Jerry Goldsmith: 1960 to 1980

Hi Folks, hope Christmas was rad, and you got a shit ton of wicked presents from Santa Klaus Kinski and watched a shit ton of awesome Christmas time films!

I don't want to beat around the bush, so I wont.

I love Jerry Goldsmith. Don't know who he is? That doesnt matter, although by the end of this epic three part article, I have a feeling you will. Even if you arent hip like me, and sit around all day listening to movie soundtracks on record, chances are you would recognise some of Goldsmiths work. Be it First Blood, Star Trek: The Next Generation, or even the psychotic carny music from Gremlins.
Chances are you have heard at least one of his themes and walked around in a circle at work whistling them to yourself amongst curses for sounding like a dweeb.

Jerry Goldsmith was born in 1929 in sunny L.A. (thats Los Angeles, you loser) and was very jewish.
After growing up learning the in's and outs of music as a whole, young Jerry found himself suddenly inspired by Miklos Rozsa's score to Spellbound, and from there, the rest as we know it, is hollywood history.

I have selected three of Jerry Goldsmiths greatest scores from between 1960 and 1980, which is no easy task i'll have you know. There are quite a few honorable mentions, and with that on top of the amazing work he produced for television, this would be a never-ending list. Please understand that these selections are based on love for the film and score AS WELL AS technicality and pure musical beauty. I understand that in some countries it may be a crime not to include Star Trek: The Motion Picture or Chinatown on this list, but it just goes to show that while those scores were magnificent, there were indeed better ones.

1976: Logan's Run

Logan's Run is one of those movies that when you look at the cover you go WOW... seventies.
This is somewhat true. The film is set in the far future, but has that kitschy seventies flair to it, giving it a dated, but entertainingly nostalgic feel. The film may come off as shiny and fun, but anyone who has seen it more than once outside of it's original release date can agree that this film has a eerily sinister undertone to it. This is aided by Goldsmiths pulsing, haunting score. And you get it in your head for days.
Have a listen, and envision the future.

1976: The Omen

There are very few scores out there that scare the fucking shit out of me. This is one of them.
Goldsmiths terrifying melodies (which earned him his only oscar) accentuate the anguish of Gregory Peck's character Robert, as he tries to come to terms with the fact that his son Damien may be the son of Satan.
Anyone who comes up to me and complains that this film is boring and outdated have either never watched the movie, or never taken care of a child. It just goes to show that a movies themes and ideas live well beyond the movie itself.
And so does the music.
This music will usher in the end of the world.
The sky will turn blood red, the sun black, and this music will be playing.
Get over that and turn it up loud, give yourself a chill.

1979: Alien

There honestly isnt much that can be said about Alien that hasn't been said before. The film went on to spawn three sequels, and two quasi sequels, and has become one of the biggest franchises in cinema history. It all started here. Over the years i feel that the move has lost it's impact on the general public, seeing it as a B-Grade sci-fi horror, made only to get to the sequel. Sure we were spoilt so badly by Aliens, that it made Alien 3 shit, and the first Alien pale by comparison in the horror stakes. People forget the mystery, the sheer terror and suffocating claustrophobia of the first film.
Jerry Goldsmith uses a mixture of soothing classic tones and stinging, sharp slices to get the point across.
To a point, this has to be one of the most heavily imitated sci-fi scores in film history. Much like Holsts 'The Planets' set the benchmark for all sci-fi film scores to imitate before this film, this film score set the benchmark for all other film composers who have composed a sci-fi film in their time since.
Much like the film itself, spawning countless imitators over the last thirty or so years. Some of the main theme was even blatantly stolen and placed in Marc Streitenfeld's score to Prometheus, trying in the themes of cosmic mystery established by Goldmsith himself.
This music will be playing as I take off into outer space in my rocket.

So it's apparent that while Jerry Goldsmith did compose from the start of the 50's and right through the 60's, it seemed that it was during the 70's that he made his mark and hit his stride as a composer.
There were so many more to choose from, but the above three, in an aural sense, made Goldsmith a talent to be reckoned with, and the sounds and the ideas incorporated into his music resonated throughout the next 30 years.
Stay tuned for next week, where we will continue through with 1980 to 1995.

Merry X-MAS!!!

