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Wow…we have hit the bottom of Elfman related stuff to discuss.
Well…I guess. I’m not too familiar with Steve Bartek’s composing career, so when I saw his name in Cabin Boy credits I was a little surprised.
And don’t forget, BB director/TNBC screenwriter Carolyn Thompson was an old flame of Danny’s…
I thought they were still dating at the time.
you usually have to BUY the albums to hear the songs
Thor, buddy, Amazon.com sells 231 Oingo Boingo songs for download. Welcome to 2010.
Am I the only one who thinks that he should listen to a few songs first before he starts buying or downloading the albums? Oingo Boingo isn’t everyones cup of tea. There’s a reason the band was never more than a cult hit. Even after Elfman became an A-List film composer and promoted his Boingo work as much as he could. I already suggested songs. Anyone want to add more to the list?
Start with the essentials:
Weird Science
Dead Man’s Party
Little Girls
Only a Lad
Violent Love
Just Another Day
Gray MattersIf you like those then starts exploring their albums.
If Burton-Elfman-Keaton ever return to Batman it’ll be as one of those Direct-to-DVD animated films that WB releases every year.
they realized that they LOVED his work without having even noticed that it was all the same composer
Based on my experience, people are aware of Danny Elfman because of sites like iTunes and those for ringtone downloads. The Simpsons and Nightmare Before Christmas are VERY popular. Who doesn’t have those on their iPod? October is around the corner. Everyone is gonna be listening to Nightmare Before Christmas soon. There’s a reason why Disney re-released the album and even bothered to hire famous singers to do cover versions. They know there’s a big audience out there.
KINGDOM
The Kingdom is essentially an action movie.
TAKING WOODSTOCK
That’s a borderline comedy and he did hippie-inspired rock music. For Elfman, who has a background in rock, scoring “Taking Woodstock” was no different than scoring “Midnight Run” in 1988.
BIG FISH
That’s a fantasy film.
FAMILY MAN
Christmas music? That’s one of the things that Elfman is best-known for.
SOMMERSBY
That’s a thriller.
The only dramas that Elfman has scored are Article 99, Dolores Claiborne, Good Will Hunting, A Simple Plan, A Civil Action, Anywhere But Here, and Milk. Standard Operating Procedure is a documentary, so that’s up for debate. But, anyway, those 7 (or
films don’t exactly feature iconic Elfman scores. They’re not in the same league as his genre films like Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Batman.If it would have created a jazzy score from Elfman I would have missed that, but something tells me they won’t go that way with the score.
In Seth Rogen’s interview from a while back he said that Elfman and Gondry were trying to come up with an offbeat score. So, it is possible that the score would have been Jazzy – especially considering that the iconic Green Hornet theme from the `60s show is a jazzy score.
Most people only become aware of a composer if the music is VERY popular, like John Williams with Star Wars. Remember when The Phantom Menace was released in 1999 and FOX made a music video of Duel of the Fates that MTV actually aired?! I’m surprised your friends aren’t aware of Danny Elfman since Nightmare Before Christmas is like a holiday tradition these days. Then again…maybe that’s just in the United States.
his latest “action” scores
I wasn’t talking about action scores. I was talking about his genre scores, which aside from action, include comedy, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, etc. He’s better at that then indie drama scores. At the end of the day, Edward Scissorhands will be more remembered and celebrated than Dolores Claiborne.
Ryan, I never ignored your policy. When I post a video I make sure it’s approved by the record company. If you notice, some videos get approved and are used for revenue. All my Danny Elfman videos get that treatment. The only exception was Scrooged which got deleted. I know you had a bad experience like two years ago, but things have changed.
There’s FAR more quality listening in the subdued and/or ambient stuff
I find them boring. Plus, there’s other composers who are better at it. Compare Carter Burwell’s “Fargo” to Elfman’s “Simple Plan” for example. Elfman seems out of his element in smaller and more dramatic movies. In genre films he’s one of the best and does his most memorable work. Keep in mind that I’m not just talking about action movies. I mean in general. Most people consider “Edward Scissorhands” to be his best score and that was a quirky fantasy film. Even “Black Beauty” wasn’t exactly a grounded picture. It was a children’s movie about a horse. “Sommersby” and “Dead Presidents” were thrillers. So, again, genre films is where he belongs. “Good Will Hunting,” “A Civil Action,” “A Simple Plan.” and “Milk” weren’t right for Elfman. There’s dozens of other composers who could have done a better job.
