The best James Newton Howard’s movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best James Newton Howard’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about James Newton Howard.
The World Is Watching: Making the Hunger Games
8.5/10
A feature length, eight part documentary that covers everything from pre-production to adapting the source novel to casting to shooting to post and marketing. This is an amazing in-depth piece and it's notable how many women were involved in this production, from several Lionsgate executives to novelist Suzanne Collins herself. Jennifer Lawrence talks about her "hypocrisy" in not wanting to do a big budget blockbuster after having devoted herself to indies (despite X-Men, which she seems to discount somewhat). There's also a nice sequence on the strength and weight training the actors went through and the stunts that are so notable in the film, as well as having to dance around the violence implicit in the story due to the planned PG-13 rating the filmmakers were aiming for.
Deconstructing 'The Village'
6.3/10
In this making-of documentary, we see movie snippets, shots from the set, and interviews. We get notes from the crew and cast. We learn about the movie's genesis and development, the choice of time period and setting, finding a location and creating the sets, the flick's visual design and cinematography, working with the actors and bonding on the set, the costumes, problems with the weather, shooting in the woods, casting, the actors' "boot camp", editing and storyboards, audio design, the score, and the movie's creatures.
The Making of 'Unbreakable'
6.9/10
This making-of piece showcases the evolution of the film from script (the entire movie is generally the first act of your typical film), the differences in crew between Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense, the thematic elements seen throughout the movie, the pace and shooting of the movie, and so on.
Music and Sound Design of 'The Sixth Sense'
6.1/10
This making-of piece features Shaymalan and composer James Newton Howard sharing their insights into the film's powerful score and unique sound effects.
