Battle Royale - The Sudden Death Cult Movie

Directed by the late Kinji Fukasaku and released in 2000, Battle Royale is set in an alternate Japan where junior high school students are taken to a remote island and required to fight to the death until only one remains. This controversial movie was based on an equally notorious novel by Japanese author Koushun Takami.

Not only do the students have to dispatch their classmates using a selection of weapons but they also have to contend with explosive collars around their necks which contain tracking and listening devices. Any attempt to tamper with the collars, escape or enter a declared "danger zone", will detonate the collar and kill the student. Furthermore, if no student dies in any 24 hour period, all collars will be detonated simultaneously.

Some fun huh? Well surprisingly it is. There are fifty students to begin with and pretty soon you start to select your favourite and when/if they fall, you select another to cheer for. Ok we are on slightly dodgy ground morally but it begs the question what would you do in their place? It really is a kill or be killed situation.

Surprisingly none of the child actors who took part in the filming bore any emotional scars. Many regarded it as a bit of fun during their holidays while others were prompted to confront the moral issue of whether they could truly kill a friend in order to survive.

To some Battle Royale is just a sadistic gore-fest where a lot of nice kids get killed, which is rather missing the point. It's more of a future vision of the extremes of reality TV and how far a government would be prepared to go to maintain control over wild youth.

The classic soundtrack for Battle Royale, by composer Masamichi Amano seamlessy mixes his own orchestral and choral cues with selected classical pieces by Verdi, Schubert, Bach and Strauss. It's hard to choose the real standout tracks but among my favourites are Teacher which introduces the menacing Kitano; the brooding Slaughter House; the touching Mimuras Determination and the deeply moving Reunion.

Whilst the soundtrack is a great listen, you really have to see the film in all its blood splattered gory glory where the cues take on a greater poignancy. Unlike the DVD of the film which is readily available in most video stores, the soundtrack is a bit elusive, but well worth the search once you've tracked it down. This one is Super lucky!

Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence

Directed by Japanese auteur Nagisa Oshima and released in 1983 , Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, also known as Furyo, was a Second World War Drama set in a Japanese POW camp. Written by Oshima and Paul Mayersberg, the film was based on Laurens van der Post's novels The Seed and the Sower and The Night of the New Moon.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence stars superstar musicians David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto playing captive Jack Celliers and captor Captain Yonoi respectively. There's some fine support from Tom Conti as the titular Lawrence and the multi-talented actor/writer/director/musician "Beat" Takeshi Kitano as Sergeant Hara - who also played the menacing Kitano in the awesome Battle Royale.

The film eschews the usual POW movie cliches and concentrates on the relationships between the four main characters. The taboo subject of homosexuality rears its head throughout the story with Captain Yonoi falling for Celliers. While bleached blonde Bowie looks suitably stunning which may account for Yonoi's feelings, how none of the commandant's colleagues fail to notice that he sports more makeup than the average Geisha is beyond me. Bowie also pushes the bounds of credibility when he has to play a schoolboy version of his adult self during a bizarre flashback sequence.

Bowie has made no secret of his thespian tendencies, though as a life long fan of the man, I've always felt that Bowie should stick to singing. That said, he puts in a pretty convincing performance in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, that is only eclipsed by his superior star turn in The Man Who Fell to Earth.

As well as playing the decidedly camp commandant, multi-instrumentalist and former Yellow Magic Orchestra frontman, Ryuichi Sakamoto contributes a moving and memorable electronic score to Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence. The well known title theme available in instrumental form and as a vocal version (Forbidden Colours) warbled by former Japan frontman David Sylvian, regularly turns up on cheesy Chillout compliations.

Elsewhere, there are some haunting cues such as Germination and Last Regrets that are only let down by the rather twee Ride, Ride, Ride which accompanies a mawkishly sentimental sequence featuring Cellier's younger brother but that's what the 'skip' button is for. To my ears you can hear Sakamoto's influence in the works of fellow Nipponese musician Joe Hisaishi, though I'll leave you to form your own conclusions on this interesting little soundtrack, that at times is as delicate as a lotus blossom and sharp as a samurai sword, so give it a spin.

