Morricone’s score is awash with one lovely melody after another, including the main theme written by the composer’s son, Andrea. In a film filled with memorable moments enhanced by Morricone’s melodic gifts (both of them!), no moment captures the essence of the film than the finale. Visiting his hometown after 30 years, the elder Toto, now a successful filmmaker, sits down in an empty screening room to watch a reel left by Alfredo. As Morricone’s music soars, images of Hollywood and international film stars locked in embraces flash by in a montage of kisses that had been excised by the local priest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TflvNm22cpk

An hour of the film (basically the entire third act) was cut for impatient U.S. audiences who hate to read subtitles. Though it still plays well enough in the shortened version, the original 3-hour version is a far more satisfying experience. Unfortunately, for U.S. customers that version is only available on the now out-of-print DVD box set. For some reason, the new Blu-ray only includes the short version. The UK Blu-ray (and perhaps some other countries), however, has both. Whichever version you watch, CINEMA PARADISO is one of the true treasures of Italian cinema. A simple—and simply lovely—story, graced by one of Morricone’s finest scores.

Kiss Me Once Then Kiss Me Twice… is a post from Film Score Click Track. Visit the site for more great film music!

In Fellini’s autobiographical 8 1/2 (1963), Marcello Mastroianni stars as a famous film director suffering from director’s block. With his new science fiction film stalled, he is surrounded by artistic and marital difficulties, and countless beautiful women. The title refers to Fellini’s eighth and a half film as a director, based on his six features, two short segments, and a collaboration with director Alberto Lattuada, the latter three productions accounting for a “half” film each.

I had never heard of 8 1/2 before Nine won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1982. Though I became an immediate fan of Maury Yeston’s lush score (which was butchered in 2009 film adaptation), it took nearly 30 years before I finally watched the film.

With gorgeous black-and-white cinematography by Gianni di Venanzo and stunning sets and costumes by Piero Gherardi, the film, blending flashbacks and dreams, memories and fantasies, is endlessly fascinating to watch, if you can get past the odd dubbing. As with most Italian films of the period, the sound was entirely dubbed in afterward. Fellini followed his traditional technique writing many lines of the dialogue during post production, while the actors on the set mouthed random lines. But in this case, the dubbing somehow adds to the unique, circus-like atmosphere, as does Nino Rota‘s score.

The film is sparsely scored and includes a healthy dose of Wagner, Rossini and Tchaikovsky, which fit in beautifully with the surreal images, as well as the off-kilter atmosphere of the German spa where much of the action takes place. But the two most memorable musical moments are pure Rota.

The first is a flashback scene in which young Guido joins his school chums in playing hooky from Catholic school to visit the prostitute Saraghina (Eddra Gale) down at the beach. Bursting out of her cheap, tight black dress, the slatternly, voluptuous prostitute dances an impromptu rumba in the sand. Rota’s memorable music for accordion and electric guitar (which is not included on the soundtrack album for some reason) feels dirty and cheap, yet has a certain sultry allure, much like Saraghina herself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n2s5i2i2Jg

The film closes once again on the beach after Guido gives up on the film and the scaffolding for the launchpad set is being dismantled. In the finale, Guido directs one final scene as all the men and women in his life (it’s all women in the stage version), living and dead, return to dance ”La Passerella Di Addio” around the circus’s center ring. The scene, originally shot for promotional purposes, replaced the original ending and it’s hard to imagine any other. Thanks to Rota’s oom-pah march, the film ends on a joyous feeling of reconciliation and a tentative peace.

Perhaps I was always predisposed to like 8 1/2 because of my fondness for Nine. But the film does not disappoint and demands multiple viewings. It’s odd, captivating, and fantastic, in every sense of the word. A “10″ in my book.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PowGcY9wnfs

The Numbers Game is a post from Film Score Click Track. Visit the site for more great film music!

