The stories of Leonard Nimoy’s feuds with Paramount are legendary, but on Sunday night America’s favorite Vulcan put Mr. Spock, beer bottles and Hollywood accounting behind and turned out to host "The Big Picture: The Films of Paramount Pictures" – a music tribute at the legendary Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA. Despite the sweltering weather, Nimoy was classy as always and surprisingly avuncular as he introduced a litany of classic scores (and accompanying film clips) to some of Paramount’s greatest films including A Place In The Sun, Forest Gump, Chinatown, The Godfather Trilogy, Titanic, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and many more.
Not surprisingly, a suite from Star Trek made an appearance in the form of Jerry Goldsmith’s First Contact theme set to a montage of clips from most of the Star Trek movies (mercifully, no Leonard Rosenmann Star Trek IV music was played, but there were numerous clips of Nimoy in his Vulcan bathrobe from Trek III…Sorry, Leonard) which followed Lalo Schrifin’s Mission Impossible theme which Nimoy wyly noted was another franchise he was involved with at Paramount, "not that anyone under 30 would know." Who could forget Paris, the man of many disguises? But Nimoy’s best anecodte of the evening and a rare Trek story I’d never heard was when he was approached by John Wayne at a Paramount function in the 70’s in which Wayne ambled up to him and said, "I know you, you got your ears fixed."
Nimoy did a great job making the evening of music and film clips a perfect night out and I must say it was a welcome surprise to see Nimoy at an event at which Zachary Quinto was not present for a change, however. Of course, there’s always next year.
Nimoy with composer/conductor David Newman (image: Variety)
Nimoy has always struck me as a very classy guy.
Vic
How cool is it that John Wayne watched Star Trek? At least enough to know Nimoy got ‘his ears fixed’. Haha.
ST:TMP soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith got an Oscar for best soundtrack
Sorry but no Oscars for any of the Star Trek films alothough there have been numerous nominations including for the score for the first film but alas no wins.
Yep, Goldsmith’s score from STar Trek: The Motion Picture SHOULD have won the oscar. It was nominated that year but the score for ALIEN took the prize. Too bad, it wasn’t nearly as good.
The night that will live in infamy…Jerry’s score did not bring home an Oscar!
RECOUNT!!!!!
Was it not “A Little Romance” that beat (bah!) STTMP for best score?
I read about the scheduled tribute on Thursday in the LA Times and would liked to have gone, but had other plans for the Labor Day weekend. Thanks for reporting it, Anthony!
#5
Alien wasn’t nominated for Best Score. TMP lost out to A Little Romance.
Quoth Mr. Altman: “… I must say it was a welcome surprise to see Nimoy at an event at which Zachary Quinto was not present for a change, however. Of course, there’s always next year. ”
So when are the Nimoys going to go ahead and officially adopt Quinto? ;-)
Peace. Live long and prosper.
the Vulcanista >:-|
What’s Mr Nimony wearing? Looks influenced by Jedi fashions…especially in the smaller picture in the header article.
While Goldsmith’s score for Trek was rousing it was not really groundbreaking in any way. The unusual intruments chosen for the ALIEN score was the thing that allowed that music to take the Oscar.
I’m really happy to see Leonard Nimoy shining in the spotlight again.
Ugh.You guys are right.Sorry.Just a nomination.Great score though.Check out the gothic style of “V’ger flyover”.
hes too damm old. just like micheal douglas and sean connery, and the likes of harrison ford. who wants to see a feeble spock . gimmie a break at least shatner isnt feeble yet
in the middle of a lecture on vulcan logic he suddenly blurts out”i like puddin”
#15
Shaddup. That’s just ignorant.
Yep/skip
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“mercifully, no Laurence Rosenmann Star Trek IV music was played”
what do you mean? the leonard rosenman (!) soundtrack was amazing!
oh and #12: there was an unusual instrument in TMP… the big vger thunder…
ditto on the Star Trek IV score… Mark, don’t show your ignorance… the name is Leonard Rosenman, and that score did exactly what it was supposed to do, lighten up the feeling of the TVH versus the previous Star Trek films.
played the trek4 score at my wedding- walked into the reception to the opening, first dance was to “song of the Whales” instrumental by the Yellowjackets, (my wife really loves me!) love that whole score
It was an amazing night, despite record high temperatures all weekend. It is really amazing to get to see a full orchestra play music in time to projected footage. Since we had been invited by another couple, I had no idea the night was going to be hosted by Leonard Nimoy. That was just icing on the cake. After all these years, he really does seem to be enjoying his association with Spock.
