STORIES TV series from the 1980s (Winner of Best Film Music Compilation Album). Douglass Fake is the Owner and President of Intrada.

Despite it not being eligible for competition (as it was not an original 2007 composition), the IFMCA also elected to give special recognition to composer Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman for HAIRSPRAY, the big-screen version of their own smash hit Broadway show, which was itself based on John Waters’ cult 1988 film. A good-natured yet bitingly satirical look at rock and roll in Baltimore in the late 1950s, the film was one of the musical highlights of 2007.

The complete list:

A - SCORE OF THE YEAR
* Atonement, music by Dario Marianelli

B - FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
* Alexandre Desplat

C – BREAKTHROUGH COMPOSER OF 2007
* Ilan Eshkeri for Stardust

D - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM
* Atonement, music by Dario Marianelli

E - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM
* Enchanted, music by Alan Menken

F - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE FILM
* The Bourne Ultimatum, music by John Powell

G - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION FILM
* The Golden Compass, music by Alexandre Desplat

H - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A HORROR/THRILLER FILM
* Zodiac, music by David Shire

I - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE
* Ratatouille, music by Michael Giacchino

J - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
* Earth, music by George Fenton

K - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION
* Tae Wang Sa Shin Gi (The Story of the Great King and the Four Gods), music by Joe Hisaishi

L - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
* Lair, music by John Debney

M - BEST NEW RELEASE/RE-RELEASE/RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE
* Alien, music by Jerry Goldsmith; Douglass Fake, Michael Matessino and Nick Redman (producers)

N - BEST FILM MUSIC COMPILATION ALBUM
* Amazing Stories: Anthology 3, Douglass Fake (producer)

O - FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR
* Intrada, Douglass Fake

P – FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
* Elegy for Dunkirk from Atonement, music by Dario Marianelli

Q – SPECIAL AWARD
* Hairspray, music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman

==================================

The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) is an association of online, print and radio journalists who specialize in writing about original film and television music. The IFMCA Awards are the only awards given to composers by film music journalists.

The IFMCA was originally formed in the late 1990s as the Film Music Critics Jury by editor and journalist Mikael Carlsson, a contributor to filmmusicradio.com and filmmusicweekly.com, and the owner of the Swedish film music label MovieScore Media. Since its inception, the IFMCA has grown to comprise 43 members from countries as diverse as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The IFMCA presented its first awards in 2004.

The IFMCA strongly feels that a film score’s strength lies in the combined impact of two important elements: the effectiveness, appropriateness and emotional impact of the score in the context of the film for which it was written; and the technical and intellectual merit of the composition when heard as a standalone listening experience. As such, the membership votes for the best scores of each year with these two criteria in mind, and strives to recognize scores which excel in both these areas. As an international organization, the IFMCA also makes conscious efforts to celebrate the best film music, not just from mainstream Hollywood productions, but world-wide, wherever it may originate.

Previous winners of the IFMCA Score of the Year Award were James Newton Howard’s LADY IN THE WATER in 2006, John Williams’ MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA in 2005 and Michael Giacchino’s THE INCREDIBLES in 2004.

For more information about the International Film Music Critics Association, please visit http://www.filmmusiccritics.org or contact press@filmmusiccritics.org.

PHILLIPE ROMBI | Angel

Few would have suspected that such a brilliant musical work would errupt out of François Ozon's Angel; certainly not because Ozon is not an acclaimed director as it's the rather opposite that happens actually and it's a well-known fact that Ozon, the man behind such excellent films as 8 femmes or Swimming Pool is particularly talented and expected to have delivered. Not because of the film's premise either 'cause a romantic drama showcasing the rise and fall of a young eccentric British writer in the early 20th century, based on an Elizabeth Taylor novel, does have the lot to back it up right from the very beginning.


The composer though, the brilliant french composer that is Philippe Rombi was in fact - and up to very recently, virtually unknown to the largest part of the film music community. Having composed the magnificent classical-oriented and heavily melodic score for Joyeux Noël in 2005, a work which got him a César nomination for Best Music Written for a Film (Meilleure musique) in 2006 and also having crafted the magnificently melodic and elegant musical accompaniments for 5x2, Jeux d'enfants (love me if you dare), Oui, mais..., Une employée modèle, Sous le sable and the brilliant Une hirondelle a fait le printemps which is probably his best score to date, still it wasn't until very recently that most people discovered Rombi's work, through Angel.


