Our Musical Pal

From La-La Land Records comes The Fantasy Film Music of George Pal (LLLCD 1016), a new limited edition collection of more than an hour's worth of music from the famed sci-fi producer's last seven films, much of which has never been released before. Let me state right off that I had the opportunity to write the notes for this release, but my enthusiastic recommendation for the CD is truly out of a legitimate admiration for the music collected therein and not for any associated efforts of my own in connection with the project.

The release collects original soundtrack recordings from tom thumb (Ken E. Jones), THE TIME MACHINE, ATLANTIS: THE LOST CONTINENT (both by Russell Garcia), THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHER'S GRIMM, THE 7 FACES OF DR. LAO (both by Leigh Harline), THE POWER (Miklos Rozsa), and DOC SAVAGE: THE MAN OF BRONZE (Frank DeVol adapting John Phillips Sousa). The music is splendid throughout, from Garcia's wonderfully swashbuckling music to ATLANTIS, which opens the album, to his ethereal and vivid score to THE TIME MACHINE; Miklos Rozsa's dark-hewn musical study in megalomania from THE POWER, one of his last scores, and Harline's sumptuously melodic BROTHERS GRIMM and DR. LAO, the latter brimming with textural Chinese rhythms and rich, sweeping Americana. Jones' main theme, the only excerpt included from tom thumb, is a jaunty overture of the songs and orchestral flourishes heard in the film; but perhaps the most notable surprise is the score from DOC SAVAGE, Pal's final and arguably least successful film. Many aficionados have written the score off as little more than Sousa marches ill-adapted into a film score (mostly "The Thunderer"), but as evidenced by the nine cues proffered here (21:12 mins), they have been effectively crafted into a workable dramatic film score that fit the campy film, bridged by original compositions from Frank de Vol (several of which are included here; "Doc Confronts The Assassin/Assassin Jumps," for example, is a terrific action cue, ripe with exotic instrumentation and energy; while "Doc and The Girl" is a poignant love theme for violins). DOC SAVAGE's music may not be RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK but it's a noteworthy effort well worth your consideration.

The musical quality of these old tracks is inconsistent, due to the age and unavailability of master elements, but is acceptable. Kudos to Arnold Leibovit at www.scifistation.com for leading the charge on getting this collection underway. Co-producer Ford Thaxton has nicely sequenced the release, and the CD is lavishly packaged under the notable aesthetics of art director Mark Banning. The music to Pal's first seven pictures - THE GREAT RUPERT, DESTINATION MOON, WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, WAR OF THE WORLDS (all scored by Leith Stevens), HOUDINI (Roy Webb), THE NAKED JUNGLE (Danielle Amfitheatrof), and CONQUEST OF SPACE (Nathan Van Cleave) continues to beg for a collection like this and hopefully some day may appear if the music can be found and licensed for recording.

www.lalalandrecords.com

Varese Sarabande has released Jeff Rona's atmospheric score for the TRAFFIC miniseries (306 066 544 2), and it's well worth [IMG3R]checking out. Based on Stephen Soderberg's 2000 feature film (which was scored by Cliff Martinez, with Rona providing "additional music" and programming the electronics for), this January 2004 three-part miniseries explored the dark, inner workings of illicit trade organizations, as well as the secret agents that risk their lives to apprehend the elusive criminals who are a part of it.

Composer Jeff Rona is noted for his score for WHITE SQUALL and EXIT WOUNDS, as well as quite a bit of TV scoring (THE DEAD ZONE, HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET, CHICAGO HOPE, etc); he's also written an excellent book on film scoring entitled The Reel World - Scoring for Pictures (Miller/Freeman, 2000). His music for TRAFFIC: THE MINISERIES achieves an expressive rhythmic ambiance that exudes exoticism and dangerous activities. Because the miniseries examines a variety of illicit trafficking around the world, the music takes on a "world music" sensibility, which makes it all the more striking and intriguing, carrying a compelling rhythm and "world beat" type of ethnic persuasion. Some cues ("The Bus Home/The Cave") create a wonderfully rich ambient texture using the ethnic musical styles, some Asian, some Latin American while others ("Foot Chase") lend a strident, techno percussion beat that takes the music in a more dance beat direction. Rona's main title theme adopts a rich percussiveness over which a wordless female voice intones serenely; the contrast between the airy vocal and the deep, primitive percussion is characteristic of the score, which will emphasize very evocative tonalities and melodies with very earthy percussive resonances and rhythms. The plaintive woodwinds of "The Illegals," one of the score's most striking cues, reverberate with compassion, while the chanting percussion riff and strident dulcimer chords that segue out of those woodwinds speak more of cruelty and inhumanity; the cue culminates with female voice taking the prior woodwind melody. The score will continually counterpoint these measures - haunting vocal ambiences set against an underlying development of mesmerizing rhythms creates a consistent undercurrent of tension that works well in the film, and makes for a compelling listen on CD. An excellent exotic/ambient film score that you will do well to avoid missing out on.

