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Composer: Danny Elfman
Label: WaterTower Music
Suggested Retail Price: $9.99
Grade: A


Of all the great, Gothic love affairs that have been artistically going on in the cinema, easily the most enjoyable, and enduring partnership belongs to composer Danny Elfman and filmmaker Tim Burton. Birds of a bizarre feather from Elfman’s joyously demonic rock band Oingo Boingo to Burton’s twisted scribblings for Disney, it was fate that these kindred, oddball spirits would immediately hit it off from the clown hell that tormented “Pee Wee Herman’s Big Adventure” in 1985. The Burton / Elfman circus of audio-visual horrors that would mostly grow increasingly frenetic through the likes of “Beetlejuice,” “”Batman Returns,” “Mars Attacks,” “Sleepy Hollow” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” With nearly every genre collaboration over the last 27 years going further and further into the deep end, it comes as the biggest shock as to just how drolly restrained (relatively speaking) that their newest macabre jaunt is for “Dark Shadows.” It’s a film of many surprisingly genteel pleasures, at least until its finally goes haywire- not that Elfman himself gets dragged down into an abyss of bad storytelling and overt effects that leaps out of nowhere to prevent this from being one of the most breezily pleasurable Burton film since “Beetlejuice.”

Inspired by the cult TV soap opera that no doubt played a major part in twisting Burton’s young imagination, the original “Dark Shadows” wasn’t so much about horror as romance, a gauche love affair with the uncanny that would truly become popular when it embodied its uncannily florid yearning into the sympathetically undead vampire Barnabas Collins. Now given a production of several zillion dollars and Johnny Depp-led star appeal that the technically plagued original could only dream of, Tim Burton further undermines this bigscreen adaptation’s potential hamminess (especially the screwball comedy promised by the somewhat misleading trailer) by playing it straight, if not underplaying the premise. But that certainly doesn’t mean there aren’t many subtly goofy pleasures to be had here, especially in Danny Elfman’s subtly eye-winking score, a relatively uncomplicated treat in the composer’s rhythmically intensive cannon of musical ghoulishness.

A good deal of Elfman’s devilish, trademarked suspects are assembled in “Dark Shadows” to be sure- a dramatically swirling orchestra, organ and chorus among them. And while the “Prologue” gets things off to a tempestuous bang, the kind of raging orchestrations that Elfman’s given to headless horseman, supervillain circuses, or cemetary-dwelling freaks doesn’t really hit until the uncertain climax demands it. Instead, Elfman’s work here is mostly about filling up the vast, centuries-old halls of Collinwood manor in a way not that dissimilar from what Robert Colbert did on ABC daytime, conjuring a fog of strings, cheesy electronics and haunting melodies that are a whole lot more playfully self-conscious this time around. “Deadly Handshake” and “Barnabas Comes Home” are marvels of eerie atmosphere with mock-menacing strings, echoing motifs and tubular bell percussion, a spider-web of musical effects that go bump in the night amidst Rick Heinrich’s impeccable set design, while deliciously conjuring something far more cheaper. Theremin-like pulsations of “Hypno Music” positively threatening to crumble a set that might as well be made out of plaster of Paris. Like this cue, there’s a charming kitsch quality to much of “Dark Shadows” musical miasmas that essentially make this into the score for “Ed Wood” that Elfman never got to do.

What remains completely heartfelt about the score, and a big reason for its success is Elfman’s innate feeling for the lethal outcast. Whether it’s Edward Scissorhands or Hellboy, there’s a melodic tenderness to Elfman’s horror scoring that always makes us sympathize with the freakish, while never letting us forget that the personable “monster” could puncture our throats at any moment. Barnabas Collins is particularly fine company for the composer in that regard, a blood-sucking fish out of water whose biggest distaste is for his own cursed actions. Elfman is as lovestruck for him as Bella is for Edward, the composer giving passionate, if foreboding attraction to a figure whose white-face makeup and flowery dialogue would be completely absurd outside of any other actor, or director’s domain. And when “Dark Shadows” tries to play it for as much real emotion as it will ever carry with “Roger Departs,” Elfman’s theme for Barnabas as father figure is downright noble. This guy is no Dracula, yet all the serious appeal of the vampire myth that he embodies (and was arguably made popular again in the original form of Jonathan Frid) can be found within Elfman’s score between the gently satirical lines.

If Barnabas feels positively old at being serenaded by Alice Cooper, Elfman compounds the musical anachronisms way beyond B-movie / soap opera electronics. Even if “Shadows- Reprise” bursts out with a hilarious retro scream before jamming with electric propulsiveness that’s far more “Batman Begins” than “Batman.” When the kitchen sink special effects arrive to dispel the Baroque drollness that really makes most of “Dark Shadows” work beyond your wildest hopes, Elfman still remains on keel from “The Angry Mob” onward by mixing the throwback keyboards with swells of synth modernism. Much like the Wolfman he scored with far more seriousness, Elfman rips apart his elegant clothes and reverts to raging orchestral form for the overly big finale as he’s called upon to deliver the thundering goods, which he does in thematically operatic style for a potpourri of angry ghosts, animated wooden figures and a witch-bitch’s fiery vengeance. You might be gasping as to what the hell’s happening on screen. Yet Elfman’s thunderous, but still-romantic music maintains fine storytelling form as its throttling momentum turns Barnabas from silent observer to the absurd visuals into super-heroic do-gooder, racing to the rescue with choral and symphonic aplomb for “Widow’s Hill- Finale” and “The End?” – a true Batman, in deed and music.

But while “Dark Shadows’ might tragically falter from becoming a Tim Burton classic to ending up an admirable miss, Danny Elfman’s score shines as another subversive gem, added to a treasure chest that helped make him into the gonzo Prince of musical darkness. It’s work that’s all the more admirable when the spooky-ooky ride gets bumpy, let alone for turning a project’s inherent goofiness from the get-out into a thing of true endearment and supernatural power.


Make your home at Elfmanwood HERE

[url./manufacturers/database/?id=341]Varese Sarabande[] has announced it will re-release old and out-of-print soundtracks it had previously published under its new 'Varese Encore' series.

Founded in the late 70s, Varese Sarabande has released thousands of soundtrack albums, many of which are out of print and now only available second-hand.

The label plans to remaster each re-released album as well as update its packaging, but does not anticipate changes to original album tracks. According to a company blog post, their aim is to make out-of-print albums "available to a new generation (or two) who have never had an opportunity to buy certain titles from any place other than eBay."

The first batch of 'Varese Encore'...

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[url.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1935247050/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=soundtrnet-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1935247050][]Soundtrack.Net readers have probably come across the 'unused' film score credit. Usually a composer has been hired and, for a variety of reasons, his or her work gets written and recorded but is later tossed out. Another composer is hired, often at the last minute, a new score is composed from scratch.

Many examples are cited in Soundtrack.Net's database, such as [m.21904]A River Runs Through It[]. ([c.15]Elmer Bernstein[] was originally hired and later replaced by [c.91]Mark Isham[]. Isham discusses this in the bonus interview track on Silver Screen edition of [a.3698]A...

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The music of award-winning composer [c.151]James Newton Howard[] will be celebrated in concert at the 12th World Soundtrack Awards, which will be held at the Kuipke Events Centre in Ghent on Saturday, October 20th. Howard is one of the most versatile and respected film music composers currently working in film. A program of his impressive music will be performed by the renowned Brussels Philharmonic and be accompanied by select film clips. The concert will be conducted by both Howard and Dirk Brossé.

In addition, composer [c.260]Pino Donaggio[] will be receiving the World Soundtrack Lifetime Achievement Award at the event. A selection of his work will also be performed at the concert.

The World Soundtrack Awards was established by the Ghent Film Festival's World Soundtrack...

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(click on the cover to buy the “The Avengers” soundtrack)

If you’re looking for a composer whose genre soundtracks seem to be printed in four colors as opposed to written with musical notes, then Alan Silvestri’s scores would be equivalent to the bright hues that compose comic book art. From the brawny militarism of “Predator,” “Eraser” and “Judge Dredd” to the mythic exploits of “The Mummy Returns,” “Van Helsing” and “Beowulf,” Alan Silvestri’s talents have grown from the disco motorcycle beats of “CHiPs” to becoming the embodiment of do-gooding orchestral might. It’s music that captures any big kid’s dream of fighting cosmic evil, role-playing that’s accomplished with massive symphonic themes and melody, as well as the nobility of combining forces for the greater good.

Having brazenly played those kinds of popcorn gatherings for “G.I. Joe” and “The A-Team,” it was only natural that Silvestri’s symphonically larger-than-life universe would make him a perfect match for the Marvel one in last summer’s “Captain America.” The composer’s rousingly patriotic embodiment of The First Avenger helped provide the final key to this season’s long-awaited superhero mash-up, a battle royale that comic book fans have dreamed of since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby first put the print band together in 1963. Now genre god Joss Whedon has delivered an exuberant Geek-asm that’s not only just about everything you could ever want from an Avengers movie, but “superhero” music as well.

Playing these comic-to-film icons with larger-than-life melodic sinew, Silvestri also pounds in vulnerability for the people behind the costumes, or the giant green beast one becomes. It’s this emotional nobility that fuels the wonderfully expected strains of imposing evil, percussive city bashing and a proud theme that practically shouts “Avengers Assemble!” Silvestri’s massive, yet always cohesive score exceptionally suits Earth’s Mightiest Hero’s. However, the Herculean gig was no less daunting for a musician whose most enjoyable work has been in the company of titans.