It's really fun to observe how pleasantly surprised - some even shocked, people are when coming in contact with the composer's music for the first time and with Angel this has been nothing short but a ride of pure excitement and long-forgotten feelings, for everyone out there lucky enough to have experienced it. This is one truly spectacular and nostalgic musical ride down the golden paths of our beloved genre, coming from one singularly special human being, a man gifted with the ability to express pure emotions and rare, unrestrained melody in unique ways.


It's rather obvious then that Angel is not your typical modern film score.


Whereas a strong and memorable main theme is sadly considered by many modern day film-makers as a negative and strong factor that calls-off the audience's attention from the on-going visuals and plotlines of their movies, or sadly even by composers themselves as a down point for a score to have, Rombi has composed a boldly melodic, lush and instantly lovable main theme for this, engulfed in unrestrained beauty and flowing melodic lines; melody that bonds the whole work and leads it through constant renditions and varicolored developments.


While a large part of the modern film scores bear mediocre to even childish arrangements and poor orchestrations, Rombi boosts his score up with an amazingly dense and advanced harmonic core onto which the bold melodic statements stand while simultaneously staying completely orchestral, elegant and lush. Many small factors contribute to the latter's achievement but it's mainly due to his effective and long-abandoned piano, strings and woodwind approach and rarely-heard today classical compositional techniques.


Finally, whereas the majority of modern-day film music seems to be draining itself of everything essentially musical whilst moving towards more minimalistic, ambient and technologically-enhanced directions with great emphasis on sound designs rather than on actual Music, Rombi's score is a magnificent look back to the elegance and Grandness of the Golden Age's majestic elements of such masters as Alfred Newman or Georges Delerue and at the same time passing it through an up-to-date point of view with a beautiful sound overall.


Angel is a small masterpiece. A particularly well-worked score flourished through the composer's evident passion and devotion to his music and dressed with an impressively colorful array of emotions and moods, it is also the perfect chance for the masses to get to know his brilliant work. Rombi's general output – and especially Angel – is truly some of modern film music's finest examples, easily beating a very large part of the general Hollywood outcome by far, in all aspects.


5

International Film Music Critics Association - Nominations 2007

NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 4th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

January 18, 2008. The International Film Music Critics Association announces their 2007 nominees for excellence in scoring for film and other visual media.

Alexandre Desplat leads the nominations with seven, including two for Best Score of 2007: Ang Lee's romance drama LUST, CAUTION, and the fantasy adventure THE GOLDEN COMPASS. Dario Marianelli, who recently won the Golden Globe for Best Score for ATONEMENT, is nominated for four awards for the Joe Wright-directed World War II drama. Tied with Marianelli with four nominations is Michael Giacchino, who is up for Best Score for the animated film RATATOUILLE, as well as for his nomination in the newly-formed Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media category for his MEDAL OF HONOR: AIRBORNE score.

Other composers with multiple nominations include John Debney (2), David Shire (2), newcomer Fernando Velázquez (2), Christopher Young (2) Aaron Zigman (2) and Hans Zimmer (2).

Since the focus of the group is international, many films that received nominations have yet to be released in the United States, including Philippe Rombi's score for François Ozon's English language film ANGEL; legendary composer Ennio Morricone's score for Simona Izzo's romantic comedy TUTTE LE DONNE DELLA MIA VITA (ALL THE WOMEN IN MY LIFE); Joe Hisaishi's score for the Korean television series TAE WANG SA SHIN GI (THE STORY OF THE GREAT KING AND THE FOUR GODS), and Jane Antonia Cornish's score for Danish director Nikolaj Arcel's DE FORTABTE SJÆLES Ø (ISLAND OF LOST SOULS), for which she received a Breakthrough Composer nomination.

The winners will be announced on Friday, 15 February 2008.

