Animal House had a score?
Posted on 07/09/2012 7:06:18 AM PDT by C19fan
Before I list these painful scores, let me clarify what I mean by “painful.” What I mean is “excruciating.” Bad scores are a dime a dozen, especially since the advent of the pop music score, which quite often replaced an orchestral score, thereby substituting a “composer” who had hardly studied the craft for someone who actually knew how to read an orchestral score. Usually the composers of a bygone era knew the craft of composition; how to develop a theme, how to evoke different emotion through the colors of the orchestral palette and the shifting harmonies underlying them, how to modulate from one key to another without the wrenching shift of the neophyte or the same chords repeated ad infinitum.
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I think one of the funny parts of Office Space was that Michael Bolton was so into rap music.....I must admit I thought “Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta” was perfect for the scene with the fax machine.
My nominees for best film score...
I thought Elmer Bernstein’s score was one of the best things about “Animal House.”
One of the bonus features is a short featuring Mr Karas playing his instrument in a Viennese night club. It's fascinating to see the closeups of his hands. He later opened a club of his own, based on the popularity of his music.
“Up next, the 10 best film scores ever”....better not have Titanic on that list!
Now you ruined my day. hee, hee
For decades I thought Elmer was related to Leonard, but recently I checked, and didn't find any family connection.
I would add to the best the score to the John Wayne movie “The Cowboys” (John Williams). This was also one of his earliest.
I kind of liked the Phillip Glass score to “The Illusionist”, but maybe because the weird music went well with the weird movie.
Agree with you that the Magnificent Seven was a great Western theme.
On a side note, I once spoke with a priest who was upset with the music some people wanted for their weddings. One couple wanted the theme from Jaws, because that was their first movie together..
Let’s get really real here. The best score to accompany any movie/TV show/stage performance, etc. is, without any doubt, the William Tell Overture. Who can deny the pure joy and soaring emotion as they are carried back to the days of the old west, with a hardy “Heigh ho, Silver! Away!” Even now I get teary eyed, remembering.
The author states his dislike for “pop” composing.
I take it he hasn’t seen Rushmore or The Royal Tennenbaums.
Excellent movies and scored perfectly IMHO
Trent Reznor won an Oscar? Sheesh!
I like Ry Cooder’s film scores.
Can’t agree on Pawnbroker but definitely share your admiration for Third Man. I can’t imagine the slimy, jaded underbelly of formerly elegant Vienna conveyed in any better way than the monotonous, clinky, strident, and not-quite-true tones of that zither, matching so perfectly the ever-slanted photography of this film. Evil-become-banality was never better portrayed..
I agree. I like Vangelis music owning two of his albums, so I find Chariots of fire to be a great movie theme.
Mag Seven, okay. Shane great.
I think just about any movie scored by John Williams should be on a “best of” list. What’s Star Wars without the Empire March? Or Jurassic Park without the soaring theme? One of his best scores? From Empire of the Sun. Terrible movie but a gorgeous musical track. Williams’ Exultate Justi is almost Handel-esque in its sheer majesty.
John Williams is one of the few composers living today who deserves to be remembered tomorrow.
My Nephew told me years ago that if he ever got to be Emperor of some country, the Star Wars music would be his national anthem.
Agreed. Jeanette MacDonald sings it with a boys’ choir in “San Francisco.” Marvellous.
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