Columbus, Cowboys & Christmas
Burbank, California—'Tis the season and, come to think of it, few have mined Christmas as much as director Chris Columbus, producer of Christmas with the Kranks and Jingle All the Way. He's also placed Gremlins in the Christmas tree, put Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon together for a holiday snapshot in Stepmom and sent a kind old man to rescue Macaulay Culkin on Christmas Eve in Home Alone. Add his latest picture, Rent, to the list.
With a drumstick-tapping, HIV-infected drag queen in a Santa suit cavorting with other unsavory characters, Rent conveys a dingier Christmas than one might find at Rockefeller Plaza (which Columbus showed in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York), but the best of composer Jonathan Larson's outcasts does shine through, chiefly through its rock-tinged tunes, which are polished for the screen version.
"In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee…" the lyrics and harmony on "Seasons of Love" and the soundtrack's other songs—the let-loose, cat scratch anthem "Out Tonight," the prayerful "Will I," the sad ballad "Without You"—easily evoke the days when a dollar either went toward a subway token or a can of soup and the only candy cane in sight was standing on a corner trying to sell herself to buy some drugs.
Columbus has always made room for the lonesome losers in his movies (remember the somber Only the Lonely?), and his musical recalls many victims of addiction, disease and despair, here and gone. Music can do that and—strictly for me—this musical story, still looping in my head, certainly did. 'Tis the season to be kind, and, I must admit, Rent has an undeniable benevolence.
Liner Notes
A couple of Christmas jazz CDs—one older, one new—make ideal stocking stuffers without much fanfare, though they're probably best suited to an early gift for decorating the tree and surviving the rigors of the first week. Michael Franks' "Christmas in Kyoto" from his 2003 album, Watching the Snow, combines kimonos, wasabi and Akiro Kurosawa for a song so cheesy it dares you not to crack a smile, with or without egg nog and brandy. Universal brings another in its Christmas Collection with a Smooth Jazz Christmas, featuring eleven songs by various artists including Patti Austin.
Not all of it's smooth but the four best cuts are instrumental numbers—and each are easy on the ears: Norman Brown's "The Christmas Song," jazz pianist Eric Reed's restless "Angels in the Snow," David Benoit piano playing "Carol of the Bells" and a relaxed Lee Ritenour doing "White Christmas" on guitar.
Neil Diamond's 12 Songs grows better with each listening, with good, simple tunes like a rock-a-bye "We," gospel-laced "Man of God," and "Save Me a Saturday Night." If Sony doesn't make a big deal out of the radio-ready "Evermore," it'll be a crime—this is some of the master's best work in years. Box Office Mojo's Sean Saulsbury also reports that The Jazz Singer—Diamond's 1980 musical remake which bombed, out on DVD—isn't as bad as its reputation, though, for those looking for gifts, it's impossible to top The Essential Neil Diamond for primo general fan pleasure. Personal favorites: "America," "I Am…I Said," "Yes I Will," and Lulu's go-go version of Diamond's rocker "The Boat That I Row," available on Lulu's From Crayons to Perfume: The Best of Lulu.
For those who favor Western over Country, the 17-track Brokeback Mountain soundtrack surprisingly has a lot to offer, including the reflective main theme by Gustavo Santaolalla, which is more thoughtfully arranged than it's used in the movie. Not a fan of twang here, this CD is among the year's best movie soundtracks, with a lingering ballad by Emmylou Harris and an acquired taste song by Rufus Wainwright called "The Maker Makes" that plays off the mood of the movie, about a couple of men who fall in love and can't do much about it. But there's more, too, from Teddy Thompson's straightforward melody on the CD's best tune, "I Don't Want to Say Goodbye," and what I call Steve Earle's gitchy-in, gitchy-out song. Even Willie Nelson's whine is muted on what amounts to an interesting collection of music to accompany the movie.
