Daniel Thomas Champion

Oh Canada!

2011-12-13T05:25:00.000-08:00

Above are four photos taken during my most recent Canadian vacation. An abandoned bridge in British Columbia, a calm Lake Louise, a silent rural route in Alberta, and a railroad crossing in Blackie, Alberta. These and more can be viewed and downloaded on my Flickr page and I invite everybody to comment and offer their thoughts and opinions.

film review COWBOYS & ALIENS

2011-08-15T00:13:00.001-07:00

The pairing of Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford reads like a dream on paper, James Bond and Indiana Jones facing off against each other in the wild west as Ford's Colonel Woodrow attempts to take back his stolen gold from Craig's criminal Jake Lonergan, only to wind up working with Lonergan (and a tribe of angry Indians) to free the townsfolk from a common enemy. And though there are concerted efforts by most of the cast to give their characters motivation beyond their single lines of exposition, the screenplay (credited to eight writers) is simply window dressing from beginning to end. It's a Hollywood backlot, polished and authentic, but supported by little more than steel beams and nuts and bolts.

Despite its high concept Cowboys & Aliens has a disappointing air of familiarity about it. And little if any sense. The mystery surrounding Lonergan is emotionally redundant for anybody under twelve and emotionally meh! for anybody over it. Ford's Colonel Woodrow is sketched out early by fearful townsfolk as a mean, selfish old man, but turns out not to be so mean or selfish. Even before he finds himself leading a rescue mission to retrieve his skinny, weak-willed son from the clutches of invaders from the sky who nobody really seems surprised enough to see. Olivia Wilde's Ella Swenson has a mysterious past too, but it's equally as uninspired and her quest more than a little questionable after discovering just what her character is capable of.

John Favreau's direction is disappointingly pedestrian for a film that should have benefited from a much more original artistic flair and the aliens, while consisting of some novel ideas (Steven Spielberg reportedly had a lot to offer regarding their design) lack everything that should make an audience (yes, even those over twelve) fear them. The reason for their presence is half-heartedly explained, although upon reflection not really explained at all, and their reason for abducting human beings laughably over explained, albeit in another of the eight writer's single lines of exposition. It all feels like second-hand propaganda from yet another (white) sanctimonious Hollywood liberal (or eight of them) soapboxing about the invading white man.

Craig and Ford, both of whom have effortlessly inhabited their most famous characters in the past, seem a little awkward (Craig's attempt at an American accent does not work in his favour) and there's a sense both men were passing the time until shooting wrapped, which they probably were.

film review RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

2011-08-11T06:22:00.000-07:00

Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty franchise reboot. I don't want to like you.... I don't want to like your all too believable digital apes, Weta. I don't want to like your self righteous world-saving scientist, James Franco. I don't want to like your impossibly underdeveloped and equally self righteous token love interest, Freida Pinto. I don't want to like your contrived Alzheimer's plot device of a father, John Lithgow. I don't want to like your disturbing though caricatured apes impound owner, Brian Cox. I don't want to like your American Malfoy, umm, Malfoy. I don't want to like your disappointingly irony-free (though admittedly very well plotted) screenplay, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. I don't want to like your all too familiar post modern music, Patrick Doyle. I don't want to like your surprisingly relaxed pacing and your glossing over of years in seconds-long montages reminiscent of Disney's Tarzan, Rupert Wyatt. And, dammit, I definitely don't want to like your damned dirty use of a damned fine line from the damned fine 1968 irony-loaded original that was damned fine left right where it was.

But, damn you all to hell.... I actually like you.

***

film review SUPER 8

2011-08-05T04:40:00.000-07:00

From the opening bars of Michael Giacchino's score, swathing both Paramount and Amblin logos in nostalgia, it is made clear J.J. Abrams is a man who remembers his childhood. And not just the good parts. Super 8 is part family drama, part photo album, part monster flick. And if it can't fully reconcile all three into a whole that's fine, because all three are equally interesting in their own right. Well, almost. The least successful of Abrams' elements in Super 8 is his creature story and although the mystery he builds surrounding its existence is intriguing enough, the payoff isn't quite what you might hope for. Especially when the story turns into a kid-friendly Cloverfield (minus the idiot with the camera). And, just as in that monster flick, the creature in Super 8 seems to represent the worst of mankind: our rush toward self destruction, our inability to control our anger, the grudges we hold onto. Our innermost demons. In Super 8 it becomes a visual representation of the terrible events that lead to the opening scenes of the film and the grip of regret that takes hold after a sudden loss.

