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Author	Topic: Patrick Doyle

J. Peter Wolk-Laniewski Oscar® Winner	This place is totally dead, so I thought I'd liven it up a little. Doyle is one of my favorite composers. I love his neo-classical style and, as Kenneth Branaugh has pointed out, his gift for melodies. I discovered recently that Henry V is the best driving music you could hope for. His scores are very emotional and exciting and work well both in and out of the film. What are your feelings about him? Does anyone know what he's been up to recently? Does anyone else feel that he got totally ripped off at the 1996 Oscars for Hamlet?
posted 12-12-1999 12:51 PM PT (US)

Aaron Hose Oscar® Winner	Hi there J. Yes, this area has been kinda dead recently. So I'm just here to lend a helping hand. While he's certainly not one of my very faves, I like and admire Doyle's work. His daunting score for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is by no means as forgettable as the movie. And he added a nice "classical" touch to Sense and Sensibility without getting "too classical." I like those opera tracks as well. I have to disagree with you on getting jibbed for Hamlet. While Hamlet was a great score indeed, the eventual winner, The English Patient added that romantic edge, that exotic element that helped make the film what it is today, one of American cinema's most admired and honored epic love stories. His most recent work is Est-Ouest (a.k.a. East West), a French film, and Love's Labour's Lost, Kenneth Branagh's latest 'Billy' Shakespeare adaptation. Should be good when it's released. - A. [This message has been edited by Aaron Hose (edited 12 December 1999).]
posted 12-12-1999 08:22 PM PT (US)

Scott Oscar® Winner	Wow, all these changes. I LIKE IT! On to the topic at hand. Funny you came up with this subject, just this morning I watched the end titles to Shipwrecked. Still a score I'm looking for on cd. Mr. Doyle is a great musical talent. Defentely one of my favs. I agree with you about the Oscar issue. I own both scores and just can't get into The English Patient, while Hamlet is a much superior score. I reckon the Academy chose The English Patient because they liked the film not because this was the best score of the year. Scott
posted 12-13-1999 07:51 AM PT (US)

Kevin Oscar® Winner	I've been a fan of Doyle's for years, but the only score I really don't get into is Great Expectations. Don't ask me why, because I can't put the reasons into words. Kevin
posted 12-13-1999 10:29 AM PT (US)

SplbrgWlms Oscar® Winner	I am also a big Doyle fan. I really like his scored to DONNIE BRASCO and CARLITO'S WAY. They both have really good strings and percussion.
posted 12-13-1999 02:56 PM PT (US)

PeterK FishChip	Speaking of Pat Doyle and Carlito's Way. I was a bit miffed when, on the score album, a track named "Where's My Cheesecake" showed up. Why miffed? Well, in the movie, the cheesecake scene doesn't have this music at all - and it's the best cue on the score soundtrack! Fortunately, the scene with the replaced song is still the same length, so if you cue up the track to the scene in just the right place, it fits perfectly. Quite amazing. Anyone else notice this? PeterK NP - "The Third Miracle" by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
posted 12-13-1999 05:48 PM PT (US)

spango Oscar® Winner	If the wasn´t this incredible great scorealbum to NEEDFUL THINGS I would not be very interested in filmmusic at all. Doyle is by no means one of the best, but HAMLET was kind of disappointing, he didn´t get the oscar. Well who cares about this award? spango
posted 01-23-2000 03:27 PM PT (US)

Thor Oscar® Winner	I've always liked Doyle a lot, but have a somewhat ambivalent relationship to him. On the one hand, I adore his intimate, romantic melodies. On the other hand, I have trouble digesting his minimalistic and intense Herrmann-strings (up and down, "breathing"), featured prominently in HAMLET and FRANKENSTEIN (and even parts of the otherwise excellent NEEDFUL THINGS). Has anyone else noticed this? If you're wondering what the hell I'm talking about, let me know...
posted 01-27-2000 09:39 AM PT (US)

Matt Oscar® Winner	Henry V is awesome. One of my favs. Hamlet was good, but it wasnt great, i didnt feel it deserved the win. Of course, since English Patient SUCKED COMPLETE AND TOTAL ASS, i would have happily given the oscar to Hamlet just to spite Patient(the score wasnt too bad). "one of American cinema's most admired and honored epic love stories" my ass Aaron. Best cinematography, editing, and supp actress. Thats what it deserved. NOTHING else. Fargo was WAY ****in better(sorry, still bitter over this) Needful things had a great score as well, but Henry V is his best, and i think he should have gotten an oscar for that.
posted 01-27-2000 12:42 PM PT (US)

Ellen B Edgerton Oscar® Winner	I find it interesting that many people who have an interest in Doyle seem to choose one "side" or the other - either they like the melodies and not the stuff that Thor seems to be referring to, or (like Royal S. Brown from FANFARE) they like the "other stuff" and not the melodies. However, for me, there's a certain style behind all of his music, whatever the mood or pace, which I like listening to. One thing I have noticed about Doyle's music is that he typically uses faster tempos than most other film composers seem to do, even in "slow" music. Not always, but most of the time. His music is very high-energy and sometimes exhausting to listen to, but that just seems to be the way he naturally expresses musical ideas (even in non-action music). Somebody once described him as "high-rent Elfman" - not sure what they meant by that, but to me, his music seems highly stylized enough to be just on the normal side of "quirky" - maybe that's why someone was comparing him to Elfman. Of course, the epithet "Bernard Herrmann on Jolt" is also amusing, and somewhat true.
posted 01-28-2000 06:44 AM PT (US)

