The latest edition of FilmScoreMonthly (FSM) points to a interview by composer
Craig Safan (The Last Starfighter) where he says that he thought the SdM score
was a "breath of fresh air" and that "the other scores... were technically
great but musically boring". He talks more about this in comparison to other
scores. Check out the interview at http://www.scorenotes.com/interviews.html
(around 11:51 onwards till 15:46)
Or the direct link to the mp3
http://www.scorenotes.com/interviews09/safan/craig_safan.mp3
In this month's FSM editorial there's the (expectedly) snarky comment from the
editor about the Oscar results-
"Now on to A.R. (“Top”) Rahman winning for Slumdog Millionaire. I should have
been ready for it, but I really wasn’t. I mean, how many years can this happen?
I never learn. I should stop holding out hope that the best film music is going
to win. But how could I not hope for the best, when there was such a wealth of
great composers writing great scores this year: Danny Elfman, James Newton
Howard, Thomas Newman and Alexandre Desplat—quite possibly the most impressive
foursome of composers nominated in, I don’t know, 20 years? Well, it’s over
now, and I think I’ve truly learned my lesson. I vow to begin the process of
giving up hope for film music at the Oscars. I trust you’ll all join me. Of
course, no sooner do I write that, than I remember that Dario Marianelli (who
happens to be featured in this issue) won a well-deserved Oscar in 2008 for
Atonement. But that’s become a rare exception, and one that doesn’t warrant me
getting my
hopes up again. Or does it? Damn you Oscars! I guess I’ll see you next year
after all…"
And in response to a question from a reader-
Q: How cool was the playing of excerpts from the various nominated scores,
especially the close-ups of various musicians, demonstrating conclusively the
monstrous miscarriage of justice in the award to Slumdog Millionaire
A: I remember commenting during that montage that it felt like a eulogy for the
first four scores, appropriately capped by a handful of banal bars of
Slumdogpop fodder.
