LOS ANGLES: James Horner, the celebrated composer of the scores of several Hollywood smash-hit films including “Titanic” and “Avatar,” died in a plane crash at the age of 61, US media reported.
Hollywood trade magazine Variety reported the composer died when his private aircraft crashed in Santa Barbara, California.
“Brilliant Composer James Horner, friend & collaborator on 7 movies has tragically died in a plane crash. My heart aches for his loved ones,” wrote director and colleague Ron Howard on Twitter.
Horner won two Oscars for his work on “Titanic” — one for its theme song “My Heart Will Go On,” performed by Celine Dion, and another for the film’s score.
He also won Oscar nominations for the music of numerous other box-office hits, including “Apollo 13,” “Braveheart” and “Field of Dreams.” His first nomination came in 1986 for the sci-fi horror film “Aliens.”
Horner’s most recent Oscar nomination was for another sci-fi epic, James Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster “Avatar.”
With expansive and emotive soundscapes, Horner’s scores carried films to their climax and accompanied top actors as they delivered some of their most moving performances.
Tender kisses in “The Amazing Spider-Man,” grand battles in “Troy” and moments of stirring drama in “A Beautiful Mind” were all set up by Horner’s hand.
American film touchstones of the 1990s such as “Patriot Games,” “Searching for Bobby Fischer” and “Jumanji” were also composed by Horner.
Top actors and directors in the film and television world paid tribute to Horner online.
“Incredibly saddened to hear about the loss of James Horner. I grew up loving his work. He leaves behind a spectacular musical legacy,” television series creator Seth MacFarlane tweeted.
“There is nothing that shaped my movie-going experience more than the musical genius of James Horner. He will live on through the ages,” tweeted actor Rob Lowe.
Actor Ron Perlman, who starred in “Enemy at the Gates,” said he was “lucky to be able to say I was in a movie that was scored by James Horner.”
“Flights of angels dear sweet beautiful mind...,” he wrote on Twitter. Other composers also spoke of Horner’s lasting influence on their careers.
“James Horner, thank you for inspiring a young me to pursue a career in film music. Thank you for your music. Rest in peace.” wrote Steve Jablonsky who composed music for the “Transformers” film series. Horner also scored popular animated films “The Land Before Time” (1988) and “An American Tail: Fievel Goes West” (1991).
He was nominated for an Oscar for the song “Somewhere Out There” in “An American Tail.”
‘Titanic’ music composer Horner dies in air crash
‘Titanic’ music composer Horner dies in air crash
Fans bid farewell to Japan’s only pandas
TOKYO: Panda lovers in Tokyo said goodbye on Sunday to a hugely popular pair of the bears that are set to return to China, leaving Japan without the beloved animals for the first time in half a century.
Loaned out as part of China’s “panda diplomacy” program, the distinctive black-and-white animals have symbolized friendship between Beijing and Tokyo since the normalization of diplomatic ties in 1972.
Some visitors at Ueno Zoological Gardens were left teary-eyed as they watched Japan’s only two pandas Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao munch on bamboo.
The animals are expected to leave for China on Tuesday following a souring of relations between Asia’s two largest economies.
“I feel like seeing pandas can help create a connection with China too, so in that sense I really would like pandas to come back to Japan again,” said Gen Takahashi, 39, a Tokyo resident who visited the zoo with his wife and their two-year-old daughter.
“Kids love pandas as well, so if we could see them with our own eyes in Japan, I’d definitely want to go.”
The pandas’ abrupt return was announced last month after Japan’s conservative premier Sanae Takaichi hinted Tokyo could intervene militarily in the event of any attack on Taiwan.
Her comment provoked the ire of Beijing, which regards the island as its own territory.
The 4,400 lucky winners of an online lottery took turns viewing the four-year-old twins at Ueno zoo while others gathered nearby, many sporting panda-themed shirts, bags and dolls to celebrate the moment.
Mayuko Sumida traveled several hours from the central Aichi region in the hope of seeing them despite not winning the lottery.
“Even though it’s so big, its movements are really funny-sometimes it even acts kind of like a person,” she said, adding that she was “totally hooked.”
“Japan’s going to be left with zero pandas. It feels kind of sad,” she said.
Their departure might not be politically motivated, but if pandas return to Japan in the future it would symbolize warming relations, said Masaki Ienaga, a professor at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and expert in East Asian international relations.
“In the future...if there are intentions of improving bilateral ties on both sides, it’s possible that (the return of) pandas will be on the table,” he told AFP.
