Have you ever seen a movie where music composer John Williams did a movie score? His film scores for movies such as Star Wars, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and so on have entertained us for more than four decades. Some of his influences for the first Star Wars soundtrack may have come from a particular work by composer Gustav Holst. Holst’s most famous piece is “The Planets,” which was a suite of seven movements, each named after a planet and its corresponding astrological character.
In “The Planets,” the seven movements correspond to Mars (War), Venus (Peace), Mercury (the Messenger), Jupiter (Jollity), Saturn (Old Age), Uranus (the Magician) and Neptune (the Mystic). Each movement has a different character to it. For example, Mars is heavy and insistent with horns and drums, like a general marshaling his troops for a battle, while Neptune has a lighter, more mysterious feel to it using woodwinds. And each movement also is tied to the astrological character of the subject.
A new group has taken a similar approach to Holst in their new CD Eight Moons, composing songs about eight of the major moons with names of the gods – from Mars to the distant dwarf planet of Eris. Omnimi seems to seek a blend of classical, choral, and world music to evoke some of the same powerful feelings as Holst’s work – from the dramatic to the relaxing.
And, like Holst, each track feels as though it should be part of a movie soundtrack. “Phobos – Mars I” with its merging of a choir and driving percussion would be at home in a film like the upcoming Conan reboot starring Jason Momoa coming to theaters in 2011. There’s almost a desert feel to some of the percussion, giving it a vaguely “Arabian Nights” flavor.
From Phobos we move to “Io – Jupiter I,” which has a less insistent beat but somehow manages to fill the room with power with higher voices and strings building and building. What’s intriguing is there’s a rock guitar in the middle punctuating the lighter vocal performances, bringing this tune into a more modern era. Parts of the melody would feel right at home in the recent trailers for Chrisopher Nolan’s Inception.
My favorite of the tracks is “Neso – Neptune XIII” which manages to capture an ethereal, almost fairy-like sound and merges it with the incessant roll of the sea. Neso in Greel mythology is one of the goddesses of the sea and one of the 50 Nereids – one of the sea nymphs. Through a use of interesting beats behind the scenes along with the strings and voices it truly feels as though you are rolling along the waves.
Ultimately, I think Omnimi has done an amazing job in composing some truly unique songs in a Holst style. Movie directors and producers seeking full-sounding orchestrations for their own films would do well to give Eight Moons a listen to see how they might be worked into current productions. Hopefully we’ll hear more from Omnimi in the future!
For more information about Omnimi, be sure to check out their website at OmnimiMusic.com.
This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.
Yes, I know that there are people who on principle skip anything Jerry Bruckheimer produces. And yes, I know that there are those people who try to miss anything Nicolas Cage appears in because they simply don’t like him. And there are probably a third group who believe that Fantasia is sacrosanct and must not ever be touched again by human hands… But I’m evidently not one of those.
I’ll admit that I was skeptical that it could be done. Who could possibly write a script for a two hour film that’s based on the short animated feature as part of 1940′s Fantasia from Walt Disney? How could you take Mickey Mouse and the dancing mops, brooms, and buckets and modernize it for today’s audiences?
Well, I think they actually managed to pull it off. We went as a family and all of us really enjoyed The Sorcerer’s Apprentice with Cage, Jay Baruchel, and Alfred Molina playing the lead roles. Hopefully it will make more money than it has so far so that we can continue to see the adventures of “Dave the Sorcerer”.
What is it about? It starts in medieval times with the saga of Merlin (James A. Stephens) and his three apprentices – Veronica (Monica Bellucci), Balthazar (Cage), and Horvath (Molina). When Horvath turns on his friends and master to join the evil wizardess Morgana (Alice Krige) in an attempt to take over the world and killing Merlin – Veronica sacrifices herself and binds Morgana’s soul within herself, and Balthazar captures them both in a Russian Doll magic item. That starts a war between the Merlinians, with Balthazar at the lead, and the Morganians seeking to free Morgana to take over the world.