It's the human drama though (the father and his boy, the boy and his crush, the crush and her father) that holds Super 8 together. And while the adults lack a little believability their child co-stars manage to carry the emotional core of the story with unquestionable ease. Watch Elle Fanning's performance as she admits her father's indiscretions, a star and a heartbreaker all at the same time. And that is part of what Super 8 is ultimately all about, the memories of first love that are, sometimes irritatingly, inescapable no matter how far away you find yourself.

It's influences are there for all to see (Steven Spielberg's thumbprint is probably the most recognisable of all of his contemporaries, and you can't have failed to notice his name on the posters) and those of a certain age will share a considerable amount of kinship with Abrams' camera setups and family interaction. But Super 8 has the distinction of being a period film and, as such, suffers in a way that Close Encounters of the Third Kind or E.T. The Extra Terrestrial didn't. Like Super 8 both of those films were semi-autobiographical and both were about visitors from "out of town", but they had the benefit of contemporary audience appeal, something that Super 8 lacks. There is an honest to goodness sense that directing the film was a labour of love for Abrams, but its sincerity is, at times, frustratingly tempered by a tint of rose.

***

film review CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

2011-08-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

Captain America is the stuff of boyhood dreams: tanks, motorcycles, submarines, guns....bigger guns, and one smokin' hot dame, who, not to be outdone, also carries a gun. Director Joe Johnston is keen to paint every one of his wartime characters as heroes in their own right, people who are sure they have something to believe in: Stanley Tucci's gentile Dr. Abraham Erksine, Tommy Lee Jones's gruff Colonel Chester Phillips, Hayley Atwell's confident Peggy Carter, even Hugo Weaving's dastardly Red Skull believes in himself. But the one who believes in everybody else, the selfless dumb-ass who "could do this all day" while taking punches from a bully twice his size, is the hero through whose eyes we believe. Steve Rogers, a short and skinny (you won't question the visual wizardry once) American hero transformed by Erksine's experimental Vitarays into a tall and ripped American poster boy. And while his transformation of character from comedic mascot and reluctant bond pusher (eventually ridiculed by the real men of war) to determined rescuer deserves a touch more of the serious from both star Chris Evans and director Johnston it's not something to grumble over, because (thanks in part to writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely) we already believe in him. And if his welcoming back into the band of brothers is a little too easy, well, who wouldn't afford their rescuer that honour? And then, newly suited, he goes toe-to-toe against a thousand Hydra storm troopers, mano-a-mano against Skeletor's evil-er brother and on to save the country. Let's hear it for Captain America!

While a little more of the pre-Red Skull Johann Schmidt wouldn't have gone amiss and more liberal use of Alan Silvestri's theme could have been made, there isn't much to dislike about Captain America. Honestly. It wears its shiny patriotism on its sleeve and leaves you feeling all red, white and blue.

****

soundtrack review HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2

2011-07-29T05:38:00.000-07:00

Alexandre Desplat's score to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 is perhaps the most thematically cohesive score in the series since John Williams formed the musical architecture back in 2001. Desplat's score for the final adventure is built around his lilting theme for Harry's mother Lily, and its premier performance by solo vocalist Mai Fujisawa in "Lily's Theme" is so quietly and emotionally dramatic that the album may as well have ended there. But Desplat weaves the delicate theme throughout, with a soaring performance in "Dragon Flight" and a reassuring conclusion in "The Resurrection Stone", the opening bars of which pay respect to Nicholas Hooper's work on the series. The driving ostinatos that fuel his action material are best heard in "The Tunnel" and "Underworld", while his lyrical approach to most of the Hogwarts wizarding conflict flows through "Statues" and "Courtyard Apocalypse" with a tragic finality. Desplat also resurrects his friendship theme from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, in "Neville" and treats it to a heroic performance during the opening bars of "Battlefield".

The opening eight notes of John Williams' timeless "Hedwig's Theme" are boldly stated during "Dragon Flight" and the full theme carefully interwoven into a number of sequences including "Battlefield" and "Inside the Chamber of Secrets". Desplat also manages some clever interpolation in "The Diadem". The London Symphony Orchestra is on top form in an epic and emotionally fulfilling conclusion to Harry Potter's musical journey and, John Williams' absence and my thoughts concerning Steve Kloves' problematic screenplays aside, Desplat makes me like Harry Potter.

