Why 'Star Wars' Should Have Ended With 'Return Of The Jedi'

In 1977, a certain science-fiction movie opened in cinemas around the world, and the movies changed. That movie, as you probably guessed, was George Lucas's Star Wars. Nobody expected too much from Lucas's space opera. Studio executives (with the notable exception of Alan Ladd, Jr.) thought the film was too weird to make a profit. Lucas's fellow directors thought making Star Wars was a misstep; for instance, Brian De Palma walked out of a screening saying that the film was the stupidest thing he'd ever seen. Even Lucas himself doubted that the movie would make a profit. However, with constant support from two close friends (Alan Ladd, Jr. and Steven Spielberg), Lucas eventually finished his space adventure.

In May 1977, Star Wars hit theaters and proved all the naysayers wrong. The movie raked in 290 million dollars at the U.S. box office, becoming (at the time) the highest-grossing movie ever made. The film became a cultural phenomenon, and George Lucas became one of the most powerful filmmakers in Hollywood.

George Lucas on the set of A New Hope.

Lucas used his newfound power well. Staying true to his original vision for Star Wars, Lucas sliced his original story treatment into two more pieces, which became The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Both of these sequels were just as critically acclaimed as the first film, and all was well and good in that galaxy far, far away. That is, things were well and good until 1999, when George Lucas returned with his trilogy of prequels. As with Voldemort, let us not speak their names.

Now, in 2015, we're getting another dose of Star Wars cinema, this time The Force Awakens. However, I feel that this latest installment begs the same question that many were asking in 1999: do we really need another Star Wars movie?

The answer is the same as it was in 1999: NO. We do not. In fact, the more SW flicks we have, the easier it is to forget how strong, how moving, how well-constructed the original trilogy was. In the following paragraphs, I shall explain my controversial view.

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), the Hero of our little story.

When George Lucas was hammering out the story for the original Star Wars trilogy, he turned to a very classy source for help: Joseph Campbell's seminal The Hero With A Thousand Faces. When setting up the plot structure for the trilogy, Lucas stuck closely to the "Hero's Journey" outline that Campbell detailed in his book, which had been distilled from centuries of world myths. As a result, the trilogy's plot has a timeless, mythic vibe to it, one that proved to be crowd-pleasing.

The original trilogy revolves around Luke Skywalker, the archetypal "Hero" of Star Wars. Over the course of three movies, Luke goes through a painful transformation from immature farm boy to a wise, competent Jedi Knight. The trilogy details Luke's metamorphosis in a very clean-cut way, with each film comprising one act in a classic three-act story.

In Star Wars (Act One), Luke is forced to take action when his aunt and uncle are killed by Emperial stormtroopers. He teams with Obi-Wan Kenobi, his Mentor (another Joseph Campbell archetype), Han Solo, and Chewbacca, and together, they set out to save Princess Leia and blow up the Death Star. In the process, Obi-Wan dies, leaving Luke to fend for himself. Luke also comes to the attention of the Galactic Empire. In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke finds himself a new Mentor (Yoda), but he also encounters some extremely difficult trials, including some painful revelations about his family. These trials easily could have derailed Luke, but he overcomes them well, becoming stronger in the process. In Return Of The Jedi, Luke completes his transformation from boy to Hero by finally coming to terms with his personal demons, including his familial secrets. The Journey is complete.

In fact, the original Star Wars trilogy is a particularly fine example of The Hero's Journey because there are actually several characters who transform alongside Luke. Han Solo goes from being a cocky, self-centered rebel to a cocky, selfless rebel. Luke's dad probably has the most wide-ranging transformation in the movie, from a really nasty jerk to a man who sacrifices a lot to save his son.

The beauty of the original Star Wars trilogy is that it shows us how all of us can also make the transformation from zero to hero. Like many other heroes, Luke Skywalker shows us how all of us can overcome obstacles, becoming better people in the process. The story of Star Wars is the story of Luke Skywalker's maturing process, and when that story ends, Star Wars ends.

That's the way it should be, anyway. But it isn't.

Unfortunately, George Lucas went on to dump three movies of unimportant details on top of his perfect story. Since Lucas had already told the story he had set out to tell, he didn't have enough fuel to fill his prequels. Therefore, he went on to fill the three films with a bunch of backstory we didn't need. Who cares what Anakin Skywalker was like as a kid? Who cares about what happened during the Clone Wars? Who cares how Darth Vader became evil? Those elements don't tie into what SW's story is all about. Fans sensed this, and, as a result, the sequels disappointed just about everyone.

Now here we are, coming up on The Force Awakens. There's a lot of hopefulness revolving around this movie, and that's understandable. J.J. Abrams is at the helm, fresh from reviving Star Trek, another iconic sci-fi franchise. SW has a new home at Disney, and a new home means fresh ideas. Most of the original trilogy's cast is returning, as is Lawrence Kasdan, one of the original trilogy's screenwriters. Many fans are confident that The Force Awakens will bring Star Wars back to its former glory.

