Jerry Goldsmith was born in L.A.
There's an article in Newsweek about Ennio Morricone (since he's being given this year's lifetime achievement award at the Oscars) which refers to him as maybe the greatest film composer ever. For my money, after Herrmann, it was Jerry. He may not have created instantly recognisable scores for certain iconic Spaghetti Westerns, but he did score a lot of iconic films, many of which have withstood the test of time pretty well (Charlton Heston's bellowing aside!).
6 comments:
It's hilarious that Morricone said publicly over the weekend that he really would have rather not received the Oscar...
And I'd wager that while most people wouldn't recognize either Jerry or Ennio from their own assholes, they'd still be able to associate familiarity with a Jerry tune more than a Morricone one(G,B & U being the exception of course).
While not as invested or knowledgeable as the other commentors on this blog, I'd say that for myself, Jerry Goldsmith is Number One in film scoring. Herrmann: a close second, really close. But I think Jerry's orchestral ear was more unconventional and innovative. And he repeated himself less than any other film composer than I can think of.
As for Morricone, I've only heard a few of his 500-plus scores, so i can't say anything with confidence. But i think there's a difference between composing an iconic THEME, as opposed to a well-integrated score.
I'd say that's a fair assessment Mr. Compositeur (how ya doin'?).
Herrmann most decidedly had a flair for unconventional orchestraion but I think what has always drawn me to Jerry's music is the way he's able to combine really interesting orchestrational elements and tie it all together compositionally (and then throw in the occasional electronic element as a particular project may have required). This was especially true in the '60s and '70s when i think he was at his absolute best. Planet of the Apes (for my money one of, if not the, most truly forwardthinking scores ever written for cinema), The Omen, Patton (the greatest anti-war war movie ever made?) Alien, The Blue Max, Chinatown and, just for the heck of it, the Derek Flint movies with James Coburn that are absolutely raucous! It was also widely whispered (more like common knowledge) that one of the scores of which he was most proud was Total Recall. Say what you want about the movie but if he was proud of that score (and a handful of others) that's good enough for me!
I wouldn't call myself intimately familiar with Ennio Morricone's music, either. There's a lot of really nice stuff in it and he can colour pretty darn well. It seems to me next to impossible to write scores for over 400 films and not repeat yourself in there a few dozen times. There doesn't seem to be this architectural design in his scores that exists in a lot of Jerry's.
what's wrong with total recall the movie?
i'm scared to go onto the surface of mars without a pressureized suit for fear my eyeballs will pop out of my headin a column like form.
damn...i can't even spell pressurized.
oh well.
What about a pasteurized suit? I would wear one.
Somebody once asked if I was lactose intolerant because I don't eat ice cream. Lactose intolerant?? Hey, I've always liked breasts.
Post a Comment