Tag Archives: film

Film 101: Archetypes

Hollywood has been increasingly bashed as of late for its failure to come up with anything remotely original (or if they do it’s executed badly or simply stupid). At the same time, it’s also true that there are only so many ways to tell a story. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not excusing Hollywood’s obsession with sequels or reboots in the slightest, I know perfectly well they could come up with more original films if they really put their brains to work. I’m just saying that all stories are based on a limited number of elements. If you make enough stories (or movies, in this case) similarities are going to be inevitable.

In terms of characters, the common types seen in every film are known as archetypes, or what you get when you boil a film down to its basic elements. For instance, at their core, most films are a fight between ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ (but that’s a discussion for another day). For characters, there are multiple archetypes to choose from (I would like to note that this is not an exhaustive list, I’m just covering the basics):

  1. The (usually naive) hero/heroine: Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins, Bilbo Baggins (in the Hobbit trilogy), Aladdin, Elsa, Belle, I could go on for a while. One of the most common archetypes is of the young hero/heroine who must go on a journey of some kind and come into their destiny, whatever that may be. 99% of the time the hero archetype is also the protagonist (unless they flip the script and use a plot twist to make the ‘hero’ the villain).
  2. The wise old mentor: Gandalf, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Spock Prime (in the rebooted Star Trek series), Grandmother Willow, and so on. Another common archetype is the wise old mentor who usually appears just as the hero/heroine needs advice and/or a guide for the journey that leads to their destiny.
  3. The (all-powerful, usually scary) villain: Literally every bad guy in every film! But to name a few: Darth Vader, Sauron, The Horned King, Jafar, Scar, Ursula, Smaug, Gaston, Maleficent (animated version), and so on. If you look at the villains of a story, they all have some traits in common: traditionally they wear some shade of black; they’re either disfigured in some way, creepy OR handsome to a fault (if they’re human). They can also possess black magic or invoke dark forces on some level and with the exception of Darth Vader are generally irredeemable. It is the villain that the young hero/heroine must eventually confront/defeat in some way for their destiny to be achieved.
  4. The sidekick/minion: What is a hero/villain without his sidekick/minion? Or multiple sidekicks as the case may be? Aladdin had Abu, Pocahontas had Meeko and Flit, Ratcliffe had Percy; Gaston/Le Fou, Mulan/Mushu, etc.
  5. The romantic love interest/damsel in distress: I hate to say it, but 9 times out of 10 the romantic love interest is also (at some point) the damsel in distress. Look at classic Hollywood cinema if you don’t believe me (the original King Kong is a great example).

These five archetypes cover a large number of characters!! This idea has been rattling around in my head for a while, so this might be the start of a new series where I talk about different parts of film, like genre, and talking about what a McGuffin is.

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“Jyn Erso and Hope” from Rogue One, my thoughts…

I can’t believe it’s been nearly two months since I saw Rogue One. Since then, I have been turning over portions of the score in my mind, particularly “Jyn Erso and Hope”, the main theme for our badass heroine.

From the moment I first heard it, something wiggled in the back of my mind and said “I’ve heard something like this before.” But for the longest time I couldn’t think of what that something was.

Then I went back and listened again, and finally it dawned on me: I know EXACTLY where I’ve heard this melody before (granted it wasn’t the exact same, but the core is still intact).

“Jyn Erso and Hope” is, to put it simply, a variation on “Across the Stars”, the love theme for Padme and Anakin from Episode II/III. Here, let the music speak for itself:

Here is “Jyn Erso and Hope”

and here is “Across the Stars”

To my ears, it sounds like Giacchino took components from “Across the Stars” and rearranged a few notes. But if enough of a similarity remains, the mind will remember and try to supply the missing parts (that’s how I knew I’d heard the theme somewhere else).

I don’t think there’s any hidden symbolism behind this, as it makes no sense for there to be any connection between Anakin/Padme and Jyn (though part of me does wonder if Jyn’s mother was a Jedi, she DID have a kyber crystal after all).

I’m not particularly surprised that Giacchino borrowed from another piece of Star Wars music; this is a practice that dates back to the dawn of film music (they don’t really talk about it, but everyone knows about it), but a part of me wishes that he had done a better job of disguising the theme if he wanted to do something like that.

I’m interested to hear what all of you think about this: do you hear the similarity? Or do you hear a connection to another piece? I love discussing film music like this 🙂

See also:

Film Soundtracks A-W

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See also:

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, My Thoughts!!

Thoughts on Suicide Squad (2016)

It finally happened: I actually caved and watched Suicide Squad, and boy oh boy do I have some thoughts on the subject.

It happened towards the end of my little vacation trip; there was a screening of Suicide Squad that evening and I thought to myself “Well I don’t have anything better to do, why not?” The next thing I know, I’m over an hour in to the story and I’m HOOKED!

