Well, dear readers, they say a great score can’t ultimately make a bad movie better, and I agree with that assessment. They also say that a terrible score can’t ultimately hurt a good movie, and that assessment I most definitely do not agree with. Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled The Odessa File, a film by Ronald Neame from the novel by Frederick Forsyth. Mr. Neame is a fine director, the cast is solid with a very good Jon Voight in the lead, the camerawork is excellent, the script is mostly fine and it should be a top of the line thriller – and yet – it’s not. And you can boil the reason it’s not down to three words: Andrew Lloyd Webber, who has simply written probably the worst score to a film EVER with his awful music for The Odessa File. The film is there – if Mr. Goldsmith had scored this, or Mr. Herrmann, or Mr. Schifrin, or Mr. Grusin, this film would be much better thought of, because any of those gentlemen would have composed music that actually helps the film, propels the film, gives the film some grit and seriousness – instead we have some tired rehash of a lick from Jesus Christ, Superstar, along with a fershluganah Christmas song sung by Perry Como (yeah, that’s the way to start a thriller), and some beer hall music. There is not one note of “music” that helps any scene or any character. If this film had a serious score, the suspense would be nail biting and the pace would seem much faster than it is with Mr. Lloyd Webber’s whatever it is. He basically killed a very good film. Killed it. Dead. No chance. In cases like this, it would really be fun to remove the Lloyd Webber score and track the film with music that would suit it. I think everyone would instantly see what the problem was and how easy it was to fix. Why no one at Columbia thought to just toss the score out once they heard it is anyone’s guess. What should be a compelling film is, thanks to the music, made to seem unimportant and surface and even silly. Thankfully, Mr. Lloyd Webber didn’t write too many film scores – I think only this and Gumshoe. The transfer is really good, but I can’t really recommend the film at all, for the reasons stated above.
Prior to viewing that, I got up early, did a two-mile jog, had a couple of poached eggs on toast, picked up a package and an important envelope, did some banking and finally came home. Then it was time for our stumble-through. For the most part, it was very smooth and the show is really fun. It was great to have Grant there, and having a second instrument really adds color to the songs and gives them a new kind of energy. My biggest problem was that the ballads were all too slow – I didn’t know that until the stumble-through, when hearing them in the context of the show made it very clear. Mr. Newman writes conversational songs a lot of the time and if you take them at a dirge-like tempo they just don’t work well. So, after we finished, we adjusted the tempo on every ballad and it will now be much better. Our cast did a great job and I gave only a few notes to everyone. I must say that one of our guys, Dennis Kyle, took a note I gave him on Thursday and made utter magic out of it. I love when that happens. But everyone is very good – Dennis, Stephen Van Dorn, Gia Mora, Leigh Ann Larking (really like her), and, of course, Melody. I went over all three of Melody’s numbers, just to give her some energy notes, attitude notes, and staging notes. After that I went to Hugo’s for an early dinner.
Then I watched The Odessa File, and then I relaxed. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get a good night’s beauty sleep so I can be alert and in good energy for tonight’s show.
Today, I shall definitely do a two-mile jog, maybe three. I shall relax, go over my commentary, and then head over to The Federal for our sound check. Then it’s a light dinner and then our twenty-second Kritzerland show.
Tomorrow I have a lot to do during the day, and then I’m going to a retirement event for an LACC theater teacher in the evening. The rest of the week will be filled with meetings and meals and finalizing song choices for the next Kritzerland show and casting three people.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, relax, do a sound check and then do a show. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall not be humming any of the worst film score ever.