Long time readers will remember that for a long time, I used to mix reviews of the newer albums with reviews of older releases. I stopped doing this two or three years ago in an effort to concentrate on newer titles, but the time is right to start looking backwards again occasionally to reflect the great wealth of film music that’s been released. Whether it’s to catch up on a title that I just didn’t quite get round to reviewing at the time, or to review something that lots of people have requested, or just to spread the word about something I think is worthy but which nobody ever talks about, you can expect from now on to see these reviews of older titles every now and again. Unlike the newer albums, you won’t see the cover art appearing in that row at the top of the page, but you will find them indexed here on the front page and announced at the Facebook page, facebook.com/moviewave – a good way to keep up with news of new reviews. If you have any special requests, do drop me a line, perhaps by leaving a comment in the comments area below.
Have you reviewed the score for Gladiator? I tried to find it in the index, but couldn’t. If I’m missing it, I apologize; but if not… I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. 🙂
I did write a review of that one once, but it’s been lost in the mists of time. It would be a good one to revisit, certainly.
I would be interested to read your review of The Thin Red Line and to see why you consider it to be Zimmer’s best work.
BTW, the Ink Slinger, I actually remember his Gladiator review, which for some reason doesn’t appear in the site’s archive, and it was something in the vein of “a very enjoyable album, but highly inappropriate for the film” (a comment which could describe pretty much every second score by Zimmer in the last decade).
I don’t know if they count as “older scores” per se, but I’d love to read your opinions on some of the non-film work that various composers have done, like Goldenthal’s ballet “Othello” or his oratorio “Fire Water Paper” and Elfman’s concert piece “Serenada Schizophrana” or Cirque du Soleil piece “Iris.”
I’d also love to hear your opinion on Philip Glass’ Qatsi trilogy (Koyaanisqatsi, Powwqatsi, Naqoyqatsi). I imagine some very humorous and entertaining reviews coming from that bunch!
I was going to ask about The Thin Red Line, too, in addition to Mission to Mars. I know you’re very fond of both of them. I’ll come up with more titles later because I’m at work right now.
I’d love your opinion on various Thomas Newman scores, most notably The Green Mile, The Help, and Red Corner.
After your great review of Fenton’s ‘We’re No Angels’, how about reviewing his earlier ‘High Spirits’? It’s a fantastic score that seems pretty forgotten to me.
Okay, here are some more titles (I’ve placed asterisks beside the ones which would take priority):
In Time (Armstrong)*
The Incredible Hulk (Armstrong)
Somewhere in Time (Barry)*
Any of the Saw scores (Clouser)*
Much Ado About Nothing (Doyle)
Sense and Sensibility (Doyle)
Dragonheart (Edelman)*
Edward Scissorhands (Elfman)************
Beetlejuice (Elfman)
Rest of the Lost scores (Giacchino)
The Illusionist (Glass)
Heat (Goldenthal)
Princess Mononoke (Hisaishi)*
Enemy at the Gates (Horner)*
The Spitfire Grill (Horner)*
The Mask of Zorro (Horner)
The Man Without a Face (Horner)*
Bicentennial Man (Horner)**********
The Sixth Sense (JNH)
Unbreakable (JNH)*
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (JNH)
The Last of the Mohicans (Jones/Edelman)*
Merlin (Jones)
Dinotopia (Jones)
City of Ember (Lockington)
The Great Mouse Detective (Mancini)*
Beauty and the Beast (Menken)*
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Menken)*
Hercules (Menken)*
The Shawshank Redemption (T. Newman)*
Requiem for a Dream (Mansell)
Moon (Mansell)*
Cruel Intentions (Ottman)*
Incognito (Ottman)
Hide and Seek (Ottman)
Free Willy (Poledouris)***
The Jungle Book (Poledouris)*
Quigley Down Under (Poledouris)***
The Legend of Bagger Vance (Portman)
Deep Blue Sea (Rabin)*
Armageddon (Rabin)***
Patch Adams (Shaiman)***
Contact (Silvestri)
El Orfanato (Velazquez)*
Hook (Williams)***********
The Patriot (Williams)**
Kick-Ass (Murphy, et al.)
Pearl Harbor (Zimmer)***
The Prince of Egypt (Zimmer/Schwartz)*
The Power of One (Zimmer)*
The House of the Spirits (Zimmer)
Beyond Rangoon (Zimmer)***
The Rock (Zimmer, et al.)
The Peacemaker (Zimmer)
The Last Samurai (Zimmer)***
Oh, I forgot the Smokin’ Aces score by Clint Mansell, but that’s not really a priority.
I noticed you’ve become a bit more of a Leonard Rosenman fan over the last 2 years. One score that needs re-reviewed is Fantastic Voyage. It’s much better than the 1 star you gave it. I’d love to read your thoughts on Lord of the Rings since you thought Howard Shore played too safe with his trilogy. I’m not sure if I’ve seen anyone do an review for Prophecy, but that one spanned from the sweet moments of Cross Creek to nastier than normal Rosenman dissonance with shouts from a blaster beam.
And there’s Robocop 2. We need something a little fun to lighten up the mood and it might earn an extra half star as well.
While we’re talking requests, I’d love to see more Alberto Iglesias reviews, maybe for some of his Almodóvar scores (I seem to recall that you like Volver, and The Skin I Live In is quite recent), or his newer releases from Quartet.
Thanks for your suggestions, everyone. I hope to get to most of them eventually. There are certainly some composers mentioned (Rosenman, Iglesias, others) where my lack of coverage is a real shame.
If we’re still doing requests, I’d love to see you cover John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams’ trio of collaborative animation scores (Antz, Chicken Run and the first Shrek, but the first two in particular). Mikal covered pretty much anything else in his very comprehensive list (special mention to Atlantis: The Lost Empire though). 😉