Showing posts with label Alexandre Desplat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alexandre Desplat. Show all posts

Friday, July 22, 2016

Soundcast Stereo (Ep. 6) Rogue One - Title Crawl and Music?

Soundcast Stereo (Ep. 6) Rogue One - Title Crawl and Music?


Episode 6 - "Rogue One - Title Crawl and Music?"

This is ep. 6 where Chris makes a big announcement and then he and Erik discuss the possibility of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story NOT including the classic Star Wars title crawl and famous John Williams music and the possible repercussions.  Soundcast Stereo episodes are two channel, 30 minute conversations about a single topic from the world of film, television and game soundtracks. 


Episode Highlights

00:00 - The Intro
01:31 - Big Announcement!
03:50 - The Opening Crawl and Old Guys
09:34 - Rogue One Opening Options
19:55 - Tone, Tone, Tone!
25:36 - Something borrowed, something new
30:14 - Is Lucasfilm trolling us?
32:03 - The Cinemablend Solution
36:04 - Speculation Palooza!
43:27 - Our end credits


Music Selections


00:00 - "Finale" (The Monuments Men) by Alexandre Desplat
01:01 - "Star Wars/ Revenge of the Sith" (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith) by John Williams
43:49 - "Parade of the Ewoks" (Star Wars:  Return of the Jedi) by John Williams
00:00 - "End Credits" (The Monuments Men) by Alexandre Desplat


Support Tracksounds:

Most of the  soundtracks mentioned in this episode can be found at Amazon.  Your purchases through these links help us to keep on keepin' on!  Thank You!






Thursday, November 29, 2012

Ten Best Tracks from the Harry Potter Movies

Ten Best Tracks from the Harry Potter Movies

It’s been over a year since the film series came to a conclusion, so now is a great time to look back over the extensive catalogue of top notch orchestral music from Harry Potter. Within the eight soundtracks there are a total of 181 fabulous pieces. Today I do the stupid impossible heroic, and choose what I believe are the ten most rich and inspiring tracks from the entire Harry Potter series.

Sadly none of Patrick Doyle’s score for The Goblet Of Fire made it into my Top 10. This is unfortunate, since I really do love Doyle’s unique take on the Potter franchise. My favourite cues, however, all come from Nicholas Hooper, Alexandre Desplat and of course John Williams. It should come of no surprise that my list is dominated by John Williams.

Before I dive into the list, I feel I should note once more that this really is an impossible task, and that many superb pieces of music will inevitably be left out. However if there are some in particular that you would include in your top ten, I’d be very interested to hear from you! Simply leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

Without further ado, let’s jump in to-


10. Obliviate


As the first track of The Deathly Hallows Part 1, this was an excellent introduction to Alexandre Desplat’s slice of the series. After a very slow and quiet opening the track builds into a wistful, rhythmic melody. The undercurrent impersonates the chugging sound a steam train (fitting for Potter) as the foreground is filled by seductively emotive strings. It’s an extremely effective piece I’ve been in love with since the very first time I heard it.


9. Dumbledore’s Farewell


Nicholas Hooper brought us many dark themes over his two-movie-long relationship with Potter, and this is certainly one of the best. It’s gentle and tender, with powerful strings accompanied by subtle, eerie chorals. This piece supplies a perfectly morose tone for several of the most tense and cheerless moments in the film series.


8. Statues


Rarely has fantasy action been so sentimental. Alexandre Desplat seems to rarely, if ever, compose action cues in the traditional way I expect. Instead, he creates beautiful, rhythmic pieces like this one, which don’t so much “score” the action of the film but instead toy with our emotions. The result in “Statues” is an beautiful piece of music which also works excellently in the film. I should note the similarity to another piece from The Deathly Hallows Part 2, “Courtyard Apocalypse”, which meddles with the same melody in a similar fashion. In the end I chose “Statues” for my list.


7. Dobby The House Elf


Playing to the lighter side of The Chamber Of Secrets, it’s impressive how well this track holds up by itself outside of the context of the film. In fact, I probably prefer this piece outside of the film, where you can really appreciate its musical prowess. Playful, mischievous and quirky, this piece is still totally grounded and controlled like all of John Williams’ greatest.


