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West Side Story
from: Sony
: :Leonard Bernstein's musical update of Romeo and Juliet, with a young Stephen Sondheim's brilliant lyrics, had already galvanized Broadway with its vivid reinvention as a parable of racial intolerance and generational conflict. But director Robert Wise's lavish widescreen presentation broke fresh ground by taking the story to its most impressionable audience, the teenagers who could identify directly with Tony and Maria, and opened up Jerome Robbins's kinetic choreography through bravura camera work. The original soundtrack album was not merely a huge seller but a unique touchstone for an otherwise rock-oriented audience, and its ...
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Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl
: :Loosely based on the popular Disney theme park audio-animatronic ride, one might expect a modicum of good-natured 'Yo-ho-ho-ing'--or maybe a little rousing Korngold/Errol Flynn/Captain Blood orchestral romanticism--here. Instead composer Klaus Badelt initially entices us with some sparing Celtic folk charm, then unleashes a furious broadside of symphonic and choral thunder to rival his ominous score for K-19. The composer's fellow German mentor is an obvious influence throughout (the album is credited with a wink as 'Score overproduced by Hans 'Long John' Zimmer') but Badelt brings his own muscular instincts to bear throughout. Perhaps ...
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The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
from: Walt Disney Records
:Album Description:The ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK to the highly-anticipated second film from the worldwide blockbuster NARNIA! THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:PRINCE CASPIAN features an unforgettable and heart-pounding score by GRAMMY AWARD® -winning and GOLDEN GLOBE® nominated composer Harry Gregson-Williams plus the brand new SWITCHFOOT single and video 'This Is Home'
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Out Of Africa: Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack
from: Mca
: essential recording:The great irony of John Barry's Academy Award-winning score for Out of Africa (which also took the Oscar as Best Picture) is that it almost never was; director Sydney Pollack had originally envisioned the film with native African music, going as far as laying the indigenous score down as he was editing. But the weight of John Barry's arguments--not to mention his considerable track record and composing gifts--held sway, and the composer delivered on his intent: a lush, romantic masterpiece for the ages. --Jerry McCulley
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The Holiday
from: Varese Sarabande
: :For this Nancy Meyers-directed romantic comedy, Hans Zimmer serves up a breezy score quite different from the more heavy-duty works he's become known for. This may have something to do with the film's tone, of course, but also with the fact that Zimmer has sole credit on only two cues, having co-written the others with members of his extensive stable of helpers, including guitarist Heitor Pereira and even pop artist Imogen Heap (who also contributes wordless vocals in addition to getting writing credits on three tracks). In the film, Jack Black's character is ...
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Moulin Rouge
: 's Best of 2001:Nicole Kidman playing a singing prostitute? Ewan McGregor channeling the Police? If the soundtrack to director Baz Luhrmann's freakish musical Moulin Rouge has its way, we'll all be wearing corsets and swinging from the ceiling while the former Mrs. Tom Cruise becomes our favorite new pop sensation. As daring as Luhrmann himself, the compositions test Kidman--who could have easily used a league of backup singers and studio knob-twiddlers to hide her inexperience--and she actually passes. She's no Olivia Newton-John, but she capably mixes Madonna's 'Material Girl' with 'Diamonds Are a ...
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Walk the Line
: :This is not a review about Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon's hair. However--as any self-respecting fan knows--in country music, after proving you can pluck a guitar and carry a tune, the power of the right hairstyle is not to be underestimated. Johnny Cash, in fact, was famously vain about his locks--perhaps one of the few things he was vain about--and many a guitar store employee can attest to the fact that when the Man in Black came in to buy his special brand of guitar pick, his hair was dyed a jet black ...
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Footloose (1984 Film)
from: Paramount Pictures
: :There's a popular movie trivia game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon whose rough hypothesis is that the actor is somehow the center of the cinematic universe. One doesn't get very far into the game without encountering Footloose. The film that seems destined to become an 80's camp classic (repressed Midwestern youth bravely fighting for their right to dance) was also a notable trailblazer in the pop song soundtrack marketing scam, i.e. line up a bunch of contemporary hit makers and have them cut a batch of songs that might not be germaine ...
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Almost Famous
: :Writer-director Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Say Anything, Singles) was a teenager when Rolling Stone magazine sent him out to write cover stories in the 1970s. Nearly 30 years later, Crowe tells the tale in satisfying fashion and extensive detail with Almost Famous, accompanied by a soundtrack that accurately reflects the time of his trial by fire. Led Zeppelin have never before licensed a performance to a soundtrack, so 'That's the Way' earns the distinction. A live version of Lou Reed's 'Waiting for the Man' performed by David Bowie in 1972 typifies the emerging ...
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Chicago
: :The movie version of Kander and Ebb's Chicago was long in the making, but it's well worth the wait. Director Rob Marshall's main change was to turn the classic musical numbers into fantasy sequences, but of course this isn't obvious on CD. Most importantly, the arrangements are bursting with life while being true to the show's spirit, and the casting is simply inspired. Catherine Zeta-Jones actually started her career on the British boards (she was in The Pajama Game and 42nd Street), so her turn as slinky Velma Kelly isn't that surprising; Renée ...
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