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8th February 2010 SOUNDTRACK REVIEWS Film Score Monthly (FSM) has kindly sent three of their recent soundtrack CDs for review...
Somewhat amazingly - and I assume this will come as something of a shock for many people who own a copy of Bullitt on CD - the original score (that is, the actual music used in the film itself) has never been released, until now. All previous LP and CD releases, including the expanded version released in 2000 on the composer's own label, have been re-recordings. Even more surprisingly, the new Film Score Monthly release marks the score's CD debut in the US (the Ford Puma advert, which was the catalyst for much interest in the film's music, was a campaign created for the European market). Film Score Monthly's new Silver Age Classics release of Lalo Schifrin's score features both the complete original score (42'17") and the original late-60s album recording (the twelve-track, 34'00" programme used for the LP-based releases). Their disc features both the original album recording, (which, incidentally, featured a number of jazz greats doing session work), and the film recording, in stereo, from the original 1" eight-track and ½” three-track masters, respectively. The disc comes with a twenty-four page illustrated booklet which includes extensive background information and detailed track notes, by John Bender and Alexander Kaplan. With such a broad potential customer base, which will surely extend well beyond hardcore film score collectors, the limited edition pressing of three thousand copies seems a touch conservative. Buy it now to avoid disappointment!
The beautiful, melodic score primarily explores variations on a single theme, which is for the film's main character, Hudson, a thinly-veiled avatar for the author of the novel the film was based on, Ernest Hemingway. Islands in the Stream was one of the composer's great collaborations with director Franklin J. Schaffner (Planet of the Apes, Patton, The Boys From Brazil, etc). It was previously only available as a mid-80s re-recording conducted by Goldsmith himself, (Intrada's much admired, but ultimately unsatisfying, Excalibur Collection edition). Although the track list on the new disc is broadly similar to that of the Intrada disc, it re-instates one significant section of music, from the boat chase cue Eddy's Death (omitted from the Intrada version because the composer wasn't happy with the performance of the orchestra). Until FSM's disc was announced, source tapes for Islands in the Stream were widely thought to have been lost, and the original score was often spoken of in hushed, reverential tones. The new disc was created from a stereo, 15ips, quarter-inch tape supplied by soundtrack producer Bruce Kimmel, who fortuitously made a copy of the masters in 1979, before they disappeared from Paramount's vaults (a story recounted here). The disc was mastered by Goldsmith's long-serving engineer-of-choice, Bruce Botnick, and the results are outstanding. The disc comes with a twenty-page booklet, featuring in-depth notes by Jeff Bond and Alexander Kaplan, studded with evocative images from the film, and topped with a cover painting by one of the the all-time great film poster artists, Bob Peak. The disc is a limited edition of five thousand copies.
It may be pretty obscure, but the film in question, Jeremiah Johnson, has impeccable credentials. It was directed by the late, great Sydney Pollack, written by Apocalypse Now's John Milius, and it starred Robert Redford. It may not have joined the pantheon of all-time classics, but it is widely regarded as something of a minor masterpiece. The film's two composers, John Rubinstein and Tim McIntire, were actors by trade, but moonlighted as a composer and singer-songwriter on the side. The Jeremiah Johnson CD offers a charming programme of beguiling, folksy Americana, featuring several charming themes, and focussed around several ballad-like songs. The music from the film was previously only available on LP in a presentation peppered with dialogue samples, intended to form a narrative re-telling of the film. FSM's disc offers the complete score, in stereo, without the dialogue. The dialogue-laden versions of the cues are offered as alternates, along with additional score tracks and a collection of original demo tracks. The original LP programme can be more-or-less replicated by making a playlist (as described in the booklet). The music is in stereo, taken from various source elements. The disc comes with a twenty-four page booklet, containing exemplary notes by Nick Redman, which made me order the film on DVD. There's also a typically-revealing track-by-track guide by Alexander Kaplan. The disc is limited to three thousand copies. FSM CDs can be ordered from specialist soundtrack etailers, including the label's distribution partner, Screen Archives Entertainment. 3rd February 2010 ZETA MINOR NEWS There's a new BBC Audio competition starting today, giving you a chance of winning three new BBC radio comedy CD sets: The Museum of Everything, ElvenQuest and Bleak Expectations! Click on the image, right, to go to the competition page! 2nd February 2010 ZETA MINOR NEWS We have two new competitions starting this week, offering you the chance to win three new TV drama DVDs from Acorn (Ken Russell's adaptation of Lady Chatterley, the fourth season of Wild at Heart, and the recent Robbie Coltrane mini-series Murderland); or a set of three Blu-ray discs featuring three highly-acclaimed recent movies, The Last King of Scotland, Crash and Michael Clayton, courtesy of Pathé Productions Ltd. Click on the banners, above, for the Acorn TV Drama and Award Winning Blu-ray competitions. 27th January 2010 EVENT NEWS Honor Blackman (Goldfinger, The Avengers, etc) will be signing in the basement of the Vintage Magazine Shop, 39-43 Brewer Street, London on Saturday the 27th of February, between 12-2pm. 25th January 2010 INCOMING
Many other titles have been added to the database this week, including the TV movie Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman; new sitcom Bellamy's People (a spin-off from the radio series Down The Line); Battlestar Galactica: The Plan on DVD and steelbook Blu-ray; the first season of Stargate SG-U (Stargate Universe); and a box set of three recent Clive Barker-related films from LionsGate (Midnight Meat Train, Book of Blood and Dread). 19th January 2010 INCOMING
HAMMER DVD NEWS
