Tag: john williams

  • Score Card: Halloween

    Score Card: Halloween

    I find it difficult not to give the number one spot over to that classic slasher film that birthed the infamous killer known as Michael Myers, and tonight is no exception. The rightly-celebrated Halloween theme is as iconic as Bernard Hermann’s Psycho or John Williams’s Jaws. If Alfred Hitchcock can credit Hermann for 33% of… Read more

  • Score Card: Dracula (1979)

    Score Card: Dracula (1979)
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    The orchestrations of prior horror films, most notably the Hammer Studios films, were frenetic and uptempo, something more suited to an action movie today. Williams mostly avoided this zealous use of horns and frantic strings, preferring instead the sweeping romanticism that has since become a hallmark of the Dracula story. Read more

  • In absentia

    In absentia
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    You may or may not have noticed a conspicuous lack of blog entries since I took former film-master Ridley Scott to task for his dreadful Prometheus. There are a number of reasons (or excuses) for this. In the end, I think I grew weary of writing how woefully inadequate movies have become. This summer’s disappointing… Read more

  • Score Card: A River Runs Through It

    Score Card: A River Runs Through It
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    Score Card is devoted to an unseen but pivotal force behind the best (and worst) movies: the motion picture score. An ethereal veil of ambiance, its absence can be as powerful as its presence, and its misuse can bring down a single scene or an entire film. This column will be something of a journey… Read more