Tuesday, November 28, 2006

THE GOOD GERMAN soundtrack release date

Varese Sarabande has a release date -- January 9th -- and some high praise for Newman's THE GOOD GERMAN score:

An homage to the Golden Age of film noir thrillers, The Good German is a glistening reflection on a bygone era of film. The absolutely brilliant score by Thomas Newman is likewise cut from the cloth of such Golden Age masters as Max Steiner, Miklos Rozsa and his own father, the legendary Alfred Newman. The Good German is one of the best scores of the year and a strong Oscar contender. The Warner Bros. film opens nationwide on December 22. Catalog #: 302 066 781 2

The question is will we see an iTunes release before this? I'm excited for this one folks, and I think it could easily overshadow LITTLE CHILDREN as Newman's Oscar-hopeful.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Shameless self-promotion

I normally won't be doing this kind of thing, but I just wanted to let any readers here know that I've just launched my personal blog for movie reviews. You can get to know a little more about me and some great new movies by visiting samsmyth.blogspot.com. Bookmark me, leave me some feedback, and stay tuned for more.

Little Children CD release in UK

Good news, UK fans: Silva Screen Records has announced that they will be releasing the LITTLE CHILDREN CD soundtrack in the UK on December 11th. Read the news item on their official site. For the US, I'm still hearing January, but I'm enjoying my iTunes copy just fine.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Rare Newman scores on eBay

A quick search for Mr. Newman on eBay turns up a few rare promotional CDs of some of Newman's otherwise-unavailable film scores. If you're willing to pay the price, you can get your hands on complete scores for Phenomenon, The Lost Boys, The Man With One Red Shoe, and others. Thanks to Douglass for the tip!

Still no LITTLE CHILDREN...

New Line has still not set a specific release date for the LITTLE CHILDREN CD, due in January, and in response to some readers' emails, I'm not quite sure when and if iTunes in UK will release the digital copy.

I can tell you that I caught LITTLE CHILDREN on my recent visit to New York City and while I can't yet agree with some that it's Newman's best work in years, it certainly works beautifully in the film, and you can hear Newman charting some new territory in his arrangements, particularly in the End Titles track. If you're still holding out for the CD, do yourself a favor and purchase this track if nothing else. I'll post a full review of the score soon.

Thanks to everyone who's shot me an email of support. Feel free to post comments here on the blog (see the links under each post). I look forward to and am open to all feedback.

Newman to recieve Frederick Loewe Award

Thomas Newman will be presented with the Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing at the Festival’s annual Awards Gala on Saturday, January 7, 2006 at the Palm Springs Convention Center in California. Festival chairman Earl Greenburg commented, “From Jarhead to Cinderella Man, Newman’s music elevates each of the films he scores to new artistic heights.” The fest will also honor Shirley McClaine, Charlize Theron, David Cronenberg, Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard and Michael London.

"Amazing Stories" tracks now available

Thomas Newman Complete (now up and running again) reports that Intrada Records has released a second volume of the "Amazing Stories" television soundtrack, which features holiday-themed Newman music from the episode "Santa 85." Intrada is selling it for 29.99 and it's limited to 3,000 copies. The tracklist on Intrada's site lists 5 Newman tracks totalling 13:05.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Film Music Radio Interview

Just when I start this blog, and as I'm going through Thomas Newman's filmography searching for what's available to listen to and what's not, Daniel Schweiger at Film Music Radio comes and drops this 2-hour treasure trove of an interview on me. This is a must-listen for every fan of Mr. Newman. Interspersed with Newman's interview are tons of tracks from throughout his career.

- In Daniel's comprehensive and well-organized interview, Tom drops a hint about his score for THE GOOD GERMAN, saying that it will be a twist on the Old Hollywood style of film music, a step into his father's shoes.

- The interview also confirms that the LITTLE CHILDREN soundtrack CD will not be released until January. So for now, iTunes it is.

Listen at Film Music Radio's On the Score. If you're having trouble streaming the audio, click here for an mp3 you can listen to instead. Check it out!