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The Full Monty
Ask any film score fan for one of Oscar’s greatest injustices and they’ll point to Anne Dudley‘s 1997 win for THE FULL MONTY. This sleeper hit surprised many by also picking up a Best
Read More »The High and the Mighty
The granddaddy of all disaster movies–THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY–holds a special place in the history of film music and the Academy Awards. Based on Ernest K. Gann’s novel, the film follows passengers aboard an
Read More »Married Life
My buddy Tim got married a couple of weeks ago. I wasn’t at the wedding and I’ve never even met Tim in person. Yet we’ve connected through Twitter, this blog, and our love of
Read More »1934: The Year Oscar Scored
Published in FSM Online March 2010 This year marks the 75th anniversary of the first Academy Awards in Music. While the Best Song category has remained essentially unchanged since its inception (except for those
Read More »A Little Romance
Legendary French composer Georges Delerue finally won an Oscar in 1979. But that award is tainted–or sweetened, depending on how you look at it–by the delicate strains of Vivaldi. A LITTLE ROMANCE is charming
Read More »Why Does She Have To Die?
When FINDING NEVERLAND was released in 2004, it came with the pedigree of playwright J.M. Barrie as its inspiration, the Miramax marketing machine, and Johnny Depp in the lead. Depp stars as Barrie, whose
Read More »Anthony Adverse
Based on Hervey Allen’s bestselling epic novel of historical romance in the Napoleonic era, ANTHONY ADVERSE emerged as one of the biggest hits of 1936 and was nominated for six Oscars, winning four, including
Read More »Love Story
LOVE STORY was the Number One film of 1970 and probably the most famous three-hanky tearjearker of all time. Harvard law student (and millionaire) Ryan O’Neal meets Radcliffe music student (and self-described “social zero”)
Read More »I Can See Clearly Now
For a heathen like me, films with religious overtones are usually best when played for their camp entertainment value, a la THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. Something where the spectacle overwhelms anything overtly pious. Personal religious
Read More »Life Upon the Wicked Stage
LIMELIGHT is an interesting film in the Charlie Chaplin canon. In his last American film, Chaplin stars as Calvero, a once-famous English music hall comedian, who saves a young ballerina (Claire Bloom) from suicide
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