MAGIC Appears TIMELINE Disappears

By: Randall D. Larson
Date: Thursday, April 24, 2003

THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATIONS

A rare Jerry Goldsmith classic comes to CD for the first time with this month's new limited edition Soundtrack Club release from Varese Sarabande. Composed in 1978 the same year that brought such Goldsmith classics as the powerful DAMIEN: OMEN II, the austere COMA, the exhilarating CAPRICORN ONE, and the macabre waltz from BOYS FROM BRAZIL the score for MAGIC (VCL 0403 1018) has never been released in any form, except for six cues included on a very limited tribute CD produced in 1993. The score has topped many lists of the most sought-after Goldsmith scores, so it's release as a limited edition from Varese is most welcome.

Goldsmith gives emphasis to strings, harmonica, and piano to create a tender tone poem for the shifting personalities of the ventriloquist and his dummy (which are developed as they conflict and eventually merge). The score thereby underlines the descent of the Anthony Hopkins character into madness with an intricate interplay of instrumentation, texture, and energy. A splendid contrast is achieved between the silken smooth violins of the main theme and the low, growling tonalities of the harmonica.

MAGIC may not embody the melodic orchestral flourishes that characterized many of Goldsmith's larger scores of this period, but his expertise nevertheless shines in this compelling and provocative film score. To order, visit: www.varesesarabande.com.

From Silva Screen comes a vibrant new surround-sound recording of John Williams' adventure fantasies, THE INDIANA JONES TRILOGY (SSD 1147). Compiling a dozen and a half cues from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, and INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE with Silva's usual orchestra (the City of Prague Philharmonic and Chorus, conducted again by Nic Raine), the compilation is a powerful collection of music both sublime and rousingly adventurous. Divided into three symphonic suites for 85-piece Symphony Orchestra and 60-piece Choir, the CD compiles the series' best cues into a compact 73 minutes of music.

Included in the TEMPLE OF DOOM suite is the Cole Porter tune "Anything Goes," (included in both French and English variants) which, although an integral part of the film, is slightly out of sorts with the style of the rest of the recording, albeit very nicely sung by Helen Hobson.

SOUNDTRACK NEWS

MUSIC FROM THE MOVIES reports that one of Jerry Goldsmith's most anticipated scores for 2003 has been rejected and a new score for Richard Donner's TIMELINE will now be provided by up-and-coming composer Brian Tyler (FRAILTY, CHILDREN OF DUNE). Goldsmith wrote the score in late December, recorded during early January and only recently revealed in London that he had just completed his final tasks for the film in early March. TIMELINE the movie is now due for release in November.

Intrada has announced a recording of Elia Cmiral's score for BONES (MAF 7093), New Line Cinema's 2001 gangsta-ghost film that starred Snoop Dog and Pam Grier. For the film, Cmiral, a veteran of several noted genre film scores (STIGMATA, THEY, BATTLEFIELD EARTH) as well as the thriller RONIN, created a mixture of intense orchestral music with chorus, augmented by an array of electronic and percussive effects. www.intrada.com.

Percepto Records reports that their first-ever recording of Lee Holdridge's magical score for DREAMER OF OZ (Jack Bender's 1990 TV-movie dramatizing the life of L. Frank Baum) will be issued in May. I had the opportunity to write the notes for this project and had a wonderful time reacquainting myself with the score. The OZ notes include interviews with producer David Kirschner, director Jack Bender, make-up artist Craig Reardon, and, of course, composer Lee Holdridge (not Richard Matheson, as previously announced). www.percepto.com.

Film composer Christopher Lennertz (SAINT SINNER) has just begun scoring the highly anticipated sequel videogame MEDAL OF HONOR RISING SUN for Electronic Arts. A Hollywood orchestra of 77 musicians will record the score on a major scoring stage. The game's producers sought out a film composer and desired to record with a Hollywood orchestra to achieve a true cinematic sound and further expand the integrity of this game series.