RON JONES INTERVIEW

Following my DuckTales piece last week, composer Ron Jones graciously agreed to discuss his early days, his work methods, the much-loved DuckTales score and more.

My eternal thanks go to Ron for taking the time to answer my geeky fan boy questions.

BACKGROUND

Ron Jones has worked as a composer for over 35 years. His classic underscores for Star Trek TNG have won him fans and awards the world over. His score CV includes coutless Hanna Barbera cues, the 1988 Superman cartoon series and latterly Family Guy and American Dad. His theme for the Fairly Odd Parents was awarded the BMI TV & Film award 3 years running for being the most performed theme in broadcasting worldwide.

After graduating from the Dick Grove School of Music and working with Lalo Schifrin, Ron got his initial break at Hanna-Barbera working with Hoyt Curtin scoring many animation projects. He later moved to Disney scoring the studio’s first syndicated cartoon series DuckTales.

In addition to regular scoring assignments, Ron has formed the Influence Jazz Orchestra comprised of many of the top session and recording musicians from both the scoring and jazz worlds of Los Angeles.

Ron is currently building a new website which will be up this Autumn. Ron’s new jazz band site, http://www.influencejazz.com/ is already up and running.

EARLY DAYS

Reel Cool: Were you from a musical family or did you develop your skills playing in bands before you enrolled at the Dick Grove School of Music?

Ron Jones: I gravitated towards arranging and composing from when I was about 11 or 12 years old. I joined a local Drum and Bugle Corps in Bellevue Washington and played in a large brass section. Because Drum and Bugle Corps have no published scores to play, they always have arrangers doing their music. I just was so impressed by these guys that would come in with freshly arranged charts and teach them to us. With well over 30 brass and 20 or so percussion we could make amazing sounds. We were outside school systems. Really rebels, like a rock band, but we would play parades and contests on football stadiums. The music was always set to visual movement like ballet. Not like marching band, much more intensive and deeply hard core. I would get some friends together from the Corps and experiment with things. Eventually this grew and I was leading my own corps and composing and arranging professionally for all sorts of groups while still in High School.

Reel Cool: What was your primary instrument?

Ron Jones: I guess, French Horn. I only played that so I could set in the middle of the orchestra and hear everything from that position. Composing has always been my main thing. Second might be conducting.

Reel Cool: You were a protégé of Lalo Schifrin, how did that come about and what was it like working with him?

Ron Jones: He needed someone to copy a concerto for Guitar and orchestra and instead of paying bucks he taught me orchestration and conducting. What started out as a temporary thing turned into two-three years of very deep study with a master. I applied everything I learned on the very busy scoring assignments I had during that period. Really amazing.

Reel Cool: Assuming Lalo Schifrin was an influence do you have any other musical influences?

Ron Jones: I have many. I am a student of all aspects and styles of western and world musics. I know it all. Early influences were Aaron Copland, Don Ellis, Stravinsky, Bartok, Legiti and all that. I have dwelled with great affection and appreciation for the craft and inventiveness of John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith and Bernard Herrmann, as have many. I have lots of experience in Pop, Jazz, Classical, early music styles, music for Theater, Opera. I have written more Rap and Hip Hop than Jay-Z spanning over 25 years of that stuff. I know of and can write in the bag of all contemporary composers like John Adams, Steve Riech and all those post-minimalists cats. I lead an elite Jazz orchestra here in LA called Influence. It is made up of the very best session and jazz players on earth. We have sold out every concert and jazz gig. That has been very fun and interesting to explore.

Reel Cool: After graduation, you moved to Hanna Barbera, what was the environment like at HB?

Ron Jones: Strange. I and everyone else who scored all those shows during Hanna-Barbera's golden era, worked directly for Hoyt Curtin. He was great fun and a musical genius. I learned so many wonderful and deep lessons during that time and scored hundreds of shows, thousands of cues. People will never understand or be able to replicate that experience. Amazing.

Reel Cool: Were you given a level of creative freedom or was it ‘scores on demand’ and on a tight budget?

