Tag: Soundtracks

Wars without Williams.


As making the rounds of late, the raw C-SPAN feed of the Yavin 4 medal ceremony was a considerably weaker PR hit for the Rebellion, and no mistake. (Chewie in particular comes off much worse — This is like learning of Lincoln’s squeaky voice.)

Also in recent Original Trilogy-related humor, Black C-3PO (BL3PO? Either way, probably still less offensive than Jar Jar et al) and this analysis of the insurgency on Endor’s moon. “The Ewoks are not soldiers, but a tribal insurgency — and a remarkably successful one once they receive the backing of foreign special forces.”

Old Friends, New Cues.

“Far over the Misty Mountains cold…” As we’re now only a month away from the incident with the dragon — or at least its first few chapters, the full soundtrack for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is now streaming online, as is Neil Finn’s “Song of the Lonely Mountain” (which is fine, but I confess “The Greatest Adventure” will likely remain my go-to for Hobbit-y standards.)

Symphony in PG.

“As a rule, film score classical music is used as a shorthand: Handel indicates that the snobs have arrived, Mahler that someone is about to die, but not before pouting about it, and Wagner is a sure sign that big trouble’s a-brewing.” By way of Girlhacker, The Guardian‘s Joe Queenan dissects the most overused classical music tropes in film. “Vivaldi’s ludicrously overplayed Four Seasons invariably indicates that the stuffed shirts are having brunch; Beethoven’s Ode to Joy announces that Armageddon may be just around the corner; and anytime an aria by Verdi, Bellini or Puccini is heard, you can bet your bottom dollar that someone is going to get raped, stabbed, blinded, buried alive or impaled.”

New Wave, L’Ancien Regime.

Quiddity points the way to some offbeat rumors concerning the soundtrack to Sofia Coppola’s forthcoming Marie Antoinette: “An unofficial soundtrack listing has been floating around the internet, claiming that in addition to the Bow Wow Wow songs [“I Want Candy,” “Fools Rush In”], the movie also features music from Gang of Four, Windsor for the Derby, Radio Dept., Aphex Twin, Air, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Cure, New Order (whose ‘Age of Consent’ appears in the trailer), Squarepusher, Adam and the Ants, the Strokes, and Phoenix.“

Shore Shipped?

In a strange turn of events this late in the game (particularly given this production diary), Howard Shore is off King Kong, to be replaced by James Newton Howard, late of the Batman Begins score. Says PJ: “During the last few weeks, Howard and I came to realize that we had differing creative aspirations…Rather than waste time arguing with a friend and trying to unify our points of view, we decided amicably to let another composer score the film.” Well, he was right about Stu Townsend, I suppose.

A Long-Expected Party.

“Have you ever been called home by the clear ringing of silver trumpets?” Alas, for the first time in three years, we don’t have a new extended LotR DVD in the works this Christmas. But to ease the pain of its passing, the full, three-disc, 180-minute Fellowship of the Ring score will be released November 22, which will include a DVD-version in 5.1 surround sound. Presumably, the other two films will follow in due course. In the meantime, this site has assembled mp3s of some of the missing musical moments from the trilogy. (Unfortunately, they haven’t yet included the culmination of the Rohan theme, as heard during the Ride of the Rohirrim.) I will go there, I will go there…and back again.

Video killed the Death Star.

Lucasfilm releases a Episode III music video entitled A Hero Falls, which includes occasional bits of new footage scattered amongst the trailer stuff (as well as some cringeworthy Hayden Christiansen line readings.) For what it’s worth, John Williams’ Sith score (which will include an impressive-sounding DVD of music from all six films) generally sounds much darker and more intriguing than this rather bland excerpt.

Also in SW news, Episode III gets the Corliss treatment for a Time cover story which includes this gallery from the film. (Hey, I’ll take it over Ann Coulter.) And, in another cover story, Wired queries George Lucas about his post-SW plans. “‘I’ve earned the right to just make things that I find provocative in my own way,’ he says. ‘I’ve earned the right to fail, which means making what I think are really great movies that no one wants to see.’

Succumb to Temptation…

Well, while I did pick up the soundtrack this morning. we’re getting to the point in the RotK release cycle where I’m starting to feel ambivalent about seeing this stuff before December 16th. Newsweek prints a very spoiler-filled first review and declares, “It’s an epic. It tells a passionate, elemental story. It takes the principal filmmaking currency of our times, special effects, and makes them matter. Is it a fantasy? It’s a lot of people’s fantasy, yes.” (The article also tells how the movie begins…I won’t put it here, but I’m somewhat proud of myself for having guessed it a year ago.) The Newsweek cover story also has a couple of all-new pictures, and a snippet from Andy Serkis’s forthcoming Gollum book reveals even more about the decisions made in RotK. All of this is very spoilerish stuff, even for those of us who’ve read the trilogy. You have been warned.