score Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The best movie scores don't just add extra depth to a movie, but they take on lives on their own; they sneak into your subconscious so that the next time you hear Nino Rota you feel like downing some espressos and dancing in the Trevi Fountain.

Post-punk/death rocker turned mustachioed Southern Gothic philosopher Nick Cave and his fellow Bad Seed bandmate Warren Ellis* have become standout film composers in the past few years, beginning with their collaboration on The Proposition, a Western from the land Down Under directed by The Road's John Hillcoat and written by Nick Cave. They also created the soundscape for the sadly underseen and somewhat overlong The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Their most recent collaboration on the score for The Road is worthy of an Oscar nomination -- subtle, appropriately dark but not overbearing, and elegant.

However, the two have also written scores for other, lesser-known movies like the documentary The Girls of Phnom Penh, about young Cambodian sex workers, and The English Surgeon, a doc about a brain doc who regularly travels to the Ukraine to perform surgery on the poor, sick, and often desperate.

White Lunar is an upcoming 2-disc compilation of these scores, along with a few extra bits from the vaults:

If there was ever a marriage made in heaven it would be Tron and Daft Punk, seriously, it's like peanut butter and jelly. But, before anyone gets too excited, it is best if you remember that this is just a rumor at this point...an awesome rumor, but a rumor nonetheless. So even though it may not be the most reliable source, Upcoming Film Scores has announced that the French electronica duo have signed to write and perform the score for the follow-up to the sci-fi classic.

So it would seem that Tron 2 is finally kicking into high gear, now that we finally have more to go on than a few rumored cameos, and various casting announcements. Yesterday, Elisabeth managed to score some plot points from AICN as well as news of yet another title change for the sequel, and I have to tell you; I am right there with Elisabeth when I say that anything would be better than TR2N.

Daft Punk has taken a shot at film scores before, having provided most of the music for an Interstella 5555 anime, and they even directed a film before. Although the film was the nonsensical Electroma, and it didn't feature any of their music, so maybe that one is a wash. But if you are familiar with Daft Punk, then you already know that the guys have a fetish for all things robotic and sci-fi, not to mention that their score just might drag Tron out of the 80's and into the 21st Century.

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed on this one, so stay tuned to Cinematical for the official word.

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Normally when I find out that a feature film is being made from one of my favorite novels, I immediately prepare myself for disappointment. But, when it comes to The Road, I don't know what to tell you -- for once I'm convinced everything is going to work out just fine. Although that's probably the first time that particular sentence was used in conjunction with anything having to do with Cormac McCarthy's novel. BBC4's arts show Today recently profiled the project, and the highlight of the report was the first audio clip of Nick Cave's original score. It's only a short clip, but from what you can hear it's the perfect musical accompaniment to the tale of a father (Viggo Mortensen) and son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) traveling through an apocalyptic wasteland.

So even though most of us probably never pay that much attention to the orchestral score to most of the films we watch, you can't ignore a bad one. For me, one of the most distracting things about a film is a bad score -- some of my more hated examples include The Perfect Storm and The Last Samurai. I know there are plenty of reasons why a film might fail to connect with audiences, and I also know that this film is already going to be a hard sell. But, as a former Goth who wore way too much eyeliner while listening to Mr Cave's Murder Ballads on repeat, I have every faith that if there is anyone that can pick the perfect mood music for a downer, it's him.

The Road has yet to find a solid release date, but will hopefully arrive in theaters this fall.

Well before Watchmen even went into production, we knew that a killer soundtrack would be involved -- not only because the graphic novel's universe revels in a slightly different form of pop culture, but because Zack Snyder is pretty into the world of cinematic music. Just a year ago, I wrote about Snyder raving about the lounge wonders of Richard Cheese, and wondered if that was a hint for things to come. It was merely wishful thinking, but I'm very happy to report that even without some campy lounge, this is going to be one hell of a soundtrack.

