Follow along as Jon and Andy do a hard-target search of James Newton Howard’s score to the 1993 man-on-the-run thriller The Fugitive . How do this film and its music match this cultural moment? What technical rule does Howard break, and why doesn’t it matter? And, wait a minute, does this plot actually make any sense?
It’s back to the Oscars stage for Jon and Andy, to talk about this year’s nominees for Best Original Score, and it’s back to some age old questions: Do we want our music made out of notes or blobs? Does reading up about these scores get in the way of our curmudgeonly opinions? And, how much music should a musical's music music?
Are you here for an affair? Ah yes, an episode of Settling the Score, very good sir - this one's about Simon and Garfunkel’s song score to Mike Nichol’s classic 1967 satire The Graduate . How was this movie pioneering in its use of music? Do these famous songs engender sympathy or skepticism for the characters, or both? And, it's okay to ask: do these lyrics actually mean anything?
“I love this score.” “I know.” Jon and Andy search their feelings about John Williams’ score for the 1980 hit sci-fi fantasy sequel The Empire Strikes Back . How important has this score been to our hosts? How does its mastery show itself on different scales? And, what are the odds of successfully navigating this show’s longest episode ever?
Jon and Andy go straight down the line through Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1944 film noir classic Double Indemnity . Which elements of this music sound like noir, and which don’t? Why do we enjoy stories about bad people? And, where’s a good spot in L.A. to sneak into if you want to hear some Schubert?
It’s time again for Jon and Andy to strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood and find the real tinsel underneath, as they consider this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Original Score. Is it possible that our hosts are feeling less cranky this year? What are some different ideas these movies have for using music to fill time? And, did you notice that this episode is still shorter than two of these five nominated films?
Come and eavesdrop on Jon and Andy discussing David Shire’s score for the 1974 surveillance mystery drama The Conversation . What does Shire's solo piano music express about the main character? How are the themes of the movie embodied in its world of sound? And, will Fred Flintstone be a good father?
Surprise! It’s time for a break from the bucket: Jon and Andy look back at all the scores they’ve talked about since the end of the AFI list, and Andy puzzles Jon with another needle-drop quiz. Can Jon remember all this music? Can you remember it better than Jon? And, like, what have our hosts even been talking about this whole time?
This time Jon and Andy train their attention on John Powell’s score for the 2010 animated fantasy adventure How to Train Your Dragon. Just how many themes does this score have? Might their meanings change with repeat viewings? And, what rhythmic pattern will Jon finally let Andy talk about?
In this episode Jon and Andy drink up Jonny Greenwood’s score for Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 period drama There Will Be Blood . How does Greenwood’s music seem to get so deeply inside your head? What lines can be drawn between it and his work for Radiohead? And, is either of us even close to getting the Daniel Plainview voice right?
This time Jon and Andy land their spaceship in the middle of Bernard Herrmann’s score for the 1951 sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still ! How strongly was Herrmann committed to musical otherness? What peculiar instrumentation did he use to achieve unearthly sounds? And, have we finally cracked Gort's secret alien robot code?
Join Jon and Andy as they sneak back into the Dolby Theater to discuss this year's nominees for Best Original Score! Could this be our least impressive slate of contenders yet? What does it mean for music to really speak to the human heart? And, will we succeed in our attempt to keep the episode short? (No.)
They call this an episode about Quincy Jones’ score for the 1967 social drama mystery In the Heat of the Night ! How amazingly broad is the scope of Jones’ expertise? What effect does it have on the movie that his music feels so good? And, what would YOU say to Rod Steiger?
Get ready for a long haul, as Jon and Andy set out across Ralph Vaughan Williams' score for the 1948 historical adventure film Scott of the Antarctic. What was unusual about the relationship between this movie and its celebrated classical composer? What techniques did he use to depict snow, ice, and struggle? And, are criticisms not made worse / when written in a rhyming verse?
Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear Jon and Andy discuss Basil Poledouris’ score for the 1982 fantasy adventure movie Conan the Barbarian . From what classical references does Poledouris draw, and what very non-classical things might have drawn from him? What’s a quick way to make your music sound archaic? And, waiter, what’s this in my soup?