Also, it was refreshing to not have the Bowl orchestra dash out retreads of the main themes to these movies. John Williams always does the “Raiders” and “Star Wars” themes during his night. Of course, it’s a requirement and it is great. However, they do feel like they are rushing through it every time just to get it done. Honestly I was expecting more of the same here. Instead, the orchestra played the entire score for the beginning of “Raiders” right up to where Indy narrowly escapes the giant, stone pinball. Remarkable! Needless to say, the Star Trek montage, despite being something we have all seen many times before, was equally amazing.
^22. John Williams perfectly conducted Goldsmith’s Star Trek theme at the Bowl two years ago. Notable because it’s the Star Wars guy doing Star Trek and also because more than one orchestra has released a sci-fi album with Star Trek with the tempo too slow. Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops plodded through it for nearly 4 minutes and it should be about 3:22 at the tempo of the soundtrack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK0m9b9v5s4
#11 That’s Nimoy’s alt tuxedo. He looks great in it. No one else could pull it off–except maybe ZQ. The shirt is the same style as Mirror Spock’s. He looked yummy in that too…
*sigh*
Still hot at 76.
#11+24: to me it rather looks like the captain’s green wraparound uniform…
Yes great to see Nimoy out in the spotlight again. ST 11 seems to have rejuvenated him.
to Mr. Altman regarding the Star Trek IV soundtrack. Amen. I thought the score was the one thing wrong with that movie. Other wise great movie.
I guess I’m in the minority but I thought TVH had a great score. It fit the lighthearted nature of the film perfectly. Then again, I know Trek fans that seem to think TVH isn’t ‘real’ Trek, yet it’s the most popular amongst non-fans. Tells you a little something about the preconceptions as to what ‘works’ for Trek and what doesn’t.
#23- Al, am I remembering correctly that it was a tribute to Goldsmith due to his recent passing? Did they not also do a fairly accurate rendition of the “Magnificent Seven” theme in honor of Elmer Bernstein’s passing as well? If that is the performance I am thinking of, then I agree with you. I recall that version of the Trek theme having the right “feel”. It was definitely not your typical symphonic arrangement performed by the insert-name-here symphony orchestra, with the different timing, and other bits of junk added in for “flair”. It was also nice because Williams had some nice words of remembrance for the two composers. I believe he played piano in both of their orchestras.
Specifically, I was referring to him conducting his own material. I imagine he must be a little tired of Star Wars by now.
Another one that enjoyed the TVH score here. Delightful, quirky and fun. Just like the film itself.
think the only Trek films that got oscar nods were TMP, IV, VI and First Contact
think for music, FX, Make up etc…
However its bad that Shatner and Montaban wernt oscar nomed for TWOK…
SF wise its only Aliens where an actor has got any oscar recognition
Good to see Leonard nimoy back again. He’s a class act all the way. And I do remember him from Mission:Impossible. And who can forget the first remake (was it the first remake) of Invasion of the Body Snatchers! Nice to have you back, Mr. Nimoy!
The Oscars always snubbed Sci-Fi / Fantasy films.
Well, ’till LOTR came around and they changed thier tune.
Who knows, maybe this time they’ll give Trek a break.
– W –
* Pigs will fly, Hell will freeze, and Bill Gates will be made king of the Earth, well, two out of three ain’t bad *
The Rosenman score for TVH worked in context, but most of his scores sounded pretty much the same. From Bashki’s Lord of the Rings, to ST:TVH to Robocop 3, they are all about interchangable. But I guess that was his style.
34-
Many Hollywood themes are interchangeable.
They ran the trailers for the first Pirates movie, using the theme from the first Banderas Zorro movie. It took me years to realize the switch. If you switched Spiderman’s theme with the new Batman theme, can you really say you’d care?
Hollywood is not about striking off in a bold, new direction. Even when something vaguely new comes along, the lemmings at the studio immediately make 20 more somethings just like it.
