SKYFALL Thread - Newman's Score, What a Drag

[mkaroly]

I think Thomas Newman is very much like Barry and Herrmann...they have a distinctive sound which others have tried to emulate and copy over the years. I like the music, but I want to hear how it works with the images. I really like Newman a lot so I hope it's good in the film!

MEET JOE BLACK is an outstanding score, as is SHAWSHANK. Just thought I'd throw that in there!

[AndyDursin]

l love those two scores -- his best IMO, and the gorgeous score he wrote for the SANTA 85 episode of AMAZING STORIES is not far behind.

That said -- after that -- I can't say I have many scores of his in my collection. He does have a unique sound but I find some of his "dense" dramatic work to be tough to listen to when divorced from the movie. Like you said though Michael, like Herrmann, his music almost always enhances the film and supports it -- but it doesn't always make for pleasant listening apart from the film.

[Paul MacLean]

I can't say I have many scores of his in my collection. He does have a unique sound but I find some of his "dense" dramatic work to be tough to listen to when divorced from the movie.

He's one composer I don't know very well, mainly because he rarely scores the kinds of films that interest me. He does a lot of contemporary American subjects, which really aren't my thing (never saw Horse Whisperer, Meet Joe Black, Green Mile, Erin Brockovitch or American Beauty).

Despite the "Zimmer-esque" quality of the Bond clip, I'm still relieved Newman is scoring this film rather than the filmmakers handing it to some Dubstep guy or other contemporay "artist".

[John Johnson]

Review of Skyfall.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117948556?refcatid=31

[mkaroly]

And there is one more Newman gem I forgot to mention...ANGELS IN AMERICA. Outstanding a beautiful score (though I never saw the movie). The score that "opened the door" for me into Newman's catalog was OSCAR AND LUCINDA.

[Paul MacLean]

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117948556?refcatid=31

I was initially excited by the reviewer's positive response to the film...until he said it is "on par with Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy as best-case exemplars of what cinematic brands can achieve".

I'm still going to see it, but that has dampened my enthusiasm.

[AndyDursin]

Interesting that Albert Finney's role "must have been written for Sean Connery" according to that blurb. Does this movie have any homages to classic Bond being the 50th anniversary?

Incredibly long running time puts it with the most bloated entries in the series too.

[Paul MacLean]

Interesting that Albert Finney's role "must have been written for Sean Connery" according to that blurb. Does this movie have any homages to classic Bond being the 50th anniversary?

It would surprise me if they did reference the eariler movies, since the Craig films are an attempt to reinvent the Bond pictures from the ground-up (as in the way Casino Royale depicts his "first kill", his acquisition of the Aston Martin, etc.).

Of course ignoring the eariler films isn't necessarily a bad thing either...

[John Johnson]

This comes directly from the press book of SKYFALL (page 50, "Additional Fun Facts")

"M’s house in the film is the former home of the legendary Bond composer John Barry.
Filmmakers thought it would be a lovely tribute to the late composer, who passed away
in 2011."

http://www.intrada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5154

[mkaroly]

Still extremely excited to see this film...I have high expectations based on some of hte positive things I have heard about it (including the article).

[jkholm]

I was a big fan of Thomas Newman in the 90's with scores like Little Women, Unstrung Heroes and Scent of a Woman. Havne't bought much lately although after watching WALL-E numerous times with my kids I've really ocme to like that score. I'm very curious to see how Skyfall turns out.

[AndyDursin]

I was a big fan of Thomas Newman in the 90's with scores like Little Women, Unstrung Heroes and Scent of a Woman. Havne't bought much lately although after watching WALL-E numerous times with my kids I've really ocme to like that score. I'm very curious to see how Skyfall turns out.

Loved LITTLE WOMEN -- thanks for mentioning that. A very festive, holiday-like score, and one of his best. SCENT OF A WOMAN was terrific as well. Can't say I've really been knocked over by anything he's written since the mid '90s though.

[Paul MacLean]

Here's a clip of a radio interview with Thomas Newman and David Arnold about scoring Bond...



I really hope the music playing in the background isn't from Skyfall.

[AndyDursin]

Just listened to the album -- yet another expected letdown.

It's just run of the mill "action music," with more of an attention to orchestra as opposed to Hans Zimmer, but there's no cohesion to it. Plenty of "mickey mousing", standard-issue "ethnic" instrumentation, lots of "stabs" and frantic string writing with percussive undertones. It's like a grab bag of film music circa 2012. Where are the THEMES? There's literally nothing holding it together outside of an infrequent "fanfare" of the Bond theme, intermittently at that. It's well packaged for what it is, but it's not what I look for in film music -- especially hearing it outside of the film.

Just looking around at an unscientific sample of posts on a number of different sites -- people also seem to genuinely dislike Newman's score or are, at best, indifferent to it. To me it's completely unsurprising. He was an odd choice for this kind of film from the get-go and the style of movie does not play to his strengths.

Then again, it's probably just what they wanted -- "gritty," themeless and boring.

[AndyDursin]

BTW I merged this topic with the other SKYFALL thread for easier conversation!