Ron Jones: Yes, it was super demanding in all senses of the expression. It always is demanding. It is not only the gig, the time, the money, it is ultimately, an inner challenge. I always, every single time, every single stroke of my pencil try to create the very best I can. I never say, crap this sucks, let me grind out some shit here. Never do I think that or do that. I write to please first myself. I have high standards. Second, I always regard the intelligence and inborn musicality of the human receptors which will view and listen to what is playing there. I believe that even a 2 or 3 year old knows what is right, what is good and interesting. I never patronize an audience. Never. So regardless of time, money, producers, studios, and all other limitations, I give it my all.

Reel Cool: What was/is your compositional approach, do you have a tune or a mood in your head or do you play with chords and runs until something comes?

Ron Jones: Most people have a very unrealistic notion of what a composer goes through. Misinformation and romantic notions mixed together. I think more like architecture. I build with music blocks. First you need to learn and gather information about the show the story the characters. Then you create musical materials (Themes, Motifs, that stuff). When it has been decided where music will go in the show, then you do all you can to support and subjugate the music to help that scene dramatically. You need experience, craft and good old-fashioned problem solving skills and a big imagination/creativity. Then, you must do this all by Tuesday. Easy right?

DUCK TALES
Reel Cool: You were selected to score Duck Tales – was that a direct commission from Disney or as result of an open casting?

Ron Jones: Chris Montan, a very intuitive guy who heads up Disney music had sat in a few sessions that we where doing for H-B. I did not know at all who he was. He heard some of my cues and said he thought they where pretty good. I told him how I regard the audience and its intelligence. When Duck Tales started out the composers took a low approach, talking down and being very patronizing with the score. Really too stupid and overtly "Cute". So Chris called and said, “Please come down to Disney and let's have you do this series.”

When I went down we met with the head of TV-Animation. He asked me what my approach would be. I said I would treat these Ducks like real people on real adventures. I would not play the score like a kid’s show at all. I said if they went on an adventure I would play it serious like Raiders of the Lost Ark. I guess they saw my point and gave me the job.

Reel Cool: Duck Tales debuted in 1987 – given the lead-time for cartoons at what point were you brought into the production schedule?

Ron Jones: In guess a few months before that.

Reel Cool: Were you shown footage of Duck Tales prior to composing?

Ron Jones: I scored to picture frame by frame of course.

Reel Cool: Did you have the chance to discuss the scenarios you would be scoring with the producers or were you just given broad based themes like ‘action sequence’, ‘dream sequence’, ‘mystery’ etc?

Ron Jones: Not really. They gave me a very wide creative area to operate in. That always allows for good things to happen. Here Ron, do something cool. That is all I need. Most producers micro manage and suppress the scores, it’s really a very sad situation and counter-intuitive.

Reel Cool: Assuming you created the initial demo scores on synths, did you write the final orchestral arrangements?

Ron Jones: There where no demos. I did everything, compose, orchestrate, arrange and conduct.

Reel Cool: Initially you oversaw the sequences you were scoring. As time went on were you involved in applying your cues to later episodes?

Ron Jones: I only scored a few shows. I designed the cues to not only score specific scenes but to be trackable. They tracked the vast majority of the episodes due to the effectiveness of this design. One of the best ever, I believe.

Reel Cool: Duck Tales ran for 100 episodes – many of your cues were reused throughout the seasons (this is why so many are so familiar and beloved by fans), how many cues did you actually compose?

Ron Jones: I composed it as a library. I had Adventure themes, Bad guy themes, chases, heart-felt cues, the gamut. My years at Hanna-Barbera came in very handy.

Reel Cool: How many sessions were there, what was the typical recording set up and size of the orchestra you used for the scoring sessions?

Ron Jones: I think about there were about 14 sessions. I packaged all the sessions. I had nearly 40 players for much of it. I had some sessions with contemporary rhythm section guys, and some synth with a small group of live players. We covered a lot of ground. Duckburg was a big freakin' place!

Reel Cool: There are many varied styles of music evident on DuckTales, were you given creative freedom on this project?

Ron Jones: Yes. I did whatever I chose to do.

Reel Cool: Do you have any specific or lasting memories of this project?