Yes, despite the flaws (and they were many), I found myself enjoying the story I was being fed, so I’ll start off by listing the positives:

  • Margot Robbie absolutely KILLED it as Harley Quinn. I could watch her all day long, and I’m eagerly looking forward to the full-length Harley Quinn film.
  • Will Smith was fantastic as Deadshot, I loved the prologue part where he’s demanding his money over the phone before he’ll do the hit. And based entirely on the scene with Deadshot and his daughter (when Batman arrests him), I want/need to see a full-length Deadshot film, and it must have Will Smith in it.
  • The visuals are out of this world! This is important for me, as I’m a visual-based person.
  • I like the look of Enchantress, both her initial look and her secondary look when her brother gives her some of his power so she’s not dependent on her heart.
  • And then there’s the Joker…I admit, I DID enjoy Jared Leto’s performance, what little of it we got to see anyway. I can’t pass a complete judgement on whether it was good or bad because he’s barely there as a character, but it definitely has the potential to be amazing (and definitely a unique spin on the legendary villain).

 

Those are the big good points for me, now for the not so good.

  • Here’s the thing with Suicide Squad: if you don’t THINK about what you’re seeing, it’s a great story. The problem comes when you think about the sequence of events, where these people come from, etc. and then issues start coming out of the woodwork. Everyone who says they should’ve done some standalone films before launching Suicide Squad are absolutely right. In fact, those “prologue” segments for most of the main characters look like they came from 5-6 separate films, and I desperately want to see more, because aside from the bigger characters like Deadshot, Harley Quinn and Killer Croc, I don’t really know who Captain Boomerang or Diablo are.

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  • And then there’s the fact that not all of the characters get a backstory. Slipknot is literally introduced out of nowhere, and we don’t even get to know him before he (spoiler alert) dies in a rather gruesome fashion. And THEN there’s Katana, who is also brought in with ZERO explanation, which stinks because she looks really awesome!!
  • And speaking of explanations, I feel like they could’ve made a full-length Enchantress movie explaining how she and her brother came to our dimension, ruled the humans, were betrayed, etc. and such a film would’ve been really helpful in establishing her motives in this film. I mean we do get plenty of hints that the pair were worshipped as gods, that they’re very ancient, but in the end they were betrayed and trapped away, and now they want vengeance.

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  • It really was a mistake to put the Joker in this film and NOT have him as the main villain. I know that was the biggest reason (among many others) that this film failed to impress. Because, let’s face it, the previews essentially promised a film where the main villain was the Joker!! And who doesn’t want to see that? Then we actually GET to the film and, even in the extended cut, the Joker has maybe ten minutes of screen time. Talk about a bait and switch!! It should’ve either been Joker as the main villain, or Enchantress as the main villain, but using both was a mistake (though I would’ve been okay if they had done the following: have Harley receive messages from the Joker periodically, but don’t actually show him. THEN, at the very end of the film, have the “Joker breaks Harley out of prison” scene play as normal and show the Joker as a teaser/hook for the inevitable sequel. You know, something to whet the appetite of the audience.

Suicide Squad is definitely not the worst film I’ve ever seen, but it does not meet its full potential either. That being said, it does solidly rank as a good popcorn film with me (that’s why I ran out and bought a DVD copy as soon as I got home from my trip). Hopefully Jared Leto gets to reprise his Joker role in the future so I can form a better opinion of his performance.

See also:

Film/TV Reviews

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All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 “It Feels so Good to be Bad!” (1996)

There are a few things that have always bothered me about a number of animated sequels. Most of the time, the voice cast is completely different, the animation is inferior, and the music…well, is not the best. MOST of the time, all of the above is true, and certainly this is the case with All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (1996, I cannot believe this film is 21 years old).

This completely unnecessary sequel to the charming (and very scary) All Dogs Go To Heaven features an all new adventure with Charlie (now voiced by Charlie Sheen), Itchy (Dom DeLuise), and their eternal nemesis Carface (now voiced by Ernest Borgnine), who has literally made a deal with a devil cat named Red (George Hearn). To summarize: Charlie is bored stiff in Heaven, he longs for some kind of adventure or excitement. Well, he gets it when Carface steals Gabriel’s Horn (on Red’s orders), and attempts to bring it to him. Without the Horn, the gates of Heaven cannot open and no new dogs can enter. Learning the horn is somewhere in San Francisco, Charlie successfully convinces Annabelle (head angel/dog in Heaven) to let him and Itchy go to retrieve the horn. Meanwhile, Carface ends up working more closely with Red, there’s a runaway human boy named David in the mix, etc. and so on (sorry I’m not good with brief summaries).