6. Flight Of The Order Of The Phoenix


This track from Nicholas Hooper’s first Harry Potter score may be tragically short, but it uses it’s one-and-a-half minute runtime to build into a spectacular cue. As with all of these great Harry Potter tracks, Hooper combines palpable senses of excitement and wonder to form a magical piece of music. It’s a tragedy that Hooper didn’t get to spend more time developing themes like this one.


5. Harry’s Wondrous World


As we head adventurously into the final five tracks, here’s John Williams doing what John Williams does best: non-stop magnificence. I think of this piece as the unofficial theme for Hogwarts, as it seems to describe musically the magical castle we know and love. It’s a remarkable combination of the themes of The Philosopher’s Stone, stirred together with copious doses of pure triumph, ending the film on a glorious note.


4. A Window To The Past


The perfect antithesis to “Harry’s Wondrous World”, this is John Williams taking Potter into dark and sombre territory in The Prisoner of Azkaban. The wistful melody never fails to conjure powerful images in my mind of darkness and snow and hooded Dementors from The Prisoner of Azkaban. Essentially a woodwind solo, this track contains the power to bring (manly) tears to my eyes. It really encapsulates an intense and childlike sense of longing.


3. The Chamber Of Secrets


Excitement and mystery are incarnate in this grandiose, almost vampirical piece. A spine tingling series of descending notes on organ lead into a waltz of strings and horns, building powerfully to an epic conclusion. The orchestra seems to come together so fluidly and graciously, changing drastically from moment to moment but never leaving the listener behind.


2. Hedwig’s Theme


This is the quintessential piece of Harry Potter music. From the delicate tinkling of the iconic theme we’ve all heard a thousand times to the cheeky pumping of brass, and then into the inevitable culmination of the united orchestra. Most of this track is used in film to score the action-packed wizarding sport, Quidditch. I’m glad Williams doesn’t hold back.


1. Fawkes The Phoenix


Fluttering out of the magic and mystery, this piece will forever be romantically entwined with the Harry Potter universe. Mixing an absolutely epic scale of majesty and grandeur with the delicate beauty and wonder of the enchanting melody, this track is another of the many reasons that John Williams is one of the greatest composers of all time.

There it is! My favourite magical music from Harry Potter. As I mentioned at the beginning, there are so many more incredible tracks and themes that I absolutely adore in the eight Potter soundtracks. In the end I whittled down to this list of ten, but maybe your list would be different? Let me know, what are your favourite pieces of music from the Harry Potter series?



Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Music from the Twilight Saga - Review

Music from the Twilight Saga - Review

Breaking: Twilight Dawn’s New Moon Eclipse
Review by Helen San

Once in a while, Hollywood finds a product so compelling it overwhelmingly crushes all competition—sequel after sequel after sequel. The TWILIGHT juggernaut is the new gift that keeps on giving. It’s already made over $2 billion so far (yes, that’s billion with a B), so it is no wonder that TWILIGHT products keep coming out every time you turn your head. Shortly on the heels of the last TWILIGHT compilation (MUSIC FROM THE TWILIGHT SAGA FOR CHAMBER ORCHESTRA) comes this one: MUSIC FROM THE TWILIGHT SAGA. With music from all four existing films, this one is released by Silva Screen Records, the king of compilation albums. As usual for Silva, the recordings were made with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. If you’re familiar with work by both Silva and the City of Prague Philharmonic, you’ll know the quality is solid. Yes, there are probably better orchestras in the world, but I’ve never felt the need to complain about Prague.

The four film scores in the TWILIGHT SAGA are:

1. TWILIGHT by CARTER BURWELL
2. NEW MOON by ALEXANDRE DESPLAT
3. ECLIPSE by HOWARD SHORE
4. BREAKING DAWN I by CARTER BURWELL

It is widely known that I gush over CARTER BURWELL scores, so having two melancholic, romantic BURWELL scores in the same compilation is going to get me all tingly. Throw in DESPLAT’s incredible NEW MOON theme, and almost anything written by HOWARD SHORE, and I’m doing a happy dance even before I hear it. There, bias disclosed.

