THOMAS NEWMAN

I guess I'd better give THE GREEN MILE another chance. I bought it as a used CD store 7 or 8 years ago and listened to it half a dozen times and dismissed it as boring. I quite like SHAWSHANK on the other hand. Guess I'll blow the dust off TGM and give it another go.

I want Newman to do a straight horror film. I think based off that track, it would be sufficiently scary.

Introduce me to Thomas Newman. Other than American Beauty and the odd quirky percussive track I don't really have much.

What's essential? (And I really like the percussive stuff.)

Shawshank Redemption, Road to Perdition, Shawshank Redemption, Meet Joe Black, Shawshank Redemption, The Horse Whisperer, Shawshank Redemption, WALL-E, Shawshank Redemption, Little Women, Shawshank Redemption, ...

These especially.

I'll add WALL-E, The Good German, The Iron Lady, Lemony Snicket, How to Make an American Quilt, The War, Oscar & Lucinda, Red Corner, Pay It Forward, Meet Joe Black, The Horse Whisperer, The Salton Sea, The Help, The Debt, Scent of a Woman, The Player, Fried Green Tomatoes, Up Close & Personal, and Finding Nemo.

And be sure to check out Skyfall once it comes out. I have a feeling it will be mind-blowing.

Somebody at another board (I think FSM) said it has al ot of electronics. If true, that worries me.

Exactly my point. I would scratch all those off a list of "listening pleassure", though GoldenEye isn't as bad as people say it is (though it's not "good" either)

I quite like the GOLDENEYE album as a listen, it IS a crap Bond score though.

I just listed it as a required score several posts ago.

Lemony Snicket is, on the whole, too quirky for me. Stylistically, it's all over the place. That said, there are a few standout tracks. "The Letter That Never Came" is one of his finest compositions, IMO, and a track that even those with a passing interest in Newman's music must have.

If one wants to listen to a score that fully encapsulates Newman's style and talent, then Angels in America is the score to visit.

I LOVE his gorgeous big orchestral music. He doesn't usually write this way, but when he does I think he does it better than anyone. MEET JOE BLACK is my favorite Newman score by a lot. "That Next Place" is, in my opinion, the most wonderful thing he has composed. We can argue over whether it's too much for the scene it accompanies (and we have), but on its own, this is a smashingly great piece of music. LITTLE WOMEN is another really strong score. I recommend those scores whole-heartedly.

There are some other tracks that would be good to start with. The last two tracks of SHAWSHANK are indeed glorious, and you must have them. “Cinderella Man” from the film of the same title is an excellent track (for an excellent film! I’m surprised it did so poorly in theaters). ANGELS IN AMERICA doesn’t have a lot of thematic consistency, but has a lot of different and interesting things going on. Definitely check out “The Great Work Begins” from that score, which is another of Newman’s very best compositions. I’ve already mentioned “The Letter that Never Came” (from LEMONY SNICKET) in a previous post, but it’s worth repeating. There are a number of nice tracks from HORSE WHISPERER (“Double Divide,” “Montana,” “The Rhythm of the Horse,” “Grace,” “the Vast Continent,” and “End Title” are all really solid tracks). THE HELP has some really nice music. My favorite tracks are “Amen,” and “Ain’t You Tired (End Title).”

Well, that’s a good place to start. There are a lot more to get, but those are my favorite things. If those don’t win you over to Newman’s more melodic side then I don’t know what will.

Chris

There's a new featurette up on the opening sequence of SKYFALL, which features music that starts out as something that could've been composed by Thomas Newman, and then gets really David Arnold-ey. I didn't specifically recognise that as music of one of the previous films though. So could this be our first glimpse at Newman's 007-score?

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=35126

If that's the case, he is certainly triggering Arnold a lot... So I hope it ain't new.

I don't know what that first piece was - it certainly sounded like it could be Thomas Newman - but then it turned into Station Break from TND then Going Down/The Bunker from TWINE.