This past week John Williams had his 80th birthday. One of the first thing he will do during his 80th year will be attending the Oscars later this month where the Maestro is nominated for 2 best score awards. Even at this age Williams is at the top of his game.

In honor of the most prolific film composer alive today I wanted to use my weekly film score soap box to celebrate the man who has provided the soundtrack to the imaginations of several generations.

Everyone knows about his contributions to Star Wars, Superman, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter, but how many people are aware that he wrote not one, but two classic themes for Lost in Space?

It was John Williams music that made me fall in love with film music. I can pinpoint it all the way back to a single moment in Jurassic Park when the helicopter approached Isla Nublar, the cue still gives me chills to this day, and nearly two decades later I still look to Mr. Williams as the inspiration for a life long passion.

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Last month we spent time reviewing the Golden Globe nominated film scores, at the time I had only listened to one of them going in so it was a nice way to start award season and catch up on some great scores. Now that the Oscar nominations have been released I was going to do the same thing, only I have already reviewed most of them

Thankfully I spaced out and didn’t review the second of John Williams two nominated scores yet, The Adventures of Tintin, so I can knock out the last of the major nominated scores and be all caught up in time for the big show next month. After this week I will move onto the two films with Oscar nominated songs to spice things up a bit.

The Adventures of Tintin is the second score from Williams this year and in tandem with War Horse showcases the Maestro’s range as a composer, even today. Based on the action/adventure films Williams has composed for in the past, Tintin  marks a bit of a departure as the music is not dominated by specific themes, it is more a collection of classic action music that sets the stage for the impressive animated film.

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The worlds of rock and roll and film composing have been intertwining for a few decades now. Most people know the history of Danny Elfman who transitioned from Oingo Boingo front man to film music legend, and of course the recent notoriety of Daft Punk and Trent Reznor, have ushered in a whole new generation of film music fans.

Most people, however, don’t know of composer Cliff Martinez’s history in rock and roll. The Drive composer spent the better part of the ’80s as a drummer for several bands, and when conflicts rose during the early years of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers he stepped in. Cliff Martinez was the drummer for the band during their first two albums and associated tours, and now as the Red Hot Chili Peppers are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame so too is Martinez.

While he didn’t stay with the band long, original drummer Jack Irons was free of other commitments and returned after the second album, he was a part of the history of the band. Shortly after his stint with the Chili Peppers Martinez got his start in composing with a job writing music for an episode of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.

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The Dark Knight Rises is one of the most anticipated movies of the year for many reasons, one such reason is the new score by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. The previous movie had one of the more subtle, complex and ultimately effective scores for any Super Hero movie ever, so of course anticipation is high for this installment’s music.

While we wait on the upcoming score to be released it can be fun to reflect back on what has come before. A recent YouTube video has popped up with some very interesting revelations about the inspiration for one of the more memorable musical moments from the last film. It appears as if the track ‘Why So Serious’ bears more than a passing resemblance to the score of an early 80′s French film.

Now most people will use this as yet another moment to stand on a pedestal and try to tear down Zimmer as a plagiarizer. Hans Zimmer has a reputation of taking music from his previous films and re-purposing them in future movies, just take a listen to some of the action music in Rango and you will hear more than a little Pirates of the Caribbean.

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Last year Trent Reznor lead a resurgence of main stream musicians turning to film scores. The 80′s saw a lot of this trend, most notably Danny Elfman, of Oingo Boingo fame and Christopher Franke of Tangerine Dream. The best two scores from 2010 came from popular musicians in Reznor’s The Social Network and Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy. 2011 might be shaping up the same with one notable score by The Chemical Bros. already released.

Reznor is back again, with compatriot Atticus Ross, for another David Fincher score. This time writing the music for a film that seems much more up the ally of the Nine Inch Nails artist. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a dark, thrilling murder mystery that seems a [perfect fit for they style of music Ross and Reznor have made previously.

Much like The Social Network, this score is deceptively complex, with subtle tracks that wash over your mind like the blankets of snow that define the movie. The music is not overly orchestral, but that works to the advantage of the film, helping cement a ton of tension and keeping everything feeling a bit off.

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The third score from this year’s Golden Globe nominated set that I have the pleasure to review is from The Artist. The film is an interesting one, a silent film shot in black and white, set during Hollywood’s golden age. The film goes through great lengths to simulate the style of films the movie is about, and one of it’s biggest assets is it’s score.

Musically this could have come right out of the late 20s, it has a timeless quality, that allows it to feel fresh at the same time it transports you back to film music of a long passed era. Silent films used to rely heavily on music to help convey emotion, and as a result the music would often tell you as much of a story as the pictures did. It is exciting to hear that style of music in cinema again.