There’s the famous Marvel saying that “With great power comes great responsibility.” With the expectations of an “Avengers” movie building ever since the first “Iron Man,” let alone the first issue of the comic, did you feel the level of responsibility in doing this right?

I absolutely did feel that, and it was a little frightening. There was so much music in the film, and so many people had so much riding on this. It would absolutely flash across my mind that, “Oh my God, this is a really big movie for these folks,” because the accumulative aspect of the Marvel movie universe was all kind of directed towards this film. But fortunately, because there was so much to do, I couldn’t dwell on the larger perspective. I just needed to get to work. And the whole thing seemed to come together beautifully. Joss was the right guy for this mission.

I can only imagine the amount of composers who wanted to do this film. How did you get the job?

I think the fact that I had done “Captain America” was a tremendous part of it. Joe Johnston was very specific in how he wanted a clearly definable theme for the film, which was also in the mix for “The Avengers.” Marvel, and Joss, wanted some thematic material that would clearly identify various aspects of the film, music that would put all of these characters together.

Did you use any of your themes for “Captain America” in “The Avengers?”

Oh yes, absolutely. However, there weren’t many places where it was completely literal. But it’s interesting that we even used the theme that way in “Captain America,” because a little of his theme goes a long, long way. We wanted to really walk that line without falling into an overt use of his material, but still have it there as a resource when it was appropriate, for instance when he leaps out of a plane to confronts Loki for the first time. There were also little places when Captain America makes his entrance, or when he’s in the middle of a fight scene, where there will be references to his theme, yet not using it fully. Again, a little of it goes a long way.

Was there any talk of referencing other Marvel movie composers themes in “Avengers,” like the ones that Patrick Doyle and John Debney had written for “Thor” and “Iron Man 2?”

There was never a conversation about any of that, or even the Captain America theme for instance. There were only conversations about the desire to have a definable theme for The Avengers as a group. We knew that if we were to have a theme for every character in this movie, the music would get very clunky and intrusive. So I stayed away from all of that. I did come up with a motif for Loki, but that’s because he was the principle villain in the film. Midway through the writing process Joss had seen some scenes with The Black Widow where he wanted to explore music that was a bit more thematic for her, which I did. But the one moment that everyone was anticipating was the scene in the middle of New York City, when all of The Avengers are standing there. We all knew that whatever The Avengers theme was going to be, it had better work in that spot!

What did you want to convey emotionally with your Avengers theme?

It certainly, first and foremost, had to have a heroic aspect to it, as well as a kind of grandness. And it all had to be generated from that scene when they’re all gathering for the last great battle. But the interesting thing about it as the “big moment” of the score is that they’re not doing anything. They’re standing there, which allowed me to move away from the idea of it being an action moment. Instead, it’s like this moment where it’s like watching chemicals kind of swirling together, to become something greater than the individual elements.

Tell us about working with Joss.

Joss is a tremendous student of film, and he has a tremendous cinematic vocabulary. I found him to be very easy to work with, because he’s very clear about what he’s looking for. Like certain directors, Joss doesn’t have to talk to you a lot about what’s going on, because it’s all beautifully expressed in his work. The best part of Joss’ communication is “The Avengers.” I really felt there was a great deal of synchronicity between us in terms of what the film needed musically.

How can you tell at this point in your career if a comic book adaptation is going to work, or if it isn’t?

There was a range of emotion and humor in “The Avengers” that you will not find, I would wager to say, in most films of this genre. This credit goes out to Joss in terms of designing this wide a palette for a type of picture that very often doesn’t enjoy this. As you’re watching it, you realize how the scenes are so beautifully written and conceived on top of what you’d expect in an action/adventure film. Even early on. I could see that there was something special about “The Avengers.” From what I’m reading from people who’ve seen the movie, it seems like folks have enjoyed the fact that they’re not just going to see a simple approach to a ‘superhero’ movie. They’re getting to see some real cinema.

What’s interesting is the build this score has, where the crescendo is the big battle at the end. There’s really an arc to your music.

That was something that Joss was very clear about. We have a long way to go in the film to reach the final destination. I can even say it was daunting to begin in reel one, and to know just how far and relentlessly you would have to go. It was certainly part of our perspective as we worked forward to that goal. It was a tricky path to navigate, and hopefully we did it pretty well.

How important was spotting the big battle?

Spotting is always one of the most difficult parts of the job. If you understand the mission of the music, it will be revealed in the spotting. And if you don’t, then the spotting will be confused. We were certainly looking for places where we could take breaths so that the music didn’t loose its value. On the other hand if we had to go for nine minutes nonstop, then we weren’t shy about that. Like the whole score, I don’t think we approached it from the point of view of making any “rules.” We did it by feel, and Joss and I were always in complete agreement as we went forward. It all made sense to us.

One of my favorite cues is how you essentially turn a classical piece by Schubert (String Quartet Opus 29 in A minor, first movement) into an action cue for a theft by Loki.

Originally, the string quartet was played all the way through the entire sequence, with a little bit of overlaid temp score for when Loki starts to do his thing. So I thought, “Wow wouldn’t it be great if we’re playing the string quartet and when Loki hits the guy with his cane, we continue the string quartet, but now we have the entire orchestra playing the piece?” That’s what we did, so it’s an absolute continuation of the idea. But now you have this string quartet being done for the entire orchestra. It’s kind of a fun idea. You’d never hear that piece played like that!

How much of a “military” element did you want to bring into the score, as opposed to your approach for movies like “Judge Dredd” or “Captain America?”

One of the things that Joss talked about early on was that he wanted to make a film that had some very clear aspects of being a war movie. On the other hand, Tony Stark at one point in the film says, “We’re not soldiers.” So you didn’t want to turn it into a score that had soldiers coming together. But obviously there are times where they were absolutely functioning as this paramilitary unit. So little of that approach had its place. We just had to find where to apply that military “seasoning” to the score as we found out way through it.

I never thought I’d hear a guitar in an Avengers score. How did you get away with that?

That was a moment in the film where it was an isolated, special case. I think the guitar in that sense functions in a way that allowed us to really make a complete sonic break from everything we’d heard before it as people talk about The Avengers on a newscast. Joss accomplished that scene with a lot of humor, which gave us a natural way to solely bring in the guitar there. Then we segue out of it and get back into the movie. It was an interesting idea that seemed to work.

Intrada Records is putting out your “Avengers” score on physical CD, while Disney simultaneously has it available on iTunes. In older days, you might see it put out on both formats by a studio label, as opposed to a fan favorite one that specializes in older scores What do you think that says about the whole nature of contemporary soundtracks as going digital for the most part? It seems we’re lucky to be even getting a “hard copy” at this point when it comes to contemporary releases.

We can be positive. We can be negative. But in the end, you’re talking about the strategy of the marketplace. In most instances it’s the market trying to follow the public. Certainly with a movie like “The Avengers,” where it’s connected to such a huge heritage in terms of the comic book world, then there will probably be some value in having something in your hand. It’s like what we used feel when we held a vinyl album. We’d sit there and look at the album cover. We had this “thing,” this record in our hands. There’s a whole world of loss, and need for that these days. That speaks for the idea of CD’s, as opposed to just a digital download. Yet that’s so far out of my control. So I think the fans have to speak, and let their wishes be known, because that’s what will influence the marketplace overtime.

Why do you think your music is so well suited to the idea of heroism, particularly larger then life heroism?

Maybe it has to do with my kind of optimism. I’ve actually never been asked this question, but sitting here thinking about it, I believe that the heroic inclination is one of the most hopeful aspects of humanity. It’s happening every day even though you don’t often read about it. Those heroes are usually people who find themselves in a situation where they act immediately, without thinking about their own safety first. I just seem to respond to that. And of course it’s fun when your hero is in a suit. They don’t save one life, but 10 million. Yet that’s still just the extrapolation of simple day-to-day acts of heroism that we all know about and witness. Scoring “The Avengers” is like having a chance to celebrate that kind of heroism, as much as anything else.

Interview transcribed by Peter Hackman

For many film and TV composers, creating sample and virtual instrument based compositions has become an important part of their work. We can debate endlessly whether this should be the case, whether real players are superior (they are) but at the end of the day with budgets, deadlines, and producer demands being what they are, unless you are working on a very well-budgeted project or work with a producer like J.J. Abrams who fully understands what real players brings to the music, film and TV composers are stuck with the reality that they are going to have to spend, or hire someone to spend, a lot of time making samples and virtual instruments sound really good. For some, good means “as real as possible”, for others (like me) simply good to my ears.

Either way, the good news is that our choices keep getting better and better. However, the developers approach the goal of giving us great stuff to work very differently with very different philosophies.

All samples are recorded in some kind of space, be it a room, a hall, or a recording studio, and all of these spaces have a sound to them that can be more or less recorded into the samples depending on microphone and baffling techniques. Some try to minimize the sound of the room while some try to maximize it. Most fall somewhere in the middle and try to give a range of microphone positions options. Close mics add less of the room while a Decca tree will add more for instance.

This is not a new philosophical issue. There are engineers who never track through EQs or compressors because they feel that it limits their flexibility when it comes time to mix because you cannot remove it form the sound. Other engineers will include them because in their mind they know what they will want that sound to be in the final mix and want those properties as part of the recording.

I am not going to be making value judgments on the competing philosophies in this column as since I work part time for EastWest I can hardly be credible as being unbiased in this regard, but I would like to help explore the options. Nor can I discuss every single developer worthy of mention so please forgive me dear developer or fan of developer if I have not mentioned yours. No disrespect is intended.

