Attack of the 2017 Oscar Nominees!

Movie Meltdown

Attack of the Killer Soundtrack - Episode 48

This week we are joined by composer Erich Stem to play and discuss all the 2017 Oscar Nominees for Best Original Song and Best Original Score. And while we try to decide if what they are going for is Oscary or Oscarly, we also mention… Wagner, Gene Autry, shaved the edges off, Tarzan, synthesized sound, Carter Burwell, the same kind of instrumental choices are there, Mudbound, I think I’d like to use a didgeridoo, how far is too far and how close is too close, it’s not as laborious to do that, Phantom Thread, old school Hollywood productions, Jonny Greenwood, Mary J. Blige, Catch Me If You Can, Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson, Dunkirk, the common practice period, Hans Zimmer, Call Me by Your Name, what is the job of the music, Sufjan Stevens, The Shape of Water, ostinato pattern, Alexandre Desplat, Coco, I’ve heard this piece before, Titanic, what do you do when you are competing against a giant in the industry, it could sound like yesterday, the marketing angle, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, John Williams, Marshall, how do you judge what constitutes the best song for a film, Diane Warren and Lonnie R. Lynn, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Phil Collins, The Greatest Showman, Mozart, reminiscent of older themes, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, that’s a good problem to have, a sense of nostalgia, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, emotionally powerful, not competing with the story, merchandise, melody over harmony, this is who he is, you’ve been through something, large brass and revisionist history.

”…it’s a fine line… how do you take your personal artistic… viewpoints, I guess if you will, and combined that with the idea of well this is a movie about X and so I’m going to put elements of this time… elements of this experience, so that the listener is placed in that world as well.”