Greetings! ScoreKeeper here still in recovery after a jaw-dropping, mind-blowing, eye-boggling, ear-opening, eight day orgy of films known affectionately as Fantastic Fest. I attended FF last year and it turned out that I found my number one and number two favorite scores of 2006 in PAN’S LABYRINTH (2006) and THE FOUNTAIN (2006) respectively. It was one of the very best film festivals I had ever attended so when the third iteration of FF came prowling around I knew I that my return was inevitable. This year I saw twenty-one films compared to the sixteen I viewed last year. I know, I’m a bit of a minor-leaguer compared to the thirty plus films many others attended. However, It’s not quantity, but quality that fulfills ones expectations of a great festival and FF certainly delivered. Last year I wrote about my thoughts concerning the fresh crop of scores I unearthed at the festival. Although I wasn’t going to automatically write up a retrospective this year, the films and scores I experienced forced my hand to express the salacious joy wrought during this week long genre festival specializing in sci-fi, horror and fantasy films. A host of fantastic folk have chimed in already with great film reviews. I’m a smidgen late, however I thought I’d keep my score report alive and comment upon the great music that jolted me at Fantastic Fest 2007. One of the first really cool scores I discovered was SPIRAL (2007) directed by Adam Green who also directed HATCHET (2006) which was a darling at last year’s festival. I loved his score for HATCHET which was composed by Andy Garfield so I was rather excited to see what the score had in store for SPIRAL. With Joel David Moore co-directing the picture with Adam they enlisted Todd Caldwell and Michael Herring to craft an eclectic jazz-based score born from the lead character, Mason’s, affinity for classic jazz music. Long before the audience is introduced to this dimension of Mason’s persona, the score weaves the idea into the narrative from the outset of the film. You don’t her many jazz scores in the first place much less used in dark, macabre settings. The use of free jazz during key frenetic moments in the film are extremely effective and the subtle play of source scoring compliments the reality of particular situations with a facet of the fantastical. I do have one complaint concerning the music. During the final unraveling of the film at the story’s apex the filmmakers chose not to allow their well-seasoned jazz score to wrap up the events unfolding on screen. Instead they forced a pop song into the narrative thus usurping the musical continuity Caldwell and Herring had successfully spent the previous ninety minutes trying to achieve. It reminded me of an episode of GREY’S ANATOMY whose trademark is featuring a woefully inappropriate song at the conclusion of every episode. Caldwell and Herring’s wonderful jazz horror score meticulously earned its audience only to be upstaged by a song with no prior association to the film at the crucial moment when it was needed most. One of the things that I love so much about Fantastic Fest is that I am introduced to so many talented composers whom I previously had never been privy to. Such is the case with Kiyoshi Yoshida and Olivier Bernet who both composed exquisitely gorgeous scores for THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (2006) and PERSEPOLIS (2007) respectively. Both films couldn’t have been more different yet their similarities create common ground for enjoyable cinema: compelling stories, delicious art work, and evocative chamber scores expressing breadth in their brevity. For pure fun and unadulterated excitement no score during the entire festival could compare to Garth Jenning’s SON OF RAMBOW (2007) composed by Joby Talbot, well-known for his tongue-in-cheek score to THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (2005). The film, about a sheltered boy whose imagination explodes after seeing FIRST BLOOD (1982) for the first time, is a poetic love letter to the 1980’s and Talbot throws in all the tricks in the book to effectively capture it. I’m a huge fan of 80’s scores mostly because of their audacity and unapologetic boorishness. Talbot encapsulates much of what 80’s scoring is about with his music for SON OF RAMBOW. There are shades of Danny Elfman in the opening titles, Bill Conti during the triumphant climaxes, John Williams in the character introductions, Jerry Goldsmith in the spotting, and it had the tone and overall vibe of Dave Grusin’s score for THE GOONIES (1985). I don’t think that Talbot quite matched the sheer collective talent of all those aforementioned composers but his intentions were fruitful and ultimately rewarding. I couldn't help but smile throughout this entire film. Over on the darker side of cinema I visited THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (2007) which was an openly poignant opus reflecting the horrors of child abuse set in the 1950’s. It was an unexpected amalgam of STAND BY ME (1986) and HOSTEL (2005) which was loosely based on actual events. Composer Ryan Shore was tasked to enter the dungeon and express the brooding atmospheres necessary to propel the narrative through the firm acquiescence of the audience. It’s a very emotional film and hard watch yet Shore’s music helped ease us through the delicacies of the story with subtle efficiency. There are long haunting melodies and he’s careful not to comment upon the horrific images on screen directly but rather give them a soundboard for which to resonate. Any genre festival worth its weight would be remiss to omit a straight-up combustible action flick. For me, the pinnacle of action