Vienna Instruments is one of the most well established purveyors of respected sample libraries. They were perhaps the first to record libraries with a terrific number of articulations and attention to detail. Their philosophy was to give the user as much control of the sound as possible and they built a custom recording facility that they call the Silent Stage.

The advantage to very “dry” libraries like these is that you have more control over the ambience that is added to the instruments that you can create by your personal choices of reverbs, processors, and even space emulation plug-ins like their MIR Pro. Composers who like this approach love the level of control it gives them. The disadvantage, if you perceive it as a disadvantage, is that they do not sound as ready to go straight out of the box and therefore require additional work and some expense to get them to sound the way you want them to sound. As with all this stuff, however, once you have made your choices and built your templates, you can have a palette that is very much customized to what you like best. If you buy the concept, you probably will buy the execution.
http://www.vsl.co.at/en/65/71/84/1349.vsl

On the other end of the scale arguably is Spitfire Audio. They became well known for creating expensive libraries that were for sale “by invitation only” with the idea that thy would be used for mockups but ultimately replaced by live players, as they did not want to damage the prospects of work for real players. They recorded with top-notch British musicians. The expensive price tag made it only feasible for composers who get bigger budgets anyway. (Very admirable IMHO.)

In recent years however, they have released a few commercial libraries that were more affordable and available to all, including Albion, Percussion, and Solo Strings. They do not attempt to be Swiss Army Knife libraries with every articulation known to man as some others attempt to do.

So why does anyone care? Air Studios Lyndhurst Hall is why. Founded in London by the Beatles’ producer George Martin, it is widely regarded as one of the best sounding recording studios in the world. The Spitfire people have “bakes” this sound into their samples and even the close mic positions are not as dry as some of its competitors. The advantages are obvious: great out of the box sound. The cons: not as many articulations and not the same level of control as there is only so much of the sound of the studio that you can minimize.
http://www.spitfireaudio.com/

In between these competing philosophies is a wide range of products along this sliding scale of philosophy.

EastWest’s Hollywood Series, strings and brass (and soon, woodwinds) were recorded in their own studio in Hollywood, which was formerly known as United Western, then Ocean Way, and later Cello Studios. Designed by Bill Putnam of UA fame, it is indeed a legendary venue with a great history of famous artists and scores recorded there. Traditionally, their Gold version of libraries offer fewer mic choices and the included ones tend to be “wetter” while the Platinum versions of the libraries offer more mic positions that give you a range of how much baked in room you get. So it can sound great out of the box and give the user a range of control, although not as dry as the Silent Stage of VSL.
http://www.soundsonline.com/

CineSamples has also chosen for their recent brass library the path of recording on a renowned Los Angeles scoring stage, now called the Streisand Scoring Stage at Sony. They too therefore boast a legendary room and once again give you a range of mic positions that provide more > less of the baked in sound. Once again though, not as dry as VSL perhaps.
http://cinesamples.com/

Other popular libraries that are considered by most to be on the dryer side would be Audiobro’s LASS and Kirk Hunter’s Concert Strings & Brass, while most would consider the fine offerings from Project Sam, like Symphobia, True Strike, and Orchestral Essentials, to be a little wetter.
http://audiobro.com/
http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/sample_libraries.html
http://www.projectsam.com/Home

Some users find mixing wetter libraries with dryer ones to be problematic while others do not.

Finally we come to so-called “modeled” instruments, like those from SampleModeling. Because they do not create most of their sound from samples recorded in a room, they are very dry indeed and therefore making them sound great out of the box requires an approach more similar to working with the Vienna Instruments offerings than the wetter libraries.
http://www.samplemodeling.com/en/index.php

So where does all this leave us? It leaves us with a wide range of excellent products created with varying philosophies that we as composers have to create a path for ourselves with. Wetter? Dryer? Somewhere in between? More control, but more required effort? Less control, but good results with less effort?

It can be a daunting challenge but nothing worthwhile is ever easy.

Lakeshore Records will release [a.7628]Woman Thou Art Loosed!: On the 7th Day - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack[] digitally on [da.2012-05-01]May 1, 2012[]. The soundtrack features original music by [c.1336]Mark Kilian[] ([m.30758]Legacy[], [m.21558]Rendition[]).

[m.33716]Woman Thou Art Loosed!: On The 7th Day[] is a compelling story that unites love, suspense and faith into one heart-wrenching package. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Neema Barnette, [m.33716]Woman Thou Art Loosed!: On the 7th Day[] underscores the impact of secrets, lies and deception on the lives of the featured characters. David (Blair Underwood) and Kari (Sharon Leal) Ames seem to have the perfect life until their young daughter is kidnapped, and over the course of seven days they begin to uncover...

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Soundtrack Picks: ‘GALAXY QUEST‘ IS ONE OF THE TOP SOUNDTRACKS TO OWN FOR APRIL 2012

Also worth picking up: BEN-HUR, THE BLACK CAULDRON, DAMSELS IN DISTRESS, HOSTEL PART III, MEAN GUNS, NOWHERE TO RUN, TITANIC and THE WAR OF THE BUTTONS

To Purchase the soundtracks from this list, click on the CD cover


1) BEN-HUR

Price: $59.95

What is it?: If the granite-jawed manliness of Charlton Heston made him the anointed prince of Hollywood widescreen pictures with “The Big Country,” “55 Days at Peking” and “The Agony and the Ecstasy,” then it was Miklos Rozsa’s ability to fill the screen with equally rapturous melody that turned him into the epic court composer of “Knights of the Round Table,” “King of Kings” and “Sodom and Gomorrah.” And while Heston and Rozsa would get in the Spanish saddle together for the mighty “El Cid,” nothing would match the other teaming of these two larger-than-life talents like 1959’s “Ben-Hur. It was an eleven Oscar-winning picture (including Best Actor and Score) that still stands as the religious sword and sandal movie to rule them all. Having been transfigured from mere movie into the stuff of pop legend, Rozsa’s cosmically lush music has received several issues and re-performances over the decades since, nearly all of which are seemingly gathered for Film Score Monthly’s five-CD sermon on the soundtrack mount. Delivering pure old-school score bliss for over six hours, this incredible box set is enough to convert any unbeliever to the power of film music.

Why should you buy it: Along with his “Robe” compatriot Alfred Newman, Rozsa’s jam-packed orchestrations and beautiful themes hit all the beats of religious music, among them soaring choral hosannahs, transcendent strings and psalm-like melodies, all of which gave an uplifting sense of a greater purpose and reverence to “Ben-Hur.” It’s a sense of destiny that also drives this massive film’s story, which links the fall and redemption of Heston’s regal Jew with that of his legendary kinsman. It’s a succession of soaring, iconic themes that connote the power of worship, right down the chorus and organ that have the greatly moving resonance of a risen savior. But don’t forget that “Ben-Hur” is as much a historical action picture as it is tale of conversion, with Rozsa unleashing bold Roman marches, the cruel, swirling drama of a friendship gone wrong, and our hero’s brassy, Job-like punishment that will lead to the cinema’s most famous fanfare before he gets payback in the famed chariot race. While that scene is unscored, “Hur”’s action highlight is the throttling orchestral battle between Roman and pirate ships, a showpiece of relentless rhythmic builds and ebbs that make the listener feel like he’s chained to the massive rowing paddle along with Chuck, the music finally going to full ramming speed. It’s a cue that still stands as one of the most thrillingly breathless, and wearying musical sequences ever written.

Extra Special: Every note that Rozsa wrote for “Ben-Hur” is here, and then some in this set that never proves tiring in spite of its hours of repetition. Collecting the original score onto the first two CD’s with better sound than ever before, FSM reserves the third platter for the “original” “Hur” soundtrack LP, an understandably thinner performance that ends up paling before the sonic presence of the two Kloss albums that hit record stores soon afterward, given the soundtrack’s immense popularity. Filling out the discs are well-assembled alternates, and unused Rosza cues. While the CD-sized case of this “Hur” might prevent it from having the physical polish of the Rhino set from 16 years ago (as well as its unbreakable binding), FSM’s release is a worthy last word on a score that illustrates the power of a film music like few others. As spiritually uplifting as it is exhilaratingly brawny, “Ben-Hur”’s soundtrack will likely live on with the grace of that other Prince whom Rozsa’s work ultimately celebrates.


2) GALAXY QUEST (3,000 edition)

Price: $19.98

What is it?: If there was ever a geek desert island movie, and score, then it would be 1999’s “Galaxy Quest.” Beyond its brilliant high-concept of throwing Classic Trek’s “ has-been actors into a real outer space adventure, what made the movie work was just how much love it really had for Kirk and company- a determination to make the premise anything but a shabbily extended “Saturday Night Live” skit. For with just a few less degrees of satire, one could actually, almost buy these actors being on a spiffed-up Enterprise bridge, fighting Gorn to David Newman’s trumpeting theme for a cult TV show that never was- its “fake” fanfare equally endearing to “Quest” fans as Alexander Courage’s real deal is to Trekkies. Now Newman’s previously, promo-only s”Quest” gets launched as a limited edition from La La Land records, proving resoundingly just how many meta-levels his music works on.