READ THE FULL REVIEW

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Ides of March (Soundtrack) by Alexandre Desplat - Review

The Ides of March (Soundtrack) by Alexandre Desplat - Review

Not Too Brute
by Richard Buxton

The last few years have seen ALEXANDRE DESPLAT evolve from an up and coming feature composer to one of the most sought after in Hollywood, yet he is one that remains divisive depending on how his music is heard. DESPLAT is undoubtedly one of the most talented composers in the art of pure music-to-film correlation working today. Once his music is extracted from its original residency within the walls of a motion picture however, cracks tend to show. These cracks are not displays of inadequacy in compositional skill, rather the effects of the transformation a score undergoes when it is heard out of context. DESPLAT is certainly not known for writing bombastically memorable fanfares that the likes of JOHN WILLIAMS thrive on, and this is something that has to be taken into account when assessing his work.

DESPLAT retains his enviable ability to craft a musical score as if it and the film were one and the same with his score for the GEORGE CLOONEY film THE IDES OF MARCH. THE IDES OF MARCH dwells within the dark and deceitful world of modern-day politics, following the descent of the bright-eyed and idealistic campaign manager Stephen Meyers (RYAN GOSLING), into a world of guile, treachery and uninhibited ambition. The development that both the protagonist and his world undergo has allowed DESPLAT to craft a score that interweaves between the optimism and inevitable corruption of a young political mind.

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE

Friday, January 06, 2012

Music from the Twilight Saga for Chamber Orchestra - Review

Music from the Twilight Saga for Chamber Orchestra - Review

Team Compilation or Team Original?
Review by Helen San

MUSIC FROM THE TWILIGHT SAGA FOR CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (MTSCO) is a new compilation produced by the label BSX Records (owned by Buy Soundtrax, a retail outlet catering to hardcore soundtrack fans). Right away, you know this album is made for die-hard fans. But in this case, it is geared more toward die-hard fans of the Twilight Saga, known as “twihards”. Yes, you heard right. They’re called twihards.

In case you’ve been living on a deserted island, the Twilight Saga is a series of films based on four books (TWILIGHT, NEW MOON, ECLIPSE, and BREAKING DAWN) about a young woman named Bella and her love triangle between a vampire named Edward and a werewolf named Jason. The triangle is crux of the legend, with Twilight fandom splitting into two factions: Team Edward and Team Jason. There have been four movies so far, with one more to go. There is one movie per book except for the fourth book. BREAKING DAWN is split into two films (a la HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS), with PART 1 released in November 2011, and PART 2 to be released in November 2012.

The scores for the four released movies are as follows:

1) TWILIGHT by CARTER BURWELL
2) NEW MOON by ALEXANDRE DESPLAT
3) ECLIPSE by HOWARD SHORE
4) BREAKING DAWN, PART 1 by CARTER BURWELL.
(BREAKING DAWN PART 2 will also be by CARTER BURWELL.)

The story is filled with adolescent angst, lovelorn torment, and bittersweet pining. It is a perfect recipe for the kind of beleaguered, romantic melancholy CARTER BURWELL likes to compose. Indeed, twilighters apparently agreed and petitioned for CARTER BURWELL to return to the franchise after the project went to DESPLAT and SHORE for the second and third films respectively. I have to agree that while DESPLAT’s and parts of SHORE’s music were more melodious and easier to listen to, BURWELL’s pain-filled score resonated much better with the emotional core of the saga. It works better in the film. It works better on album to evoke the memories and essence of the Saga.

Book and movie-wise, I am nowhere near being a twihard, or even a regular twilighter. However, as a film music enthusiast, I have found the music compelling enough to spend good money on all four of the original Saga scores. The new titles of the compilation match the originals, track for track. So I was well able to compare this album to the previous works.

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE

Friday, September 30, 2011

Alexandre Desplat Scores The Ides of March

Alexandre Desplat Scores The Ides of March


ALEXANDRE DESPLAT SETS MUSICAL POLITICAL TONE FOR IDES OF MARCH
SCORE AVAILABLE ON VARESE SARABANDE NOVEMBER 1ST

(LOS ANGELES, CA) Award-winning composer Alexandre Desplat scores Columbia Picture’s political thriller Ides of March, directed by George Clooney. The film marks the third time Desplat has scored a Clooney project, and the first time he has scored a Clooney directed film. Desplat’s other Clooney projects, Syriana and Fantastic Mr. Fox, earned the composer Golden Globe and Oscar® nominations. Desplat is fresh off scoring the summer blockbuster, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II and scales things back a bit in Ides of March, taking a darker tone for his insightful and revelatory look at the world of politics. Ides of March opens October 7th. Score album available on Varese Sarabande November 1st.