at Fantastic Fest was Wilson Yip’s FLASH POINT (2007) starring Hong Kong martial arts sensation Donnie Yen. This was one of those “kick-your-ass-now-and-take-names-later” kind of films which danced around a techno-infused score by Kwong Wing Chan of INFERNAL AFFAIRS I, II, and III (2002-2003) fame. Kwong Wing Chan managed to craft one of the most dynamic, exciting, and effective techno-laced scores I’ve heard in an action film. Kwong creatively blends various forms of music around an electronica foundation incorporating Chinese folk idioms using the erhu, hard rock elements, grand orchestral elements, and constantly evolving loop based techno music. He’s careful not to let the music get too static even during the unrelenting action sequences. The music is always contouring the action from its highest peaks to its most fragile subtleties. The spotting is particularly ingenious as well. His musical entrances and exits scream of badassedness and his methodical use of well placed silence helps balance the aural and visual elements of the movie. Probably the most controversial and conversed about score of the entire week was Jonny Greenwood’s audacious music for Paul Thomas Anderson’s THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007) starring the 2007 Academy Award winner for Best Actor, Daniel Day Lewis. For me this was a mixed bag. There were moments of brilliance interwoven amongst cardinal sins. It was almost so venturesome that it became cool but ultimately its functional failures are far too discernable to elevate it to such status. The first third of the film highlights the majority of what is successful about this score. It’s composed primarily of a small chamber string orchestra accentuated periodically with subtle piano. This is a sound that I adore in film music and for the most part it works exquisitely with the picture giving the images and the unfolding story multiple dimensions from which to absorb the narrative. It’s these smaller, less austere moments that I think really show some classy scoring. From there the music begins to unravel for me. The square-peg-in-a-round-hole dimension the music reflected in the first act progressively becomes a liability as it struggles to develop and sustain the narrative through the course of the picture. It evolves into an obstacle with which the audience is expected to hurdle. For some it is easy. For others its nearly impossible. This is one of the worst sins film music can commit. The inherent nature of film makes it difficult for any director to command the audiences’ attention for the time in which it takes to completely tell the story they are trying artistically to tell. One of the more important roles of music in film is to smooth over any potential obstacles in achieving that goal. The worst thing it can do is turn into an obstacle itself. I’m down on my share of new film music but the score for THERE WILL BE BLOOD won’t be one of them. There are still some very cool moments showcasing a musical daredevil in the early stages of his film scoring career. I hope that if Greenwood chooses to score more films he will approach it with the same sense of adventure as he did this film. It sounds like there could be something remarkable awaiting us in the near future. Now, I’ve saved the best for last. On the penultimate night of Fantastic Fest we were treated to what is currently my number two favorite film of the year complimented by what is, so far, my number two favorite score of 2007. EL ORFANATO or THE ORPHANAGE (2007) was, for me, the most enjoyable cinematic experience of the entire festival. Produced by Guillermo Del Toro, directed by first time feature film director Juan Antonio Bayona, and composed by second time feature film composer Fernando Velázquez, THE ORPHANAGE represents much of what I love about cinema. The film and its lovely score remind me slightly of director and composer Alejandro Amenábar’s THE OTHERS (2001); a standout achievement in 2001. He turned the musical ideas of a horror based ghost story completely upside down by creating a eerily romantic score that spared us many of the modern horror clichés heard in film music. Velázquez follows suit in THE ORPHANAGE by crafting a wholly gorgeous score void of modern clichés. Instead of evoking terror with cacophonic and aleatoric music paired with obscenely obnoxious bangs on every scare gag in the film, Velázquez uses music to reveal what is instinctively creepy about things already familiar to us. Although it’s bone chillingly scary, it’s in principle a romantic score which creates depth to the story and a presence within the characters. At times it even reminded me of a classic Universal monster movie score. I don’t doubt that once this film is seen by the general audience that it will invoke similar praise. The film and its score are both among the best I’ve seen this year and I’ll be looking forward to it crossing over from its native Spain to theaters here in the US. Other highlight films and scores I discovered last week were AACHI AND SSIPAK (2006), LOS CRONOCRIMENES or TIMECRIMES (2007), George Romero’s DIARY OF THE DEAD (2007), the Ennio Morricone love fest in KILTRO (2006), and the short films PUPPET (2007), TYGER (2006), and THE TALE OF HOW (2006). Fantastic Fest 2008 is still fifty weeks away but I’m already looking forward to drowning myself in the sea of fantastic cinema that it promises to deliver. Whether you’re a fan of film music, cinematography, screenwriting, acting, directing, special effects, or just cinema in general, Fantastic Fest is your festival. See you in September!

ScoreKeeper!!!

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