For about a decade, I was a rabid movie soundtrack fan, collecting CD’s of as many movie soundtracks as possible. I believe there were a certain group of movie soundtrack creators that have had influence on how we see movies, not really understanding how much the music is part of and can make a movie.
Today’s Soundtrack Composer: Jerry Goldsmith.:
Jerrald King “Jerry” Goldsmith (February 10, 1929 – July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring.
He composed scores for such noteworthy films as The Sand Pebbles,”Logan’s Run”,”Planet of the Apes, Patton, Chinatown, The Wind and the Lion, The Omen, The Boys from Brazil, Night Crossing, Alien, Poltergeist, The Secret of NIMH, Gremlins, Hoosiers, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Rudy, Air Force One, L.A. Confidential, Mulan, The Mummy, three Rambo films, and five Star Trek films. He was nominated for six Grammy Awards, nine Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, and eighteen Academy Awards. In 1976, he was awarded an Oscar for The Omen.
He collaborated with some of film history’s most prolific directors, including Robert Wise (The Sand Pebbles, Star Trek: The Motion Picture), Howard Hawks (Rio Lobo), Otto Preminger (In Harm’s Way), Joe Dante (The Gremlins Duology, The ‘Burbs, Small Soldiers), Roman Polanski (Chinatown), Ridley Scott (Alien, Legend), Steven Spielberg (Twilight Zone: The Movie), and Paul Verhoeven (Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Hollow Man). However, his most notable collaboration was arguably that of with Franklin J. Schaffner, for whom Goldsmith scored such films as Planet of the Apes, Patton, Papillon, and The Boys from Brazil.
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Style and influences[edit]
Goldsmith was greatly influenced by movements of early 20th-century classical music, notably Modernism, Americana, Impressionism, Dodecaphonism, and early film scores.[5][59] He has cited Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Miklós Rózsa, Bernard Herrmann, Béla Bartók, and Alban Berg, among others, as some of the main influences to his style of composition.[62]
His composition style has been noted for its unique instrumentation, utilizing a vast array of ethnic instruments, recorded sounds, synthetic textures, and the traditional orchestra, often concurrently.[7]
Legacy[edit]
Jerry Goldsmith has often been considered one of film music history’s most innovative and influential composers.[7] While presenting Goldsmith with a Career Achievement Award from the Society for the Preservation of Film Music in 1993, fellow composer Henry Mancini (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Pink Panther) said of Goldsmith, “…he has instilled two things in his colleagues in this town. One thing he does, he keeps us honest. And the second one is he scares the hell out of us.”[63] In his review of the 1999 re-issue of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture soundtrack, Bruce Eder highly praised Goldsmith’s ability, stating, “…one of the new tracks, ‘Spock’s Arrival,’ may be the closest that Goldsmith has ever come to writing serious music in a pure Romantic idiom; this could have been the work of Rimsky-Korsakov or Stravinsky — it’s that good.”[64] In a 2001 interview, film composer Marco Beltrami (3:10 to Yuma, The Hurt Locker) stated, “Without Jerry, film music would probably be in a different place than it is now. I think he, more than any other composer bridged the gap between the old Hollywood scoring style and the the [sic] modern film composer.”[65]
In 2006, upon composing The Omen (a remake of the Goldsmith-scored 1976 film), Marco Beltrami dedicated his score to Goldsmith, which also included an updated arrangement of “Ave Satani” titled “Omen 76/06”.[66] Likewise, when composer Brian Tyler was commissioned in 2012 to update the Universal Studios logo for the Universal centennial, he retained the “classic melody” originally composed by Goldsmith in 1997, opting to “bring it into the 21st century.”[67]
A sample of Mr. Goldsmith’s work
The Pentagon furloughs the political world ignores
By Steve Benen
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Mon Jul 8, 2013 3:15 PM EDT
Just over the last week or so, one ridiculous policy — Republicans’ sequestration cuts, approved two years ago — has undermined the federal government’s capacity to battle wildfires, hurt the federal court system, undercut job growth, and even canceled 4th of July events. The political world shrugged, if it noticed the effects of the sequester at all.
With this in mind, I don’t imagine Pentagon furloughs will generate much attention, but they should.
More than 650,000 civilian workers in the Defense Department will be taking their first of 11 furlough days this week.
