Detective Mitchell's Junk Drawer

The random thoughts, ideas, and experiences of the title blogger, plus other things.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

"All right, I'm ready. Let's shoot this f**ker1"

Here is the long OOP Howard Shore score for the 1994 Tim Burton movie "Ed Wood." It's the touchiung and true story of Edward D. Wood Jr. (Johnny Depp), widely (and unfarily) regarded to be the worst director ever. This film follows the cross-dressing Wood's friendship with his motley crew of misfits, including a gay friend (Bill Murray) who wants to take that last step and get a sex change in Mexico, a color-blind cameraman (Norman Alden), his vitriolic fiance (Sarah Jessica Parker), wresler Tor Johnson, a.k.a. "The Swedish Angel" (George "The Animal" Steele), and the legendarily bad "psychic" Criswell (Jeffrey Jones). Chief among them is the friendship between him and fading actor Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau). The film goes through his friendship with Lugosi all the way to the filming of "Plan 9 From Outer Space."

Ed's life did not end happily. Ed lost confidence and stooped to making monster nudie films to pay the bills. All of his novels (yes, he wrote novels as well) failed, and Ed's constant drinking caught up with him. He died on December 10, 1978 of heart failure. His wife, Kathy (played in the film by Patricia Arquette) never remarried, and joined Ed on June 26, 2006 when she succumbed to esophogal cancer.

Tim Burton decided not to use stalwart Danny Elfman to compose the score for "Ed Wood<" instead opting to use David Cronenberg's composer of choice, Howard Shore. While an Elfman score may have been a bit better, Shore is great. He tries to evoke the feel of Ed Wood's films with the over-the-top melodramatic music, which feels fitting. Many of the pieces are just beautiful (listen to "Elysium," which is played during the scene of Lugosi's funeral). Some pieces are even based on Wood music cues ("This is the One" is based on music from"Glen or Glenda"). Mixed in with all this are dialogue clips from the film (two examples are Criswell's introduction during the "Main Titles," and two piece with Lugosi dialogue,"Beware" and "I Have No Home", and Criswell again during "Ed Takes Control"). It's a great album, and I highly reccomend it to not only Wood enthusiasts, but fans of 50's music as well as general film fans. Can your heart stand the shocking facts of the true story of Edward D. Wood Jr.?


Tracks:

1. Main Titles
2. Backlot
3. Mr. Lugosi/Hypno Theme
4. Beware
5. Glen or Glenda
6. Eddie, Help Me
7. Elmogambo
8. Bride of the Monster
9. I Have No Home
10. Kuba Mambo (composed by Perez Prado)
11. Nautch Dance (composed by Korla Pandit)
12. Angora
13. Sanitarium
14. Ed and Kathy
15. Elysium
16. "Grave Robbers" Begins
17. Lurk Him
18. Ed Takes Control
19. Eddie Takes a Bow
20. This Is the One
21. Ed Wood (Music Video Version)

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