Composer Daniel Licht died on Wednesday, August 2nd, of natural causes. Born in Detroit, he followed his music studies at Hampshire College with a career as a jazz musician in New York. It was his college friend and classmate Christopher Young who encouraged him to move to Los Angeles, where he worked as a programmer and synth player on Young's scores before launching his own composing career. A fan favorite for such orchestral genre scores as Thinner and Bad Moon, Licht had his greatest success as the episode composer for all seven seasons of Showtime's Dexter. He is survived by his wife and son as well as a sister and other relatives; his family requests that any donations in his honor be made to Hampshire College or the National Cancer Institute. A more detailed obituary, written by Jon Burlingame, can be found in Variety.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
The Glass Castle - Joel P. West - Milan
Good Time - Oneohtrix Point Never - Warp
Miracle Mile - Tangerine Dream - Dragon's Domain
IN THEATERS TODAY
All the Rage - David Reid
Annabelle: Creation - Benjamin Wallfisch - Score CD due on Silva; CD-R on WaterTower
Bedeviled - David C. Williams
Escapes - no original score
The Fencer - Gert Wilden, Jr.
4 Days in France - Leonard Lasry
The Glass Castle - Joel P. West - Score CD on Milan
Ingrid Goes West - Nick Thorburn, Jonathan Sadoff
The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature - Heitor Pereira
The Only Living Boy in New York - Rob Simonsen
Pilgrimage - Stephen McKeon
The Pulitzer at 100 - Wendy Blackstone
The Trip to Spain - no original score
Whose Streets? - Samora Pinderhughes
COMING SOON
August 18
The Hitman's Bodyguard - Atli Orvarsson - Milan
August 25
The Dark Tower - Tom Holkenborg - Sony
The Handmaid's Tale - Adam Taylor - Lakeshore
September 1
Bushwick - Aesop Rock - Lakeshore
Castlevania - Trevor Morris - Lakeshore
Wind River - Nick Cave, Warren Ellis - Lakeshore
September 8
Bunyan & Babe - Zoe Poledouris-Roche, Angel Roche Jr. - Notefornote
Twin Peaks: The Event Series - Angelo Badalamenti - Rhino
September 15
American Assassin - Steven Price - Varese Sarabande
Hellraiser - Christopher Young - Lakeshore
Mr. Robot vol. 3 - Mac Quayle - Lakeshore
Woodshock - Peter Raeburn - Milan
September 29
Game of Thrones: Season 7 - Ramin Djawadi - WaterTower
Loving Vincent - Clint Mansell - Milan
Popeye - Harry Nilsson, Tom Pierson - Varese Sarabande
Super Dark Times - Ben Frost - The Orchard
Date Unknown
Annabelle: Creation - Benjamin Wallfisch - Silva
Betting on Zero - Pete Anthony - Kritzerland
Il Relitto - Angelo Francesco Lavagnino - Alhambra
The Italian Key - Tuomas Kantelinen - Caldera
Tokyo Ghoul - Don Davis - Shochiku
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
August 11 - Ron Grainer born (1922)
August 11 - Raymond Leppard born (1927)
August 11 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score for The Light Touch (1951)
August 11 - Joe Jackson born (1954)
August 11 - Toby Chu born (1977)
August 12 - David Lee born (1926)
August 12 - David Munrow born (1942)
August 12 - Victor Young begins recording his score for The Accused (1948)
August 12 - Mark Knopfler born (1949)
August 12 - Pat Metheny born (1954)
August 12 - Peter Peter born (1960)
August 12 - Hugo Montenegro records his only Mission: Impossible episode score, for “The Rebel” (1970)
August 12 - Marty Paich died (1995)
August 12 - Zacarias M. de la Riva born (1972)
August 13 - John Ireland born (1879)
August 13 - Dennis Farnon born (1923)
August 13 - John Cacavas born (1930)
August 13 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for Warlock (1988)
August 13 - John Ottman begins recording his score to Gothika (2003)
August 13 - Roque Banos records his score for Oldboy (2013)
August 14 - Lee Zahler born (1893)
August 14 - Edmund Meisel born (1894)
August 14 - James Horner born (1953)
August 14 - Oscar Levant died (1972)
August 14 - Michael McCormack born (1973)
August 15 - Jacques Ibert born (1890)
August 15 - Ned Washington born (1901)
August 15 - Jimmy Webb born (1946)
August 15 - Lalo Schifrin records his score for the Mission: Impossible episode “Memory” (1966)
August 15 - Henry Mancini begins recording his score for Harry and Son (1983)
August 15 - Bruce Broughton begins recording his score for George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation (1986)
August 15 - Ronald Stein died (1988)
August 15 - Ron Jones records his pilot score for the animated Superman series (1988)
August 16 - John Williams records the third season theme for Lost in Space (1967)
August 16 - Bruno Nicolai died (1991)
August 16 - Miles Goodman died (1996)
August 16 - Tadashi Hattori died (2008)
August 16 - Alan Silvestri wins Emmys for Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey’s main title theme and its premiere episode score; David Arnold and Michael Price win for Sherlock’s “His Last Vow” (2014)
August 17 - Lisa Coleman born (1960)
August 17 - Ernest Gold bgins recording his score for A Child Is Waiting (1962)
August 17 - John Williams begins recording his score for Black Sunday (1976)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
THE AUTOMATIC HATE - Hunter Brown
"Lerner alternates between well-observed character detail and clunky mystery-solving developments. However uneven the action, Hunter Brown’s understated score is a judicious complement. Cinematographer Quyen Tran gets the dirt and sun of the rural setting, and her use of slo-mo in a climactic dinner scene is unexpectedly effective, showcasing the culinary bounty just before the storm."
Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter
CAMINO - Kreng
"In between the expository speeches and blatant telegraphing of every symbolic element of the film -- don’t know what the title refers to? Don’t worry, you will! -- 'Camino' makes time for plenty of sweaty hand-to-hand combat, shot in muddy nighttime colors and punctuated with blasts of horror-movie-style synths. None of it, frankly, is very interesting when Bell isn’t around."
Katie Rife, The Onion AV Club
"Assembly is solid: Noah Greenberg’s widescreen lensing of outdoor locations (with Hawaii largely standing in for Colombia) is a highlight, as it was in last year’s Daniel Noah/Waller-produced 'The Boy.' Brett W. Bachman’s editing maintains a brisk pace, while the score by Kreng (aka Pepjin Caudron) is often interesting if occasionally overbearing."
Dennis Harvey, Variety
CITY OF GOLD - Bobby Johnston
"You get the sense that he’s writing not for the millions who read his reviews, but for those who don’t. 'City of Gold,' whose scenes are accompanied by gorgeous original music by Bobby Johnston that conveys a sense of the extraordinary diversity of L.A., captures the spirit of a vast metropolis of interconnected souls finding communion through food. 'We are all citizens of the world,' Gold explains before the movie’s closing credits. 'We are all strangers, together.'"
Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic
"The score from Bobby Johnston is as varied as Gold’s palate, ranging from jazz to a variety of international pieces that reflect the food being covered. Regardless of the genre represented, each song is lively and diverse. Gold’s own background as a cellist and pop music writer who covered Dr. Dre and the West Coast rap scene also adds aural variety to the background."
Kimber Myers, IndieWire
"Gold’s professional foibles are glimpsed -- the film bemusedly notes the way his admitted penchant for procrastination drives editors mad. But in choosing to view its subject solely as a booster, the pic rather disingenuously steps completely around one topic that might seem unavoidable in discussing any critic’s role: the writing, and impact, of negative reviews, particularly when aired in publications as influential as Gourmet (for whom Gold was briefly the New York restaurant reviewer) and the L.A. Times (to which he returned in 2012). That’s a major omission, but easy enough to forgive while partaking in 'City of Gold’s' smorgasbord of food, culture and ideas. Sleekly shot and edited, with an attractive (and aptly diverse) original score by Bobby Johnston, the film often slips into a sort of free-form city-symphony lyricism, appreciating a miscellany of everyday L.A. sights and sounds that very seldom touch the Hollywood aspect of common popular association. At a moment when public discourse seems so often focused on exacerbating hostile divisions, this docu’s joyful embrace of human (as well as edible) variety as 'the spice of life' seems particularly, well, filling."
Dennis Harvey, Variety
THE FINEST HOURS - Carter Burwell
"A romantic subplot between Pine and Grainger isn’t necessary but does add a touch of Fifties-era sweetness to what otherwise would be a grim movie indeed. Gillespie and editor Tatiana S. Riegel do a pulse-pounding job of keeping up the suspense by cross-cutting between the tiny Coast Guard vessel and the Pendleton’s crew as they work to shore up their sinking craft. Carter Burwell’s score is particularly thunderous, mirroring the onscreen action, and the 3-D really is -- for once -- superb, making for a rather breathtaking two hours. Well done."
