The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Trevor Rabin (Review)

Trevor Rabin’s scores are unmistakable and are incredibly fun. With The Sorcerer’s Apprentice I honestly believe Rabin has delivered his best score in quite some time. With Jerry Bruckheimer producing and John Turteltaub directing I’m sure he felt right at home.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice lets Rabin flex his action muscles like we haven’t heard in a while. He is able to balance some light fun cues with some incredibly grand and intense ones. The album opens with an appropriate homage to the Dukas piece from Fantasia and then a pretty big homage to Hans Zimmer. I don’t know exactly why Jack Sparrow’s theme is blatantly in the first track, but it is and I loved it. Rabin’s familiar arrangements flourish with stunning thematic material and get backed with a chorus on occasion. The main theme echoes in almost every cue giving this score its identity. Percussion, riffing guitars and pulsing strings keep the adrenaline level high. Yes, there were moments in this score that got the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, which I didn’t expect. “The Urn” and “Car Chase” are two standout cues that bleed Trevor Rabin and are incredible.

Think what you want about the movie and all, but the score itself is a true delight and will please Rabin fans immensely. Toss this one up with Armageddon as one of his most memorable action scores. Like Armageddon it is heavy on the action cues with an epic quality, but has a fair amount of emotion laced into it. I think you’ll be surprised as to how invested you will become with this score as you listen through it.

One thing that I notice about the film composers I love is how they strive in simplicity, and Trevor Rabin is no exception. The melodies and tunes are simple and if that composer is talented then those simple tunes will have an enormous emotional effect. The score will also take the film it’s accompanying and make it soar.

The 62nd Annual Emmy Nominations: Score Categories (Plus Commentary)

Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score)

Batman: The Brave And The Bold • Mayhem Of The Music Meister • Cartoon Network • Warner Bros. Animation

Music By: Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis & Kristopher Carter; Lyrics By: Michael Jelenic & James Tucker

FlashForward • No More Good Days • ABC • ABC Studios

Music By: Ramin Djawadi

Lost • The End • ABC • Grass Skirts Productions, LLC in association with ABC Network and Studios

Music By: Michael Giacchino

Psych • Mr. Yin Presents • USA • Universal Cable Productions in association with Tagline Pictures

Music By: Adam Cohen & John Robert Wood

24 • 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM • FOX • Imagine Television and 20th Century Fox TV in association w/Teakwood Lane Productions

Music By: Sean P. Callery

Outstanding Music Composition For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special (Original Dramatic Score)

Blessed Is The Match • PBS • Katahdin Productions and Balcony Releasing Presents

Music By: Todd Boekelheide

Georgia O'Keeffe • Lifetime • Sony Pictures Television for Lifetime Television

Music By: Jeff Beal

The Pacific • Part Ten • HBO • Playtone and Dreamworks in association with HBO Miniseries

Music By: Blake Neely, Geoff Zanelli & Hans Zimmer

Temple Grandin • HBO • A Ruby Films, Gerson Saines Production in association with HBO Films

Music By: Alex Wurman

When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story (Hallmark Hall Of Fame Presentation) • CBS • Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions, Inc. in association with E1 Entertainment

Music By: Lawrence Shragge

You Don't Know Jack • HBO • Bee Holder, Cine Mosaic and Levinson/Fontana Productions in association with HBO Films

Music By: Marcelo Zarvos

I'm really happy to see the terrific trio nominated for the excellent score to The Pacific as well as Giacchino's brilliant finale to Lost. Those are my two picks to win in the music categories. I'm also extremely happy to see Ramin Djawadi and Marcelo Zarvos getting some recognition for their excellent work. Two favorites of mine.

Other highlights in the nominations list? Lost is back, baby and is nominated for Best Drama. Matthew Fox, Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson all got nominated in the acting categories as well, which is amazing. Family Guy was nominated for best song with "That Down Syndrome Girl", which to me is hilarious. However, it didn't get nominated in anything else which was dissapointing because this season it has some of the series' best highlights. South Park garnered its 10th nomination for best Animated Series. That's 10/14 seasons being nominated. Not bad. The best surprise to me though is The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien was nominated in the Best Variety Show category. If I were Conan I'd have a smile from ear to ear right now as the Iron Giant continues to steamroll forward and is just showing the world what a bunch of brainless douches run NBC. In fact, this is even a bigger blow to NBC and Leno since this is not Conan giving the middle finger, it's the entire television Academy. What's even better? NBC is broadcasting the Emmy's, which means if he wins and takes the stage it may go down as one of the best moments in TV history.

Looking forward to this telecast immensely. Best and most competitive nominations I've seen in a while.

Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema by Alan Lazar (Review)

Jerusalema (or the Americanized title Gangster’s Paradise) is a very familiar story about youth growing up in the slums and finding a life of crime as a way to rise to the top. It’s Goodfellas mixed with City Of God. The score was done by South African native Alan Lazar whose score is a simple tapestry of cultural flavors that pulse life into the story.

Percussion makes up the majority of the score and its structure. Almost all the cues are percussion based. Usually percussion is associated with aggression and action based cues, but here it’s not the case. Lazar successfully creates arrangements that cover a wide array of emotions beyond typical rhythmic thumping.