Balthazar spends the next thousand years trying to find what Merlin called “the Prime Merlinian” – an individual with the potential to take Merlin’s place in the world. Along the way, he captures other evil wizards in the doll as they continue to try to release their queen.
When young Dave stumbles into Balthazar’s magic shop while on a field trip, it’s revealed that he is the Prime Merlinian Balthazar’s been looking for all this time… But through a series of mishaps, Dave unwittingly releases Horvath and a battle ensues that eventually finds the two ancient enemies locked away for 10 years. That gives Dave some time to get some therapy for what nobody believes he saw.
And that brings us to the present day, with Dave having become a physics geek working with electricity and plasma. I won’t spoil the rest, but suffice it to say that it’s a wild ride where Balthazar and Dave must work together to try and save the world from Horvath and Morgana.
Before I saw the film, I read a few reviews chastising the exposition at the beginning that sets the stage for the transition to the modern day. As such, I was a bit concerned. Turned out that I need not have been. Though director Jon Turteltaub might have chosen to “show, not tell” that section of the story, I think it would have added another 30+ minutes to the already two hour long film. As such, to keep it short enough to play frequently at most movie theaters I think it was a good choice to avoid the lengthier storytelling option.
It was obvious that Cage and Baruchel had a good time working together. The relationship between Balthazar and Dave seems genuine and the Master/Apprentice ties that bind them together lead to some touching moments. Molina simply ate up the screen as Horvath and cut a dashing figure in what looked like a late 18th century/early 19th century suit, hat, and cane. Even Teresa Palmer as Dave’s eventual girlfriend Becky played the “fish out of water” character well, even going so far as to play a pivotal role in the climax.
The only character I didn’t like was Toby Kebbel’s magician Drake Stone, the evil wizard who helps Horvath set Morgana free. Stone played a Criss Angel-type stage magician who was in it more for stroking his ego than for any perfection of his art. But I think we were supposed to dislike the slimy character – so if that was the case then bravo to Kebbel’s acting chops.
The special effects were spectacular. From the dragon in Chinatown to the car chases on the flip side of a mirror, the effects seamlessly transported me into a world where magic exists. I found myself watching, wide-eyed and enjoying every minute in that world – wishing there was a bit more magic day to day in our own.
If you don’t like Bruckheimer, Nick Cage, or the idea that a Mickey Mouse cartoon could be made into a big budget live action adventure movie, I’d recommend that you stay home. But I’m certainly glad I went to see it.
This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.
Ok, I like Sir Anthony Hopkins. I do. Really. But this latest image from the Thor movie revealed by the Los Angeles Times leaves me more than a little skeptical.
Yes, I know this picture is probably staged for Comic-Con, but dang… it takes the wind out of my sails. I was much happier with this earlier image I saw:
So I guess we’ll find out what the actual movie looks like, directed by Kenneth Branagh, when it’s released May 6, 2011.
Also in the news is that Thor and Captain America will both be in 3D. Why? Why does everything have to be in 3D now? [Sigh]
Before I tear this movie down a bit, I want to clear the air. Everyone at my house is a big fan of the Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series that aired on NickToons. The combination of philosophy, growth, humor, and adventure made it a favorite of ours. So when I heard that M. Night Shyamalan was going to be making it into a live action film, I started to get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Evidently I should have listened to the reviews and my gut because The Last Airbender simply wasn’t as good as it should have been. When you start with an amazing story and end up with something lackluster, something’s wrong. And yet, somehow, it’s already made almost $80 million dollars at the box office according to Box Office Mojo. Will it make back its $150 million budget? Probably… Should we let M. Night do a sequel? Um, no.
The Last Airbender is the story of Aang (Noah Ringer) – the last of the Air Nomads lost in the ice for 100 years – and his journey to save his world from a war that started while he was frozen. When Aang is discovered by Katara (Nicola Peltz) and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone), they head out into the world to give the people hope for a future and a way out of the ongoing war.
The world has a few individuals born with the power to control a particular element – fire, earth, water, or air. These people are called “Benders”. Each Bender uses martial arts and willpower to direct an element to do their bidding. And Aang is unique as the last Avatar – an individual capable of “bending” water, earth, fire, and water as well as interacting with the Spirit world.
