Catching Fire Review: James Newton Howard makes progress

It’s not often that I go to see movies alone.  But there are certain movies which I anticipate so highly - Catching Fire being one of them - that my friends’ refusal to go this weekend did not stop me from going.  So yea, I was that guy.  It also didn’t hurt that I saw it at the 84th street theater on the Upper West Side (note to all readers from NYC: go see a movie there - it will change your life).

Let me tell you, the movie did not disappoint.  But I digress…

First off, I thoroughly enjoyed the music in this film.  It seems like a trivial task - to make the music fit each scene - but obviously some composers do it better than others.  That’s first and foremost the most important aspect of a score for me, and I think James Newton Howard accomplished that task.

I’ll admit that I didn’t love Howard’s Hunger Games score.  I really like him as a composer, but there wasn’t much substance there.  He put a lot of the now popular, dark, gloomy, quiet, single instrument type of tracks into it that were just kind of boring.  Let’s just say that he redeemed himself with Catching Fire.  Not to say that he didn’t use those aforementioned strategies in this movie (specifically some electric guitar use), but I think he implemented them better and they worked better. (as a friend of mine and I were discussing it.  And by the way, she has her own blog about food that can be found here)

Howard got this movie started really strongly.  Maybe it was just the adrenaline of finally seeing it (albeit alone) flowing through my body, but his opening track really captured the gloominess of the first half of the movie.  And, as if responding to my request after his Hunger Games composition, we get to hear the theme right off the bat!

James (I call him that 1-because I need to change it up a bit and 2-because we're totally on a first name basis) kinda stuck with the dark/emotional sounds throughout the first half of the movie (with a few exceptions) - really until the preparations began for the Quarter Quell.  I feel like he turned a corner with “Introducing the Tributes.”  This (I think) was the scene in which all the tributes ride around that stadium on chariots, and Katniss gives President Snow the oh-so-evil stare.  I was shakin’ in my proverbial boots for a few seconds there.  This scene itself didn't veer from the dark themes of before, but it set the wheels in motion...

After that track, we start to see a glimmer of hope.  Katniss shines with her bow once again (accompanied by a really fun sound), and then comes the subtlety of Coldplay’s theme from Atlas in “We’re a Team.”  What a great use of those harmonic and hopeful chords by Howard, and what great songwriting by Coldplay!

Much of the sounds from the games are pretty classic poppy modern action sounds (how many adjectives did I just throw in there?), with exceptions like the shoutout to the theme in “Treetops”  Can’t really complain about much here, as the focus should be on the picture not as much the sound, so I think Howard did his job.

To finish the movie off, I think the “Arena Crumbles” track was so perfectly hopeful and symbolic, and totally complimented the symbolism of the picture onscreen.  It was great.  And “Good Morning Sweetheart” was a nice cliffhangy (yep, it’s a word) segue into the next.

And by the way, I thought it was a great job throwing “Atlas” in there to start off the credits.

All in all I thought this score was pretty solid.  I still think Howard could’ve made more use of the theme he introduced in “Katniss,” but in more subtle ways.  He very obviously went back to that theme a few times in the score, but the times he didn't it was also very obvious.  I might have liked to hear some variations of the theme even in the less thematic sounds.  If that makes sense.
I also really liked Rue's theme from the first movie, and even though he used it once or twice in Catching Fire, I would have liked to hear it even more.

Last but not least, I was a big fan of the capital's theme.  Though taken from the first movie, I think the big, royal sounds were quite fitting for the capital.

As usual, some of my favorite tracks:
Katniss
The Tour - HUGE fan of this scene in the movie.  The sound really helped.
Horn of Plenty - basically from The Hunger Games, with a few tweaks.
Prim
Bow and Arrow
We're a Team

Go out, see the movie, hear the music, and prepare for the next 2 movies! (Which will HOPEFULLY be better than the last book.)

Comments welcome!