****

soundtrack review VIBES

2011-07-23T03:47:00.000-07:00

Is this 1988 comedy really a comedy? Not according to James Horner's blissfully bland thirty-five minute release from Varese Sarabande Records. Vibes was number four in the speciality music label's original Soundtrack Club and was limited to a small pressing of one-thousand in 1990.

Ambience abounds throughout the short album as the seconds tick-tock through each minute of bird song, pan pipes and other electronic colours that accompany Jeff Goldblum and Cindy Lauper on Peter Faulk's wild goose chase into the Andes. From the the opening moments of his "Main Title" Horner develops a considerably frightening score that is punctuated by isolated (and very welcome) bursts of melodic and energetic woodwind interludes, notably in "Andes Arrival" and "The Journey Begins". It is these few minutes that rescue this release from bottom-of-the-shelf obscurity by elevating the listener's reactions from uninterested to pleasantly distracted. But this is all that can be hoped for as those moments are quickly forgotten, especially in the protracted, eight minute "The Lost City" and the unpleasant, hauntingly whispered "Sylvia's Vision". Though to be fair to Horner there are two more redeeming minutes in the form of "The Secret Revealed" that invoke Maurice Jarre's invigorating work on Peter Weir's Witness.

Maybe Horner's other work in 1988, in particular his complex music for Ron Howard's Willow, encouraged him to experiment with something a little less complicated, giving the composer a respite from the elaborate musical structure he employed for that George Lucas scripted fantasy? The intentions might be clear, although the results are only mildly inventive. This is a work from Horner that generates more interest above enjoyment and its continued popularity and inflated price on the second-hand market is testament to the completists among the film music community, not necessarily the connoisseurs. Hesitate before signing that cheque.

Originally published in Music from the Movies.

film review HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2

2011-07-20T02:38:00.000-07:00

Daniel Radcliffe is an appalling actor. One day the world will wake up and curse themselves for turning this child into a millionaire. Maybe they'll revolt and an angry mob will cast him down into the depths of Gringott's Wizarding Bank, burying him among the multiplying treasures of Helena Bonham Carter's dark vault? I suppose trusting a slam dunk franchise to a boy who looked like he'd been pulled from the cover of the impossibly lucrative Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was little risk back when he was eleven years old. And once his tween audience was old enough to recognise his shortcomings they would be so besotted by their first crush, their first tingly feeling, that they would forgive his malfunctioning movements, his inability to even crack a convincing smile, and delude themselves into thinking he is, in fact, a real boy. I mean, the success generated by these films is not based on the subtleties of three fine young actors, it's based on the wild success of a good storyteller. Not necessarily a world class writer, but a good storyteller nonetheless. This is not to disparage Radcliffe as a person, I'm sure he is just as normal as me, but imagine an untried franchise, an original story, a script with no measure of success in its wake, taking a chance on an adult Radcliffe in a lead role. Ten years of acting school, studying under (let's face it) all of the United Kingdom's greatest living actors and Radcliffe has actually managed to get worse.

Of his Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 co-stars, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have a moment or two of strength between them, in fact the only two moments of genuine emotion come from both actors (though in separate scenes), but the much hinted-at kiss between the pair is tragically ill-timed and disappointingly earned. Alan Rickman's Snape is treated to a marvellous revelation that demands a film of its own, while Albus' brother, Aberforth, is discovered to be the more interesting of the Dumbledore's during little more than five minutes of screen time. Thankfully Voldemort is finally a real character and while his terribly underdeveloped presence throughout the previous films strips him of much of his threat, Ralph Fiennes is able to own every frame he's in. None of my words will convince this franchise's audience either way, neither should they, but with seemingly little attempt made to properly adapt these novels to the screen the emotionally satisfying epilogue is small comfort for the dramatically unsatisfying climax, and the re-use of John Williams' music first heard in The Philosopher's Stone makes you wish he had returned to finish the series. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 is generally louder, faster and more intricate than Part 1, but it is definitely not better for it.