Why should you buy it?: Like this big-budget production that really did its homework on how to amplify the original show’s sometimes cheesy charm, Newman’s “Galaxy” plays like a checklist of the great CT scores by the likes of Sol Kaplan, Gerald Fried and Fred Steiner (not to mention the movie scores by Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner). There’s the proud military percussion, the noble strings of going boldly, spectral choruses, and drop-kick percussive action music- all given the symphonically grand, big screen life that makes “Quest”’s cast’s mouths drop when they step onto the Thermian version of the N.S.E.A. Protector. And having come up with a memorable theme that never becomes tiring, Newman is sure to have it every step of the way. But what also made him the perfect composer for “Galaxy Quest” was a talent for antic comedies like “The Flintstones” and “The Nutty Professor.” Indeed, few composers this side of Carl Stalling has written such dense, screwball “cartoon” music, Looney Tune antics that Newman crosses with the tongue-in-cheek derring-do he brought to his glorious comic book score for “The Phantom.” The result is a soundtrack that’s simultaneously hilarious and truly thrilling, having at it with the musical conventions of “Star Trek” while playing them straight. And it’s exactly this musical gravitas at a death of a kind Thermian, the humiliation of a cowardly captain, and the cast members’ final rise to true heroism that gives “Quest” the stuff of real greatness- a la Elmer Bernstein’s work for the similarly themed “Three Amigos.”

Extra Special: Once as requested an item as a videotape of the original Kirk-less pilot to “The Menagerie,” “Galaxy Quest’’s promo has now been given a bit more music in the bargain, with a truly retro Easter egg at the end of the album. Tim Greiving’s terrific liner notes feature a new interview with David Newman on the score that would likely earn him a place of honor at any Star Trek convention, especially for musically taking their idols seriously in the name of satire.



3) TITANIC (2CD Anniversary Edition)

Price: $11.88

What is it?: “My Heart Will Go On,” and on and on and on with the popularity of the most waterlogged movie to win Best Picture, especially for the concurrent 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking and the 15th years since the movie’s release. So what better time to make hay of all things musically “Titanic” than with multiple releases of its Oscar-winning score and song? While a four-disc soundtrack set offers copious source music and extra instrumentals, chances are “Titanic” non-fanatics will be sated with this 2CD anniversary edition, which contains the lion’s share of Horner’s score, and, of course, Celine Dion. But it’s a new, shining musical star that really steals the refurbished boat here.

Why should you buy it?: All Celine over-exposure aside, there’s still no denying the epic, emotionally thematic power of “Titanic”’s song and score. Carried by what’s likely the cinema’s most romantically iconic melody next to “As Time Goes By,” Horner’s music captures a similar feeling for pure love, as caught amidst the grandeur, and self-sacrifice of one of history’s greatest tragedies. As a composer whose nautically influenced style could be heard all the way back to “Star Trek 2” and “Cocoon,” Horner also brought a sense of seafaring adventure to “Titanic,” while also ensuring James Cameron’s goal of making the music feel “timeless” by combining his strings with ethereal synths, as well as Uilleann pipes for the liner’s Irish port of origin. But all compass points will lead to the fateful iceberg, with Horner unleashing, terrifying, metal-rending percussion and orchestral thrills that could easily have played in Cameron’s “Aliens.” Yet amidst the score’s desperation to abandon ship, it’s old-fashioned emotion that truly floods through every passage of the score, music that achieves a beautiful sense of transcendence from the tragic.

Extra Special: With so much conversation about the captain’s table, and even more commotion going about on deck, it’s little wonder that the source music performed onscreen by I Salonisti didn’t get the recognition it deserved. But now this chamber quintet for strings and piano gets a well-deserved, solo-disc spotlight on this set, their music proving as impressive as Horner’s in its own right. Accomplished composer John Altman (“Funny Bones”) commanded the group as “Titanic”’s historical music advisor, his knowledge of the popular tunes of the day making for a lilting, spot-on replication of the White Star Line’s shipboard band, whose on-demand playlist he whittled down from over 200 songs to about 25 for the picture. Their repertoire of waltzes and “pop” tunes is still eminently recognizable, from the “Blue Danube” to cartoon stalwarts like “Pop and Peasant,” as well as a top-ten number like “Alexander’s Ragtime Band.” But no melody is as moving as “Nearer My God to Thee” as the somber hymn rises with emotion as the ship goes down. While most chamber music of this sort can become grating very quickly, I Salonisti’s soulful playing has the resonance of a full orchestra, not only transitioning between numbers with beautifully classical ease, but transporting the listener on board the Titanic itself to relax in the company of its house band. Not only does this replicated music carry the sense of refined civilization, but it also helped provide a sense of order that likely resulted in saving more than a few lives. Never has a conductor’s appreciation for his band been more moving.



4) THE WAR OF THE BUTTONS (LA NOUEVELLE GUERRE DES BOUTONS)

Price: $19.95

What is it?: Cute kids go to fake war again in the fourth adaptation of Louis Pergaud’s 1912 novel, which was first made in France in 1962 before having its non-fatal action moved to the Irish countryside for a 1994 version. Then in 2011, the story traveled back to its country of origin twice, which might be some kind of record for retelling the same story. For director Christophe (“Les Choiristes”) Barratier’s version, Gallic composer Philippe Rombi takes up the musical charge from Jose Berghmans, Rachel Portman and Klaus Badelt with a score that’s hoists a flag of victory in anyone’s interpretation.

Why should you buy it?: A French composer that Hollywood needs to hire immediately, Philippe Rombi has impressed in his homeland with such scores as “Swimming Pool,” “Joyeux Noel” and even the LA-set “Hollywoo.” And like his compatriots, Rombi has shown a wonderfully unabashed love for themes and lush orchestrations, an affection that was also very much alive in America during the 1980’s, as particularly practiced by such composers as Bruce Broughton, James Horner and David Shire in the likes of “The Boy Who Could Fly,” “Cocoon” and “Return To Oz.” Wonderfully possessed by those scores’ luxurious power, Rombi’s “War of the Buttons” will provide an instant flashback to the same soundtrack fans that dug Michael Giacchino’s astute referencing of John Williams in “Super 8.” But as opposed to an orchestral beast beating out the rhythms of “Close Encounters” and “Jurassic Park,” Rombi’s WWII-set “Buttons” beautifully evokes the sound of symphonic children’s adventures from 80’s era, particularly Broughton’s “Boy.” It’s all about the theme here, and Rombi’s got one of the loveliest I’ve heard in years, a gentle, gossamer tune that’s all about youthful innocence at play, of course in the kind of sun-drenched little town where no one’s going to get hurt. That being said, Rombi’s bucolic score isn’t devoid from un-cloying sentimentality that evokes the real war games around the characters, with military danger, the tragic sound of fallen comrades and the heroism of bruise-inducing combat. Creatively using flute, chorus and drum rolls with his orchestra, Rombi’s music has a vibrant sense of nostalgia, not to mention unabashed melody that not only gives a sense of poignancy to the days of youth, but also to a time when scores of this type could charge into battle fully armed with an unabashed orchestra, without getting slaughtered.

Extra Special: Not only is “The War of the Buttons” one of the best releases yet from France’s upcoming Music Box Records label, it also might be the nicest, most peace-inducing soundtrack to have the word “War” in its title- or “Geurre” as the French pronounce it.



5) WHITE FANG


Price: $24.95

What is it?: Just like the confident bear who tangles with an upstart white wolf, Basil Poledouris’ old-fangled orchestral score was given a proper mauling by the Disney execs, who wanted to make their period Jack London adventure seem a lot more contemporary. But where it’s usually the veteran creature who’d lose the fight when thrown into the fight pit of studio politics, quite a bit of both composers’ work ended up in 1991’s “White Fang” (even if Zimmer somehow went uncredited). Yet props can also be given to Disney for allowing Intrada to release both musical “Fangs” for a double album that most fans thought they’d never see, especially given the sticky nature of the situation.

Why should you buy it?: Whether its bear baiting or rooting for the new dog-wolf on the block, “White Fang” offers both musical camps equal satisfaction. As the composer who was originally meant to be in the wild, especially given his lushly naturalistic score for “Fang” director Randal Kleiser on “The Blue Lagoon” (not to mention his spectacular orchestral waves for John Milius’ “Big Wednesday”), Basil Poledouris provides a score of sweeping, melodic vastness as big as the great outdoors, his lush, string-heavy themes conveying the magical wonder, brassy danger, and most of all the bonding emotion between man and beast. If anything, there’s the throwback feeling of the good old Disney “nature” adventures in Poledouris’ approach that makes the studio’s reluctance even more confounding, as “Fang”’s music has a shimmering, heart-tugging quality that could just as much suffice for Big Red and Old Yeller as it does an Alaskan wolf. When it comes to danger, Poledouris’ Americana feel strongly echoes his work n “Red Dawn,” another tale of youth in the cold forest, even if the “Fang”’s threats aren’t Stravinsky-inspired.