Ides of March is based on the Beau Willimon’s political thriller play “Farragut North.” During the frantic days before a heavily contested Ohio presidential primary, an up-and-coming campaign press secretary (Ryan Gosling) finds himself involved in a political scandal that threatens to upend his candidate’s shot at the presidency. Clooney also stars as the anointed candidate, and the supporting cast features Paul Giamatti, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, and Evan Rachel Wood.

Alexandre Desplat adds Clooney to an impressive roster of director collaborations which includes Roman Polanski (Ghost Writer), Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life), Stephen Frears (The Queen, Tamara Drewe), Jacques Audiard (The Prophet, The Beat that My Heart Skipped), David Yates (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts I and II), David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Nora Ephron (Julie & Julia), and Ang Lee (Lust, Caution).

Having scored over 60 films in his native France, Alexandre Desplat made his Hollywood breakthrough in 2003 with his stately score for Girl with a Pearl Earring, which garnered him a Golden Globe nomination. In 2011, his score for The King’s Speech won a BAFTA and received Oscar®, Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations. Next up for Desplat is The Spider’s House which marks his second collaboration with director Peter Webber.

In addition to his film work, Alexandre Desplat has conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Czech Philharmonic, and he has given master classes at La Sorbonne in Paris and London’s Royal College of Music.


PRE-ORDER THE SOUNDTRACK FROM AMAZON.COM

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Soundtrack) by Alexandre Desplat - Review

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Soundtrack) by Alexandre Desplat - Review

Desplat on Hallowed Ground
Review by Richard Buxton

And so it comes to an end. The final chapter of the phenomenally successful Harry Potter series is nigh. The seventh and penultimate film adaptation of the series of novels signals the film franchise’s imminent 10th year in existence, and with it comes the inevitable and insatiable hunger for pure unadulterated fantasy and adventure. For a series approaching its eighth iteration, Harry Potter has shown remarkable endurance in an ever-changing and unremittingly demanding industry. One staggering measure of its success is the fact that over the course of the first six films, the gross revenue has amounted to approximately $5million, a figure that is over four times the total budget for the six films. Such financial returns are the result of a synergy of numerous people and circumstances. The immense popularity of the novels is a good start, but purely in terms of film, the way in which the themes and tone of the series has developed ensures audiences never grow weary of the magical adventures.

From the optimistic and upbeat tonality of the first films, the series has taken a gradual turn into darkness. As the audience has grown up with the characters themselves, they understandably demand a more complex narrative that is of a more mature nature when compared to the earlier films. With this evolution the score has similarly been transformed, out of necessity. ALEXANDRE DESPLAT's efforts heard in part 1 of THE DEATHLY HALLOWS continue the descent into darkness.

Read the full review

Monday, October 18, 2010

Tamara Drewe (Soundtrack) by Alexandre Desplat - Review

Tamara Drewe (Soundtrack) by Alexandre Desplat - Review


Desplat’s “Drewe” Disappointing
Review by Steve Townsley

Alexandre Desplat’s music for film in general strikes me with the quality of being not offensive on the ears, but neither is it highly memorable. I keep waiting for him to surprise me with something, though, because I think all composers have something to offer, even if that something eludes (or continues to elude) the devoted or casual listener. TAMARA DREWE is the latest film which features Desplat’s scoring. I have listened to it several times, now, and find it memorable. However--that may not be a good thing herein.


Read the Full Review here

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Coco Before Chanel (Soundtrack) by Alexandre Desplat - Review


Coco Before Chanel (Soundtrack) by Alexandre Desplat - Review


Elegance as Simplicity
Review by Christopher Coleman

If ever I felt under-dressed while viewing a film, it was the night I watched Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel). While viewing director/ screenwriter, Anne Fontaine's take on the early life of Coco Chanel, I somehow became keenly aware of that fact that I was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt. It somehow just felt so very inappropriate. I came oh so close to puting on a shirt and tie. Instead, I reminded myself that Audrey Tautou's scrutinizing glare wasn't actually piercing back through the screen, rendering me a target of her debilitating gauze or demeaning fashion-judgments. I can safely say that no other movie has ever made me feel quite like that. COCO AVANT CHANEL is sumptuously subtle and slowly mesmerizes the viewer in such a way that by the time the final (and beautifully crafted) shot of the film is reached, one can't help but be fully infatuated with both Chanel and Tautou. In addition to her brilliant selection for lead actress, as well as Christophe Beaucharde as cinematographer, Anne Fontaine smartly hired on one of today's most popular composers, ALEXANDRE DESPLAT. Fontaine's film reflects some of Coco Chanel's own artistic values, including Desplat's contribution. As mentioned, COCO BEFORE CHANEL is subtle, but certainly not boring. It's concise but overflows with style. Elegance masquerading as simplicity is this film's modus operandi.

Bringing on Desplat seems like the most natural of choices for COCO AVANT CHANEL. Being a French-born composer and master of his own musical style of "l'élégance dans la simplicité," what better contemporary composer for the job? I can imagine the allure of providing the musical backdrop for the early life of perhaps contemporary-fashion's most influential person would be just too great to resist; however, with other 2009 titles like: JULIE AND JULIA, CHERI, ET APRES (AFTERWARDS), FANTASTIC MR. FOX, and THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON, once could hardly blame him if he had passed on Ms. Chanel. Covering the ascension of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel from an orphan, to a "kept woman" (of sorts) to the dawning of Chanel's fashion-empire, COCO BEFORE CHANEL offers ALEXANDRE DESPLAT ample emotional range to explore and fill with his, now, unmistakable sound.



Monday, January 12, 2009

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Soundtrack) by Alexandre Desplat - Reviewed


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Soundtrack) by Alexandre Desplat - Reviewed


The Beautiful Score of Benjamin Button
Review by Christopher Coleman

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is an epic tale of one man’s life…a life lived backwards of sorts. Born in an old and withered body, but infant in size and in all other regards, Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) begins his double journey of growing older mentally and emotionally, yet younger physically. His unique journey which begins in a convalescent home in Louisiana brings him across a myriad of characters who each have at least one important lesson to teach the young Benjamin. Among them, he meets the true love of his life, Daisy (Cate Blanchette). Though they are immediately separated by the most unique of all age differences, the two destined lovers criss-cross paths throughout their lives. Both Benjamin and Daisy are set on their own journeys which take them a part, around the globe, but time and time again, eventually back to each other.

Matching David Fincher's fairy-tale like film is ALEXANDER DESPLAT's enchanting score. What works so well in many of the movies Desplat tends to write for (THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING, THE PAINTED VEIL) is his minimalist approach. Desplat is masterful at capturing the emotional essence of the film with minimal instrumentation. Although there was an 87 piece orchestra used for this film, it rarely sounds like it. As his music did in the aforementioned films, only moreso, DESPLAT's score for THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON offers a magical element to the film. What Fincher accomplishes visually, Desplat does so through his music. They both create a world that is, at once, fanciful yet real. For his part, DESPLAT delivers a handful of well positioned themes, motifs and instrumentation that captures the essence of Benjamin, his circle of friends and family as well as it's locale. The end result is a melodic and introspective musical experience that has its own charm outside the context of the film.

Read the full review here

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Fantastic new trailer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


Back in May of this year the teaser trailer for director David Fincher's next visual treat debuted with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The mesmerizing and tantalizing images were musically backed by the equally mesmermizing and tantalizing piece "The Aquarium" from Carnival of the Animals. It was nearly a perfect trailer and, to tell you the truth, I was more excited about the potential of this THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON than what the latest Indy film did for me.

For sometime it has been a toss up as to which film I was most looking forward to seeing this December: AUSTRALIA or BENJAMIN BUTTON.  Recently a second full length trailer was released and with that, "Old" BENJAMIN BUTTON is by far the front runner now.

While the first trailer emphasized the wonderous and mystical, this new trailer grounds the drama a bit more.  Included in that "grounding" is "new" musical accompaniment.  Now, I 'm not certain if these are excerpts of ALEXANDRE DESPLAT's new score for the film, but  I do not recognize it off-hand.  What we hear certainly could be...as the score was recorded some time ago (check out scoringsessions.com's coverage) and is certainly in Desplat's minimalist vein.