The year is 3978 A.D. and a spaceship with a crew of four crashes down on a distant planet, one in which man is pre-lingual, uncivilized and used for scientific experiments, while apes have learned speech and technology and rule the planet. The classic PLANET OF THE APES (1968) spawned a multi-generational franchise, a television show, a failed 2001 remake, and now a successful prequel. Endlessly quoted and referenced throughout pop culture, nowhere is POTA more groundbreaking than in the atonal score by Jerry Goldsmith.

Punctuated bass notes on the piano, ram’s horn, an insistent flute “melody,” and the use of the echoplex to create the echoing effects of the pizzicato strings, percussion, etc., combine to create another sonic world right from the beginning. Other effects such as col legno violins (using the wooden part of the bow) and the now-famous metal mixing bowls all add to a score that brilliantly creates an other-wordly atmosphere for a world turned upside down.

One of the most iconic scenes takes place as the humans attempt to escape the nets of as-yet-unidentified figures on horseback. The ram’s horn cuts through the orchestra, invades our senses and shrillingly announces our first sight of the apes on horseback along with a flashy bit of camera zoom and editing. Prominent among the percussive effects are the xylophone, vibra slap and the Brazilian cuika, a drum head device with a rod inserted in the middle of it used to simulate the grunting of the apes. A brilliant scene that ends humorously with the bass slide whistle and the ram’s horn as the apes pose for photographs with their strung up human catches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu4aDUmpTyw

POTA works brilliantly in the film to establish an aural landscape that is at once foreign yet strangely familiar. As a separate listening experience, Goldsmith’s score may be tough listening for film music fans whose ears may not be accustomed to atonality. But Goldsmith’s legendary score deserves an essential spot in every fan’s collection.

The Hunt is a post from Film Score Click Track. Visit the site for more great film music!

Like I said in the post, it was a pleasant few weeks in Horner’s company. But if I have to hear another Prokofiev quote, snare drum riff or danger motif, I’m going to pour hot wax in my ears.

• ALL THE KING’S MEN (2006, James Horner)
• TESTAMENT (1983, James Horner)
• THE PELICAN BRIEF (1993, James Horner)—It’s not hard to notice the APOLLO 13 similarities.
• METROPOLIS (1927, Gottfried Huppertz)—Review coming soon.
• CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011, Alan Silvestri)—Review coming soon.
• BRAINSTORM (1983, James Horner)—Horner in early ’80s action mode.
• COCOON (1985, James Horner)—Horner in early ’80s sweet mode. Probably more familiar now from the SUPER 8 trailer.
• DEEP IMPACT (1998, James Horner)—An underrated Horner score that came close to making the list.
• A BETTER LIFE (2011, Alexandre Desplat)—A Desplat score that will probably slip through the cracks this year but shouldn’t.
• FIELD OF DREAMS (1989, James Horner)—The electronics sound dated when heard outside of the film.

• GLORY (1989, James Horner)—For years I’ve treasured the score for GLORY. I love the movie and think the music adds a lot to the power of the film. I don’t think I’ve listened to it since I wrote my piece on IVAN THE TERRIBLE for FSMO years ago. I simply can’t listen to the score anymore without getting physically angry at Horner’s ripoff of Prokofiev’s IVAN theme. If he’d credited him, I might let it slide. Horner acknowledges Prokofiev’s influence on his music, but this complete ripoff in melody, rhythm and harmonic structure of Prokofiev’s music is shameful. So much good in the score is now ruined for me by his shameless plagiarism. I’m not sure I’ll ever listen to the score ever again. And that makes me unbelievably sad.
• THE JOURNEY OF NATTY GANN (1985, James Horner)—Horner channels Elmer Bernstein and pulls it off admirably, though why Bernstein’s original score was rejected for a copy is beyond me.
• SUPER 8 (2011, Michael Giacchino)
• IRIS (2001, James Horner)
• THE ROCKETEER (1991, James Horner)—Thoroughly enjoyable Horner score that almost made the list.
• WILLOW (1988, James Horner)
• STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982, James Horner)
• SNEAKERS (1992, James Horner)—Charming theme (though I’m not a fan of the soprano sax sound) but dated.
• STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK (1984, James Horner)—Not as much fun as Khan, but arguably more complex and a tad more subtle…just a tad.
• MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT (1994, Geoffrey Burgon)—I’m in the middle of reading Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers and needed some appropriate musical backdrop. The music is pleasant enough, if not particularly distinguished. Not on the level of Burgon’s Brideshead Revisited.
• SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN (2011, Rachel Portman)—Can this woman not write lovely music?
• WINNIE THE POOH (2011, Henry Jackman)—Review coming soon.

