Settling the Score

Jon and Andy camp out on Hollywood Blvd. for another marathon episode on this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Original Score. Is it possible there are some trends in film scoring that have us excited? Do we completely understand them? And, should we have been listening to all this music in our sleep?

Jon and Andy camp out on Hollywood Blvd. for another marathon episode on this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Original Score. Is it possible there are some trends in film scoring that have us excited? Do we completely understand them? And, should we have been listening to all this music in our sleep?

Come on down as Jon, Jon, Jon and Andy, Andy, Andy haunt Danny Elfman's score to the 1988 supernatural comedy Beetlejuice! How did Elfman's background stand him in good stead for this particular brand of craziness? Which of his formative musical influences shine through this score? And, what’s a painless way to buy an ’84 Ford?

Join Jon and Andy as they check into Alexandre Desplat's score for the 2014 Wes Anderson creation The Grand Budapest Hotel. How does Desplat's music align with Anderson's idiosyncratic perspective? What instruments give it its very particular zing? And, how might Wes Anderson edit this podcast differently?

Listen as Jon and Andy take a long, meandering stroll through and around Miles Davis’ score for the 1958 crime drama Elevator to the Gallows. How did this French film wind up looming large in the history of American jazz? What special mood does Davis find, and what special note helps him describe it? And, what would you give to hear Miles imitate Marlon Brando?

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?

This time, Jon and Andy go on and on about James Horner’s score for the 1997 epic disaster romance Titanic. What pop artist did director James Cameron originally want to score the movie? What powerful chord change is a keystone of both the score and the movie’s famous song? And, just how many famous paintings have actually been on the bottom of the ocean this whole time?

Let’s cut to the chase - this episode is about Lalo Schifrin’s score to the 1968 detective thriller Bullitt. What does it really mean to be “cool?” Were the late 1960s a “dark age” for film music? And, just how many TV dinners did Steve McQueen eat every week?

So you want us to talk about Mark Knopfler’s score for the 1987 fairy tale adventure The Princess Bride? As you wish. How is this score sensitive to the twists and turns of the dire straits in which our heroes find themselves? Can a movie have a good score without having good music? And, when Rob Reiner said no one else could have scored the movie, did he mean it? (Anybody want a peanut?)

It’s lined up in our sights and we’re ready to pull the trigger on Ennio Morricone’s score for the 1966 iconic Spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. How did he arrive at the combination of ingredients that created such a memorably distinctive sound? Is the main theme meant to evoke an animal call, a lone gunslinger, a dream, or all of the above? And, what does Jon’s cat think of this score?

It’s time once again to find out who Jon and Andy are wearing on the Oscar red carpet! How does this crop of nominees for Best Original Score stack up to previous years’? What did each movie want from its music? And, what stupid schtick did they put at the beginning of this one?

Yo! In this corner is Bill Conti’s score for the 1976 boxing drama Rocky! How did this whole movie wind up punching above its weight? How do some chords that start out weak later find themselves getting strong now? And, how many times as long as the score is this episode? (Answer: 5)

I am an episode about Spartacus! I’m an episode about Spartacus! There’s a lot for Jon and Andy to grapple with in Alex North’s score for this 1960 swords-and-sandals epic. Is this the “most composed” score ever? How much can it, should it, and does it add to the picture? And, would the podcast be improved by recording it in a bathtub?

Just in time for Halloween, this episode is all for you! Hear what Revelations are in store as Jon and Andy discuss Jerry Goldsmith’s score to the 1976 horror flick The Omen. Should a horror film’s music know that it’s in a horror film? Where are all these voices coming from? And, is Neil Diamond really a Satanist?

Holy film score discussion, this time it’s Batman! Join Jon and Andy in Gotham City as they talk about Danny Elfman’s classic 1989 score. How does Elfman sell the sound of a dark comic book world? What peculiar path led him to film music in the first place? And, is this the best movie theme ever written on an airplane?

Jonesing for a fix of score analysis? This time Jon and Andy lock themselves in a room with Elmer Bernstein’s score for the 1955 noir drama of drug addiction, The Man with the Golden Arm. How did its use of jazz influence the sounds of the subsequent decades? How is that jazz able to suggest both seediness and sophistication? And, why would anyone want to play poker with Frank Sinatra?

Some inexorable interdimensional force seems to have drawn Jon and Andy to talk about Hans Zimmer's score for the 2014 outer space epic Interstellar. Why was a pipe organ such an unusual but apt choice for Zimmer? How does he sculpt tonal colors that range from quite delicate to maybe-too-loud? And, what would happen to this podcast if it fell into a black hole?

The first score the fates have assigned to Jon and Andy, as their voyage continues past the AFI’s list, is Thomas Newman’s score for the 1999 Oscar-winning dramedy American Beauty. What interesting and powerful hybrid compositional process does Newman employ? What kooky instruments does it include? And, how much worse is Jon’s acting than Wes Bentley’s?

After finishing their task of discussing and reordering the American Film Institute’s Top 25 Scores, Jon and Andy kick back and take stock of what they’ve done. What did they learn? What did they get wrong? How in the world did Andy expect Jon to recognize the clips he chose for his quiz? And, what score will be up next?

A long time ago… Jon and Andy started working their way down the AFI's list of the Top 25 Scores, and they've finally reached #1 - Star Wars! This Star Destroyer-sized episode tackles such questions as: What were our hosts' origin stories as film music nerds? Can you name that tune in fewer notes than Andy? How, indeed, does the sausage get made? And, what comes next?

Jon and Andy try for their own EGOT - Episode Glutted with Oscar Talk - as they hit the red carpet and present their takes on this year’s nominees for Best Score. The field includes one repeat customer, and four composers making their debuts on the podcast. Who will win? Who should win? Who shouldn’t win? Who’s already won? Who cares?