Intrada Soundtrack Forum

10/3/09

It's been a few years. Yep, that goofy little column I like to call "Nailing the Moment". With so much time on my hands I just couldn't resist taking a look at a few more examples.

The rules remain the same. All composers qualify, be they symphonically trained or symphonically challenged, be they rock musicians or violinists to the extreme. The nailed moment merely needs to be scored in such a way that no one else could better capture what's needed. These are moments when the film makers agree to get out of the way of the music, to let it carry the load. And the composer does just that. No misfires, not just loud stuff but the right stuff. These are the times when the composer literally "nails the moment".

Freedom fighters in the heat of battle. Losing, no less. Enemy soldiers fire weapons, a tank aims, Tuvia Bielski fires back, dodges bullets. Despair all around. Then it happens! Zus Bielski suddenly appears like a gift from heaven, guns blazing, fellow soldiers arriving like titans! The tank is destroyed! And amidst all the chaos, James Newton Howard lets his major chords in the brass literally roar in DEFIANCE. What a rescue!

Sheriff Teasle deposits John Rambo just outside of town, warns him to keep going. We don't want your type in our town. Teasle, begins to drive off, looks back in his mirror and frowns. Rambo is on the move. If us viewers don't know where he's headed, Jerry Goldsmith tells us. Not just back into town, but on his way into a world of trouble. And who could have guessed back then that those five chopping eighth notes in keyboards that play for the very first time here launch not just one action movie but several more as well! An action figure never got better rhythms to run with than what Goldsmith first delivers in this tense early scene from FIRST BLOOD.

More action. Another action star. This time, Casey Ryback's not on a ship, he's on a train. He approaches killer Marcus Penn. In between him and Penn is his niece Sarah, tied up, a live grenade at her head. Ryback can rescue her. He need only get through Penn, hand-to-hand, the way Penn likes it. Trouble is, so does Ryback. They approach each other. Penn draws his knife. Basil Poledouris accents the motion, draws us into the pending fight. Ryback then reveals his own knife and Poledouris goes one step further. Surging major chords moving up in his brass clearly inform us who's gonna come out on top. As if we didn't know. For a second time, we're UNDER SIEGE, this time in "dark territory".

No weapons this time. No gunfire, nary a pistol shot. Just butterflies. Hundreds of them, circling around Taylor and young Robbie while Diane Freeling watches. Jerry Goldsmith circles the scene as well with a beautiful variant on his mystical Native American melody that underlines the power. Goldsmith doesn't just play for the mysticism, however. His rich chords underneath the tune express the heart and soul of the pending conflict with evil to come. POLTERGEIST II the movie had difficulty meeting the standards of it's predecessor, but Goldsmith had no trouble taking POLTERGEIST II the score in a whole new direction.

When time allows, I'll toss out a few more examples. New ones come less frequently these days. Hopefully film makers will ponder examples from the past and once again trust composers to carry certain scenes and nail the moment.

10/10/09

Two more hits headed your way! Okay. Hits isn't exactly the correct word, but two is the correct number. We'll announce them on Monday (October 12) and you can decide if they're hits. Both are limited edition CDs, one in the Special Collection with 1500 copies, the other a Signature Edition with 1000 copies. In terms of successes and fame, one composer is as big as they come, the other much less so. But cool music you'll get from both! Pop over here on Monday to place orders on either or both titles and we'll start shipping them out to you on Tuesday, the 13th.

10/23/09

It's that time again. Intrada usually brings new music out every other Tuesday. So it is this coming October 27. Two limited edition CDs this time around. Music from the fifties, music from the nineties. One of my all-time favorite composers did the latter. Given the success of his movies and albums, others apparently share the sentiment. It's probably safe to say the former will appeal to one crowd, the latter will appeal to another crowd. But you're certainly welcome to take pleasure in both!

10/31/09

Happy Halloween!!

There's a lot of spooky music coming out lately. Chills, thrills, spills, whatever. I'm having fun with TRICK 'R TREAT right now. And I can't say enough good things about BONE EATER, which I had virtually no expectations about. Putting the CD on blind, I came away totally stoked!

And I can't help but mention Terry Plumeri's SCARECROWS fits the bill quite nicely. He was here in my office all afternoon yesterday - Mr. Plumeri, not the scarecrow - and we'll be cooking up some more stuff shortly. I admire his concert work (often recorded with the Moscow Philharmonic) and am happy to see his film work coming back into the mainstream.

So... walk with your kids if they go out, travel in groups, check over the candy... and have a safe and happy Halloween!