I'm not as confident as those optimistic fans. Sure, a lot of fresh, exciting elements are being brought into The Force Awakens, as well as a nice dash of nostalgia. However, Episode VII is facing the same story problems as the prequels did. Will the new film be able to add something significant and interesting to the original trilogy's story, or will we just get more fluff that has no bearing on the original story?

Only seeing the movie will tell. I will say that Episode VII has a lot more freedom to do cool stuff than the prequels did, and that I'm excited to see what Luke has been doing. However, until I do see the movie, I'm sticking with my thesis: Star Wars should have ended with Return of the Jedi!

(REVIEW) 'Spectre:' Bond Re-Heated

"Not every man would like to be James Bond, but every boy would." Roger Ebert opened his excellent Great Movies essay on Goldfinger (the third James Bond film) with this phrase. I can personally attest that it's true!

I was introduced to 007's adventures when I was around seven years old, when my dad brought home a James Bond VHS box set. The set contained all of Sean Connery's Bond outings (except for Never Say Never Again, Connery's independent 1983 Bond film), along with George Lazenby's sole 007 film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. My dad and I then set out on a journey to watch each movie in one long marathon.

My Bond love started during that marathon. I didn't fully understand all of the movies then (I'm looking at you, From Russia With Love), but I did know that I wanted to be 007. After all, this guy got to travel all over the world. He got all kinds of cool toys to play with. Pretty girls hung on his every word. In other words, James Bond had everything I wanted.

I don't idolize Bond quite as much as I once did. I still love Bond flicks, though, and I've seen them all! There are some Bond movies that I haven't liked (Quantum Of Solace, for instance), but no franchise is perfect. I'm a Bond fanboy, and I will be until the day I die!

I absolutely loved Skyfall; I thought it was the best 007 flick I'd seen in a long time. So, when I heard that Sam Mendes, the film's director, would be returning to direct Spectre, I was excited! I walked into the theater filled with anticipation. Was I satisfied? Well... let's talk about it!

Spectre begins in Mexico City, as 007 carries out an  mission for his deceased former boss, the old M (Judi Dench). After killing off assassin Marco Sciarra (Alessandro Cremona), Bond recovers a ring from Sciarra's body, a ring with an octopus symbol on it. After Sciarra's funeral, Marco's widow (Monica Bellucci) tells 007 that the symbol is the mascot for SPECTRE, a terrorist organization that all (and I do mean ALL) of Bond's former villains have been members of. Bond infiltrates one of SPECTRE's secret meetings, where he is immediately detected by the organization's boss (Christoph Waltz). The boss calls Bond out and sets the brawny assassin Mr. Minx (Dave Bautista) on his trail. Meanwhile, 007, with the help of Madeline Swann (Lea Seydoux), sets out to kill the head of SPECTRE.

The script carries the vibe of a classic 1960s Bond film, from the crazy-beautiful pre-credits sequence, to the SPECTRE meeting Bond infiltrates, to the cocky, over-the-top villain. In fact, the script is at its best when it's sticking close to that classic Bond style. When it tries to get more current, things go out of whack. The scenes that are cool are REALLY cool, but there are long, boring stretches between them.

The acting is so-so across the board, and I must say that I'm disappointed in Daniel Craig. He seems like he's sleepwalking through the movie. He's not bad, per se, but one can sense that he's bored with Bond. Unfortunately, Christoph Waltz doesn't do much better as the villain. He's only in about one-fifth of the movie, and he's only really good in one scene (the meeting). He spends the rest of the film shifting between two extremes: chewing up the scenery and phoning it in. Lea Seydoux makes like Craig and sleepwalks through her role. The only actor who is consistently good is Dave Bautista, but he's hardly in the movie at all.

The movie is great on a technical level, though. Special kudos to the cinematographer, editor, and stunt coordinators, who all brought their A-game. In fact, the movie is at its best when those elements take center stage; I'm thinking of moments like the Mexico City sequence and the train-fight sequence between Bautista and Craig. In fact, the train fight may be my favorite part of Spectre. It was nice to see a classic hand-to-hand fight in a movie again!

Unfortunately, the fight scene was somewhat ruined in the latter half by the music. Thomas Newman's score is... well, it's dull. It's so dull, in fact, that there's not much to say about it beyond that. Sam Smith's theme song wasn't boring, though. In fact, I like "Writings On The Wall" just fine as a stand-alone song. I just didn't like it as a Bond theme. It was a big letdown after Adele's amazing theme for Skyfall.

I really wish I had more good things to say about Spectre! It had a lot of the elements that I love in other Bond films, but they didn't really mesh this time. It's sort of like when you reheat leftovers; something's lost in the translation from when it was fresh the night before to the the freshly microwaved meal you have for lunch the next day. That's pretty much the way I feel about Spectre. Should you see it? Yes. But wait until it comes out on DVD.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

(REVIEW) Goosebumps: A Nostalgia Overload?

The year: 1997. The place: the Sizzler in Indio, California. The month: October.

Before they moved to Fresno, my grandma and grandpa belonged to a senior-citizen social group called Sharing Is Caring. Every Saturday afternoon, the group would gather together in the Sizzler's conference room and have their club meeting, which essentially amounted to a weekly raffle.

