Richard Kaufman is, and has been, a good friend of the site. Thanks to our contacts at the Dallas Symphony, we always get to catch up with him when he’s in town for a show as their Pops conductor laureate. Richard has had an amazing career being a session musician (violin) on many classic film scores as well as being MGM’s Music Supervisor for 19 years. He’s seen incredible things behind the gates of major Hollywood studios. You’ve seen those Dos XX commercials with “the Most Interesting Man in the World” right? Well, it should actually be Richard they’re talking about. Seriously, name any filmic presonality and Richard either knows them,…
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Christmas Pops with The Dallas Symphony Orchestra Couldn’t Be Jollier
Life is all about experiences, and there are very few things that can rival the thrill of live music. For 25 years, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra has been putting on incredible shows and performances. This time of year, their Christmas Pops series can put even the most grumpy cat in the mood for jingle jangle holiday festivities. The world-renowned Meyerson Symphony Center, replete with its one-of-a-kind of acoustics, and incredible light display, offer patrons a visual journey as fascinating and vibrant as the auditory one. The playlist for this event (click here to view the full set list) has a plethora of old time Christmas favorites, and a good number of modern musical…
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Mike Matessino Remembers John Williams’ Score for ‘Empire of the Sun’
On December 25th, 1987 Steven Spielberg’s film Empire of the Sun hit theaters. There’s a point in the surreal adaptation where we see a very young Christian Bale cheer on the famous WWII-era fighter-bombers he hopes would liberate his character’s internment camp; very ecstatically he sings their praises, “P-51! Cadillac of the sky!“
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Hollywood Hits and The Music of John Williams with The Dallas Symphony Orchestra
The glamour and excitement of Tinseltown come alive when the DSO presents famous movie soundtracks from films like Star Wars, Jaws, Goldfinger, Silverado, Pirates of the Caribbean and more. Take your seat for the best in entertainment with music that ignites the senses in sonic splendor only heard at the Meyerson Symphony Center. But before the lights go down on the evenings of June 6-8, here’s a little glimpse of what to expect from the world-renowned Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The following text is from the essay we contributed to the playbill for this Pops concert. The Hollywood Golden era was a wondrous time in cinema history. The period between the…
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FourScore Match-Up #15: “The Great Space Race”
At warp speed, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness is set to scream into theaters this week. So with that in mind it seemed like the perfect opportunity to dust off our FourScore series to help kick off new and upcoming entries to our running feature (which has been long overdue for another installment). Today, we look to the future and also to the past to champion some of the best soundtracks to some influential and seminal space-themed films that boldly go where no one has gone before… With that said, today we’ll examine one of the funnest space operas of all time, a suffering franchise’s adrenaline fueled reboot that brought together (probably for the first time) fans…
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FourScore Match-Up #8: “It Came From Outer Space”
We’ve heard that expression tons of times and proceeding those very ominous words we’ve seen a wide range of alien life come to Earth via the Silver Screen. Some want to help us and some try to collect us. Others want to either meet and greet us, or just plain eat us. One thing is certain, whatever their objective, cinematic aliens are fascinating. Sunglasses, glowing fingers, human facades, or acid blood, you name it, it’s all so mysterious. But what makes these better than the rest? Well aside from great designs (K-Pax not withstanding) few extra terrestrial films have been given such top notch orchestral treatment and the movie is that…
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FourScore Match-Up #5: “Another World, Another Time”
When filmmakers tell a story, the visual fantasy is only about as good as the auditory one. It seems the only way to move the story and the characters along with an engaging pace is to really take the audience along for the ride. Annnd how is that accomplished? By composing a score so amazing and moving but at the same time fun and catchy that it is has the ability to make you feel part of the film. But which of these really pulls that off?? Is it the return to Neverland, the long strides for the short legged Willow, the arduous travel from The Shire to Mount Doom, or the seemingly simple task…
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Off the Shelf…'Hook'
I think it’s fair to say that a great many people overlook this film and it wasn’t really popular when it came out, but over the years I have learned to love Hook. Steven Spielberg can almost do no wrong and while this is a departure from the actioners he is known to helm, this still had its fair share of kid friendly swashbuckling. Talk about an ensemble cast, this film has acting talent in spades…