==========================

========

INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS ASSOCIATION
2007 Award Nominations

A - SCORE OF THE YEAR

* ATONEMENT, music by Dario Marianelli
* THE GOLDEN COMPASS, music by Alexandre Desplat
* LUST, CAUTION, music by Alexandre Desplat
* RATATOUILLE, music by Michael Giacchino
* ZODIAC, music by David Shire

B - FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

* ALEXANDRE DESPLAT
* MICHAEL GIACCHINO
* JAMES NEWTON HOWARD
* MARK ISHAM
* DARIO MARIANELLI

C - BREAKTHROUGH COMPOSER OF 2007

* JANE ANTONIA CORNISH for De Fortabte Sjæles Ø (Island of Lost Souls)
* ILAN ESHKERI for Stardust
* JONNY GREENWOOD for There Will Be Blood
* FERNANDO VELÁZQUEZ for El Orfanato (The Orphanage)
* CHRISTOPHER WONG for Journey to the Fall

D - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM

* ANGEL, music by Philippe Rombi
* ATONEMENT, music by Dario Marianelli
* EASTERN PROMISES, music by Howard Shore
* THE KITE RUNNER, music by Alberto Iglesias
* LUST, CAUTION, music by Alexandre Desplat

E - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM

* ENCHANTED, music by Alan Menken
* EVAN ALMIGHTY, music by John Debney
* HOT FUZZ, music by David Arnold
* REIGN OVER ME, music by Rolfe Kent
* TUTTE LE DONNE DELLA MIA VITA (ALL THE WOMEN IN MY LIFE), music by Ennio Morricone

F - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE FILM

* THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, music by John Powell
* GHOST RIDER, music by Christopher Young
* LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, music by Marco Beltrami
* PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END, music by Hans Zimmer
* SPIDER-MAN 3, music by Christopher Young

G - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION FILM

* BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, music by Aaron Zigman
* THE GOLDEN COMPASS, music by Alexandre Desplat
* MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM, music by Alexandre Desplat and Aaron Zigman
* STARDUST, music by Ilan Eshkeri
* SUNSHINE, music by John Murphy and Underworld

H - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A HORROR/THRILLER FILM

* EL ORFANATO (THE ORPHANAGE), music by Fernando Velázquez
* FLOOD, music by Debbie Wiseman
* I KNOW WHO KILLED ME, music by Joel McNeely
* SLEUTH, music by Patrick Doyle
* ZODIAC, music by David Shire

I - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE

* BEE MOVIE, music by Rupert Gregson-Williams
* BEOWULF, music by Alan Silvestri
* GEDO SENKI (TALES FROM EARTHSEA), music by Tamiya Terajima
* MEET THE ROBINSONS, music by Danny Elfman
* RATATOUILLE, music by Michael Giacchino

J - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

* DARFUR NOW, music by Graeme Revell
* EARTH, music by George Fenton
* IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON, music by Philip Sheppard
* LA PLANÈTE BLANCHE, music by Bruno Coulais
* LE PREMIER CRI, music by Armand Amar

K - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION

* BATTLESTAR GALACTICA [SEASON 3], music by Bear McCreary
* DOCTOR WHO [SEASON 3], music by Murray Gold
* LOST [SEASON 3], music by Michael Giacchino
* TAE WANG SA SHIN GI (THE STORY OF THE GREAT KING AND THE FOUR GODS), music by Joe Hisaishi
* TIN MAN, music by Simon Boswell

L - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA

* BIOSHOCK, music by Garry Schyman
* CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE, music by Stephen Barton and Harry Gregson-Williams
* LAIR, music by John Debney
* MEDAL OF HONOR: AIRBORNE, music by Michael Giacchino
* WARHAWK, music by Christopher Lennertz

M - BEST NEW RELEASE/RE-RELEASE/RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE

* ALIEN, music by Jerry Goldsmith - Douglass Fake, Michael Matessino and Nick Redman (producers)
* GODZILLA, music by David Arnold - Ford A. Thaxton and David Arnold (producers)
* THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, music by Howard Shore - Howard Shore, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Paul Broucek (producers)
* THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, music by Miklós Rózsa - James Fitzpatrick (producer)
* THE WIND AND THE LION, music by Jerry Goldsmith - Douglass Fake and Lukas Kendall (producers)

N - BEST FILM MUSIC COMPILATION ALBUM

* AMAZING STORIES: ANTHOLOGY 3, Douglass Fake (producer)
* THE KARATE KID BOX SET, Robert Townson and Bill Conti (producers)
* MAD, MOD & MACABRE: THE RONALD STEIN COLLECTION, Taylor White (producer)
* MIKLÓS RÓZSA: A CENTENARY CELEBRATION, Robert Townson (producer)
* THE UNFORGIVEN: CLASSIC WESTERN SCORES FROM UNITED ARTISTS, Lukas Kendall (producer)

O - FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR

* FILM SCORE MONTHLY, Lukas Kendall
* INTRADA, Douglass Fake
* LA-LA LAND RECORDS, M.V. Gerhard and Matt Verboys
* MOVIESCORE MEDIA, Mikael Carlsson
* VARÈSE SARABANDE, Robert Townson

P - FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR

* "Elegy for Dunkirk" from ATONEMENT, music by Dario Marianelli
* "Graysmith Obsessed" from ZODIAC, music by David Shire
* "Last Shift" from LIONS FOR LAMBS, music by Mark Isham
* "Up Is Down" from PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END, music by Hans Zimmer
* "Wong Chia Chi’s Theme" from LUST, CAUTION, music by Alexandre Desplat

==================================

The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) is an association of online, print and radio journalists who specialize in writing about original film and television music. The IFMCA Awards are the only awards given to composers by film music journalists.

The IFMCA was originally formed in the late 1990s as the Film Music Critics Jury by editor and journalist Mikael Carlsson, a contributor to filmmusicradio.com and filmmusicweekly.com, and the owner of the Swedish film music label MovieScore Media. Since its inception, the IFMCA has grown to comprise 43 members from countries as diverse as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The IFMCA presented its first awards in 2004.

The IFMCA strongly feels that a film score's strength lies in the combined impact of two important elements: the effectiveness, appropriateness and emotional impact of the score in the context of the film for which it was written; and the technical and intellectual merit of the composition when heard as a standalone listening experience. As such, the membership votes for the best scores of each year with these two criteria in mind, and strives to recognize scores which excel in both these areas. As an international organization, the IFMCA also makes conscious efforts to celebrate the best film music, not just from mainstream Hollywood productions, but world-wide, wherever it may originate.

Previous winners of the IFMCA Score of the Year Award include James Newton Howard's LADY IN THE WATER in 2006, John Williams' MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA in 2005 and Michael Giacchino's THE INCREDIBLES in 2004.

For more information about the International Film Music Critics Association, please visit http://www.filmmusiccritics.org or contact press@filmmusiccritics.org.

ADRIAN JOHNSTON | Becoming Jane

Some films hint a lot right from the very beginning, before you even get to actually watch them. Becoming Jane - the Julian Jarrold directed biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with a young Irishman in late 18th century, shouts from a mile away. Besides obviously being the excellent choice of movie for your beloved one and you to enjoy under a lovely romantic evening, its premise further pointed to a very possibly elegant and melodic musical accompaniment.

And how spot-on that presentiment was!


Not widely known but evidently greatly talented, British film composer Adrian Johnston scored his first feature film (Jude) in 1996 and has subsequently scored more than 20 other features, most recently Kinky Boots, Isolation and Lassie. Having also composed a lot for television, an area which awarded him an Emmy for his score to Shackleton, and also for diverse theatre companies, including the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, the RSC and National Theatre but for several award winning dance projects too, as well as having written and performed live music for silent films, Adrian is one case of younger film composer you won't regularly come across.


His musical score for Becoming Jane is heavily influenced by the work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart whose "Deh Vieni Non Tardar (From "Le Nozze Di Figaro")" is also present in the movie's soundtrack; such a strong influence is denoted intensely by Adrian throughout the whole first part of the score and becomes particularly evident in passages like "Bond Street Airs". This very first part is impressively constructed in musical terms through its lush and dense arrangements and vivid melodic movement, coming along as highly demanded by the aesthetic needs of the movie it accompanies. Adrian aids greatly into setting the tone of the era, as revealed by the opening cue "First Impressions" which is - unsurprisingly, a lushly classical waltz performed by the full orchestra and which manages to quickly introduce the listener to the afore-mentioned.


Although effective and - in parts, quite interesting, still the first part of the score as a whole comes along as somewhat impersonal and devoid of any strong sense of character or originality whatsoever, something that many period scores non-coincidentally seem to suffer from.