Usually, us grandkids were barred from these events. One week, however, our parents were out of town, and we were too young to be left alone. Knowing the meeting would be boring, I took along a book: Goosebumps #10. The Ghost Next Door. The saddest of the Goosebumps books. As I read, an older couple came by and asked what I was reading. I showed them, and they said some generic "That's nice" comments.

Flash forward to Christmas, that same year. I'm at my grandparents' house again, and there's a big package under the tree with my name on it. The gift, however, was from a person whose name I didn't recognize (but who was in the Sharing is Caring group). Curious, I tore the paper off the package, revealing a cardboard box. I opened the box and gasped. The box was filled with Goosebumps books!

It was those books that made me the horror fan I am today. Most of the books have since faded away into the back rooms of my mind, but the better ones (books like Attack Of The Mutant, Phantom Of The Auditorium, Piano Lessons Can Be Murder, The Werewolf Of Fever Swamp, and Night Of The Living Dummy II) remain vivid in my memory.

So, yeah, the Goosebumps novels are important to me. So, when I heard that the series was getting a big-screen adaptation, it immediately became a must-see attraction for me.

Yesterday, I planned my whole day around seeing the film. I bought my ticket early. I bought my bucket of popcorn and made my way into the darkened theater, trembling with anticipation.

Did the movie live up to my expectations? Well...

The movie starts in the same way that every Goosebumps book starts; with a kid moving to a strange new town. In this case, the kid is a teenager named Zach (Dylan Minnette) and the town is Madison, Delaware. Zach wastes no time in falling in love with Hannah (Odeya Rush), the pretty girl next door. Unfortunately, he also runs afoul of her strange father (Jack Black), who happens to be R.L. Stine, the author of the Goosebumps novels. 

After seeing some strange goings-on inside the Stines' house, Zach takes it upon himself to investigate. Zach and his friend Champ (Ryan Lee) break into the Stine residence to investigate and find the original manuscripts of all the Goosebumps novels. For some reason, however, each manuscript is locked shut. The two boys find the key to the scripts and open them, unleashing a horde of monsters upon Madison. Now, Zach and Champ must team up with R.L. and Hannah to send the monsters back to the pages from whence they came.

The movie is pretty well-made. Javier Aguirresarobe, the cinematographer, does a great job of lighting the movie, giving the film an inviting look even as it sets out to scare you. Jim May does a great job of editing the action scenes together; he gives them a kinetic pulse that draws the audience in. The production designer did a great job of giving the movie an authentic small-town feel; the locations are impeccably chosen, and the home interiors depict the craftsman-like/ranch-house that's so popular in the Pennsylvania/Delaware area.

The script is faulty, but not horribly so. Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski take care to pack the script with lots of references to Goosebumps novels, attempting to appeal to us millennials who loved the books. Alexander and Karaszewski also do a fine job giving their script the goofy/scary tone that the books pulled off so well; there are a few jokes that don't land well, but, for the most part, the dialogue is  funny (particularly the scene where Zach criticizes R.L. Stine's writing).

The actors do a decent job with their roles. Jack Black is  hit-and-miss for me, but he's in a less-annoying mode here; he plays R.L. Stine with the perfect blend of strangeness and warmth. Ryan Lee is fairly annoying as Champ, but that's the fault of the script, not the actor. Dylan Minnette really does a fine job as Zach, though; he's definitely more likable than most of the onscreen teenagers we've seen lately. Yes, he is smarter than most of the adults, but he's also respectful of his elders, which makes for a refreshing change. He also has a fairly quick wit, which is unusual for teenagers (both on- and off-screen). 

So, if the movie is so well-made, why did I leave the theater feeling disappointed? That's the thing: I don't really know. I think it might have something to do with the amount of nostalgia I brought into the theater: I had such high expectations that no movie could hope to live up to them. 

I also think my disappointment had something to do with the fact that none of my favorite Goosebumps books were mentioned! I can understand why that's the case; my tastes lean more toward the more Twilight Zone-flavored novels than the monster-rally books. I know that the Zone-themed books would have been harder to translate to the screen, but I'm still disappointed that they weren't featured.

Overall, Goosebumps is a solid movie. The blend of laughs and scares is sure to appeal to kids, just as it has since the 1990s. Maybe it'll even appeal to you, if you're a nostalgic, horror-loving millennial. Just don't go in expecting too much, I guess! 

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

10 Amazing Film Composers You Should Check Out

The legendary composer Ennio Morricone (right), with the equally legendary director Brian De Palma, during the scoring of 'Casualties Of War' (1989).

In a documentary on the making of Jaws, David Brown, one of the producers of the film, describes the first screening of the movie. The movie was largely finished, except for one major exception: John Williams hadn't scored the film yet. The studio executives filed into the screening room and sat alongside David Brown, Richard Zanuck, and Steven Spielberg. The lights in the room dimmed, and the movie filled the screen. The tension in the room was palpable; Jaws had had a troubled production, and the film had gone wildly over-budget and over schedule. This screening was a crucial one.