Extra Special: While Poledouris certainly offers ethnic wind instruments and electronic pads, his use of synths pales before Zimmer’s wall of sound, an ultra modern (if since far evolved from here) combination of pop-rock beats and a thematic orchestral sensibility that would become the face of face of film scoring in years to come. Zimmer had impressed with his percussive sound with the likes of “Black Rain” and “Driving Miss Daisy” before applying a raging symphony to “Backdraft” in 1991, the year that marked a major leap forward in Zimmer’s approach. Heard fully here, Zimmer’s flexing of orchestral and electronic muscle (greatly abetted by orchestrator Shirley Walker) might seem anathema to turn of the century Yukon, but it’s as mesmerizing and melodic as Poledouris’ work in its own way, right from its incorporation of a period player piano in the opening cue. “Fang” is a rousing catch all of The Zimmer Sound, incorporating the ethnic winds of “Rain Man,” the rhythmic, Vangelis-y washes of “Paper House” and the pounding action of “Black Rain.” Where Poledouris’ “Fang” might have distinctly orchestral peaks and valleys, Zimmer’s approach is more about a mesmerizing flow between awe-inspiring musical vistas and rhythmic suspense. Jack London probably would have been a heck of a lot more familiar with the first approach, but there’s no doubt that he wouldn’t have been just as intrigued by an anachronistic one that would end up sending many grizzled musical trappers into the great white north, Poledouris included. With Intrada’s “White Fang,” you can be the judge as to the better approach.



ALSO FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:

. BEL AMI

Rachel Portman, the mistress of costume drama scoring, takes on the French Bell Epoque era for “Bel Ami.” And in the stylistically seamless company of Indian co-composer Lakshman Joseph De Saram, Portman shows off her musical trademark of dance-like rhythms and emotive, feminine strings. Her Baroque classicism very much suits “Ami”’s elegant social stratification a few centuries hence, and the seductive cunning of the ex soldier who finds his way to success through society’s hemlines. Going for a tone that contrasts poetic beauty with the darkness that lies under the characters’ finery, Portman and De Saram’s music is impressively fashioned with equal parts beauty and amorous amorality, with swelling, sorrowful passion at their beck and call. While there’s nothing particularly “French” about the score (especially given that few actors here attempt the accent), Portman and De Saram convey a mesmerizing sense of time and place, especially with their charming detours into the salon’s chamber music. But in the end, it’s the composers’ memorably brooding, nearly villainous theme that the score yields before. If Portman never gets to handle another remake of “Dangerous Liaisons,” “Bel Ami” does her costume repertoire very well with its stain of masculine ill repute.



. THE BLACK CAULDRON

Even if Disney animation didn’t exactly get their answer to “The Lord of the Rings” with this 1985 fantasy spectacle, “The Black Cauldron” did brew up the last epic genre score that Elmer Bernstein would compose for a major studio. There’s certainly no mistaking his inimitable touch during the era, as “Cauldron”’s theremin-like Ondes Martenot, playful electronics and bold, brassy statements are part of the same, tasty brew from whence the likes of “Saturn 3,” “Spacehunter” and “Heavy Metal” sprang. But if there’s one Bernstein score that “The Black Cauldron” really shares its lifeblood with, then it’s the over-the-top sound of “Ghostbusters,” as played for somewhat straighter ends here. Listening to much of “The Black Cauldron”’s stormy evil orchestrations makes one feel that they’re marching up the steps of Spook Central to confront Gozer the Gozerean, let alone being in the presence of Slimer’s pokey synths. Not only do these thunderous qualities make “Cauldron” a score that cult comedy’s fans shouldn’t miss, it also offers far more gonzo pleasures beyond it. While giving a tap of the choral and organ shield to the kind of sword and sorcery material he played straighter for “Heavy Metal”’s Taarna, “The Black Cauldron” is more of a potpourri of Bernstein goodness, frothing over with rollicking western heroism worthy of John Wayne, imposingly soaring orchestrations to part the Red Sea by, incongruously jazzy bits and even a tango for good measure. It all coalesces into a thoroughly fun score that’s another supreme demonstration of how Bernstein’s youthful energy brought him a career rebirth in the 1980’s. “The Black Cauldron” has been a rarity since that decade, with its 30-minute Varese CD worth its weight in gold. In another glorious example of Intrada getting in to mine the Disney vaults for all they’re worth, the label has expanded Bernstein’s score to 75 minutes for this unlimited edition, complete with a picture-filled booklet and Jeff Bond and Randy Thornton’s appreciative liner notes. It all makes for a Bernstein spell that’s as captivating as ever.



. DAMSELS IN DISTRESS

When it comes to Whit Stillman’s arch comedies of manners, the filmmaker has found a pleasant cocktail partner in composer Mark Suozzo, who’s brought musical class to the quips of “Metropolitan,” “Barcelona” and “The Last Days of Disco.” But Suozzo’s stylings for Stillman’s bon vivants have never been more cutely enjoyable then when he hits the college campus of “Damsels in Distress,” as abetted by Adam Schlesinger (“Music and Lyrics”). On a campus whose not-so mean girls speak and behave as if they were from an era well outside the 21st century, Suozzo and Schlesinger come up with the kind of spot-on 60’s doo-wop sound that one might hear whilst “parking.” An Esquivel-like rhumba and voices fit just as well on Don Draper’s stereo system, love themes carry a 70’s easy listening vibe, while sentimental strings and violin daintily date back even earlier for a French kiss. Like Stillman’s genteel approach, Suozzo and Schlesinger’s talent is all about playing this sort of droll comedy with a gentle smile, as opposed to a self-mocking laugh. “Damsels” also offers Lucy Jules’ Martha and the Vandellas’-inspired “Devil in My Heart,” the Reggae rhythms of Jeff Young’s “Sambola! International Dance Craze” and the downright naughty rave groove of Victoria Aitken”’s “Weekend Lover.” There’s no real distress in this listen. Perhaps more like pleasantly mild all-era pop consternation.



. HOSTEL: PART III (1,000 edition)

Intended horror franchises never die. They just go straight to video, where, if they’re lucky, they’ll end up in the bloody musical hands of Frederik Weidmann. With a ghoulishly refined ability that’s made his soundtrack sequels to “The House on Haunted Hill,” “Mirrors” and “Hellraiser” into scores whose quality is worthy of the big screen, DV’s go-to-it composer has more than proven that his work is anything but torture to listen to. That craftsmanship is no more apparent than in the passing of the “Hostel” baton from Nathan Barr for the franchise’s third time out, this time in Las Vegas. While there’s nothing glittering about Weidmann’s treatment of the evisceration club amidst tonier surroundings, what “Freddie” does give his “Hostel” entry is its own, fast-paced identity. Most surprisingly, “III” plays much more like a dark suspense score. For instead of getting strapped into a chair here, Weidemann’s strong orchestral approach conveys the feeling of running for one’s life alongside Jason Bourne, his suspenseful approach abetted by propulsive samples, haunted voices and a surprising reliance on melody as opposed to the kind of musical shrieking that’s the true torture porn of so many horror scores today. Sure the sequel might be downsized as such, but “Hostel Part III” sounds positively epic in scope. It’s a throttlingly menacing and well-performed score that once again shows how Weidmann’s impressive genre chops belong on the big screen first. In the hopefully short meanwhile, be sure to throw your gore-soaked chips down on “Hostel Part III”s quickly disappearing Varese limited edition, or via iTunes.



. MEAN GUNS (500 edition)

After putting out Tony Riparetti and Jim Saad’s unreleased score for Albert Pyun’s “Cyborg,” Howlin’ Wolf continues to offer up Riparetti’s work for this indefatigable director, of whose 47 pictures (and counting) the composer has scored 30. But arguably the cleverest approach that Riparetti’s taken for one of Pyun’s better-received movies belongs to 1997’s “Mean Guns,” which had Ice T’s mob boss pitting 100 stone cold murderers against each other in a prison for the prize of 10 million dollars. What makes the ensuing low budget mayhem particularly catchy is Riparetti’s call to play a great deal of the mayhem like a dance-off at Latin music night. Think Alan Silvestri’s mambo approach to “Soapdish,” except here the snazzy tangos, rhumbas and assorted Spanish beats are being used like black-humored bullets. Riparetti’s winningly satirical score also brings out the western gundown stylings for further ironic measure, complete with guitar, gong, chorus and a shriekingly fateful trumpet. The music might not remotely belong here, but it’s a hell of a lot more interesting, and fun than just layering synth slayings over the ludicrous corpse count. Further adding to “Mean”’s south of the border body beats are Robert Amaral’s well-produced Latin songs, all of which help make Riparetti’s work into a rhythmically fun battle royale.



. NOWHERE TO RUN (3,000 edition)

Jean-Claude Van Damme would get one of his best starring roles in this successful, if now relatively unsung 1993 film that sees his ex-con step into Shane-like shoes (via motorcycle), taking on the evil mining barons out to murderously toss out attractive homesteader Rosanna Arquette and her kids. “Run”’s impressively subdued and intelligent handling can be squarely credited to director Robert Harmon, who wisely reteamed here with his “Hitcher” composer Mark Isham. Where the composer had handled that picture’s visceral atmosphere with ethereal, electronic tones, “Nowhere To Run” saw Isham significantly beef up his approach with the weight of a full orchestra, one capable of unleashing waves of percussive fury upon the bad guys (even if “Run” has an almost shockingly low body count). But like “The Hitcher,” atmosphere is the key to Isham’s mostly understated approach, beginning with the tentative strings and tender bells of Van Damme becoming a father figure. With the family’s waves of grain, Isham’s music also takes on a soothing Americana quality, with the story’s western aspects captured by a guitar. But ultimately, action’s the thing here, with Isham unleashing brassily punishing hits, a victorious symphonic pounding that he’d next take to even more punishing heights for Van Damme’s other great vehicle “Time Cop.” Leave it to Perseverance, a label who’s shown much love to the Muscles from Brussels with their releases of “Kickboxer,” “No Retreat, No Surrender” and “Death Warrant” to give what’s arguably the action star’s best score the full treatment, including alternates and informative liner notes by Gergely Hubai, which offers new observations from Harmon and Isham.

