When will Hollywood even begin tell the true story about the Russian Revolution, Lenin, Stalin and its subsequently more successful imitators such as Mao Zedong and Kim Jong Il?

Obviously some hopefuls for similar success, George Soros, Barack Obama – not to mention the likes of Hugo Chavez – are riding on the back of what basically amounts to world ignorance about the entire nightmare of the Communist Revolutions worldwide.

As a perfect revelation of Hollywood’s utter narcosis, the Warren Beatty film, REDS, is not the indictment of Communism which some might try to paint it as, but the very effective portrait of Communism’s harmlessness.

A few American “idealistic” Leftists were, well, merely disappointed with the Russian Revolution.

That’s it.

Nothing more dangerous than broken dreams.

David Lean’s Dr. Zhivago?

That is just the beginning of the truth within Soviet and now neo-Soviet Russia. (more…)

Tough choice between this and “Dr. Zhivago” (1965). Maurice Jarre won well-deserved Oscars for both (and “A Passage To India” in 1984). Other memorable, hummable, off-the-top-of-my-head favorites include “The Train” (1964), “The Professionals” (1966) and ”Witness” (1985).

When you mix sound for a film – score, effects, dialogue – not taking the audience out of the story is a very difficult part of the job and just one way to begin to appreciate the talent and craftsmanship required to do what Jarre did; to craft lush, large, and rousing scores that not only don’t distract, but enhance everything on such an emotional level you can’t imagine the film without it. You don’t hear great film scores, you feel them, and as the above clip proves, Jarre’s best work didn’t need anything to accomplish this — not even the film.    (more…)