There is some beauty that emerges from this score and emotion flows from the solo instruments and vocals used, however most of the immediate impact is lost due to the incredibly short cue times. Most of the tracks fall between the 1 and 2 minute range so the score never has a chance to fully take off. The score is worth a venture and is a small undiscovered treat. It lacks thematic structure and any lasting impact, but makes up for it with the overall character and identity of the score.

100 Greatest Film Themes: Take 2 (Review)

Silva Screen is set to release their second installment in their 100 Greatest Film Themes series. The release includes 6 discs of some of the best film themes out there. The discs are organized in chronological order by year of release of the themes.

Now, when it comes to these compilation sets I’m not a fan honestly. To me these sets are for the casual film fans or the extremely casual score fans. The way I look at these kinds of sets is pretty much the same as if they released a DVD of the best action scenes, or romantic scenes, etc. Taking a theme out of context of its score just doesn’t appeal to me, but then again some people love to have them all in one place. If you’re one of those people then this set is a great place to start. You’d be better off listening to these respective scores in their entirety, but I can’t deny that it’s a great compilation.

L'immortel by Klaus Badelt (Review)

I finally was able to import a copy of Klaus Badelt’s score to L’immortel. L’immortel is a French film starring Jean Reno as a mobster who exacts his revenge on his former friend who shot him and left him for dead. The American title of the film is the less glamorous 22 Bullets.

Badelt handles the material expertly by creating great atmospheric underscore and using electronic percussion to create tension. He uses a solo piano to great emotional effect and once the score gets rolling it becomes a darker and more intense journey. The pulsing strings give a sense of urgency and keeps the adrenaline high without the score ever becoming a “loud” action score. What I love about the score is that it can be minimal like in the track “Birthday Killing” or action propelled like in “Motorcycle Chase” and still grasp you just the same within the context of the story.

The style is akin to Badelt’s previous work like The Recruit and Equilibrium. So if you enjoyed his work there I highly reccomend L’immortel. Another great part about the album is the way it was arranged with lots of classical opera pieces by Puccini. So the first chunk of the album has a couple of extracts from works like Tosca and La Bohème, which really are an integral part of the listening experience.

L’immortel is a fantastic score by Klaus Badelt that bleeds with his style and takes us on an intense and dark journey. The score is able to resonate a visceral intensity without bashing you over the head. As of this writing the score has not been released in the United States in any format, but I urge anyone willing to spend the extra money on shipping to import it from Amazon France. It’s a simple approach at scoring a familiar genre that leads to a surprisingly effective execution.

Crying WIth Laughter by Lorne Balfe (Review)

Lorne Balfe’s minimal and poignant score to the Scottish film Crying With Laughter finally sees the light of day. The film revolves around a stand-up comedian who embarks on a dark journey of facing his past.

The score is minimalistic in nature but is so brilliant in that approach. It manages to have a full sound to it rather than just a barebones piano as Balfe uses some electronic drones to fill out the negative space. “Serenity” is just a beautiful piece and then the last track reprises that main motif from the beginning that somehow manages to stir you and you can’t figure out why.

The score is very short and is only available at CDBaby.com at the time of writing this as a digital download. It’s highly recommended and I think you’ll be surprised as to how it will emotionally affect you with such a simple approach. Just to give you a frame of reference it reminded me very slightly of Zimmer’s score to Frost/Nixon in terms of its execution.

I’m extremely excited to finally have this one after having to listen to scattered tracks on YouTube now and then. A great solo effort from Balfe.

Star Trek: The Deluxe Edition by Michael Giacchino (Review)

Michael Giacchino’s score to Star Trek was something rather exceptional then again whatever Giacchino does is exceptional but Star Trek was pretty great. When the score was initially released it left so much to be desired (the release that is). It was an extremely short album and the selections didn’t really represent the true flow of the score in the film. So Varese Sarabande quickly fixed their mistake by re-releasing Giacchino’s Star Trek in a beufiful Deluxe Edition limited release.

So let’s get one thing straight. The Varese Sarabande CD Club label is usually reserved for classic scores that are either have since been out of print or have never been released. So it was a bit of a surprise that a movie that is only 1 year old got a release. Not that I’m complaining!

This 2-disc set is simply great. The score is in film order and fully represented here on this release. It’s packaged in a fantastic Digipak booklet with color photographs as well as the note from J.J. Abrams that was included with the initial release.

As for the score I’ll briefly go over what I said a year ago. Giacchino’s Star Trek theme is bold and daring and will get those hairs standing on end every time it makes an appearance amidst the pulsing trumpets and oscillating strings. His music is so amazing that there is always points that J.J. Abrams just lets the diagetic sound drown completely out and the score takes center stage in an emotionally breathtaking fashion such as in “Labor Of Love”. Fans of LOST know what I’m talking about here. The way only Giacchino can do it. If there is one thing to complain about it would be that Giacchino maybe used his Star Trek theme too much in the score so by the end it almost has lost its edge on the viewer/listener. He does finish his score with Alexander Courage's original TV Series theme though, which is perfect.

This is a limited release of only 5000 copies so get your copy before it’s gone. It’s a worthy purchase for a great score from one of the best composers around.