There is ONE bright spot in this piece of mediocrity though, and that’s the villain’s song “It Feels so Good to be Bad!” Red (strongly implied to be the very pet of the devil himself) is performed by George Hearn, a legendary performer on the Broadway stage. He won acclaim as Sweeney Todd, starred as Max in the original Broadway production of Sunset Boulevard, and he also performed as the Wizard in Wicked from 2004 to 2005.

You can hear his Broadway experience in “It Feels So Good to Be Bad!” In fact, the whole song feels like it was created with Broadway in mind. At the start, Carface is jabbering on about how he and Red can use the horn to open any bank or safe they please, but Red has much grander things in mind (up until this point he has been masquerding as an elderly dog). He wants Carface to think of the big picture, and drags him into a corner of Hell (that’s what it looks like anyways) to explain. Hearn’s vocal range is impressive, and I love the way he banters with and torments Carface for bungling the theft in the first place. There is a nice allusion to Hearn’s time as Sweeney Todd when Red grabs a straight razor blade and gives Carface a “shave” (taking off all his fur in the process).

 

Oh Carface…he’s so stupid, and that’s one of the details that bug a lot of people who watched the original. In THAT version, Carface was ruthless, conniving, downright bloodthirsty!! Here, he’s noticeably downgraded to slightly better than an imbecile. One could make the argument that spending time in Heaven erased at least some of his viciousness (despite any arguments he might make to the contrary). Another factor could be that, in finding himself confronted with TRUE evil, something snaps in Carface’s brain.

I just love listening to this song. The rest of the film is meh, not so good, but for this scene at least, Red is a villain par excellence.

I hope you enjoy this great song (it really is the best part of the film).

See also:

All Dogs Go to Heaven “You Can’t Keep a Good Dog Down” (1989)

All Dogs Go to Heaven “Let Me Be Surprised” (1989)

For more animated songs, check out the main page here: Disney/Dreamworks/Pixar/Etc. Soundtracks A-Z

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Pocahontas “Savages, Part II” (1995)

At the conclusion of “Savages, Part I”, the English settlers and the warriors led by Powhatan were preparing for battle (with the latter planning to execute John Smith first thing in the morning). Meanwhile, Pocahontas has fled to Grandmother Willow, upset and depressed that everything is falling apart and the man she’s so recently fallen in love with is going to be executed and there’s nothing she can do to stop it.

Pocahontas “Savages, Part II” (1995)

Grandmother Willow tries to give some advice, reminding Pocahontas of her dream, but she isn’t in the mood to hear it. Meeko, however, is inspired to dig inside his hole in the tree for something.

This “something” turns out to be John Smith’s compass, which contains a large arrow shaped needle inside (Meeko had swiped it during an earlier meeting and Smith had let the raccoon keep it). Pocahontas watches the compass and realizes that as she turns it in her hands, the arrow/needle spins, just like the arrow in her dream!!

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From the moment Pocahontas picked the compass up, the music has begun to pick up in intensity (clearly signalling that something big is about to happen). When she makes the connection between the compass needle and her dream, it picks up a little more. At the peak, there is a short, instrumental refrain of “Listen With Your Heart” as several things happen at once: the sun rises (it’s time for the execution) and the compass needle comes to a stop pointing directly east. The meaning is clear: Pocahontas needs to stop the execution.

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With this decision made, the song resumes with an abrupt cut to Ratcliffe literally walking out of the sunrise, cutting a villainous figure in his black armor. At the same time, Powhatan and his warriors begin the march to the execution site (with Smith in tow) while, in a THIRD musical thread, Pocahontas begins her run to stop an all-out war!

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And, according to the song, Pocahontas truthfully doesn’t know if she can stop this war from happening, but with the power of the spirits (which she invokes along the way), she’s certainly going to try. This semi-hopeful verse is sharply contrasted with the two warring sides who are basically singing the same words (so I’m copying the verse in full):

(Them:)This will be the day/This will be the morning/We will see them dying in the dust

(Pocahontas): I don’t know what I can do/still I know I have to try

(Them):Now we make them pay!

(Pocahontas): Eagle help my feet fly!/(Them): Now without a warning

(Pocahontas): Mountain help my heart be great/(Them): Now we leave ’em blood and bone and dust

(Pocahontas):Spirits of the Earth and Sky/(Them): It’s them, or us

(Pocahontas): Please don’t let it be too late!!/Them: They’re just a bunch of filthy, stinking…

(Them): Savages, savages/demons, devils (kill them!)/savages, savages, what are we waiting for? Destroy their evil race, until there’s no a trace left!

(Pocahontas): How loud are the drums of war!!/Them: Now we see what comes, of trying to be chums/ Pocahontas: Is this the death of all I love, carried in the drumming of…

(All): WAR!!!

Towards the end, all three groups converge at a cliff where the tribe has assembled to execute Smith as revenge for Kocuom’s death. While the approaching settlers watch in horror, Powhatan prepares to crush Smith’s skull with a war hammer (a club with a large stone set in it). At the last moment, Pocahontas darts forward and throws herself over Smith before the hammer can fall.