Unfortunately, the film didn't seem to be working. The scenes were well-shot and well-acted, but they didn't pack the punch they were meant to. After the screening, one of the executives looked to Zanuck, Brown, and Spielberg and said,"Go get the rest of the movie." The three filmmakers knew exactly what that meant. They immediately went to John Williams and got started scoring the movie. After the soundtrack was completed, another screening was held. This time, the mood after the screening was far different; the executives left excited about the film's chances. Of course, the rest is history; Jaws went on to become the first summer blockbuster.

I love that story, because it gives credit to one of the most under-appreciated groups of people in the film industry: the composer. I don't know about you guys, but, to me, a movie doesn't feel complete without the music. Every part of a movie is vital, including good acting, well-rounded characters, striking cinematography, and a well-structured plot. However, the score is an integral part of all this; music can convey emotion in a special way that no other part of a movie can equal.

I'm no expert on film scores or composers, but I do love music. Therefore, to express that love, I thought I'd list my 10 favorite film composers, along with a few words about why I admire their work. If I've left off one of your favorites, let me know!

(Oh, and the entries aren't ranked in any way; all these composers are equally great!)

Jerry Goldsmith

Jerry Goldsmith is the first composer I was truly aware of. For a long time, I had been vaguely aware that movies featured music, but I hadn't thought much of it. This all changed when I saw Rudy for the first time. I loved everything about the film, but I was particularly moved by the beautiful, stirring music (especially during the "Tryouts" montage). I went to IMDb, looked up Rudy, and scrolled down to where the composer was listed. There the name sat: Jerry Goldsmith.

The thing I love most about Goldsmith's work is how easily he shifts between different genres and musical styles; the man was a chameleon! It's fun to scroll down his credit list and see how diverse his body of work is; it ranges everywhere from minimalist and weird (the 1968 film version of Planet of the Apes) to warm and quietly beautiful (Rudy) to majestic and bold (Patton) to light and airy (I.Q.) to everywhere in between. It's really cool!

My Top Three Goldsmith Scores:

Rudy (1993)
Patton (1970)

I.Q. (1995)

Elmer Bernstein

Elmer Bernstein definitely didn't range around the musical spectrum like Goldsmith did; he knew what he did well, and, for the most part, he stayed in that niche. And what did he do well? I can tell you in three words: BIG AND BOLD!

Most of Bernstein's music booms out of the speakers at you, and that's why I love it! I feel like a big part of why Bernstein's scores are so fondly-remembered is because he knew exactly what genres lent themselves to his signature style: Westerns, war movies, action films, and, later, blockbuster comedies. Bernstein settled into those genres and got to work, and he did a lot of great stuff!

I think Bernstein had a little more range than he gave himself credit for, though. He would occasionally wander out of his niche and do some jazz (Sweet Smell Of Success) or some quieter, more emotional scores (like for To Kill A Mockingbird or The Great Santini). In my opinion, these more gentle scores are just as wonderful as Bernstein's brassier, louder work. He was just a great all-around composer!

My Top Three Bernstein Scores:

The Silencers (1966)
The Great Santini (1979)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Ennio Morricone

What I love most about Ennio Morricone is how otherworldly and dream-like his work is; it sounds completely different from anything else I've ever heard from any other composer! It seems like, just like Elmer Bernstein, Morricone found the places where his unique sound would fit most. Fortunately, Morricone met a director who fit his sensibilities perfectly: Sergio Leone. Leone was about to embark on his series of epic, over-the-top, masterful spaghetti westerns, and he asked Morricone to contribute the scores for the films. Morricone came through amazingly; his unique, strange scores for each film perfectly complement the archetypal, otherworldly Wild West that Leone constructed. 

Later, after Leone retired, Morricone found other directors whose style worked well with his musical style, people like Brian De Palma, John Carpenter, and, now Quentin Tarantino. Less than a week ago (as of this writing), it was announced that Morricone will be coming out of semi-retirement to score Tarantino's next film, The Hateful Eight. I'm REALLY excited about this; it'll be nice to have a new Morricone score!


My Top Three Morricone Scores:

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (1966)
Once Upon A Time In The West (1969)
My Name Is Nobody (1976)

Bruce Broughton

Bruce Broughton wasn't a composer I was consciously aware of until I started really looking into movie scores. I think I had heard his name once on the DVD audio commentary for Home Alone (he was to be the composer for the film, until scheduling problems intervened and John Williams took over), but other than that, the name meant nothing to me. I was surprised, therefore, when I looked up Broughton's credit list and discovered that I'd been a fan of his music all my life!

Broughton's scores move me emotionally in a way that few other film scores do (in fact, in this category, he's probably tied with the next composer on the list). I'm not quite sure why Broughton's music touches me so deeply, to tell you the truth. It might be because he does a lot of work with Walt Disney Pictures, and I've got a lot of admiration, love, and nostalgia tied up in Disney. It also may be because he scores a lot of westerns and comedies, and those are among my favorite film genres. Heck, it may even be because Broughton uses a lot of Aaron Copland-esque instrumentation & arrangement techniques, and Copland's music always moves me.

