(2011)

The Inbetweeners Movie retains much of the cast and crew who participated in the TV series of the same name.  The film follows the main characters on a holiday to Malia, Crete, none of them knowing how memorable a trip it will actually be.  The film was released in August 2011 to generally positive reviews and extremely positive box office returns, now holding the record for the highest grossing opening weekend for a British film.

The film’s stars are the four sixth form boys, Will, Jay, Neil and Simon, played by Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison and Joe Thomas respectively.  Will is the classic geek - tidy uniform, thick glasses and studious – whilst Neil is as opposite as possible, the sort of person you might find on party poker or YouTube.  Then we have Neil, the innocent and naive one, and finally Simon, who’s reason for taking the trip is to forget about his ex-girlfriend, though he has little success, since she’s staying in the same resort.

There isn’t a great deal to be said about the soundtrack album for the film.  The songs it contains are enjoyable enough, though the songs themselves aren’t as well known as the ones that were used for the TV series, which might be a deterrent for some people.  Still, it 4-5 standout tracks make it a worthy purchase, and on that basis it’s recommended.  Ultimately, if you enjoyed the film, you’ll no doubt enjoy the soundtrack album.

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Track Listing

1. Miles Kane – Quicksand
2. Mike Skinner – No Problemo
3. Mental Holiday (From The Inbetweeners)
4. The Vines – Gimme Love
5. Ke$ha – Blow (Cirkut Remix)
6. Introduce Yourself (From The Inbetweeners)
7. Yolanda Be Cool – We No Speak Americano (Radio Edit)
8. Axwell – Nothing But Love (Radio Edit)
9. Mike Skinner – Fernando’s Theme
10. You’re A Virgin (From The Inbetweeners)
11. Mike Skinner – Twenty Euros
12. Mike Skinner – Waving not Drowning
13. He Shoots He Scores (From The Inbetweeners)
14. Mike Skinner – Clunge in a Barrel
15. Deer Tick – Twenty Miles
16. Calvin Harris – Feel So Close (Benny Benassi Remix)
17. Mike Skinner featuring Laura Vane – We Are Go
18. MY KZ, YR BF (Grum Remix)
19. Mike Skinner – Moanatronic 5000
20. The D.O.T. – Whatever It Takes
21. Two Man Job (From The Inbetweeners)
22. Mike Skinner – Do It
23. Sean Kingston – Party All Night (Sleep All Day) (Album Version)
24. Morning Runner – Gone Up In Flames
25. Mike Skinner – Pussay Patrol
26. To The Pussay (From The Inbetweeners)

All images and artwork are Copyright (C) Sony Music

(2003)

I can’t say I was really looking forward to Pirates of the Caribbean, especially when the trailer advertised “From the Producer of Pearl Harbor and Armageddon”.  Fortunately though, it was a very enjoyable film, with excellent performances by both Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush, and was a great success, warranting two back-to-back sequels in 2006 and 2007, a third in 2011, and a fifth film reportedly also to come.  The score for the film was the subject of much controversy, however.  Of course, no composer alive today can capture the essence of sea-faring swashbucklers as well as Erich Wolfgang Korngold did with The Sea Hawk, probably the best score the genre has ever seen.  Whilst Korngold handled those films at Warner Bros., Alfred Newman did the same at 20^th Century Fox, with his music for such films as The Black Swan also ranking amongst the best that the genre has to offer.

Several modern age composers have given the genre their best, with John Debney’s masterpiece Cutthroat Island perhaps being the best of them all.  Originally hired to score The Curse of the Black Pearl was Alan Silvestri, who would no doubt of given us a similar styled score, with his score for The Mummy Returns proving his ability to write excellent adventure scores.  Sadly however, his music was unsatisfactory to the ears of producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who fired Silvestri and placed an order with Hans Zimmer’s music factory for a new score.

Due to commitments on his score for The Last Samurai however, Zimmer was unable by contract to take credit for composing the score for The Curse of the Black Pearl, and his credited involvement was therefore limited to some synthesizer programming and producing the score.  He has since taken credit for all the major themes however, which has led many to suggest that he was as involved in this score as he is in any other of his collaborative efforts.  Klaus Badelt received primary credit for composing the score, though he was assisted by no less than seven co-composers, nine orchestrators, three conductors, and three synthesizer programmers.

The end result?  A mindless electronic drone that is essentially a compilation of previous scores to come out of Media Ventures.  What was great in Crimson Tide is now just a monumental bore.  Indeed, the worst thing about this score is not that the music is bad, but that it couldn’t be more inappropriate for the film it was written for.  If you thought the score for Gladiator was inappropriate for the film you’re in for an even bigger shock here.  The Hollywood Studio Orchestra is credited as performing the score, but the electronic elements are so prominent you really can’t tell what’s orchestral and what isn’t.  As Harry Gregson Williams with his score for Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas in 2003 and the score for the third film would prove is that the proper instrumentation would have made it a much better score.

