I thought that was fantastic. The sound effects and visuals are amazing.  I’m actually kind of glad to hear this film is joining the lame 3-D craze.  Please Disney don’t make it into some gimmicky 3-D theme park show, which I’m sure is how Alice in Wonderland will turn out.

Some other exciting news about this film is the score.  Earlier this year we learned the French electronica duo, Daft Punk has been signed to write the film’s music.  A rather interesting choice.  If I had to chose a composer, I would have picked the brilliant Thomas Newman.  Tron Legacy would have been a great addition to his already unique sounding scores.  Still, I love Daft Punk’s music. My high school years were filled with their funky beats and I continually listen to their albums.  But how will their score pan out?  I’m not quite sure, actually.  We’ll they provide songs to the film? With all of the high end sound effects, will their score be minimal and take a backseat? We’ll just have to wait, but in the meantime here is a small sample of their music.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

This next track particularly stands out to me.  I can definitely hear this type of sound in the “Tron” world.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

In any case, Tron Legacy is bound to be one unique film.  I sure hope the film lives up to the hype.

The latest trailer for Pedro Almodóvar’s film, Broken Embraces was just released (Thanks to The Guardian). Wow, this film is going to be a joy to watch.  I love all of the rich colors, costumes and Penelope hairstyles.  The film is set in the 1990s and focuses on a four-way tale of love and was shot in the style of a hard-boiled 1950s American film noir.  Basically, Penelope looking gorgeous as usual.  It premiered in Spain back in March, and was shown at the Cannes Film Festival. I’ll just have to wait patiently until November 20, 2009 for the U.S. release.  The film will get distributed in North America by Sony Pictures Classics.  Here is what they said about the film:

“Broken Embraces promises to be Almodóvar’s richest work to date. He has surpassed himself here by providing Penelope Cruz with TWO great roles for her to play! Every new Almodóvar film presents us with fresh opportunities to expand his audience. To watch him grow as an artist and help him gain the popularity he deserves has been very fulfilling for us. Our adventures with Agustin and Pedro Almodóvar has been enduring and it is a relationship that is the lifeblood of Sony Pictures Classics.”

The film score is, of course, by the Academy Award nominee, Alberto Iglesias.  Almodóvar has collaborated with Iglesias for several of his films including, Volver (To Return), La mala educación (Bad Education), Hable con Ella (Talk to Her), and Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother). Iglesias  is one of my favorite composers, I love his work. The soundtrack is available for import on Amazon.com, but I’ll probably wait and the see the film first.  Sound clips of his score can be heard on the film’s official Web site.  Click under “Músicas”  and then “Escuchar” to hear the clip.  “Final y A Ciegas” is wonderful cue that features the popular Spanish singer Miguel Poveda.

By now, most of you have seen the teaser trailer to M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film, The Last Airbender.  Still, I’m not too sure about this film.  More and more of Shyamalan’s movies have turned out to be very disappointing.  Maybe he’ll redeem himself with this one.  A film adaptation to the animated television series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, a show inspired by martial arts, mythology, and Asian art certainly sounds cool.  What can go wrong?

But, what’s even more exciting is the new score from James Newton Howard.  According to producer, Frank Marshall, Howard wrote music specifically for the teaser trailer. And what an amazing ‘teaser score’ it is.  Howard has composed a great number of some truly amazing scores for Shyamalan’s films including, The Sixth Sense, Lady in the Water, Signs, and The Village.  And now this trailer.

I can’t wait to get my hands on this soundtrack.

So, a little off topic, but I couldn’t resist.  This film is going to be spectacular!  And what a cast! The movie musical is directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha) with a screenplay by the late, Anthony Minghella.  It’s based on the book by Arthur Kopit for the 1982 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, which was derived from an Italian play by Mario Fratti that was inspired by Italian director Federico Fellini’s autobiographical film, 8 1/2.  The music and lyrics are by Maury Yeston, for which he won a Tony Award in 1982. I’m not sure if an additional score will be provided by another composer (e.g, Danny Elfman for Chicago).