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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Tuesday Tunes: John Barry 1933-2011

I know that over the next week, as the media remembers the Great composer John Barry, we're all going to hear   a lot of the themes from the James Bond films, Out of Africa, Dances with Wolves, and Born Free, so I thought I'd pick out some memorable music from some films that received a bit less praise from Oscar and such.
First up, the film Indecent Proposal got a lot of tongues wagging when it was released as it posed the question: "What would you do for a million dollars?" However, beyond the hype, there wasn't much to recommend this movie apart from Barry's moving score.

Now, Howard the Duck is largely hailed as one of the worst comic book movies ever made, and while I do not wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, I will admit that it . . . could have been better. Unfortunately, amid the tomato-throwing at this film, many missed the wonderful John Barry score.

Disney's The Black Hole turned a profit in 1979 - though perhaps less than its $26 million budget warranted - and it did receive Academy nominations for visual effects and cinematography, but it was rather coolly received by critics. Still, John Barry's soundtrack (the first ever in the world to be digitally recorded) is worthy of note.

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