An interesting story about possible infringement of a song featured in CITIZEN KANE appeared recently. The garage-rock band White Stripes might face a copyright-infringement suit over their song "The Union Forever," which purportedly borrows liberally from the classic 1941 Orson Welles film CITIZEN KANE, according to ROLLING STONE. The song, from the band's 2001 "White Blood Cells," reportedly takes its title and most of its lyrics from a song in the movie, the thinly disguised examination of tyrannical newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. A spokesperson for Warner Bros., which owns the distribution rights to KANE, told ROLLING STONE that the company is "reviewing the matter." While no mention of the film is made in the album's credits (which state, "All songs written and performed by the White Stripes"), ROLLING STONE reports that frontman Jack White has been open about the song's roots in the Welles movie, which the American Film Institute named the best movie of all time.

Composer Marc Shaiman's Web site has been revamped and now includes a slew of new sound clips from unreleased scores like
WHAT'S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN, BOGUS and SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE plus, over 15 minutes of music from his score for the SOUTH PARK film. http://shaiman.filmmusic.com.

Shaiman is currently writing an original score and co-writing original songs (with Scott Wittman) for the live-action adaptation of Dr. Seuss' THE CAT IN THE HAT starring Mike Myers as the titular cat (think Jim Carrey in THE GRINCH). Bo Welch, an Oscar-nominated production designer whose credits include MEN IN BLACK and BATMAN RETURNS, is helming the film, which is set to on Thanksgiving (Nov. 21), 2003.

Another redesigned Web site worth checking out is that of composer Don Davis (THE MATRIX Trilogy). Look for exclusive audio clips from his upcoming film project, THE MATRIX: RELOADED later this spring, as well as other goodies! http://dondavis.filmmusic.com/

According to the Web site, Maverick Records will release a two-CD set of music from THE MATRIX: RELOADED on May 6th. The first disc contains songs from the film, while the second disc will contain score cues although other reports indicate only about 17 minutes will include cues from Davis' score. One truly hopes for a more representative soundtrack of what will most likely prove to be as groundbreaking a score as the first MATRIX.

Composer and songwriter Randy Edelman (THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, GODS AND GENERALS, DRAGONHEART, THE MASK, ANACONDA, XXX) will receive the 2003 Richard Kirk Award for Outstanding Career Achievement at the BMI Film and TV awards May 14 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. Composer, songwriter and television executive Merv Griffin will also be presented with the BMI President's Award at the ceremonies.

DVD FILM MUSIC NEWS

MPI's new DVD release of WAR & REMEMBRANCE THE FINAL CHAPTER (the concluding half of their 12-DVD set which saw release of the first six discs late last year) includes an exclusive soundtrack CD (which appears to have more music, or at least tracked and titled differently, than the limited release issued by Mediatrax back in 1989). Cobert's score, probably the longest ever written, graced Dan Curtis' 12-episode World War II miniseries. The FINAL CHAPTER DVD set also includes a retrospective documentary on Cobert's score.

DVDFILE.COM reports that Danny Elfman provides a commentary track for the Hannibal Lectar movie RED DRAGON as well as an isolated score. This all appears on the two-disc directors edition.

The "making of" documentary on the Fox DVD of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL includes a notable chapter on the Bernard Herrmann score featuring Steven C. Smith, Hermann's biographer. Also, the feature-length commentary by director Robert Wise and "music-wise" director Nicholas Meyer frequently mentions Hermann's contribution to the film.

Fox's new DVD of THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR features two commentary tracks, of which the first divides time between special effects supervisor/film historian Gregg Kimble, and Christopher Husted, manager of Bernard Herrmann's estate. Husted shares the 104-minute track quite evenly with Kimble, describing Herrmann's score and providing a perspective of his time at Twentieth Century-Fox.

Universal's new DVD of Francois Truffaut's 1966 film FAHRENHEIT 451 includes a 15-minute featurette on Bernard Herrmann's score, and interviews with Herrmann biographer Steven C. Smith, author Ray Bradbury, editor Thom Noble, and producer Lewis M. Allen many of whom also appear on the disc's commentary track with Julie Christie.

The DVD Review Web site reports Elite Entertainment's jam-packed disc of STRANGE BEHAVIOR, Michael Laughlin's 1981 horror film, will include an isolated Tangerine Dream score track. The DVD is slated for a May 6th release.

Also, the new ROBIN HOOD PRINCE OF THIEVES DVD Special Edition should include a composer commentary from Michael Kamen and isolated score.

Soundtrax is our weekly Movie Soundtrack column.

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