MUSIC REFERENCES
• 'Brokeback Mountain' soundtrack
• 'Rent' soundtrack
• Michael Franks, Watching the Snow
• Neil Diamond, 12 Songs
PREVIOUS COLUMNS by Scott Holleran
• 11/24/05 - Thank You, Ayn Rand
• 11/11/05 - Saluting America's Veterans
• 10/15/05 - Censorship on the Rise in Hollywood
• 10/7/05 - Paparazzi Parasites and Smokin' Soundtracks
With a drumstick-tapping, HIV-infected drag queen in a Santa suit cavorting with other unsavory characters, Rent conveys a dingier Christmas than one might find at Rockefeller Plaza (which Columbus showed in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York), but the best of composer Jonathan Larson's outcasts does shine through, chiefly through its rock-tinged tunes, which are polished for the screen version.
"In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee…" the lyrics and harmony on "Seasons of Love" and the soundtrack's other songs—the let-loose, cat scratch anthem "Out Tonight," the prayerful "Will I," the sad ballad "Without You"—easily evoke the days when a dollar either went toward a subway token or a can of soup and the only candy cane in sight was standing on a corner trying to sell herself to buy some drugs.
Columbus has always made room for the lonesome losers in his movies (remember the somber Only the Lonely?), and his musical recalls many victims of addiction, disease and despair, here and gone. Music can do that and—strictly for me—this musical story, still looping in my head, certainly did. 'Tis the season to be kind, and, I must admit, Rent has an undeniable benevolence.
Liner Notes
A couple of Christmas jazz CDs—one older, one new—make ideal stocking stuffers without much fanfare, though they're probably best suited to an early gift for decorating the tree and surviving the rigors of the first week. Michael Franks' "Christmas in Kyoto" from his 2003 album, Watching the Snow, combines kimonos, wasabi and Akiro Kurosawa for a song so cheesy it dares you not to crack a smile, with or without egg nog and brandy. Universal brings another in its Christmas Collection with a Smooth Jazz Christmas, featuring eleven songs by various artists including Patti Austin.
Not all of it's smooth but the four best cuts are instrumental numbers—and each are easy on the ears: Norman Brown's "The Christmas Song," jazz pianist Eric Reed's restless "Angels in the Snow," David Benoit piano playing "Carol of the Bells" and a relaxed Lee Ritenour doing "White Christmas" on guitar.
Neil Diamond's 12 Songs grows better with each listening, with good, simple tunes like a rock-a-bye "We," gospel-laced "Man of God," and "Save Me a Saturday Night." If Sony doesn't make a big deal out of the radio-ready "Evermore," it'll be a crime—this is some of the master's best work in years. Box Office Mojo's Sean Saulsbury also reports that The Jazz Singer—Diamond's 1980 musical remake which bombed, out on DVD—isn't as bad as its reputation, though, for those looking for gifts, it's impossible to top The Essential Neil Diamond for primo general fan pleasure. Personal favorites: "America," "I Am…I Said," "Yes I Will," and Lulu's go-go version of Diamond's rocker "The Boat That I Row," available on Lulu's From Crayons to Perfume: The Best of Lulu.
For those who favor Western over Country, the 17-track Brokeback Mountain soundtrack surprisingly has a lot to offer, including the reflective main theme by Gustavo Santaolalla, which is more thoughtfully arranged than it's used in the movie. Not a fan of twang here, this CD is among the year's best movie soundtracks, with a lingering ballad by Emmylou Harris and an acquired taste song by Rufus Wainwright called "The Maker Makes" that plays off the mood of the movie, about a couple of men who fall in love and can't do much about it. But there's more, too, from Teddy Thompson's straightforward melody on the CD's best tune, "I Don't Want to Say Goodbye," and what I call Steve Earle's gitchy-in, gitchy-out song. Even Willie Nelson's whine is muted on what amounts to an interesting collection of music to accompany the movie.
MUSIC REFERENCES
• 'Brokeback Mountain' soundtrack
• 'Rent' soundtrack
• Michael Franks, Watching the Snow
• Neil Diamond, 12 Songs
PREVIOUS COLUMNS by Scott Holleran
• 11/24/05 - Thank You, Ayn Rand
• 11/11/05 - Saluting America's Veterans
• 10/15/05 - Censorship on the Rise in Hollywood
• 10/7/05 - Paparazzi Parasites and Smokin' Soundtracks
