Music in Movies: I'll try to make this one more intelligent.

a few notes.

first, for the few people on this site that don't know about/haven't read aaron's music blog (i'm mostly looking at my MSU friends and the occasional facebook friend), you should check it out here. as i said in the last post, aaron is a much better writer than i am, and his posts are usually intelligent, whereas mine quickly devolve into casual swearing, frustrated rants, and the occasional poop joke. i went through some of aaron's posts last night, and it really is great stuff. also, his blog is a great way to pick up on new music, and that's a hell of a lot better than trying to listen to 99% of the garbage played on the radio (thank god i have xm in the jeep).

second, on tv shows: netflix streaming video is the greatest thing ever, especially since i can watch it through my ps3. why, you ask?

1. i was finally able to finish out The Shield. a great show for anyone who knows something about the Rampart scandal in LA back in 90s. this show is a little less realistic than The Wire (i think), but it's still written well, pulls no punches, and has a conclusion that actually leaves one feeling satisfied.
2. i got caught up on Rescue Me. dennis leary is the man. this show perfectly blends humor and drama, though i do think the constant references to 9/11 are getting a bit old. however, since it's all about firefighters in NYC, i suppose it makes sense.
3. Dexter. thanks to brett for this letting me know about this one. it's twisted stuff, and delightfully macabre humor. also, i have a strange attraction to the sister on the show, as well as the latina lieutenant. i think it's the hips. i definitely need to "acquire" the last two seasons, as they're not on netflix streaming.
4. Lost. this show has sucked me in. i hope it's just because i've been bored lately. if not, i blame gina, pat, and brad.
   
5. Spartacus: Blood and Sand. by watching this on netflix, i don't have to subscribe to Starz. this show is basically the movie 300, but with crappier effects, better acting, and way, WAY more boobs. there's so much casual nudity in this that i've actually become desensitized. if you've ever wondered what lucy lawless (xena: warrior princess) looked like topless, well, watch the show. good stuff there.

ok, so moving on to the point of this post: music in movies. i went through my itunes and sorted by the genre "soundtrack." now, i've renamed all of the genres in my itunes (a most laborious process) to simplify my categorization, so that genre basically includes any music found in any tv show or movie, whether it be a song or a film's score. all in all, i have 5.45 gigs of the stuff (1150 songs, 2.7 days). to me, that's a lot. to some, that's probably nothing (*cough*AARON*cough). for my total itunes, soundtracks basically make up about 1/6th of my music. not too shabby.

for this post, i'm going to focus more on the score of a film as opposed to movie taking a bunch of songs from various artists. both have their merits, but i tend to appreciate scores more than soundtracks, as they're more tailored to the movie. for example, i don't think david bowie and freddie mercury made Under Pressure with the intention that it be used in Grosse Pointe Blank, even though it's one of the most perfectly fit songs in any movie scene ever.

anyway, as i've said before, music can really make or break a movie. imagine Jaws without that wonderful shark theme, Star Wars without the imperial march, Indiana Jones without the raiders' march (the main theme), or basically any other john williams score. and it's not just john williams, either. danny elfman has some greats (Batman, Big Top Pee-Wee, Edward Scissorhands, Spider-Man). everyone knows what danny elfman's or john williams' music sounds like: if you don't know the Batman theme or the Star Wars theme, i don't want to know you.

however, there are also a lot of composers that most people would recognize if they heard them, but can't really name. it goes without saying that the following guys all did way more movies than just the ones i've named, but these are just may favorites. anyway, these unsung heroes (HORRIBLE HORRIBLE PUN) are:

• alan silvestri. he did Forrest Gump, Back to the Future, The Abyss, and Predator. without fail, the theme to Forrest Gump gives me goosebumps. it's sad, yet somehow inspiring. the Back to the Future music is just fun.
  
• basil poledouris. he did Conan the Barbarian, Robocop, and The Hunt for Red October. also many other great 80s movies (Red Dawn). lot of kettle drum in this stuff. every time i listen to the Conan soundtrack, i feel the urge to grab a giant sword and avenge my family's [nonexistent] death. instead i go work out.
  
• randy edelman. Last of the Mohicans, Dragonheart (you've heard the main theme to this in about a million different movie trailers), and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (again, you've heard it in movie trailers). the only way i can really think to describe this music is noble.
  
• clint mansell. Requiem for a Dream, Smokin' Aces, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Moon. mansell's music is always haunting, and usually pretty trippy. it's also very understated and subtle, but it leaves an impact.
  
• hans zimmer. The Rock, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Last Samurai, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3, and The Dark Knight. Last Samurai and Gladiator are my favorites here. lots of percussion, and they get the blood roused. i think i've written more papers in college and law school to the Last Samurai than anything else.
  
