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5/27/08 - | An Update on the Editor's
Eyesight |
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Doctors revealed this morning that my eye surgery last Thursday has proven
unsuccessful. The
procedure carried an 80% chance of success, but unfortunately my retina is
continuing to leak
and thus lead to vision loss, albeit at a temporarily slower pace.
I am scheduled for a more invasive procedure (a full vitrectomy) this next Thursday
(the 29th)
that carries a greater chance of success. Resumption of activities after this
surgery will be
slower given its more extensive duration. The doctors are confident, however, that
almost all
of my current vision in the eye can be saved for several more years. Read more...
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5/21/08 - | A Health Note from the
Editor |
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As veterans of Filmtracks may remember, I was diagnosed in the late 1990's with a
rare,
hereditary form of lattice degeneration in my eyes. Combined with my
nearsightedness, this
condition led to rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in both eyes over a two-year
period from
1997 to 1999.
To avert immediate blindness at the time, doctors used nearly every available
treatment,
ranging from basic laser welding of the retinas to full blown scleral buckling (the
physical
placement of an encircling plastic band around the eyes). Luckily, the damage
caused by the
posterior vitreous separation was concentrated on the sides of the retina, avoiding
the macula
and therefore primarily threatening my peripheral vision. Because of my relative
youth, my
eyes have proven resilient enough to allow me a normal lifestyle.
On Monday of this week, the condition struck again. Read more...
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| 5/19/08
- | Sphere: (Elliot Goldenthal)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you would be interested in a compilation of Elliot Goldenthal's unconventional
techniques from previous action and horror scores of the 1990's.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect to hear anything radically new from Goldenthal for this throwaway
film, or if you expect a well-rounded album presentation of the music he wrote for the occasion.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 5/17/08
- | Snake Eyes: (Ryuichi Sakamoto)
- All New Filmtracks Review, Replacing a Donated Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you noticed the score in the film itself and appreciated Ryuichi Sakamoto's
strikingly classical methodology in contrast to the film's visual style.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect the score to engage you on album with the same expansive flair that
the film had.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 5/15/08
- | Scream/Scream 2: (Marco Beltrami)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you want just a small taste of the best cues from the first two scores in the
Scream franchise.
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Avoid it... |
if you seek any of the Danny Elfman or Hans Zimmer music heard in Scream 2, or if
you expect a well-rounded presentation of either score.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 5/12/08
- | Mulan: (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
on the commercial albums if you seek an essentially competent collection of songs
and score from the film.
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Avoid it... |
on the commercial albums and seek the promos or bootlegs if you want the finer
individual moments of choral beauty and electronic experimentation in Jerry Goldsmith's score.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 5/10/08
- | Moby Dick (TV): (Christopher Gordon)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you enjoy adventurous scores rich with ambitious brass and percussion
performances that hail back to the glory days of Golden Age high seas epics.
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Avoid it... |
if the traditional sense of grand, swashbuckling style is an outdated sound for
your 21st Century ears.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 5/6/08
- | In Too Deep: (Christopher Young)
- Expanded Review, with Additional New Album |
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Buy it... |
on the rare 2008 promotional album if you originally enjoyed the R&B and noir
elements of the score and are open to hearing Christopher Young's own rearrangement of the material
to better reflect them.
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Avoid it... |
on the same promo album if you seek a true representation of the music actually
used in the film (including the orchestral portions), which the 1999 Varese Sarabande product
more accurately reflects.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 5/4/08
- | Mercury Rising: (John Barry)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you are well aware of John Barry's tendency to write stagnant, romantically
pleasant music for nearly all of his 90's scores, regardless of its inappropriateness for
the individual films.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect either suspense music as varied as that heard in Barry's The
Specialist, or any of Carter Burwell's replacement action music.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 5/2/08
- | The Man in the Iron Mask: (Nick
Glennie-Smith)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you listen regularly to The Rock and seek a compilation of the best parts of
that score slightly restructured into a more listenable package.
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Avoid it... |
if the Hans Zimmer style of powerful masculinity, simple harmonies, and synthetic
constructs doesn't fit your notion of a period film score.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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