Whatever the reason, though, there's one thing I know for sure: whenever I hear a Broughton score, I'm filled with a sense of warmth, exhilaration, and hope. That's what I love most about his work!

My Top Three Broughton Scores:

Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1989)
Silverado (1985)

The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

James Horner

Confession time: for a long time, I wasn't a big fan of James Horner. Oh, I thought his scores sounded nice enough, but I felt like he borrowed from his prior work a little too much. I was young and stupid back then, so I didn't really take the time to investigate my claims. I conveniently ignored scores that didn't support my case, like the one for The Mask Of Zorro, which is different from Horner's usual work in a lot of ways. I assumed my opinion was law, and I went on my merry way.

I actually didn't come to change my tune until recently. Here's how it happened: when I'm not writing here, I'm writing for Rotoscopers.com, an animation website. This website is the home of the Animation Addicts Podcast, which you really should be listening to, if you aren't already (and I'm not saying that just because I write for the site). One of the co-hosts of the show & curators of the site is a lovely lady who knows far more about music and film scores than I do. During the podcast episode focusing on The Land Before Time, this lady took care to mention Horner's score and how much it contributes to the emotional mood of the film. Her passion was contagious! I went to go re-listen to Horner's score for the film.

I listened, and the score clicked in my mind in a way that a Horner score never had before. I went and listened to more of Horner's work, and I was pleased to discover that, suddenly, ALL of it was clicking for me! I guess it's just another classic example of developing good taste as one grows older!

Unfortunately, a little less than a year after I made this discovery, Horner died in a plane crash outside of Santa Barbara, California. He will be missed, but his music will live on.

My Top Three Horner Scores:

Field Of Dreams (1989)
The Land Before Time (1988)
The Mask Of Zorro (1998)

Lalo Schifrin

I'm extremely lucky to have parents who introduced me to classic pop culture all throughout my childhood. My dad was particularly good about this; when I started showing an interest in music, he brought home Beach Boys and Beatles cassettes (yes, cassettes were still popular when I was a kid), and I'm so grateful! When I expressed an equally strong interest in movies, my dad started feeding me a steady diet of classic films (thank you to TCM and AMC, back when AMC actually showed classic movies, for helping this!). Since I watched a TON of classic movies as a kid, I was introduced to Lalo Schifrin at a tender age. Looking back now, I think that he may have been my first favorite composer (not that I knew his name)!

If you're watching a movie that came out in the 1960s or '70s and it has a jazzy soundtrack, there's a really good chance that it was scored by Schifrin. Schifrin had a great knack for cool, modern-sounding music, and it was apparently a sound that pretty much every action-movie director was craving in the '60s and '70s. Schifrin's jazzy music was pretty much THE sound of the action movie during that period, and that's probably how he's best known. However, he could get emotional and a little more spare with his scoring, too, and nowhere did he do that better than in Cool Hand Luke, one of my personal favorite scores. I do love his jazzy work, though!

My Top Three Schifrin Scores:

Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Enter The Dragon (1973)
Bullitt (1968)

John Barry

I'm a James Bond fan, and have been since my dad weaned me on the early Sean Connery movies. I'm not entirely sure what it is about the Bond movies I love so much; I guess it's partly a case of being a guy who likes action, a little bit of Connery's brilliant portrayal (he's still the best 007, in my opinion), and I think nostalgia plays a big part. 

However, I think that, more than anything else, John Barry's scores for the early Bond films are what seared the films into my memory. The bold, striking music perfectly evokes the mood of the movies; whenever I hear Barry's "James Bond Theme," I'm immediately transported to a special mind-space in the corner of my brain, and I'm totally ready to follow James Bond on another wild adventure. Even if Barry had done nothing more than the scores for the James Bond movies, he would still be a shoo-in for a spot on this list. 

Barry did lots of other good work, though, and that's why I've limited myself to one Bond score in my three favorites. After all, I had to leave room for Somewhere In Time, my favorite of Barry's non-Bond scores. The 1980 movie the score comes from is a little spotty (the time-travel elements are clever and unique, but the romance is really sappy), but Barry's score is heart-wrenching in all the best ways. The string sections are really great, but the best moments in the soundtrack are the quieter, more tender, piano-driven moments. Those quiet tunes are enough to bring tears to my eyes!

My Top Three Barry Scores:

Goldfinger (1964)

Somewhere In Time (1980)
Dances With Wolves (1990)

Alan Silvestri

Alan Silvestri was one of the few names I actually did notice before I got into movie scores. After all, his name is hard to ignore, since it's EVERYWHERE! I just gave his IMDb list a scroll, and as I was looking, I was thinking, "Dang, man! You've done everything!"

Okay, he hasn't done everything, but he has done a ton, including a bunch of my favorite scores. He's worked in about every genre that there is, from comedy to action to horror to everything in between, and he does a great job of adapting his musical style to whatever the story is suggesting. No two Silvestri scores are alike, and I admire him for that. He's also very much in demand, judging by his credits; he's worked with a bunch of big-name directors, usually more than once. He's also done a bunch of animated films, which wins him a big place in my heart!

