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Total Recall
Jerry Goldsmith
Loosely based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, this epic science fiction thriller from director Paul Verhoeven stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a construction worker who buys himself a “virtual vacation” to Mars only to discover that a previous and very top secret life has already been wiped from his memory.» Read full feature
Fueled by by Jerry Goldsmith’s energetic and unapologetically muscular score, “Total Recall” remains one of Schwarzenegger’s and Verhoeven’s most popular films, its unpredictable, mind-bending twists and turns brilliantly varnished by Goldsmith’s effusive orchestrations. Like most of his post-“Star Trek: The Motion Picture” work, “Total Recall” is a full-bodied orchestral score boasting detailed and nuanced application of the full orchestra in nearly every cue – heavy horns and percussion to generate suspense and tension, intermittently offset by impassioned strings and woodwinds to communicate empathy. Synthesizer and organ are but a few of the unexpected instrumental innovations that often blur the line between score and sound effect, another Goldsmith trademark of the era used here to exceptionally memorable effect. -
Effi Briest
Johan Söderqvist
Theodor Fontane’s classic 1894 novel about the tumultuous life of a 17-year-old aristocrat’s daughter after she is married to a Baron twice her age receives its fifth screen adaptation in this lush 2009 Hermine Huntgeburth-directed German-language production.» Read full feature
Best known for his haunting “Let the Right One In” score as well as his collaborations with Oscar-winning Danish director Susanne Bier, Swedish composer Johan Söderqvist here pays opulent homage to the 19th century romantic origins of Fontane’s novel with a sweeping, melodramatic underscore designed to externalize the tempestuous emotions of a young woman thrust into a life she would never have chosen for herself. Soaring strings and impassioned crescendos ebb and flow like tides of fate carrying Effi to her destiny -
Saw 3D
Charlie Clouser
Phenomenal horror franchise centered around the deranged crimes and copycat legacy of a killer who devises physical and psychological tests for his victims.» Read full feature
Composer Charlie Clouser — the former Nine Inch Nails member and remix specialist — proves himself a master of tension and momentum throughout the Saw series, increasing tempo and heart-rates with devilish facility. Propulsive strings, hefty beats, and bursts of industrial shredding feature prominently, along with artfully demonic echoes, electronic scratches, persistent electronic notes, and finessed off-kilter piano lines, and each Saw score is tethered to variations on the excellent main theme (aka Hello Zepp). -
CutThroat Island
John Debney
Pirates Geena Davis and Matthew Modine compete with rival pirate Frank Langella to find hidden treasure in director Renny Harlin’s 1995 swashbuckling epic.» Read full feature
Oscar-nominated for “The Passion of the Christ,” composer John Debney strikes a decidedly less reverent tone with this unapologetically grandiose, old-fashioned adventure score. The furious blunt edge of brass and timpani lead a full orchestra and chorus to conjure a rousing musical evocation of wind-whipped seas, mighty ships and courageous derring-do with frequent reminders of the danger and uncertainty that also lurk in the deep below. A dash of swooning romance and a pinch of Renaissance harpsichord (Purcell Snatcher) complete the effort, a nautical symphony of heroic proportions – and one of Debney’s very best. -
Chloe
Mychael Danna
In Canadian director Atom Egoyan’s 2009 remake of the French erotic thriller “Nathalie…” a female gynecologist (Julianne Moore) hires call girl Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) to test her husband’s (Liam Neeson) loyalty, unwittingly inviting an emotional predator into both their lives.» Read full feature
Regular Egoyan collaborator Mychael Danna eschews conventional “thriller” motifs in favor of a more pastoral score, instead emphasizing sparse, seductive, occasionally romantic and almost incidental cues crafted to keep audiences from too easily anticipating the film’s trajectory until it’s sprung on them. Simple tracks like People Like You and I Felt Him suggest a kind of romantic gentility while more rhythmic soft contemporary tracks like Windsor Arms and Conservatory turn the screws on the story’s darker, more suspenseful intentions. Finally, a shift toward minor keys in atonal Hermannesque cues like Don’t Want this to be Over and Told You Not to Call Me helps complete the narrative and musical odyssey into madness.