SUPERMAN RETURNS by JOHN OTTMAN

Superman Lives!
Review by Christopher Coleman

Some said it couldn't be done but Alexander Salkind and company produced and released what became the standard for live action superhero feature films, SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE, in 1978. One successful and two horrendous sequels later, the franchise had well worn out its welcome...for that generation. Relegated back to the small screen, and in animated form, Superman seemed to have found a place to prosper in the new millennium. But how could such a superhero remain so contained?

Read the full soundtrack review here

SPIDERMAN 3 Teaser Trailer Released

Sony Pictures releases the much anticipated SPIDERMAN 3 teaser trailer!

I must say, not being a huge fan of the first two films, this one looks like it could actually have a "little" substance to it!

The trailer is available in a vast array of quicktime formats including: HD and iPod Funny that Sony wouldn't release it for their own PSP.


Go check out the teaser here!

X-MEN: THE LAST STAND BY JOHN POWELL

Ka-Men, OttMan, and POWell!
Review by Christopher Coleman

The X-Men has become one of the most successful Comic-to-Film franchises of the new millienium. With the first two films each doing more than "well" at the box office, the third installment was virtually ensured to be a success. And with director Bryan Singer returning, fans could breathe a sigh-of-relief...and with, presumably, composer John Ottman returning with him, film music fan's could do so as well.
And then when, seemingly, the world was at peace... BAZZZOOOOM! . . .

Tracksounds Rating: 8/10

Read the rest of the review here

JOHN OTTMAN to attend Film Music Conference in Spain

SUPERMAN RETURNS score composer, JOHN OTTMAN has confirmed his attendance at the II International Film Music Conference in Spain.

Below is the full press release:

John Ottman to present Superman Returns in concert

Director, editor and composer John Ottman (The Usual Suspects, X2: X-Men United, The Fantastic Four) is the latest guest to confirm his attendance to the II International Film Music Conference - City of Úbeda (Spain).

Merely one week after the European-wide release of Superman Returns, his most recent collaboration with film director Bryan Singer, John Ottman will contribute with parts of this score to one of the two concerts that will take place during the above-mentioned event. This 15 minutes world premiere performance will furthermore include highlights from Hide and Seek, The Fantastic Four as well as The Usual Suspects.

Mr. Ottman has further announced his intention to also join his fellow colleagues in a panel focused on his professional career in Hollywood and to take part in all other activities envisaged to take place during the 4-days symposium.

_________________

The BSOSpirit Society is a Spanish, not-for-profit organisation entirely devoted to the promotion of film music since 2001. Besides running an on-line magazine (www.bsospirit.com), it has also been actively committed to organising an Annual Film Music Conference in the City of Úbeda with the participation of guests from all over the world.

For more information about this year's Conference, please visit:
http://congreso.bsospirit.com/index_eng.html
To find out more about John Ottman, please visit his official site http://ottman.filmmusic.com/ and read the interview he recently gave us http://www.bsospirit.com/entrevistas/ottman_e.php

Win XMEN - THE LAST STAND Original Soundtrack by John Powell

First off... Congrats to falconer99, winner of THE DA VINCI CODE soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. That makes TWO contests in a row for falconer99! Can anyone stop him from three-peating?

The new contest is up and should you want to challenge his captioning skills...and should you win...you'll be the happy owner of XMEN - THE LAST STAND original soundtrack by John Powell!

Enter now!

Film Music fansites dying out on the Net?

Recently, I decided to clean up and clean out my links page. Having received several requests that I just haven't had time to add I decided to, not only add them, but see how many dead links I had accumulated over the years (yes...the page has been sorely neglected).

What I found was that there have been a lot more film music sites bite the dust (especially of the review nature) than have come on board in the last few years.

Here are all those that I removed (perhaps it will bring back some old memories for some of you):

Review Sites

BoFilms - a French review site
Film Score Central
Film Score Magic
Film Music on the Web (UK)
Score Central
Scoregate
The Score Sheet
Score Obsession
Soundtrack Station

Composer Sites

Marco Beltrami Unofficial Site
Chris Boardman
Aaron Collins
James Horner Fan Page (this was one of the first sites I ever visited on the net!)
Ioannis Kourtis
Media Ventures (also one of the first I ever visited)
Aritz Villodas
Hans Zimmer.Info

Streaming Music Sites

Cinemascores
Soundtrack Cinema
The Score

(If your site is listed above and is not truly gone the way of the dodo, please let me know about it!)