What I love most about Silvestri, though, is that he is, in my opinion, the king of the hummable score. Every time I hear a Silvestri soundtrack, it goes into my long-term memory, popping up at random times and causing me to hum a few bars to myself. That's one of my biggest measuring sticks when I want to decide if a composer's great; if their music sticks in my mind, I consider them a master. Silvestri's music certainly sticks in my mind!

My Top Three Silvestri Scores:
Back To The Future (1985)
Father Of The Bride (1991)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

John Williams

All I need to do is hear the name John Williams, and I start to smile. Williams's name carries threads of a lot of cinematic memories for me. Williams provided the music for so many of my favorite movies: Jaws, Superman: The Movie, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Home Alone, and so on. That's not even mentioning his work on the Star Wars and Harry Potter movies!

In many ways, it's a lot harder for me to choose favorites from Williams's credits than it has been from any other composer's list (so far, anyway). I feel such a strong nostalgic connection to so many of them, and then there are the others that I think are just great, even without the nostalgia factor. The list below may not be the definitive list of the top three Williams scores, but then, none of these lists are definitive. They're all based on how the soundtracks make me feel. And, ultimately, I feel like that's the best way to judge music.

My Top Three Williams Scores:

The Cowboys (1972)

Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

The Adventures Of Tintin (2012)

Danny Elfman

I think Danny Elfman is awesome for a lot of reasons! I love the fact that he started his musical career playing in a rock band with an awesome name (The Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo; the band later shortened their name to simply Oingo Boingo). I love the fact that, for a brief time, Elfman was a film composer AND a rock star at the same time (can you imagine how much work that would be?!). Most of all, though, I love his credits list. It tells you so much about his personality!

I love how Elfman takes every project and makes it personal & unique. For instance, with Midnight Run (one of my favorite Elfman scores), Elfman opted not to go with an orchestra. Instead, Elfman turned to his rock n' roll friends and formed a country/blues rock ensemble, which he used to score the film. The resulting score is something unlike anything I've ever heard on any other movie, and I love it! 

I also love how, with every project he chooses, Elfman reveals something new about his sensibilities, whether it's a statement about his sense of humor, his tastes when it comes to genres, or what genuinely moves him emotionally. I love it when you can get to know a composer through his or her work, and Elfman is a prime example of that!

My Top Three Elfman Scores:

Midnight Run (1988)

The Family Man (2000)

Batman (1989)

And Here's A Slew Of Honorable Mentions (Read: Those That Almost Made The List):

Jerry Fielding, Miklos Rozsa, Alfred Newman, Harold Faltermeyer, Patrick Doyle, Hans Zimmer, Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Max Steiner, Vangelis, Maurice Jarre, Ernest Gold, Bernard Herrmann, Henry Mancini, John Ottman

And how about you?  Who are your favorite film composers?

My 5 Favorite Live-Action Disney Songs

Walt Disney with Richard & Robert Sherman

So much of my childhood is defined by the pop culture that surrounded me. Whenever I want to revive some memories from those carefree days, all I need to do is turn to one of those cultural landmarks that dominated those times: comic books I read, old G.I. Joe figures that are still locked away in a closet at my aunt's house, computer games I used to play, Saturday-morning-cartoon theme songs.

One cultural landmark towers above all the others, though: Walt Disney Pictures. The first movie I remember seeing was a Disney film (The Lion King), and it was a formative experience in my life. I went into that theater an average kid, and I came out a raving movie maniac. I ran the whole gamut of emotions sitting in that theater chair, from laughter to terror to suspense to tears. I was the most receptive audience member the filmmakers could have wished for! Anyway, like I said, I left that theater knowing what I wanted to do with the rest of my life: make movies. That's a passion that stays with me even today.

The term "Disney magic" gets thrown around a lot, but it never really gets defined. I can understand that. I think there's a lot of elements that combine to make a Disney film great, including nostalgia, great animation, amazing visuals, endearing characters, original ideas, and a sense of wonder. All of those elements can be hard to distill into one all-inclusive definition. It is possible, though, to isolate those separate pieces of Disney magic and see what makes them special. Disney songs are definitely one of those elements.

Of course, what makes a Disney song great differs based on who wrote the song; a Sherman brothers song is different from an Alan Menken/Howard Ashman song, and George Bruns's songs are totally different from either of those songwriting team's tunes. There are as many different Disney tunes as there are days in the year, so there's something for everyone. 

What I'm going to do now is share with you my 5 favorite Disney songsfrom live-action films. Of course, with such a wide-ranging list of Disney ditties, everyone's list is bound to be different. Therefore, here's a disclaimer: like all top-5 lists, this is entirely subjective. Your top-5 may be totally different, and that's great. In fact, I'd like to hear it (that's what the comments section is for)!

So, now that we've got all that out of the way, on to the main event!

