Toy Story 3 (Soundtrack) by Randy Newman - Review

Buzz, no habla Español...
Review by Vince Chang

After scoring in the 2-D Cajun-realm of THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, composer RANDY NEWMAN switches gears into the third-dimension for this latest soundtrack release from WALT DISNEY RECORDS.

TOY STORY 3 is the latest original score from NEWMAN, veteran composer for some of DISNEY-PIXAR's finest cinematic efforts. It's his 6th soundtrack contribution for PIXAR, which includes the the entire TOY STORY trilogy.

For TOY STORY 3, NEWMAN imports Latin elements into the project, which is new territory for the franchise. While the added diversity of the music made for an initially entertaining listen, I found some transitions within some of the individual tracks to be very capricious, which plays out well on-screen when you have the visuals of the movie, but works against itself when it comes to a stand-alone soundtrack. If anything, the randomness adds more humor and wit to the entire soundtrack than was meant to be conveyed along with the movie.


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Behind the Score: Lost Planet 2 with Jamie Christopherson, Tomoya Kishi and Marika Suzuki

In May 2009, one of the largest orchestras ever assembled to record an original score for a video game was recorded at the Newman Stage at Fox Studios in Century City, California. The 96-piece orchestra performed the music of composers Jamie Christopherson and Marika Suzuki; orchestrated by Tim Davies. The performance was recorded and mixed by veteran audio mixer, Shawn Murphy.

In this edition of Behind the Score:

- Select photos from the recording and mixing sessions
- SoundCast Interview with composer Jamie Christopherson
- SoundCast Interview with Capcom's Audio Director, Tomoya Kishi
and staff composer, Marika Suzuki


Check out debut Behind the Score feature here

Soundcast Episode 15 - A Mid-Summer's Review

Episode 15 - A Mid-Summer's Review

Recorded June 16, 2010
Published June 19, 2010

The SoundCast crew takes a look at the big-budget films and film scores at the midway point of the 2010 summer!

Episode Highlights


00:30 - What are you doing on your Summer vacation?
02:40 - Marius on SoundCloud
05:05 - The Summer movie season thus far...
08:40 - Summer Vs. Summer
15:15 - The Summer movie music season thus far...
21:20 - Iron Man Vs. Iron Man 2
26:42 - Looking forward to the rest of the Summer
37:26 - Releasing original scores later than sooner



Music Clips (Select music clips contained in this podcast)


03:21 - "Clashing Cultures" by Marius Masalar
11:39 - "To Boldly Go" (Star Trek) by Michael Giacchino
14:49 - "Han's Kung Fu" (The Karate Kid) James Horner
15:37 - "Forbidden City"(The Karate Kid) James Horner
18:20 - "Destiny" (Robin Hood) Marc Streitenfeld
20:13 - "Fate Has Smiled on Us" (Robin Hood) Marc Streitenfeld
21:49 - "Driving with the Top Down" (Iron Man) Ramin Djawadi
26:00 - "Prologue" (The Last Airbender) James Newton Howard
35:10 - "Main Title" (Predator) Alan Silvestri
37:02 - "Ostrich Race" (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) Harry Gregson-Wiliams

Download the episode here

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The Karate Kid (2010) (Soundtrack) by James Horner - Review

Everything is Kung Fu

Review by Marius Masalar

There is magic at work here. The magic is called good filmmaking and it becomes evident when you consider that all the individual parts of THE KARATE KID are essentially formulaic re-hashes of stuff we’ve seen and heard before. If you were to analyze it coldly, you would see a typical inspirational movie, the likes of which would barely be worthy of a second glance. And yet…when you watch the film, everything comes together so effortlessly that no amount of analysis seems able to distract from the inherent spirit of the picture. It’s fun, it’s motivational, it’s moving. That’s magic.

Initially, the project was to be scored by Icelandic composer, Atli Örvarsson, whose work has recently reached mainstream notice after several successful films done for Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions. Fairly late in the production process, however, he was replaced by none other than JAMES HORNER, fresh from his work on AVATAR. Perhaps it’s appropriate that HORNER, who is known for being self-referential, offers a very fresh sounding score for THE KARATE KID, even if the rushed schedule is evident.

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DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION by Composer Michael McCann

Video Games | Deus Ex: Human Revolution | E3 2010: Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION™ VIDEO GAME

FEATURES IMMERSIVE CYBERNOIR SCORE BY

AWARD-WINNING COMPOSER MICHAEL MCCANN

Montréal, Canada - June 4th, 2010 - Award-winning composer and sound designer Michael McCann aka Behavior (ReGenesis, Splinter Cell: Double Agent), best known for his ambient cinematic scores and organic soundscapes, is creating the original musical score for DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION™ currently in development at Eidos-Montréal. The music captures the unique visual style of DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION and thematically supports the blend of action, role-playing and adventure genres featured in the game. To immerse players in the dark and beautifully visualized world of DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION, the score fuses elements of cybernoir, futuristic renaissance and electrosymphonic ambience.

"We are thrilled to have Michael McCann creating the original music score for DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION," said Steve Szczepkowski, audio director for DEUS EX at Eidos-Montréal. "His cinematic musical expression and immersive scoring sensibility brings emotional depth to the unique experience of DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION. I'm a big fan of Mike's music and working with him has been a complete pleasure."

A critically acclaimed music composer and sound designer for film, television and interactive media, Michael McCann's credits include the title music for the sci-tech drama series ReGenesis, sound design and music editing for the cult film It's All Gone Pete Tong and the original score for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent which garnered him a Best Original Score Award from IGN.com and nomination from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition.

In DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION you play Adam Jensen, a security specialist, handpicked to oversee the defense of one of America's most experimental biotechnology firms. But when a black ops team breaks in and kills the scientists you were hired to protect, everything you thought you knew about your job changes. At a time when scientific advancements are routinely turning athletes, soldiers and spies into super-enhanced beings, someone is working very hard to ensure mankind's evolution follows a particular path. You need to discover why - because the decisions you take and the choices you make will be the only things that can determine mankind's future.

For more information visit www.deusex.com.