MovieScore Media is a film music company based in Sweden, founded by Mikael Carlsson in November 2005, which specialises in the release of interesting and original film scores - more often than not from smaller projects - where the quality of the music, rather than commercial properties of the film itself, counts. Carlsson has been a professional journalist since 1990, working on various newspapers including Metro, but decided to found MovieScore Media in order to focus on his passion: film music. The following are reviews of all of MovieScore Media’s releases to date.

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 PETER CALENDRA

REVIEW COMING SOON.


SHADOWS IN THE SUN

MARK THOMAS

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton: A delightful Italianate drama directed by Brad Mirman and starring Harvey Keitel, Joshua Jackson, Claire Forlani, John Rhys-Davies and the ubiquitous Giancarlo Giannini, Shadows in the Sun tells the story of reclusive author Weldon Parish (Keitel), who having written a brilliant and classic novel, has retired to the Italian countryside in an attempt to escape the attentions of a voracious press. When aspiring novelist Jeremy Taylor (Jackson) arrives at Weldon’s door seeking advice, Weldon does the only thing he can think of to make the younger man leave: he pretends to be insane. This diversionary tactic backfires, however, when Jeremy unexpectedly falls for Weldon’s eldest daughter Isabella (Forlani), and decided to stick around...

Welsh composer Mark Thomas is probably best known to international audiences for his scores for popular 2002 horror movie Dog Soldiers and the teen action movie sequel Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London in 2004, but his work in the UK film and TV industry has actually been more characterised in the most part by drama and romance. Shadows in the Sun is a wonderful illustration of that part of his musical persona. After the modern, upbeat “Opening Titles”, which are reprised in “Riding Free”, the score settles down into a generally orchestral vein. The best parts of the score are the soft, romantic themes, which appear in cues such as “Places in the Heart”, the first half of “Romantic Daydreams”, “Isabella: Love Theme”, all of which provide lovely, evocative portraits of gentle golden romance in the most breathtaking Italian landscapes.

There’s some delightful traditional Italian tunes in “Shadows Beguine” and “Santa Lucia”, which are drenched in sun-kissed mandolins, accordions, guitars, and all manner of regional orchestrations, bringing to mind warm, sultry Tuscan evenings with a bottle of wine and the smell of olives in the air. During these moments it is reminiscent of both Stephen Warbeck’s Captain Corelli and Maurice Jarre’s A Walk in the Clouds, as well as some of his own earlier work, such as Daisies in December and The Making of Maps, but this score is far from being simple pastiche. Moments of jazzy comedy – “Weldon Drives” – add a Cole Porter-esque lightness to the proceedings, but it is the moments of orchestral drama and romance which stay in the memory the longest – listen to the poignant woodwinds and engaging string writing in “Weldon’s Office” and “Farewell”, and the gorgeous solo vocal work in “The Writer Awakes”, for an estimable example of Thomas’s talents. Overall, this comes recommended for admirers of gentle romance scores with a Latin edge.

TRACK LISTING: 1. Opening Titles (3:20) 2. Off to Italy (1:32) 3. Hunting for Weldon (1:48) 4. Shadows Beguine (2:58) 5. Weldon Drives (1:16) 6. Places in the Heart (1:30) 7. Romantic Daydreams (1:52) 8. Isabella: Love Theme (2:36) 9. Weldon's Office (4:36) 10. Riding Free (1:42) 11. Santa Lucia (2:50) 12. Start Over (1:41) 13. Going Home (1:40) 14. The Writer Awakes (2:32) 15. Farewell (2:12). [MovieScore Media MMS06002, 34:35]. Click here for purchasing options.


ECHOES OF INNOCENCE

BRAD SAYLES

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton: Echoes of Innocence, which won awards at film festivals in Colorado Springs and Houston and was released on DVD in September 2005, is an interesting film about a regular high school girl who, unexpectedly, begins to hear voices and see visions like a modern day Joan of Arc. Starring Sara Simmonds and Jake McDormand, and written, produced and directed by debutante N. Todd Sims, the film also marks the film music debut of Texan composer Brad Sayles.