Regardless, this movie looks amazingly good.  With the under-appreciated Brad Pitt, the always fantastic Cate Blanchette at the heart of the film and with David Fincher as the mastercraftsman over the entire project, my hopes could be no higher.   I'm also betting that THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is going to be a far better showcase for Desplat's talents than the overly-gushed GOLDEN COMPASS was last year.  So what do you say?




Thursday, January 03, 2008

The Golden Compass (Soundtrack) by Alexandre Desplat

The Golden Compass (Soundtrack) by Alexandre Despat
Desplat's Materials
Review by Christopher Coleman


Of all the film's of the 2007 holiday season, THE GOLDEN COMPASS has probably had the highest expectation heaped upon it. Called the "anti-Chroncles of Narnia," Phillip Pullman's book series has garnered a large following of devoted fans since its debut in 1996. Then in 2002, New Line Studios announced that it would had obtained the rights to make a film-adaptation. With the success of New Line's LORD OF THE RING TRILOGY, the moderate success of Disney/Walden's THE LION, THE WITCH and THE WARDROBE, and, of course, the HARRY POTTER franchise, it seemed that New Line was betting the farm on the apparent voracious appetite of moviegoers for such films. With a massive production and marketing budget, New Line was also betting that the box office returns would enable them to churn out the two sequels as well.

One of the great things about the fantasy genre is that regardless of the quality of the overall film, there is always great potential for a solid score. Certainly the films listed above feature some of the better film music since the turn of the century and the hope was that THE GOLDEN COMPASS and its potential sequels would be no different. In an interesting move to say the least, one of Hollywood's busiest composers of late, ALEXANDRE DESPLAT, was brought on to score the film. While duly respected for his work for films such as SYRIANA, THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING, and THE PAINTED VEIL, Desplat's minimalist style didn't seem like the most natural choice for this material...but of course, Howard Shore didn't seem like one for THE LORD OF THE RINGS either. That choice worked out pretty well, but how about this one?

Friday, December 07, 2007

The Golden Compass by Alexandre Desplat - First Impressions

The Golden Compass by Alexandre Desplat: First Impressions
THE GOLDEN COMPASS has been one of the most anticipated films of the year. For New Line, it has been heavily invested in and so has huge expectations attached to it. Same goes for fans of the books.

For that band of film music folk, there has been a little trepidation in awaiting ALEXANDER DESPLAT's score. He has excelled with his minimalist style for films like THE PAINTED VEIL or THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING, and, along with AARON ZIGMAN delivered an exemplorary effort for MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM, but just how would he do for a big, fantasy flick?

Yes...I heard a spattering of the score here and there prior to seeing the film, but now that I have experienced Desplat's music in context...I'll just come out and say it. I'm disappointed...and in a major way. It certainly doesn't help that the movie was only "ok" at best. Don't get me wrong. The first half of the film is a visual feast, but once we hit the "north," things really take a turn for the worst. It's at times like these that a score can come to the rescue of a mediocre film...but it just doesn't happen in THE GOLDEN COMPASS.

Truthfully, what I have heard of JAMIE CHRISTOPHERSON's score for THE GOLDEN COMPASS game engages me much more. Christopherson may have utilized themes from Desplat's music (I didn't immediately recognize any though), but if so, somehow, they are more interesting via his arrangements.

The big moments of the film (the ice bear fight, the end battle) all have big music...but I was left wanting much, much more than I received. In fact, even as I write this, not one single theme, not one sequence, remains in my mind. Check that. There is one thing that does remain: Kate Bush's end credit song "Lyra." A saving grace? Sorry. It's even worse than Idina Menzel's "A Hero Comes Home" from the BEOWULF soundtrack. Still with those names attached to those disappointing diddies, I'm betting they will both find there way to the land of Oscar Nom.

I almost feel sorry for fantasy-franchises these days. The genre has almost been ruined by Howard Shores seminal work for the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. Since 2003, no other franchise has come anywhere close in terms of the film or its score. Not HARRY POTTER. Not THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA. Not THE GOLDEN COMPASS.

In the short term, I think New Line will be alright with the box office returns, but I'm not so sure about the success of sequels. Fans of the books have already made their outcry against the changes made and I'm uncertain just how many new fans the film will bring to the books. Perhaps the score will be more entertaining on its soundtrack release...I'm really hoping it will. Until then, my attention looks forward to I AM LEGEND and beyond...