Lauded composer Elliot Goldenthal doesn’t deign to work all that much in film these days — the lure of stage and opera work is great, particularly when he gets Pulitzer recognition for it — and when he does, it’s not always in projects worthy of his gifts. (Anyone want to hazard a guess why he scored “S.W.A.T.” in 2003?)
But this year finds him thoroughly immersed in the big screen again, renewing two partnerships that have proved productive in the past. We’ve already heard his work on “Public Enemies” — his first pairing with Michael Mann since “Heat” in 1995 — which was largely muted and effective, with a contemporary acoustic edge that landed on the right side of anachronistic. (I maintain, however, that the use of Diana Krall was a miscalculation.)
But more eyes (or ears, rather) might be on his next collaboration with personal and professional partner Julie Taymor, whose screen interpretation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” is wavering between a 2009 or 2010 release. Anne Thompson profiles the composer and drops some intriguing hints about the latter project:
Goldenthal’s now finalizing the score for Taymor’s demi-musical “The Tempest,” starring Helen Mirren as Prospera and Ben Whishaw as a singing Ariel. The movie uses Shakespeare’s own songs. “It’s a challenge to find something mysterious and not arcane, and not Elizabethan sounding,” he says. “It has to sound like something you’ve never heard or can categorize. I have to compose around the Shakespeare meter.”
As I look out my 29th floor window I can see the Hall H line, peppered with air matresses and tents, is already at epicly ridiculous proportions, but most of those nutcases are “Twilight” obsessives hoping to a secure a spot for Summit’s panel later today. The big stuff, however, will revolve around the 3D presentations of Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” and James Cameron’s “Avatar.”
Zoom. Smash. Bang. Grunt. Zap. Splash. Screech.
Yesterday Guy kick-started 
I must say, while I’m still struggling to see the use of The Auteurs as a social networking site, it’s a smashing source of film writing. The range and intelligence of discourse there is a joy to read, and is rapidly making the site a daily essential.
I’m just settling in here at the Bayside Hilton next to the San Diego Convention Center. Killer view, badge pick-up within the hour. It’s all happening, etc. But I find myself pondering the “Con” aspect of it all more and more these days.
When I first began compiling my Oscar nomination 
This morning has been quite the disenchanting read on the internet. Everywhere I turn, it’s all the same content: “Nightmare on Elm Street” set visit reports, ogling nothing images released from “Iron Man 2,” Comic-Con preparations with the requisite trappings, “OMG, Sam Raimi’s gonna direct ‘World of Warcraft,’” etc. Bleak indeed. It seems to be an ever-growing symptom of the net as studios, more than ever, understand how to use various outlets as an extended mouthpiece.
The imminent release of “Antichrist” on this side of the pond has prompted some amusing journalism, as outraged critics make flustered pleas for a return to tighter censorship. (Apparently, adults over the age of 18 can’t be trusted to make their own viewing choices.)
One of the more eagerly anticipated participants at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con International is Tim Burton, making his first ever appearance. Burton will be on hand Thursday to unveil footage from next spring’s “Alice in Wonderland” and again Friday as producer of Shane Acker’s “9.”