Best Original Score – Action/Adventure

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The International Film Music Critics Award nominees for Best Original Score – Action/Adventure are:

• The Bourne Ultimatum by John Powell
• Ghost Rider by Christopher Young
• Live Free or Die Hard by Marco Beltrami
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End by Hans Zimmer
• Spider-Man 3 by Christopher Young

Winner 2006 (Award for action/thriller): The Da Vinci Code by Hans Zimmer

The action/adventure category is a little bit disappointing this year. There are a few soundtracks I’d like to see in there like Transformers, Hitman, War, Shooter and The Kingdom. Christopher Young has not one, but two nomination in the same category for Ghost Rider and Spider-Man 3. Marco Beltrami, John Powell and Hans Zimmer are represented with The Bourne Ultimatum, Live Free or Die Hard and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

The Bourne Ultimatum by John Powell is a powerful score, a proper action score, but it lacks something that The Bourne Supremacy had, it feels like it’s not done and Mr. Powell had to finish in a hurry. Still, it’s entertaining and a top contender this year. Ghost Rider by Christopher Young is a very weak score, and I am very surprised at its conclusion. When you listen to it, it feels light as a feather. It’s an action score, but it doesn’t feel suspenseful, you just get annoyed by it’s lack of substance. Live Free or Die Hard by Marco Beltrami also suffers a bit from a lack of substance, a little meat on the bones. It’s better than Ghost Rider, but it shouldn’t really be here in my opinion and I wonder if it was included because the success of the movie. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End by Hans Zimmer is a fun action score, but it varies too much between action and comedy at times. Possibly the best score in the Pirates series though. Spider-Man 3 by Christopher Young is a good action score, but probably my disappointment of the year. He fails to live up to Danny Elfman’s excellent scores for Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. Still, it is one of the best scores in this category this year.

• My choice: The Bourne Utlimatum by John Powell
• Probable winner: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End by Hans Zimmer

Listen to the scores here:

 http://soundtrackgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/actionadv.flv

 [tags]best original score, bourne ultimatum, action score, live free or die hard, pirates of the caribbean, spider man 3, top contender, ghost rider, spider man 2, best score, da vinci code, pirates of the caribbean at world s end, action thriller, john powell, light as a feather, critics award, music critics, hans zimmer, mr powell, danny elfman[/tags]

Soundtrack Review: 10,000 B.C. by Harald Kloser & Thomas Wander (2008)

Roland Emmerich, love him or hate him, he does produce nail biting action. There’s sci-fi action, monster action and well, sci-fi action so why not ancient action? It’s been 4 years since he directed his last movie The Day After Tomorrow and this time, the theme couldn’t be much more different. The movie has no big names, but the concept is exciting and the videos look great. What I noticed is that Roland Emmerich wrote this movie with the composer Harald Kloser. This is the first time I have seen a high profile composer write a movie, and so you expect him to have given his blood and soul for the score to 10,000 B.C.

Harald Kloser composed for the Roland Emmerich movie The Day After Tomorrow 4 years ago, and now they are back together. Since then, Mr. Kloser hasn’t composed for much except AVP in 2004. This score is probably not going to be released, at least not in CD form. I didn’t see it on iTunes either, but I suspect that if the movie becomes a huge success, a release will be forthcoming. The movie itself is still about 4 weeks away (opens in theatres on March 7^th), but now is a chance to get an audio preview of this much anticipated movie. The promo score consists of 19 tracks and total playtime is 41:44. The track list is as follows:

1. Front Titles
2. Mountain Of The Gods
3. Spoken Truth
4. Passage Of Time
5. The Hunt
6. Celebrating
7. Never Brave
8. Eve Of The Tiger
9. A Leader Comes
10. Terror Birds Attack
11. The Blood Of Hunter
12. Food Found
13. Moving
14. Oceans Of Sand
15. Wisdom Earned
16. My Father
17. Sign Of The Hunter
18. The Mannaks
19. End Credits

So what can we tell from the track list? The titles are in the front, well done Mr. Kloser! There is a God mountain who speaks the truth about the passage of time. Then the hunt begins and they celebrate that they are never brave. Then Rocky shows up, and being punched in the head so many times he can’t get the letters sorted. A leader arrives, but is attacked by terror birds, and the blood of hunter fills the desert. It’s looking up because some food is found, and they are moving across the oceans of sand and even get some wisdom earned in the process (Don’t walk barefoot in the hot desert sand). Then dad shows up… Dad!? What are you doing in this movie? The hunter was not dead after all as they find a sign but the alien race Mannaks invade the earth, the end… or is it? I feel a sequel is coming, it’s called 10,000 A.D.