• henry mancini. the only two i have are the Peter Gunn theme (also known as the Spy Hunter theme for any of you that played the old video game, and it was used in Blues Brothers as well) and the love theme from Romeo and Juliet (1970 version). both are great. try driving while listening to the Peter Gunn theme; you feel like a pimp.
  
• howard shore. Lord of the Rings, The Aviator, The Fly, Philadelphia, Silence of the Lambs, Se7en. yeah, this guy's got a few oscars.
  
• james horner. Braveheart, Apollo 13, The Rocketeer, Beautiful Mind, Legends of the Fall, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. Braveheart is the clear winner here. i'll admit it, i've gotten choked up listening to the music from that movie. FREEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
  
• jerry goldsmith. Rudy, First Knight, Powder, 13th Warrior, The Ghost in the Darkness, Alien, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, First Blood, and The Omen. this dude's got some pretty decent range. Alien and The Omen are creepy, Ghost in the Darkness is a great blend of African tribal and colonial america fife music, and Rudy, well, Rudy is amazing. again, i get choked up at that music, just because it so perfectly brings to mind when Rudy gets that sack at the end, and he finally made it. god i love that movie. best sports movie ever, even better than Hoosiers.
  
• klaus badelt. he did the first Pirates of the Caribbean. that's really all he needed to do, because that music is just plain awesome.
  
• thomas newman. Shawshank Redemption, Wall-E, The Green Mile, American Beauty. the man's been nominated for 10 damn oscars, and never won. another reason to hate the oscars.
• bill conti. Karate Kid, The Right Stuff, and Rocky. ever work out/run to the Rocky theme? i'm not talking about eye of the tiger or the final countdown, i'm talking about the BA ba BA ba BadaDA dadada theme. yeah, you can't help but smile and feel like a badass, and you know you want to raise up both arms in the double fistpump. it's great.
  

so that's pretty much a list of the big name composers. there are many more, i'm sure, but those are the ones i listen to frequently. what makes each of these guys so great is that they've managed to capture the tone and feeling behind a movie and put it into the form of music. they tell a wordless story and bring to mind images of nobility, passion, excitement, rage, desperation, sadness, wistfulness, or what have you. they've taken music and inextricably linked it with the film so that one cannot be remembered without the other. and yes, the music is as memorable as it is because the movie itself is good, but at the same time, crappy music can make a good movie just as crappy.

a perfect example of this was Shutter Island. the movie itself was pretty decent, had a solid double-twist ending (not nearly as good as the Triple Lindy). i really didn't have any problems with the acting, directing, story, cinematography, or the other fundamental components of a watchable movie. no, the only problem i had was the music. in the very beginning of the movie, the two federal marshals are heading to the island on a ferry. this is the intro to the movie, so we know absolutely nothing about the characters, the island, or the plot. one would think that the accompanying score would be some kind of mellow, potentially ominous music, you know, something subtle.

no, instead we got heavy percussion more fitting for a scene where chainsaw wielding maniac is chasing a nubile camp counselor. it just didn't fit, and it got to the point where the music made the movie ridiculous, similar to what i said about the original Last House on the Left (here). needless to say, the discord between the plot and the music continued for the rest of the movie, and i was highly bothered by it. i just went to imdb to try to find the composer for this movie, and lo and behold, there wasn't one. instead there's a sound department and a music department, both with editors and supervisors, but no actual composer. weird. maybe that's why it sucked.

anyway, i guess if there's any real point to this post, it's that music is as fundamental and important to a movie as actors, directors, or writers, but that it's often overlooked. with few exceptions, people come out of movies raving about the acting, the story, or the camerawork, but they rarely ever come out saying, "man, the music was awesome." however, if you actually go out and listen to the music on its own, years later, you'll find yourself not only emotionally transported back to the time you first saw the movie, but you'll find a whole new appreciation for the music as a separate work. plus, if you're anything like me, you hate doing any kind of work in silence, and movie scores often provide the perfect background music. i once tried to write a paper in college while listening to nothing but DMX, jay-z, and eminem. when i proofread it the next day, the tone and pace of the paper definitely reflected the music choice. not a good idea for a political philosophy class, though DMX's philosophy of "MAN, I GIVE Y'ALL NIGGAZ THE B'INESS FOR FUCKIN WIT ME" probably does have its merits.

in closing, what are everyone's favorite movie scores? my top 5 (in no particular order) are Braveheart, Conan the Barbarian, Rudy, Star Wars, and Last Samurai. i'm sure there are a few out there that i missed, so let me know what you think.