1982

Just a warning, this is not a First Blood, or a John Rambo retrospective article.
Just another warning, this is a retrospective article.
One final warning, you are about to want to go - as Huey Lewis and the News put it - Back In Time.

1982.
In the real world Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a spanish priest tried to stab the Pope, The Commodore 64 made its glorious debut, and in Northern Ireland, the government let Homosexuals bone each other at the same age as Heterosexuals, paving a glittery road for homosexual rights all across the world.

In the only world most of us care about, so much shit happened that in retrospect, it may be hard to fathom.
Michael Jacksons 'Thriller' was released, for a start. I dare say that this song and album had much more of a cultural impact than the entire Falklands War. If only argentina stopped and started dancing to thriller, then who knows???

The following movies came out in 1982, dont cry:

First Blood (duh)
Rocky III,
E.T: The Extra Terrestrial (also biggest box office draw of the year)
The Thing,
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan,
Conan the Barbarian,
The Dark Crystal,
The Sword And The Sorcerer,
Poltergeist,
Class of 1984,
48 hours,
Android,
Turkey Shoot,
Young Doctors In Love,
TENEBRAE,
The Swamp Thing,
Porky's
The Wall,
Night Shift,
I, The Jury,
Cat People,
Grease 2,
The Beastmaster,
Blade Runner,
Forced Vengeance,
Creepshow,
Friday The 13th: Part III,
Cat People,
Flying High II: The Sequel,
Basket Case.

And thats just to name a few!!!!
30 years ago, some of the most influential, and amazing films came out. I implore you to name a year outside of this that this many decent films emerged from.
Stallone had his second franchise and his first going on in the same year.
John Carpenter released what many consider to be his crowning acheivement.
Ridley Scott came in with a left hook and knocked us on our asses with Blade Runner.
Jason found his iconic mask.
Eddie Murphy made his feature film debut.
A legendary team up between George A. Romero and Stephen King produced one of the best anthology horror films ever created.
Star Trek re-invented itself and made the franchise what it is today.
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan. That is all.
Adrienne Barbeau rocked up in Swamp Thing AND Creepshow!

The fucked up thing about the above list, is that I havent even named them all.

Have you got a favorite film from 1982? Comment below!

Just tell it to call you Billie YOU BITCH!!!

Getting Hard Over Hardware

So, its that time of the year again. In many countries, people are fighting ice and snow, and laughing at Game of Throneses oncoming winter, throwing their copies of Ice Station Zebra in the bin. While in our little continent of Australia, we are sweating our balls off, terrified to touch our steering wheels and trying our best to survive the hordes of crazy drivers, whose feeble minds have been affected by the heat.

Yep, it's Christmas alright. And what better way to escape the heat and humidity, by throwing on the air con, shutting off all the lights, and ignoring your droll life to slip into a new one by way of a cheery Christmas movie!
There are so many to choose from, Die Hard, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Gremlins, Scrooged, Christmas Evil, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Silent Night, Deadly Night 2: Silent Night Deadly Nightlier.

Theres one big problem with all of these films... It's fucking snowing!
What better way to mess with your head than to watch a snowy movie, then to go outside to piss in the garden, only to have the heat hit you like Robocop's spiky fist.

So you go to the shops. Dont ask me why, I'm not you. I went to the shops today just to buy a steak to cook. So, you go to the shops, figure you may aswell get a couple of Christmas presents, it's that time of year after all. You are looking at blurays, because thats just what you do! Pick up a copy of Prometheus, think, oh, Mum will like that.Then you think to yourself, well fuck everyone else, it's my money, I'm going to buy myself something. By the way, don't lie to yourself and say that you've never done that before.

You see a strange film called "Hardware". It looks like this:

You laugh and go "Looks like an Americanised version of The Terminator" Put it down and pick up Titanic 3D instead, having reminded yourself of how brilliant James Cameron is, and how you have a secret SECRET love affair with Titanic and that you watched it about eight hundred times at the cinema because the ads told you to "See It AGAIN" (!!!) You bloody sheep.

You just put down one of the most fucked up and awesome science fiction movies of the 90's you retard.

