January 14, 2008

  • 2007 in Review: Part 2

    To say that 2007 felt lackluster will depend on a couple of things.  First, it will matter how old you were.  Second, it depended on just how bored you might have been.  There were a few surprises but in the long run nothing really all that exciting.  That does not mean films did not do well at the box office (it helps that ticket prices made several increases over the summer and into the fall in many theaters).  On to some picks for scores that stand out in the (again somewhat limited) crowd.

    Brian Tyler continues to vie with Marco Beltrami for best reincarnation of Jerry Goldsmith, created an intriguing score stretching ideas of sound design in Bug.  It was a download only (which makes no sense in its resulting restricted audio).  I'm not really counting this one on a technicality.

    1. I have not been a Hans Zimmer fan, but he provided two scores for summer films that were awesome CDs and worked well in their respective films.  The first out of the gate was POC3.  This was a fitting conclusion to this trilogy and showed off some of the newer directions in Zimmer's scoring style: more orchestra and a better integrated synth sound (made possible by better sampling), thematic development and motivic expansion, and a well-paced CD.  The second fine summer score was for The Simpson's Movie.  It was a bit of a surprise not to see Danny Elfman on board for this, or even Alf Clausen, but Zimmer acquited himself admirably including much of the style of the television show, lifting up the music to a blockbuster-type sound, and hitting the comedy in wonderful ways. 
    2. Beltrami had a chance to right a great action score for Live Free or Die Hard and he delivered a score that worked perfectly in the film.  Too often we see sound design type ambient scoring for these action films lately, but Beltrami, working in a hybrid style, really helped ratchet up the tension in all the right places making this a far better action movie than expected.  (Cynics of the first Die Hard who avoided this film in the theater have a chance to rediscover it on DVD.) 
    3. As with the first quarter, one score stands out above the others.  Giacchino's Ratatouille works so well in the film that it carries you along with the sheer energy and striking sound of its thematic writing.  There is a lot to admire here including the outstanding flute playing (showing just how awesome Hollywood musicians are) and even a new song that sounds like a classic, "Le Festin."

    So there are 4 (5 with Bug) that kind of stand out over the summer.  Nicholas Hopper's score for the latest Harry Potter film actually was not horrible and even had a couple of delightful new themes to add to the mix, and the music within the film was more recessed and unobtrusive.  But the big finale, which seemed almost anticlimactic, just did not work well and the music did not help much.  This is one of those movies that probably should be re-turned to a "complete" director's cut.  He is on for the next installment so we will need to see how that goes.   

    There will be a couple of days now to catch up elsewhere.  Next installments will hopefully cover the Fall and end of year releases (since some are still to show up on CD yet).