Intrada has released two new CDs this week, from two of the greatest film composers of all time -- an expanded and significantly remastered version of Jerry Goldsmith's score for the horror film WARLOCK (Intrada released the first edition of the soundtrack in 1989, but the collapse of New World Pictures meant that the film didn't reach L.A. theaters until 1991), and the first-ever release of Elmer Bernstein's score for the 1981 comedy GOING APE!, starring Danny DeVito and Tony Danza, and written and directed by Jeremy Joe Kronsberg (writer of Every Which Way But Loose).

On April 7, La-La Land will release a two-disc set of music from the popular animated series HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, composed by Shuki Levy, Haim Saban and Erika Lane.

The latest from Kritzerland is a new release of the original score tracks of Bernard Herrmann's music for the 1953 diving adventure BENEATH THE 12-MILE REEF, which was first released by Film Score Monthly and later, with improved sound, in Varese Sarabande's massive Bernard Herrmann at 20th Century Fox collection.

In the most surprising film music news in a very long time, it was just announced that due to minor health concerns, John Williams has had to back out of scoring Steven Spielberg's upcoming Cold War drama BRIDGE OF SPIES, and that Thomas Newman will take his place -- following Quincy Jones & company's work on The Color Purple, this will be only the second Spielberg feature that Williams did not score. However, Williams has been announced to score Spielberg's next film, an adaptation of Roald Dahl's THE BFG.  Also, the first of the stand-alone Star Wars spinoff films, STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE, will be scored by Alexandre Desplat (who worked with Rogue One director Gareth Edwards on Godzilla).

To celebrate what would have been the 90th birthday (on March 12) of beloved composer Georges Delerue, his daughter Claire has posted a video of her piano performance of his music from Godard's Contempt.

CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain - Benjamin Wallfisch - MovieScore Media
Chappie - Hans Zimmer - Varese Sarabande
El Arbol Sin Sombra - Marc Timon Barcelo - ScreamWorks
Going Ape! - Elmer Bernstein - Intrada Special Collection
Jupiter Ascending (U.S. release) - Michael Giacchino - Varese Sarabande
Le Dernier Loup [Wolf Totem] - James Horner - Milan (import)
L'Istruttoria E' Chiusa Dimentinchi/Il Diavolo Nel Cervello - Ennio Morricone - GDM
Nessuno Si Salva Da Solo - Arturo Annecchino - GDM
Run All Night - Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) - Watertower [CD-R]
Warlock - Jerry Goldsmith - Intrada Special Collection

IN THEATERS TODAY

Amour Fou - no original score
Danny Collins - Theodore Shapiro, Ryan Adams
The Divergent Series: Insurgent - Joseph Trapanese
The Gunman - Jose Luis Rodriguez, Marco Beltrami -  Marco Beltrami score CD coming from Silva
Hunting Elephants - Gilad Benamram
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter - The Octopus Project
The Letters - Ciaran Hope
Like Sunday, Like Rain - Ed Harcourt
Seymour: An Introduction - no original score
3 Hearts - Bruno Coulais
Tracers - Lucas Vidal
Treading Water - Benoit Charest, Yamil Rezc
Zombeavers - Al Kaplan, Jon Kaplan (yes, that's our Al Kaplan and Jon Kaplan, and they also co-wrote the screenplay) - Score CD coming from La-La Land