***

film review TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON

2011-06-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

Put my new 3D camera on the floor for me! Point it up so everybody looks tall! Make it follow this underwear model I've decided to put in my new film! Make sure her thighs are tanned! Keep following her! YEAH! KEEP FOLLOWING HER! Drive these awesome cars down the street really fast! Follow them with my new 3D camera! Make that kid who spits have a shitty car because that will be ironic! Make the government not like him because that will make them realise they need him! Make his parents turn up at the underwear model's mansion and talk to him about sex! Then make them say "shit" or something because boys like me will find that funny! Make sure lots of people say "the reason we didn't go back to the moon is because we found a giant robot on it" because boys like me will forget the reason every twenty minutes! Make the government believe the kid who spits! Make the government send the good giant robots to the moon! Make the good giant robots bring back giant Leonard Nimoy robot! Make him pretend to be good! Then make him bad because boys like me will be surprised when that happens! Man, I'm awesome! Make the government not like the good giant robots! Make them send them into space! Make the bad giant robots blow up Chicago! Then make the good giant robots turn up again because they only pretended to go into space and boys like me will be surprised when that happens! Make giant Leonard Nimoy robot use poles with lightning in them to make his planet appear in space! Make the underwear model tell a bad giant robot he will be giant Leonard Nimoy robot's bitch! That will make him try and kill giant Leonard Nimoy robot! Make lots of giant robots fight! Make lots of giant robots fight! MAKE LOTS OF GIANT ROBOTS FIGHT! Make the giant robot who pretends to be a truck kill the giant robot who tries to kill giant Leonard Nimoy robot! Then make him kill giant Leonard Nimoy robot! Make him sad because they used to be friends! Make the yellow giant robot smash the pole with red lightning in it so giant Leonard Nimoy robot's planet disappears! Play a rock song when my name comes up because I will like that! Awesome! YEAH! AWESOME!

Clusterf***in' A!

Michael Bay, age 10!

film review THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU

2011-06-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

The Adjustment Bureau's first ninety minutes are carefully plotted and engaging, with strong performances from Matt Damon and Emily Blunt ensuring the expository-heavy scenes are convincingly cinematic and genuinely intriguing, both in plot and character. Unfortunately the script, by writer-director George Nolfi (from Philip K. Dick's short story), sets itself up for an ending it inevitably finds impossible to deliver.

Technically the film is hard to fault: strong visuals, tight editing, a suitable score by Thomas Newman and an immersive sound design. But its loftier goals of ideas concerning free will and freedom of choice almost seem like afterthoughts, even when they become the focus of the climactic and very well paced rain-soaked foot chase. Essentially a film better suited to a half-hour Twilight Zone format than a theatrical feature, despite its undeniable superiority to more successful, though less substantive, Hollywood output.

***

film review X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

2011-06-16T06:03:00.000-07:00

X-Men: First Class has the distinction of containing the single most unexpected and brilliantly timed cameo of any film in the Marvel canon. But to expect the entirety of Matthew Vaughn's prequel/reboot to have the same brilliance is asking too much. Eddie Hamilton and Lee Smith's editing is continuously hit and miss, Henry Jackman's musical score is horribly derivative and offers none of its characters any musical identity or heroism, and the screenplay, credited to four writers (including Vaughn), is rife with two-dimensional characterisation and repulsive cliches, among them continuous statements of "mutant and proud", that date the film's turgid idea of social acceptance among ethnic and sexual minorities. Haven't we been here already? Thrice? Rose Byrne is my personal saving grace, but when the second bell sounds even she might not be enough to drag me back to class.

Ultimately disappointing, when considering the wealth of design and musical opportunities offered by the film's 1962 setting.

film review THOR

2011-04-22T05:55:00.001-07:00

Kenneth Brannagh's Thor moves a bit too fast to be entirely satisfying, or for most of its characters to develop any real depth beyond their comic book facade. But its charms are in its genuine humour, Chris Hemsworth's muscular portrayal of the titular hero, and Natalie Portman's....well, Natalie Portman.

J. Michael Straczynki and Mark Protosevich's screen story works hard to pack a bolder punch than many recent SuperHero adaptations. There is a solid grounding in the timeless myths it takes its cues from and genuine emotion in the writing, particularly in the relationship between Thor, his brother Loki, and their father, Odin. But the resulting screenplay and frantic pacing lend the more intimate scenes a disappointingly throwaway feel, and the serious Asgard conflict a Lord of the Rings-lite aura, especially with the introduction of Thor's four compadres, his "fellowship of the hammer", additionally, Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings appear strangely out of place as Portman's colleagues. But the comical interactions on Earth nicely offset the very serious Anthony Hopkins (as the very serious King Odin) and Patrick Doyle's score brilliantly heightens both the large and brief intimate moments in the picture. And while breathtaking visual effects are expected enough these days to make them less breathtaking, the creation of Asgard and Jotunheim are, nonetheless, mighty impressive. A solid and often thoroughly entertaining introduction to a future Avenger. Note to Marvel Studios: next time more Natalie, less coat.