However, when Adrian is attributed the space needed for his own musical identity to evolve, this is where the musical wonders take place in a form of a big shift. "Mrs. Radcliffe" - found halfway down the album, indicates the very change. With its sweet melancholy and delicacy, it quickly leads flowingly into the remainder of the score, i.e. its true core of beauty and value. "An Adoring Heart" is one of the most pleasant surprises for instance, a small and intimate, fragile solo piano piece but with every single note packed with extreme passion and emotional tension, all in a rare fashion. The heartbreaking string-driven beauty of "Goodbye, Mr. Lefroy" and the brilliantly passionate piano and strings love hymn that is "Distant Lives" are two very important cues in the score, further leading to the excellent "Selbourne Wood" and "To The Ball". Moreover, from the beautiful piano and strings rendition of the touching waltz-main theme in "Runaways", and from the majestic couple of "A Letter" with its arpeggiated piano escort underneath a fragile, romantic and charmingly romantic violin-led theme, to the heavily dramatic and painfully emotional string writing of "To Be Apart" all the way up to the closing "A Last Reading" with the main theme in all its orchestral glory, Becoming Jane is a clear winner.


This is evidently a very colorful and romantic orchestral score, a musical work of beauty. An imaginative cross between the classical era's best, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek's Evening, Dario Marianelli's Pride and Prejudice and Nigel Hess' brilliant Ladies in Lavender, Becoming Jane is a hidden gem that will certainly echo to the passionate ones, those who love small-scale refinery, unstoppable romance and classical-colored elegance in their film music. Greatly recommended as one of the year's best.

3 1/2

2008 is here, happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a very happy new year with the best of wishes for good health, great fun with the beloved ones of your lives and lots of quality film music to come our way!

The blog will be back online with lots of fresh material pretty soon!

Cheers everyone,
Demetris

AARON ZIGMAN | Martian Child

A very mature and heartwarming cinematic trip throughout our inner selves, Martian Child - Menno Meyjes' latest drama, is one of those movies exploring the father & son relationship which are often attributed in jest as "male chick flicks". In all seriousness though, this is a touching adult drama about a science-fiction writer who was recently widowed and considers whether to adopt a hyper-imaginative 6-year-old abandoned and socially rejected boy who says he's really from Mars.


Aaron Zigman, the 44 year-old American pianist, songwriter, arranger and producer but primarily composer of such scores as his beautiful debut film score John Q and the gorgeously romantic The Notebook, has been repeatedly proven a very fit composer, gifted by a charmingly rare ability of creating truly beautiful and delicate melodies. Upon this very element of melody he bases the majority of his work, establishing a fact that both attributes a very pleasant sense throughout his works but also setting himself apart from the large ensemble of the melodically dry modern film scores.


However, what he still needs to develop is a bolder sense of originality and musical identity in his music that has essentially been an amalgam of various musical traits so far, mostly flowing from modern romantic paths but also from the work of composers such as Thomas Newman and Hans Zimmer, primarily. The former's musical character - admittedly stemming from possibly the most influential film composer of the last 15 years, can be read throughout each and every single work Zigman has delivered to date and Martian Child is no exception, as further explained below.


Zigman's musical approach for Martian Child is rather typical, but still quite pleasant. Utilizing the ultimate professionalism and warm sound of the Hollywood Studio Symphony orchestra - which he conducted himself, Zigman built a tender little orchestral score led by the piano, soft-strummed acoustic guitar and strings. Opening right away with the main theme on subtle piano on a veil of strings, harp and soft electronics, he quickly sets the tone for what's to follow. The very main theme is an essentially simple but effective melody based on a 3-note motif and it's usually carried by the particularly warm string session. Armed with the graces of simple beauty and its direct nature through major scales, the theme brings a strong sense of nostalgia and sweetness to the whole. It correspondingly colors a large portion of the remainder score as it reappears in variations and direct re-performances throughout. A frail piano interweaves with it in "David's Concern" while significantly upbeat and rock oriented renditions take place in "David and Harlee" through rhythmic guitar strumming. The main theme is the essential ingredient of the offbeat and sensitive - at places even melancholic, side of the score; "Flomar Dies" for instance, is easily one of the most captivating and touching moments with strings carrying the main theme, coupled with chord processions that strongly send to Zimmer's The Thin Red Line; this further expanded in the succeeding "New School", "David Waits" and "Christmas Night" as well.