COMING SOON

March 24
The Egyptian - Alfred Newman, Bernard Herrmann - La-La Land
It Follows - Disasterpeace - Milan
Man on a Swing/The President's Analyst - Lalo Schifrin - Quartet
The Night Visitor/Second Thoughts - Henry Mancnini - Quartet
March 31
The Cobbler - John Debney, Nick Urata - Lakeshore
The Face of an Angel - Harry Escott - Silva (import)
Furious 7 - Brian Tyler - Back Lot
Galavant - Alan Menken - Disney
Journal D'Une Femme De Chambre - Bruno Coulais - Quartet
The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie: Sponge Out of Water - John Debney - Varese Sarabande
Suite Francaise - Rael Jones - Sony (import)
April 7
Chuck - Tim Jones - Varese Sarabande
Debug - Timothy Williams - Phineas Atwood
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief - Will Bates - Milan
Good Kill - Christophe Beck - Lakeshore
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - Shuki Levy, Haim Saban, Erika Lane - La-La Land
Merchants of Doubt - Mark Adler - Lakeshore
Playing It Cool - Jake Monaco - Phineas Atwood
Unfinished Business - Alex Wurman - Lakeshore
Words and Pictures - Paul Grabowsky - Phineas Atwood
Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal - Javier Navarrete - Lakeshore
April 14
A Brief History of Time - Philip Glass - Orange Mountain
Desert Dancer - Benjamin Wallfisch - Varese Sarabande
Little Boy - Stephan Altman, Mark Foster - Milan
April 28
Avengers: Age of Ultron - Brian Tyler - Hollywood
The Duke of Burgundy - Cat's Eyes - Milan
Effie Gray - Paul Cantelon - Lakeshore
Far from the Madding Crowd - Craig Armstrong - Sony
The Great Human Odyssey - Darren Fung - Varese Sarabande
Virunga - Patrick Jonsson - Varese Sarabande
May 5
Demonic Toys - Richard Band - Full Moon
Girlhouse - tomandandy - Phineas Atwood
Journey to Space - Cody Westheimer - Phineas Atwood
Meridian - Pino Donaggio - Full Moon
The Rewrite - Clyde Lawrence - Phineas Atwood
May 12
Max Max: Fury Road - Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) - Watertower
June 23
Cinderella - Paul J. Smith, Oliver Wallace - Disney
Date Unknown
Beneath the 12-Mile Reef - Bernard Herrmann - Kritzerland
Draker Och Demoner Trudvang - Simon Kalle - Waerloga
The Gunman - Marco Beltrami - Silva
Il Fiume Del Grande Camiano - Stelvio Cipriani - CSC
La Fille Du Garde Barriere - Eric Demarsan - Music Box
Les Temoins/Les Oubliees - Eric Demarsan - Music Box
A Sound of Thunder - Nick Glennie-Smith - Dragon's Domain

THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY

March 20 - Michel Magne born (1930)
March 20 - John Cameron born (1944)
March 20 - Miklos Rozsa wins second Oscar for A Double Life score (1948)
March 20 - Franz Waxman wins his second consecutive Best Score Oscar, for A Place in the Sun (1952)
March 20 - Ray Cook died (1989)
March 20 - Georges Delerue died (1992)
March 21 - Antony Hopkins born (1921)
March 21 - Mort Lindsey born (1923)
March 21 - Alfred Newman wins his seventh Oscar, his second for Score, for Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (1956)
March 21 - Alex North begins recording his score for Spartacus (1960)
March 21 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score to The Green Berets (1968)
March 21 - John Williams wins his fifth Oscar, for his Schindler's List score (1994)
March 21 - Nicola Piovani wins his first Oscar, for Life is Beautiful; Stephen Warbeck wins the final Comedy or Musical Score Oscar for Shakespeare in Love (1999)
March 22 - Stephen Sondheim born (1930)
March 22 - Angelo Badalamenti born (1937)
March 22 - Andrew Lloyd Webber born (1948)
March 22 - Goran Bregovic born (1950)
March 22 - Wally Badarou born (1955)
March 22 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score for Time After Time (1979)
March 23 - Michael Nyman born (1944)
March 23 - David Grisman born (1945)
March 23 - Trevor Jones born (1949)
March 23 - Aaron Copland wins his only Oscar, for The Heiress score (1950)
March 23 - Philip Judd born (1953)
March 23 - Hal Mooney died (1995)
March 23 - Michael Linn died (1995)
March 23 - James Horner wins his first two Oscars, for Titanic's score and song; Anne Dudley wins the third Comedy or Musical Score Oscar, for The Full Monty (1998)
March 23 - Elliot Goldenthal wins his first Oscar, for the Frida score (2003)
March 24 - Brian Easdale wins his only Oscar, for The Red Shoes score (1949)
March 24 - Fred Steiner's score for the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" is recorded (1967)
March 24 - John Barry begins recording his score for The Deep (1977)
March 24 - Arthur B. Rubnstein begins recording his score for WarGames (1983)
March 24 - Alex North wins an Honorary Oscar, "in recognition of his brilliant artistry in the creation of memorable music for a host of distinguished motion pictures; " John Barry wins his fourth Oscar, for the Out of Africa score (1986)
March 24 - Gabriel Yared wins Dramatic Score Oscar for The English Patient; Rachel Portman wins the second Comedy or Musical Score Oscar, for Emma (1997)
March 25 - Bronislau Kaper wins his only Oscar, for the Lili score (1954)
March 25 - Maurice Jarre wins his third Oscar, for the A Passage to India score (1985)
March 25 - John Barry wins his fifth Oscar, for the Dances With Wolves score; Stephen Sondheim wins his first Oscar, for the song "Sooner or Later" from Dick Tracy (1991)
March 25 - Ken Thorne begins recording his score for Superman II (1980)
March 25 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Royale" (1989)
March 25 - Luis Bacalov wins his first Oscar, for Il Postino; James Horner, nominated for both Apollo 13 and Best Picture winner Braveheart, is unavailable for comment, but ultimately decides that his heart will go on; Alan Menken wins the first Comedy or Musical Score Oscar, as well as Best Song, for Pocahonatas (1996)
March 25 - Tan Dun wins his first score Oscar, for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001)
March 26 - Leigh Harline born (1907)
March 26 - Alan Silvestri born (1950)
March 26 - Louis Silvers died (1954)
March 26 - Malcolm Arnold wins his only Oscar, for The Bridge on the River Kwai score (1958)
March 26 - The Fall of the Roman Empire opens in New York (1964)
March 26 - Noel Coward died (1973)
March 26 - John Williams begins recording his score for SpaceCamp (1986)
March 26 - Alan Menken wins Oscars for The Little Mermaid score and its song "Under the Sea" (1990)
March 26 - John Corigliano wins his first Oscar, for The Red Violin score (2000)
March 26 - Fred Karlin died (2004)

DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?

AMERICAN SNIPER - "Taya's Theme" by Clint Eastwood, additional music by Joseph DeBeasi

"If you check the credits you won’t notice a main composer on the film, either. That’s because, as opposed to the maudlin orchestras that drowned out Eastwood’s plots in past, he only utilizes a (admittedly overused) percussive drop here as scene punctuation, followed by a hum of bass that rattles the theatre. The rest is silence, letting the actors and geography breathe without giving away the intention. Then, the violence -- sudden glimpses of brutality that you’d expect from David Ayer, not Eastwood, images that dig you further into Kyle’s psyche and what each kill does to it."

Charlie Schmidlin, The Playlist

"While Eastwood’s musical compositions have sometimes been hit-or-miss, he’s never written a subtler score than the one here, providing faint, almost imperceptible accompaniment; in a film that encourages us to reflect as well as feel, it’s a choice that speaks volumes."

Justin Chang, Variety

"Physically, the film is first-rate. Brighter than most of Eastwood's films, it benefits from mobile and intently focused cinematography by Tom Stern, highly realistic production design by James J. Murakami and Charisse Cardenas, propulsive editing from Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach, and a very spare music track; the sound of bullets and explosions says it all here."

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter

BIG EYES - Danny Elfman

"Not helping the film’s frivolous, cloying tone any is Danny Elfman’s insipid score, which tries to add his trademark whimsical, oh-so-delightful notes everywhere but only hastens your ability to take the picture too seriously or actually have any kind of real emotional connection to anyone or anything. Campy and cartoonish, Burton’s 'Big Eyes' is not the return to form many were hoping for. It is another phony and hollow piece of sugary kitschploitation masquerading under the guise of an 'important true story' that places a nearly grotesque premium on style over any traces over substance."

Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist

"The problem is that on some level, despite this carefully orchestrated flurry of activity, 'Big Eyes' doesn’t seem to trust either the factual truth or the emotional logic of the dilemma it’s showing us. Shifting uncertainly between  exaggerated comedy and tense domestic drama (and propelled both ways by Danny Elfman’s churning score), the film skips along on the surface, never really approximating the texture of an actual, lived-in marriage, or the complexities of a family situation where a woman would feel compelled to lie to her own daughter (played as a teenager by Madeleine Arthur), who’s clearly too wise and perceptive to be so fooled. And whenever Margaret’s pained reactions and increasingly bitter, sarcastic exchanges with Walter aren’t deemed expressive enough, Nolan’s narration is on hand to spell out the obvious ('Now the cover-up was worse than the crime!')."