George S. Clinton's music for George Armitage's Elmore Leonard caper comedy adaptation, THE BIG BOUNCE (also on Varese Sarabande, 302 066552 2), is another noteworthy score that is easy to slip beneath your radar. Clinton (AUSTIN POWERS, MORTAL KOMBAT) provides a jaunty and catchy score. It's playful, like most caper movie scores like to be, and is given a neat edge through the prominent use of Hawaiian steel guitar. The music isn't Hawaiian music, by any means, it's more along the lines of cool jazz, but the twangy steel guitar lends a refreshing newness to the approach. Clinton incorporates ukulele as well as a bunch of exotic percussion instruments to enhance the sound of a large string orchestra that suggests the lushness of the Hawaiian landscape, but the music follows more jazzy and dramatic lines. The Main Title is a wonderful mix of steel guitar, chanting male vocals, and piano, with embellishment by thickly massed violins and a touch of saxophone over a rampant field of strummed ukulele, capturing a nicely furtive "caper movie" style rhythm that's quite appealing. The music takes on a number of variations and guises throughout the album, from the luxuriant lounginess of "The Truth" to the energetic pulse of "Which Bitch?", the furtive jazzy mysterioso of "The Show" and the sultry pianissimo of "The Bounce." The last cue, "Sail Away" is a completely charming musical denouement, a fully revved version of the main theme spilling over with ukulele, steel guitar, generously piping woodwinds, saxophone, bongos, scraper, and more. A thoroughly pleasing and fun score to listen to.

www.varesesarabande.com

For more information on Jeff Rona, see: www.jeffrona.com

For more information on George S. Clinton, see: www.georgesclinton.com

Next Tuesday (April 6^th,) Varese Sarabande will release Marco Beltrami's score for HELLBOY (302 066 562 2). The score, [IMG4L]written for large orchestra and choir, is one of Beltrami's (TERMINATOR 3, SCREAM 1/2/3, BLADE 2) most ambitious to date. The label will release Brian Tyler's music for GODSEND on the 27^th, along with Henry Mancini's never-before-released music from THE THORN BIRDS (2-CD world premiere release).

On May 18^th, Varese will release THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, with music by Harald Kloser (DRACULA'S CURSE, ALIEN VS PREDATOR) for Roland Emmerich's latest end-of-the-world saga. The label also announces a number of soundtrack reissue, slated to appear around the same time including John Barry's THE LION IN WINTER, Gato Barbieri's LAST TANGO IN PARIS, and Jimmy Buffet's RANCHO DELUXE.

Shipping April 6^th from La-La Land Records is The Best Of "Lone Wolf And Cub" a compilation of original soundtrack recordings by composers Hideakira Sakurai and Kuuihiko Murai, from the legendary 70's Japanese Samurai films series LONE WOLF AND CUB a.k.a. THE BABY CART series. Never before available in North America in any format, this remastered compilation of music from all six LONE WOLF films showcases fascinating, eclectic movie music that combines traditional Japanese stylings with Western, 70's-era motifs. CD Booklet contains production stills and promotional art and features an in-depth look at the LONE WOLF film series. For track listing and more photos, see: www.lalalandrecords.com/LoneWolf.html

The same date, La-La Land will release the soundtrack from STEALING TIME, a dramatic thriller starring Scott Foley, Peter Facinelli, and Ethan Embry. The music was composed by Joey Newman - an exciting new voice in movie music who hails from the famous "Newman" family of composers who has written music for the acclaimed TV shows ONCE AND AGAIN and PROVIDENCE. "With STEALING TIME, he fashions a rich, evocative score in the tradition of AMERICAN BEAUTY and SIX FEET UNDER for the CD features exclusive liner notes from the composer, director, and more." www.lalalandrecords.com

Composer Gabriel Yared has been relieved of scoring duties for Wolfgang Petersen's upcoming historical epic, TROY reportedly after audience members at a test screening complained that the music was "too old-fashioned." James Horner, who scored Petersen's last film, THE PERFECT STORM, has been signed as new composer. This makes at least the fourth Petersen film to have its score modified at the eleventh hour due to studio or test-screening demands Klaus Doldinger's score for THE NEVERENDING STORY was augmented by youth-pleasing tunes from Giorgio Moroder for its US release; Angelo Badalamenti's music for SHATTERED was replaced by a new score by Alan Silvestri; and Randy Newman's score was excised from AIR FORCE ONE to be replaced by one from Jerry Goldsmith, assisted by Joel McNeely and son Joel Goldsmith.) -www.filmscoremonthly.com