The set will feature six rarely-seen Hammer movies: Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (aka Never Take Candy from a Stranger), The Snorkel, Maniac, Cash on Demand, The Full Treatment (aka Stop Me Before I Kill!) and Joseph Losey’s The Damned (aka These Are The Damned). Sony is promising that the films will be restored to their optimum length, including eleven minutes to one of my favourite Peter Cushing films, Cash on Demand. Here's the full text of their In Production press release: Probably one of the best-known companies releasing horror films, Hammer Film Productions was the pre-eminent producer of gothic and lusty favorites such as The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula Has Risen from His Grave [sic], Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, The Horror of Dracula, The Vampire Lovers, Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll... among many others, which still maintain a cult status today. Among Hammer’s voluminous output in the 50’s and 60’s were a number of excellent, albeit lesser known, suspense films directed by the likes of Val Guest, Joseph Losey and Michael Carreras. Hammer titles released by Columbia Pictures have been the subject of previous DVD releases (Icons of Adventure and Icons of Horror sets), and now these stylish black and white Hammer suspense films are set to go to DVD in the upcoming box set, Icons of Suspense (due out in 2010). One well-known issue with films from this period, and for Hammer films in particular, is the fact that they were often censored or edited for either U.S. or international audiences. The restoration work done in order to bring these films to DVD has included the restoration of deleted scenes, and includes the presentation of the longest possible versions. The films in this set include Never Take Candy from a Stranger (the UK release title was Never Take Sweets from a Stranger), The Snorkel, Maniac, Cash on Demand, Stop Me Before I Kill! (UK title The Full Treatment) and the long-awaited release of Joseph Losey's These Are The Damned (UK The Damned). All six of these films feature stark black and white cinematography, and most are Cinemascope titles that will be presented in their original widescreen theatrical aspect ratio. Familiar actors and directors from Hammer grace these films, but Peter Cushing turns in one of his best performances ever, in Cash On Demand. Cushing is the fussy bank manager who is forced to ally himself with a bank robber in this tense story, based on a play. The original film version was cut by nearly eleven minutes, because audiences found it difficult to sympathize with Cushing’s character. The restored footage makes this film even more tense and surprising. Be sure to keep your eye out for this collection! As before, Sony are offering customers the chance to vote for one of three potential sleeve designs. You can see them here (note that the page loads with a trailer for Columbia Classics movies playing!) Click on the Knife Art, Phone Art and Noose Art labels to see the covers. EVENTS NEWS Author Paul Cornell will be attending a signing copies of Marvel's Captain Britain and MI13: Vampire State at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, on Thursday the 28th of January, between 6 and 7pm. As always, signed copies can be ordered from the Mail Order department, on 020 7803 1900. 15th January 2010 INCOMING Press releases added to the database yesterday include: Robbie Coltrane's compelling return to crime drama, Murderland; a "50th Anniversary" edition of Ken Russell's D.H.Lawrence adaptation, Lady Chatterley; the fifth series of genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are? (Patsy Kensit, Boris Johnson, David Suchet, etc); and the fourth series of Stephen Tompkinson African drama Wild at Heart. 12th January 2010 INCOMING More press releases have been added to the site, for: the first series of fondly-remembered 80s sitcom Chance in a Million; Ondi Timoner's documentary We Live In Public; block-busting supernatural shocker Paranormal Activity (on DVD and Blu-ray); and the film that represents the nadir of Christopher Lee's lengthy and generally respectable career, Howling 2 - Your Sister is a Werewolf. 11th January 2010 INCOMING New titles continue to be added to the Incoming database, so visit often for the latest updates! In the last couple of days I've added detailed information for many British catalogue films coming from Optimum, as well as adding press release blurb for, amongst others, Jon Amiel's charming study of Charles Darwin, Creation (on Blu-ray and DVD); the Judd Apatow comedy Funny People (which stars Adam Sandler and Seth Rogan, on DVD and Blu-ray); two Satyajit Ray films, currently only being listed by Amazon, Company Limited and The Stranger; Pedro Almodóvar's recent hit Broken Embraces (on DVD and Blu-ray); Derek Jarman's Edward II (on DVD only); an odd Prisoner Cell Block H release showcasing a run of episodes, titled The Edna Pearson Story, which were previously heavily-edited here for legal reasons; a collection of animated nuggets from Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane, the Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy; Humberto Solas' Cuban classic Lucia; Chan-Wook Park's off-kilter vampire thriller Thirst, on Blu-ray and DVD; and football hooliganism movie The Firm, on DVD and Blu-ray. 5th January 2010 ZETA MINOR NEWS Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a nice Christmas. I've been incredibly busy over the last few weeks, and this has drawn my attention away from the website, I'm afraid. I apologise for the lack of updates recently. In my absence Graves has been characteristically diligent in keeping our forthcoming releases database, Incoming, up to date. While the PR companies are still sending out press releases for January titles, the etailers have pretty fleshed-out listings for the next three months and beyond, in some cases. It will probably be at least a week before things start getting back to normal, and the press releases pick up momentum again. My thanks to all the companies that have kindly agreed to run competitions with us over the last year, especially BBC Audio, who have been with us week in, week out. Other stalwarts include Optimum, 2 Entertain, Titan Books and Silva Screen Records. Without their support the site would be a lot less interesting! Thanks, too, to everyone who uses our affiliated links to buy their discs. The tiny percentage kicked-back to us by the etailers helps oil Zeta Minor's wheels! I'd also like to thank Karl, who hosts Zeta Minor and Roobarb's Forum, and is always there when I lose all my login cookies! Last month's Zeta Minor News can be viewed here. Previous Zeta Minor News entries can viewed here. |
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Titles
with press release information added in the last couple of days include
the
Press
releases added to the database in the last couple of days include:
Sony
in the US has announced that their next collection of Hammer films,
Icons of Suspense, will be released on April the 6th. 