Saved!!! For now anyway. Pocahontas has an ultimatum: if Powhatan wants to kill John Smith, he has to kill her too, and also she loves him (to the surprise of her father). All of this, Pocahontas says, is the result of walking a path of anger. She, meanwhile, will choose love.

Moved by what his daughter has said, and seeing the slaughter that will come if they continue, Powhatan swears that if there will be any more killing “it will not start with me” and he orders Smith to be released. Everyone begins to lower their weapons, and war seems to have been averted…which is great…right?

Ratcliffe doesn’t think so. This was his big chance to take the Indians out and now the battle isn’t happening at all!. He tries to take advantage by shouting for his men to fire, but the settlers aren’t having it. The whole point of attacking was to rescue Smith, but the tribe has let him go so clearly they don’t want to fight (and therefore neither should they). Seeing his control slip away, Ratcliffe decides to force the issue, grabbing a musket and taking aim at Powhatan. Smith sees this and shoves the chief out of the way just as Ratcliffe fires, taking the bullet instead. Instead of sparking a new conflict, this backfires horribly and Ratcliffe finds him at the receiving end of the settlers’ wrath (a great comeuppance for Ratcliffe by the way, since he ends up being hog-tied by the end).

So on the one hand, the day is saved, but on the other, John is badly injured. This is one Disney film that won’t have the typical ending. How do I mean? Well, you’ll have to check out the finale to find out 🙂

It nearly goes without saying that “Savages, Parts I and II” are one of my favorite Disney songs and I hope you enjoyed reading about it and listening to it.

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For more Pocahontas, see also:

Pocahontas “The Virginia Company” (1995)

Pocahontas “Steady as the Beating Drum” (1995)

Pocahontas “Just Around the Riverbend” (1995)

Pocahontas “Listen With Your Heart” (1995)

Pocahontas “Mine, Mine, Mine!” (1995)

Pocahontas “Savages, Part I” (1995)

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Pocahontas “Savages, Part I” (1995)

I wanted to save this song for last, but I couldn’t hold out any longer!!!

pocahontas

With practically every Disney film ever made, there comes a point where events spiral out of control and everything is on the verge of disaster!! “Savages, Part I” begins at such a moment: Kocuom is dead at the hands of Thomas, but only Pocahontas and John Smith know that. The warriors who capture Smith assume that, as the only white man present, that HE fired the shot, and even if Pocahontas told them the truth, they wouldn’t believe her. Chief Powhatan is beyond disappointed in his daughter and he also blames her for Kocuom’s death (“because of YOUR foolishness, Kocuom is dead!”)

Pocahontas “Savages Part I” (1995)

But the turmoil in the village is nothing compared to what’s brewing in the English camp. Thomas has gone racing back to report Smith’s capture, rousing everyone in the process. Ratcliffe is secretly delighted by this turn of events; he’s been itching for any excuse for an all out attack on the “savages” and this provides the perfect opportunity.

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“Savages” begins with Ratcliffe stirring the settlers into a frenzy, reminding them that these “savages” are no good, they deserve to die because they’re different, etc.For example:

What can you expect/from filthy little heathens/here’s what you get when races are diverse!

Their skin’s a hellish red/they’re only good when dead/they’re vermin as I’ve said and worse!!

Actually, the soundtrack version of the song is much nastier, the opening line goes: …from filthy little heathens/their whole disgusting race is like a curse! (I think they realized when they developed this song, that they were going a step too far and they adjusted the line for the home video release of the film.)

Theses opening verses are so openly racist that in the years since its release, this song in particular has gotten a lot of flak, with critics saying the song’s sentiments are completely inappropriate.While is is true that “Savages” expresses racist sentiments, that’s also the point of the entire song!! This song is fully exposing Ratcliffe as the evil, racist villain he’s always been, and the settlers are fully caught up in the wake of his ranting (except for Thomas, who has his own doubts).

They’re savages!
Savages! Barely even human!

Savages! Savages! Drive them from our shore!
They’re not like you and me, which means they must be evil
We must sound the drums of war!

They’re savages!
Savages!
Dirty shrieking devils!

Now we sound the drums of war!

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With the English settlers ramped up to go to war, the song switches to Powhatan’s village, where the villagers are making preparations of their own. While the English consider the Indians to be “savages”, the natives consider the white men to be “demons” who must be wiped out before anyone else can die.

This is what we feared/the pale-face is a demon/the only thing they feel at all is greed.

Beneath that milky hide/there’s emptiness inside/I wonder if they even bleed??

They’re savages! Savages!

Barely even human! Savages! Savages!

Killers at the core…

They’re different from us,
which means they can’t be trusted…

We must sound the drums of war!

