Spaceballs: The Flamethrower!

Ok, ok, just kidding. I wanted to talk to you about Battlestar Galactica: The Music and I'll get to it in just a sec. I know I've posted about the show before, but I can't speak more highly of it. The fourth and final season starts tonight and I couldn't be more pumped. For those of you who haven't watched it, if you can set aside your anti sci-fi thoughts, I bet (as close to guarantying it as I can without actually guarantying it) you'll find a show that you'll enjoy. It's not Star Trek, people. It's a very human drama about so many aspects of our, for lack of a better word, existence that it's much more than a show about spaceships and robots. I wouldn't mislead you, dear readers. But don't listen to me, listen to Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly/Serenity, Toy Story):

"The show is humbling. Not since the Matrix (the first one) have I had such a strong desire to go to writing school. I think it's so passionate, textured, complex, subversive and challenging that it dwarfs everything on TV. Or in theaters." (taken from Galactica Station).

Now, when a writer/director of Joss' caliber (Emmy nomination for Buffy, Oscar nomination for the Toy Story script) is humbled? Damn, Gina. Damn.

I got my brother hooked on it months ago and recently got a friend totally hooked on it too (part of the reason I'm writing about it again). He has finished all 53 episodes and the four hour mini-series that kicked it off and his reaction to the show thus far was simply: "WOW!!!!!!" I wanted to watch them all again in order with him, but that required too much couch-potato-coordination for me. We watched maybe 15 together, but that's it. I've watched them all three times so I think I'll be alright lol. On to the reason for the post...

People who know me, know I am a music junkie. Well, let's just say I'm a pop culture junkie: music, movies, tv (ok, SOME tv), etc. What I really love is when a movie or tv show really uses music effectively. What makes it effective? Well, some situations are fill in the blank (excited, dramatic, tense, shocking, sad, etc) enough without music, but throw in the right piece in the background and I'm hooked. Why do sports movies use dramatic music in the final scene with the last second shot? Because it brings it to a new level. What's even better is when you don't even really notice the music the first time. You're sucked into a scene and only on a second viewing do you hear the music and think "wow, that music fits so well here." Well, I say that a lot anyway and that's why I own movies like Garden State and Almost Famous.

However those movies use popular music that you probably recognize and they seem to fit. They're chosen carefully and I love 'em, but what I love even more is when the music is instrumental, original and written for a specific scene to convey or enhance a specific emotion. That's why I really liked Buffy. Yeah, laugh all you want, but the composer for the show, Christophe Beck, wrote some excellent, excellent stuff (and won an Emmy for it) that worked so well with the show. Sure, watching Sarah Michelle Gellar didn't hurt, but the music, story, characters and drama were great.

Anyway, I got the Battlestar soundtracks a few days ago and have been listening to them non-stop since. They're so damn good. So much of the music fits so well with the drama in the story that it just makes the show that much better. The show's composer, Bear McCreary, uses a mix of very percussive stuff for action scenes that I really dig (the words "rumbling" and "tribal" come to mind) and the softer music is great too. It's a soundtrack with a unique feel to it and I like it a lot on it's own and even more when I'm watching.

One song in particular I have listened to over and over is "Prelude to War." I DARE you to listen to it and not get all worked up. Add the song to the season 2 episode it's in and it's fantastic. There are a bundle of others I would link but skreemr either doesn't have them or they are cut short.

(Funny side note: Bear McCreary was a protege of Elmer Bernstein who composed music for: Three Amigos, Ghostbusters, Airplane 1 and 2, Stripes and Animal House. I wouldn't call those movies with noteworthy music...but I did think it was an interesting and random, two things I strive for here at PMD.)

What an amazing skill that is. To be able to read the description of a scene (because you couldn't wait til it's been shot to start scoring it) and be able to put together a piece of music (involving an orchestra, not just a piano or guitar) that fits with the emotion and rhythm of said scene in such a way that it resonates (pardon the pun) with an audience...is nothing short of amazing. Think of the amount of creativity that goes into making something like that just click. Ugh, I'm so jealous.

Ok, ok, enough. I'll stop beating you people up for not watching Battlestar. You should, damn it! And I know it's dorky that I'm just buzzing like a kid at Christmas writing this, listening to the soundtracks and anxiously awaiting the premiere tonight...but I don't care. I loves me some Battlestar.