Justin Chang, Variety

BLACK OR WHITE - Terence Blanchard

[The review’s opening paragraph] "The first sign of trouble is the music, a maudlin tinkle that never lets up, brass and keys filling every available pocket of sonic space. It’s the work of Terence Blanchard, the famous jazz trumpeter and film composer, best known in cinema circles for his collaborations with Spike Lee. Blanchard’s scores can be vibrant and beautiful, but they can also be oppressive, drowning out small moments with a big racket. In Mike Binder’s 'Black Or White,' every moment is big, even the small ones, and Blanchard seems to have been brought in to assure that only the severely hard of hearing will miss how damn emotional this all is. Maybe, on the other hand, his involvement is meant to create some power by association: A race drama fashioned out of a family feud, 'Black Or White' at least sounds like a Spike Lee joint, though it rarely plays like one."

A.A. Dowd, The Onion AV Club

"'Black or White' is full of such tonal dissonances; the academically gifted Eloise often talks like a toddler (and seems bizarrely incurious about the sudden disappearance of her grandmother), while the soundtrack’s twinkling music feels imported from a much lighter movie."

Inkoo Kang, The Wrap

"While the acting is strong and the storytelling smoothly handled, there’s nothing all that distinguishing about the direction itself, and the film often has the look and feel of something made in the early 1990’s, especially when it overuses a rather schmaltzy score by jazzman Terence Blanchard ('Inside Man'). Indeed, the presence of Costner (who definitely looks young for a granddad) could further situate 'Black and White' [later retitled 'Black or White'] a few decades ago, and only the occasional iPad is there to remind us that for better or for worse, race matters as much now as it did back then."

Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter

INHERENT VICE - Jonny Greenwood

"And then of course, there’s composer Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead whose superb score is multifaceted and shows the musician’s range, going from jazzy freakbeat to anxious pulsations of an analog electronic unease, to more traditional orchestral work you might hear in an 1940s noir."

Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist

"Really, there are no small parts in 'Inherent Vice,' which co-stars the likes of Eric Roberts, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, an amusingly be-wigged Maya Rudolph and Martin Short in one of several of the film’s hilariously outrageous sequences. Hilarious, but not without tenderness: While Doc and his fellow travelers toke and toot up, Anderson makes sure to remind the audience that, just off-screen, there are people being oppressed, whether they’re residents of a black neighborhood being razed by developers, mentally ill patients being deinstitutionalized or those pulchritudinous women who are routinely exploited, objectified and victimized by the men running any number of shows. (This somber subtext is reinforced by Jonny Greenwood’s gorgeous acoustic score, which juxtaposes perfectly with songs by the Association and Neil Young that make up a carefully curated soundtrack.)"

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

"A zonked-out combination of 1940s noir and 1960s underground comic, 'Inherent Vice' is the product of two pop-culture omnivores: Thomas Pynchon, whose 2009 novel provides the source material, and Anderson, the brilliant stylist who directed 'Boogie Nights.' This first-ever Pynchon film adaptation features an eclectic ensemble cast, period costumes, narration from indie-rock harpist Joanna Newsom and an intentionally kitschy score from Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood. 'Inherent Vice' would seem to offer everything a postmodern moviegoer could want."

Rafer Guzman, Newsday

"'Inherent Vice,' brilliantly scored by Jonny Greenwood, is an Anderson head trip, impure jazz with a reverb that can leave you dazed, confused and even annoyed. But at no time do you doubt that you are in the hands of a master."

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"Inspired by Robert Altman’s unkempt Chandler re-do 'The Long Goodbye,' Anderson does lovely, long talky takes and intimate close-ups, either flushed in neon colours (for a ’60s vibe) or drained to municipal browns (for the ’70s hangover). Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood again provides off-kilter ambience between a Tarantino-style mix of hipster tunes."

Ian Nathan, Empire Magazine

"Anderson gets so much contextually right here: The dreadful threads in which orange prevails, the red vinyl couches and mauve rug wallpaper; the bizarre, made-up names like Japonica, Sortilege, Shasta; the Ouija boards, the quacks and 'spiritual coaches' fleecing customers with nothing left to prop them up but the tattered remnants of Eastern religions. Jonny Greenwood's score, along with a soundtrack heavy with Neil Young, match the mood of low-key confusion punctuated with despair."