Ron Jones: After I scored the first episode (Armstrong) the music editor called me up and was very excited. He said , "Drop everything and come over, I want to show you something." When I got there, in a little editing room he played back the first few cues with pictures on an old movieola. It was magical. Everything worked so well. My approach of playing things real helped elevate the show, gave it a wonderment. Everyone could tell we had something very special. I just did my thing and it worked out nicely.

DUCK TALES AND BEYOND

Reel Cool: I’ll keep this brief as I guess you’ve probably answered this a zillion times! Getting the Star Trek TNG gig must have been equally daunting and thrilling, how did it feel to be in the same elite group as composers like Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner?

Ron Jones: Yes, it was. I had always in my own mind, pretended every show was great. In the case of ST:TNG, it really was cool. So I did not have to imagine as much. They laid it out - I scored it. I treated each episode like a feature, in every way possible.

Reel Cool: Were you ever tempted to emulate Goldsmith or determined to carve your own niche with your TNG scores?

Ron Jones: Well, we had to in a way. The studio (Paramount) was worried at first. They wanted the music at least, to bridge from the original series to the shockingly different ST:TNG. Sure, there was that element, but my music is still mine. Close your eyes sometime and really listen. You can hear it.

Reel Cool: Seth MacFarlane has made no secret of his love of Big Band Jazz - was it fun scoring Family Guy?

Ron Jones: Yes, we have enjoyed FG and it's fun, crazy dimensions for 10 years now. We are just starting the 6th season. Seth supports the music so deeply. If it where not for him, it would have been screwed down, like most of the crappy scores on broadcast today. He creates a zone where music can live. He knows and values what music does to a film or TV show. It is a vital element on may levels and he uses that to make the shows better. I guess that is why it is a billion dollar franchise world-wide. There are typically like, 20 styles in each show. It really makes you stretch. I love that. I love the challenge.

Reel Cool: The Fairly Odd Parents theme harks back to Swing Band Jazz and the classic 60’s Hanna Barbera themes – was that your idea or Butch Hartman’s?

Ron Jones: Seth recommended me to his close friend, Butch. Butch is a great person. He just trusted me to come up with something, and I did. He sent me a fax with some hand-written lyrics. i messed with them a bit and composed two different themes and sent them over for him to listen to. He took them home and played them for his young daughters. They loved the one that is used in the show. Yes, I brought into the theme the notion of a big Hoyt Curtin type thing. Of course it was fun.

FUTURE PROJECTS

Reel Cool: What new scores are you working on?

Ron Jones: Family Guy, American Dad and I think I will be doing part of the new Cleveland series. I am composing a lot of new things outside TV, like for my Jazz Orchestra-influence and for symphony orchestras. I just composed a new work called, The Ascent. I will premier it with the Las Vegas Philharmonic this weekend. Also, I am doing some free-form improvisational performance with Brad Dutz (my main Percussionist and dear friend) in the more artzy clubs around LA. I want to expand myself, and get out of the groove of just doing sessions in closed studios. I want to share with real people, live. This has been going very well.

Reel Cool: You’ve branched into film with your documentary with the musical group "Obliteration" and you series of shows Cookin' Carribean, - is that where your future lies or is scoring still your bread and butter?

Ron Jones: Look, Hollywood is about many things. In features it's about box office. The studios select composers, primarily because the last film they did made money. It is a factory. I still hold out great hope and possibility in scoring for features, even though many have dismissed me and all that. I feel that I have learned and experienced so much. I know my craft very well. Eventually Seth or someone else will look around and see what is available and choose to give me the creative opportunity. My life is so full of joy and thought and humanity that I really don't worry about it. I just do my best at all times. I let all that other stuff come or not. If I am given a great film to score, I know I will create something on a high level with meaning.

Reel Cool: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me

Ron Jones: Thank you for asking.

You can find out more about Ron Jones on his current website www.ronjonesproductions.com

Blatherin' Blatherskite it's DuckTales - (Whoo, Hoo)!

Disney's DuckTales, ran from 1987 to 1990 for one hundred episodes and became not only the House of Mouse's first cartoon series produced for syndication, but also one of its most popular.

DuckTales followed the exploits of quadzillionaire businessman Scrooge McDuck and his great nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie who with Webbigale Vanderquack found themselves in exotic Indiana Jones style adventures that included trips on sea, on land, around the world, in outer space and occasionally through time.