Coming in notable contrast, the other half of the score is made up of cheerier Thomas Newman-esque passages. Led by the secondary theme that firstly appears in "At the supermarker", we find this sneaky little guitar theme which is effectively uplifting and notably rhythmic and armed with a charmingly discreet Eastern color within its melodic development. Carried by soft strings, acoustic guitar, woodwinds (notably the clarinet), soft percussion but also the trademarked Newman-esque sitar-like strumming sound, xylophones and marimbas, pieces like this are firstly introduced in "Dennis in David's Yard" and continuing throughout the whole score.


There are 2 further elements used by Zigman here and which deserve the mention for sure; "Dennis Runs away" is the longest cue on album and it was a strong surprise amidst the general undisturbed calmness of the score. It starts off with the cute secondary theme coupled with beautifully uplifting and melodic string renditions of the main theme, only to be passed through piano underscore onto an agonizing last part where intense string ostinati carry a bold, tension-building melody on high strings and woodwinds, along with broad brass lines. Dark and surprisingly refined, this last bit shocked calm waters and gracefully revealed another side of Zigman's writing we shamefully don't get to hear frequently.


The second pleasant surprise is one that simultaneously brings up a flaw with this kind of Thomas Newman-esque music editing on album, i.e. the small durations of the tracks. The CD of the Martian Child score contains 30 tracks and apart some few exceptions, the average duration of each track variates from 30 seconds to one minute and a half, leaving lots undeveloped and unexpanded. Such is the tremendously beautiful piano with strings and soft percussion waltz of "Remembering Mary" which only appears once and under an extremely brief duration, eventually leading to disappointment and wonder on what could have been, had longer and more coherent suites been developed out of all the little fragmented pieces.


But, as all things come to an end, Martian Child concludes under the trademarked dramatic way of Hollywood endings, i.e. via a long and passionate suite of all the themes and elements heard throughout, crowned by a bold orchestral climax. This adds the perfect ending to a rather typical modern romantic score. Nostalgic and fragile, sentimental and tender, this simple and melodic ride down the memory lane could have easily been so much more if Zigman pushed the envelope further and disconnected from his primal influences; one can only hope for such an outcome in the near future as he really is one very gifted artist.



3

MARK ISHAM | Lions For Lambs

There are very few composers working in Hollywood nowadays who truly carry a distinctive offset of quality in their work. One of them is Mark Isham.


With an instantly recognizable sound, Isham - a renowned trumpeter with a huge jazz / classical musical background, has created a characteristic identity which has largely matured and expanded during the last 5 years. His outcome has seen him wandering through various musical genres, styles and moods; from dark film noir and ominous thrillers to vividly uplifting and romantic and from pure jazz to classically-colored orchestral outbursts (Racing Stripes, Eight Below) his writing has been ever-evolving and always genuine.


Lions for Lambs, one of his many scores for 2007 and for Robert Redford's latest drama, is another surprise. The heavily-criticized movie evolves around the story of two determined students who follow the inspiration of one idealistic professor into attempting to do something important with their lives. When the two make the bold decision to join the battle in Afghanistan,their professor is both moved and distraught.Now, as the students fight for survival in the field, they become the string that binds together two disparate stories on opposite sides of America.


Mark Isham's approach to the musical side of the film is apparently dramatic and esoteric but one that will greatly surprise us as we proceed down the score's unfolding. The 56-year old New Yorker has evidently built his work around 3 basic elements; firstly, we find the first trait right from the very opening cue, "Lions for Lambs main titles" in what is essentially an 8-note electronic motif that forms a very tight musical basis for pounding percussion, low electronic bass and dreamy female synth choir to unfold. Coupled with high brass lines and particularly tight percussion rhythms, the piece instantly brings John Powell's magnificent work for United 93 to mind, a fact that both rings as a very pleasant but also smart reference. Serving as the primal element of "Lions for Lambs"s first half, this firm combination repeats itself throughout the first half of the score, like in "A new plan", "Battle tent" and "Take a b".


Coupling with the afore-mentioned main theme, we find a complementary motif on the cello and low strings but of significantly darker and less modern approach, firstly in the second cue on album ("The berm"). The touching theme's escorted by driving ostinati and brass lines which further reminiscent Powell's United 93, especially in comparison with this piece's correspondingly slashing percussion section. "11" and "One handed" further empower the very motif's appearances but also the dark tone of the score's first half.


