Elfman on 'Wanted', 'Hellboy II' & 'On The Score'
 - Daniel Schweiger posted his audio interview with Danny Elfman for his program On The Score. Elfman dishes on scoring Wanted, Hellboy II, Standard Operating Procedure and his ballet, Rabbit and Rogue. Over 40 minutes of Elfman insight, stories and choice language! Check out On The Score at filmmusicmag.com.
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'Wanted' vid contest, catch Elfman's eye!
 - RealNetworks / Rhapsody have put together a custom video/audio mashup contest which launched Thursday. Users can create their own music video using supplied snippets and the film's feature track "The Little Things" composed by Danny Elfman. Submissions are due by June 24. The site also incorporates a voting feature to determine the finalists. And here's the cool part: Danny Elfman will personally pick the winner whose video will be featured on the DVD! Go here to create your video: rhapsodyextras.com/wanted/. Check out that cool intro video from Danny. Good luck!
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'Wanted' preview here!
- Danny Elfman's MFADP and Cinemusic, courtesy of Lakeshore Records, presents a soundtrack preview of Wanted. So many clips we had to spread 'em over two sites! Nine of them right here at MFADP, the other six at Cinemusic.net. Check it out!
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'Rabbit & Rogue' premiere has critics hopping
 - The new Twyla Tharp / Danny Elfman ballet has debuted in New York City to mixed critical response.
Patricia Zohn of The Huffington Post wrote: "The score by Danny Elfman is lush and cinematic, heart swelling and tuneful as well as rousing. Elfman paced up and down the Met aisles mingling with the ghosts of Puccini and Philip Glass whose operas had been in repertory during the recent season. Don't tell me artists EVER get jaded or over opening night jitters no matter how successful they are and as many times as they've done it; each time is the first time."
While Alistair Macaulay of The New York Times was less enthused: "Mr. Elfman's ambitious score has many hues — including those of the gamelan -- and makes plain that he means here to step outside his achievements as a composer of film and television music. I hear echoes of Philip Glass (especially the pounding bass of "In the Upper Room"), of the churning and brightly scored worlds of John Adams, and of the brilliant writing for high strings of Benjamin Britten. (One figure that closely resembles Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" keeps returning to irritating effect.) With many effects of coarse orchestration, however, it's a score that lacks distinction."
The New York Sun's Joel Lobenthal chimed in with: "[Danny Elfman's] score gives [Tharp] a strong and varied rhythmic platform, essential to a choreographer for whom tap dance has been a primary influence. But cinematic atmospherics that are subjected to concert treatment on this orchestral scale and at this length produce monotony -- albeit sometimes in the deliberately minimalist vein."
For a reader report, see the Message Board.
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One very 'Wanted' original Elfman song
- Fans of Danny Elfman's vocal talens rejoice, Danny has penned and performed an original song for Universal Pictures' upcoming film Wanted. Elfman also provides the score. Lakeshore Records, which releases the soundtrack album on CD and on iTunes on June 24th have set up a special MySpace preview page, featuring three score tracks and the original song "Little Things".
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'Standard Operating Procedure' for Varese Sarabande
 - Venerable soundtrack label Varese Sarabande has released Danny Elfman's score for Errol Morris' Abu Ghraib prison abuse documentary Standard Operating Procedure on May 6th. The score is available on CD at Amazon.com and Apple's iTunes store. Parts of Standard Operating Procedure use material from Elfman's Seranada Schizophrana, but the score is largely original material.
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And for his next trick... 'Houdini'
 - Playbill reports that Danny Elfman will collaborate with two-time Tony nominee David Yazbek on a new musical Houdini, based on the famous magician and escape artist's life, and "the human yearning for astonishment and miracles -- both manmade and supernatural —and the quest to defy death". Look for Houdini to hit Broadway in 2010. More info: Playbill.com
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Elfman #2, and does a 'Milk' body good
- Film Score Monthly ranked film composers according to their standing in the industry and Danny Elfman came in at #2, right behind Hans Zimmer and before the legendary John Williams. FSM also reported that Danny Elfman will score Gus Van Sant's upcoming Harvey Milk bio-pic. Elfman has not collaborated with Van Sant since Psycho, and previously scored Good Will Hunting and To Die For. The film is set for release in November, 2008. More: FSM Film Composer Countdown.
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Elfman's Summer Slate
- Here's a handy reference to Elfman's upcoming projects and their release dates:
Standard Operating Procedure
In theatres: April 25, 2008
Soundtrack Album: In stores May 6th, 2008 (Varese Sarabande)
Wanted
In theatres: June 27, 2008
Soundtrack Album: June 24, 2008 (Lakeshore Records)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
In theatres: July 11, 2008
Soundtrack Album: July 17th, 2008 (Varese Sarabande)
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Standard Operating Procedure
Wanted
Hellboy II
Milk
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