The Pentagon’s 11 weeks of furloughs kick in on Monday, which result in a 20-percent-weekly pay cut through September for 680,000 of the Pentagon’s roughly 800,000 civilian employees.
Those are a lot of numbers, so take a moment to look beyond the statistics and think about the human element: a whole lot of Americans are about to take a huge pay cut for a few months, not because they’ve done a poor job, but because congressional Republicans support unnecessary spending cuts for no apparent reason. This will affect their ability to pay their bills and purchase good and services, which means undermining the economy.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/08/19356664-the-pentagon-furloughs-the-political-world-ignores?lite
Getting mad for all the wrong reasons
By Steve Benen
Mon Jul 8, 2013 4:37 PM EDT
Nearly a week later, the Affordable Care Act’s opponents are still furious that the employer-mandate provision that conservatives opposed won’t be implemented on schedule. But there’s a reason that sentence might seem unusual to you — if Republicans don’t like the employer mandate, why are they outraged that the mandate won’t exist until 2015 at the earliest?
The answer is simple, but unsatisfying: Republicans are mad for all the wrong reasons. Brian Beutler had a good piece on this the other day, noting that Obamacare’s detractors are, ironically, disappointed that “a problematic provision won’t be taking effect right away.” Republicans don’t want a health care system that works effectively; they want a system doesn’t work effectively so they can complain about it. The White House’s decision last week satisfies GOP policy goals, such as they are, but interferes with the GOP’s rhetorical goals, which the right obviously sees as more important.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/08/19357519-getting-mad-for-all-the-wrong-reasons?lite
The Voting Rights Act was gutted, but it’s not yet dead
By Steve Benen
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Mon Jul 8, 2013 9:12 AM EDT
With lightning speed, state Republican policymakers responded to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Voting Rights Act by moving on a series of new voting restrictions, primarily targeting minority groups, students, and the poor. Before two weeks ago, many states would have needed Justice Department approval for these changes — approval they would not have received — but it is now “open season” on Americans’ access to their own democracy.
There is, however, a possible hurdle for those waging the “war on voting.” The Supreme Court undermined the Voting Rights Act by targeting Section 5 of the law — the provision related to pre-clearance — ordering Congress to come up with new standards and leaving this area of the law unenforceable. But Section 2 of the VRA — described by Chief Justice John Roberts in his ruling as “permanent” and applicable “nationwide” — remains intact.
One side effect of the Supreme Court’s decision to stop enforcement of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act is clear: a flood of new lawsuits that have already begun.
The ruling all but guarantees that voting rights advocates will pivot toward filing lawsuits relying on a separate piece of the law, Section 2, to challenge procedures which might impede voters. […]
Section 2 … bans voting procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in one of the language minority groups…. To win a Section 2 case, the Justice Department or a plaintiff doesn’t need to prove that a voting procedure had an invidious intent — only that it had the result of denying a racial or language minority an opportunity to take part in the political process.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/08/19352367-the-voting-rights-act-was-gutted-but-its-not-yet-dead?lite
Senator Cheney?
By Steve Benen
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Mon Jul 8, 2013 8:37 AM EDT
If we were to make a list of competitive Senate races to watch in 2014, Wyoming wouldn’t make the cut. Sen. Mike Enzi is a popular Republican incumbent in a deep-red state — he won re-election in 2008 with more than 75% of the vote — and at age 69, the senator is not yet in a position where he needs to think about retirement. Enzi’s fourth term looks like one of the cycle’s safest bets.
At least, it did. In an era in which even conservative Republican incumbents have to worry about fierce primary challenges, Enzi will apparently have a high-profile foe next year.
A young Dick Cheney began his first campaign for the House in this tiny village [Lusk, Wyoming] — population 1,600 — after the state’s sole Congressional seat finally opened up. But nowadays, his daughter Liz does not seem inclined to wait patiently for such an opening.
Ms. Cheney, 46, is showing up everywhere in the state, from chicken dinners to cattle growers’ meetings, sometimes with her parents in tow. She has made it clear that she wants to run for the Senate seat now held by Michael B. Enzi, a soft-spoken Republican and onetime fly-fishing partner of her father.
It’s not just idle speculation. Liz Cheney, despite having no meaningful background in the state whatsoever, moved with her family to Wyoming just last year and quickly became a ubiquitous political player. Indeed, the right-wing media personality even called Enzi directly, letting him know she’s likely to run against him in a GOP primary.
