The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Trent Reznor is God.  Ok not really.  But a genius he is.  When I first heard Head Like A Hole by Nine Inch Nails all those years ago, who would have thought Reznor would have been capable of producing such genius music.  His album Pretty Hate Machine was a definite crowd pleaser with an insightful and visual approach to be sure.  But I wouldn’t have dreamed that one day he would craft such an amazing piece of work (with his partner Atticus Rose) for the movie The Social Network.  Now comes his work on the next David Fincher movie, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  I have hard very little so it doesn’t make much sense in posting about it, but what I have heard blew my mind.  His take on Led Zeppelin’s  The immigrant Song for the opening of the movie hits all the right notes and just judging from the trailer fits in perfectly with the tone of the movie.  I am not familiar with the books on which the movie is based outside of knowing they exist but this is definitely shaping up to be a movie I will love.

And on a side note:  my instructor to my digital storytelling class was surprised that I hadn’t been all over this but it was always planned to be posted this week.  I guess great minds think a like. 🙂 

Themes from a few Independents

I find smaller films to have some pretty good music as well…here is a sample of some of them…Some of these are in my top 10 list of movies of all time.  Enjoy these and maybe you can discover something new to obsess over like I have. 🙂 

Pirates of the Caribbean

I love these movies.  They are so much fun.  Even the third one which was not the greatest still had its moments.  The entire theme of these movies has me humming it all day long after I watch one of them.  I especially love the fight scene with Sparrow and Barbosa at the end of the first one.  I love the way the score moves in so many different variations throughout the scene and yet always ends back up at the main cue.  The theme really sets the tone for the movie and the series really.  It really shines in this scene and makes me giddy every time I watch it.  Feel free to disagree with me.  But thats my story and I’m sticking to it.

Kill Bill Vol. 1-The Bride

Quinton Tarantino is a master at timing his movies to music.  This scene while having music in the middle of the scene and towards the end is quite brilliant in my opinion.  The music is timed to heighten the tension of the moment.  I adore both of these movies, both Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol.2.  Not just for their relentless actions and violence.  But for the directors musical choices.  They are always spot on and pay homage to past cinema while invigorating a modern landscape.  Warning: this video does contain some sword play and a rather gruesome scene.  If you’re not into that.  Do not watch.  But you don’t know what you’re missing. 🙂

Superman

Superman is the first theme I truly took notice of as a kid.  To this day, this theme gives me chills every time I hear it.  I will go a head and say it but John Williams is a genius.  I am sure you will hear me say that a few more times.  But hey, you can’t deny the truth.  Here is the  theme from Superman Returns from 2006.  It’s essentially the same theme it’s always been just updated a little.  It’s funny because the title sequence in the beginning of Superman Returns is the best part of the movie.  Thank you Kyle Cooper, another genius!

Welcome to MovieQ

Hello,

My name is David and I’ve started this blog to share my love of music and movies and some of the things that really gets me going.  I find amazing things hidden in the musical “cues” of a movie.  When the music hits just the right note at just the right moment it can produce some chill inducing shivers.  The whole point of this is to simply share what moves me and millions of other people around the world.  While I want to share my feelings on complete scores and just movies in general, I want to talk about those tiny moments in film that a lot of people may miss.  Whether it is from that look from Samuel L. Jackson in the Long Kiss Goodnight or the wall of epicness that is every scene of the Lord of the Rings, I want to take a look at those moments where the music speaks just as loud as the images that are flashing before our eyes.

-David