What scores were on your playlist last week?

FSCT Playlist #6 – Nail ‘Em Up! is a post from Film Score Click Track. Visit the site for more great film music!

• CITIZEN KANE (1941, Bernard Herrmann)—Herrmann’s groundbreaking score brought a new musical voice to Hollywood. It’s not the easiest listen on album but the riches are there to be mined for the patient listener.
• CARS 2 (2011, Michael Giacchino)—Energetic and fun, and far better than the film deserves.
• VERTIGO (1958, Bernard Herrmann)—Those opposing directional arpeggios and a ravishing love theme are just the tip of the iceberg in this amazing work.
• THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (1947, Bernard Herrmann)—Herrmann’s favorite score of his and mine as well. Lush romanticism at its very best.
• FAHRENHEIT 451 (1966, Bernard Herrmann)—Ravishing score for a less-than-ravishing adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s chilling, futuristic tale.
• NOBODY’S FOOL (1994, Howard Shore)—A delightful film (featuring one of Paul Newman’s finest performances) and one of my favorite Shore scores.
• NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959, Bernard Herrmann)—My favorite Hitchcock film contains arguably Herrmann’s most enjoyable score from start to finish. I never get tired of the classic opening fandango and the heartbreaking oboe love theme.
• CITIZEN KANE: CLASSIC FILM SCORES OF BERNARD HERRMANN—A stunning collection of Herrmann works from the baton of the one and only Charles Gerhardt.
• HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2 (2011, Alexandre Desplat)—Review coming soon.
• THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR, VOLUME 1 (Bernard Herrmann)—A prime example of Herrmann’s television writing, remastered in stunning sound by Varese Sarabande.

• TRANSFORMERS (2007, Steve Jablonsky)—Reacquainting myself with Jablonsky’s sonic world for a review of Part 3.
• TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (2009, Steve Jablonsky)—More of the same.
• 10 (1979, Henry Mancini)—Though Mancini still has command of his memorable melodies, this is one of the composer’s weaker efforts and one of the most inexplicable Oscar nominees ever. Probably because of the inclusion of Ravel’s Bolero.
• A BOUT DE SOUFFLE (aka BREATHLESS) (1960, Martial Solal)—Solal’s classic jazz score for Godard’s groundbreaking French New Wave film.
• BAARIA (2009, Ennio Morricone)—Not A-list Morricone, but beautiful themes, as to be expected.
• THE CABINET OF CALIGARI (1962, Gerald Fried)—An excellent reminder of Fried’s mainly unsung talents, including a memorable main theme.
• D.O.A. (1950, Dimitri Tiomkin)—A mixture of Tiomkin’s brand of musical film noir and big band jazz source cues. Not A-list Tiomkin but enjoyable for fans of the composer.
• UP (2009, Michael Giacchino)—Time has not diminished the charms of this film and Giacchino’s Oscar-winning score. The new collaboration between Intrada and Disney has produced a winner that now sounds even more glorious with the proper lossless mastering.
• E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982, John Williams)—Just as magical as it ever was.
• HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG (2003, James Horner)—A surprise Oscar nominee and a surprisingly understated, effective effort from Horner.
• FABLE III (2010, Russell Shaw)—Classical guitar, piano and harpsichord make this an unusual and refreshing entry in the world of video game scores.