They’re savages!
Savages!
First we deal with this one
Then we sound the drums of war!

John Smith can only watch as the war preparations continue, with the Indians planning to execute him before the battle. The camera cuts back and forth to show how alike the two sides really are: both are arming for war, both are really angry and both are beating “the drums of war” (no matter how different they look, a drum is a drum.)

The truth is, both sides are blinded by hatred. Neither can see that they are equally human because one looks different from the other. It’s interesting how, in the song, each side is color-coded and made to look increasingly not-human (the English are colored orange/crimson and the Indians are colored indigo with war paint added on top of it).

Things are definitely out of control, and if the two sides meet, it’s going to be bad (mostly for the Indians, because the English settlers have a lot of muskets and cannons and arrows and spears will have practically zero effect on that kind of firepower.) What’s going to happen? Will John Smith die at sunrise? We’ll find out in “Savages, Part II” !!!!

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Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

For more Pocahontas, see also:

Pocahontas “The Virginia Company” (1995)

Pocahontas “Steady as the Beating Drum” (1995)

Pocahontas “Just Around the Riverbend” (1995)

Pocahontas “Listen With Your Heart” (1995)

Pocahontas “Mine, Mine, Mine!” (1995)

Pocahontas “Savages, Part II” (1995)

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James Newton Howard talks Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

I can’t say it often enough: Atlantis: The Lost Empire is one of the most underrated films that Disney has ever made. Seriously, the animation is beautiful, the story is great, and the MUSIC is one of the best parts! (See Atlantis: The Lost Empire “The Crystal Chamber” for more of my thoughts on this score).

If you haven’t seen the film, the story follows a young cartographer and linguist named Milo Thatch (Michael J. Fox), who is determined to prove the lost city of Atlantis (whose destruction we witness in the beginning of the film) exists and thereby clear his grandfather’s name (his late grandfather was a famous explorer who lost his reputation when he insisted that Atlantis was real). According to Thatch’s research, the key to discovering the location of the sunken city can be found in a mysterious artifact known as The Shepherd’s Journal. But as it turns out, his grandfather had already found the Journal in a previous expedition and left it to his friend, eccentric millionaire Preston B. Whitmore, to be held in his possession until Milo was “ready” to find Atlantis himself. Whitmore wants to help Milo because of a bet he made with his grandfather over whether or not Atlantis existed. Since Milo’s grandfather found the Journal, Whitmore agreed to finance any future expedition with the best materials and the best crew. To that end, Milo is introduced to mostly the same crew that helped Milo’s grandfather find the Journal in Iceland.

The most notable members include:

  • Tiberius Roarke: Commander and secretly a snake in the grass who wants to rob Atlantis of its treasures for huge profits
  • Helga Sinclair: Roarke’s lieutenant (and possibly some-time lover?) who is also in this for the profits (though she does express brief reservations when they discover Atlantis is still inhabited)
  • Vinny Santorini: a demolitions expert obsessed with making things go BOOM! Previously worked in a flower shop (though he’d prefer you didn’t know that)
  • Gaeton Moliere (better known as “Mole”), a geologist with an unhealthy dirt obsession. A line in the direct-to-video sequel implies he was raised by naked mole rats.
  • Dr. Joshua Strongbear: a doctor of African-American/Native American descent. He talks a lot but has a really good heart when push comes to shove.
  • Audrey Ramirez: A teenage mechanic from Puerto Rico and the youngest member on the expedition. If it has an engine, she can make it run. Her sister is a famous boxer.
  • “Cookie”: The expedition cook (though that term is used very loosely) who believes in HIS basic food groups: “beans, bacon, whiskey and lard.”

After numerous hurdles (including having their main ship blown to pieces by a mechanical Leviathan), the surviving crew arrive at Atlantis and are stunned to discover a living city inhabited by hundreds (if not more) of people. The surviving Atlanteans are still ruled by King Kashekim Nedakh (who was king when Atlantis sank under the sea) and his only daughter Kidagakash or “Kida” is heir to the throne. Roarke successfully bargains for the crew to stay the night in the city and Milo goes off to explore with Kida, who is fascinated to meet someone from the surface. Predictably, things go sour when it turns out that Roarke and the rest of the crew are actually mercenaries that have a taste for pillaging ancient treasures for profit. In this case, they’re after the semi-mystical “Heart of Atlantis,” the crystal that is currently keeping the city and its inhabitants alive. Kida is absorbed into the Crystal after Roarke deduces its location and Milo gives chase to bring her back before the entire city dies. After a lengthy battle (in which Roarke, Helga and the rest of the crew who didn’t side with Milo are killed), Milo decides to stay in Atlantis with Kida while Audrey, Cookie, and the rest of our heroes return to the surface (with an Atlantean ship filled to the brim with treasure as their reward for doing the right thing).