Ender's Game Review: Steve Jablonsky wins

I’ll admit - I haven’t seen Ender’s Game.  The reason is that I don’t want to see the movie before I read the book.  And god only knows when I’ll have time to actually read the book.

That being said, I really want to talk about the score by Steve Jablonsky because he has recently become one of my favorite composers…

Right off the bat (in the track “Ender’s War”) Steve’s got that deep sounding bass/cello that was his go-to in Transformers, which I love.  In my opinion, if you’re good at something - stick to it!  Of course, that’s assuming the only person Steve had to please with this score was me.  And I’d like to think that’s true.

What I really love is his use of theme.  I’m a huge fan of creating a theme in a score that fits with the movie.  It seems elementary and trivial, but it's something that not all composers do.  I’ve heard scores that are really fun and exciting and powerful but lack a theme… That theme is what a score needs to make it memorable.  Once someone listens to the Transformers scores, how can they forget the themes in there?  Or Danny Elfman’s scores for the old Batman and Spiderman movies.  Or even The Shawshank Redemption or Road to Perdition.  It’s the themes that make a score memorable, and Steve’s got one here.

I did find myself thinking about other movies when I listened to this score.  Some of the horn/percussion combos in the first few tracks definitely reminded me of Star Trek: Into Darkness.  The end of “Stay Down” seemed to have the same exact notes and sound of Gravity’s main theme.  But those things don’t bother me.  I don’t think one needs to come up with a totally new and original sound to make a score amazing.  In fact, when composers try and fail to be original it just sounds stupid!  If they succeed then the payoff is even greater, but (for me) it’s not a requirement.

One negative I will note is his overuse of the same one theme.  See, I’m extremely supportive of the use of themes, but it seemed that he went back to that choppy violin thing a bit too much.  It was first used in “Battle School,” then “Salamander Battle,” then “Dragon Army”… and that’s only the first half of the album!  So that’s really my only knock - that he could’ve incorporated another theme to complement the one he has but also be a bit different, add a little variety.

Another few aspects which really did it for me:

He didn’t try to do too much.  Many tracks are just percussion and strings or percussion and horns.  And to achieve huge sound and emotion with such simplicity I think is really powerful.

And I really like the use of choral voices.  Like in “Move it Launchies” and other tracks.  The voices almost always add to the emotion for me.

Finally, some noteworthy tracks that stuck out to me:

“The Battle Room”

“Salamander Battle” - specifically the 2nd half

“Dragons Win” - specifically minor-major transitions

“Final Test”

“Ender’s Promise”

All in all this was a great score, one I will always remember when I hear the theme.  That is the key for me.  Compose a powerful, memorable score and I’ll add it to my library any day.  I recommend this one to any film music lovers out there!

In Defense of Hans: A Breakdown of Hans Zimmer's 2013

Love him or hate him, Hans Zimmer is having a hell of a year.  

He started off this year by scoring “The Bible” along with Lorne Balfe, and some help from his friend Lisa Gerrard (yea, the one from Hans’ Golden Globe award winning score for “Gladiator," among other projects).  I’ll admit, I didn’t watch this History Channel miniseries, but I have heard the soundtrack.  Yea - it’s very Zimmer-esque, which for me isn’t a bad thing at all.  Call me inexperienced, call me an amateur, call me what you want, but I wouldn’t mind a steady dose of Zimmer’s sound on the reg much as I wouldn’t mind a 2 hour supercut of Schmidt’s greatest hits from “New Girl.”  Plus let’s face it, he had a much bigger project on his mind: Man of Steel.

As he has done in almost every score recently, Hans looked to put something out with a bit of a different spin, some flare.  This time it was percussion.  I won’t go into a whole review of the score, but no one can deny the impact of the drum sequences.  For me, the trailer music had me hooked (no surprise there).  The theme taken from the last track on the album, "What Are You Going to Do When You Are Not Saving the World?" (making a case for longest track title in history?) perfectly encapsulates all that Zimmer was trying to do with that score, and I think it was glorious.  Nice move to gather all those world-famous drummers together in the same room to record.  Maybe an in depth review of the Man of Steel score to come?