***

film review THE COMPANY MEN

2011-04-01T12:23:00.000-07:00

With the help of salt-of-the-earth brother-in-law Kevin Costner and former boss Tommy Lee Jones, recently fired Ben Affleck discovers he really is a commission-hungry asshole after all. Director John Wells, co-creator of ER, makes light work of the hardship suffered by Affleck after losing his job, Affleck's story resembling a highlight reel of all the best bits: the fight and make-up with the wife, the neglected loner son, the daughter who reveals his secret at the family dinner table.

Set amidst the height of the financial crisis of 2008 the film's core message is about finding ones true worth after hitting rock bottom, but nothing ever feels particularly under threat. Sure he has to sell his Porsche and the family home, but there is never a sense of ultimate loss. There are always cushions. It might be intentional, but it strips the film of the sharp drama it could have had. Tommy Lee Jones's ambition to put people back at the core of business is merely window dressing, as is his affair with Maria Bello, the younger woman charged with stripping his department of valued personnel, and his lifelong friendship with an ageing, and increasingly irrelevant, Chris Cooper. Aaron Zigman's music is a little too placid to encourage any emotional involvement and Costner is disappointingly absent, even in his own scenes.

film review THE POSSESSION OF JOEL DELANEY

2011-03-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Waris Hussein's The Possession of Joel Delaney is the older, forgotten kissing cousin to William Friedkin's The Exorcist. Made in 1972, the film predates Friedkin's masterpiece by twelve months, but shares much of that film's story, pace, sound and music design. Even the photography is strikingly similar, artistic decisions likely more of the era than of any thievery on Friedkin's part. Shirley MacLaine is understated and natural as Norah Benson, mother of two, who agrees to look after her (already disturbed) brother, Delany (Perry King), in exchange for the dropping of assault charges levelled against him. A regrettable decision for the safety of both her and her children, as Delany begins to exhibit a startlingly sadistic side to his personality.

The cold winter of New York is a brilliantly harsh setting for a film about demonic possession, affording the viewer little to no comfort even during the happier, homely family scenes of the film's first half. There may be fewer shocks in Hussein's tense pacing than early 21st Century audiences have become unforgivably accustomed to, but that only makes them more horrifying. At first glance Hussein's film might not appear to be as serious as Friedkin's, but as the narrative progresses, and Delaney's acts expose deeper layers of depravity, you will be left wondering how you ever considered The Exorcist the most original film of its genre.

****

film review BATTLE: LOS ANGELES

2011-03-22T06:38:00.000-07:00

Despite a fine effort by its lead (The Dark Knight's Aaron Eckhart) and some intriguing marketing, Battle: Los Angeles is revealed as another in a dishearteningly long line of vapid, PS3-influenced shoot-em-ups in which the audience is little more than a passive observer, enduring unnecessary (fake) camera shake while the guy with the controller has all the fun. Although the military are convincingly portrayed, the aliens (however interesting their design) are barely glimpsed and their reason for invading easily discovered and not nearly as clever as it should be. Predictably, Brian Tyler's score is buried beneath a (and I'm guessing here) 24-year-old graduate's over zealous sound design. Disappointing, though not entirely unexpected.

soundtrack review HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 1

2010-11-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

Let's be honest, the Harry Potter film series has had a terrible time of it where its music is concerned. From John Williams lending the most prominent theme in his almost timeless original score to a rarely glimpsed owl, to the abandonment of virtually all of Williams' established material by each subsequent composer drafted in to continue the series. Patrick Doyle discarded Williams' theme for Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Nicholas Hooper followed suit in his twin entries, though I would still argue with much better results. So it stands to reason Alexandre Desplat would have no remit to alter the course of the series by film seven.

While it's generally healthy to support a new composer bringing a fresh perspective to an established series it is difficult to retain and develop emotional connections to characters whose musical landscape and identity is constantly changing. There has been no natural progression or maturation, no growing up of the musical world of Harry Potter (save for Williams' own in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), more a schizophrenic leap from one set of chord progressions, melody, counter melody and harmonics to another. The musical architecture has been almost completely redesigned.

That said, there have been a few kernels of Williams' original ideas surfacing, the Quidditch theme from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was used to startling effect by Hooper in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and a number of Desplat's orchestrations and flourishes, no doubt due to longtime Williams' orchestrator Conrad Pope's contribution to Desplat's intriguing score, recall a considerable amount of Williams' work.