Ella Taylor, NPR

"Both times I saw 'Inherent Vice,' I experienced roughly the same contradictory responses: delight undercut by puzzlement, followed by a happier sort of puzzlement. Some scenes, such as Witherspoon and Phoenix in a long, single-take dialogue on a park bench, are impeded by over-insistent musical scoring. Shasta's languid, explicit come-on to Doc and Doc's reaction (Anderson's idea, not Pynchon's) trade one sort of movie for another, and it feels a little exploitative."

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

"Rather than tackle one of Pynchon's major works, Paul Thomas Anderson wisely chose the author's least ambitious, took the parts that worked for him, then developed a Pynchonian epic of his own. The film delivers a generous amount of the book's dialogue and visual detail -- so much, in fact, that it conjures a vision of the past as complete as any Pynchon imagined. You don't just watch 'Inherent Vice'; you wander around it, as you do with Pynchon's densest books. The movie demands repeat viewings, not only because Anderson and his extraordinary creative team -- cinematographer Robert Elswit, production designer David Crank, costumer designer Mark Bridges, set decorator Amy Wells, and composer Jonny Greenwood -- cram the film with so many expressive details, but because the results are so complex that they can be read multiple ways. I've seen the movie three times now, and I find that moments I laughed at on one viewing seem poignant or even upsetting on another, and vice versa."

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader

"Marvelously photographed by Robert Elswit in a muzzy, sunlit L.A. haze, with a customarily lovely Jonny Greenwood soundtrack, 'Inherent Vice' is crowded with delights, and maybe overcrowded. There’s too much voiceover narration, too many competing Doc girlfriends (one of them an acrid assistant D.A., played by Reese Witherspoon), a jokey whorehouse scene that completely doesn’t work, and drop-in roles for Owen Wilson, Benicio Del Toro, Martin Short and Maya Rudolph, among others. Doc finds himself on the trail of a nefarious organization or entity called the Golden Fang, but if you think we’ll ever understand what that is, or that anyone, you and me and Doc included, can ever outrun it or defeat it, you also are neglecting to account for inherent vice. I look forward to much more discussion of this movie, and I can’t wait to see it again."

Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com

"'Inherent Vice' isn't quite the feast of acting that Anderson usually serves up. Phoenix tries on many shades of squinting paranoia (often hilariously), while Brolin, more flexible in his fury, steals the film away. But the choking self-seriousness of 'The Master' is gone, which feels like a leap forward. As with 'Magnolia' and 'Punch-Drunk Love, 'the filmmaker has created another vivid Los Angeles, one that doesn't lean too hard on its pop-culture references to TV's 'Adam-12' or Neil Young's gentle 'Harvest' album. (Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, returning once again to do the director's score, makes less of an impression this time.)

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York

"Phoenix's perplexed expression is matched by Johnny Greenwood's wonderfully meandering soundtrack, which -- along with several well-selected pop songs from the period -- enrich the movie with the tenor of Doc's jumbled experiences."

Eric Kohn, IndieWIRE

"Working on a modest budget, production designer David Crank and costume designer Mark Bridges (both regular Anderson collaborators) evoke the period in all of its paisley, denim, earth-toned splendor without ever resorting to kitsch. Composer Jonny Greenwood provides Anderson with another typically polyphonic original score that ranges from a plaintive violin theme to atonal surf/acid rock twangs, nestled in among an equally eclectic playlist of pop, soul and experimental rock needle drops."

Scott Foundas, Variety

"As always with Anderson, the soundtrack is of great interest, first of all for its relative lack of predictable oldies-but-goodies from the period. The often intriguing and offbeat song interpolations gradually give way to increasing use of long stretches of original dramatic music by Anderson stalwart Jonny Greenwood, which proves quite effective toward the end."

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter

LITTLE ACCIDENTS - Marcelo Zarvos

“"Little Accidents' is a well-executed film with a strong sense of place. The blue-gray palette is an ominous fog that envelops every scene, and the slow music, reminiscent of Appalachian strings, communicates both the setting and the mood."