The Fire Nation, led by Fire Lord Ozai (Cliff Curtis), seeks to banish the old peaceful ways of the Nations working together and embrace an industrial world by enslaving or destroying the other nations and forcing his vision of the future upon them. His son, Prince Zuko (Dev Patel), seeks to regain the honor lost as a child. If he could find the Avatar and return him to his father, his honor would be restored…
So as Aang comes to grips with the changes while he was gone and his being the Avatar, he’s being chased by the Fire Nation at every turn. Eventually Aang, Katara, and Sokka find their way to the Northern Water Tribe so that Aang can learn how to waterbend.
I’m not going to go into great detail about the original series, but instead will focus on a few key items that led me to not enjoy this film as much as I would have liked.
First, there’s the last minute decision to go 3D. This is a hot button for me. If you’re using 3D – USE 3D! I don’t remember a single 3D effect from the film. I remember them from the trailers before the film though… so why did I blow the extra $$ per ticket?
Second, Uncle Iroh in the series is a larger than life character with a great deal of humor. Shaun Toub, though a fine actor I’m sure, didn’t fit the role at all for me. Iroh should be round and jolly and Toub’s version is tall, skinny, and serious though polite.
Third, and last for me… If you’re going to reinvent a property, whether it comes from a book, TV series, or earlier film, you have to DO something with it. What do I mean by that? It can’t simply be a rehash of the earlier work.
For some reason, the script for The Last Airbender felt like they compressed a season of the cartoon into a stack of paper, stripped the humor and humanity out of it, and regurgitated it on the screen. You can have the most amazing actors ever and still have a horrible movie if the script stinks (not saying that’s the case here, but it mitigated my dislike for the quality of acting in the movie a bit).
You really need to rethink the original property and present it in a new, interesting way so that it’s faithful to the source material and yet has something unique to offer in addition. The Last Airbender managed to be boring for me because I already knew what was going to happen. You can put as many great special effects into a film as you want, but they won’t save it if the movie doesn’t connect with audiences.
One brief note about the effects. I thought the effects used for “bending” water, fire, earth, and air were VERY cool. The flying lemur was either underused or simply uninteresting, I couldn’t tell which. And the flying buffalo really only had one interesting scene in the whole film and it was in the first 10 minutes when its tail trapped Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) on the ice.
I still contend that the soundtrack was awesome from James Newton Howard (reviewed here). But it got buried in the film by the lack of anything interesting happening on screen.
So I walked out underwhelmed and really wanting to watch all of the episodes of the cartoon series again. That never bodes well for a movie based on an existing property. Sorry M. Night, but your string of boring movies remains intact.
If you have a couple of hours to kill and your kids are clamoring to see it, by all means take them. But The Last Airbender may just provide you the opportunity for a two hour nap.
This article first appeared on BlogCritics.org here. It deserves to be said that this movie seems to have created quite a rift between “haters” and “likers” and some of the comments on the original article are quite interesting if you’re interested.
I don’t know if you’ve been following the news about the upcoming Conan reboot, but I have. Jason Momoa, seen over the last few years on Stargate Atlantis, is starring as Conan, taking Arnie’s place. And I have to say, from the stills I’ve seen, I’m impressed…
Be sure to check out the Conan Movie Blog for more great details and pictures that have been found so far. They seem to have awesome connections for details and images.
What do you guys think? I was originally a bit concerned with the casting simply because the original movies are among my guilty pleasures and Arnie is a tough act to follow (though acting wasn’t really his strong suit at the time, he captured the “barbarian” pretty well on screen IMHO). We loved Momoa in Stargate Atlantis and are definitely jazzed that it’s looking like it could be a good film!
This has to be the most hilarious idea I’ve heard for a while. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen it on the big screen. RED is coming out in October 2010 and features some amazing folks – Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Karl Urban, Mary-Louise Parker, Brian Cox, Julian McMahon and Richard Dreyfuss. What a cast!!