It’s interesting to note that Sayles is as much a sound designer as he is a composer – he worked on Clint Eastwood’s Space Cowboys in that capacity – and several times during the course of the score he uses his talents for electronic and synthetic design (listen for the seagulls in “Sarah’s Second Vision”!) While some cues do make use of acoustic instruments, quite a lot of the score is sampled (primarily for budgetary reasons), but despite the sonic limitations imposed by the electronics, the writing is still commendable. One can imagine cues such as “Visiting Violet” and the action-packed “Into the Woods/The Rescue” sounding pretty good if they were to be performed by a live orchestra.

In several cues – notably the “Main Title”, the violent-sounding “Sarah’s First Vision”, “Who’s Alec Stainer” Sayles makes great use of the sparkling vocal talents of The Houston Boy Choir, who were recorded live and overdubbed on top of his music, and who have a sound similar to the Boy’s Choir of Harlem , who James Horner used to spectacularly on Glory back in 1989. There’s also a live piano which works its way into cues such as “Remembering Christopher”, “Promise”, the upbeat “The Interview”, and the lengthy “Recommitment/Sarah’s Second Vision” (which also features an attractive oboe solo), and the pleasant finale “Christopher Returns/The Wedding” (which features an interesting live string quartet element).

Ultimately, though, Echoes of Innocence does not quite live up to its hype, and it has the rather unfortunate luck to be performed by some rather poor-sounding synthesisers, which limit severely restrict its scope. Nevertheless, it’s enjoyable to discover a new composer like Sayles, and it will be interesting to see where his career goes from here.

TRACK LISTING: 1. Main Title (2:42) 2. Sarah’s Speech (1:15) 3. Remembering Christopher (4:22) 4. Visiting Violet (1:41) 5. Sarah’s First Vision (1:48) 6. Who’s Alec Stainer (1:06) 7. Done With You/Premonition (1:58) 8. Childhood Memories (1:02) 9. Promise (2:26) 10. Christopher’s Departure (1:26) 11. Katy’s Confession (1:31) 12. The Interview (2:56) 13. Joan of Arc (0:57) 14. I Hear Things (1:30) 15. What Is the Glory of Kings? (1:26) 16. The Chapel (1:17) 17. Letters (1:02) 18. Outside Violet’s (1:00) 19. Recommitment/Sarah’s Second Vision (6:25) 20. Why Did I Love Him? (3:45) 21. Midsummer Night’s Play (1:36) 22. Into the Woods/The Rescue (7:36) 23. Christopher Returns/The Wedding (5:18). [MovieScore Media MMS06003, 56:16]. Click here for purchasing options.


DEAR WENDY

BENJAMIN WALLFISCH

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton: A new name in the film scoring community, until now Benjamin Wallfisch has been best known for his work orchestrating and conducting Dario Marianelli’s acclaimed scores Pride & Prejudice, The Brothers Grimm and V for Vendetta. What may not be immediately apparent from those projects is that the 27-year-old Englishman is a talented hugely talented composer in his own right – as his debut score for Dear Wendy attests.

A Danish/British co-production directed by Thomas Vinterberg and produced by Lars Von Trier, Dear Wendy stars Jamie Bell as Dick, a young boy in a nameless, timeless American town, who establishes a gang of misfits who are in love with guns as a way of livening up their lives. It’s an unusual, typically Scandinavian film about youthful angst, socio-political issues, and alienation, which opened in the UK in August 2005, but has not received wide distribution in North America beyond the festival circuit, despite actors such as Bill Pullman appearing in supporting roles.