CLICK on the album covers to make your hardcopy or download purchase, and find the soundtracks at these .com’s: Amazon, Buysoundtrax, Intrada, iTunes, Moviemusic, Moveiscoremedia, Perseverance Records, Screen Archives and Varese Sarabande

[c.91]Mark Isham[] will be featured at the ASCAP I Create Music EXPO for "Once Upon A Time: Master Session with Award Winning Composer Mark Isham" on April 21, 2012 at 11:45AM in the Hollywood Ballroom One on the second floor (Mezzanine) in the Renaissance Hotel, located at 1755 North Highland Avenue in Los Angeles.

Hosted by film and TV music author Jon Burlingame of Variety, [c.91]Mark Isham[] will discuss his expansive career as a musician and film composer. He has written critically acclaimed scores for over 100 hundred films including Oscar® winning [m.5274]Crash[], [m.21904]A River Runs Through It[], [m.31369]Dolphin Tale[], [m.31495]Warrior[], and recently [m.33035]Stolen[] starring Nicholas Cage and [m.31608]The Lucky One[] starring Zac Efron opening Friday....

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WaterTower Music will release [a.7463]Dark Shadows - Original Score[] digitally and in stores on May 8, 2012. The album features original music by Grammy Award-winning and four-time Oscar®-nominated composer [c.58]Danny Elfman[], which is featured in director Tim Burton's new gothic comedy [m.31283]Dark Shadows[].

For more than 25 years, Burton and Elfman have collaborated on some of the cinema's most beloved and recognizable films and soundtracks, including [m.2422]Big Fish[] (for which Elfman received an Oscar® nomination), [m.2133]Beetlejuice[], [m.1945]Batman[], [m.7455]Edward Scissorhands[], [m.23816]Sleepy Hollow[], [m.5130]Corpse Bride[], and the recent [m.]Alice in...

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WaterTower Music will release [a.7463]Dark Shadows - Original Score[] digitally and in stores on May 8, 2012. The album features original music by Grammy Award-winning and four-time Oscar®-nominated composer [c.58]Danny Elfman[], which is featured in director Tim Burton's new gothic comedy [m.31283]Dark Shadows[].

For more than 25 years, Burton and Elfman have collaborated on some of the cinema's most beloved and recognizable films and soundtracks, including [m.2422]Big Fish[] (for which Elfman received an Oscar® nomination), [m.2133]Beetlejuice[], [m.1945]Batman[], [m.7455]Edward Scissorhands[], [m.23816]Sleepy Hollow[], [m.5130]Corpse Bride[], and the recent [m.30376]Alice in...

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[c.2638]Colin Aguiar[] scores Stephen Scott's [m.33550]Rosie Takes The Train[]. Springing from its success at the Sedona Film Festival in late February, the film was featured at the Canadian Film Festival last month and will be an award recipient at the 45th annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival.

The protégé of composer [c.257]Mychael Danna[] ([m.31415]Moneyball[]), [c.2638]Colin Aguiar[] produces an emblematic score that heightens the drama to this time warped tale. The WorldFest-Houston Awards Gala will be held on Saturday April 21, 2012 at 7:00PM at the Marriott Westchase Grand Ballroom in the Houston Marriott Westchase Hotel located at 2900 Briarpark Drive in Houston, TX 77042.

Set in the 1930's, [m.33550]Rosie Takes the Train[] tells the story of Rosie,...

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BMI will present the Richard Kirk Award for outstanding career achievement to prolific composer [c.401]Rolfe Kent[] at the organization's 2012 Film & Television Awards. Held Wednesday, May 16 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, the private event also honors the composers of the past year's top-grossing films, top-rated primetime network television series and highest-ranking cable network programs.

BMI bestows the Richard Kirk Award on composers who have made significant contributions to the realm of film and television music. As the 2012 honoree, [c.401]Rolfe Kent[] joins a prestigious list that includes [c.5]David Arnold[], [c.168]Rachel Portman[], [c.201]Alan Silvestri[], [c.147]David Newman[], [c.149]Thomas Newman[], [c.235]Christopher Young[], [c.365]George S....

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Did you ever hear the one about a bunch of horny kids heading out to a secluded, rustic getaway that will turn out to be anything but a vacation? Chances are you’re familiar with the now-hopelessly clichéd plots of horror pictures both brilliant and bad, the kind of movies whose characters always seem to be following some pre-ordained destiny of bad choices so they’ll fall into the blunt instruments, or jaws of redneck zombies, masked maniacs, werewolves, killer clowns and all of manner of Cthulu’s menagerie- of course to the strains of a relentlessly crashing orchestra.

It’s exactly these well-worn tropes that makes our visit to “Cabin in the Woods” into a dazzlingly fresh, and fun movie that’s both terror spoof and the real terrifying deal. For in the hands of “Cloverfield” writer-director Drew Goddard and co-scripter Joss Whedon, familiarity breeds anything but contempt with the kind of meta-horror humor that makes “Scream”’s seem like a whisper. As the topside doings of fresh, young meat are manipulated by blasé, been there-done that technicians down below, composer David Julyan pours on a score that’s vibrantly familiar. Like an accomplished puppetmaster, Julyan’s sinister, brooding approach builds with tense, ever-swirling melody until the shit hits the fan. Thereupon his “Cabin” score becomes a frantic showcase of dissonant shrieking, desperate action and an overwhelming sense of doom that makes “Cabin”’s music pop like a bat out of hell- and then some creatures at that.

But where this kind of relentless approach has made for far more jumbled horror soundtracks as the genre increasingly strays from the old-school melodic scares of yore, there’s a classically-attuned, string-heavy intelligence to Julyan’s increasing mania in the “Woods” that makes for music that’s both satirically part of the instrumental frenzy, while having a coolly detached intelligence that’s far smarter than your typical percussion pile-on. Julyan’s also cleverly played this approach for keeps in his gothic, sinister work for the likes of “The Killing Gene,” “Heartless,” “Eden Lake,” and two creature-filled “Descent” movies, pictures whose characters also came to no good end. In more respectable circles, Julyan’s also atmospherically heightened Christopher Nolan’s mind games for the eerie suspense of “Memento,” “Insomnia” and “The Prestige.” But even when purposefully going over-the-top for “Cabin in the Woods,” there’s a darkly elegance to this Englishman’s work, a sound that’s all about the power of subtle musical manipulation, even when rampaging with the full-blast horrors of “Cabin in the Woods,” a score that’s at one in-joke and as real as a bear trap in the back.

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Do you think there’s a quality to your music that makes your particularly suited for “Cabin in the Woods?”

I’m not sure I do. I wouldn’t call it horror film music. Some of it is obviously meant for scares, but the qualities I’m most interested in are what you hear in the more restrained cues, which if I had to label, I’d call dark ambient.

Before even doing “Cabin,” did you notice a certain pattern that horror film plots fell into?

This might come as a surprise to some people, but I’m not that big a fan of horror films. There are some good ones, but I couldn’t say I’ve studied the genre. I’ve seen enough to know the routine. The fact that “Cabin” was playing with the tropes was something that attracted me to the story. It’s something they played with even on the first teaser posters, taglines like “If someone is chasing you, split up!” In fact, that poster is still up on my studio wall.

How did you get a room underneath the Cabin?

Drew Goddard was a big fan of “The Descent.” We first spoke on the phone then I meet him in the cutting room, and here we are. Drew was great to work with, giving me freedom to explore ideas, but always knew what his film needed during the process.

What was you reaction to seeing the film for the very first time?

This may be a good place to say that if you haven’t seen the film, stop reading now and continue once you’ve seen it. I actually read the screenplay before I saw the film, and I loved it, especially trying to figure out what was actually going on. Then through all the guessing, it still managed to get to a twist I wasn’t expecting. I remember finishing the script with a smile on my face thinking, that was bonkers but they made it work. Seeing the film for the first time both confirmed and built on what was in the script.

How would you describe the method to this score’s madness?

When starting on a score I’m usually looking for two things, themes and a sound palette. The first point of inspiration is seeing the film and talking with the director. With this film I had a few interesting sounds sitting around for which I wanted to find a home, for example a great sample of a bowed piano which was suitably mysterious and ominous. Then there are sounds that I develop having been inspired by the picture. I did a short session of prepared piano, which I then manipulated in a sampler to give interesting booms, clangs and scrapes. One of the main themes came from Mordecai (the old man at the gas station) as I saw him as the link between the world on the surface and the control room. His theme was a motif on low strings, often mixed with the bowed piano, but then as Dana first enters the cabin and later in the cellar it’s heard as a distant piano, as if his presence as the harbinger of doom is still with them.

You’ve scored some very, very serious horror films. What was it like to finally get one with a sense of humor?

I’m not sure my films are “very, very serious.” There are jokes in “The Descent.” Admittedly they aren’t so laugh out-loud as in “Cabin.” I didn’t want to write a ‘comedy horror’ score. There is only one place where we really score the comedy, the early scene with the one-way mirror. I think this kind of comedy also only works played straight, as this film has a lot of humor referencing the genre. But I think a lot of it is the nervous laughter of fear rather than comedy.

How did you want to convey the difference between the horror up top, and the high-tech down below the Cabin?

Generally in the control room the score is a little more electronic, more percussion loops and processed drones. Again I had a sound I wanted to get into a film. There’s a very creative reverb I like called Rayspace, and it has what I’d call an infinite reverb- well at least a very long one. Lots of the sounds here are things like a single harp note, but through the reverb it becomes a textural wash. The film often builds to a climax up top and then suddenly cuts back to the control room, so that was always me building score and then abruptly cutting to silence. Also down in the control room things are, well, under control.