Here’s the synopsis:
Based on the cult D.C. Comics graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hammer, RED is an explosive action-comedy starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren.
Frank (Bruce Willis), Joe (Morgan Freeman), Marvin (John Malkovich) and Victoria (Helen Mirren) used to be the CIA’s top agents – but the secrets they know just made them the Agency’s top targets. Now framed for assassination, they must use all of their collective cunning, experience and teamwork to stay one step ahead of their deadly pursuers and stay alive. To stop the operation, the team embarks on an impossible, cross-country mission to break into the top-secret CIA headquarters, where they will uncover one of the biggest conspiracies and cover-ups in government history.
Here’s the trailer:
This looks hilarious. And the video of Dame Helen Mirren with the machine gun is awesome! I’ll have to add her to the same list of Dames I don’t want to mess with – it’s a short list. Dame Judi Dench is the only other person on it!!
RED hits theaters on October 15, 2010 from Summit Entertainment and DC Comics and I know it’s on my list to go see.
James Newton Howard has always been a bit of a mixed bag for me as far as soundtracks go. There are always some amazing pieces within the whole of one of his movie scores, but I think his soundtrack to The Last Airbender may be my favorite of his so far.
Like a painter, the film score composer has many tools at his or her disposal. Broad strokes done with horns have a different effect than a quiet flute solo and the power of a single violin has a much different effect than the entire string section of an orchestra. And bringing in heavy, percussive drums and cymbals has yet another completely different effect.
It is also the job of any good movie soundtrack to not only enhance the action on screen, but also provide auditory clues to the audience. For example, each time you hear “The Imperial March” in a Star Wars soundtrack from John Williams, you know that Darth Vader is near. But more than that, the music should evoke an emotional response from the audience.
Within the soundtrack to The Last Airbender, I hear bits that make me think of Williams’ work, Basil Poledouris’ work on the Conanmovie soundtracks, as well as classical influences from the East and a bit of a Russian feel. The composition as a whole provides many layers that evokes in me a lot of hope for this movie.
The industrial power of the Fire Nation seeks to convince the rest of the world that their way is best and the old ways must give way to the new. The other nations have their own ideas however. The peaceful Air Nation has been destroyed, the Earth Nation has become isolationist, and the Northern and Southern Water Nation tribes are isolated by virtue of location. Where they all once worked together, now the world is full of distrust and a version of the “Might is Right” line of thinking.
The opening “Airbender Suite” provides a taste of the musical themes that persist throughout the soundtrack. The breathy flute gives way to the cresting waves of strings and horns as we prepare to see the story of a world in the midst of a clash of philosophies. All twelve tracks of the soundtrack utilize the full extent of the highs and lows of an amazing orchestra.
Newton has given each tribe a different feel – from the powerful militant drums of the Fire Nation to the light and airy Air Nation flutes. Each tries to capture one of the four elements of Air, Earth, Fire, or Water in terms of a group of instruments, chords, or melody. Immediately I was caught up in the ebb and flow of these inspired orchestrations.
Of the soundtracks I’ve heard so far this summer, The Last Airbender by Howard has to be my favorite. The mix of instruments and styles from around the globe lends itself to some very unique compositions such as “The Four Elements Test,” which takes distinctly Eastern flutes and bells and combines them with the drums, horns, and strings of more Western traditions. Out of the 12 tracks on the soundtrack, this one is my favorite as it builds and builds to its conclusion.
“The Blue Spirit” is my other favorite, as it managed to surprise me with its use of silence to punctuate eerie crescendos and crashing waves of strings and drums. It reminded me of some of my other favorite soundtracks such as Raiders of the Lost Ark by Williams and Gladiator by Hans Zimmer as it progressed from light and soft to a powerful mix of horns and strings worthy of a great climax in the film.
Howard has received eight Oscar nominations so far in his career, including six Best Original Score nods for Defiance, Michael Clayton, The Village, The Prince of Tides, and My Best Friend’s Wedding. Personally I think that The Last Airbender is the best work to date I’ve heard from him and would expect this score to also receive award nominations.