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post

"While the players do their level best -- lead-for-all-intents-and-purposes Holbrook over-indicates like crazy in his early scenes but eventually settles into his role enough to generate some sympathy -- the clichéd solemnity of almost each and every scene (the music score by Marcelo Zarvos, replete with single piano and violin notes that strive in their perfect isolation to connote extreme poignancy) and the predictability of the action put me in a bind; as much as my conscience wanted to empathize with the characters, my taste only wanted to be rid of them. "

Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com

"Colangelo follows these parallel one-on-one relationships while remaining attentive to the feel of the community surrounding them. Marcelo Zarvos's sensitive score and fine lensing by Rachel Morrison make her job easier, but local color derives as much as anything from Holbrook's performance, which skirts all cliches of working-class characterization"

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter

MAPS TO THE STARS - Howard Shore

"Everyone's hiding something in 'Maps to the Stars,' and here's the peculiar aspect of Cronenberg's picture: Even if its larger themes of incest, sins of the past and showbiz narcissism are familiar, if not predictable, the film surprises with the sureness of the ensemble playing and the unexpected, morally serious chill at its core. Child star Benjie is a terrible little person, but Cronenberg and Bird don't treat him as a joke. Wasikowska has come to LA to patch things up with her kin; gradually we find out who those kinfolk are. The score by composer Howard Shore adds just the right touch of forlorn mystery, and actors as skillful as Cusack and Williams and, above all, Moore keep a scrupulous hold on their characters, so that the sudden bursts of violence (it's Cronenberg, after all) truly startle."

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

"It's not, it should be said, the director's most substantial work. The risk of making a film about superficiality is that it comes across as superficial itself, and while we had a blast with it, we do wonder how long it'll linger in the memory. And we have to confess that we weren't totally in love with the photography of longtime Cronenberg DoP Peter Suschitzky, and occasionally fantasized as to how the film would have looked with some fresher blood lighting it (the director's other frequent colleague Howard Shore does cracking work here)."

Oliver Lyttleton, The Playlist

"Business meetings with agents, directors and studio executives unfold with mordant black humor. We have seen a lot of this before, of course, but Mr. Cronenberg is not interested in rolling out yet another red carpet for our show-business prurience. What is most unnerving about 'Maps to the Stars' is the sinister quiet, punctuated by Howard Shore’s panicky score. Mr. Cronenberg’s recent films, wherever they happen -- the Middle America of 'A History of Violence,' the Russian underworld of 'Eastern Promises,' the early-20th-century Europe of 'A Most Dangerous Method' [sic] -- seem to take place on the edge of an abyss. If you listen carefully, you can hear the first tremors of the end of the world, an outcome that can’t be prevented, only deferred by the unfolding of a narrative."

A.O. Scott, New York Times

"Not surprisingly, the film achieves its greatest power when moving out of the realm of easy star-culture potshots and into the director’s sex-and-violence wheelhouse. Working with his longtime crew, Cronenberg amps up the unease when the fluids start flowing. And when Williams has a sobbing breakdown, in a pod-like bathtub likely designed by Carol Spier and to the ominous ambience of Howard Shore’s music, it’s possible to imagine a deeper plunge into the poisoned waters of fame and fortune. But as satire, 'Maps To The Stars' is as shallow as its characters. The main impression it imparts is that even a master like Cronenberg can’t escape Hollywood’s perpetual spiral of old ideas. And advocating to burn the whole city down is one of its oldest."

A.A. Dowd, The Onion AV Club

THE PYRAMID - Nima Fakhrara

"On the plus side, character actor Dennis O’Hare is quite good as the only real grown-up in evidence, as is Christa Nicola as a reporter who chose the wrong archaeological scoop and briefly lives to regret it. I also quite liked the score by Nima Fakhrara, and I figure that makes up for some dodgy digital effects and the fact that the writers let the 'super annoying' character live way too long."

Scott Weinberg, Nerdist

"All of the movies that Levasseur and Aja made together benefited from a heightened stylishness that has been robbed, in this movie, by the found footage format. Levasseur constantly bumps up against the constraints of the subgenre, and halfway through the movie just gives up on having the conceit make any sense -- camera angles appear where no character with a camera could ever have been, and a genric horror movie score appears in an attempt to raise the movie's heart rate (it doesn't work)."

Drew Taylor, The Playlist

"At worst, it’s offensively crass: The pic opens with decontextualized shots of the August 2013 civil riots in Cairo’s Ramses Square, as Nima Fakhrara’s ominously percussive score drums up a generically exotic sense of panic."

Guy Lodge, Variety

UNBROKEN - Alexandre Desplat

"If I describe the superior craftsmanship of 'Unbroken' -- the stunning cinematography is by the great Roger Deakins, Alexandre Desplat composed the soaring score -- in a way that makes the end results seem more like a convertible than a movie, it’s because the film boasts both sheen and efficiency without always delivering an equivalent emotional impact. It’s easier to be awed or impressed by it than moved."

