Below: U-boat, WWII, sci-fi...there's a combination...Goldsmith would be my pick.

Bond 20: enough said...David Arnold will do another serviceable job.

Hart's War: film looks interesting, not your standard WWII movie. Skeptical about Rachel Portman...this should be a shift in style for her. Hope it works.

Ice Age: Looks entertaining. Score: Powell/Gregson Williams get my vote

K-19 Widowmaker: Sounds like a tense story with strong support in the acting department. Score: ????

Men in Black 2: Probably more of the same, but that's OK. Score: I'm sure Elfman will do a fine job yet again.

Reign of Fire: this looks like campy idiocy...dragons in a desolate future. Score: This one's got Goldsmith or Arnold written all over it...but Graeme Revell will probably end up with it.

Signs: More M. Night Schmayalan Score: More brooding JNH.

Spiderman: no explanation necessary. Score: a little skeptical of Elfman's ability to handle the material

Star Trek X: praying for a return to strong Trek form. Score: while I was hoping for new blood, I guess you can't go wrong with Jerry.

Star Wars II: I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited. Score: same story...

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: Yeah baby... Score: Shore's the man!

The Road to Perdition: stellar cast, lukewarm buzz. Score: I'm guessing Thomas Newman and hoping for more Green Mile/Shawshank magic.

The Bourne Identity: A good spy thriller is hard to beat. Score:???

Harry Potter II...not thrilled about the movie...the score was fair and I'm hoping for more.

Scorpion King: could care less about the movie, but looking for John Debney to strike gold again like Cutthroat Island.

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Originally posted by Quill:
Ice Age: Looks entertaining. Score: Powell/Gregson Williams get my vote

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Didn't you hear? This Fox release will be scored by David Newman. Hooray!! I can't wait to hear what it sounds like.

As for why you're concerned about Elfman handling "Spider-Man", you are utterly alone. At least we won't be treated to a temp-track smorgasbord like we would if a Debney, Arnold or whoever, was scoring it.

I agree with Quill about Elfman, Spidey ain't no 'Dark Knight' or a hero with a dark side to him, Spidey is 'THE' New York superhero and needs a breezy snazzy jazz score. I mentioned in another thread Months ago that I thought Lalo Shifrin would have been an ideal choice for this and I still believe that! Poledouris would have been another good choice, parts of Robocop show the way on how this could be.

If Elfman comes up with another Batman/Darkman/Dick Tracy I'll puke! However I'm willing to be wrong and hope that Danny will come up trumps.

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Originally posted by Timmer:
If Elfman comes up with another Batman/Darkman/Dick Tracy I'll puke! However I'm willing to be wrong and hope that Danny will come up trumps.

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Word is that Elfman's score will be different stylistically from those older comic-book styled scores he wrote.

Dan

I trust Sam Raimi and I trust Danny Elfman. That's about the extent of the opinions that matter on the music for "Spider-Man", you'd think?

LOTR: Two Towers by Richard Band

Eight Legged Freaks- Richard Band

Signs- Jerry Goldsmith

Ice Age- John Williams

Stuart Little 2- John Morgan

Scooby Doo- Richard Band

James Bond 20- Jerry Goldsmith

Harry Potter 2- John Morgan

Phone Booth- John Morris

Red Dragon- Danny Elfman

Ghost Ship- Richard Band

Pluto Nash- John Williams

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones- Richard Band

Resident Evil- John Barry

The Time Machine- Elmer Bernstein

Blade 2- Shirley Walker

I'll staunchly back you up with all your picks for Band except The Two Towers.

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Originally posted by Boatnh8084:
I think Elfman can handle it. I've always had a fondness for his theme to the Flash television series. It's similar to Batman/Darkman, but more upbeat. I personally am hoping for something along those lines.

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Don't get your hopes up too high... he's pretty much grown out of that phase of thematic creativity. I don't dislike Today's Elfman, though I do, as many do, yearn for Yesterday's. He was without a doubt better when he knew less about music, IMHO.

Blade II - Guillermo del Toro doing hardcord horror/action, with Beltrami doing the score. Ooh, baby.

Gangs of New York - C'mon! Not even the presence of DiCaprio can dampen my enthusiasm for this. Bernstein should do a fine score, though I'm not sure if it'll be one I'll want to buy.

Minority Report - Spielberg, Williams & Cruise doing a dark futuristic thriller. Should be sweet.

Panic Room - Fincher & Shore reunited! With Jodie Foster & cinematography by Darius Khondji. You'd have to send me to Mars to keep me away.

Resident Evil - It's been a while since we had a decent Zombie movie, but it's a game adaption from the director of Mortal Kombat, so my hopes aren't too high. Still, with chicks, guns & zombies, it should be a laugh if nothing else. And having Beltrami "co-write" the score with Marilyn Manson is nothing if not one of the most intriguing proposals of the year.

28 Days Later - Wouldn't you know it - another zombie movie. This time, directed by Danny Boyle, & written by Alex Garland. Hopefully a smaller budgeted British film will see Boyle back on track. As for the score - who knows, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Simon Boswell attatched.

Femme Fatale - It's a Brian de Palma suspense thriller with Antonio Bandera & Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. That's enough for me. Sadly, no Donaggio, but Sakamoto should do as well as he did for Snake Eyes.

