Composing Greatness: #7. Thomas Newman - "A Series of Unfortunate Events" (2004)

Scene from A Series of Unfortunate Events

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

Series Composer: Thomas Newman

Entry: A Series of Unfortunate Events (2003)

Collaborators (If Available): N/A

Nomination: Best Original Score 

Did He Win: No

Other Nominees:
-Finding Neverland (Jan A. P. Kaczmarek)*winner
-Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (John Williams)
-The Passion of the Christ (John Debney)
-The Village (James Newton Howard)

Additional Information

This is to help provide perspective of where each composer is in their Oscar-nominated life as it related to the current entry.

Oscar Nomination: 7

Oscar Wins: 0

Track List

1. "The Bad Beginning"
2. "Chez Olaf"
3. "The Baudelaire Orphans"
4.  "In Loco Parentis"
5. "Resilience"
6. "An Unpleasant Incident Involving a Train"
7. "Curdled Cave"
8. "Puttanesca"
9. "Curious Feeling of Falling"
10. "Tundra Twilight"
11. "Extreme Randomness"
12. "Lachrymose Ferry"
13. "Concerning Aunt Josephine"
14. "A Terrible Tribute to Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events"
15. "The Wide Window"
16. "Hurricane Herman"
17. "Meu Teste After Effects"
18. "The Regrettable Episode of the Leeches"
19. "Interlude With Sailboat"
20. "Verisimilitude"
21. "Loverly Spring"
22. "A Woeful Wedding"
23. "Attack of the Hook Handed Man"
24. "Taken By Surprise"
25. "One Last Look"
26. "Drive away"

Note: Listen to here.

Exploring the Music

The area of the column where I will explore the music in as much detail as I see fit for each entry.

Theme Exploration:

"The Bad Beginning"

There is a lot of fun to be had with the opening of this soundtrack from Thomas Newman. In keeping with the story's mix of macabre and upbeat attitudes, it begins with a cutesy song before cutting into the more demonic melody that will capture the rest of the score. Thankfully, it's just as clever and creative as anything that the composer has created, even dipping into the familiar chimes and ambient sound design that allows for a mystical vibe to form. It's a bit unnerving while being a bit playful, as if it's the update of the Danny Elfman/Tim Burton partnership that we didn't know we needed. It's a good track full of a lot to enjoy, and it's going to keep happening throughout the rest of the score.

Interesting Standout:

"Curious Feeling of Falling"

The soundtrack is a bit too eccentric throughout its entire running time. It is so much so the case that when he returns back to the piano as a sole instrument, it feels a bit strange. This isn't the first time that he's done that (he did it more effectively in American Beauty), but it feels a bit jarring when compared to the soundscape that he's created. Even then, it's a beautifully composed track that sees Thomas Newman looking into his deeper angst. It's plenty powerful and adds a brief moment of respite from the chaos that surrounds it. Overall, it's one of the less impressive tracks musically, but it definitely stands out in ways that are both obvious but effective.

Best Moment:

"The Baudelaire Orphans"

As mentioned, this is a score that's full of upbeat and dark elements. One of the early breakthrough tracks is the introduction of the protagonists, better known as The Baudelaire Orphans. With a nice blend of harpsichord, it has an eerie vibe that transitions into a lullaby that shows how effectively Thomas Newman is at creating a world that balances emotion with humor. If nothing else, the discordant soundtrack is a bit humorous and some of the composers most jaunty. In this brief moment, he captures it beautifully, managing to make a melodic creation that is among his better work. This is what the score's intent was going for in a nutshell.

Did This Deserve an Oscar Nomination?:
No

While there's nothing inherently bad about this score, this is probably the least enjoyable of the Thomas Newman scores from this column. Where American Beauty and Finding Nemo excelled on creativity, this one feels a bit like a rehash where themes build and change over time, but are limited musically. The instruments used aren't interesting enough to make up for the melodies that are a bit disjointed at times. As much as this achieves a Danny Elfman-lite tone at points, it's just not interesting enough as a whole to have been worth it. The composer is no slouch, but there's still something missing that makes this an inferior nomination.

Up Next: The Good German (2006) for Best Original Score

Best Theme

A ranking of all themes composed by Thomas Newman.
1. "Dead Already" - American Beauty (1999)
2. "Wow" - Finding Nemo (2003)
3. "Orchard House" - Little Women (1994)
4. "Rock Island, 1931" - Road to Perdition (2002)
5. "Shawshank Prison (Stoic Theme)" - The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
6. "The Bad Beginning" - A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
7. "End Titles" - Unstrung Heroes (1995)