Oh I’m way of (sound)track now, but I have to say this score is so hard to review. It’s overall a really good score, but there is blatant stealing going on, most notably from Transformers by Steve Jablonsky as you can clearly hear in Spoken Truth and Oceans of Sand. There’s a lot of other songs in there I have heard before, but I can’t quite place them. There’s a lot of good original stuff in there too, lots of ethnic chants and heavy drums. Should I punish Harald Kloser for stealing or should I praise him for stealing what’s good? I feel that although I haven’t seen the movie, it fits the theme very well. It’s like a lighter version of Transformers, but with an ethnic theme. You know what, the bottom line is that it is a good score, stealing or not, and who knows? Maybe it’s this Wander guy whose actual name isn’t Wander at all, meaning he stole the name from some poor Wan*er. The thing is, do we all suddenly think Jonny Greenwood’s There Will Be Blood is a terrible score now that we now that there is about 46 minutes of pre-existing work from other composers? Screw that I say. Listen to the music, if it is well composed, well put together, sounds great, the score itself should be rewarded, not punished. Listen to 10,000 B.C. below:

Film Review for 10000 BC

Best Original Score – Drama

The International Film Music Critics Award nominees for Best Original Score – Drama are:

• Angel by Philippe Rombi
• Atonement by Dario Marianelli
• Eastern Promises by Howard Shore
• The Kite Runner by Alberto Iglesias
• Lust, Caution by Alexandre Desplat

5 powerful drama movies who deserves a post on their own, but we don’t have that luxury so let’s get on with it shall we? Angel is a very classical score by Philippe Rombi. It may even outclass Atonement in classicalism. Wow, is that a word? My spell checker liked it. Atonement by Dario Marianelli is the red line between all those awards. It is a really big seller too, and is the big favourite. Eastern Promises by the master Howard Shore is perhaps a little dull, but it does the job well. The Kite Runner is so varied and I’m sure I can hear 100+ instruments in there. It reminds me of The Constant Gardener, also by Alberto Iglesias. Lust, Caution is a beautiful score by Alexandre Desplat. I was expecting a very Chinese score, but it is a mix and instead of overusing the Chinese instruments, it plays the piano and does it with great effect.

• My choice: Lust, Caution by Alexandre Desplat
• Probable winner: Atonement by Dario Marianelli

Listen to the scores here:

http://soundtrackgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/drama.flv

[tags] best original score, classical score, kite runner, classicalism, lust caution, eastern promises, alexandre desplat, philippe rombi, spell checker, chinese instruments, alberto iglesias, critics award, music critics, constant gardener, howard shore, atonement, red line, film music, international film, angel[/tags]

The Sunday Soundtrack Charts February 3rd 2008

A new feature in 2008 for Soundtrack Geek is The Sunday Charts and will chart based on sales numbers from Amazon. I will feature Movie Scores, Movie Soundtracks, Anime Soundtracks and Game Soundtracks. It will be interesting to see the changes over a period of time, and look at the trends. Soundtrack charts are hard to come by so I decided to make one. There will probably be a few surprises for you each week and I hope it is as interesting to you as it is to me.

Here are the top 10 in all categories for Sunday February 3^rd 2008.

1. Atonement by Dario Marianelli (151 overall)
2. There Will Be Blood by Jonny Greenwood (172 overall)
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King by Howard Shore (232 overall)
4. The Mission by Ennio Morricone (396 overall)
5. Pride & Prejudice by Jean-Yves Thibaudet (463 overall)
6. The Last of the Mohicans by Trevor Jones & Randy Eidelman (585 overall)
7. 3:10 to Yuma by Marco Beltrami (732 overall)
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by Howard Shore(827 overall)
9. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End by Hans Zimmer (846 overall)
10. The Holiday by Hans Zimmer (847 overall)

Comment: Nothing surprising, interestingly 50% of the scores were originally made before 2007. Composers Howard Shore and Hans Zimmer with 2 scores on the list. Only 2 out of 5 nominees for Best Music Original Score at the Academy Awards are present, the 3 missing are Michael Clayton by James Newton Howard (Not in the top 60, overall 7634), The Kite Runner by Alberto Iglesias (Currently nr. 11, overall 910) and Ratatouille by Michael Giacchino (Currently nr. 17, overall 979).

1. Juno (2 overall)
2. Once (7 overall)
3. Across the universe (18 overall)
4. Sweeney Todd (60 overall)
5. Into The Wild (64 overall)
6. Music and Lyrics (147 overall)
7. Hairspray (156 overall)
8. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (169 overall)
9. I’m Not There (175 overall)
10. Notting Hill (184 overall)

Comment: Juno is a phenomenon. Over 250.000 sold already and is the first soundtrack for a movie nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards to reach nr.1 at Billboard Top 200 Album Chart. Perhaps surprising is that the old classic O Brother, Where Art Thou and also Notting Hill is in the list.

