Safe Haven - Deborah Lurie

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. Every Nicholas Sparks book that they make into a movie, I seem to enjoy the movie scores that accompany them.  This is the 2nd Nicholas Sparks movie that Deborah Lurie scored, the first being Dear John.  You can hear pieces of the Dear John but it's subtle unlike the majority of James Horner scores.  The tracks that I like so far are just too short.  It makes me want to hear more.  A couple of the tracks aren't as mellow as they were meant for suspenseful scenes within the movie.  A little jarring if you want to just hit play and listen to the whole score.  I guess that's why playlists are so nice.

There is also a music soundtrack that was released at the same time as the score.  Unfortunately the score appears to be released as a digital download only.

Favorite:  Track #11 - No Safer Place

The Guardian - Trevor Rabin

I'm not a huge Kevin Costner fan nor an Aston Kutcher fan, but I did enjoy the movie The Guardian.  Sometimes we take it for granted that there are people out there that take of us or look out for us.  The Guardian is a movie about coast guard swimmers.  Putting their lives on the line in order to rescue those in the water.  I was disappointed that there was no score released for the movie, but rather a soundtrack.  Luckily there is one track on the CD that is compiled into a suite.  It worked well with the movie in the scenes where emotion was needed.  I don't really remember the songs in the movie, but you can get the single track on its own.

A shout out to Matty B since he reminds me that this blog isn't updated as often as he would like.

Favorite:  Track #12 - The Guardian Suite

Cloud Atlas - Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil, and Tom Tykwer

Cloud Atlas composed by Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil, and Tom Tykwer. I've never heard of any of them. The movie was interesting and I had mixed feelings after seeing it. It confused me in spots and made me want to rewind and see what I missed. The movie ran almost 3 hours and there were some couples that left a good hour and a half into the movie. The pacing of the movie was so so as it felt like a 3 hour movie. I might have to read this book and see what I really missed.  Even before I saw the movie, the piano piece heard in the trailer is what caught my ear.  It worked well in certain scenes of the movie.  All Boundaries Are Conventions is a good track even though repetitive, it builds up and up and then drops off.

Favorite: Track #16 - All Boundaries Are Conventions

Dax Johnson - The Random & The Purpose

Music affects everyone in different ways.  I heard the music of Dax Johnson a few years ago and loved his music.  I associated the music to a certain time in my life.  Life happens and things change and for a while listening to his music hurt.  Over time that hurt faded away and I can still listen to his music.

Recently I got some fantastic birthday presents.  Actual CD's of Dax Johnson's Merciful Dwelling and The Random and the Purpose.  Now I've downloaded the digital copies or the handful of albums that he had released before he passed away, but having the actual CD's sounds better.

Now I was listening to The Random and the Purpose in the car and I've probably listened to that album a gazillion times.  One song started to play and I've never heard it before... "Child's Garden."  Listening to it felt like being a kid at Christmas finding something new and it gave me goose bumps.  Apparently the song wasn't included in the Amazon digital download.  Somewhat surprising and unfortunate that the only way to get the song appears to be from the CD. 

I now associate the song with the person that gave it to me.  Without that special someone, I might have never ever heard the new track.  Life does sometimes seem to come full circle and in this case, Dax Johnson's music to me has.

I love you Heather!

Seven Swords - Kenji Kawai

Seven Swords was a movie that I probably would have never found out about until I was walking around Blockbuster years ago. Every now and then a good martial arts / fantasy movie is a fun get away from the typical Hollywood type movies. I was actually surprised by the score. I had never heard of Kenji Kawai until after seeing the movie.  Unfortunately it looks like it was never released in the US but you can buy the imported CD.

Favorite: Track #08 - In Search of Beauty in Life

The Promise - Klaus Badelt

The Promise scored by Klaus Badelt.  The movie was a little out there, but the score worked well with it. 

 Favorite: Track #07 - Princess Kite

Rudy - Jerry Goldsmith

Composed by Jerry Goldsmith, Rudy is a story about a kid who is determined to play football for Notre Dame. His score brings out inspiration which is fitting for the movie.

Favorite: Track #02 - A Start

Like Crazy - Dustin O'Halloran

I've never seen this movie, but heard a track of the score on some internet radio channel.  I had never heard anything composed by Dustin O'Halloran before so this was a nice surprise.  There is also a soundtrack available.  Not exactly sure what's on it.  I suppose I really should start watching some of these movies before I buy the scores.

Favorite:  Track #05 - Fragile N.4

Battleship - Steve Jablonsky

It's been a while since I've posted.  Now Battleship got horrible reviews, some justified but what were people expecting an Oscar winning movie?!  Now I went in knowing that it was going to be a movie with big explosions, bad acting, and a zany plot.  So I enjoyed the movie.  The score was by Steve Jablonsky who you might know as he scored Transformers.  I think I only liked a few tracks as obviously the majority of the score is action music.

Favorite: Track #2 - The Art of War

The Hunger Games - James Newton Howard

It's crazy how many people went to see The Hunger Games. I never read the book, but I was one of the crazy people that saw the movie opening weekend. Now I'm reading the book to see what the movie left out. Obviously the book would have more detail that they left out of the movie. Not to give any of the plot away, but I wish they would have created more of an emotional attachment to some of the characters. The score was originally suppose to be composed by Danny Elfman, but it ended up being composed by James Newton Howard. I think he was a better fit to score the movie. There is also a soundtrack called The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond with music inspired by the movie.

Favorite: Track #13 - Rue's Farewell