This charming and genuinely enjoyable cartoon series was based on a popular comic strip by Carl Barks and unusually for a 'movie' adaptation, included many of Bark's characters and plots. Of the regular cast of characters there was absent-minded inventor Gyro Gearloose, accident prone pilot Launchpad McQuack, Scrooge's butler Duckworth, his loyal housekeeper Mrs Beakley and last but not least Fenton Crackshell, who in times of trouble utters the words "Blatherin' Blatherskite!" and became super hero Gizmo Duck. Regular villains included Magica De Spell, Flintheart Glomgold and the Beagle Boys - check out the boys' prison numbers.

Apart from excellent animation and imaginative plots, DuckTales the TV series boasted an extremely catchy theme tune composed by Mark Mueller and sung by Jeff Pescetto. The memorable orchestral score for the TV series was composed by Star Trek supremo Ron Jones. Alas Jones' score is not available officially though a short suite of cues has surfaced on the web. A feature film called DuckTales Treasure of the Lost Lamp followed in 1990 scored by David Newman. Good though Newman's score may be, it sticks to a rather predictable "John Williams in action adventure mode" mixed with Carl Stalling's Looney Tunes sound. Jones on the other hand mixes his musical styles utilising strings, keyboards and guitars as necessary. Of course his cues were re-used for many different scenarios throughout the series and had to be flexible. It does however display a definite deftness of touch that when heard after all these years still sounds fresh.

I got into DuckTales while my daughter was growing up and like a dutiful dad I sat and watched it with her and very soon became hooked. Like The Simpsons you had a regular cast of characters with their own back stories. The plots were well written with some clever and knowing touches. With so many less sophisticated cartoons dominating the airwaves and the digital domain, DuckTales seems from a time gone by. Now that Disney has begun releasing the series on DVD, there is an opportunity to enjoy them again. If you grew up in the 80's, have a party and watch DuckTales all night with your pals. If you haven't got kids, borrow one and use that as excuse to watch the series.

The Harder They Come - dem a loot, dem a shoot, dem a wail in shanty town

Produced, directed and co-written by advertising director Perry Henzel, The Harder They Come was Jamaica's first and finest feature film. Released in 1972 it starred Jamaica's first reggae superstar, Jimmy Cliff.

As relevant now as it was then, The Harder They Come is based on a true story and tells the tale of Ivanhoe Martin (Cliff) a poor Jamaican country boy who comes to Kingston in search of a job. Despite a promising start as a singer, Ivan gets ripped off and soon descends into crime and violence and ultimately pays the price for his guns and ganja lifestyle.

Jimmy Cliff is not only a great singer and songwriter but is also a convincing actor in his role as Ivan the anti-hero of The Harder They Come. While the film pulls no punches in its bleak and tough depiction of life in the shanty towns of Kingston Jamaica, it is also a testament to the strength of its inhabitants.
There are some great scenes notably the palpable joy when Ivan gets his bid for fame in a studio and performs The Harder They Come with the cream of reggae session men.

To those unfamiliar with the dense Jamaican patois spoken in the movie, some of the dialogue may be hard to follow, but the film is so visual that it doesn't take a classical linguist to understand this modern day parable of corrupted youth. The image of pistol toting Ivan in his rude boy threads has been perhaps taken at face value and come to represent a call to arms for the Gangtsa culture, which is at odds with Perry Henzell's more measured and moralistic message.

The soundtrack for The Harder They Come is a goldmine of late 60's / early 70's classic reggae which no music fan should be without. It includes Jimmy Cliff's optimistic Stax soul influenced You Can Get It If You Really Want, the defiant title track The Harder They Come and the soulful, hymnal Many Rivers to Cross. Elsewhere you get Rude Boy anthems like Desmond Dekker's 007 and The Slickers' Johnny Too Bad plus The Melodians' Rivers of Babylon in its pure original form before Boney-M's butchery. Karaoke fans can also enjoy singing along to a second version of You Can Get It If you Really Want with the verses faded out!