There’s a particularly clever musical sequence involving the reading of a long-lost book. How did you approach this fateful incantation?

The whole sequence in the cellar is one of my favorites in the film. It’s a very atmospheric moment, one where the film is playing with horror tropes. So with that in mind, I wanted the cellar to be mysterious, almost inviting. There’s no need for the score to tell the audience this is scary because they know the rule- don’t go in the cellar! It was important for the Buckners to have their own theme, brought to life by Patience’s diary. I wanted to the music to feel of a different time, the diary being written 100 years ago, and also to feel sad, although the text is all about pain and torture it’s ultimately a sad story. To score this as horror would be wrong. The solo violin sounds very homely but also sad. Then there is a mix of harmonic string clusters and a processed texture that started with the bowed piano. Their theme is then reiterated on the brass as the whole family rises from the dead.

Did you want to satirize the berserk quality of a typical “crash-bang” horror score here?

I’m not sure what a typical “crash-bang” horror score is, I tend to avoid worrying about what makes a typical score, so I wouldn’t really know where to start in satirizing one. I don’t really like a score that is all loud stings. When we do have our obvious jumps in the score, I like to think they are on scenes that would still be a jump without a loud crash.

Even as insane as the score gets, do you think there’s sense of classical refinement, and cerebral control to your horror work?

I like restraint in scores, though of course part of the fun of “Cabin” was it had some full-on moments where the music can be really over the top. There’s a lot of score in this film, close to 80 minutes in a 95 minute film, so without some control, I think we’d have battered the audience a bit too much.

An effective horror score can make a character’s death even more terrible. In that respect, did you feel like one of the technicians?

I think it can, but to do so it has to play the sadness rather than the horror. I also tried to do this as much as possible in the work I did on “The Descent” films

Was there any point where you were worried about the musical shock effects getting too big and relentless, or do you wish you could have even gone further out there with them?

It’s all relative to the film, by the end of the film things get pretty big, but we’d started smaller and mysterious so there was somewhere for the score to go. Also this is where the cutting between the horror in the woods and the relative calm of the control room meant we could go big, and then have a breather so hopefully not too relentless.

Will it be hard for you to do a straight-up horror film after “Cabin the Woods,” especially ones that fall into the clichés that this one so brilliantly both indulges in, and takes down?

Maybe I’ll always be thinking that Hadley and Sitterson are still down there controlling every scene. I’d like to think they were.

Get a room with David Julyan at the “Cabin in the Woods” HERE

Appearing with slightly more regularity than the latest J.D. Salinger novel, David Schecter and Kathleen Mayne’s Monstrous Movie Music label would achieve the same kind of reverential anticipation from soundtrack fans. Becoming a gold standard for archival genre soundtracks. MMM’s titles resounded with impressive production value, Schecter’s humorously minutiae -filled liner notes, and the kind of pure, geek dedication to unearthing the music of many a creature-feature filled childhood. At first doing spot-on re-recordings of such classic 50’s / 60’s horror / sci-fi scores as “Them,” “The Mole People,” “This Island Earth” and “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms,” MMM then moved on to concentrate on actual recordings like “The Blob,” “It! The Terror From Beyond Space,” “Project Moonbase,” and “The Intruder.”

The latter stood out for being the first non-genre title in MMM’s catalogue, even if you could’ve easily mistaken Herman Stein’s music for being about a creature rampaging about the south, as opposed to William Shatner’s even more terrifyingly human race-baiting monster. “The Intruder” was an effective, one could say even daring, step outside of MMM’s comfort zone that opened up new avenues of dramatic music for its genre acolytes to discover. And now that MMM’s release seem to be appearing at an astonishing few titles at once per year, 2012’s bunch offers even more unexpected titles, of course with the horror-host worthy soundtracks that are the company’s bread and butter.

(click on the cover to buy the soundtrack)

Old sci-fi scores seldom were known for their subtlety. And the most berserk were so densely packed with frenzied movement that it was easy to understand how scientists were driven mad by it. To that end, the most hardcore of the ultra-busy, ominously eerie school of creature feature scoring goes to the MMM’s two-for-one release of Paul Sawtelle and Bert Shefter’s music from 1957’s “Kronos” and 1959’s “The Cosmic Man.”

“Kronos” is easily the most unique of the portentous pair, given its villain was a giant, energy-consuming robot from outer space, one of the most striking monsters to grace a 50’s movie (especially as captured with traditional animation). And what threat from beyond the stars wouldn’t be played without the ooo-weee-ooo of the electric violin- which could easily be mistaken for the Theremin, an unearthly sound-wave instrument that Kronos might mistake for a far smaller ex-wife. While it’s far more motivic than thematic, what’s so clever about this blaring stuff is how the composers’ use of percussion approximates Morse Code, as crackled between Kronos’ two massive antennae. But the dominant message amidst the chattering instrumentation is one of absolute, end-of-the-world-if-we-don’t-stop-it panic. For stomping throughout the score are huge blasts of lurching brass, a very effective musical embodiment for a giant, city-stomping machine as it advances with slow relentlessness.

It’s the kind of towering, unstoppable musical presence that would make Vejur run it terror, let alone those brave military men whose patriotic brass is positively dwarfed in comparison. There’s no moment to rest for them, let alone the listener in this hellzapoppin’ race between machine and man. For those aware of Sawtell and Shefter’s numerous scores, “Kronos” is all the more delicious fun for presaging the duo’s apocalyptic thrills for the Seaview’s battle against the Van Allen Radiation Belt in the theatrical “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.” It’s a pure, frenetically mammoth wall sound, done very well here on a shoestring budget, that makes “Kronos” the most old-school monster mash fun of this batch of MMM releases, with extra points for its cosmically inspiring cover art by Vincent Di Fate.

Next accompanying a galactic visitor with far nicer than Kronos, Sawtell and Shefter resultingly are far less musically busy when capturing “The Cosmic Man.” With John Carradine stepping into Michael Rennie’s space shoes for this low-fi spin on “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” the composers react to a far more imposing actor from the naturally frightened viewpoint of the military. So don’t expect Bernard Herrmann’s god-like walls of organ and orchestra from the composers here (especially due to the budget again), but eerily apprehensive melodies that do little to convince us of this E.T.’s peaceful intentions. The electric violin is even more unsettling amidst this nicely restrained, atmospheric score that’s all about the trembling fear of the unknown. With man doing what it always does best for the climax, Sawtell and Shefter’s hushed approach rings out with touching sadness, creating a noble ode for “The Cosmic Man,” as well as the bittersweet ode to a human race that just never seemed to get it when a space visitor was bearing an olive branch instead of a ray beam.

Intrepid Earth beings would get theirs upon visiting another planet in 1950’s “Rocketship X-M.” Along with “Destination Moon,” “Rocketship” was one of the pioneering sci-fi movies, whose phallic spacecraft ended up landing on a mutant-infested Mars, as opposed to the dusty Moon- a predicament that not even manly X-M captain Lloyd Bridges could beat. Where MMM has helped bring to light such composers as Sawtell and Shefter, the real discovery of this space voyage is its rousing score by Ferde Grofe. With precious few composing credits to his name (Grofe’s biggest hit would be the song “Wonderful One”), “Rocketship X-M” reveals a soundscape that’s surprisingly beautiful for the genre scores of the period. Having written a classical suite for The Grand Canyon, Grofe imagines Mars with the same kind of vast, romantic poetry (with even the playful addition of “Jingle Bells”), at least until Martian mutants imposingly show up.

Grofe’s music achieves that rare genre grail of having “a sense of wonder” bringing to mind John Williams’ work for “Lost in Space” as Mars is unraveled with awe-inspiring themes. The real deal Theremin is along for the ride, with its airwaves milked for all of their weird, pulsating exoticism here. It just might be the instrument’s most dexterous use outside of (and before) “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” especially when combined with an organ at its most unearthly reaches. There’s a soaring, sci-fi magic that fills “Rocketship X-M,” even during the earliest days of the movie music space program. It figures that MMM would be the label to dust off this striking score, with Vincent Di Fate once again providing enticingly stellar cover art.

Where “The Intruder” was directly in the ballpark with having something to do with monstrousness, 1965’s “Ship of Fools” seems the first real non-creature leap that MMM has taken with an older release- unless you realize that said German freighter is steaming directly into the opening jaws of Hitler’s machine. Though bringing together another first class collection of performers, “Ship” was just about the greatest way starboard that director Stanley Kramer could get from his last such star opus “It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World,” but not so far apace from the heavy duty, conscience stricken characters of “Judgment At Nuremberg.”

Here the rogues gallery is assembled on The Vera for an unpleasurable cruise from Mexico to Germany, circa 1933, with class (and diner table distinctions) quickly separating the Nazi wannabes from the undesirables. “Ship” is a slow-moving, If effective soap opera that gives Kramer’s dexterous composing partner Ernest Gold a chance to show his formidable talents, flawlessly segueing from “Mad”’s merry-go-round broke down music to “Fool”’s powerhouse dramatics. His throttling “Main Title” mixes an ironic orchestra with brassy Latin rhythms and swooning strings, as if the whole thing was going into a chorus of “I Want to Be in America.” Gold’s beautiful, soulful theme conveys the tragedy of pathetic has-beens on the way to the future slaughterhouse, whether it’s forlornly looking in a mirror, bidding a fateful goodbye, and even getting in a bit of welcome absurdity as a woozy mental breakdown kicks in with the “Charleston For Fools.”