While I seriously need to redesign the entire page...I had had enough, so I quit after updating the content. After going through this process, I had to wonder to myself, "Is film music fandom on the internet dying out...or are people just content post on message boards or post blog entries, rather than build an entire website?"


What say you? I've even opened up this post for comments! Don't make me regret it! Just click on the "# comments" below.

SUPERMAN RETURNS First Listen at Soundtrack.Net

One of the most anticipated scores of 2006 has been SUPERMAN RETURNS by composer JOHN OTTMAN.

Much ado has been made over how much of JOHN WILLIAMS' memorable score from film series of the 70's would make its way back into director Bryan Singer's lastest SUPERMAN installment.

It was revealed, some time ago, that Williams' main theme would definately be employed by Ottman, but you can find out what other musical elements have made it back into the fold over at www.soundtrack.net! Get your latest update for Quicktime and then go have a listen of excerpts from every track on Rhino Records upcoming release.

The general buzz over the clips seems to be positive; however, John Ottman has the uneviable task of following one of "the maestro's" most recognizable and beloved scores. It sounds like some of Ottman's best to date, but upon "first listen" I'm not convinced the score will meet the expectations of those, like myself, who loved and listened to SUPERMAN I and II for some 30 years.

Ok...now that I'm feeling quite elderly...go judge for yourself . . . or

THE PROMISE (soundtrack) by Klaus Badelt

KLAUS BADELT has seemingly worked himself into becoming one of the more sought-after film composers in the business...including major international productions. Badelt's work for director Chen Kaige's mythic film, THE PROMISE (aka Wu Ji, Master of the Crimson Armor), is some of his most evocative to date and is an entertaining listen from first track to last.

While the THE PROMISE was reported to sport the biggest budget ever given for production of a film in China, it has ended up suffering it's share of international film criticism . . . and some of it justly so. Evenso, as disjointed as the film's story is at times or as querky as the acting becomes, THE PROMISE rarely fails in delivering dazziling imagery and thankfully, for film music fans, never fails in delivering, scene-by-scene, top-notch musical score.

THE PROMISE saw a minimal release in the United States and therefore has flown under the movie-radar of many moviegoers, but with its DVD release, the movie will certainly garner more attention...as will Badelt's epic score. Of course, one not need to get the DVD (or even HD-DVD/Blu-Ray release which will be a real treat for this film), to appreciate the score, as the USA soundtrack was released in May 2006. Strangely enough, while Sony BMG held the rights to release this music elsewhere in the world back in 2005, it chose not to release it in the USA. Enter Superb Records.

Superb Records has given the score a fine treatment with almost 68 minutes of pure "badelight." The packaging features several of stunningly colorful pieces of art from the film and notes from the director, Chen Kaige. The music contained on the CD is a well-balanced representation of the score, not chronologically arranged but arranged for the most entertaining listening experience.

Badelt carefully approaches musical heights found in Kitaro's work for HEAVEN AND EARTH all the way down to the yearning-intimacy of Tan Dun. Further to it's credit, there are very few moments that conjur up thoughts of synthetized, "media-venturisms." Not surprisingly incorporating both Western and Eastern musical elements, THE PROMISE, while a contemporary score...seems to harken back to an age of film music long-gone. Badelt's score ranges from tender to forceful. THE PROMISE truly reaches a new level of depth and musical exhiliration for composer Klaus Badelt. No doubt the bar of expectation continues to rise for him.

Chen Kaige's, big budget, "dream project," THE PROMISE, may not have delivered everything audiences have been expecting (especially Western audiences), but meandering story or not, over-acting or not, visual artistry or not, one element of the film that does deliver on its promise is Badelt's expansive score.

Tracksounds Rating: 9/10

Purchase THE PROMISE here: