Film Music is something that has greatly influenced me. Often I have felt that movies have been raised into excellence through those grandiose tones that convey so much emotion and tell the story through sound. The music often stuck with me and so early on I began buying movie soundtracks. There are however two kind of soundtracks - the actual classical music that plays during the movie and then the compilation of bands that contribute songs without the songs being played in the movie most of the time (makes me wonder what that kind of soundtrack has to do with the movie? Merchandise! Aaah!)
The first soundtrack I ever bought was, if my memory serves me correctly, Tim Burton's Batman. Although before this I had an lp album of both Ghost Busters and Shocker, both of which are a blast for me to listen to even today. The Shocker album contains Alice Cooper's first and I believe only attempt to rap! Priceless.
But today I want to mention a few great, and I mean great, classic soundtracks that have stood out to me. All of these movies are thus also favorites of mine.
In no particular order let me present to you my list of awesomness:
Solaris
8mm
Perfume: Story of a Murderer
Rome (the TV series-yes, not technically a movie yet belongs to great soundtracks)
The Dark Knight
Aliens (James Horner is a genius)
Watching the making of Aliens I learned that the movie went way behind schedule when James Horner was asked to deliver the music to it. The movie had not been fully shot or edited, so he began composing with an unfinished movie. To top it off he had to do the final resolution piece over night. During one night he composed that great bit! I have even more respect for the man now. The story goes that he pushed for more time but the producer of the movie, Gale Ann Hurd, told him she would fire him and get somebody else to do it. James Horner replies - if you can get somebody else who can compose this piece overnight then I'd like to meet him. (in your face!) How cool is this guy...
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
You read my mind
A short clip in response to the last video. This guy puts in words my thoughts on the matter.
Fresh Baked
Yes, this blog still has that brand-new-just-rolled-out-of-the-factory smell and I am warming up to it.
Thought of the day: Re-make vs Sequel vs Re-launch
Just when I thought things were getting out of hand - here comes Hollywood with the newest trend. Now when people say there is nothing new around, I don't agree. There is plenty new. You just don't bother to look most of the time and thus have to eat what you are being catered.
Re-makes have been done for a very long time. I don't have much against them - HOWEVER - there are rules. For example, a certain amount of time must have passed. You can argue about how many years, but in my opinion, the longer the better. The second rule is - bring something new to the table. If a re-make is nothing but the same story told over again then what is the point. Just to introduce the awesomeness to the next generation - you are basically saying people are too lazy to go to the video rental and pick up the old one.
Example: Nightmare on Elmstreet. Now a re-make will soon be released. After watching the trailer and being familiar with the original I noticed they had at least two exactly same shots as the original. And this just from the trailer. So what is new?
Sequels are a whole different subject. They were mostly frowned upon until...Aliens. Damn you James! With one brilliant movie he proved sequels don't have to suck and so followed a new era of ...let's continue this and see how much we can milk it. Best thing I heard recently will be or has been made is Lost Boys II.
Returning to the new invention of Hollywood, the re-launch. It would seem Hollywood is in a crisis. They would rather chop off their right hand than do an original new movie. So when a series has been stretched as painfully far and finally snapped its spine they simply re-launch it. That means, they do the whole thing over again. Nightmare on Elmstreet can be seen both as a re-make as well as a re-launch because depending on its success they will continue it. So ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the circle of death. We will now have to watch the same things over- and over- and over- again. Add a little new special effects here, a new face there - voila! (they won't even notice it's the same thing).
But aren't you forgetting something? Indeed. There is a fourth category - the prequels!
Oh man, if this isn't going to blow your mind. Now we get the story before the story.
I recently heard Ridley Scott will be directing a prequel to Alien. A story set before the first one. They have to come up with a oscar-award plot to make this one interesting. Or make sense for that matter. And Ridley taking the project is adding salt to the wound. But then again, when I heard Batman was going to be re-done by a guy named Christopher Nolan I thought "what can he possibly do to make it interesting again?". So should I dare to hope...
Thought of the day: Re-make vs Sequel vs Re-launch
Just when I thought things were getting out of hand - here comes Hollywood with the newest trend. Now when people say there is nothing new around, I don't agree. There is plenty new. You just don't bother to look most of the time and thus have to eat what you are being catered.
Re-makes have been done for a very long time. I don't have much against them - HOWEVER - there are rules. For example, a certain amount of time must have passed. You can argue about how many years, but in my opinion, the longer the better. The second rule is - bring something new to the table. If a re-make is nothing but the same story told over again then what is the point. Just to introduce the awesomeness to the next generation - you are basically saying people are too lazy to go to the video rental and pick up the old one.
Example: Nightmare on Elmstreet. Now a re-make will soon be released. After watching the trailer and being familiar with the original I noticed they had at least two exactly same shots as the original. And this just from the trailer. So what is new?
Sequels are a whole different subject. They were mostly frowned upon until...Aliens. Damn you James! With one brilliant movie he proved sequels don't have to suck and so followed a new era of ...let's continue this and see how much we can milk it. Best thing I heard recently will be or has been made is Lost Boys II.
Returning to the new invention of Hollywood, the re-launch. It would seem Hollywood is in a crisis. They would rather chop off their right hand than do an original new movie. So when a series has been stretched as painfully far and finally snapped its spine they simply re-launch it. That means, they do the whole thing over again. Nightmare on Elmstreet can be seen both as a re-make as well as a re-launch because depending on its success they will continue it. So ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the circle of death. We will now have to watch the same things over- and over- and over- again. Add a little new special effects here, a new face there - voila! (they won't even notice it's the same thing).
But aren't you forgetting something? Indeed. There is a fourth category - the prequels!
Oh man, if this isn't going to blow your mind. Now we get the story before the story.
I recently heard Ridley Scott will be directing a prequel to Alien. A story set before the first one. They have to come up with a oscar-award plot to make this one interesting. Or make sense for that matter. And Ridley taking the project is adding salt to the wound. But then again, when I heard Batman was going to be re-done by a guy named Christopher Nolan I thought "what can he possibly do to make it interesting again?". So should I dare to hope...
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Inglorious first Words
Enter the madness that is my blog of doooom. Yes, from herein it shall contain words. No illustrations. Words. Yes, a whole new side of me you didn't know existed.
This space shall contain my ramblings mostly on movies, stories, the entertainment business and, well pretty much anything that comes to my mind. As I am starting to write my own stories I need a space to put some of my thoughts to pixel.
To kick the party off a movie-review a friend of mine recommended (thanks Tyler). (watch all 7) :
This space shall contain my ramblings mostly on movies, stories, the entertainment business and, well pretty much anything that comes to my mind. As I am starting to write my own stories I need a space to put some of my thoughts to pixel.
To kick the party off a movie-review a friend of mine recommended (thanks Tyler). (watch all 7) :
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