Three days before the film hits theaters, Sci Fi Wire reports that Warner Bros. will release two discs -- the soundtrack and the original score. Considering the huge number of people that will see this film, I can only hope that this inspires a new wave of retro apprectiation (sort of like Wayne's World and "Bohemian Rhapsody"). There's the hauntingly melodic "The Sound of Silence," some iconic Nat King Cole with "Unforgettable," "Pirate Jenny," which will grace the end credits of Tales From the Black Freighter, and my personal favorite -- the wonderfully haunting and pretty much perfect "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen.

But that's not all -- aside from these tunes, fans can pick up Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic on Blu-ray, and also watch out for a special Watchmen Music Collectors Edition later in the month which will go retro with picture discs. If you're a fan of this whole production, I suggest you start saving your pennies now. I think a lot of promotional trinkets will be headed our way.

Hit the jump to see the song lists for both the soundtrack and score.

Well, now I just feel silly -- thanks a lot, Win Butler. Back in May, rumors began to circulate that Arcade Fire members Butler, Regine Chassagne and Owen Pallet were working on the score for Richard Kelly's The Box, but Butler had insisted there was nothing to those rumors. Now it's eight months later, and as it turns out he was just messing with us. In an interview with Pitchfork, Butler finally fessed up that he had been working with Kelly on the orchestral score for the Twilight Zone-inspired drama. He says, "We didn't really think we were going to do the whole thing, and then it just kind of was easier once we got in. It was like, 'Oh well, we'll just keep going.' It has so much to do with the editing, and your job is just to help the director. It's a very different experience."

Kelly's follow-up to Southland Tales is based on Richard Matheson's short story, Button, Button, and centers on a couple who come into possession of a mysterious box that can make all their financial dreams come true. But there's a catch: if they use the box, an innocent person will die (I can almost hear Rod Serling in the background telling me to "Picture a couple..."). The film stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as the husband and wife with financial woes, and Frank Langella as the box's strange 'delivery man'. It's a pretty creepy premise that would appear to be a perfect fit for the music of Arcade Fire ... and Kelly's own twisted sensibilities.

Back in November, Will brought us the news that the film had been pushed back for a second time from March to November 6, 2009. Hopefully the delays aren't signs of another troubled production for Kelly.

It's official: Beck has lost his damn mind. Based on the abundant evidence of a single feature, he has elevated Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess into the film stratosphere alongside none other than Federico Fellini. Seriously. That really happened. Talking to a stunned Rolling Stone reporter, Beck dropped the following bomb: "No filmmaker since Fellini has had such an eye for amazing characters [as Hess]." Um, wow. Read that carefully, now: I realize he's not comparing Hess' visual style to that of Fellini, but still - in Beck's personal world of great characters, there are only two masters, and one of the is Jared Hess. Man, if Wong Kar Wai knew who Beck was, he would totally come kick his ass, and Michelangelo Antonioni might just tie him to a chair and force him to watch The Passenger over and over again.

Sadly for those two, the lack of Beck love means that he'll never, ever score one of their films. Since his first ever foray into movie scores will be for Hess' Nacho Libre, he clearly has very high standards for such things - if Fellini were alive, he'd be the only other man with a shot. In addition to scoring Hess' film, Beck will also contribute songs to the soundtrack (though it's unclear if they'll be new recordings); the movie hits theaters June 2.

Akira Ifukube, the man who composed the main theme to the original Gojira (Godzilla) movie in 1954 passed away on Wednesday of multiple organ failure. Ifukube's composition was used in some of the subsequent Godzilla releases as well. Besides scoring for Godzilla, he also produced over 300 pieces of music throughout his career, which began in the late 1930s and eventually brought him to what is now called the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1946. I pride myself on being able to recognize the Godzilla theme, something that surely earns me at least a few geek points.

Film Music Radio is a wicked cool (as we say here in Boston) 24/7 Internet radio stream featuring only movie and TV music which officially launches on September 12, 2005.  However, anyone with an itchin' to see what it's all about can check it out right now. The stream will play through iTunes, with it and other free music players available through the site.