{"id":1528,"date":"2010-11-18T02:11:27","date_gmt":"2010-11-18T07:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=1528"},"modified":"2010-12-20T21:47:31","modified_gmt":"2010-12-21T02:47:31","slug":"cd-dunston-checks-in-1996","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=1528","title":{"rendered":"CD: Dunston checks in (1996)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Very Good<\/p>\n

Label: La-La Land Records \/ Released: Sept. 14, 2010<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 13 tracks \/ (57:00)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: 20-page colour booklet with liner notes by Daniel Schweiger \/ Limited to 1200 copies<\/p>\n

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Composer: Miles Goodman<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman firmly believes monkey\u2019s are funny (\u2018they just are\u2019), which is ahighly<\/em> subjective stance because not everyone is compelled to giggle when an orangutan makes facial gestures, sputters, or creates utter chaos in an orderly human environment, like the ritzy hotel that\u2019s the central location in director Ken Kwapis\u2019 screwball comedy,\u00a0Dunston checks in<\/strong>(1996).<\/p>\n

Miles Goodman\u2019s brilliant writing was giddily evident in his frothy jazz score for\u00a0Dirty Rotten Scoundrels<\/strong> (1988), so for film music fans, his name ensures energetic, musical sophistication, but a movie with monkey antics is a bit of a tougher sell for skeptics.<\/p>\n

The best approach for non-believers of Kaufman\u2019s rule is to forget\u00a0Dunston<\/strong> is about a primate stealing valuables in a hotel, and just regard Goodman\u2019s vividly comedic score as a lengthy narrative about exotic disorder, worming its way through various musical styles.<\/p>\n

Most of the cues feature energetic instrumentation, but \u201cMain Title\u201d interestingly recalls Elmer Bernstein\u2019s use of a piano to capture the film\u2019s early scenes of calm and gentility, whereas delicate interplay between rippling piano and flute close the film on similarly warm-hearted vibes in the opening bars of \u201cSweet Dunston.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lengthy \u201cMonkey Capers\u201d is more emotive of direct screen action, but the light Latin touches and Goodman\u2019s discrete use of synthetic metal twangs are more amusing than cloying. Jungle drums and various wooden taps and rattles goose Goodman\u2019s 5-note motif for the ape\u2019s mischievous nature, which is expressed in a step-like intro.<\/p>\n

Many of the album\u2019s cues are quite long, and were likely designed to cover elaborate montages of wackiness, but instead of feeling like mickey-mouse music, Goodman\u2019s score congeals into a small symphonic work, and at nearly an hour long, it manages to hold its own and engage the listener without a sense of being manipulated.<\/p>\n

The CD\u2019s mastering is excellent, as is the cue sequencing that balances orchestral material with exotic cuts like as \u201cMan and Monkey,\u201d and \u201cFood Fight\u201d with its fleeting Bossa Nova intro and quotations. Daniel Schweiger\u2019s liner notes include comments from director Kwapis and musician Oscar-Castro Neves, and Schweiger\u2019s affection for this marginalized score ensure his cue dissections are genuinely appreciative.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2010 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB<\/a> — Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews . Rating: Very Good Label: La-La Land Records \/ Released: Sept. 14, 2010 Tracks & Album Length: 13 tracks \/ (57:00) . Special Notes: 20-page colour booklet with liner notes by Daniel Schweiger \/ Limited to 1200 copies . Composer: Miles Goodman . . Review: Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman firmly believes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[146],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-oE","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1528"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1528"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1919,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1528\/revisions\/1919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}