[General Discussion] Favorites (Actor/Actress, Director, Composer...) in Film and Television Productions

I'm no movie buff by far, but there are a few actors that can sometimes convince me to see a movie:

* Daniel Day Lewis: I haven't seen him in a lot of films, but in the ones I have seen, he's always played my favorite characters.
*Christopher Walken: the man is in everything, I swear. Even if you don't think he's there, he probably is. There's just something about his personality on and off the screen that I like.
* Joaquin Phoenix: I'm not a very good judge of 'good/bad' acting, but Phoenix seems to be a pretty convincing actor in the variety of roles I've seen him in.
* Jonathan Rhys Myers: Never mind the fact that he's gorgeous, I particularly love to see Myers in the role of the bad guy. He just looks so good doing it .

Very rarely, a film score will convince me to see a movie (ie: Signs). But these are my all-time favorites:

*Jerry Goldsmith: He's the composer of my favorite movie soundtrack (Medicine Man) amongst others (The Omen, Star Trek, Gremlins, The Mummy) and definitely one of my early favorite composers in general. His use of non-Western instruments and electronics has always been in such a way that I didn't feel like they were out of place, but somehow just fit into the music in a very natural way.

*John Williams: As a classical musician, it's an occupational hazard for me to admit that I like Williams' scores. However annoyed I have been with some of his recent stuff, I can't deny that it was his music for Jurassic Park, Hook and Indiana Jones that inspired me to take up playing orchestral music in the first place. I can understand why he's heavily criticized, and at times I've been frustrated with his recycling of material, but in the end a lot of film composers recycle stuff from time to time.

*Bernard Hermann: I love his Hitchcock scores (the ubiquitous Psycho suite especially) as well as Mysterious Island, Journey to the Center of the Earth and what little non-film music I've heard. It seems very few 'suspense/horror' scores have interest or variety when listened to apart from the film, but Hermann's music tends to have enough to keep one interested without the visual aspect.

*Nino Rota: Although he was a collaborator for my favorite things he's worked on (Romeo and Juliet, The Godfather) I have to say that I've always liked Rota's work, on and off the screen. I'm glad that he wrote two works for viola, along with his other non-film music.

*Shostakovich: Going out on a limb here -- as Shosti isn't exactly famous for being a film composer -- but his scores for The Gadfly and Cheryomushki are pretty damned awesome.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by DJDoeDoe

Wow Arkhangelsk, you hit the heavyweight composers. I love the score to Citizen Kane by Herrmann. And you know it's gonna be a fun Harryhausen movie when Herrmann's name rolls up during the credits. Also: he basically defined the sci-fi music stereotype with The Day the Earth Stood Still (directed by Wise as mentioned above). Talented man.

I've recently just gotten into Shostakovich with his Symphony nos. 5 and 11. That's some dramatic stuff right there. I'll have to check into those movies he scored.

Jerry Goldsmith! Chinatown! Total Recall! Great scores! I have a weak spot for action films like TR.

It's ironic that I have for most of my life professed to want a career as a studio orchestra musician, recording for films, but I really don't listen to soundtracks or film composers . It's probably a byproduct of not watching a lot of movies, though... I do like Rosza (another film composer who has written music for the viola!), Waxman and Steiner and the old favorite, Henry Mancini. Also, I forgot to mention Erich Korngold! Even though I know him more from his orchestra and solo violin works, I've heard a few of his movie scores (like The Adventures of Robin Hood) and they are quite good.

Shostakovich 5 is amazingly fun to play. I'm a huge fan of Russian music, so it's no surprise. Shosti 13 ("Babi Yar") and his String Quartet No. 8 are two of my favorite pieces by him. I actually haven't seen the movies that he wrote for, oddly enough. Khachaturian is another of my favorite Soviet-era composers who wrote for Russian films on occasion, although no movies in particular come to mind at the moment.

The Arbor Day Foundation uses part of the Medicine Man OST by Goldsmith for their TV spots (I think it's from "In the Treetops")... I seem to recall other portions of the soundtrack being used by various environmental groups over the years, actually. It makes sense, considering the tone of the movie.

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Well...in my circles, both Elfman and Zimmer are also criticized heavily for recycling and lifting material. It usually irritates me most when composers recycle their own material, and the second time it is lauded as amazing and wonderful -- when it was just as good or better the first time. Usually the movie the material was used in didn't have quite the 'pop' status the first time around: Hook vs. Harry Potter or Gladiator vs. Pirates of the Caribbean (Zimmer was a musical adviser for Klaus Badelt on Pirates, and there's some direct copying of Holst's Mars theme even in Gladiator). However, there are historical precedents for taking themes and weaving them into other compositions, so I think classical musicians should give it a rest .

I think Williams gets a lot of criticism for *ahem* "being inspired" by a lot of landmark classical composers (Dvorak, Wagner, etc). Personally, I think the man has a fantastic knack for writing great themes, and in the film industry -- and particularly for the movies he composes for -- that's one of the most important things. I won't say that he's a unique orchestrator or terribly inventive, but that doesn't really matter much to me, because the music is fun to play and great to listen to. Another person I'm not supposed to admit I like is Andrew Lloyd Webber, and largely for the same reasons.

Back on the subject of favorites, I figured I should add an actress:
Angelina Jolie. Unfortunately, I find it very difficult to really like any actresses in particular (maybe it's because there's absolutely no sex appeal for me? ). But something about Jolie is very compelling...maybe it's her eyes or her lips, or her real-world personality. I'm not sure.

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Originally Posted by Denicalis

Terry Gilliam - Why? Because he made Brazil, that's why. Granted, I may have some professional bias here, but I think this guy just makes amazing looking films. Jabberwocky, Baron Munchhausen, and Twelve Monkeys... the guy just makes films I find completely absorbing.... He's also set to do the film adaptation of Good Omens, and the Gorrilaz movies, which gives me hope for both. His stuff is just so Baroque. I fucking love it.

Given my lack of exposure to lots of movies, I wasn't going to even try to name off any favorite directors, but I had completely forgotten about Gilliam. I love his stuff, although I'm still slightly peeved that he put Good Omens on the backburner to make Brothers Grimm. Of course, the prospect of the GO movie finally getting off the ground will make up for that .

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