As far as I can tell Desplat's album presentation of his score plays almost entirely in film sequence, an approach I usually find uninspiring, though this time it seems to work as a perfectly adequate narrative development within its own 72-minutes. Desplat introduces a number of new notable themes and motifs for characters and situations that, while not all instantly catchy, do grow on the listener.

The thematic development to form the backbone of the score for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is first displayed by Desplat in "Polyjuice Potion", it's essentially a friendship theme, representing the bond between Harry, Ron and Hermione, and, though not quite in the same league, is clearly intended to serve in the same emotional context as Howard Shore's Shire theme for The Lord of the Rings. In fact, much of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is reminiscent of the journey JRR Tolkien's hobbits undertook (at least in terms of isolation and mission) so it stands to reason that it might share some of the same musical constructs. The theme undergoes a few differences in instrumentation during its appropriation in other scenes, "At The Burrow", "Harry And Ginny" and a few notable appearances in some of the later cues on Desplat's album, slowly becoming the main musical voice of the film, though maybe not a strong enough one.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is a quiet film, with few action sequences to speak of, but when given the chance Desplat seems to relish the opportunity of challenging his 105 players from the London Symphony Orchestra and his trio of London choirs. "Sky Battle" is probably the most energetic and emotionally charged of Desplat's action music and utilises Hedwig's theme in a heroic fashion, much the same as Williams did with his Force theme in the opening battle above Coruscant in Star Wars: Episode III. But following Hedwig's blink-and-you'll-miss-it death in that sequence Desplat's comments about the lack of opportunity to include the owl's theme during the film become clear, other appearances by the theme will be inconsequential to casual listeners, however well spotted by Desplat. "Fireplaces Escape" is a brief burst of energy, dominated by some considerable percussion, "Bathilda Bagshot" develops into a panicked and tense cacophony, and "Rescuing Hermione" opens with some very energetic playing from strings and brass. There are also a number of beautiful moments to be savoured: the opening bars of "The Will" with its noble brass and flighty strings, the highly emotive string-led "Ron's Speech", a throwback to the orchestral techniques of Hollywood's Golden Age, and the even more emotive "Farewell to Dobby", whose closing string moments are far too good to accompany the burial of a character not witnessed since the second film, eight years prior.

As has become the norm for this series there are a number of standalone pieces, used to portray people and places we haven't seen before (and some we have). "Ministry Of Magic" and "Detonators" are a pair of repeating ostinatos for the friends' clandestine infiltration of the ministry and share quite a lot in common with Nicholas Hooper's own motif for the ministry from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Dobby gets a new motif, abandoning Williams' theme for the character from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for a less whimsical idea. The Lovegood family are also granted their own, highly memorable theme, a gipsy-infused jaunt of acoustic guitar, woodwind and light percussion that, while typical of Desplat's work on Chris Weitz' The Golden Compass, recalls a little of Thomas Newman's music for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Death Eaters are represented by another driving ostinato, appropriately malevolent, using the lower end of the register. But Voldemort seems to have been completely overlooked. This poor guy must be the most musically under-represented villain in the history of cinema. Save for minor representation by Williams in the first two films in the series the primary antagonist of almost every story has absolutely no musical identity whatsoever. Be that the fault of the source material, the directors or the composers themselves, it seems a monumental lack of foresight. Why see fit to retain a theme for Harry's owl, but not for the driving force of evil in the films? I don't know if casual viewers (or even avid ones) care about such things these days, but as someone who finds continuity to be integral in all aspects of filmmaking I find it a lamentable omission. Imagine how much gravitas "The Elder Wand" would have had if Williams' Voldemort theme had been reprised to end that cliffhanger. As it stands we are treated to another ominous rhythmic burst that ends with little identity and lots of noise.

This is by no means to suggest Desplat's work for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is without identity; as a whole it plays better than both Patrick Doyle's or Nicholas Hooper's entires and has a much better understanding of itself as a film score. It will be interesting to hear if Desplat sees fit to further develop any of his own material when he completes the series in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, because, quibbles aside, I would certainly like to hear it.

***

THE HONEY POT RELEASED

2010-06-28T07:07:00.000-07:00

Quartet Records' reissue of The Charge of the Light Brigade and The Honey Pot is now available to purchase online. The title can be ordered at Screen Archives Entertainment and Quartet's own website.

The Charge of the Light Brigade boasts notes by John Mansell and The Honey Pot contains my notes reprinted from Film Score Monthly's MGM Soundtrack Treasury box set. Quartet have done a marvellous job with the mastering and design of this disc and it's a treat for both scores to receive an individual release.

Order HERE and HERE.

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