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Hans Zimmer's breathtaking year of 2006 came to a close with The Holiday. He started off by exciting us with his follow-up score in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. He then wowed us with The Da Vinci Code, truly the best score of the year. The Academy should be shot for not even acknowledging his great work. So, after composing the two highest grossing films of the year Zimmer decided to go small and composed fellow collaborator Nancy Meyers' The Holiday.
What Hans Zimmer is masterful at is simply being able to go from thriller to action to romantic comedy all in one year. While 2006 was nowhere near the grand year he had in 2005, it was truly a benchmark for the composer. What we have with The Holiday is a very melodic and soothing score. It reminds me a bit of the work he did on Nine Months and As Good As It Gets. The piano and guitar are the key instruments here in the score with a grand backing by string instruments. Zimmer utilizes his buddy Heitor Periera's skills on the guitar to give it that signature Zimmer feel that we've come to know. Periera has collaborated with Zimmer on films such as Madagascar, M:I-2 and more appropriately in Spanglish. The score is playful at times, it becomes warm, some sad parts to suggest isolation. It has everything a romatic comedy score should have. The first track is definitely the highlight of the album, it's trademark Zimmer and the most melodic track on the album. Track 16 was unique for the use of the single trumpet. It was a jazzy cue that really did not sound like Zimmer at all, maybe Periera had the greater influence since he provided vocals. Another thing to point out is that this the first time Zimmer used his wife for vocals in one of his scores. A great finish to a great year that earned Zimmer 6 IFMCA Nominations and two wins. He won for best action/thriller score for The Da Vinci Code and The Holiday earned him a best comedy score win.
Happy Feet (composed by John Powell): "Spotlight Review"
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John Powell is a composer whose name has become synonimous with animation. 2006 was a huge year for Powell with his work on Ice Age: The Meltdown, United 93, X-Men: The Last Stand, and of course Happy Feet. Powell is unique when compared to all the other composers from the school of Hans Zimmer. He is really the only one that has gone to utilize the orchestra the way he does. Harry Gregson-Williams has showed his orchestral side but he will always be known for his brilliant electronic style.
Happy Feet is a mammoth of a score, perfectly capturing the setting and tone of the film. Powell spent 4 years working on this film from scoring to arranging the songs for this musically driven animation wonder. The score is a wonderous masterpiece, it's the most epic I've heard from Powell. The first track is so powerful it brought tears to my eyes and had my hairs standing on end. Using a full male chorus he creates the harsh and frozen landscapes of Antarctica soley through his music. Track 1 is definitely the highlight of the album. Tracks 4, 21, and 27 are also extremely thematic and memorable. Most of the score is orchestral heavy while occasionally he will bring in some synth work. It's definitely less playful than his score for Ice Age: The Meltdown. John Powell truly deserved an Academy Award nomination for at least one of his works in 2006. It's too bad the Academy knows nothing about music. Thankfully he won the IFMCA Award for Best Animated Score as well as being nominated for Ice Age: The Meltdown in the same category. He was also nominated for best Fantasy/Sci-Fi score for X-Men: The Last Stand. Happy Feet was truly a breathtaking listen and proves that John Powell is one of a kind. I can't wait for his score to The Bourne Ultimatum.
