Composing Greatness: #8. John Williams - "Tom Sawyer" (1973)

Scene from Tom Sawyer

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.

R.I.P. Jonathan Demme (1944-2017)

Jonathan Demme

On April 26, 2017, director Jonathan Demme passed away a the age of 73 in Manhattan, New York from complications involving esophageal cancer and heart disease. Over the course of a career spanning over 45 years, he created one of the most diverse bodies of work that ranged from studio comedies to prestige thrillers to iconic concert documentaries. He leaves behind such great movies as The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, Stop Making Sense, and Rachel Getting Married. No matter how varied his career became, he still managed to influence with his unique style of close-ups and his ability to find tension in otherwise conventional scenes. His work was as influential as it was unpredictable, and that's just some of the reasons that he'll be missed greatly.

Why "The Silence of the Lambs" is One of the Best Directed Movies Ever

Scene from The Silence of the Lambs

With today's passing of director Jonathan Demme, it only seems right to look back at his work. The one that's probably going to get the most attention is his 1991 crime film The Silence of the Lambs. While not a film of the horror genre, it's a wonder that this Best Picture winner often gets considered the scariest movie ever. But why is that? Why did Demme's serial killer tale resonate with audiences on such a deep level? One could argue that it's Anthony Hopkins' excellent performance as Dr. Hannibal Lecter - but then why are the sequels considered inferior if he's just as menacing? In fact, neither Lecter nor antagonist Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb (Ted Levine) have a high murder rate compared to Jason Vorhees or Michael Meyers. What is Demme's secret? The answer is subtle and hard to pick up on unless you're intentionally going for it. The answer is direction.

Review: "Money Monster" is a Tense and Often Enjoyable Financial Thriller

George Clooney

Nowadays, the issue of money has become a big issue on film. Last year saw the Oscar-winning film The Big Short tackle the housing collapse, while Martin Scorsese tackled corporate greed a few years prior with The Wolf of Wall Street. With Money Monster, director Jodie Foster makes her return to cinema after three years with a tense political thriller that is meant to explore the themes of greed from a more universal standpoint. The story focuses on a TV personality (George Clooney) who becomes victim to an investor (Jack O'Connell) who lost thousands due to his bad advice. What happens from there is a mixture of soapbox politics, sly dark humor, and tense action. It may not be the most succinct statement of our financial times, but it continues the trend of being highly entertaining. 

Ranking the Performances from the "Big Five" Oscar Winners

Scene from The Silence of the Lambs

With Oscar Sunday mere days away, it feels like as good of a time as any to do a commemorative countdown. In this case, we are five days away from finding out if The Revenant can beat Spotlight for Best Picture or Brie Larson can beat Saoirse Ronan for Best Actress. So, how do you commemorate five days left? Why, by honoring "The Big Five": an honor held by only three films that have won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay (and strangely enough, nothing else). It's rarer than you think. For the sake of an expansive list, I have decided to rank the six performances in order of quality to highlight not only what makes a great performance, but what can enhance a great film.

Nothing But the Best: "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991)

Anthony Hopkins

Welcome to the series Nothing But the Best in which I chronicle all of the Academy Award Best Picture winners as they celebrate their anniversaries. Instead of going in chronological order, this series will be presented on each film's anniversary and will feature personal opinions as well as facts regarding its legacy and behind the scenes information. The goal is to create an in depth essay for each film while looking not only how the medium progressed, but how the film is integral to pop culture. In some cases, it will be easy. Others not so much. Without further ado, let's start the show.

At 40 Years Old, "Taxi Driver" is Still a Fascinating Look into Loneliness and War

Robert De Niro

Nowadays, it's easy to think of director Martin Scorsese as a visionary whose every film and every lecture and interview are worthy of dissection. However, it's harder to remember a time when he wasn't the king of gritty New York dramas where faith and violence were battling themes. Even then, there was a time when it didn't even look like he would make it out of the 70's. With a drug addiction to his credit and a screenplay by an equally depressed writer named Paul Schrader, Taxi Driver is the ultimate homage to loneliness and delusion in a New York that has since been gussied up. The film is a time capsule of 70's cynicism as well as featuring one of the most breathtaking performances of Robert De Niro's career as Travis Bickle: a Vietnam War veteran who drives to escape his sleeping problems. The times may have changed, but the impact of Taxi Driver remains just as immediate as it did 40 years ago.

Anthony Hopkins Admits to Regretting Involvement with the Hannibal Sequels

Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs

In 1991, nobody could've guessed the impact that director Jonathan Demme's Silence of the Lambs would have on the general public. While it wasn't the first film to be based on serial killer Hannibal Lecter (that's Manhunter), it's the one that many revere as the greatest depiction of the man who loves a nice Chianti with some fava beans. That actor is none other than Anthony Hopkins, who would reprise the role in two additional sequels. However, in a recent interview with The Wrap, Hopkins admits that he is a little regretful about the role that earned him a Best Actor Oscar. He wishes that maybe he didn't continue to play the role that he will likely always be remembered best for.

Birthday Take: Jodie Foster in "Nell" (1994)

Jodie Foster in Nell

Welcome to The Birthday Take, a column dedicated to celebrating Oscar nominees and winners' birthdays by paying tribute to the work that got them noticed. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive retrospective, but more of a highlight of one nominated work that makes them noteworthy. The column will run whenever there is a birthday and will hopefully give a dense exploration of the finest performances and techniques applied to film. So please join me as we blow out the candles and dig into the delicious substance.

Review: "Elysium" May Have a Few Gears Missing, But it is Always Interesting

Matt Damon

Before I begin, I would like to state that yes, I know that director Neill Blomkamp's Elysium is very low in terms of chances at ANY Oscar nominations. Even if critic aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes has its score at 66%, that is not high enough to even be considered one of the average nominee's track record. What we have here is a blockbuster probably not in the truest sense of the word. While it costs a reported $90 million to make, it is as original of a property that something of that scale has been all summer long, which at very least is refreshing and makes Blomkamp at least a bold filmmaker, especially for a sci-fi film littered with profanity, gore, and a big budget. It may be the death of his blockbuster career, or just the start. Either way, it is an exciting proposition.