STEVEN SPIELBERG

By United States Government [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and entrepreneur. In his career, he covered many topics with his movies. His adventure movies were an example of his filmmaking in the early years. However, later he turned into more serious topics, such as the Holocaust and terrorism. He is one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Not to talk about the fact that he is also the co-founder of the successful DreamWorks movie studio.

He won an Academy Award in 1993 for Schindler’s list and in 1998 for Saving Private Ryan.

Three of his most popular movies – Jurassic Park, Jaws , and E.T – all achieved box office records in their times.

Source: Wikipedia

THE LAND BEFORE TIME EXPANDED EDITION: OUR EXCLUSIVE REVIEW

With their expanded 74-minute edition of The Land Before Time (1988), the diligent folks at Intrada bring back into the spotlights one of the absolute masterpieces of James Horner’s long and distinguished career. The music sounds as punchy and clear as ever, showcasing the flawless playing by the London Symphony Orchestra. The sound quality of the new edition is really incredible: we really feel like we are sitting next to the orchestra, privy to the slightest sound and little gasps of breath coming from the musicians. It feels like discovering the music all over again.This was necessary for this sumptuous music that

AN AMERICAN TAIL EXPANDED EDITION: OUR EXCLUSIVE REVIEW

After the artistic and commercial success of his first animation project, 1982’s The Secret of N.I.M.H., Disney alumnus Don Bluth (born 1937) and his newly established studio went from a separate entity that produced animation to part of a major marketing machine. This was due to input from and dealings with the business sides of Universal Studios and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin. In fact, Spielberg loved N.I.M.H., lavishing praise on Bluth for sticking to a drawing style that had been all but abandoned since the sixties. In 1984, he asked Bluth to develop An American Tail and before long, Spielberg started

INTRADA ANNOUNCES EXPANDED RELEASE OF AN AMERICAN TAIL!

Intrada is unstoppable! Living in the Age of Airplanes (April), The Boy in Striped Pajamas (May), Batteries Not Included (September), Balto (October), Apollo 13 (January), and now An American Tail! In 10 months, Roger Feigelson and Doug Fake’s incredible label has released six James Horner albums! Six in 10 months! A big thank you to them! 1986 marked James Horner's first contribution to an animated film for young audiences. It was also the first time that Horner set to music (and songs!) a film with the mention "Steven Spielberg presents" (many others would follow), the director of E.T. was indeed co-producer

JAMES INGRAM HAS DIED AT AGE 66

Singer James Ingram died on January 29, 2018 from brain cancer. He was 66 years old. Along with Linda Ronstadt, Ingram performed the song Somewhere Out There for An American Tail (1986), the music by James Horner, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, lyrics by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. The duet version of the song, heard in the end credits of Don Bluth's film, was nominated for the Golden Globes and Oscars and received two Grammy Awards. The single sold more than a million copies in the United States alone. Ingram, like Ronstadt, was recruited by Steven Spielberg, producer of

EXPEDED RELEASE OF BALTO AVAILABLE AT INTRADA!

2018 has held many surprises for fans of the work of James Horner. The latest arrives this week courtesy of Intrada with Balto. Released in 1995, it was the last of eight animated films set to music by James Horner. 1995 was an exceptional vintage, both in terms of quantity and quality, with unforgettable works such as Braveheart, Apollo 13 (both scores were nominated for the Best Original Score Oscar), Casper, Jumanji, a detour into darker realms with Jade and of course Balto. Based on actual events, the film tells the story of a half-wolf sled dog, Balto who in 1925, saved

*BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED 2-CD: OUR EXCLUSIVE REVIEW

Like so many other movies of its day, 1987’s *batteries not included basks in the soothing glow of all things Spielberg. Showcasing a family of flying saucers, designed by Industrial Light and Magic as miniature versions of the mothership in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), the movie is at its core a fable about how a neighborhood is only as good as the sense of community that runs through it. The screenplay, co-authored by Brad Bird and bearing the unmistakable stamp of executive producer Steven Spielberg, zooms in on one tenement in particular, whose ground floor is taken

THE WORDS OF JAMES HORNER #6: THE MASK OF ZORRO

Three years after James Horner’s passing, we thought we would bring together three interviews on The Mask of Zorro, whose soundtrack album was released twenty years ago, in October 1998. The rather short first interview was the introduction to a lengthy talk with the composer on Titanic. That discussion took place on 28 November 1997 during the recording sessions of the first Zorro score and the transcription was published as The Words of James Horner #4. The second interview dates back to the fall of 1998 and coincided with the album release. The third interview finds James Horner reminiscing about The Mask of

THE WORDS OF JAMES HORNER #5: SEVEN YEARS AFTER TITANIC

Now that La-La Land Records has released a behemoth four-disc set that pretty much closes the book on James Horner’s Titanic, we publish an interview given by the composer to Cinéphonia Magazine in 2005. Again, please remember that the original interview tapes have been lost and so for this English text we only had the French publication to go by. As always, we have tried to stay true to James Horner’s voice. Cinéfonia Magazine: What do you remember today of the adventure that so profoundly impacted both the movie industry and film music ? James Horner : It’s always nice to go back to

THE WORDS OF JAMES HORNER #3: TITANIC

To celebrate the release of Titanic in 4 CD edition by La-La Land (see our exclusive review here) we publish an archival interview of James Horner published in 1998 in the French magazine Dreams To Dream. This interview was originally published in French, English and German in issue 10 of Dreams to Dream...s. Two other unpublished interviews in English and related to Titanic will follow: one very short on the conception of the album Back To Titanic, the other dating from 2005 at the release of the Special Collector's Edition DVD of the film by James Cameron. Recall: The Words of

CONVERSATION WITH JAMES HORNER

"If you build it he will come ..." Just like Ray Kinsella, the character played by Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, a voice (or rather my intuition) led me to create the Association and the James Horner Film Music website. Every minute, every hour spent working for this project was partly guided by an objective I held close in my heart: publish a new, previously unreleased conversation with James Horner. I gave myself five years to get there. Next January we will celebrate four years of JHFM... Unlike the composer, who never listens again to his old music and who never

AUSTRALIA, 1991: JAMES HORNER SEMINARS

Having published interviews given in the early 80's to the CinemaScore magazine (see our article), we continue our exploration of the archives of the past with the publication of the two seminars which James Horner participated in, December 1991 in Australia. That year, the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) was celebrating film music with a series of courses and activities to recognize and celebrate the contribution that music makes to the screen experience. James Horner had made the trip to take part in a variety of national activities intended to stimulate an atmosphere of appreciation for the work of

DON BLUTH - GARY GOLDMAN: A TALENTED DUO

A TALENTED DUO An American Tail and The Land Before Time belong to the scores which marked James Horner's career. The authors of these two animated films (Don Bluth, the director and Gary Goldman, the producer) together discuss the creation process of these two incredible scores. Photo credit: Hubert Rioux. Courtesy of ztele.com On The Secret Of NIMH (1982), you had collaborated with Jerry Goldsmith. Why did you choose James Horner to score your following films, An American Tail and The Land Before Time? Gary Goldman: Back in 1982, Jerry and I had become good friends over the fifteen-week schedule while he

JAMES HORNER FILM MUSIC