Blog Archives

Dawn of a Soundtrack

“Zimmer will only be scoring the Superman parts of the film, according to an interview he gave to Comic Book Resources, while Junkie XL is going to handle the Batman side of things, also scoring the movie. The idea of having two composer working against each other and together over the course of the film feeds directly into the nature of the film.”

–Drew McWeeny, Yahoo’s HitFix

Zack Snyder is proving to be a thoughtful and creative director of the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie, expected to be released in a year and a half in the middle of 2016.

Snyder is thoughtful because while he is again working with famed composer Hans Zimmer in a follow-up to Man of Steel (which Hans composed and Snyder directed), Snyder is respecting the mesmerizing and unforgettably epic soundtrack Hans created for Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed Dark Knight trilogy. This yet-to-be-release movie will feature a new Batman with a new creative team (except for David S. Goyer). It would have been easy (and quite frankly) expected for Snyder to reenlist Zimmer to scribe a new Batman theme. But, out of respect to the stand-alone trilogy and to Zimmer himself, Snyder has excitedly asked him to expand the already praised modern soundtrack to the current Superman: Henry Cavill.

Dawn of Justice will star a new Batman in a new story. And Superman’s story is just beginning, with the origin chapter now complete. So, well done Snyder, well done.

Snyder is creative because he is challenging and, in effect, daring a musical maestro, which has the thrilling potential to result in something quite magical. The process will likely be partly uncomfortable, and yet exciting for both composers. The battle royale of all battle royales in superhero culture will not only have an epic stage, but it will have an epic, multilayer musical journey. This arrangement of competing composers appears to be unprecedented, therefore its creativity reading is rightly off the Richter scale.

Still more than a year off into the horizon, it’s reassuring to read that the director of an upcoming cinematic adventure for the ages starring the two most storied superheros in history understands the gravitas of these characters and seems to be rising to the immense expectations of its dedicated and anxious fans.

That’s music to everyone’s ears.

Happy Monday!

Last night, Olympic viewers were treated to one of the most anticipated events by one of the most anticipated nations: The Two-Man Jamaican Bobsled Team. Despite a less than stellar time, that wasn’t the core reason for the excitement and widespread jubilation surrounding their return to the Winter Olympics for the first time in 12 years. It all dates back to the 1993 Disney classic, Cool Runnings, based on events from their improbable bobsled debut at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

We all know the story and we all love the story.

When the Jamaicans prepared their run last night, everybody was leaning in as close as possible (both in the stands and at home) to try and hear if they would say that magically inspiring phrase…

The following video is fan-made and combines an epic finish with an epic song by Hans Zimmer. 20 some odd years later and people still view this story as unforgettably special and, yes, transcendent (please turn the volume up for the video/song).

This story never needed a gold medal to be seen as a golden Olympic moment.

“Respect!”

Happy Monday Mon!

“The Batkid Rises”

One week ago today, “Batkid” entered the psyche of men, women and children all across the country. When the Make-a-Wish Foundation joined forces with the city of San Francisco to transform their beloved “city by the bay” into the dark, mean streets of Gotham City, the people were looking for a hero to save them from a familiar gang of villains.

Here is a fan-made trailer of what transpired last Friday:

http://youtu.be/gwVIovv6KmU

Batkid showed us all how to rise that day.

An Epic Return for the Rocket Man

While this inquisitive thought was born from almost complete randomness, it does actually make logical sense. Bear with me.

Remember, “The Rocketeer” from 1991?

First of all, could a remake or sequel work after all these years? Second, if so, what if Christopher Nolan directed and wrote it with his team of A-list writers and producers?

This could be his team’s chance to tell the story of a hero as opposed to a deeply conflicted anti-hero. The hero, Cliff Secord, would still have internal dilemmas, but he would fit more with a traditional hero within the Nolan-world of cinema.

“Man of Steel” and “Gravity” took flying in cinema to new some new heights this year with memorable sequences, like when Superman puts his fist to the ground seconds before he blasts up into the sky. Watching him burst through the clouds was an utterly fantastic sight. The realism was sublime. The sequences between these two films alone beg the question of what would “The Rocketeer” look like in this “epic age” of film making?

Christopher Nolan is currently making a film about space travel called, “Interstellar.” Is it too far a stretch to transition from this scenario to filming a man with a flying rocket?

Part of what makes this daydreaming idea so intriguing is knowing how successful the original movie was more than two decades ago, before IMAX and 3D became virtually mainstream tools in the movie industry. Imagine sitting in a movie theater surrounded by a pulsating soundtrack scored by Hans Zimmer that tracks Cliff Secord flying in the biggest aerial playground ever conceived with a powerfully engaging back story, enemies of “Dark Knight”-caliber and perfectly injected, mind-blowing plot twists.

The possibilities…

Christopher Nolan has proven his directorial and storytelling forte and magic for re-imagining a popular franchise with his new, modern take on Batman and Gotham City. He then helped Zack Snyder produce, “Man of Steel.” Both the Batman trilogy and the first of at least a two movie franchise for Superman achieved surreal success at the box office worldwide.

Back on September 5th, Entertainment Weekly’s Grady Smith reported the soaring success of, “Man of Steel,” with a global box office that exceeded $650 million.

Of course, “The Dark Knight” trilogy easily surpassed the billion dollar mark in the global box office.

Simply crazy success.

Again, this is merely a random vision. The reality of this Nolan-Rocketeer partnership happening may be just as impossible as a man flying through the skies with a personalized golden rocket pack…

Still, when listening to songs from the “Dark Knight” and “Man of Steel” soundtracks and then listening to the soundtrack from “The Rocketeer” by James Horner, it’s almost impossible not to dream about the surreal treatment given to Cliff Secord by Hans Zimmer and Christopher Nolan/Syncopy Inc.

Watching a potentially epic partnership on an IMAX screen in a movie theater. Well, I don’t know about you, but that’s already got my attention.

If a sequel or remake to, “The Rocketeer” ever does happen, then hopefully movie theaters will be fully stocked for selling gum.

Beemans anyone?