Wallfisch’s score is predominantly orchestral, led mainly by piano and strings with subtle electronic enhancements, and is generally small and intimate - but despite its lack of scale it has definite sense of quiet, cold beauty, and features several appealing cues over the course of its short 33-minute running time. Once in a while, Wallfisch allows the orchestra to rise to perform some gorgeous orchestral themes, and even works a choir into the darkly beautiful “Wendy Calls to Dick”. There’s more than a hint of James Horner in some the woodwind writing, especially in cues such as the beautifully downbeat “Showdown” the surprisingly magical and heroic-sounding “The Dandies”, and the moving “Final Tragedy”, while the gentle “Electric Park” and the desolate-sounding “Dick’s Theme” bear more than passing references to Thomas Newman, especially in the piano parts. There’s some vicious string-led dissonance in “Ultimate Darkness”, a cacophonous action cue in “Close Escape”, and some incredibly vivid avant-garde string writing in the bonus track “Prism”, all of which bode well for Wallfisch’s future. If he is this adept at following in the footsteps if his peers at this early stage in his career, just think what he’ll be like when he has free reign to write what he wants. This is definitely a composer to watch, and someone who film music fans should invest in from the beginning.

TRACK LISTING: 1. Showdown (2:29) 2. First Letter (1:36) 3. Electric Park (2:10) 4. Dick's Theme (1:13) 5. First Shot (1:28) 6. Dick's Story (1:20) 7. The Dandies (3:34) 8. We Were One, Wendy (1:03) 9. Dick's Insanity (1:03) 10. Wendy Calls to Dick (2:27) 11. Ultimate Darkness (2:40) 12. Close Escape (2:44) 13. Final Tragedy (2:06) 14. End Credits (1:01) 15. Prism (Bonus Track) (5:29) 16. Discovery (Bonus Track) (1:01). [MovieScore Media MMS06004, 33:29]. Click here for purchasing options.


AN AMERICAN HAUNTING

CAINE DAVIDSON

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton: Cashing in on the currently in-vogue “demonic possession” sub genre of films, initiated by last year’s surprise hit The Exorcism of Emily Rose, An American Haunting stars Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek and young Rachel Hurd-Wood, and tells the allegedly true story of the Bell family, settlers in rural Tennessee in the early 1800s, who became the first family in American history to have a family member be killed by a malevolent spirit, and to have the death officially recorded as such. The film is directed by Courtney Solomon, whose debut feature was the poorly-received fantasy Dungeons & Dragons in 2000. American Haunting has fared much better, bringing in over $15 million at the US Box Office to date.

Horror movies have long been a proving ground for young composers, and so it is with An American Haunting, which marks the debut of young American composer Caine Davidson. Davidson is a composer-in-residence at Flie Productions in Santa Monica, along with fellow composer Justin Caine Burnett, who scored Dungeons & Dragons six years ago. Who says that Hollywood isn’t incestuous? Seriously, though, Davidson’s work is nothing if not adept: it pushes all the right scary buttons, hits all the right ‘boo’ moments, has plenty of creepy Gothic orchestral grandeur, and earmarks Davidson as a talent to watch.

A traditional scary/beautiful string theme first appears in “Waking from the Nightmare”, segueing nicely into a playful, pastoral representation of historic Tennessee in “The Manuscript”. There’s a spectral choir in “Wolf in the Garden”, unsettling whispers in “Voices in Her Head”, and some strangely twisted Aaron Copland fiddles in “Entity’s Reminder”, but as one might expect, the action and horror cues are the most impressive moments. “Something Evil Here”, “Entity’s First Attack”, “A Violent Attack”, the wonderfully energetic “Attack on Betsy & Theny” and the propulsive “Carriage Attack” are rampant barrages of sound, filled with grand dissonances, the kind of angry orchestral assaults which composers like Christopher Young, Elliot Goldenthal and others have written over the years. The brass snarls, the strings screech, the percussion pounds, and voices wail, leaving the listener in no doubt about the intent of the malevolent spirit. It’s good, wholesome stuff for all the family – if you know what I mean.