As a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the animated series on Nicktoons that M. Night Shyamalan‘s movie is based on, I have to admit some worry about how it would translate to the screen. If Howard’s film score is any indication of the movie quality, I have gained some newfound hope for the entire experience. We’ll see if the film lives up to the promise of the soundtrack on July 2, 2010! Check out The Last Airbender soundtrack when it’s released on June 29, 2010.
Yes, you read the title correctly. Evidently there’s a reboot of the Mortal Kombat movies based on the video game from the ’80s and ’90s. The new movie may be called Mortal Kombat Rebirth. This doesn’t look like the fun, arcade game-inspired movies that I actually enjoyed way back when… This looks like the movie studio (Warner Brothers) means business.
What do you think? There’s a bit more information in the G4 post where I saw this news and the teaser/trailer.
With big names like Michael Jai White and Jeri Ryan… maybe this might be good?
I actually think that, though this is uber-violent, it might actually provide an interesting setting. A more realistic world where freaks, monsters, and killers compete. Yeah, I get that it’s kind of childish to want to see these folks fight. But it might be fun… Who knows?
Yes, I’m a sci-figeek. I loved the original Alien and Predator movies. But I’ve been kind of lukewarm to the Alien vs. Predator movies of late. They’re ok, but not great. (I have some hope for the upcoming film Predators however.)
When I stumbled upon AVP: Redemption and learned that it was made by fans, I knew I had to check it out. And honestly, it’s better than some big budget flicks I’ve caught on the big screen.
When Legion hit theaters in January 2010, I understood from the trailers what the movie was about. The angel Michael (Paul Bettany) has come to Earth to countermand an order from God to kill all of humankind, including the child that might bring about its salvation. Still in the womb, the child’s mother – a girl named Charlie (Adrianne Palicki) – is working as a waitress at a diner in Paradise Falls, a speck in the middle of nowhere. Michael must save the kid from an army of angels and God’s wrath, or mankind is doomed.
Ah yes, our extermination. We, like the cockroaches we abhor, have spread across the Earth devouring resources and abusing our gift of free will. As Michael says in one scene, “The first time God lost faith in Man he sent a flood. The second time… he sent what you see outside.” Like our world is a giant Etch-a-Sketch and God wants to shake things up to erase us from the planet.
And, like cockroaches, we’re not such an easy race to erase off the map.
Though largely panned by reviewers far and wide, I liked Legion. It doesn’t have the philosophy of The Prophecy from back in the mid-90′s. But it takes a simple premise (The Apocalypse), a chance of redemption (an unwanted child), an interesting battleground (a diner in the middle of nowhere), and shows us angels like we haven’t quite seen them before.
Plus, if you add in the interesting cast of characters – Michael (Bettany, Iron Man 2, The Da Vinci Code), simple mechanic/protector Jeep Hanson (Lucas Black, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift), inner-city tough guy Kyle (Tyrese Gibson, Death Race, 2 Fast 2 Furious), unlikely mother-to-be Charlie (Palicki, TV’s Supernatural), Dad simply trying to get to Christmas Howard Anderson (Jon Tenney, TV’s Brothers & Sisters and The Closer), bitchy wife Sandra (Kate Walsh, TV’s Private Practice), bratty wild child Audrey (Willa Holland, TV’s Gossip Girl and The O.C.), ex-military fry cook Percy (Charles S. Dutton, TV’s Roc, Alien 3), diner owner Bob Hanson (Dennis Quaid, Pandorum, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra)… and one ticked off angel Gabriel (Kevin Durand, Robin Hood (2010), X-Men Origins: Wolverine)…
Honestly there were so many different demographics represented by the population of the diner and its visitors that it was the perfect place to stage a heavenly battle. Anybody who thinks America isn’t diverse hasn’t been watching our movies I guess!
Now I know there are those people who didn’t like this film. I get it. It’s certainly not perfect. And it does get a little preachy and take itself too seriously from time to time. But this is an extremely visual film co-written and directed by a visual effects guy – Scott Stewart. Stewart has been involved at The Orphanage and ILM doing visual effects since the mid-1990s on such movies as Mars Attacks!, Sin City, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Superman Returns, and others. So it came as no surprise to me that this would be an effects-heavy film.