Alonso Duralde, The Wrap

"O’Connell, an unknown Irish actor, gives a gripping, nail-biting performance, going down to skin and bones while maintaining a proud stoicism. As his antagonist, Miyavi is a baby-faced monster weaned on shame and indignity. They’re caught in Roger Deakins’ crisp, gorgeously old-fashioned cinematography and accompanied by Alexandre Desplait's bold score."

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News

"'Unbroken' is based on Laura Hillenbrand's popular biography of Zamperini and has an impressive array of talent: Joel and Ethan Coen (among others) wrote the script, Roger Deakins is the cinematographer, Alexandre Desplat composed a rousing score, and Jack O'Connell played Zamperini with a cocky athleticism that reflects the personality of a man who shook Adolf Hitler's hand and then stole the Fuhrer's personal flag (an incident not included in the movie)."

Jeff Baker, The Oregonian

"On more than one occasion, Alexandre Desplat's hyper-emphatic score feels designed to scoop your heart up out of the proverbial trenches, but in many intimate moments, Jolie assures that she isn't one for sentimental compromise."

R. Kurt Osenlund, Slant Magazine

"The inspirational aspects of 'Unbroken,' however, are not carried over into its craft. 'Unbroken' is a fairly flawless product: epic in scope and imagery, and faultless in all matters of technique. Yet Jolie privileges reliable indicators of quality over idiosyncratic impulses toward creativity. Maybe that’s what it takes for a female director to find success making a war film: relying on more common denominators rather than personal touches. The cinematography by Roger Deakins conveys grandeur without personality, the score by Alexandre Desplat cues all the right emotions, and the screenplay alternately written by Joel and Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, and William Nicholson (based on Laura Hillenbrand’s book) has been polished to a fine sheen. As Zamperini, Jack O’Connell is the film’s strongest asset. The actor holds our attention from beginning to end, making us care deeply about the man’s fate instead of becoming an empty icon of stoicism."

Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle

"He scores mightily on the track --  with a rabbity final sprint --  but Ms. Jolie pumps the inspirational uplift so high that with all the soaring music, swirling camerawork, excited commentary and slow-motion shots of Louie’s straining and gasping you may not realize he didn’t win any Olympic medals."

Manohla Dargis, New York Times

"Cinematographer Roger Deakins, among the best in the world, treats each new shot as an improbably pretty picture, the lighting just so, the shadows and silhouettes beautiful, even when the circumstances are grim beyond measure. It's the same with the music: Composer Alexandre Desplat's orchestral flourishes have a way of distancing and falsifying Zamperini's ordeal. When [character name deletedto avoid spoiler] receives his burial at sea, it's strange to be thinking about other matters, such as how much more effective the scene might be without mood music behind it."

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

"At the same time, Jolie’s approach to the enterprise is unexpectedly by-the-book. The score by Alexandre Desplat (who also worked, this year alone, on 'The Imitation Game,' 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' 'Godzilla,' and 'The Monuments Men') is effective, yet vaguely mushy. It sounds like the button-pushing aural backdrop to any number of other poignant period films. One scene near the end -- in which Louis is forced to carry a heavy beam on his shoulders, making him look like Christ on the cross -- makes such an obvious allusion to a crucifix shown early in the film that it’s borderline cloying."

Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post

"Jolie can be a sensitive, even limpid director; she doesn’t flinch from atrocities, and doesn’t rub the audience’s noses in them, either. But in her worst piece of direction, the 'destiny' themes of Alexandre Desplat’s clichéd score, complete with heavenly choirs, swell over the soundtrack as the crucifixion tableau melts into a closeup of Zamperini displaying grit and perseverance in his Olympic running days.  "

Michael Sragow, Film Comment

"The flashbacks during that opening sequence, to Torrance and Berlin, are just used to overpump the strings-and-piano score and collect the fortune cookies in the script, which has been credited to Richard LaGravenese, William Nicholson, and Joel and Ethan Coen. Yet 'Unbroken' doesn’t feel like the scene salad these hand-me-down screenplays sometimes do. It’s smoother, breaking the movie into huge sections: the crash, the raft, the camp. It’s also simplistic."