PeterK FishChip	People say movie music is one way to attract young listeners to classical music. True to a certain degree, and not much of an innovative thought. The tough question is how to attract a young fan of rock or death metal bands to movie music. Your answer? A good dose of the big Pat Doyle scores. The performers on these scores make the "greats" of rock and roll like Eddie Van Halen look like preschool kids just learning how to pick up an instrument. Shredding isn't just for rock bands anymore! Time to shred the whole string section. Just a thought, from a discussion I've had with several people who love loud, fast rock music and, at the same time, really get into Patrick Doyle music. PeterK NP - "Film Music by Marco Beltrami"
posted 01-28-2000 08:17 AM PT (US)

Audacity Oscar® Winner	That's an interesting thought PeterK, thinking of his scores I know exactly what you mean. Audacity
posted 01-28-2000 08:42 AM PT (US)

Ellen B Edgerton Oscar® Winner	I'm sitting here laughing because it's the truth. Before I got into classical, I was a big-time Zeppelin fan and it's only been recently that I've realized the connection between my musical past and present. And yet Doyle has this reputation as a "mincy classical literary film" composer. When he SHOULD have a reputation as being a kick-ass action composer.
posted 01-28-2000 09:57 AM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Oscar® Winner	One of my favourite composers, without a doubt. It started with "Dead Again" (I discovered Doyle and Branagh at the same time). "Frankenstein" has one of the best love themes ever! Unfortunately, all of the wonderful variations for the source music are not included on the CD, they are some of the best cues of the whole score. BTW, I like the movie very much... "Hamlet" & "Needful Things" are very good, I also like "Carlito's Way" very much (as the movie), though I don't have the score on CD. However, my favourite score so far is definitely "Much Ado About Nothing", a fantastic score for a fantastic movie. Don't yet know "Henry V". Thor, still troubled with the "subdued intensity"? I wouldn't say these parts are what I like so much about Doyle's work, but they don't annoy me either. NP: Needful Things, hehehe. But the CD is nearly over, I started it before I discovered this thread. Oh, and according to the IMDb, Doyle's & Branagh's next Shakespear work will be a musical! I generally dislike songs in movie scores, as most of the are cheesy. However, Doyle is the only movie composer who I admire also for his songs. So I'm really looking forward to this one. [This message has been edited by Marian Schedenig (edited 14 February 2000).]
posted 02-14-2000 06:37 PM PT (US)

Ellen B Edgerton Oscar® Winner	LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST is a musical, but the songs are all by Gershwin, Porter, Berlin, etc. I have heard the film's soundtrack and found it very enjoyable. There is some original underscore by Doyle, and of course, arrangements of the songs. (I particularly liked the arrangement of "Cheek to Cheek," which is performed at a climactic juncture in the film...) Nice main title. The Cesar awards are being given out on Thursday (I think). These are the French film awards and Doyle got a nomination for EAST-WEST. (This movie also got nominated for Best Foreign Film at this year's Oscars.)
posted 02-15-2000 07:28 PM PT (US)

Chris Oscar® Nominee	Doyle's music is wonderful. His music for "Hamlet" and "Donnie Brasco" shows that he is an extraordinary composer. But he doesn't fit in every kind of movie. What he did until now was great, no doubt about that, but I don't think he could do a real Action-Movie. What do you think?
posted 03-15-2000 10:25 AM PT (US)

Ellen B Edgerton Oscar® Winner	I'm not sure I'd care if he ever did a cookie cutter Hollywood action movie - leave those to Zimmer. I would like to see him someday score a well-made and inventive science fiction movie (not a space opera like Star Wars, though). Something futuristic. Incidentally, Kenneth Branagh had been interested in doing a remake of War of the Worlds (hm, not too sure that in itself would have been the greatest idea) but it fell through. One can only imagine that a Doyle score for War of the Worlds would have rocked big time.
posted 03-17-2000 08:38 AM PT (US)

MagnumPI99 Oscar® Nominee	I was wondering if anyone here had any thoughts on "A Face in the Lake." Is it worth getting?
posted 03-27-2000 12:18 PM PT (US)

Ellen B Edgerton Oscar® Winner	For those who are curious about MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING: it's the April score of the month on the (unofficial) Patrick Doyle website, with a half dozen music clips in Real Audio. Have a listen at http://web.syr.edu/~ebedgert/pd/maan.html. Re "The Face in the Lake" - it is very much in the same spirit as A LITTLE PRINCESS, although it doesn't sound like that score (if that makes any sense). If you enjoy A LITTLE PRINCESS or HENRY V or MUCH ADO you should like it (and, if you like Kate Winslet, so much the better).
posted 03-30-2000 04:45 PM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Oscar® Winner	"Much Ado About Nothing" should belong to every film score collection!
posted 03-31-2000 04:31 PM PT (US)

MagnumPI99 Oscar® Nominee	quote: Originally posted by PeterK: Speaking of Pat Doyle and [b]Carlito's Way. I was a bit miffed when, on the score album, a track named "Where's My Cheesecake" showed up. Why miffed? Well, in the movie, the cheesecake scene doesn't have this music at all - and it's the best cue on the score soundtrack! [/B] maybe the cue title really means "Where's My Cheesecake Cue Mr. DePalma?" :-)
posted 06-18-2000 05:46 AM PT (US)

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