This film was my first exposure to James Newton Howard (The Hunger Games series, Maleficent), and I will defend this score forever. That being said, I was beyond happy when I stumbled across this interview on YouTube where Howard talks about his work on this film. And as Howard puts it, there are really two films going on in this story: there’s the action/adventure of finding Atlantis, and once our hero Milo arrives, a totally new story begins (with a new score to match). To help distinguish Atlantis musically, Howard used a variety of Balinese instruments (which favor bells and gongs) to create a very unique sound.

I hope you enjoy listening to this interview with James Newton Howard! If you also enjoy this film, let me know what you like about it 🙂

You can become a patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

See also:

James Newton Howard talks Dinosaur (2000)

James Newton Howard talks Signs (2002)

James Newton Howard talks The Village (2004)

James Newton Howard scoring King Kong (2005)

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂

John Debney talks The Jungle Book (2016)

It’s no secret that I have mixed feelings about the live-action Disney remakes. It just so happens that The Jungle Book (2016) is one I dislike, only because I have very strong feelings for the animated original. My own feelings for the work aside, I have heard that the score was well done, not surprising since it was composed by John Debney (his musical magnum opus remains the score for The Passion of the Christ (2004)).

In this short interview, Debney talks about how he came to work on the score for the film, what kind of vision the director had and how Mowgli needed a theme of his own. But that’s not all I discovered. I also found a B-roll of footage from the scoring sessions, and I’m pleased to share it with you here. Please note around 1:58-2:00 the giant score that the composer is flipping through. You can also see a beat counter next to his head at the beginning of the video.

The Jungle Book scoring session B-Roll (2016)

I love watching scoring sessions, it’s something I really hope to witness firsthand someday in the future. I hope you enjoy this interview and the footage from the soundstage. I have a lot more interviews queued up and I can’t wait to finally get them published!

See also:

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

John Debney (and Tom Morello) talk Iron Man 2 (2010)

John Debney talks The Scorpion King (2002)

John Debney scoring Predators (2010)

John Debney talks The Passion of the Christ (2004)

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Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), My Thoughts!!

Warning!!! This review spoils EVERYTHING about Rogue One, if you haven’t seen the film and DON’T want to know, stop reading NOW!!!

Still here? Okay, continue!! (But remember, you were warned!!)

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, OH.MY.GOSH!!! Thursday night, 9:45 p.m., the long wait finally ended and I saw Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first stand-alone Star Wars film in the Anthology series. And oh boy did it deliver!! The film does have one flaw, but I’ll get to that after a bit, let’s start with one of the best parts of the film…

DARTH VADER IS BACK!!!

Let’s all be honest, I think most of us who have gone to see this film did it because Vader was showing up (I know that certainly helped to sway my decision). This is the first time Vader (in all his armored glory) has graced the cinematic screen since Revenge of the Sith in 2005 (though granted that was a very short appearance). In Rogue One, Vader is at the height of his power and general nastiness. Believe it or not, he’s in the film for not quite ten minutes (split into two appearances): his first scene takes place on the lava planet Mustafar where he’s since built an imposing castle-fortress to reside in when he’s not on some mission for the Emperor. I THOUGHT I recognized the planet, but I wasn’t sure until a YouTube review from @StupendousWave (my favorite source for Star Wars news) confirmed my suspicion. Not only do we see this amazing fortress, we also see Vader, briefly, as we’ve never seen him before: completely armorless in a bacta tank. It’s only a few glimpses, really, but it was more than enough to show how little remains of Vader’s human body before he re-armors in order to greet Director Krennic properly.

Speaking of Krennic, he’s the main antagonist for most of the film, or at least he tries to be. Krennic comes across as one of those villains who assigns to himself more importance than he actually has. For instance, a major sticking point (with Krennic) is that he receive the proper credit for developing the Death Star for all these years. When this credit is about to be taken away from him (by a certain character that I will discuss shortly), Krennic dares to whine about this to Vader, who Force chokes him for his troubles.

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I really thought that Krennic would meet his ultimate fate at Vader’s hands, but what really happened was almost as good. The film’s climax takes place on the tropical planet of Scarif, where the Death Star plans are stored in an archive. The Rebels, led by Jyn Erso and company, infiltrate the base, and Krennic (arriving around the same time) moves to stop them. Ultimately, the Death Star arrives and after a long engagement with the Rebel fleet, the Death Star is ordered to fire on the base, destroying it. Krennic, badly wounded from a blaster shot, is trapped on the base’s communication tower and witnesses the weapon he helped create firing on the planet, knowing there is no way he can escape the shock wave in time. Talk about irony!!

And who orders the Death Star to fire? Who is taking the credit for this great achievement away from Director Krennic? Why, Grand Moff Tarkin of course! You know, the villain portrayed by Peter Cushing in the original Star Wars film in 1977? Yes, him!!