Jon and Andy catch each other monologuing about Michael Giacchino’s score for the 2004 Pixar superhero movie The Incredibles ! How did Giacchino become one of Hollywood’s go-to composers? What cultural influences wind up shaken and stirred into his music? And, how big of a dork was Jon when he had a chance to ask Giacchino a question?
It’s back to Hollywood Blvd. for Jon and Andy as they consider this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Score. What has them enthusiastic, and what has them angry? What musical sounds are trendy this season? And, what exciting new mini-segment will they introduce to the show? (Podcaster General’s warning: this episode is too long! Recommended serving size: one (1) segment.)
Jon and Andy are bursting to talk about Jerry Goldsmith’s score for the 1979 sci-fi horror classic Alien ! How much of what Goldsmith wrote didn’t make it into the movie, and why? What musical reptile did he unleash into his orchestra? And, will our hosts finally consider couples therapy?
The fates foretold that Jon and Andy would discuss John Corigliano’s score for the 1998 history-spanning musical saga The Red Violin . How does Corigliano draw a musical line to connect the film’s disparate episodes, and how darkly does he draw it? What sensibilities did he bring from the world of classical concert composing? And, is this our dirtiest episode yet?
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Once upon a time, Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline and Paul Smith wrote the score for Walt Disney’s groundbreaking 1937 animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . How did the development of cartoons require close musical integration? Have Jon and Andy finally found stair-climbing music they can agree about? And, what’s the best method for changing your clothes?
This time Jon and Andy slooshied Wendy Carlos’ music as they viddied the 1971 Stanley Kubrick dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange ! How did Carlos pioneer an entirely new musical soundscape? What sorts of meaning does Kubrick get out of it for this film? And, who's been doing all this mysterious thieving?
Jon and Andy seem to have talked for a very long time about Hugo Friedhofer’s score for the Best Picture of 1946, The Best Years of Our Lives ! How many different ways does Friedhofer engage with the drama? In what sense is this music American? And, when is the 3D version coming out already?
Walk this way to hear Jon and Andy discuss John Morris’ score for the 1974 Mel Brooks monster movie spoof Young Frankenstein ! How does Morris help the movie’s zaniness and sincerity to coexist? What techniques make the music sound old-fashioned, and what light can a visit from the show’s go-to violin expert - Jon’s wife Becky - shed on them? And, what is the sweet mystery of life, anyway?
This time, the red carpet comes to Jon and Andy: join us as we delve into the score nominees for this year’s unusual Oscars. Are film score fashions shifting? Who’s on what wavelength, and who might not be? And, are Jon and Andy being even crankier than usual, or is it just a weird year?
We’re back, with Brad Fiedel’s score for 1991’s box office champion, Terminator 2: Judgment Day ! How did the improving technology change Fiedel’s approach between the first movie and its sequel? What’s the unexpected provenance of some of the score’s key sounds? And, why are we still talking about Henry Mancini?
This was some kind of a score; what does it matter what Jon and Andy say about it? In Henry Mancini’s score for Orson Welles’ 1958 film noir Touch of Evil , how does the music that’s playing in the next room cast a menacing pall? Why do we get to hear two different musical approaches to the film’s famous opening shot? And, what odd jobs did Welles scrounge up on the side while he was making this movie?
While we're still ringing in the New Year, let's ring in this old one again too: join Jon and Andy as they pan across the landscape of 1995 film music. Was it a less complicated time? How did America sound? How many Oscars for score were awarded? How many more movies than Jon did Andy watch? And, which of them should be rewritten as musicals?
It’s about time! Jon and Andy finally get around to Alan Silvestri’s score for the hit 1985 sci-fi comedy adventure Back to the Future . What does its main theme have in common with some other memorable movie melodies? How does a film’s score have to breathe with its editing? And, where we’re going, do we need roads?
George Kaplan? No, you must be mistaken, I’m an episode about Bernard Herrmann’s score for the 1959 madcap wrong-man adventure North by Northwest . What’s behind Herrmann’s extremely process-derived writing style? Does this movie really make any sense, and what can the music do about it? And, what did this movie inspire Jon to attach to himself?