The result would probably be an ugly fight within the state Republican Party, pitting a popular three-term incumbent against a powerful family with deep roots in the state.
It’s not altogether clear why Cheney would bother. Her brief tenure in public office — she worked in the Bush/Cheney State Department — didn’t go well, but she remains a fixture in political media, routinely publishing “stark raving mad” pieces and making Sunday show appearances. Cheney’s megaphone is formidable, even if she uses it towards ridiculous ends.
But whatever her motivations, this will probably be one of the cycle’s more noteworthy primary fights. Enzi, assuming he doesn’t retire, would almost certainly have the edge, though he has not yet faced a rival as fierce and unburdened by propriety as Cheney.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/08/19351820-senator-cheney?lite
President Obama Speaks on the New Management Agenda
http://youtu.be/Og5UIGJmLy4
The Opening Salvo of 2014
A Koch brothers ad attacking Obamacare begins airing today. It’s smart, savvy, and likely to be effective. Are Democrats ready to respond?
by Michael Tomasky Jul 8, 2013 6:07 AM EDT
Starting today, Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers’ propaganda arm, will run an ad, the first of several that are planned, to attack Obamacare. This marks the official opening salvo of the 2014 election campaign. With no accomplishments, no remotely popular vision of the country, on the cusp of possibly killing immigration reform, and perhaps admitting (at least to themselves) that Benghazi and the IRS are not going to be Barack Obama’s undoing after all, Republicans have been reduced to grasping at their final straw: frightening people about health-care reform. The sad thing is, they stand a decent chance of succeeding. It’s too much to say that the fate of Obama’s legacy hinges on the fate of Obamacare. But it’s probably not too much to say that no other single item will loom as large in determining, 10 to 15 years from now, how Obama’s presidency will be seen. And it’s definitely accurate to say that this is going to be the consuming and defining fight of the remainder of his presidency.
The debut Koch brothers ad is very smart. They’re not shooting for the expected geriatric caucus, or even for the middle-aged couple singing the kitchentable blues à la Harry and Louise. No—here, we have a young mother, pretty (not perky pretty but interesting-looking pretty; she might read books, might even be a liberal) and self-assured. She is “Julie, mother of two.” She speaks of her son “Caleb’s” health issues as a toddler (Caleb!). She’s also pregnant—great touch, that. I don’t know if she’s real or an actress, but if real, I guess I congratulate them for finding her, because they couldn’t have done better making it up.
She goes on to voice her concerns about Obamacare, starting with that old chestnut “If we can’t pick our own doctor…” Nonsense. Conservatives, when asked to defend this, do so by explaining that, well, if A happens and then B and then C, it could … in other words, it’s a Rube Goldberg answer that no one should take seriously. Then there’s “higher premiums and a smaller paycheck.” I don’t know where the “smaller paycheck” comes from (maybe she works for the government and has been furloughed two days a month). But as for the premiums, well, yes, increases are possible. But something beneficial is happening in exchange for those higher rates: sick people who couldn’t previously get insurance will be able to get it now, and more types of medical services will be covered and reimbursed. If you actually want to learn something about this interplay between premium increases and coverage, read this report from the state of California.
But of course talking about all that is explaining, not emoting. On TV, emoting works a lot better, and so Julie here gets the job done. The pro-reform side has its own answering ad and it’s fine, but it’s not as effective. It makes the usual liberal mistake of thinking people will listen to an argument instead of just responding to earnest pleas from pretty blondes.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/08/the-opening-salvo-of-2014.html
FEELING THE WENDY DAVIS HEAT, EH, RICKIE BOY?!
BREAKING:
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said today that he won’t run for re-election next year for an unprecedented fourth full term in office.
“The time has come to pass on the mantle of leadership,” said Perry.
The announcement by the Republican governor opens the door to speculation that Perry will make another bid for the White House in 2016.
Perry is the longest-serving governor in Texas history. He assumed the governorship in
Susan Sarandon Says She’s Not a Feminist: Why She Dumped the Label
by Lizzie CrockerJul 8, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
Susan Sarandon may have been outspoken on women’s issues, but she calls the word ‘old-fashioned.’ Lizzie Crocker on why so many powerful women are distancing themselves from ‘feminist.’