“Ship” is remarkable score, and remarkably brief at that. Scantly spotted into the film, “Ship of Fools” would certainly have benefited from more Gold instrumentals. But that being said, the Viennese composer was likely in seventh heaven with the surfeit of source cues that comprises most of this soundtrack. If you’re in the mood for Viennese waltzes, tangos, string quartets and a Germanic marching band heralding a fateful series of de-embarkations, then this album is a first class ticket. While score fans might be asking where’s the Gold, his precious few cues here are great enough to warrant a purchase from diehards. The rest is lilting dinner music, a cheerful Greek chorus that counterpoints the kind of culturally pontificating Captain’s table conversations that won’t be nearly as civil in a few years’ time.

A paucity of Gold certainly isn’t a problem in “The McCullochs,” though any genre connection certainly is, unless the thought of getting a beatdown by a Beverly Hillbilly keeps you up at night. Max Baer Jr. (aka Jethro) made his 1975 directorial debut, as well as acted in this hard drinking, hard brawling Texas family tale, set circa 1949. Given the Big Country style main theme that gets this thoroughly enjoyable soundtrack off to with a bang, you might think this is a sturdy western score, until the big band 1940’s radio source kicks in for a bit.

Like the kind of brawling folk they grow in Texas, Gold’s rousing music doesn’t keep much emotion close to the vest. Instead, it’s all get-out for a brightly rousing, purposefully old-fashioned orchestral hoedown with a surfeit of melody and heart. Sure these macho men might be driving trucks, but Gold plays them with the dramatic sweep of “Giant.” “I Love You” gets said with a harmonica and guitar that’d be right home on the range, while time passes with a Korean war military march. Violins say sweet nothings, and the big musical fight at the end that pits F-Troop’s Forrest Tucker against a former Bodine is played with music that crosses a joyful, Irish jig that’d befit the haymaker climax of “The Quiet Man,” all with beer drinking bell and peeing percussion. The source cues on “The McCullochs” are understandably more varied then “Ship of Fools” as well, with a guitar hayride, an organ church service, some righteous 50’s-style blues and, of course, a hilariously awful marching band version of “The Eyes of Texas.”

Given how positively un-horrific “The McCullochs” is, it’s understandable that you can barely make out the words “Monstrous Movie Music” on Robert Aragorn’s painted album cover, which puts the spotlight squarely on a lustrous Julie Adams. Sure MMM put out the music for her hit movie “The Creature From the Black Lagoon” a while ago. And precious few releases later, their release of the sweetly entertaining score to “The McCulloch”’s says just how more encompassing MMM ambitions have gotten, all while still keeping their core audience. It’s a balance that I sincerely hope there’ll be more of as the label continues to dig up these soundtracks chestnuts, monsters or not.

For many years, I have been schizophrenic in my decisions about powering my studio and its various elements on/off or leaving them on 24/7. Most of the time over the years I leave them on but periodically I change my behavior.

There are several reasons during the periods I have chosen to do so that I do so:

1.Pro client-based studios do so.

2.I believe that the various components may be more subject to harm from powering them on and off that leaving them on.

3.A fool and his money are soon parted an I am a fool about money.

4.I am an environmentally irresponsible individual.

5.I am lazy.

Reasons 1-2 may have some merit but 3-5 reflects poorly on me I fear.

There are several reasons during the periods I have chosen not to do so that I do not do so:

1.I make my peace with the fact that there are times when I am not working on a project with a tight deadline where time is of the essence so powering everything up and loading my templates, which takes about 20 minutes, while annoying, is not that critical.

2.I start to believe that the various components may be more subject to harm from leaving them on constantly then from turning them on and off.

3.A fool and his money are soon parted and I decide I would rather save some of my hard earned money.

4.I have an attack of conscience about being an environmentally irresponsible individual.

5.I decide to be less lazy.

Clearly, it is better to be environmentally responsible and save money so the considerations really should boil down to: how busy with work you are; are you serving multiple clients; and does powering up/down or leaving them on do more damage or shorten the life of the various studio elements.

If you run a client-based studio you want to leave everything on, period. Nothing will lose you clients faster than having that client leave at 9:00 pm and return at 10:00 am and find that he cannot simply pick up where he left off. If like me, you have a composer’s project studio, then common sense would seem to dictate that if you are very busy working on projects with tight deadlines you should stay powered on and when not, power on in the morning and power off at night.

The joker in the pack is the impact on the gear so I decided to do some research and as usual with the audio world, the answers are not as clear cut as I would have liked them to have been.

The important elements of my studio are: 2 computers; two monitors; 1 audio interface; 1 set of powered studio monitors; 6 hard drives.

From both an environmental and financial standpoint, clearly I should power my computers down, at least before I go to bed. The heat buildup produced by leaving them on can potentially wear down the internal parts prematurely. And yet, most of the time when things go south with my computers, it has been when I powered them down at night, only to find troubles when I try to power them back on. Coincidence? I dunno. As they are plugged into a surge protected power strip so it is unlikely that a surge when turning them on is causing problems. And yet……

A dirty little secret is that electricity providers will slightly bump down form 120 volts during peak times of power usage in their communities but knowledgeable opinion is divided as to whether that is any more likely to do harm with the computers on than when off.

Computer monitors are another easy call. Since few of us are still using CRTS, preventing “burn in” by turning them off or running a screensaver is really no longer an issue with LCDs and LEDs. Plasma TVs is another story, but few of us use them as computer monitors. Simply touching them tells you they produce little heat and all recent ones are Energy Star rated as efficient. Still, energy use is energy use and money spent or saved is money spent or saved. Basically, it is like a kiss from your sister IMHO.

Powered studio monitors are a relatively easy call for me. They generate heat and use electricity. If you have them connected to a power strip with a power conditioner, turning them on and off from that power strip is unlikely to harm them or produce the dreaded pop that damages tweeters and hurts your ears. Even during the times I leave my studio largely powered up, I turn these on and off from my Furman Power Conditioner. Since they are not tube gear, there is no significant “warming up” time to factor in. The same is true of my audio interface, little to be gained by leaving it on, little danger in turning it on or off. Since I have I connected to the same power conditioner, it goes on and off with the monitors.

Hard drives are a tougher call. Google did a study some time ago about hard drives and found that if a drive does not fail in the first year, in all probability it can handle being on 24/7 without problem for a fair number of years. Of course, the day a drive does not fail puts you one day closer to the day it will  Drives heat up when they are on and cool down when they are off and that kind of heating and cooling does potentially wear the drive down. But with external drives in particular, after they have been inactive a while they typically spin down and then start up again when you use them so if you are not working constantly, there is that factor kicking in. And the constant spinning eventually will wear the drive out. Since SSDs do not have spinning platters, that issue becomes even murkier for me.

As for software, there are strong advantages to powering on and off daily, or at least weekly. Some applications gradually build up memory usage and do a poor job of housekeeping so you get “memory leaks”. Some of these can be reset by simply closing and re-opening the app but some happen at the OS level and only a reboot resets them.

So I have come to the conclusion that when I am hard at work on a project with a fairly tight deadline so that I am composing 8-12 hours a day virtually every day, I will leave everything powered on. When my workflow is more erratic, I will power down my audio interface and studio monitors when I am not using them for at least 4-5 hours, and everything else I will power on in the morning and power down at night…..unless I get lazy

What do you think?

On April 27 and 28, the American Symphony Orchestra and Music Director and Conductor Leon Botstein present the world premiere performances of [c.200]Howard Shore[]'s Mythic Gardens at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Arts at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Commissioned by the Orchestra, thanks to a generous gift from Stuart and Linda Nelson, Shore composed the concerto for cellist Sophie Shao, who will premiere the work.

Award-winning composer (including the score to [m.]The Lord of the Rings[] trilogy), Shore first worked with Shao when she performed solo cello pieces on his score for the Oscar nominated 2008 documentary [m.30285]The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)[]. Shore says that "the concerto was conceived for the masterful playing of Sophie Shao and for the...

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Emmy-award winning composer [c.674]Jeff Beal[] has just been signed to compose the score for David Fincher's highly anticipated original series for Netflix, [t.33760]House of Cards[], a political thriller starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.

Netflix has committed to 26 episodes of the serialized drama, based on a BBC mini-series from the 1990s. Originally written as a novel by former UK Conservative Party Chief of Staff Michael Dobbs, [t.33760]House of Cards[] explores the ruthless underside of British politics at the end of the Thatcher era. Reset against the backdrop of modern-day U.S. electoral politics, this one hour drama follows Spacey as an ambitious politician with his eye on the top job. On this new project, Beal will be reunited with producer John Melfi, a prior...

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Award winning composer [c.91]Mark Isham[] has scored the Warner Bros. drama [m.31608]The Lucky One[], opening in theaters April 20, 2012. Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, [m.31608]The Lucky One[] tells the story of a Marine who, after serving in Iraq, searches for the unknown woman he believes was his good luck charm during the war. The film is directed by Scott Hicks and stars Zac Efron, Blythe Danner and Taylor Schilling.

[c.91]Mark Isham[] welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with director Scott Hicks on the film. Isham explains, "I've always wanted to work with Scott Hicks. I feel we have similar sensibilities and it was a pleasure to work with him." The composer described his scoring process, "It was important to me to show...

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