For more about Gabriel Yared and his excision from TROY, read his comments at: http://www.musicfromthemovies.com/article.asp?ID=278

Here's one excerpt: "In the end I am proud to say that with the great help and support of all my team I succeeded in producing what I firmly believe to be my finest score. It is original, musical and every single cue is crafted with a great deal of thought, heart and inspiration in a way that I feel works fantastically with the picture. I feel my score lifted the picture and gave some depth and emotion to many of the scenes which gave another element to the film as a whole in amongst the terrific and exciting action scenes. My music was fantastically recorded and mixed, and the detail of each overdub layer gave a great and characterizing sound which was completely up to date but with the scale and class of a great epic." www.musicfromthemovies.com

Minimalist composer Philip Glass (CANDYMAN, KOYAANISQATSI) has two films currently in release, SECRET WINDOW (Glass replaced James Newton Howard on the film; due to the last minute time crunch, Glass was assisted by Geoff Zanelli who composed additional music) and TAKING LIVES; no word yet on a soundtrack CD release for either score.

Speaking of SECRET WINDOW, by the way, composer Geoff Zanelli reported about his efforts on the film to www.hanszimmer.com:

"They moved the schedule up by about six weeks which made it difficult for one man to finish the score, so I was asked to help. The credits will read 'Music by Philip Glass,' 'Additional Music By Geoff Zanelli.' I wrote a little more than half of the score, but I haven't heard what Philip wrote yet. I guess I'll hear it in the theater... It will be pretty easy to tell what music I wrote for SECRET WINDOW and what music is Philip Glass. There isn't much overlap stylistically in what we each did. Both parts of the score are purely orchestra there is not a single synth, and only a tiny bit of percussion."

Award-winning composer James L. Venable (SCARY MOVIE 3, THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE, IRON MONKEY) has scored Kevin Smith's new film, JERSEY GIRL, starring Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler. The film marks Venable's third project with writer/director Smith (JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, CLERKS - THE CARTOON). Smith calls the young composer, "a genius." Additionally, due to his mixing and producing abilities, Venable was asked by Sony to remix a radio single from John Debney's score of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST soundtrack with a spoken word track by actor James Cavizel. The single is receiving Christian radio play.

Brian Tyler (TIMELINE, GODSEND, THE FINAL CUT), will see two of his older scores released on CD by La-La Land Records. The label has announced the release of Tyler's score for last year's comedy THE BIG EMPTY, directed by Steve Anderson and starring Sean Bean, Daryl Hannah and Rachael Leigh Cook; and the music from Lance W. Dreesen's 2000 horror comedy TERROR TRACT, which won two awards at the 2001 Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film.

Soundtracks coming but as yet given no specific release date:

BASIC INSTINCT (expanded) - Jerry Goldsmith - Prometheus
THE BEST OF LONE WOLF AND CUB - Hideakira Sakurai, Kuuihiko Murai - La-La Land
THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER - David Newman - Percepto
DIRTY HARRY - Lalo Schifrin - Aleph
THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT - Vic Mizzy - Percepto
TIMELINE - Jerry Goldsmith - Varese Sarabande
THE TOWER - Christopher Young - Intrada Signature Collection

The three-disc special edition release of PANIC ROOM that came out this

Not one, not two, but three discs await you in the PANIC ROOM special edition.

© Columbia TriStar

This week's release of DREAMKEEPER, a Hallmark Entertainment TV mini-series adapting a number of American Indian folk tales, includes a free copy of the Varese Sarabande soundtrack CD featuring Stephen War beck's score.

Thonen's many friends in the Kansas City moviemaking community will honor him and raise money for his wife and three children by staging the John Thonen Memorial Film Festival in April at the Glenwood Arts Theatre. Because Thonen was a huge lover of trashy science fiction and horror, his friends have chosen titles that reflect that obsession. All will be shown at 10 a.m. Saturdays; technically the screenings are free, but organizers suggest a donation of $5 a person

Thonen was a freelance entertainment writer and film historian who had published more than 200 film reviews and related interviews, as well as the book B-Movie Horrors, about low-budget moviemaker Don Dohler. He was the founding editor of Imagi Movies magazine and was the video department chief for Cinefantastique magazine. He also worked for the Fandom and Cinescape web sites.

http://www.kcscreenwriters.com/