Live-Action

5. "Ballad Of Davy Crockett" (Fess Parker) - from Davy Crockett: King Of The Wild Frontier (1955)

I love folk tales, and the story of Davy Crockett encapsulates what I love most about such stories: larger-than-life characters doing larger-than-life things in a world that seems almost like the world around us, but just with an extra touch of magic. Of course, Davy Crockett was a real person, but, over time, old men around campfires and fishermen at the general store embellished his life story until he became a superman. That's the image of Crockett I like most; it may not be the most historically accurate, but it is the most inspiring!

Every folk hero needs a folk song, and that's just what George Bruns & Thomas W. Blackburn gave him. The instrumentation has a nice, folksy feel to it; it makes me picture a burly man sitting on the porch of his cabin in the mountains, strumming his guitar (or sawing on his fiddle) and singing to his grandkids. The lyrics give us the basics of Crockett's exploits in a concise manner, rolling along to a lively rhythm. The words tumble off of Fess Parker's tongue smoothly and richly, sounding resonant in Parker's deep voice. All the while, it keeps the feeling of a classic folk song, gussied up a little with a little cologne and shined shoes.

4. "Let's Get Together" (Hayley Mills) - from The Parent Trap (1961)

"Honey, you're gonna put the paying customers to sleep with all this jazz. You've gotta get the new sound."

That's one of my favorite lines from any Disney movie, because I agree with it completely. I like classical music (I'll sing the praises of Aaron Copland and "Rhapsody In Blue" 'til the cows come home), but I've got a rock-and-roll soul!

"Let's Get Together" isn't exactly rock n' roll (1960s Disney movies seem sort of skittish about rock), but is a great pop tune. I'd say that's because Richard & Robert Sherman's optimistic style lends itself to pop music really well (after all, the brothers got their start writing singles for Annette Funicello and Johnny Burdette). The Shermans didn't really dip into their pop background that often during their tenure as Disney staff songwriters, but when they did, as with "Let's Get Together," the results were great! The brothers do a great job with the lyrics, taking care to differentiate between the sisters with slang and the lack thereof. The instrumentation is also wonderful; it has just the perfect touch of early-Beach Boys surf music!

3. "Whale Of A Tale" (Kirk Douglas) from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954)

This is actually the song that made me want to write this article! While I was researching the 1955 film Bad Day At Black Rock for my other blog, The Revival House (review coming soon!), I came across the historical tidbit that the director of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Richard Fleischer, wanted to direct Bad Day but couldn't, due to post-production on 20,000 Leagues. That little fact led me to thinking about this little ditty, so I looked it up. I found it better than I remembered. My joy over my re-discovery led me to this article!

Anyway, I love this tune for the same reasons I love "Ballad Of Davy Crockett;" just like the Ballad, it's basically a collection of tall tales, only with a nautical flavor instead of a Wild West one. I like these tales a little more, though, since they have to do with women. They feel very authentic; it sounds exactly like what I'd imagine a sailor's story would sound like!

I also love how Kirk Douglas gets more and more involved in his performance as the song progresses; he goes from just singing to moving his hips a little to swinging his guitar to doing a little jig at the end of the song.  Just watching Douglas work makes me happy!

2. "Chim-Chim-Cheree" (Dick Van Dyke) - from Mary Poppins (1964)

I can't speak for most of Disney fandom, but when I chat with fellow Disney fans about Mary Poppins, the consensus seems to go with the penguins: "Mary Poppins... you're our favorite person." I do love Mary - after all, she's practically perfect in every way - but, if I were to pick my favorite character from the film, it'd have to be Bert. He reminds me of myself in many ways: a little flirtatious ("Blow me a kiss, and that's lucky too!"), working a blue-collar job but having aspirations toward art, and even the same ideas of romance; looking at the lights of London from rooftop sounds AMAZING to me! Our fake accents (or attempts at such) even sound similar!

I think "Chim-Chim-Cheree" is a perfect distillation of all that I like about Bert's personality, but that's only part of the reason that I love this song. The other, more important part has to do with the Sherman brothers' writing skill. I think that lyrics have always been the Shermans' special strength, and I think the lyrics to "Chim-Chim-Cheree" are the best they ever wrote. They flow together nicely, have a great rhythm, and are full of great imagery!

On top of that, that string flourish at the beginning of the song always gives me chills (in a good way)!

1. "That's How You Know" (Amy Adams) from Enchanted (2007)

Out of all the live-action movies that Disney has released over the past decade, Enchanted is my favorite. I love how it pokes fun at the princess-movie conventions that Disney has become known for, while showing respect for them at the same time. I also love the juxtaposition of an optimistic Disney princess against the tough, cynical world of New York City. (Okay, so it's a romanticized version of New York, but I'm willing to cut Enchanted some slack. After all, you don't go to a Disney princess film expecting The French Connection.) 

I think that juxtaposition shines through especially well in the music. I love how Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz took modern song styles and combined them with classic Disney song elements. "So Close" is a really good example of this, and I toyed with putting that song on the top of this list. Ultimately, though, I had to go with my heart - as Disney has told us to do so often - and give the honored #1 spot to "That's How You Know!"

