Publicity: SoundtrackNet
Film Music Magazine
http://www.filmmusicmag.com/?p=3692
On the Score with Deborah Lurie
by Daniel Schweiger
There was a time when no woman in Hollywood dared to solely tread a bigscreen future inhabited by killer robots, let alone take on the big orchestral sound and action that was a man’s composing world. It’s been a while since the late Shirley Walker tread that genre domain with her powerhouse scores for the likes of “Escape From New York” and “Final Destination.” And while she may have never met her, composer Deborah Lurie shows she has girl power to spare in showing a woman can play that kind of dark orchestral power in Hollywood with her work for “9.” For this jaw-droppingly unique animated film that posits ragdoll robots up against gigantically menacing machines, Lurie hears a future of dark strings, imposing choruses and melancholy melody, creating a score that’s as much part of “9”’s nightmarish landscape as the striking visuals of director Shane Acker.
Yet the delightfully perky Lurie has been no stranger to boldly sinister Hollywood scores with her orchestrating work for “The X Files,” “X2- X Men United” and “Halloween H20.” Championed by such composers as John Ottman and Danny Elfman, Lurie has composed additional music for both men on such films as “Bubble Boy,” “Spider-Man 3” and “Wanted.” On her musical own, Lurie’s work has tended towards such dramatically emotional scores as “An Unfinished Life,” “Dreamgirls” and “Imaginary Heroes,” or female-centric comedies like “Sleepover,” “Spring Breakdown” and “Sydney White.” Now with Danny Elfman providing additional themes for “9,” Lurie succeeds in playing a fearsome, yet magical post-apocalyptic sound that will no doubt announce her as the next hot property when it comes to Hollywood genre scoring- a place that used to be in another universe from the kind of chick flicks that a small band of female feature composers usually found themselves in. But thanks to Deborah Lurie, the sound of sci-fi scoring has once again has become a woman’s world with “9.”