Ultimately, with the exception of the score for the third film, At World’s End, which did at least reduce the synthesizers and use a wider orchestral palette, the music for the Pirates of the Caribbean films is to generally be avoided by film score collectors who have any respect whatsoever for the genre of swashbucklers.  Most collectors can seek At World’s End with confidence, but the other three – stick them in the cannons of the Interceptor to fire at the Black Pearl.

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Track Listing

1. Fog Bound (2:17)

2. The Medallion Calls (1:53)

3. The Black Pearl (2:17)

4. Will and Elizabeth (2:08)

5. Swords Crossed (3:16)

6. Walk the Plank (1:59)

7. Barbossa is Hungry (4:06)

8. Blood Ritual (3:33)

9. Moonlight Serenade (2:09)

10. To the Pirates’ Cave! (3:31)

11. Skull and Crossbones (3:24)

12. Bootstrap’s Bootstraps (2:39)

13. Underwater March (4:13)

14. One Last Shot (4:46)

15. He’s a Pirate (1:31)

Total Time: 43:37

Credits

Composed by Klaus Badelt

Additional Music by Ramin Djawidi, Jim Dooley, Nick Glennie-Smith, Steve Jablonsky, Blake Neely, James McKee Smith, & Geoff Zanelli

Orchestrated by Bruce Fowler, Robert Elhai, Elizabeth Finch, Walt Fowler, Bill Liston, Ladd McIntosh, Suzette Moriarty, Conrad Pope, & Brad Warnaar

Conducted by Blake Neely, Nick Ingman, & Rick Wentworth

Produced by Hans Zimmer

Awards

None

Insert Notes

Contains no information about the score or the film.

All artwork and images are Copyright © Walt Disney Records

(2009)

The most recent film from acclaimed Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore is a semi-autobiographical one, the story of which spans three generations, from the 1930s to the present day.  The film is set in the town of Bagheria, where Tornatore grew up, and stars Francesco Scianna and Margareth Madè.  The music, of course, is provided by the legendary Ennio Morricone, who has scored all of Tornatore’s films since 1988.  Their collaboration has resulted in some of Morricone’s finest scores, including Cinema Paradiso, The Legend of 1900, and Malèna.

Baarìa, which according to iMDB is Morricone’s 492^nd film as a composer, is yet another superb score from the maestro, who at 81 years old, he shows no sign of slowing down.  The eleven minute “Sinfonia per Baaria” which opens the album, is a wonderful piece, but sadly it’s also the album’s only downside, when the second half of the track is spoilt by sound effects and dialogue from the film.  Fortunately though, it’s a one-off, and the rest of the music that follows is more than enough to make up for it.

Morricone was clearly deeply inspired by this film (as he mentions in his liner notes), and it certainly shows in the music.  The second track on the album, a fantastic march theme, rapidly makes you forget about the upset in the first, whilst the third track, “Baarìa”, introduces the score’s main theme, and wonderfully showcases the composer’s emotional melodic writing, something that is expanded upon in such tracks as “Brindisi” and “Racconto di Una Vita”.  The music becomes more playful in tracks like “Il Corpo e la Terra”, which makes use of guitars and woodwinds to great effect.  There’s action music too, most notably in “Lo zoppo”, which, whilst only a minute long, is superbly effective with its violent string performances. The bagpipes heard in “L’allegro virtuoso di zampogna” are especially entertaining, and a definite album highlight.

To be sure, this score does contain several references to previous scores, something that many will no doubt be critical of.  But when you take into consideration the fact that Morricone has written over 500 scores in a career spanning six decades, and even now seems to have no intention of slowing down, it’s a little unfair to expect anything amazing.  Make no mistake about it though, Baarìa is an outstanding score that is easily worthy of repeated appreciation for the maestro’s work, and is one of the best written during 2009.

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Track Listing

1. Sinfonia per Baaria (10:57)

2. Ribellione (3:33)

3. Baaria (2:28)

4. Il corpo e la terra (2:35)

5. Lo zoppo (:59)

6. Brindisi (3:02)

7. Un guico sereno (2:17)

8. La visita (2:47)

9. Un fiscaletto (1:29)

10. Racconto di una vita (3:30)

11. La terra (1:51)

12. Verdiano (1:48)

13. Baaria (3:12)

14. Oltre (1:14)

15. Prima e dopo (2:25)

16. I Mostri (1:59)

17. L’allegro virtuoso di zampogna (2:22)

18. A passeggio nel corso (2:51)

19. Il vento, il mare, i silenzi (2:27)

Total Time: 53:36

Credits

Music Composed, Orchestrated and Conducted by Ennio Morricone

Performed by Roma Sinfonietta (Orchestra)

Album Produced by Antonella Navarra

Awards

None

Insert Notes

Contains notes from the director and composer, as well as various credits.

All artwork and images are Copyright © Medusa Film SPA