For those of you needing a classically clever whodunnit to add to your cinematic plate this holiday session, look no further than Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion. The next installment in Benoit Blanc mystery series is whip smart, hilarious, exquisite and layered…you know, like an onion. Herein, Johnson and company outdo everything in their last detective yarn. Bigger stakes, bigger laughs, bigger onions – it’s an exceptional outing! Every element just sings, and again Rian enlists his cousin Nathan Johnson to write a fitting score to accompany the masterful story. While subsequent yarns in the series are meant to be stand-alone events, the further adventures of the Kentucky-fried character required Johnson…
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Interview…Nathan Johnson on the Lush Orchestral Score to ‘Knives Out’
One of our favorite composers, and one we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with several times over the years, is Nathan Johnson. With each film score, he’s continually gained an audience with a signature and stylistic approach to his work. That’s partly because he and his cousin are a package deal. Nathan and long time collaborator, Rian Johnson, go way back…even before Brick. The two grew up on the East Coast bringing their stories to life any way they could, hoping to one day break into the biz. Well, they did, and in a very big way. Thanks to titles like Looper, The Last Jedi, and now Knives Out, the…
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Interview…Composer Nathan Johnson Discusses ‘Young Ones’, ‘Kill the Messenger’ and ‘Looper’ on Vinyl
The last time we spoke with composer Nathan Johnson was just about a year ago. Nathan is a master at making off-beat and imperfect instruments sound distant yet accessible on a number of vastly different narratives (see: Brick, The Brothers Bloom, Looper). Last October, Nathan offered some insight as to the work he did writing the score to Don Jon – Joseph Gordon Levitt’s contemporary take on the classic literary Lothario. It was an interesting film with, as you might expect, an equally unique score to match. But in the time since we spoke, Nathan has done two scores for films that were both released this month – Jake Paltrow‘s neo-Western Young Ones and the journalistic thriller…
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G-S-T Review…Young Ones
Bold and ambitious, yet simple and economic, Jake Paltrow’s neo-Western, Young Ones, should be remembered for two things. First, it paints an amazing portrait of a near-future that is so plausible, it’s nearly on our doorstep. Second, while the characters lead bleak lives, this sci-fi picture never lets the science fiction get in the way of the story. Although somewhat exaggerated, and detestable at times, the human element really shines in this dismal but slightly hopeful narrative. At first, Young Ones comes across like a post-apocalyptic vision of the future. Paltrow imagines what life beyond the skylines of a Blade Runner type universe might be like. Yet, while set in a harsh, desert-like…
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Exclusive: Interview…Nathan Johnson Talks Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rian Johnson and the Musical Mojo of ‘Don Jon’
A gifted musician in his own right, film composer Nathan Johnson creates such unique musical soundscapes for every movie, short film and project to which he’s attached. This year he composed the score to Don Jon, which is Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s modernized interpretation of the iconic thief of hearts. With a sound and style that’s so varied and diverse, Johnson’s scores have given such a unique atmosphere to films like Brick and Looper. We got to chat with Nathan about his work on Don Jon, his process working with different directors and so much more. Below are the highlights of our time with him. ——————————————————————————————————————————— – An interesting take on the fabled Don Juan DeMarco, Don Jon…
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FourScore Match-Up #18: “What An Incredible Sound You’ve Discovered!”
Quirky, off-beat, unique, visionary – these are the terms that best describe this foursome of talented film composers. Offering an eclectic tapestry of sounds to whatever film they’re attached you can bet that you might never have heard anything like their music before and, like attending on obscure film festival, may never hear work like it again. With sounds that are unexpected, out of the norm and layered/remixed in such a way to become something so removed from that typical Hollywood sound the batch of musical craftsmen assembled here today take real pride in their signature compositions. They play by their own rules and utilize found sounds, makeshift instruments and…
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Ohhh, Look…Scoring 'Looper' Featurette with Nathan Johnson
This is for all you film buffs out there with an interest and/or passion for film music. Composer Nathan Johnson has something special cooked up for Rian Johnson’s upcoming sci-fi actioner Looper and it sounds quite awesome. I won’t say much more about it but instead allow Mr. Johnson to tell about his highly unique concept for the music you’ll find in Looper…enjoy! I just have to have to say that is just all kinds of awesome! Like Zimmer did with Inception, this alternative approach to music is not just interesting but unique and likely going to make the experience that much more, as he puts it, atmospehric. So far…