Granted, it wasnt even fucked up when it came out in 1990.
Anyone who is familiar with the director Richard Stanley and his amazing but very limited back catalogue, will know that all of the two feature films that he directed were maimed and chopped to shit by the powers that be. Dust Devil, his second feature after Hardware, was disgracefully cut not just of violence, but of key story elements and set pieces vitally important to the flow of the film. The theatrical cut gave us a mere glimpse of what could have been a really amazing and important film. Thankfully, Dust Devil is now available in a beautifully restored Final Cut DVD, along with a backup of many of Richard Stanleys short films and intriguing documentaries.
Same goes for Hardware. It's a hard film to push, seeing as when most people saw it in the 90's it was a cut up, horrendously UN-violent film.

For the uninitiated, Hardware is loosely based on the 2000AD comic strip "Shok" about a war robot loose in a ladies apartment with only one mindset, to kill.
So, in the post apocalyptic future Stacy Travis plays Jill, a hi-tech junkie artist who creates metal sculptures. Her intergalactic soldier partner Moses, played by Dylan McDermott, who brings her a steel skull that he purchased from a junkyard owner. The steel skull springs to life, and jacks itself into Jill's apartment, using the sculpture she created as its new body. It goes fucking nuts and tries to kill all life.

This is a very minimal explanation of what the film is about though.

The movie plays out like a Richard Laymon splatterpunk novel, with a splash of Frank Millers "I don't give a fuck WHAT you think" attitude, and this definately works in it's favor.
With the new bluray and the Severin special edition DVD (which i personally own) Richard Stanley has had all of the violence and the nastiness re-instated, making this version the ULTIMATE way to view the film. Chuck out all previous incarnations if you own them, and replace it with this supreme version of the film.

With the new version of the film you get the following:

Disebowelments!
Eye gouging!
Door Crushing
Headshots!
Chainsawing!

Even without all the extra violence, you still get:

Dylan McDermott with obligatory Metal Hand!
Stacey Travis' Eyes!
Rambaging Robots!
Jek Porkins playing a fat pervert!
Shades!
Dylan McDermott blasting a shotgun uncontrollably out a window!

If the above things don't tempt you enough then you are visiting the wrong fucking blog. I Mean, Metal. Fucking. Hand.

I know right? You totally want one of these.

I don't need to review this film, you can go anywhere on the internet and find good reviews anywhere.
The biggest concern with the stigma that this film has attached to it, is it's original release response. A hollowed out film entered the world and gave people an impression that has lasted to this day.
Outrageous comparisons to Alien and Terminator are just the tip of the iceberg. Check out IMDB where the lad who wrote the featured review says "It's no Aliens, but it has a lot of interesting things happening."
Sure! Aliens is no Alien, but it sure has a lot of interesting things happening.
Drawing comparisons to completely unrelated films is a very tiresome exercise.
I could sit here all day and tell you why Dune is better than Avatar.
I mean they share a similar premise, fish out of water, becomes a badass, leads people, becomes one of the people, draws off the badguys, people love the guy, guy becomes the king.
Two big differences, one has giant sandworms, the other has dragons and where one is rich in story, the other is rich in special effects.
Alien and Hardware's only similarity is the idea of a woman being trapped. They arent even close either. Ones trapped in sapce where no-one can hear her scream, the other in her apartment where fucking everybody can hear her scream, but no-one gives a shit.

Did i mention that this film is set during Christmas time? No? This makes Hardware the one Christmas film that you can watch that is not snowing for once, and is dirty, hot and gritty!

So go back from the counter, put back Titanic 3D, I mean you have the four-disc dvd already, and you don't even have a 3D tv you drogo. Pick up the Hardware bluray, its cheaper, shorter, more violent, more sassy, a lot less classy, sexy, sleek, and it packs one hell of a fucking punch, right in the goodamn groinals.

This film needs to be on the top of your things to do list.
Take my word for it, and buy the motherfucker. You'll thank me later.

Do you hate Mondays? I know I do!

I hate Mondays, so every Monday we will tell you what we hate...and you will LOVE it...or hate it...whatever floats your boat!

Is there anything you hate about the movie industry? Let us know guys! We wanna hear your feedback!!!!

Good Afternoon.

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Look forward to reviews.

Look forward to general movie talk.

Look forward to lots of talk about JCVD and Bolo Yeung.