FSCT Playlist #5 – Rosebud… is a post from Film Score Click Track. Visit the site for more great film music!

• LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL (1959, Dimitri Tiomkin)—Not top-tier Tiomkin (though a typically memorable main theme), but it always amazes me how well Tiomkin’s Russian sensibilities meshed with those of the American West.
• THE TREE OF LIFE (2011, Alexandre Desplat)—I don’t think any more needs to be said.
• TARAS BULBA (1962, Dimitri Tiomkin)—Review coming soon.
• SUPER 8 (2011, Michael Giacchino)—Review coming soon.
• BURNT OFFERINGS (1976, Robert Cobert)—Mediocre, unfrightening flick with a surprisingly effective and melodic horror score.
• CARS 2 (2011, Michael Giacchino)—Review still coming soon.
• KING KONG (1933, Max Steiner)—The one that basically started it all.
• GAME OF THRONES (2011, Ramin Djawadi)—Haven’t watched the series, but the music makes the perfect aural backdrop to my reading of the book.
• METROPOLIS (1927, Gottfried Huppertz)—Review coming soon.
• GRACE QUIGLEY (1985, John Addison)—Though he occasionally lapses into those awful ’80s synth sounds, Addison still manages to keep his distinctive quirky voice for this unfortunate swan song for the great Katharine Hepburn.

FSCT Playlist #4 – I Am the Law! is a post from Film Score Click Track. Visit the site for more great film music!

• THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951, Bernard Herrmann)—Editing Ross Care’s excellent musical analysis for the latest FSMO had me revisiting this Herrmann classic.
• SUPER 8 (2011, Michael Giacchino)—Another accompaniment to my editing of Justin Craig’s always fun interview with Giacchino for the new FSMO. Review coming soon.
• ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS (1964, Nathan Van Cleave)—Standard-issue sci-fi music for the most part, but with some nice themes.
• REVOLUTION (1985, John Corigliano)—One of my favorite scores from one of my favorite composers who I wish would write more for film and not, in the process, have his stuff rejected.
• GREEN LANTERN (2011, James Newton Howard)—Epitomizes everything that’s wrong with film music today, and then some.
• FIRST KNIGHT (1995, Jerry Goldsmith)—I had to wash away the bitter taste of all those electric guitars and percussion overlays with some actual music!
• MEDAL OF HONOR (1999, Michael Giacchino)—I missed all the hoopla when these scores were first released, so they’re a pleasant discovery now.
• THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR, VOL. 1 (Bernard Herrmann)—Essential listening in this celebratory month of Herrmann’s 100th birthday.
• BATMAN (1989, Danny Elfman)—I never thought I’d say, “They don’t write superhero scores like Danny Elfman anymore…” Sad but true.
• TARAS BULBA (1962, Franz Waxman)—Review of the new Tadlow recording of the complete score coming soon.
• THE COMEDIANS (1967, Laurence Rosenthal)—I prefer my Rosenthal on the more emotional side.
• VILLA RIDES! (1968) - THE WESTERN FILM MUSIC OF MAURICE JARRE—Review of the new Tadlow recording of the complete score coming soon.
• LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL (1959, Dimitri Tiomkin)

Total: 13 Scores

I’ve held off making comments the past few weeks, hoping that you guys might take up the mantle and discuss among yourselves rather than have me bully my way in. I’ll try and chime in as well. Thanks as always to everyone for playing and reading.

What film scores did you listen to last week?

FSCT Playlist #3 – Klaatu Barada Nikto! is a post from Film Score Click Track. Visit the site for more great film music!

