In Contention

Tag: Daft Punk

  • In praise of the modern movie soundtrack

    I generally try to ignore film opinion pieces I think are fundamentally misguided — à chacun son goût and all that, plus the fact that fighting one mind is generally more trouble than it’s worth — but Ben Walsh’s idle article in The Independent today on the supposed demise of the movie soundtrack does such an absurd disservice to the current landscape of film music that it can’t pass without objection.

    Walsh’s standpoint is a dully nostalgic one: movie scores were so much more memorable in the old days, when greats like John Williams, Ennio Morricone and Danny Elfman (who are all dead, apparently) conjured whistle-ready themes by the dozen, while scores today “seem so completely unmemorable” by comparison.

    His pool of case studies for this assertion is a shallow one — he speaks mainly of the recent Oscar winners by Best Picture, Original Score and Original Song, oddly conflating the last two categories as if the two disciplines are somehow comparable — and even through that narrow prism, his preferences are hard to justify.

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  • Desplat leads International Film Music Critics nods

    Alexandre Desplat has enjoyed a brilliant career in U.S. features as of late (on the back of immense talent, naturally).  2010 was a grand year for the composer as he, once again, balanced scoring duties on a number of notable films.

    Today, the final announcement from the critics awards circuit has landed in the form of the International Film Music Critics Association’s picks, seven of the nominations going to Desplat for his work on “The Ghost Writer,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” and, of course, “The King’s Speech.” It’s highly probably he’ll walk away with an Oscar later this month, capping of one heck of a year.

    John Powell netted five nominations for his work on “How to Train Your Dragon,” while Daft Punk and Hans Zimmer each grabbed three for their respective actioners.  Interesting to note, however, is the complete absence of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for their innovative work on “The Social Network.” Your guess is as good as mine as to why the group turned the other cheek there.  Ditto A.R. Rahman’s work on “127 Hours,” which is actually a beloved piece of work among musicians.  In any case, have a look at The Circuit for the full list of film nominees.

    [Photo: Last.fm]

  • In praise of Reznor/Ross

    This year’s Best Original Score race really has me at a loss.  I freely admit that I have no idea what will happen there.  Some days I think we’ll get a small surprise like Alexandre Desplat sliding in for his best work this year in “The Ghost Writer,” others I think we could just get a massive, happy surprise like Daft Punk slipping in for their brilliant work on “TRON Legacy.”

    Other times, I kind of just bank on it being a boring assemblage of what we’ve been expecting.  Probably option “C” is the wisest expectation.

    One thing has begun to materialize lately for me, though.  And that is the fact that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who I once upon a time thought might not even get a nomination for their wonderfully woven ambient work in “The Social Network,” could be the frontrunners to win in a category that might be filled with less-singular achievements.

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  • 77 scores competing for Oscar, ‘Toy Story 3’ not among them

    They may have enjoyed a three-year run of nominations in the category, finally taking the gold with “Up” earlier this year, but Pixar’s hot streak in Best Original Score will not continue at the 2010 Oscars. Although Randy Newman’s “Toy Story 3” score wasn’t ruled ineligible by the Academy — unlike his work on last year’s “The Princess and the Frog,” which faced a late disqualification — Newman himself has opted not to enter it in the race.

    Pixar’s latest therefore joins a number of high-profile titles on the bench in this category, including the previously disqualified likes of “Black Swan,” “The Fighter,” “Tangled” and the Carter Burwell double-shot of “True Grit” and “The Kids Are All Right.”

    As Steve Pond points out, the official list of 77 films competing for Best Original Score makes for easily the narrowest field of the general categories. The good news, however, is that most of the names we most want to see recognized are still on it, including Daft Punk for “TRON Legacy,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for “The Social Network,” Sylvain Chomet for “The Illusionist” and arguable frontrunner Hans Zimmer for “Inception.”

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  • Best in show 2010: the year in superlatives

    The week, and with it, the bulk of my 2010 coverage, draws to a close today with a look at the best of the best. I’m offering up a personal list of superlatives, including most Oscar categories and some other fun fields thrown in for good measure. A tradition at this point.