Four Feathers - Looks like being a seriously quality film, although having Horner scoring has dampened my enthusiasm slightly. Still, it could be a lot worse.

XXX - Vin Diesel being badass alongside Sam L. Jackson. As if that's not enough, ASIA ARGENTO's in it!!!!! Should be pure popcorn munching fun of the highest order. Edelman's down for scoring, which, well, I'm kind of neutral about. Could be better, could be worse.

Death to Smoochy - de Vito directing Norton in a black comedy. Has definite potential, although I've not really heard that much about it. David Newman should provide a typically fine score, though.

Once Upon a Time In Mexico - Rodriguez continues his Mariachi story. Banderas, Hayek, Depp, Rourke, Dafoe. Could I be any more excited? Not really. No idea who'll end up scoring.

Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams - Two new Rodriguez films almost within a month of each other. Is he spoiling us or what? A real hope for good, if kiddy-aimed, summer fun. Debney is due to be scoring, although I'd guess that he might not be alone.

Windtalkers - John Woo does WWII. And it's Horner scoring. Something of a wild card, but it's one I'll definitely be checking out.

The Time Machine - Interesting prospect. Although the name of Klaus Badelt as composer dampens my enthusiasm a little.

Frida - Julie Taymor directing Salma Hayek as famous painter. Yup, Mr Goldenthal is scoring - a mouthwatering prospect.

8 Legged Freaks - Pobably not going to be the best but could be fun. And there's always the John Ottman score...

Anyway, I think that's far too long a list for now.

Oh, & even as an Elfman fan, I'm not convinced that he's right for Spiderman. But I'm very hopefully that he do something good for it. Gotta say, though, that Two Towers is probably the most exciting thing to look forward to this year...

Wow, I just realised, I did a "things I'm looking forward to in 2002" without mentioning Star Wars. Doh!

NP Frankenstein (Doyle)

quote:

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Originally posted by Jeron:

Don't get your hopes up too high... he's pretty much grown out of that phase of thematic creativity. I don't dislike Today's Elfman, though I do, as many do, yearn for Yesterday's. He was without a doubt better when he knew less about music, IMHO.

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Jeron, it's you apparently you who knows less about music, as Elfman scores have always had themes, and often sub-themes that granted, are less obvious then ones chugged out by John Williams, et. al.

The "thematic" Elfman has never gone away, instead his orchestration style has changed. In fact I think Elfman's themes were more creative in the past 5-10 years. I don't see what's wrong with leading the audience with a theme rather then picking them up and carrying them somewhere.

I'm thankful for composers like Elfman who have a truly distinct voice and style. If every composer churned out work as devoid of character like a John Debney or John Frizzell does, I'd quit caring about film music and start collecting Jay-Z albums.

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Originally posted by spitfire:
Jeron, it's you apparently you who knows less about music, as Elfman scores have always had themes, and often sub-themes that granted, are less obvious then ones chugged out by John Williams, et. al.

The "thematic" Elfman has never gone away, instead his orchestration style has changed. In fact I think Elfman's themes were more creative in the past 5-10 years. I don't see what's wrong with leading the audience with a theme rather then picking them up and carrying them somewhere.

I'm thankful for composers like Elfman who have a truly distinct voice and style. If every composer churned out work as devoid of character like a John Debney or John Frizzell does, I'd quit caring about film music and start collecting Jay-Z albums.

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Ryan, I didn't say Elfman wasn't thematically creative. I did say, however, that Elfman has grown out of "that phase" of thematic creativity many wish he'd return to from the late 80's and early 90's. It wasn't an attack on him as a composer. In fact, I purchase all of his albums, old and new, simply because I do enjoy his music. All I meant to convey was that his style has most certainly changed, and that people should not be getting their hopes up for another Batman or The Flash.

Also, what a revelatory statement: "Jeron, it's you who apparently knows less about music..." If that was an attempt to cut me down or put me in my place, you failed miserably. I never said Elfman doesn't write music in thematic terms. He uses themes all over the place... take Sleepy Hollow for instance, a very good, thematic score, albeit subtle. It's obvious that he's grown beyond what he used to do. All I was saying was that [for me], it's not necessarily an improvement (when you compare his popular old stuff with his more complex new stuff). The music from POTA, Proof of Life, and Instinct, for instance, will never ring as clearly in my mind as that from Batman, Dick Tracy, Beetlejuice, Peewee, or even Mars Attacks. It's an opinion; a preference at best, not a testament of my ability to critically listen and recognize complex form and the evolution of style. Anyway, in response to what you said, I sure do hope Elfman knows more about music than I do, otherwise I'd be composing for film as well. But hey, I want to be a director, not a composer. So I guess that solves that.

Jeron

quote:

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Originally posted by spitfire:

Jeron, it's you apparently you who knows less about music, as Elfman scores have always had themes, and often sub-themes that granted, are less obvious then ones chugged out by John Williams, et. al.

The "thematic" Elfman has never gone away, instead his orchestration style has changed. In fact I think Elfman's themes were more creative in the past 5-10 years.

Ryan G

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So, Donuts stoped to mimic Hermman and Williams and is now trying to be Elliot Gondenthal... Pathetic!