If you haven’t begun to play yet, start keeping track of the film scores you listen to throughout the week and submit them in the comments of next week’s post. Thanks to everyone who submitted their comments and shared their score listening practices so far. Keep ‘em coming…

• X-MEN: FIRST CLASS (2011, Henry Jackman)
• X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (2006, John Powell)—The best of a rather lackluster set of scores from the franchise.
• HOTEL PARADISO (1966, Laurence Rosenthal)—Charming score from a new FSM two-fer that also includes THE COMEDIANS, which I haven’t gotten around to yet.
• THE BELLE OF NEW YORK (1952, Harry Warren)
• PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (2003, Klaus Badelt)
• A KISS BEFORE DYING (1991, Howard Shore)
• BEFORE AND AFTER (1996, Howard Shore)
• COP LAND (1997, Howard Shore)
• CRASH (1996, Howard Shore)
• ED WOOD (1994, Howard Shore)

• M. BUTTERFLY (1993, Howard Shore)—Lovely score for a rather pallid adaptation of the Tony Award-winning play.
• NAKED LUNCH (1991, Howard Shore)—My new pug “sings” along with Ornette Colman’s wild sax solos.
• THE AVIATOR (2004, Howard Shore)
• NOBODY’S FOOL (1994, Howard Shore)
• BIG (1988, Howard Shore)
• MOONLIGHT AND VALENTINO (1995, Howard Shore)
• SUMMER MAGIC (1963, Buddy Baker and the Sherman Brothers)
• IRONCLAD (2010, Lorne Balfe)
• ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND (1972, John Barry)
• RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY (1962)/MAIL ORDER BRIDE (1964, George Bassman)

• RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981, John Williams)—Thirty years later, nothing in any of the sequels will ever beat the thrill of that first statement of the “Raiders March.”
• INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984, John Williams)
• INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989, John Williams)
• INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008, John Williams)—Except for a couple of minor action set pieces, the score is still an uninvolving, meandering mess (much like the film) that can’t capture the excitement and musical joie de vivre of the earlier scores.

TOTAL: 25 scores

What scores did you listen to this past week?

FSCT Playlist #2 – First Class, My Ass! is a post from Film Score Click Track. Visit the site for more great film music!

• New scores that I need to hear for this site and other projects, taken from the stacks of CDs and downloads sitting on my desk and my desktop
• And a journey through my entire score collection from A to Z, choosing the first score from each composer, then starting all over again with the second score, and so on and so on… (Yes, it’s more than a little OCD. But it’s the only way I’ll be able to move from composer to composer without getting stuck on one.)

The list below contains every score I listened to this past week, and, yes, I listened to them in their entirety. Some of them—such as potential review scores and “lost in the shuffle” discoveries—more than once. I’ve written a few words when the spirit moved me and have included a bunch of YouTube clips and some audio samples as well. Feel free to share your lists from last week below. And if not, start keeping a list today and share in next week’s post.

• THE BIBLE (1966, Toshiro Mayuzumi)—It’s appropriate that I begin this series (and title this post) with the new release of the expanded Oscar-nominated score.
• REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT (1962)/A RAISIN IN THE SUN (1961) (Laurence Rosenthal)—Two excellent scores from Rosenthal and still available from Intrada.
• THE FILM MUSIC OF RICHARD ADDINSELL—Including the ever-popular Warsaw Concerto, a typically excellent Chandos compilation featuring some other classics like GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS and BLITHE SPIRIT, and little-known titles, like THE ADMIRABLE CRICHTON and LOVE ON THE DOLE (audio clip attached).
• CRYSIS 2 (2011, Hans Zimmer, Borislav Slavov, Tilman Silescu and Lorne Balfe)
• A BRIDGE TOO FAR (1977, John Addison)
• SLEUTH (1972, John Addison)—So glad this delightful Oscar-nominated score is finally available from Intrada.
• SOCOM 4 (2011, Bear McCreary)—Gamelan, pan flute, drums, drums and more drums. Yawn.
• ALAN WAKE (2010, Petri Alanko)—Not your typical video game score.
• DIRTY DINGUS MAGEE (1970, Jeff Alexander)—Charming Western score that deserves some proper restoration.
• RICH AND FAMOUS (1981, Georges Delerue) and ONE IS A LONELY NUMBER (1972, Michel Legrand)

