Guess the Score II - Tango with Franz

BhelFurious!!!!

lol!!!!!

12 hours to go!

I might have the same problem having not long arrived home from a good friends birthday celebrations.

Yay! I'm pleased with my effort. I knew only 2 of the clips at first. The rest were all mostly from amazon clips based on composer guesses and Franz's clues.
I didn't know Franz was fooling around with Timmer's score. The last time I saw it, it was at 39 and I was trying to see if I could get near that
Looking forward for the answers!

Secrets Revealed

1. Jerry Goldsmith, 'Ouisa and Flan', SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION
Clip 01
Clue: I know a guy who dated a girl whose uncle knew I am Legend. Composer is often included on top 10 of all time lists.?
How is that a clue? Well, I am a few degrees of separation away from Will Smith, the impressive young star of SIX DEGREES. And when it comes to guaranteed top 10 composers, there aren't a lot around. Musically, I can't see how anyone who didn't know of this score would have picked the Goldsmith here. The harp gliss and clarinet entry about halfway through the clip does pop up in one of his other comedy scores, I think, but that's a pretty narrow link.


2. Gabriel Yared, 'Tango De L'impasse', LA LUNE DANS DE CANIVEAU (The Moon in the Gutter)
Clip 02
Clue: Three major rejections and three Oscar nominations mark the later career of this composer. This was one of his early scores, for a film by a cult director who would make a film this composer was most known for for many years.
How is that a clue? His three Oscar nominations are for Cold Mountain, Talented Ripley and English Patient. His three major rejections are Les Miserable, Wings of a Dove and, of course, Troy. Cult director (and director of La Lune) is Jean Jacques Beneix, who directed Betty Blue, the arthouse hit that Yared was forever associated with until he hooked up with Minghella for The English Patient.
The start of this clip has that incredibly dated synth sound that one hears so often early in Yared's career. Danny Elfman was guessed twice here.
NOBODY GOT THIS.

3. John Powell, 'Tango of the Assassins' / 'El Tango de los Assassinos', MR AND MRS SMITH
Clip 03
No clue, and no explanation. And while he has built an impressive resume, I couldn't tell you whether this cue is in any way obviously a work of Powell's. The heavy syncopation and high string motif towards the end do suggest a (very good) graduate of Hans Zimmer's school.

4. Howard Shore, 'The Departed Tango', THE DEPARTED
Clip 04
No clue, and no explanation. I like how he does all the tango parts - rhythm, melody, harmonics, with different acoustic guitars.

5. John Williams, 'Dinner with Amelia', THE TERMINAL
Clip 05
The only clue was that this was a composer whose sound was hard to miss, that this was a major release, and the score was not what he was known for best. The opening oboe is a Williams giveaway to my ears. But just about everything sounds so Williamsy in this cue to me - the flute/oboe duet about a quarter of the way in.

6. Alfred Schnittke, 'Agony - Tango', AGONY (Agoniya)
Clip 06
Clue: Known for his concert works than film works. This cue gives the tango an elegant Slavic feel!
How is that a clue? Slavic and concert works are all you have to go on. Still, while many guessed Corigliano or Bregovic, very few headed to the lands where the real Slavic sounds originate. No guesses of Prokofiev or Shostakovitch or the one Soviet-era film/concert composer who might have written something quite as eclectic as a tango - Alfred Schnittke. The piano melody is very Schnittkish (?) - I've heard a close variation on that in his score for Story of an Unknown Actor.
ONE PERSON GUESSED SCHNITTKE. NO-ONE GUESSED THE SCORE.

7. Angelo Badalamenti, 'Kiss All Around It', HOLY SMOKE
Clip 07
Clue: Those synths. That thick air of mystery. Who could it be? Not loved by film score fans, but this composer's work with an endlessly-loved American director has guaranteed him cinematic immortality.
How is that a clue? These clues become more and more like star sign messages! Perhaps I should have said 'critically-loved' American director - because there'll always be someone who gives high marks in a review of David Lynch films. Synths and air of mystery might have led you to Badalamenti separately. One guy got this one off amazon.com soundclips!
One of Badalamenti's best score albums, this one. The film isn't a favourite, I must admit.

8. Marco Beltrami, 'Rooftop Tango', HELLBOY
Clip 08
Clue: Sneaky superhero. Not long ago.
How is that a clue? Superhero and 'not long ago' certainly cuts down the possibilities. 'Sneaky'? Well I'm not sure about that.... it sounds like it would be a scene where someone sneaks around. I don't know Beltrami well enough to say how this is specifically 'him' - though the use of piano towards the end nicely recalls Jerry Goldsmith, whose influence on Beltrami's sound is often remarked upon.


9. Elliot Goldenthal, 'Mr E's Dance Card', BATMAN FOREVER
Clip 09
Clue: ... is that a famous theme I hear?
How is that a clue? Elliot Goldenthal's Batman theme is evidently less famous that I thought.
Ok, how would you guess this is Goldenthal? Apart from strong similarities to passages from INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE that draw on solo violin (and also with a waltz backing!), what other composer would dare to stick two incredibly recognisable musical forms next to each other? I reckon only Goldenthal would try to make it work, and actually make it work.


10. Hans Zimmer (etal), 'Weird is Good', MATCHSTICK MEN
Clip 10
No clue. And not as many takers as I thought it would get.
The use of electronics instantly classes this as a modern score, and it seems to be trying to project an image of cool. Admittedly, Nicholas Cage doesn't come to mind for me either. That piano melody at the end is probably the most recognisable theme from MATCHSTICK MEN, so anyone who recognised that one would have figured the rest out.