    There will be plenty going on next week, though, despite travel and the holidays. As always, we’ll be at your disposal. But allow me to put a tidy bow on the year here and keep forging ahead…

    Best Picture
    “Exit Through the Gift Shop”

    Best Director
    Mike Leigh, “Another Year”

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  • 12/16 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: TIME mag as a cog in the PR wheel, Miramax strikes deal with Weinsetin, 2010

    • Steve Pond calls TIME Magazine’s (somewhat dubious) selection of Mark Zuckerberg as Person of the Year “the niftiest bit of Oscar promotion anybody has gotten this year.” [The Odds]

    • Sophia Savage spotlights the standout performances of 2010. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Newly acquired Miramax strikes a sequel deal with The Weinstein Company. [Deadline]

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  • Well put

    Misconceptions about Daft Punk’s musical score: Fans became excited when it was announced that Grammy winning electronica duo Daft Punk would be scoring the film. They received their first taste of the music when the track “End of Line” was played in the hidden room that displayed the new lightcycle at the Flynn’s arcade set-up for San Diego Comic-Con 2009. Immediately fan produced mixes of the track were created and music released by other electronica artists was falsely labeled as new tracks from the Tron Legacy score. A few weeks back another up tempo track Derezzed was released in anticipation of the score’s December 6 release. Yet many fans fail to realize that most of the music Daft Punk has composed for the film is not dance music, but an actual score. It works fine on it’s own, but it’s meant to support and enhance the theatrical film. Daft Punk even incorporated a 90 piece orchestra making for some exciting and truly emotional music cues. If you expect to be dancing along to the Tron Legacy soundtrack you’re gonna be sorely disappointed.

    From Ron Henrique’s Latino Review piece entitled “10 things surrounding ‘TRON Legacy’ that bug me.”

  • ‘TRON Legacy’ reeks and rocks with equal measure

    Disney has probably been wise to discontinue the original “TRON” on DVD in advance of the release of “TRON Legacy,” lest people be reminded of how truly bad it was.  Beyond being conceptually ahead of its time, it never seemed to be more than a pop culture blip in cinema history, if we’re being perfectly honest.

    Bottom line: the film had unrefined if progressive narrative ideas and got points for pushing boundaries if nothing else.  Naturally, then, it developed a cult following that heaped appreciation for what wasn’t really on the screen, but rather what existed in the conceptual ether of the thing.  This puts “TRON Legacy” in decent enough position to capitalize on throwback mania.

    Here’s the thing.  The new film has plenty of issues, but I doubt I’ve had a better time in a movie theater all year.  Expectations couldn’t have been lower, which played to the film’s advantage I imagine, but I was strapped in and game from the opening text.

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  • Daft ‘TRON’

  • Website for Daft Punk’s ‘TRON Legacy’ soundtrack launched

    Is it really worth getting excited at the possibility of the Academy’s music branch being progressive enough to make room for Daft Punk in this year’s list of Best Original Score nominees?  Ever since the French electronica duo was announced as the composers on “TRON Legacy,” excitement has been through the roof.

    This is the most problematic branch of the Academy for reasons illuminated year after year.  And despite letting a few new (if traditionalist) names into the Oscar fold over the last few years, the branch remains fiercely insular.  And you don’t get more outside the box than Daft Punk.

    Nevertheless, the score sounds like it could be one of the highlights of a production that has long been rumored to be quite troubled.  And an official site has launched with a taste of what the boys have to offer.

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  • COMIC-CON: ‘TRON Legacy’ invades Hall H for a third-straight year

    “It proves to me some things, good things, take a really long time to happen,” “TRON” creator Steve Lisberger said to a packed Hall H, looking strikingly like Bad Blake next to a clean-shaven Jeff Bridges.

    And that was the vibe you got from the euphoric crowd this afternoon as Disney revealed eight minutes of footage from the new film “TRON Legacy.” A new trailer was also shown, which was simultaneously “unlocked” by internet users online.

    Actors Bruce Boxleitner, Jeff Bridges, Michael Sheen (in his first Comic-Con appearance), Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund joined Kosinski, Bailey and Lisberger on stage with moderator Patton Oswalt for a discussion on technology utilized by the project, re-visiting the material 27 years later and the underlying themes of the film.

    “We need modern myths,” Bridges said. “And one of the themes in our movie is the dark side of technology. We’re developing it so fast we haven’t developed any ethics.”

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  • Check out the full Daft Punk ‘Tron Legacy’ theme song

    (Courtesy: Latino Review)