TRACK LISTING: 1. Opening (0:45) 2. The Warning (1:47) 3. Waking From the Nightmare (1:21) 4. The Manuscript (1:51) 5. Something Evil Here (1:55) 6. Entity's First Attack (1:40) 7. Ethereal Girl (2:37) 8. Wolf in the Garden (1:47) 9. Curse of Kate Batts (1:11) 10. Seance (2:01) 11. A Violent Attack (2:56) 12. Voice in Her Head (2:01) 13. Entity's Reminder (2:46) 14. The Cave (3:45) 15. Attack on Betsy & Theny (6:20) 16. John Bell's Curse (5:01) 17. Carriage Attack (4:14) 18. The Truth Revealed (3:47) 19. A Promise Fulfilled (2:38). [MovieScore Media MMS06005, 50:32]. Click here for purchasing options.


VET HARD

ALEX HEFFES

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton: When I first heard the title of this film, my first thought was that it was a sequel to the Leslie Nielsen comedy “Spy Hard”, only this time featuring a crime-fighting globe-trotting veterinarian. But, no, it’s actually a Dutch action-comedy about a snack bar owner who gets in involved in a bank robbery scam. Vet Hard stars Jack Wouterse, Kurt Rogiers and Bracha van Doesburgh, is directed by Tim Oliehoek, and is itself a remake of a 2002 comedy from Denmark called ‘Gamle Mænd i Nye Biler’ (‘Old Men In New Cars’). It was one of the most successful films of the Dutch box office in 2005, despite being subtitled “Too Fat, Too Furious” in English.

British composer Alex Heffes began his career as an assistant to Simon Boswell before branching out on his own and scoring successful films such as One Day in September, The Parole Officer, Touching the Void, Trauma and Dear Frankie. Vet Hard (which was Performed by the Metropole Orchestra of Amsterdam) is, basically, a caper score, with a distinct hint of John Barry, Henry Mancini, Lalo Schifrin, and 1960s Goldsmith, with all the instrumental and rhythmic trappings one would expect from the genre. After the gentle “Opening” (which introduces the jangly East European mandolin theme for Mast, the lead character), the first action set piece, “Ram Raid”, kicks in. Later in the score, “Prison Break-Out”, “The Bank Job”, “Car Chase”, “Fuc in Action” and excellent “The Airport” show a great deal of orchestral inventiveness and technique, working in bongos, electric bass guitars, harmonicas, neighing trumpets, big band swing, fluttery bass flutes, and funky Mission Impossible-style ‘sneaking around’ music. “Vet Hard Valkryie” even has a brief burst of Wagner!

The only drawback (from a purely British perspective) is the inclusion of a rendition of Hans Bouwens’ song “Una Paloma Blanca” in cues such as “Car Chase”, “Betsy” and the “Finale” which, despite the lively orchestral performance in the former and the sweeping tenderness of the latter, unfortunately always makes me think of Jonathan King and chimpanzees drinking Typhoo tea. It’s apparently very, very popular in the Netherlands. The release has horrible cover art, too. Other than these small issues, though, Vet Hard is nevertheless an agreeable, entertaining score, which further enhances Alex Heffes’ growing reputation.

TRACK LISTING: 1. Opening (1:15) 2. Ram Raid (1:29) 3. Mast in Hospital (2:25) 4. Train (0:41) 5. Prison Break-Out (4:38) 6. The Bank Job (5:11) 7. Car Chase (1:50) 8. Vet Hard Valkyrie (0:48) 9. Betsy (1:27) 10. A Psycho Romance (2:42) 11. Benny Is Jealous (2:03) 12. Vuc in Action (2:41) 13. The Airport (6:12) 14. Mast's Last Words (1:29) 15. Finale (2:08). [MovieScore Media MMS06006, 37:11]. Click here for purchasing options.


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