In Time (Soundtrack) by Craig Armstrong - Review

Simultaneous Warmth and Cold Feeling

Review by Richard Buxton

Creating a believable and engaging Sci-fi world requires a balance of both the familiar and the uninhibitedly ambitious. Director ANDREW NICCOL, director of the low-key but invigorating GATTACA, is certainly capable of creating such a world. The musical world of IN TIME is an altogether different prospect to that of the typical Sci-fi. The exploration of Andre Niccol’s visualised future comes in the form of a reflection on human life and most importantly: mortality. As a result, CRAIG ARMSTRONG bypasses the typical overly synthetic soundscape of a visualised future, and has crafted a score that is constantly ticking as its running time counts down.

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The Incredible Hulk (Soundtrack) by Craig Armstrong - Review

Musical Brutality
Review by Christopher Coleman

THE INCREDIBLE HULK is a bit of a reboot of the franchise - a much needed one. Ang Lee's attempt in 2003 fell flat with most critics and audiences. However, the failure of THE HULK did open the door for the "big guy" to come back, re-envisioned, after only 5 years. Director Louis Leterrier certainly didn't have the longest history of film making behind him prior to this film (which became another reason to substantiate doubts). With only THE TRANSPORTER 2 on his directorial resume, there was much room left to question the level of entertainment audiences would experience. To the suprise of some, myself included, Leterrier and company pulled it off. The tone and even the film's structure, to some degree, pays homage to the well-respected, 70s-television series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. This new INCREDIBLE HULK features solid writing, acting and action sequences which only get better and better until we reach the rock-em-sock-em finale! Indeed, our conflicted, yet lovable superhero is back and better than ever and one big reason for this is CRAIG ARMSTRONG's pile-driving score.


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The Incredible Hulk by Craig Armstrong - Sound Clips

Finally. Some information on CRAIG ARMSTRONG's score for THE INCREDIBLE HULK is available... and not just information...sound clips! Amazon.com has clips from 22 tracks.

This sounds promising with the big, rumbling, type of score you might have been expecting, but also some surprises like a massive pipe organ. And...wait...do I detect a bit of the infamous lady-in-the-water-motif again? I believe I do.

OR you can pre-order the CD here

The Incredible Hulk Trailer

The long-overdue trailer for the next iteration of THE INCREDIBLE HULK was recently released online. You might be one of the few who have not seen it already, so I'm posting it here for your "enjoyment." Personally, I'm not too thrilled with what I see. Perhaps it will be better than Ang Lee's attempt...but that's not saying much.

The music in the trailer was not immediately identifiable, but it does have a Craig Armstrong, who is slated to be providing the original score for the film, vibe to it.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK releases in June 2008.

Watch the HD trailer here

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Soundtrack) by Craig Armstrong and A.R. Rahman

Hollywood + Bollywood? By Golly wood!
Review by Christopher Coleman

One of 1998's surprise hits was director Shekhar Kapur's ELIZABETH. The visually pleasing film with solid acting performances by Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush help to earn the film 7 Oscar nominations. Even composer David Hirschfelder's score was nominated for an Oscar, but ultimately lost to Nicola Piovani's LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL. Fast forward some ten years and part-two of the rumored trilogy, ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE brings back Kapur, Blanchett, and Rush...but this time with composers CRAIG ARMSTRONG and A.R. RAHMAN.

While ELIZABETH was met with both critical and popular acclaim, the second part has not faired as well. Much of the criticism lies within the art of the story falling prey to the art of editing suite and the costume and set department. Of course with the great technological strides made since 1998, the visual appeal of ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE could be argued as being even greater than it's predecessor. Ah...but a good film digital tricks doth not make, eh George?

Although his website dubbs him "Australia's Leading Film Composer" David Hirschfelder hasn't been attached to a major film since ELIZABETH, which begs the question as to what happened to such this promising composer of the late 90s. Reportedly, director Kapur's original impulse was to go for a dark, brooding type of score as ELIZABETH had, but later changed his mind wanting the film to be a bit more diverse. This choice inevitably effected the type of score the film would have to have. THE GOLDEN AGE ended up a modernized film demanding a modern-edged-score. For it to be handled by Armstrong and Rahman seems fitting.

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Win the Soundtrack to ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE

The winner of this month’s caption contest will receive a copy of the original soundtrack to "ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE" by Craig Armstrong and A.R. Rahman!

Check out the contest rules HERE. Enter the contest HERE.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age Site - Music

I have been checking the official film site for ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE for a couple of weeks now and it has become one of the best I've seen in a while. A lot of standard film info, but its packaged and delivered beautifully and interestingly.

One of the best features is the music employed throughout the site. I can't confirm, but stands to reason that these are significant bits from CRAIG ARMSTRONG and AR RAHMAN's score for the film. The soundtrack will be released by DECCA RECORDS on October 9, 2007.

Based on these bits and the various trailers released, I have to say I'm pretty excited about this one. The stunning visuals look like they'll be matched by a decent score and hopefully the script will be worthy of the cast (well except for Mr. Owen...getting a little too much "Clive" these days).

You can check the official site out here