What did surprise me was how old school many of the effects were. Yes, we had scenes where peoples’ faces were vibrating as they were possessed by angels and where characters like the Ice Cream Man (played beautifully and far too short by Doug Jones – Hellboy, Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Pan’s Labyrinth and many others) transformed into grotesque beings attacking the diner. But then you had more subtle scenes with lightning and fog where you’d catch brief glimpses of the hordes of possessed beings in the dark and simple explosions as gunfire, gasoline, and vehicles met briefly to light the night.
Is this a film for you to think deeply about your own mortality? No. Definitely not. Is it a film to enjoy as you learn bits and pieces about the battle and watch as cool effects grace the screen? Yes. Definitely. If you’re looking for deeper spiritual or philosophical discussions, I recommend you check out The Prophecy and its sequels.
Included with the DVD are three short extras – “Creating the Apocalypse,” “Humanity’s Last Line of Defense,” and “From Pixels to Picture.”
“Creating the Apocalypse” provided a great segment about how they made Jones into the Ice Cream Man. What a process… With four prostheses, Jones ran from the ice cream truck towards the diner and jumped into the air. How he was able to pull that off is beyond me. Hearing Jones talk about the preparation alone was worth watching. The cast and crew seemed to appreciate his efforts even though he was just in that one scene. I have to admit to being more freaked out by the mechanical baby that was built for the film than the Ice Cream Man. At a bit more than 23 minutes, this is a very detailed look behind the scenes at how they did some of the movie magic.
Where the last feature dealt with the effects, “Humanity’s Last Line of Defense” focuses on the ensemble of actors. It’s quite obvious that the director and crew wanted to have the best group of actors they could get for these roles. It’s kind of fun to think that Bettany really wanted to be in an action film and fire machine guns. The mutual respect and admiration between the cast and crew was obvious as you hear Quaid, Bettany, Gibson, and others talk on set.
And in “From Pixels to Picture” you get a better understanding of the amazing efforts that went into the visual effects not only in post-production, but during the production on set. These visual engineers had some serious challenges integrating live action stunts with computer generated effects to create a number of seamless scenes. Between Gladys, the crazy possessed old lady on the ceiling, and the swarm of flies as they try to drive a character to the hospital, they did a great job in merging old school matte paintings, light, and shadow, with CG for the film.
Legion is definitely not for everybody. It’s rated R for bloody violence and language. But I found it to be an entertaining mix of religion, horror, and story. Be sure to check it out on DVD and VOD today!
This article first appeared on BlogCritics.org here.
DVD Review: Metamorphosis (2007) - Image via Wikipedia Hi all… Sometimes even the combination of an amazing story from Hungary in the 16th century, a beautiful actress, and Connor MacLeod can’t quite get a movie on track. Filmed in... […]
Book Review: The Season of Risks by Susan Hubbard - Hi there! What is the difference between seeing the world at fifteen and seeing it at twenty-two? As a teenager, you may wish to be perceived as an adult, but once you are an adult you no longer have... […]
Music Review: Eight Moons – Omnimi - Hi again! Have you ever seen a movie where music composer John Williams did a movie score? His film scores for movies such as Star Wars, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Harry Potter and the... […]
There used to be an Amazon ad here, but since Amazon and the state of Colorado can't agree on how to handle taxes, they've blocked my affiliate account. From now on or until this is resolved, links to products will be through Barnes and Noble.
A new group has taken a similar approach to Holst in their new CD Eight Moons, composing songs about eight of the major moons with names of the gods – from Mars to the distant dwarf planet of Eris. Omnimi seems to seek a blend of classical, choral, and world music to evoke some of the same powerful feelings as Holst’s work – from the dramatic to the relaxing.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=93cd366d-1e8c-47ac-b639-7cf600cc0d03)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=d0585c30-7b26-4588-a65d-0cbbb3911bc0)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=2b727ec1-7055-4788-bf98-b72ff23b9413)