Having said tha, I like Jerry Goldsmith’s theme for FC. It was a nice departure from the Sousa marching band themes of contemporary genre films.
Rosenmans score for IV (i.e the one everyone hates) was nominated for an oscar..carzy huh,
33 – yeah imagine if Star Trek comes out and it sweeps the board LOTRs style – best Film. Director, oscar to Leonard Nimoy etc (actually its not impossible that if the movie is great and he’s terrific the academy might give him a nomination for best actor or supporting actor like McKellan in the 1st LOTR….they like to honour their old guys – especially ones who havent had any awards yet – just look at Shatner with all his Emmys)…That aside I’m sure this Trek will get some noms in the technical catogries – FX etc
34 – it was Robo 2 he scored not 3
35 – agreed virtually all of todays and recent years block busters do not have memorable scores – I mean just how iconic were the Superman, Star Wars, Jaws, Indy, Star Trek TMP themes etc?? None of todays films have had anything like that.
#35
I’d have to say I would definitely care if they swapped the Spiderman theme with the Batman one. Danny Elfman & Hans Zimmer have very, very different styles.
#35 and 36– I agree generally, esp. re: the FC theme. Nice and wistful. AndI loved the great ’70s heyday of big movie themes.
I do think a lot of music these days sounds interchangeable, partly because a lot of it seems to deemphasize melody in creating a mood, but I don’t think that always means that it’s bad music. I think both the Spider-Man and Batman Begins scores weren’t very memorable as melodies, but I do think they served the films well.
I remember reading about the composer for “Superman Returns” talking about using some of John Williams’s old themes for the new movie. He said they’d use the main title theme, but rejected using any others because, IIRC, they were outdated for a modern movie score. To my mind, that translated as “too hummable.”
I did like the Rohan theme from the LOTR movies for just that reason, though.
37 – i think he was reffering to Elfmans 1989 Batman theme…it was similar to Elfmans Spiderman theme
38 – They actually used some of the other themes from the original 1978 film in SR too – the love theme shows up in the Lois/Superman flight, Smallville theme is in the bits with him as a kid jumping in the corn…Krypton theme was used at the start…and on the teaser trailer…The new stuff they used was ok though…
#39
Actually he said ‘the new Batman theme’, so I’d assume he meant the Begins theme. Even so, the Spiderman theme is quite different from the Batman ’89 theme. The Spidey theme is very light.
#1 “Nimoy has always struck me as a very classy guy.”
My thoughts exacly sir, my thoughts exactly.
Leonard Nimoy IS Star Trek
#5 – ST:TMP lost to A Little Romance.
Jerry Goldsmith’s only Oscar win was for 1976 – The Omen, conducted by Lionel Newman on the Fox Scoring Stage.
He used around 65 performers and a choir for that score, and it has often been parodied using Carmina Burana.
ST:TMP and Alien were both verry worthy scores, but I agree that ST:TMP should have won that year.
To no15 yep
Leonard Nimoy is not to old to play Spock, as the fictional Vulcan race can live up to the age of 250.
Yeah I remember Mission Impossible too. I have most of them on video.
no 42 you have that spot on.
It’s a shame that none of the other star trek scores got any real recognition beyond the S.T. community. Some of my favorite music (period) comes from Star Trek. I am a huge fan of the score from Wrath of Kahn, and the beutiful main title peice from First Contact, and certain themes from Undiscovered country. The Baku’s theme introduced in the main title of Insurection gets me very emotional. Basicly Jerry Goldsmiths work on Star Trek is fennominal. Truly great. But I mean even for the shows, star trek has some high music production values. It’s one reason I like the franchize. So like I say, a shame it hasn’t gotten more recognition
Hey, I just posted but what about all these people downing on the Leanord Rosman score. I mean, it wasn’t my favorite either, and not the usual trek music fare. But it was perfect for the movie. I’ve heard comment that the movie is really a non-star trek star trek movie. and I fell it;s the same with the score.
Hey, I just posted but what about all these people downing on the Leanord Rosman score. I mean, it wasn’t my favorite either, and not the usual trek music fare. But it was perfect for the movie. I’ve heard comment that the movie is really a non-star trek star trek movie. and I feel it;s the same with the score.
Hi whos david newman?