James Newton Howard Mock

Even high-budget Hollywood movies generally get by with one A-list composer, but the renewed Batman series that kicked off with Batman Begins under the direction of Christopher Nolan in 2005 used two, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, both of whom return for the second installment, The Dark Knight. Although Zimmer and Howard are co-credited with each of the cues (with Lorne Balfe given a credit for unspecified "additional music"), their styles are sufficiently distinct that their individual contributions don't seem hard to delineate. The highly percussive synthesized music, much of it seemingly already mixed in with sound effects, sounds like Zimmer; the more conventional orchestral passages, sometimes giving way to solo piano, sound like Howard (who is, in fact, credited with playing piano on the soundtrack)…

James Newton Howard has respectfully paid homage to the great John William's theme from the original Harry Potter and you have to get a little bit excited when the score begins with that iconic music. After that wink to Williams, Howard slowly develops an astounding orchestral score that demonstrates a expansive variety of musical tones: whimsical, nostalgic, energetic and sometimes even very creepy. His range as a composer is commendable and this score clearly shows his talent to accompany emotions portrayed in the film, whatever these may be. I hear shades of Malificent (outstanding score) and King Kong here, which is thrilling. Some of the Harry Potter scores are amazing and a few are not. I'm hopeful that Howard will sign on for all the remaining scores for this new film franchise because if this first score is any indication of what's coming, we can all anticipate the upcoming scores with eagerness.

All Clara (Mackenzie Foy) wants is a key a one-of-a-kind key that will unlock a box that holds a priceless gift from her late mother. A golden thread, presented to her at godfather Drosselmeyer's (Morgan Freeman) annual holiday party, leads her to the coveted key which promptly disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. It's there that Clara encounters a soldier named Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight), a gang of mice and the regents who preside over three Realms: Land of Snowflakes, Land of Flowers and Land of Sweets. Clara and Phillip must brave the ominous Fourth Realm, home to the tyrant Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), to retrieve Clara's key and hopefully return harmony to the unstable world. Starring Keira Knightley as the Sugar Plum Fairy and featuring a special performance by Misty Copeland, Disney's new holiday feature film "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" is directed by Lasse Hallström and based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's classic tale and "The Nutcracker." In theaters on Nov. 2, 2018.