In "Breathe" we get presented with what's to be the most important element of the score later on. The glorious trait about it is that you can't actually tell nor realize its importance right from its very first appearances as Isham builds and empowers it slowly during the course of the score using very clever arrangements and combinations. This piece, "breathe", slowly introduces the third theme, essentially carried by an unusually intimate and offbeat cello coupled with smooth and emotional strings. Two relatively short but strikingly bold appearances by a couple of stunningly ominous and aggressive cues, namely "firefight" and "get to me" are what briefly interrupt the development of this third theme. The former are made out of intense brass lines and pounding drums, fast string ostinati and pulsing electronics, all very bold traces of the afore-mentioned United 93 inclinations but coupled with a distinct Isham-colored approach of dissonant trumpet and brass combinations.


From this point onward, the last part of the score shifts and is completely taken by this third theme, as heard for the first time in "Breathe", which we discussed earlier. "Pink's pilots" further braces it up until "Taxi Ride" with its impressive shift at a point where the score gets at its most dramatic, powerful and effective."Last Shift", just a step before the album's conclusion, is one singularly beautiful and spectacular piece. Opening with the first appearance of the piano - surprisingly late for an Isham score, where subtly touching strokes of strings color with a far more positive note in contrast to what we've heard so far and where vivid ostinati held by violins and violas provide a tight rhythmical structure to the whole. Progressively building up, both in loudness and also tension, strings with discreet brass lines lead to a heavenly trumpet and choir outburst and a climax led by the third theme. A solid and extremely powerful performance by the full orchestra carries the latter brightly and broadly, in violent contrast to the esoteric melancholy of the same theme as heard previously in "breathe".


Coming to complete is the final cue on album, "end credits", essentially another appearance of the third theme in all its glory. A fiddle-like string instrument carries it ontop of interweaving. soothing ostinati by high strings and low brass, eventually functioning as a connecting bridge to the final and celebrant reappearance of the theme by full orchestra. Ending the whole score with a hovering high major chord on strings, ISham adds the perfect ethereal and beautifully fragile ending to a very emotional score overall.



The music for Lions for Lambs - as showcased above, is very powerful. From its small-scale, offbeat and intimate beginning and through the pulsing electronics, beats and percussion with loud brass and trumpet and dark touches all the way up to the gorgeously emotional and uplifting conclusion, Isham provides a colorful musical journey from intense darkness to stirring brightness in what's possibly his most mature work to date.


4

CHRISTOPHER WONG | Journey from the fall

Film music labels in their majority inevitably fuse their name with certain specific aspects of the genre, mostly due to specialization purposes but also because of the varicolored nature of the latter. Some concentrate on all things Hollywood, others focus on rereleases or releases of previously unavailable material from past decades and the Golden Age, others mostly on European and Asian score CD’s, others on World music and the list is large, indeed.

MovieScore Media is a label that has primarily built their reputation on eclectic adamancy and musical class while constantly focusing on bringing mostly unknown but evidently talented young film composers, to film music lovers’ attention. My anticipation with every new MSM release is therefore always at high levels as I am virtually unaware of what’s to be heard each time, often captivated by the unexpected. Sometimes I even get caught in surprise by some of their releases; such a gem is Christopher Wong’s Journey from the Fall.

I was unaware of both the movie and the composer at first; the former is an award-winning drama that concentrates on the story of a Vietnamese family who are tragically affected by the Vietnam War and forced to immigrate to America thirteen years after the end of the war. Christopher Wong, whom I’ve never heard of before, is the composer of the musical score and a deeply prolific young one for sure.

He was a student of the film music legend Jerry Goldsmith and comes along as evidently influenced by the Maestro’s musical devices, especially in the arrangements and melodic texturing found in portions of Wong’s score for Victor Vu’s feature First Morning (winner of the Best Picture Award at the San Diego Asian American Film Festival which is also presented on this album) along with his music for the short The Anniversary, the first collaboration between him and Journey from the Fall director Ham Tran, both to be found on this CD as well. In Journey from the fall the influence is not as evident and certainly not so much in his sound, but hints are to be found indeed mostly in his technique: at first, the need for a very strong bonding element that is the theme, a theme memorable, touching and prominent enough as to gather all the single elements of the score together and tighten them up into a coherent, strong musical work. Such a theme is what thoroughly blesses Journey from the Fall, one that will greatly satisfy the nostalgic lovers of the older approaches to film music as well.