I think a huge reason why I love this song is because of the calypso flavor. I love calypso music of any sort (even the faux-calypso sung by Robert Mitchum in the 1950s... guilty!), so this song had my heart from the moment I heard those steel drums! I love the message behind the song even more, though. If there's anything I've learned about romance since high school, it's that being nervous and skittish around the opposite sex gets you nowhere. I've found that, more often than you might think, the best course of action is the direct one. Of course, you shouldn't get creepy about it, but, sometimes, you've got to bite the bullet and talk to that person you like. I love that that's the message that this song teaches. (By the way, I'm not married, so my advice on romance might be way off the mark. If you decide to take it, don't say I didn't warn you!)

So, there you have it: my top five favorite live-action Disney tunes.  What are your favorites? Let me know, and stay tuned for part two of the series, where I tackle Disney's animated songbook!

Five Classic Music Videos You Must Watch

When I'm not writing for this site or my personal blog, I write for Rotoscopers, an excellent animation website run by excellent people. Along with the news articles I write for the site, I also write a column called Forgotten Gems Of Animation, which discusses... well, just what the title says. Yesterday, I was brainstorming ideas for future installments, and I hit upon the idea of writing about animated music videos. I took to YouTube with the intent of finding content for the article, only to find myself falling down a rabbit hole of classic music vids, animated or not.

As I watched, I found myself being particularly biased toward '80s music videos. Why not? After all, that decade of videos were the pioneers. For the first time, musicians realized that a music video could be more than a simple tape of the band playing (although there's nothing wrong with that, as we shall see).  

If done well, a music video can add another layer of awesomeness to an already-great tune. It can tell a story with the song at the center, it can shed light of the meaning of the lyrics, or it can just provide us with an array of awesome images for us to forever associate with the song. Below, we'll discuss five music videos that, together, form a master class in how to do the music vid right!

5. 'Bat Out Of Hell' - Meat Loaf

Okay, I'll admit it; on a technical level, this music video isn't the greatest one ever made. That doesn't matter, though, once Michael Aday (better known as Meat Loaf) launches into his classic, over-the-top, Springsteen-meets-classical teen anthem. The instrumentation and the lurid style of the lyrics give the tune a delirious feel, and Meat Loaf embodies that so well in his performance that it's hard to take your eyes off him.

4. 'The Heart Of Rock And Roll' - Huey Lewis And The News

I know I'm in the minority on this, but I'm of the opinion that Huey Lewis & The News are one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Every song they roll out is infused with energy, joy, and love of the amazing genre that is rock and roll. This video, for one of their first big hits, does an amazing job of showing all the things that make Huey and the News great.  From the opening of the video (with the band walking across a bridge in perfect formation) to the end (with Huey's glowing heart thumping through his shirt), this video is wonderful.

3. 'Rapture' - Blondie

Oh, baby. Debbie Harry. What a beauty. Sigh... Oh. I'm sorry. What were we talking about? Oh, yes, I remember. Rap gets a bad rap these days. I can understand why some people hate the genre; after all, a lot of current rap (but not all) is about hating the cops or wanting to murder one's ex-significant other. I hate that kind of rap, too. There's a lot of good rap, too, and this song is a prime example. 'Rapture' has a great beat, and Debbie Harry has come up with an amazing, crazy story to lay on top of it. The editor of this video does a great job complementing the rap, too, by cutting the video to the beat of the music.

2. 'Dancing In The Dark' - Bruce Springsteen

  

Of course, this is only one man's opinion, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a musician who does the music video better than Bruce Springsteen. (There is one, though, and we'll get to him to a moment. But I digress.) Any Springsteen video is great, but this one is the cream of the crop. It combines a bunch of the things that makes Bruce "The Boss:" paying homage to classic rock artists by making a classic concert-style video; his amazing stage presence, and the emotion he puts into every song he sings.  You could get all those things from any Springsteen video, though. The thing that sets vid above the rest is the girl in the crowd who eventually gets brought up on stage. She embodies the joy of rock music so well that her mere presence elevates this video above almost all others. (By the way, the actress who plays that girl is Courteney Cox. She later became famous through a little TV show called Friends...)

1. 'Thriller' - Michael Jackson

Yup, no surprises here. All the music videos we've discussed are great, but this one is so wonderful that there's almost no comparison to any other video. You can say a lot of unsavory things about Michael Jackson, and a lot of them would be true, but there's no denying that the man had talent. A few years after leaving the Jackson 5 to pursue a solo career, MJ saw the movie An American Werewolf In London and had a revelation: music videos could be so much more than they had been. They didn't just have be a simple series of shots loosely hung on a song. They could tell a story, they could be ten minutes long (or even longer), and they could look just as good as any Hollywood movie. With a grand vision firmly in mind, Jackson hired the director of Werewolf, John Landis, and famous makeup artist Rick Baker. Together, they put together this little gem of a film. Everything about this film, from the horror-movie atmosphere to that famous dance to the horror-story structure, is perfect! (Incidentally, along with being shown on MTV every hour-on-the-hour, this video was also shown in theaters, right before Fantasia. That must have been a pleasant little treat for those unsuspecting kids going in to see a Disney movie.  Heh, heh, heh.)

...So, there you have it: five classic music videos you must watch. What have I missed? Let me know!