There is also a tremendous positivity abound in the music. Ludovic Bource has crafted a musical composition that damn near forces you to smile. One of the things that we too often hear these days is dark, monotone notes played for a mildly uncomfortable effect. This score excels at the exact opposite, and is incredibly fun.

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Nothing like awards season to let you focus in on some fantastic film music! The Golden Globe nominations went out this week and in honor of that Film Score Friday is going to cover the nominated scores each of the next four weeks. I say four weeks because we already covered the excellent War Horse by John Williams. So let’s start off big with Hugo by Howard Shore.

Howard Shore is one of today’s leading composers, everyone and their mother knows his stuff from The Lord of the Rings, but Shore has had an impressive career beyond Middle-Earth. So it was an immediate pleasure to realize he was writing the music to Scorsese’s cinematic love letter to film.

Shore brings a fantastic French sound to the table. Much like Michael Giacchino’s Ratatouille score, Shore takes a the French style and makes it work beautifully within his own bag of tricks. The French influences are in almost every aspect of the score, yet at no time does it sound like wall to wall French music.

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On last week’s episode of The Bitcast I was challenged to put my video game money where my film score loving mouth is. So this week I decided to give you all a special edition of Film Score Friday: a top five rundown of my favorite video game scores of all time.

The music in video games has often been considered an after thought that had little to no bearing on the games themselves. Only a handful of franchises had transcendent music, and everything else was just deemed filler.

Now that video games are growing to near cinematic heights of popularity and quality, the music in these games has also seen a renaissance. High profile film composers are taking on video game projects, marquee games are releasing sound track albums and the film score community is finally accepting video games as source of quality music.

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If there’s a war for online music and radio services it’s probably going to be between Pandora and a service like Spotify. We can’t really count iTunes in this battle because the streaming in it isn’t up to the same level as those other two.

The battle is heating up now as Spotify has unveiled Spotify Radio, a new service similar to Pandora that will roll out as an extension to the company’s desktop client. The service allows users to create artist-based stations that will stream an unlimited amount of music similar to the artist selected.

Here’s the scoop on the new service directly from Spotify:

You can be the DJ and skip between stations and tracks, or choose a station and just go with the flow. If you like what you hear, you can save the song to a playlist or play it again on demand.

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The Hunger Games is shaping up to be one of next year’s most interesting films. Based on it’s source material and fan base it would have been easy for the filmmakers to pump out a cheap looking Twilight cash in, but a funny thing happened along the way. The movie actually looks visually intriguing and competently constructed.

One of the more exciting aspects about the behind the scenes of this movie was the inclusion of Danny Elfman as it’s composer. Elfman is always capable of crafting a memorable theme and in recent years he has shown the ability to stretch his musical muscles. Alas, the new Tim Burton movie, Dark Shadows, and Men in Black III are keeping Elfman too busy next year and he has to bow out as the composer. Enter James Newton Howard.

Newton Howard is one of the most consistent film composers working today, he is capable of making a phenominal score for any movie, no matter it’s quality. Heck, the man’s score for Lady in the Water is one of the best things no one has heard in the last decade. He is much like Jerry Goldsmith in that regard.

The movie might have lost one high profile composer, but it gained another master. One who is more likely to give us something great, no matter the final quality of the film itself.

Alberto Iglesias is a fantastic composer. He has two Oscar nominations under his belt, and now that he is getting higher profile work it wont be long before this Spanish composer gets a win. His most recent score is for the spy drama Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy, starring a who’s who of the best British actors working today.

The music for a thriller like this is essential in selling the mood and tension. A great score can be all the difference a movie like this needs to really breakout. So it is with great excitement that I take a listen to the Iglesias’ music, knowing that if he nails it this could be one of the best scores of the year.

My first reaction to this score is that it’s simple, piano heavy tones are perfect for a hard boiled spy thriller. I appreciate the minimalist approach which really heightens the moments of suspense in the score. The music is also not afraid to get big and exciting, most notably on the titular final track. There is a great since of intrigue in this music, really capturing the vibe you what to hear in a movie such as this.

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This week’s Film Score Friday is going to stretch the concept a bit. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn actually has an original soundtrack, not a full score release as of yet, but I did want to branch out a little bit. Plus there is a single track of original score on the album, hooray for loop holes!

The album is a collection of pop songs that either appeared in the film or were inspired by it. Soundtracks like this are a very interesting proposition, it is very possible to arrange a fantastic set of songs that both evoke the film and make for a great listening experience. In fact my first introduction to the world of film scores was through soundtracks like this one.

Now I am far from Twilight’s target audience, but I have seen all the films so I know what to expect going into this album. These are going to be a collection of songs that are harmless, sappy and most of them will probably sound the same, right?

Well, a funny thing happened on the way to me writing this, I actually started to really like some of these songs. Mayhaps I have grown soft in my young age, but some of these songs are actually damn catchy. Also, and much more importantly, the songs actually work really well in the context of the film.

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