MovieMusic.com Message Boards: Yay! Member of some press finally does it right...

Message Boards

Movie Soundtracks

Yay! Member of some press finally does it right...

Archive of old forum. No more postings.

Please visit our new forum, The MovieMusic Lobby, to post new topics.

Author	Topic: Yay! Member of some press finally does it right...

PeterK FishChip	Nice article about movie music, also commemorates the three majors who passed on last year. [Message edited by PeterK on 03-04-2005]
posted 03-04-2005 02:40 PM PT (US)

franz_conrad Standard Userer	quote: Those opportunities - to work on the audiences' emotions with a dramatic musical score - aren't particularly relevant in the current film culture. For example, the score for Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" (written by Eastwood himself) is so understated that it seems to evaporate. So true. So few critically acclaimed films really allow for scores with 'presence'. It's like they're scoring the films in a way that avoids stating the emotion that people should be feeling, which might be useful for dramatic counterpoint, but which is quite limiting from the point of view of scoring emotions among modern day composers. Newton Howard's Village seemed to strike the right balance. Not too much and yet certainly not too little.
posted 03-04-2005 02:47 PM PT (US)

Bryan T Standard Userer	Thanks for the link, PeterK; excellent article. Nice to see that someone understands.
posted 03-04-2005 09:31 PM PT (US)

Widescreen Standard Userer	I loved that article. Mainly because its nice to see someone with a more powerful pen than me get these points out in the mainstream press. And while I do love this, I hate to be cynical- but it's an article destined not be reaad by money hungry record companies and film promoters whom we can only presume,but in all probability are scoffing at the paper with the opinion that as long as they are in power and making money, they're thinking "what the hell do they know?" If anything, we're due for another cultural renaissance like return as when John Williams' very first Star Wars score reinvigorated film music. I don't know if it's up to us as fans, but we can certainly help if neeeded- but I think this rejuvenation is coming whether record/movie marketers like it or not, and whether any of us know it not. Here's why: the way anyone "sold" anything 30 years ago, hell, last year, is not the same way we sell today. If it's in any kind of cyclical existence, then things will come back around to something better. Or maybe one of us here will start a napster-style bootlegging revolution for film score. God help us all if that happens! [Message edited by Widescreen on 03-05-2005]
posted 03-05-2005 04:37 AM PT (US)

rkeaveney Standard Userer	I'm a bit confused by the article. It talks about fitting Oscar tributes for these composers, but they didn't receive any special treatment at all besides being included in a montage set to Bach bullshit! Ryan
posted 03-05-2005 11:36 AM PT (US)

PeterK FishChip	Ryan, the article was written before the show. The stuff he mentions was an expected hope for the show. That's what I read.
posted 03-05-2005 12:01 PM PT (US)

Wedge Standard Userer	Actually, a tribute did come, in the form of Oscar-nominated music from all three composers during the interstitials, including "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", "Chinatown", "The Magnificent Seven" and "Laura". A subtle tribute, but there nonetheless.
posted 03-06-2005 09:03 PM PT (US)

Alexborn007 Standard Userer	Excellent article. Makes you wonder where film music of the past 30 years will be in 200. I liked how much credit he gives to the music itself. Many articles I've seen before just credit their genius in film. This was the first I've ever read outside of the "circle" ( ) which actually had a call to action and recognized it as powerful music which could stand on its own. Brought a big ol' smile on this face. I thought what the Oscar decided to do for a tribute was well thought out, but not executed very well. Conti's use of the composer's themes was a nice touch, just not placed very strategically. My main problem actually was the lack of applause Jerry Goldsmith, David Raksin, and Elmer Bernstein got. Goldsmith and Raksin in particular got a spattering of clapping at best. One of many things which soured the show for me. In their defense though, the Academy couldn't spend too much time on one person and doing something like Bach, with none other than Yo-Yo Ma performing, was very classy (not as appropriate as some would have preferred, but it wasn't Eminem thankfully). Film score composers just seem to be the unsung heroes of motion pictures. Regardless, music has that ability to outlive almost anything, and their memories will live on through other means. NP-Black Hawk Down [Message edited by Alexborn007 on 03-06-2005]
posted 03-06-2005 10:38 PM PT (US)

Old Infopop Software by UBB