I know people get mad when I say this, but Elfman is better at bombast than ambient scores. His best quiet/small scores are for quirker and more romantized movies like Edward Scissorhands and Black Beauty. Drama just isn’t his area. Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Horror, etc is when Elfman is at his best. He’s a genre composer not an indie drama guy.
Meh, suppose. I’m not very familliar with his score releases, but of the films he’s scored that i’ve seen, the music has never caught my attention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8czt8R7Z4I&feature=player_embedded
Yesterday (August 2) was the 25th anniversary of Weird Science.
Monday, August 9 is the 25th anniversary of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. The movie that started it all.
Tuesday, August 24 is the 20th anniversary of Darkman.
Music Composed by Danny Elfman
Conducted by Shirley Walker
Orchestrations by Steve Bartek
Recorded by Robert Fernandez, Mixed by Dennis Sands and Shawn Murphy
Album Produced by Danny Elfman“I loved writing this score. Again old-fashioned and melodramatic, but in a way that I’m crazy about. Sam Raimi has a wonderful visual style that lends itself easily to music. It was an enormous relief writing long, extended musical sequences, something which is very rare in modern films. No reason to hold back on this one.” – Danny Elfman
Darkman is a film I hold in very high regard. A lot of folks just don’t appreciate Sam Raimi’s high-octane take on the comic book hero as tortured loner. The film has it all: amazing visuals, quick pacing, fine performances, memorable setpieces, humor, scares, romance, sadness — and great music. Darkman is the team-up of my favorite director, Raimi, with my favorite composer, Elfman. Can it get any better then when these two work together?
The film and score work hand in hand. Danny Elfman captures all sides of the Darkman character: the rage, the isolation, the love-lost for Julie (Frances McDormand). Liam Neeson may have given Darkman life, but it’s Elfman’s music that is the air Darkman breathes. Darkman was written in that super-fertile period for Elfman that was the early 1990’s, so his orchestrations are thick and feature plenty of orchestral might. Of note is the brass-heavy main theme stated, in traditional Elfman fashion for the era, in “Main Titles”. Also par for the course was the ingenious variations on the main theme, Elfman weaves it in and out of the score in many guises, including a circus motif (“Carnival From Hell”) which starts out vibrant and quickly descends into hell. The two concluding tracks “High Steel” and “Finale/End Credits” are among the best, with “High Steel” featuring some of Elfman’s most dynamic brass writing ever.
The Darkman album seems like it’s available everywhere, but is no longer available at the online retailer Amazon.com. If you see a copy, grab it before it disappears. – Ryan Keaveney
I suppose there could be some kind of internal freak out at the studio, though. The trailer was not well-received at all.
True, but the footage at Comic-Con was. The trailer was quickly put together for the release of Sony’s Grown-Ups and didn’t use any of Gondry’s “artsy” material which the Comic-Con footage did.
James Rolfe a/k/a The Angry Video Game Nerd at the Danny Elfman panel
that doesn’t make it sound like Elfman any less
Yeah, but you said it was a homage when it clearly isn’t. Jerry Goldsmith was just pleasing the director. No different than in Star Trek when he was asked to do a Star Wars/John Williams-esque score.
I don’t think anyone has ever homaged Danny Elfman. He has been ripped off, but I don’t know if that counts as homage. When John Ottman quoted Planet of the Apes in one of Superman Returns tracks, is that stealing or an homage?
In television, however, I have noticed some Elfman homages. I mean…I can’t be the only one who hears Elfman in this:
THE SHADOW has always been – and still is – one of the most obvious Elfman hommages in the history of film music
Well, not really. To begin with, Danny Elfman has imitated Bernard Herrmann a lot. So, a lot of times what sounds like an Elfman homage is really just a Hermann homage. Like, for example, one might listen to John Williams’ Minority Report score and think it’s Elfman-inspired but it’s really just Herrmann. HOWEVER, that being said, you are correct that Elfman’s Batman theme was influential among FILMMAKERS. They wanted their superhero movies to have the “Batman sound.” I mean, heck, we all saw that commerical with the Elfman score. The studio wasn’t even trying to hide it. So, whatever Elfman-esque sounds you hear in the Shadow score is just Jerry Goldsmith trying to please his bosses. It’s no different than in Star Trek where he did a John Williams/Star Wars-esque score.