You see, most Film score composers nowadays usually tend to follow the motific approach for their themes; this means that they usually come up with a simple, easily-digested by equally forgettable 4 or 5-note motif which guides the basic routes around their scores for as long as it is demanded by the accompanying visuals of the movie, but often provides an impersonal and non-inventive melody eventually that will have no actual value or genuine importance as a further listening experience on album. Wong’s theme for Journey from the fall is nothing like that. Written primarily for solo instrument treatment, it’s fundamentally a very simple but pretty touching and fragile little melody that bears a hummable and instantly-infective song-like quality, thus coming as strongly memorable and catchy in violent contrast to the afore-mentioned motific approach of usual. Being catchy doesn’t necessarily mean it’s actually uplifting however, something which Wong’s theme couldn’t be any farer from. Given the nature of the movie’s storyline, the theme is particularly melancholic and offbeat with great dosages of nostalgia in it but simultaneously avoids unnecessary schmaltz. It is also characterized by the Goldsmith tendency to build a lot of his scores on solo instrument orientations that are prominent and well-worked throughout, something Wong’s fond of as well.

Presented on album in various occasions, it starts right from the beginning with the opening “Legend of Le Loi” performed by a beautiful violin with a distinct Vietnamese flavor due to the dense usage of the Dan Tranh, the traditional Vietnamese zither that accompanies it. Arpeggiated chords on the piano are the harmonic basis for all the appearances of this theme which is later passed through acoustic guitar, clarinet and other woodwinds as well as the full orchestra (string-based though) and driven through immensely touching and major-minor chord shifts that provide direct musical-dramatic effects. Every rendition continues to impress each time through its different nature and sound when passed through the various solo instruments. For instance, in “Drifting in the Rain” echoes serenity and calmness through the piano and gentle strings whilst loneliness and sweet melancholy are enliven through “The Promise”’s solo acoustic guitar and its clean, metered and kindly beautiful playing, one of the score’s most sentimental and touching moments. The likewise colored “life in the camp” or the uplifting rendition of “Mai's Decision” where the very main theme’s carried on the piano and escorted by acoustic guitar and elegiac strings on a lighter tone a la Thomas Newman’s American Beauty are further examples of Wong’s compositional diversity. An equally positive and vivifying tone’s also transmitted through “A New Beginning” under full orchestra with woodwinds and acoustic guitar performing the said theme, altogether showcasing the composer’s strong ability to ably handle solo instruments but also effectively manipulate his strong themes through various contrasting timbres and musical feelings overall. Servicing as the primal element for everything, the main theme gives birth to a number of resulting secondary motifs of equal beauty which are used throughout the score too and are also based on the arrpegiated-chord harmony, notably through the gently elegant piano melody of “Family Photos” or the clarinet and acoustic guitar variations of “finding letters”.

In addition, a special mention should be made on the use of the Vietnamese Zither which colors a rather exotic ethnicity to the whole score. There’s this evidently Asian-treated melody Wong wrote for the score and – although significantly brief and somewhat draft and under-developed in comparison to the main theme – still sounds as an important breath of different air to the score as it appears through the opening track, “Packing up”, “The Long Voyage” and “Take the Family”. Following the ethnic nods further we find a very impressive “The Escape”, i.e. the score’s only action piece where several tension-building and agonizing strings lead us up to a tight, firm and rhythmic Taiko outburst interweaved with minimalistic piano and repeated same note on guitar, the latter rather impressively reminiscent of the harp’s usage in Michael Giacchino’s Lost.

At the end of the album we find the most outstanding and extended piece of the score which bears the same title as the movie and which is essentially a summarization and further development of all the single elements heard before and functions as a perfectly-built, coherent and sweeping suite of flourishing performances and beautiful melodies.

Journey from the fall is small-scale and intimate but immensely passionate, touching and sentimental; a sensitive musical work of rare honesty and true inner melody as well as hard to find musical-aesthetic values. It’s not complex and it won’t blow you away with its grandness or loud, awe-aiming tricks but it certainly is one soulful testimony of infrequent musical beauty.

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