Then Hans moved over to score for the infamous flop “The Lone Ranger.”  It’s not that the score was bad, it just didn’t do it for me.  If he was going for the playful sound, a la Sherlock Holmes, I definitely heard it.  Maybe a bit too much.  And the whole western Ennio Morricone tribute was cute, but not Zimmer’s style.  Look, it’s still a score I would listen to, but it wasn’t memorable for me as his scores usually are.  "The Finale" track helps his cause with some William Tell Overture action.  I don’t know, maybe I haven’t given this one enough of a chance.

Then came “Rush.”  And WOW is all I can say.  What a job by Zimmer.  See, what I love about this (and about Zimmer for that matter) is how well he matches instrument sounds to genre of movie.  I will forever associate Formula 1 racing with those distorted guitar riffs.  And who knew throwing in a bass/cello combo (reminding me of Steve Jablonsky’s “Transformers” theme, I don't mind a little RCP influence) with the electric guitar in the opening track, "1976"would complement so well?  I guess my only knock on the album version is the addition of those classic rock songs from the movie in the middle of the score.  I want a steady dose of Hans and only Hans!

So where do we go from here?  As you can see, I’m a bit of a Hans Zimmer groupie.  I confess: I like almost anything the guy puts out.  And I’m not afraid to say it.  He’s my idol.

Let’s just say his epic year is bound to end with a bang in “12 Years a Slave.”  I simply cannot wait to see (hear) this one.

The Inaugural Post

If any of you are somewhat confused about what this blog is, .... well, first of all, if anyone is reading this and is confused about what this blog is... you're not alone.  I, myself, am confused.  You see, I've been a music lover for a long long time.  I've tried to take up 2 instruments at multiple times in my life, and, simply put, just never got to the point where I  could play.  I was one of those guys who could play 1 or 2 songs on piano, so I told girls I know how to play piano.  That way, if they tested me, I could come through.  Worked every time.  (Just go with it)

But it's not just music that I love, it's a specific type of music.  Yes, I do love most genres of music, bar a few.  No offense to those country lovers out there, but country music just doesn't do it for me.  And don't worry: I won't even have the audacity to mention that I like Taylor Swift as country music singer. Shoot, I basically just did.  Oops.

The music that really gets me going is film music.  Some call it film scores, some call it soundtracks.  Call it what you want, I really don't care.  It's the art of music in movies.

I'll have to extend credit to my big brother for getting me into film scores.  He used to listen to them and I did what all little brothers do when their big brothers do anything - I copied him.  For a while that was the extent of my illustrious film score listening career. But gradually (and I can't really put a finger on a specific time or film that did it for me) I got more and more into the music.  I started a film music pandora station to find new film music, started researching composers and their films.  I guess you could say I was officially inducted into film score fandom.  Let's call it the year 2005 at this point.

Fast forwarding to the end of my high school and beginning of college, my fanatics were getting pretty serious.  I was listening to the music of movies I hadn't even seen yet, I was even seeing movies because of the music in their trailers!  I had to do something about it.  So for years I tried - and failed - to learn how to play film themes on piano.  It was probably due to lack of consistent practice, I'll admit.  I applied to work at a music production company that only does film scores.  No experience = no dice.  And I was out of options.

So a few months ago my brother-in-law said "Hey Al, why don't you write a column in a newspaper to review film scores?"  What a great idea!  There's just 1 problem with that: no experience = no dice. Plus, I've never written anything for people to read in my life.

So here I am with the inaugural post on this blog, not even sure where the blog is going, and knowing that I don't need experience or awesome writing to post on this beautiful thing they call the internet.  Maybe I'll review new film scores every week, maybe I'll talk about old film scores I really love.  Maybe I won't have time to post anything else ever.  Who knows.  All I can say to you readers and myself is:
Stay Tuned.