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But wait, I hear you all say, didn’t he die back in 1994? Yes, yes he did! And yet, here he is! I confess, I did NOT see this moment coming. I partially blame this on being buried in dissertation work, but also on a slight misunderstanding on my part. I, of course, heard the news very early this year that Disney was working on a CGI replication of Cushing’s character. However, when the main villian was announced to be Director Krennic, I was under the impression that they had scrapped the CGI-Cushing idea. It never dawned on me that they were going to do both!

I mentioned that the film has one flaw, and, please don’t be upset, but that flaw is Tarkin. Don’t misunderstand me, the character as he appears on screen is a remarkable achievement. Digital creations of a human character have come lightyears in terms of appearance and believability and Tarkin is so realistic it’s scary. But…it doesn’t quite work. The first time we see Tarkin, he has his back to the audience (though you know instantly who he is). The big reveal comes when he turns around, and the moment I saw him, I KNEW what they had done. You can see the CGI elements in the way Tarkin moves his head and speaks. The “uncanny valley”, as it were, is still in effect. I WAS able to suspend my disbelief some of the time though, so for me it wasn’t a fatal flaw. I am curious to know what you all thought of seeing Tarkin brought back to life again.

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Moving on to the rest of the story and our heroes, Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor and K-2SO make a great trio. Jyn is the daughter of Galen Erso, a brilliant scientist forcibly returned to the Death Star project by Krennic, and also the man responsible for placing the fatal flaw inside the Death Star that leads to its destruction in Episode IV. Jyn, his only child, has lived on her own for years, and loves her father very much. She is initially recruited to the Rebellion because the Alliance is searching for her father, and a Rebel extremist named Saw Gerrera has in custody a defecting Imperial pilot who came from the installation where Galen works (it’s a little complicated, but still good!)

Outside of Jyn, K-2SO might be the best character on the side of the heroes: he’s an Imperial droid reprogrammed by Cassian and he has the snarkiest sense of humor you’ve ever seen, but his loyalty to Cassian (and the Rebellion) is unquestionable. He and Jyn do not get along for most of the film, but by the end, they’ve earned each other’s respect.

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My other two favorite characters are Chirrut and Baze Malbus. They were formerly Guardians of the Whills (they served at the local Jedi temple on the planet Jedha, they can feel the Force, but can’t actively control it the way a Jedi could) before the Empire, and now they are inseparable. Chirrut still believes in the Force after all this time, while Baze has become more of a skeptic. Chirrut has this habit of praying over and over “I am one with the Force and the Force is with me, I am one with the Force and the Force is with me, etc.” He’s actually blind, but is so in tune with the Force that he can fight as well as any sighted person.

And speaking of the end, deep down, I think I knew this was going to happen, but I was secretly hoping at least one of them would get out alive. Yes, you heard right, in the end, none of them make it off Scarif. Jyn, Cassian, K-2SO, Chirrut, Baze, even Bodhi (the defecting Imperial pilot who has been helping them), one by one, they all die. Jyn and Cassian are the last, they successfully transmit the Death Star plans up to the fleet, but immediately afterward, the battleship fires on the planet. It’s not enough to break up the planet itself (the weapon isn’t quite finished yet), but it is enough to destroy the base. The blast is set out in the nearby ocean so it takes a few minutes for the destruction to reach the pair. Jyn and Cassian have just enough time to reach the beach, reflect on what they’ve done and embrace before they meet their end in a fiery cloud of death. It’s terrifying to me because as they sit meeting their end, Jyn is facing the shockwave as it comes, and you can’t help but wonder what she’s feeling, knowing her death is seconds away.

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And the Easter eggs in this film boggle the mind, simply because there are so many of them! Let me see if I can name more than a few: there’s several sightings of Senator Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits reprising his role from the prequel trilogy); Jyn and Cassian (literally) bump into the pair that tries to assault Luke in the cantina on Tatooine (“He doesn’t like you, I don’t like you either…”); R2 and C-3PO pop up for a split second at Yavin base; in possibly one of the best Easter egg moments, the characters of Red Leader and Gold Leader are featured, briefly, in the climactic battle over Scarif in a clever re-use of some footage from Episode IV; and there are several references to the Star Wars Rebels series (listen for the page asking for “General Syndulla”). There’s more, but that’s most of them.

Lastly, I have to talk about the music. I was so nervous about Michael Giacchino composing the score for this film, and I was terrified it wouldn’t be any good. While I still need to go back and analyze the score, my first impression was very favorable. It definitely helps that Giacchino re-used several of Williams’ themes at key points in the story (particularly the Imperial March, I would’ve been furious if he’d left THAT out). The music definitely isn’t bad, but how GOOD it ultimately is I can’t say just yet (I need to listen to the soundtrack separate from the film before I can give a definite opinion).