1. Halo 3 by Michael Salvatori (477 overall)
2. Kingdom Hearts (2307 overall)
3. Halo (2509 overall)
4. Mass Effect by Jack Wall (2588 overall)
5. Halo 2 vol.1 (3459 overall)
6. Guitar Hero 3 (3587 overall)
7. Halo 2 Vol.2 (4137 overall)
8. Ten Years of Resident Evil: The Official Soundtrack (7090 overall)
9. Gears of War by Kevin Riepl (8754 overall)
10. Shadow of the Colossus: Roar of the Earth by Kow Otani (11402 overall)

Comment: Halo with 4 out of 10, nothing more to say. It’s also interesting to notice the overall sales of Halo 3, which is in the top 500 overall. That is really wiping the floor with the competition outselling even 5 movie scores in the Top 10 Movie Scores list for this week.

1. Pokemon X: Ten Years of Pokemon (3121 overall)
2. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex by Yoko Kanno (4754 overall)
3. Pokemon: The First movie (7085 overall)
4. Fooly Cooly OST 1: Addict by Shinkichi Mitsumune (7670 overall)
5. Wolf’s Rain by Yoko Kanno (8066 overall)
6. Final Fantasy, Vol.8 by Yoshiniro Kitase (8301 overall)
7. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (8527 overall)
8. Paprika by Susumu Hirasawa (8914 overall)
9. Fooly Cooly OST 2: King of Pirates by Shinkichi Mitsumune (9900 overall)
10. Cowboy Bebop Remixes: Remixes for Freelance (13856 overall)

Comment: Pokemon and Final Fantasy are a given here. I expect that to be a regular on the Sunday charts.

[tags] 3 10 to yuma, alberto iglesias, amazon, billboard top 200, dario marianelli, ennio morricone, game soundtracks, halo 3, james newton howard, jean yves thibaudet, jonny greenwood, juno, kite runner, last of the mohicans, lord of the rings the two towers, michael clayton, michael giacchino, pirates of the caribbean, pirates of the caribbean at world s end, pride prejudice[/tags]

Hans Zimmer 2008 Preview

Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer is pretty much one of the first names you think of when you think of movie scores. Luckily for us he has at least 5 upcoming projects in 2008.

Casi Divas (March 2008)

Casi Divas is a very interesting project by Mr. Zimmer. It’s a Mexican movie with mostly Mexican actors directed by Issa Lopez. It’s a comedy about 4 women in Mexico and he craziness that is going on when one of the biggest movie producers is casting for his next big movie. Hans Zimmer and Mexican movie, well… why not? I expect a cheerful score with a Mexican flair. I read on the IMDB boards that Hans Zimmer scores for this movie for $1. He did it so he could experiment and jam with his gang. Sounds awesome! By the way, the English title of this movie is Road To Fame.

Kung Fu Panda (June 6^th 2008)

A lot of people are waiting for this one. A Dreamworks animated movie creating a lot of buzz starring Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu and Angelina Jolie. This movie seems hilarious and no doubt helped by a magnificent score. Hans Zimmer is no stranger to animated movies which includes The Simpsons Movie, Madagascar, Shark Tale, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, The Road to El Dorado and of course The Lion King, for which he won an academy award for best score. Can’t wait for this one!

 

 

 

 

The Dark Knight (July 18^th 2008)

Of course the biggest project of them all is Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, the much anticipated sequel to the excellent Batman Begins. It his however with some sadness, as Heath Ledger who plays the Joker is no longer with us. Still, this movie is destines to greatness, not only visually but helped on by no doubt a magnificent score. Hans Zimmer is again collaborating with James Newton Howard as he did for Batman Begins. As you all remember, it turned out to be an amazing score. I can’t imagine this score to be less than great.

 

 

 

 

Madagascar: The Crate Escape (November 7^th 2008)

Hans Zimmer’s second animated movie this year is of course the sequel to Madagascar which he scored for in 2005. This time the former New York Zoo animals are going to Africa. Wait a minute, animated movie and Africa, I am not drawing comparisons with The Lion King or anything, but I am hoping for a score of that magnitude. Too much to expect? Perhaps, but you never know with Hans Zimmer.

Frost/Nixon (November 2008)

This is a big one, directed by Ron Howard. It’s based on the famous interviews about the Watergate scandal. The cast is a great one, including Kevin Bacon and Frank Langella. People who was at the screening in November last year said it could be an Oscar winner. There was no mention of the score by hans Zimmer, but I see an Academy Award nomination for Best Score 2009. A bold prediction perhaps, but this is not going to be one of those scores where Hans Zimmer goes over the top, but a more subtle score which I’m sure will be great.

So… to sum it up, a very busy year for Hans Zimmer. I hope all his scores are great but if only 4 out of 5 were great I would forgive him I suppose .