11. Tarrab and Goldstein, 'La Lamparita', LA PUTA Y LA BALLENA
Clip 11
Clue: Godard said all you need is a girl and a gun. The Spanish say all you need is a prostitute and a whale. To make up for the lack of violence, many women take their clothes off in this Spanish/Argentinian film, but it remains obscure and a bit silly. I reviewed the score once.
How is that a clue? Well where do you start? LA PUTA Y LA BALLENA means 'the whore and the whale'. It's a Spanish/Argentinian film with a tango in the score. And I reviewed it - so google 'Mclennan tango Argentinian' and you'll get this link: http://www.musicweb-international.com/f … llena.html
The reason I put such a blatantly obvious clue, by the way, was that I didn't think anyone noticed this score when it passed. But it seems some did! Or maybe they remember James's revelation to all of us of what the title actually meant:
http://www.movie-wave.net/titles/puta_ballena.html

12. Maurice Jarre, 'Tango of the Things Unsaid', TOP SECRET
Clip 12
Clue: Major composer with three Oscar wins for Best Original Score.
How is that a clue? Well there aren't many of those!
Most people knew this had to be Maurice Jarre, but were not sure which one! So I kept dropping hints left right and centre about leaving 'more clues about tangos unsaid'. One person noticed. MOON OVER PARADOR - which must also have a tango - also got a lot of guesses.
What's so Jarrish about it? Well maybe James Southall can tell us - he it was who said: "Well, if it isn't Maurice Jarre then I'm a Dutchman, but I don't think I recognise what it is."


13. Marty Stuart, Kristen Wilkinson and Larry Paxton, 'Strawberry Tango - Parts I and II', ALL THE PRETTY HORSES
Clip 13
Clue: I will be very disappointed if no-one gets this one.
How is that a clue? Because I used a clip from this apparently popular score in the last game I ran two weeks ago!!!!
This tango absolutely rocks. The Mexicana-cliche trumpet just takes the cake. Now while I'm unlikely to reference this score next time I do a game - BEWARE, I BLOODY WELL JUST MIGHT!

14. Lalo Schifrin, 'La Repression', TANGO
Clip 14
Clue: He remains with us, not composing so much. This was one of his later scores, and one of his very best. Most known for his pop-avante garde fusion scores from decades ago.
How is that a clue? He's alive, he doesn't compose so much, this is a late score from him, it has a tango. Decades ago he wrote scores that fused pop and avante garde ideas... Those who found all this a bit elusive thought that at least it was unlikely that I'd run a tango game and not include one reference to the Lalo Schifrin stunner - TANGO. This music comes from a scene where tango dancers perform dramatic piece depicting a coup and military takeover (with subsequent repression). It is one of the most inventive film score usages of the tango I've heard from a composition perspective, which is fitting, giving the emphasis of the film on the dance. The snare drums and eerie female choir make it quite chilling.

BONUS. Michael Daugherty, 'Red Cape Tango', Metropolis Symphony
Bonus
Clue: Not a film score. Related to a major superhero. What's that melody again?
Clue 2: Podies Irae.
How is that a clue? Given how many people guessed this, particularly after that second clue was added, I'm guessing it was a bloody good clue! Actually I was trying to get people to listen to the podcast all along. I didn't care if it was easy to guess in the process.
No-one guessed Goldenthal, which is what I would have guessed. After that, I would have guessed Alfred Schnittke. (Whose AGONIYA - the source of clip 6 - appears late in that podcast, about 13:15, in a waltz variation on the Dies Irae.)

Final Scores

Bhel the Conqueror topped the board while chasing Timmer's phantom score, while the resilient Bregt proved that the next best thing to being first is... :notbeingthe:angry:guywhowouldhavebeenfirstifnotforbloodyBhel!:

Of course, we welcome a new player in this round. Join us for another one sometime soon James!

BhelPuri - 39 points
Bregt - 28 points
Falkirk - 23 points
Southall - 21 points
TommyBoy - 13 points
Reza - 12 points
BobDH - 9 points
Bregje - 4 points
Plindboe - 3 points
Timmer - 0 points

Coda (and threat to return if you do not keep my commands)

It has been a pleasure once more to run this game. I hope you'll have me again sometime. I doubt we'll return to cinema's long-running affair with the tango, since we've used up all the good ones I know of. Potential future games from me include: 'Waltz II', 'Music for Trains', 'Navajo Nocturne', 'Nobody can agree how to spell cymbalom', and 'Passacaglia or Fugue?'.

And yes, I did manage to run a game on tangoes without reference LAST TANGO IN PARIS. It's more because I didn't have a recording of the theme on hand than for any hidden emnity towards Barberi's famous score.

Now, I command the convener of the next game to create a new thread when he is ready. Leave this one in piece.

I'm amazed people got such high scores, considering how obscure many of those choices are. I thought I had a big collection, but I only have 4 of the scores in this game.

Peter

I'm with you, half of these scores I didn't hear yet, and still Bregt almost won

Me neither. But 6 of the other scores I had never even heard about before.

Peter

I'm quite pleased with my score in the sense that I haven't before come across most of the clips I didn't recongise.

I'll start a fresh game once I have links for my clips available from Bregt.

Sorry I didn't play Michael

I wrote down some answer to send to you in which I'd have scored a grand total of 5 points ( ironic considering my -5 ), two of which were knowing composer styles, Schifrin and Powell, the only answer I knew was the Goldenthal one.