The second Tim Burton/Danny Elfman film in quick succession this year, Corpse Bride is a stop motion movie with fun but weird characters and a typically gothic story. A live character voiced by Johnny Depp accidentally proposes to a dead person voiced by Helena Bonham Carter who then becomes his "Corpse Bride". The underworld inhabitants include band leader "Mr. Bonejangles" voiced by Danny Elfman and the soundtrack is close to the standard set for "A Nightmare before Christmas" with songs and incidental music. The album CD can be found at these links Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
This latest film adaptation of the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin has a soundtrack by composer Dario Marianelli. Although some tracks vary from English traditional folk music to more modern instrumental song ballads, the central dominent themes are generally classical in style, played by the English Chamber Orchestra with a prominent piano part played by French Pianist Jean Yves Thibaudet. The album is released first in the UK at this link Amazon.co.uk though it will be available from 15th November on Amazon.com.
Tim Burton's composing partner Danny Elfman has put together a soundtrack with suitably zany songs and themes for this big screen version of Roald Dahl's favourite children's story. As with "A Nightmare before Christmas" Elfman himself has produced most of the vocals, processing his voice electronically to create different qualities and ranges. The soundtrack album to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory can be found at these links Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. At Music Notes you can also find 7 songs/tracks of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Sheet Music.
The stage musical RENT has been an enormous success on Broadway playing for more than 10 years. This moving story is based on Puccini's opera La Boheme but adapted to modern New York with a great set of Rock songs. A recording of the original Broadway version came out back in 1996, but 2005 sees the release of a movie version directed by Chris Columbus. This remains faithful to the show's spirit, retaining many of the original cast and updating some of the song arrangements. The movie soundtrack double album can be found at these links Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
The final film of the Star Wars series tells the story of Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader. John Williams provides the score of course, with themes both old and new woven into the fabric. There are tracks for the Jedi standing against overwelming odds, for new baddie General Grievous, for the birth of Padme's twins Luke and Leia, and for Anakin's fight against Obi-Wan. Also included with the soundtrack CD is a bonus DVD "Star Wars: A Musical Journey". Here are links to Revenge of the Sith at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
Batman Begins returns to the origins of the "Caped Crusader" and the film franchise returns to its original dark mood. Unusually the music is provided by two composers. The soundtrack has the dramatic throbbing power of Hans Zimmer coupled with the dark and moody conceptual music of James Newton Howard. The tracks have unusual names such as "Vespertilio" and "Eptesicus" which are actually the names of various types of bats. The album complete with sound samples can be found at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
Steven Spielberg has been working his version of War of the Worlds for some time, and at long last it is on general release. It is no surprise to learn that his usual composer partner, John Williams, is providing this music. The music is non-thematic and very much that of an intense action thriller with brief moments of intimacy. This is far removed from the cute world of "ET" and perhaps similar in style to the more recent "Minority Report". The soundtrack is now available at the following links Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
Late in his career, Miklos Rozsa began creating Choral Suites from his scores to the big hollywood epics Ben-Hur, Quo Vadis and King of Kings. Following his death in 1995, a number of his friends, pupils and musicians have completed the work and this album is the culmination of that project. Erich Kunzel conducts the Cincinnate Pops Orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in this World Premiere Recording. The attention to detail is astounding and highly recommended. The album can be found at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
Deservedly winning this year's oscar for Best Original Score, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek's music for Finding Neverland is a rare delight. It is playful and infectious while never hard on the ear. Though it has been carefully crafted to fit the mood of the film, it still maintains the boyish spontaneity exhibited by Johnny Depp as J. M. Barry in the movie. A feature of the album is the inclusion of a number of tracks by pianist Leszek Mozdzer improvising on the themes from the film's soundtrack. The album can be found at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events - Since his success with "Finding Nemo" it is obvious how well the music of Thomas Newman translates into an appropriate soundscape of Children's stories. This one is based on the series of children's books following the adventures of orphans Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire, and stars Jim Carrey as the evil Count Olaf. The soundtrack can be found at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. For more information see the film's official site at www.Unfortunate Events Movie.com.
House of Flying Daggers - From Zhang Yimou, the director of Hero, this is a story set in China's Tang Dynasty where rebel forces oppose a corrupt government and two policemen plot to capture a blind dancer thought to be the daughter of a rebel leader. The music on this occasion is supplied by Shigeru Umebayashi, a veteran Japanese composer who has received numerous awards for his film music. The soundtrack can be found at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. For more information and the movie trailer see the official House of Flying Daggers website (English version).
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - This is a great soundtrack from Edward Shearmur (Johnny English) in a style that is partly modern and partly a retro pastiche of old fashioned heroics like Flash Gordon. The film stars Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie in a traditional story of good fighting evil and features some stunning CGI effects. Just recently released, the soundtrack can be ordered from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. Further information about the film can be found at www.skycaptain.com.
Hero is a new Martial Arts movie with well-choreographed fight scenes and a touch of mysticism and romance. The music is percussive for the fighting scenes and lyrical for the spiritual and romantic elements, and written by Tan Dun, composer of (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) which featured Yo-Yo Ma as the cello soloist. This soundtrack's soloist is Itzhak Perlman who uses a non-standard tuning on his violin. The soundtrack is due for release in October, though more information and ordering details can be found at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
| 
TOP
BACK