• I SPY, VOL. 2 – THE LP’S (Earle Hagen)
• LA VIRGEN NEGRA (2010, Elik Alvarez)
• THE FILM MUSIC OF WILLIAM ALWYN—Yet another fine Chandos compilation of Alwyn’s work on such noir thrillers as ODD MAN OUT (audio clip attached) and THE FALLEN IDOL.
• TELEFON (1977, Lalo Schifrin) and HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT (1980, Leonard Rosenman)—The highlight of the disc is a brief, but typically effective, thriller score from Rosenman with a lush love theme.
• BIRD OF PARADISE (1951, Daniele Amfitheatrof)—A Golden Age gem from the ever-talented Amfitheatrof with a lush, tropical main theme.
• THE PROMISE (2011, Debbie Wiseman)
• THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER (2010, David Arnold)—Far better than I remembered.
• X-MEN: FIRST CLASS (2011, Henry Jackman)—Review coming soon.
• MOULIN ROUGE (2001, Craig Armstrong)—No matter what you think of the film (I happen to love it), you have to admit that Armstrong and Marius de Vries did an exceptional job with the music.
• THE BIG BUS (1976, David Shire)

• CARS 2 (2011, Michael Giacchino)—Review coming soon.
• THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957, Malcolm Arnold)—Arnold’s atmospheric Oscar winner.
• AUDREY ROSE (1977, Michael Small)
• THE BARBER OF SIBERIA (1998, Edward Artemyev)
• SPLICE (2010, Cyrille Aufort)
• BONJOUR TRISTESSE/GERVAISE/CHRISTINE (Georges Auric)
• X-MEN (2000, Michael Kamen)
• X2 (2003, John Ottman)
• X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (2006, John Powell)
• X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (2009, Harry Gregson-Williams)

• MASADA (1981, Jerry Goldsmith and Morton Stevens)—It’s about time!
• IL POSTINO (THE POSTMAN) (1995, Luis Bacalov)
• BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969, Burt Bacharach)
• SOURCE CODE (2011, Chris Bacon)
• FOR THE RECORD – ANGELO BADALAMENTI—Still highly recommended

TOTAL—39 scores (Compilation discs count as one. But where multiple full scores are on a disc, each is counted separately.)

What film scores did you listen to last week?

FSCT Playlist #1 – In the Beginning… is a post from Film Score Click Track. Visit the site for more great film music!

In addition to the new scores that I need to hear for this site and other projects, I’ll also be going through my entire score collection of roughly 3,000+ scores. A lot of scores get “lost in the shuffle” (remember those posts?) and this way I can start rediscovering some of the buried treasures on my external hard drive. Even at my average rate of 4-6 scores a day, which I undoubtedly won’t keep up every day, it will still take me roughly two years to get through everything.

I’ll be adding a sentence or two to each title if I have anything interesting to say, and perhaps an audio and/or YouTube clip or two. I don’t want this to get bogged down in tons of information. It should just be a quick read, with hopefully some ear candy to go along with it. Something fun, foolish and easy for all of us.

What would make this a whole lot more fun is to have you guys play along. All you have to do is keep track of the film scores you listen to from Monday through Sunday week by week. I’ll be posting on Monday or Tuesday of each week with my scores from the prior week. You guys can add your selections in the comments section. I’m sure we’ll all find some undiscovered gems from each other.

If you’re interested, start keeping track of the scores you listen to throughout the week from now through Sunday. Then check back next week and let’s see what sort of fun things we can come up with. We’ll just keep going until we run out of music or we get bored with it.

Let’s give it a spin.

FSCT Playlist…Wanna Play? is a post from Film Score Click Track. Visit the site for more great film music!