The film is a classic and its central character Ivan is immortalised in a million wall posters not to mention the Clash's Guns of Brixton. Latterly it has become a stage musical currently doing the rounds in London's West End. Whilst I've not seen the musical in full, I saw a decidedly dazzling excerpt last week and was bowled over by it.

If you like films like City of God, you cannot afford to miss The Harder They Come.

Gotta rocket in my pocket!

The Rocketeer, released in 1991, by Walt Disney Pictures, was Joe Johnston's herioc adaptation of Dave Stevens' graphic novel of the same name. Chock full of cool iconic imagery, The Rocketeer followed the exploits of stunt pilot Cliff Secord, who discovers a stolen experimental rocket pack, and in the guise of The Rocketeer foils a dastardly Nazi plan led by a swashbuckling movie star.

The Rocketeer, like Indiana Jones recalled the Saturday morning serials of way back when. It starred Bill Campbell as square jawed Cliff Secord / the rocket man; Jennifer Connelly as girlfriend Jenny; Alan Arkin as "Peevy" Peabody, Cliff's mechanic cum compadre, and Timothy Dalton acting up a storm as Neville Sinclair, the Errol Flynn like movie star with Nazi sympathies. There is also some great support from Paul Sorvino playing a mob boss - after this movie, The Firm and Goodfellas, can anyone imagine Paul Sorvino playing anything BUT a mobster?

The mega talented director Joe Johnston, who designed The Iron Giant, doesn't miss a trick on the look and feel of the Rocketeer. The attention to detail is meticulous from the Amos 'n' Andy radio broadcast to the convincing Nazi propaganda cartoon of a rocket-powered invasion force. As mentioned previously, the movie contains some wonderful iconic images. Apart from Cliff's art deco helmet, there is the GeeBee Racer, the Zeppelin, the Autogyro and the Griffith Observatory. Not to mention Howard Hughes and the 'Spruce Goose', and Lothar, the seven foot terminator who bears more than a passing resemblance to B-movie bad guy Rondo Hatton.

Before becoming forever associated with the weep-fest that was Titanic, James Horner was considered the 'poor man's John Williams'. That didn't stop him from creating a stirring and exciting score for the Rocketeer. The Rocketeer theme is particularly memorable as is the four note leit motif for the Nazis. The official soundtrack also contains some well executed covers of Begin The Beguine and When your Lover Has Gone, performed by Melora Hardin.

I personally love the movie but, sad to say The Rocketeer was not deemed a success in terms of box office returns. It only just recouped its estimated $40 million budget and as a result hopes for a sequel never materialised. It is hardly surprising The Rocketeer did not perform especially well. Apart from a rather muddled marketing campaign and the Disney tag, The Rocketeer had some stiff competition that year: Terminator 2 - Judgement Day, Point Break, Reservoir Dogs, Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, The Last Boy Scout and er...Rambo III being several notable competitors vying for cinema-goers' hard earned cash.

But that was then and this is now, so don't let historical opinion cloud your judgement and prevent you from enjoying this delightful movie and its equally entertaining soundtrack.

Barry Gray - 21st Century Boy

There are few people who can think of those classic Gerry Anderson puppet series like Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Stingray without subconciously humming the theme tunes. The man behind those stirring and emotive pieces of music was Barry Gray who was, without doubt, an essential ingredient in the success of Gerry Anderson's telefantasy productions in the 1960's and 70's.

Born in 1925 in Lancashire, Barry Gray was an established arranger, composer and conductor on radio and recording studio boss when in 1956 he became musical director for a small film production company run by Arthur Provis and Gerry Anderson (AP Films), which later became Century 21 Productions. Over the next 18 years Anderson and Gray formed a creative partnership that produced such classics as Four Feather Falls Supercar and Fireball XL5. When Anderson moved into colour productions, Barry Gray upped his game producing outstanding scores for Stingray, Joe 90, Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons and the world famous Thunderbirds.

Gray continued to work with Anderson when Century 21 Productions moved into live action with Space 1999, UFO and Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun (AKA Doppleganger). In 1970 Barry Gray retired to Guernsey occasionally composing and conducting, until his passing in 1984.

Although, some great musicians have come and gone since the days of Barry Gray, few have made such an impact on so many people and summed up an entire era as this gentle man with a massive musical talent.