Of all the female celebrities to eschew the feminist label, Susan Sarandon seemed a most unlikely candidate. The 66-year-old actress has long been outspoken about everything from women’s reproductive rights to voting and human-rights issues.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/08/susan-sarandon-says-she-s-not-a-feminist-why-she-dumped-the-label.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_afternoon&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_afternoon&utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet
Condition of Kerry’s Wife Is Said to Improve
By PETER BAKER
Published: July 8, 2013
WASHINGTON — Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of Secretary of State John Kerry, who was hospitalized over the weekend after apparently suffering a seizure, was upgraded to fair condition from critical on Monday, the State Department said.
“She is undergoing further evaluation and Secretary of State John Kerry, her son, and other family members remain with Mrs. Heinz Kerry at the hospital in Boston, as they have been since she became ill,” Glen Johnson, a spokesman for Mr. Kerry, said in a statement. “The family is touched by the outpouring of well wishes.”
Mrs. Heinz Kerry, 74, grew sick while staying at the family’s vacation home on Nantucket on Sunday. An ambulance was summoned to the house around 3:30 p.m. and left shortly afterward for Nantucket Cottage Hospital.
By Sunday evening, doctors had stabilized her, but her condition was judged too serious for the small facility on Nantucket. She was flown along with medical personnel on her own private plane to Boston and transported to Massachusetts General Hospital. Mr. Kerry, who had arrived on the island a few days earlier after a long overseas trip, accompanied her to Boston.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/us/politics/condition-of-kerrys-wife-is-said-to-improve.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_afternoon&_r=1&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_afternoon&utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet&
I’m really going to ENJOY this week’s series too, Rikyrah. I so have a few favorite movie theme music.
‘Overregulation’ for me, not for thee
By Steve Benen
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Mon Jul 8, 2013 8:00 AM EDT
It’s been a couple of weeks since Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) took on his chief Democratic rival, state Sen. Wendy Davis, commenting on her teenaged pregnancy during a speech at the National Right To Life conference. The governor’s comments generated criticism from his own allies, and yesterday on Fox, Perry still struggled to explain what he was thinking.
For those who can’t watch clips online, here’s how the governor explained himself:
You can watch Perry’s original comments and see for yourself whether this makes any sense — it sounded to me like Perry has looked at Davis’ life, and has taken it upon himself to decide what lessons she should have drawn from it. What’s more, listening to the governor yesterday, it sounded like he might also have been making an argument against birth control, because after all, if people use methods to prevent conception, “you never know” what kind of life they’re preventing.
In the meantime, though the subject did not come up during Perry’s “Fox News Sunday” appearance, perhaps now would be a good time to consider why the governor and his party are preoccupied with reproductive rights, but have done nothing to address exploding fertilizer plants.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/08/19351078-overregulation-for-me-not-for-thee?lite
What a Fool Believes: Mitch McConnell Is Cynically Playing the Tea Party
By: Sarah Jones
Jul. 7th, 2013
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was scared. So scared that when he wasn’t plotting to bring down then possible opponent Ashley Judd by using her personal life against her in a dirty, desperate move, he wormed his way into the bed of the Paul family, as in Rand Paul, Ron Paul, etc. With the Pauls by his side, McConnell could inoculate himself against the primary rage of the Tea Party.
Detailing how the “Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has forged an alliance with tea party darling Rand Paul, picked up support from other national tea party leaders and brought in a campaign manager from the upper echelons of the tea party movement”, Yahoo traced McConnell’s wheeling and dealing back to his recent campaign manager Jesse Benton:
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/07/07/mitch-mcconnell-cynically-plays-tea-party-fall.html
Republicans Have Gone From Hating the Government to Hating America
By: Rmuse
Jul. 7th, 2013
Few Americans ever witness firsthand the level of evil human beings are capable of in countries where monstrous dictators slaughter their own citizens, or partisan extremists murder innocent civilians based on their ethnicity or religious affiliation; that is a benefit of living in a civilized society. However, there is an element in this country exhibiting the same inhumane qualities toward their fellow citizens that Americans hear about in lawless African nations and governments dominated by Islamic extremists, and the atrocities are at the hands of Republicans beholden to corporations and religious extremists. It appears that just as one thinks Republicans can hardly stoop any lower in their assault on Americans, they sink to another level of severity and it is unlikely the people have seen or felt the full force of inhumanity inherent in extremism permeating the Republican Party.