Wesley Morris, Grantland

"Bobbing along in two life rafts with dwindling rations, fending off attacks by neighboring sharks and Japanese bombers (at one point simultaneously), the three men will last more than a month before Mac succumbs, leaving Phil and Louie to drift, sun-scorched and emaciated, for another 15 days or so. Yet the film’s attempts to convey the slow, arduous passage of time feel rushed and noncommittal, effectively cherry-picking the book’s more memorable nautical setpieces and adding a few temporal markers ('Day 18,' etc.), quick visual dissolves and the stately swells of Desplat’s score. Following a recent wave of intensely immersive survival stories ('All Is Lost' makes a particularly instructive comparison), 'Unbroken's' streamlined, checklist-style approach seems all the more rote and obligatory."

Justin Chang, Variety

THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.

Screenings of older films, at the following L.A. movie theaters: AMPAS, American Cinematheque: Aero, American Cinematheque: Egyptian, Arclight, LACMA, New Beverly, Nuart, Silent Movie Theater and UCLA.

March 20
BRANDY IN THE WILDERNESS [UCLA]
THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES (Tigran Mansuryan) [Silent Movie Theater]
ISLAND OF LOST SOULS [Silent Movie Theater]
THE LONG GOODBYE (John Williams) [Cinematheque: Aero]
PRINCESS MONONOKE (Joe Hisaishi) [Nuart]
SPEED (Mark Mancina), RUSH HOUR (Lalo Schifrin) [New Beverly]
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN [Silent Movie Theater]

March 21
THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES (Tigran Mansuryan) [Silent Movie Theater]
FRIDAY [New Beverly]
A LITTLE PRINCESS (Patrick Doyle) [New Beverly]
THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH (Carlo Rustichelli), THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (Les Baxter)[Cinematheque: Egyptian]
NASHVILLE [Cinematheque: Aero]
SPEED (Mark Mancina), RUSH HOUR (Lalo Schifrin) [New Beverly]
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN [Silent Movie Theater]
TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE (Jill Wisoff) [Silent Movie Theater]
WHITE ZOMBIE, OUANGA [UCLA]

March 22
THE CRIME OF DOCTOR CRESPI, THE DRUMS OF JEOPARDY [UCLA]
CUTTHROAT ISLAND (John Debney), TRUE LIES (Brad Fiedel) [New Beverly]
A LITTLE PRINCESS (Patrick Doyle) [New Beverly]
MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER (Leonard Cohen) [Cinematheque: Aero]
1941 (John Williams) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN [Silent Movie Theater]

March 23
CUTTHROAT ISLAND (John Debney), TRUE LIES (Brad Fiedel) [New Beverly]
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN [Silent Movie Theater]

March 24
KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR (Selig), TOO MANY WAYS TO BE NO. 1 (Cacine Wong) [New Beverly]
LOVE ON THE RUN (Georges Delerue) [LACMA]
SNATCH (John Murphy) [Arclight Hollywood]

March 25
BLUE VELVET (Angelo Badalamenti) [Arclight Hollywood]
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN [Silent Movie Theater]
UNFORGIVEN (Lennie Niehaus), THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (Howard Shore) [New Beverly]

March 26
THE GODFATHER (Nino Rota) [Cinematheque: Aero]
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN [Silent Movie Theater]
UNFORGIVEN (Lennie Niehaus), THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (Howard Shore) [New Beverly]

March 27
COYOTE UGLY (Trevor Horn) [Nuart]
HEAVY TRAFFIC (Ray Shanklin, Ed Bogas), AMERICAN POP (Lee Holdridge) [Cinematheque: Aero]
RESERVOIR DOGS, PULP FICTION [New Beverly]
SPIDER BABY (Ronald Stein) [Silent Movie Theater]

March 28
FREE WILLY (Basil Poledouris) [New Beverly]
THE LORD OF THE RINGS (Leonard Rosenman), WIZARDS (Andrew Belling) [Cinematheque: Aero]
PSYCHO (Bernard Herrmann, Danny Elfman, Steve Bartek) [New Beverly]
RESERVOIR DOGS, PULP FICTION [New Beverly]
SPRING NIGHT, SUMMER NIGHT [UCLA]

March 29
FREE WILLY (Basil Poledouris) [New Beverly]
HEAT (Elliot Goldenthal) [New Beverly]
WOMAN ON THE RUN (Emile Newman, Arthur Lange) [UCLA]