Final thoughts:

Rogue One is a worthy addition to the Star Wars canon, though it treads dangerously close to the line with its use of CGI to recreate certain characters. The Easter eggs make this film a fun watch for any Star Wars fan.

It was WEIRD having no opening crawl (and no Star Wars fanfare), I almost wish they would go back and recreate the opening to have a crawl anyway.

It was cool (and a little freaky) to see Peter Cushing’s Tarkin walking and talking again, they’ve almost nailed recreating a human character in full CGI (but NOT QUITE)

Ending the film moments before Episode IV begins was a nice touch, though I am somewhat not okay with how they recreated Princess Leia. I would have preferred seeing her from the back only.

I am so happy we got to see Vader use his lightsaber!!!!! After the first scene, I was terrified that we weren’t going to get any more Vader, not even with his lightsaber, so seeing that at the end was fantastic!

And those are my thoughts on Rogue One. What did YOU think of the film? Loved it? Hated it? Already in line to see it again? Let me know in the comments below (first chance I get I’m going to see this film again, that’s for sure).

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See also:

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

My Thoughts on: Star Wars (1977)

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

My Thoughts on: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983)

A Random Thought on “The Force Awakens”

My Thoughts on: Solo: A Star Wars Story (with spoilers!) (2018)

My Thoughts on: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Danny Elfman talks Meet the Robinsons (2007)

 There are (unfortunately) a lot of films in the Walt Disney canon that are extremely underrated, and Meet the Robinsons is one of them. I admit, when I saw the previews for this film, I didn’t think it was something I would like. How I ended up watching this film, I really don’t remember, but I do know that I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Danny Elfman talks Meet the Robinsons (2007)

The film follows Lewis (Jordan Fry), a 12-year old orphan who is an aspiring inventor. He’s obsessed with locating his mother, who abandoned him at an orphanage as an infant. Lewis builds a memory scanner that he hopes will show him who his mother is, but in the midst of the science fair, a strange kid named Wilbur Robinson (Wesley Singerman) shows up (claiming to be a ‘time cop’) and before he knows it, Lewis is whisked off to a strange (and pretty wonderful) future.

In this future, there are flying cars, singing frogs and wonderful inventions for every aspect of life. It’s hundreds of times better than anything Lewis has experienced and he very much wants to stay. But first, Wilbur (who actually isn’t a time cop of any kind) needs Lewis’ help to fix one of his dad’s time machines (which crashed when the two boys got into an argument). Lewis agrees, on the condition that Wilbur take him to see his mother afterward. Lewis ends up meeting the rest of the Robinson family, all except Cornelius, the head of the family, who’s away on a business trip. Lewis really wants to be adopted by the Robinsons, but when they learn he’s from the past (and especially when they see his distinctive hair, they suddenly change their minds), upsetting Lewis, who now thinks they don’t really care about him. The truth is…kind of complicated. It turns out that Cornelius IS Lewis and Wilbur is his future son (apparently there’s no lasting harm to the space-time continuum if you meet your future family).

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At the same time all of this is going on, a strange “Bowler Hat Man” has been seen sneaking around and stealing various items. It turns out that this is Lewis’ former best friend Goob, now grown up. Goob hates Lewis/Cornelius because his projects made him so tired he didn’t make an important catch at a baseball game and he became so bitter over it that he never got adopted. As a result, he ends up working with another abandoned invention of Cornelius’ named DOR-15 (“Doris”) with the aim of stealing Lewis’ very first invention and ruining HIS future. There’s a brief glimpse of a horrifying future where the entire human population is mind-controlled by clones of Doris (Doris appears as a bowler hat but it can clamp down and obscure the eyes when it’s controlling it’s victim). Lewis is able to end this future by promising to never invent Doris in the first place, and after briefly meeting his future self (how does this not disrupt the space-time continuum??), he is returned to his own time, now knowing that the future is going to be beautiful indeed.

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Danny Elfman composed the music for this film and I think he did a brilliant job. The “Making of” video located above looks into how Elfman crafted the score and took inspiration from other cartoon composers like Carl Stalling (who was responsible for most of the music for the original Looney Tunes cartoons). There are some great shots of Elfman in the recording studio (with the work-in-progress film playing on a big screen).

Meet the Robinsons may be nearly 10 years old, but it’s still a fun film that you should definitely try (and the score is great to listen to as well). I hope you enjoy this look into the making of the music for Meet the Robinsons!

 

See also:

Danny Elfman talks Batman (1989)

Danny Elfman talks Batman Returns (1992)

Danny Elfman “Planet of the Apes” scoring session (2001)

Danny Elfman talks Spider-Man (2002)

Danny Elfman talks Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Danny Elfman talks Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

Danny Elfman talks Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

Become a Patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