There are hardly comparisons in American history of an entire party acquiescing to the will and whim of extremists in their ranks, and their willingness to act in concert with cruel fanatics condemns the entire party; not just the extremist wing. What is astonishing, really, is that after four years of obstruction, phony debt crises, killing jobs, attacks on women, and obviously deliberate attempts to thwart economic recovery that cost them dearly in the 2012 election, Republicans could not even wait for 2013 to unleash more severity on the people. It is true a major factor in the GOP’s four-year assault on Americans has its basis in their racial animus toward President Obama, but after he won re-election it is glaringly obvious their hatred is toward the American people as much as the government meant to serve them.
The first few months of 2013 were dominated by Republican atrocities such as blocking benign gun safety measures, wasting time repealing the Affordable Care Act, fabricated scandals involving the IRS doing its job, the attack on diplomats in Benghazi, and blocking the budget process after Senate Democrats passed a budget the GOP complained was lacking for four years. In fact, following up their non-existent performance in the President’s first term, Republicans have made absolutely no attempt to govern save their rapid deployment to pass legislation protecting wealthy airline passengers “suffering” the effects of their sequester cuts. However, the past two months have brought out the most extreme assault on Americans in Republican states and in Congress, and no demographic is being spared callous disregard that is the new normal in Republican politics.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/07/07/republicans-hating-government-hating-america.html
Stupid Linings Playbook: Boehner & Ryan Cook Up A Plan That Hands Dems the 2014 Election
By: Jason Easley
Jul. 7th, 2013
John Boehner and Paul Ryan have cooked up a debt ceiling plan that is so unpopular that it hands the Democrats the 2014 election. It is truly one of the most transparently stupid strategies ever.
The National Journal reported that Paul Ryan and John Boehner are working on a list of debt ceiling “options:”
House Speaker John Boehner is now working with several leading conservatives – including Scalise and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan – to draft the options menu.
It is based on what’s known as the Ryan budget, according to Rep. Tom Price, a far-right spending plan passed by the House that’s been written off by Democrats as nothing more than a political document that decimates support for the poor and hurts the middle class. And it will outline what Obama will have to agree to for whatever length extension he wants.
For a long-term deal, one that gives Treasury borrowing authority for three-and-a-half years, Obama would have to agree to premium support. The plan to privatize Medicare, perhaps the most controversial aspect of the Ryan budget, is the holy grail for conservatives who say major deficit-reduction can only be achieved by making this type of cut to mandatory spending. “If the president wants to go big, there’s a big idea,” said Rep. Steve Scalise, chairman of the Republican Study Committee.
For a medium-sized increase in the debt-limit, Republicans want Obama to agree to cut spending in the SNAP food stamp program, block-grant Medicaid, or tinker with chained CPI.
For a smaller increase, there is talk of means-testing Social Security, for example, or ending certain agricultural subsidies.
While the menu includes plenty of variables, the underlying strategic goal is to reduce mandatory spending — whatever the scope of the deal. Even at the smallest end of the spectrum — another months-long extension of debt-limit — there is talk of pushing back the eligibility age for Social Security by an equal number of months.
House Republicans are and will try to sell this as their attempt to compromise, but everything major on their list of options contains nothing that President Obama and congressional Democrats want. Boehner and Ryan are seemingly clueless to the fact that they are trying to win the message war with a really lousy message that has already been repeatedly rejected by the voters. If they want to make the 2014 election about Medicare and Social Security, Democrats will be more than happy to do that.
The House is responsible for raising the debt ceiling. President Obama doesn’t have to agree to any of these options, because he isn’t running for reelection ever again. Obama can say no to them all, and Democrats can use these options against Republicans in the 2014 election campaign. Boehner and Ryan are setting the whole Republican Party up for failure next year.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/07/07/boehner-ryan-cook-debt-ceiling-plan-hands-democrats-2014-election.html
Asking for strong Prayers for Peanut and her mother.
Oh Merciful God, please hold Peanut and her mom in your loving care. Grant them peace, serenity, and health. Amen.
http://youtu.be/u2UxWVOlNb4
http://youtu.be/zpQaHGiUZiA
http://youtu.be/kwHOpsmFdE4
http://youtu.be/YBj2jNN9OGA
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Your love of movie themes reminds me of the movie “The Holiday”. Jack Blacks character loves great movie themes. Of course I do too. My favorite of these is Chinatown, one of my favorite movies. Have a good day.
Good Morning, Ladies & Everyone. :-)
Good morning!