I love film music. Love it. One of the first LPs I ever bought with my own money was a John Williams soundtrack (although I'm embarrassed to admit which one.) I'll often buy soundtracks to movies I haven't seen or have no plans of seeing anytime soon. Carter Burwell's score to Twilight, for example.
So it was only a matter of time, I suppose, before my collaborator Joel Mathis and I did a podcast about movies and their soundtracks. We had a lively and wide-ranging discussion this weekend with Washington Times critic/Denver film maven Christian Toto and Fistful of Soundtracks host, blogger and fledgling comics writer Jimmy J. Aquino. I read Toto's reviews religiously and I've been a fan of Aquino's Internet radio show for years, and so it was a real treat to talk to them both. Among the topics we discussed:
- Whether Drag Me to Hell is suitable for toddlers and why Sam Raimi should be admitted to the Overrated Artiste Club;
- How the symphonic tradition up and moved to Hollywood and whether soundtracks deserve more respect than they get;
- Why Ed Asner should be made into an action figure and Walter Matthau was a great if unlikely action hero;
- Who deserved to get the Matthau role in the upcoming Taking of Pelham One Two Three remake;
- "And much, much more!"
Alas, none of us had seen UP when we recorded this episode, but if we had, I might have confessed to bawling through half the movie. Because I'm a sap. But I would also have made the point -- as if it really needed to be made -- that much of what makes UP so memorable and poignant, especially in the film's opening scenes, is Michael Giacchino's score. Giacchino, of course, gave us the music to the Star Trek reboot. And he also did the soundtrack for the upcoming Land of the Lost. (Ah well, two out of three ain't bad.)
After you've listened to the podcast, I hope you'll visit What Would Toto Watch and A Fistful of Soundtracks. And graphic novel fans may want to check out Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology, which feature's Aquino's story, "Sampler."
There's no shame in owning that particular Williams score. I think it's one of his better ones. And as far as Spielberg's trips to WW2, it's the only one I'd care to revisit.
I didn't think 1941 was so bad, but I was 10 when I saw it and I don't think I've seen it in at least 25 years. I wonder how it would hold up now? The soundtrack is big, bombastic fun, though, no doubt about it.