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.

4

MARK ISHAM | Bobby

Mark Isham’s been fairly busy during the last couple of years. With several more upcoming scores and the recently-released albums for In the valley of Elah, Gracie, Lions for Lambs, and Reservation Road, he’s currently at the busiest stage of his career so far, almost always providing deeply musical and meaningful works in their vast majority.

Bobby is Emilio Estevez’s 2006 historic drama about the assassination of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy who was shot in the early morning hours of June 5, 1968 in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Although the premise seemed big as far as its musical accompaniment is concerned, still it largely feels like a missed opportunity as a whole.

Following the two clear-cut parts of the movie, i.e. the presentations of everyday and careless activities of the USA’s late 1960’s which function as aids to capture the texture of the times, VS the 2^nd part that focuses on the assassination, the musical score is correspondingly divided into two parts as well. While Isham starts off and concludes in restatements with variations on the simple but bold and effective ascending main theme which is strongly based on the style of Thomas and David Nemwan, he goes on building the entire first half of the album on random uplifting and pseudo-romantic soundscapes. The latter are again vividly influenced by Thomas Newman, something which becomes quickly evident through the arrangements, melodies, his unmistakable sound timbres and rhythms and especially the instrumentation of the piano, soft guitar and strings. This very first half of the score sadly comes along as tedious and generic, clichéd and filler, therefore causing lost of musical interest and significant reduction of the listening experience.

The score is thankfully saved though, from “A Chivalrous Act” onwards, where the tone gets far more serious and meaningful and less Newman-depended, more Isham-based, at last. If you add to that the gorgeous 8-minute piece at the end of the album (“The Mindless Menace of Violence”), things are restored for good.

Overall 'Bobby' makes for a nice background listen, but coming from Isham one would expect something way more; this feels unoriginal and worn-out. Isham fans and those of you who can make it past the slowly-moving and uninteresting first half will be merely in for a small treat of several melodic string-driven pieces and a gorgeous main theme.

3

ALAN SILVESTRI | Beowulf

Plagiarism. What’s nastily attributed in the world of film music as plain and direct copying of already written/recorded musical material or more lightly as a general recycling of or direct influences from previously existing ideas, themes, motifs or musical styles. It is an accusation often shot conveniently at various composers and their works and particularly the late ones. The arguments backing up such statements often range from plainly groundless and childish to detailed and in-depth discussions on the ethics of music but nevertheless, always crowned by the element of subjectivity.

And we all do that.

A new score comes along which doesn’t bear particular originality or genuine enough ideas to deal with and – sometimes even without directly realizing it – instantly starts the running of calculations in our heads; where have we heard this before? What does it resemble? Is it another one’s music or the composer’s own work we are being reminded of here? These, plus a series of various other logical questions, spring in everyone’s minds and we’re slowly but firmly guided to conclusions which are extremely subjective accordingly, while the vast majority of the outcomes is fundamentally based on our own personal taste and musical background. Through this way, numerous examples of heavily unoriginal works have emerged that are generally accepted by the film music community, sometimes even praised. Edward Shearmur’s The Sky Captain and the world of Tomorrow, John Debney’s Lair and Seaquest DSV, Alexandre Desplat’s Firewall, Zimmer’s Pirates of the Caribbean II and III or a large part of James Horner's outcome through the years and the majority of the scores produced by the Remote Control studios (Transformers, The Island and the list is endless) are a few examples. All works of dubious originality, however enjoying the general approval of the mass of the film music fanbase. These come in violent contrast to other cases like – say – Tyler Bates’ 300, Jonathan Elias’ Pathfinder, Ilan Eshkeri’s Hannibal: Rising and Stardust, the reasons behind such discriminations being evidently polymorphic and miscellaneous. Nevertheless, most of them are purely judged via the afore-mentioned personal factors and of course the source, the composer behind each and every one of those scores. The resulting views and opinions are once again obviously attitudinal, sometimes even unfair.

However, when people talk about the lack of originality in Beowulf, plagiarism isn’t the sole aspect. Although arraigned as directly quoting Silvestri’s own Van Helsing and his work on The Mummy Returns, it is simultaneously well-known that a lot of people have evidently linked Silvestri with the few remaining holdovers of an aspect of film music long abandoned and strongly missed, i.e. the John Williams / Jerry Goldsmith sound of the 80’s and early 90’s. People expected Silvestri to deliver the unexpected, to act in ways contrary to any currents in film music of our days, to surprise, to awe and to feed our nostalgia. With a Robert Zemeckis - Alan Silvestri collaboration like Beowulf, an artificially enhanced through state of the art animation epic adventure about the warrior Beowulf who must fight and defeat the monster Grendel who is terrorizing towns, and later, Grendel's mother, it was screamingly evident right from the beginning that such expectations not only would be raised and fueled but they would also be greater and stronger than any other previous occasion.

In a time when film music fans - and particularly the older generations – are starving for a score carrying the sparkling air of the late Golden Age or when scores like Back to the future prevailed over everything, Beowulf comes as highly disappointing for some.

The score’s actually not bad; rather the contrary. Opening right-away with the main theme on profound brass over a highly energetic orchestra, electric guitar and synth-driven hymn sung by a bold choir, “Beowulf Main Title” simply predisposes the listener for what’s to follow. Re-rendered in similar fashion in “What We Need Is A Hero”, the main theme which is based on 9-note phrases comes along as heavily masculine and prominent, direct and to the point, epic and grand. The impressively crystal-clear choir and the boldly loud and well-metered brass are huge pluses in Silvestri’s Beowulf and so is the dense percussion section. The main theme sounds like a cross