Favourite Soundtracks Part III

I would like to apologise for my half year hiatus from this very blog! My absence can be explained by the fact I have just started studying at university so have been busy settling in, meeting new people and finding time to bury my nose in Law books on occasion... But fear not and rest assured that I am back and ready to reignite my passion for film. 

Actually, it's rather presumptuous to assume anyone has actually missed activity on Amateur Reviews but I have certainly missed writing it...

FAVOURITE SOUNDTRACKS PART III

1. Les Miserables I Dreamed A Dream - Anne Hathaway I love this musical but the stand out track as cliché as expected is Anne Hathaway's portrayal of the musical theatre great. Ideally my favourite song from the musical is One Day More, however something about the movie version did not quite gel for me as much as some of the stage versions.

2. Great Gatsby Back To Black Beyonce and Andre 3000 This was one of my most listened to CDs of the summer so I was torn between a great many of the tracks. The hip hop edge of the sound track is to our ears what jazz was to Gatsby and co. in the 1920's. Genius from Baz. And as a side note, my second favourite would be Together by The XX.

3. The Vow England The National Yet another track by The National makes it onto one of my favourite lists (About Today from Warrior being the other). This is the instrumental version which ends the movie, however the original with lyrics is beautiful also.

4. Flight Gimme Shelter Rolling Stones Now I know that this song features in so many films other than Flight, but this is the most recent use of it that I am aware of therefore I decided to pick Flight as the soundtrack from which it's from. The intro of this song is summer personified in a song.

5. Social Network In Motion Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Incredible Oscar worthy soundtrack, the movie would not be what it is without it. I also particularly enjoyed the choral cover of Creep by Radiohead which accompanied the trailer too though is not part of the score.

6. Inglourious Basterds Cat People David Bowie Great song to accompany an even greater tracking shot by Quentin Tarantino.

7. Romeo + Juliet Talk Show Host Radiohead Another inspired Baz Luhrman soundtrack. The modern music in the modern take of Romeo and Juliet keeps the movie feeling fresh and relevant nearly 20 years on. Impressive film making.

8. Requiem For A Dream Lux Aeterna This song is used in so many other contexts nowadays that I sometimes forget that it is from this movie by Darren Aronofsky. I believe it was used for a Lord of The Rings Trailer? Either way it is a cracking piece of soundtrack to a cracking movie.

9. There Will Be Blood Convergence Johnny Greenwood I actually struggle to listen to this. It is not something that you'd put on for a bit of easy listening, or at a party for that matter. But I included it in the post just for the sheer fact that it encapsulates the urgency and unease of the movie ridiculously well. There Will Be Blood is truly brilliant but an undeniably hard watch; this soundtrack contributes to quality. 

10. Silver Linings Play Book Buffalo Alt-J Feat. Mountain Man And finally to round off the list... Alt-J is one of my favourite bands so when I heard their distinctive sound on the Silver Linings OST I was very happy indeed.

So that rounds off Part III. There will probably be a Part IV as I have always got my ears trained on the songs that come from some of my favourite films. Until then you can by all means check out Part I and Part II via the links below if it takes your fancy (or perhaps not if you hate my music/film taste!) 

Part I
Part II

Modern Classics - There Will Be Blood

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

15

2007

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano and Ciaran Hinds

It has been a long time since I reviewed a modern classic so today's effort is the 2007 Oscar nominated There Will Be Blood. This is a story about family, greed, religion and oil, centred around a turn of the century prospector in the early days of the business. Not a great deal happens in way of plot but this is definitely one of those films that showcases incredible directing and believable acting in every single frame.


It's not an easy watch. The soundtrack is almost sickening, it creates a mounting feeling of unease throughout the movie. It's almost as if Daniel Plainview becomes a high pressure canister and you spend a great deal of the movie on the edge of your seat waiting for him to lose the plot. To blow up just like the glorious oilrig explosion; and when he does eventually hit the roof, it is legendary. The beginning and the end of this movie could not be at greater odds with each other, but that's what makes There Will Be Blood so stand-out and memorable, it will linger in your thoughts for days after..

Plainview is the silver miner turned oilman, a salesman and a grafter with an insatiable desire for power. Day-Lewis' performances is theatrical but it had to take a character with that much presence to inhabit and fill the immense space this film creates. Similarly Eli Sunday is equally dramatic and charismatic for different purposes but ultimately the same reason. Eli assures a better life and redemption from hardship through religious command whereas Daniel seeks to appease the masses with capitalist promises of wealth and prosperity in this life. Although Eli's faults are nowhere in the league of Daniel's, they are both corrupt individuals whose egos are at constant loggerheads. Each man exploits the opportunity to attack whenever he has the upper hand. Their characters clash in that same way religion and capitalism do throughout the movie. Both leads are convincing and awe inspiring; it's a lethal combination. With Dano and Day-Lewis’ dominance throughout the movie, it’s like an impressive two-man-show in the middle of a desert. 

Anderson shoots brilliantly, feverish, bitter and bleakly beautiful. There Will Be Blood is up there with the best of western-set dramas along with the likes of No Country For Old Men. This is still a fresh genre with plenty of room to be intelligent, thrilling and stunning.