Marc Savlov, The Austin Chronicle
"And the film's strident emotional manipulation sometimes distracts from the subtlety of its writing. Carter Burwell's insistent score crashes down on the film as heavily as the 30-foot waves crash onto Bernie's pathetically dinky rescue ship. Gillespie has an almost Spielbergian love of close-ups of his characters gaping at the ineffable -- in this case, usually killer waves rather than aliens or dinosaurs. The scenes tend to run long, until even the most hair-raising battle against the elements starts to feel overextended. And those drawling fake accents are often dreadful, especially during the endless debates over whether Bernie will be able to get his rescue boat across the lethal, unpredictable Chatham Bar, which in local parlance is just 'the baaaaah.' There are moments in this otherwise solemn, adult film where a bunch of military men discussing life-or-death matters literally sound like a flock of dyspeptic sheep."
Tasha Robinson, The Verge
"In one tracking shot, the camera moves from the dock of the Pendleton to its engine room, following a string of sailors as they relay steering coordinates to Sebert, who pilots the ship from its flooding bowels. Scraps of sunset tearing through storm clouds provide Webber’s four-man rescue crew with a sense of direction and some lovely lighting. CGI effects are largely employed to illustrate the mammoth scale of Webber’s mission, contrasting his 34-foot lifeboat with a hulking tanker that has split in half. The only overwrought notes in the film come courtesy of composer Carter Burwell, whose score oversells 'The Finest Hours'’s determinedly small-town heroism."
Christopher Gray, Slant Magazine
"In any case, the rescue scenes at sea are tautly edited and well staged, more concerned with emphasizing the cold, wet, disorienting conditions than awing with CGI setpieces. Composer Carter Burwell, working in a far more classic idiom here than his recent scores for 'Carol' and 'Anomalisa,' helps craft a very old-school mood, and d.p. Javier Aguirresarobe does typically strong work. However, save for a few reliably impressive shots of massive waves, the dim 3D adds very little, and there’s something almost perverse about applying it to so many scenes where characters are dealing with zero-visibility conditions."
Andrew Barker, Variety
"In a nice period touch, one of Sybert’s chief allies, the ship’s cook (Abraham Benrubi), croons the (relatively new at the time) 'Guys and Dolls' number 'Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat' -- a far more incisive musical element than Carter Burwell’s bombastic score. As to the visuals, the darkening effect of 3D glasses adds an unneeded layer of drab to the wintry sepia palette, but the accomplished cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe ('The Others') conveys the characters' intense vulnerability in the snow-laden shoreline, the turbulent waves and especially in his long views of the two crafts on the dark Atlantic."
Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter
"But most prominently, and most deliciously, the film’s 'day in the life of a studio executive' structure allows the Coens to have a great time staging scenes from Capitol’s in-production pictures. So, for stretches, 'Caesar' plays like a 'Kentucky Fried Movie'-style sketch movie (or, if you’d prefer something newer and artsier, like the Coens’ 'Forbidden Room'), with the modest plot paused at will for elaborate, affectionate send-ups of B Westerns, tap musicals, Busby Berkeley-style dance numbers, drawing-room comedies, and biblical epics. And that attentiveness to detail extends to the framing story -- with the old band back together (Roger Deakins as cinematographer, Carter Burwell as composer, 'Roderick Jaynes' aka the Coens as editor), the picture looks, sounds, and feels like a movie not just set in the early 1950s, but made then."
Jason Bailey, Flavorwire
"As for the Coens themselves, eccentric and critical Hollywood tomb raiders they might be but, like Sturges, they believe sincerely in the value of delight for its own sake. Unlike 'True Grit' (2010) or 'Inside Llewyn Davis,' this picture isn’t dramatically driven; it attends to plot and character but it really revels in the pleasures of technical virtuosity. The riding, dancing, acting, design, choreography and editing skills put to the service of Capitol Pictures are breathtaking.' Hail, Caesar!' itself, meanwhile, confirms the range of the Coens and their stock company, including costumier Mary Zophres, production designer Jess Gonchor, cinematographer Roger Deakins and musician Carter Burwell."
Ben Walters, Sight and Sound
"In this interview with Variety, the Coen brothers attribute their aesthetic to watching movies on TV as boys, and the way that the Minneapolis station they watched most often vacillated wildly between the high and the low. That's easy to see in their work, which regularly jumps between thoughtful consideration of the human experience and wild comedic gags without warning. It's even more pronounced here, as almost every sequence is an elaborate homage to one style of old Hollywood classic or another. Working with two frequent collaborators, cinematographer Roger Deakins and composer Carter Burwell, the brothers create pitch-perfect pastiches of the kinds of movies people don't really make anymore."
Todd VanDerWerff, Vox
"Are Eddie Mannix and Hobie Doyle meant to be the faux-Hollywood version of the Father and the Son, the saving graces of the industry? Only the Coens know. In one amusing early scene, Eddie consults an Eastern Orthodox clergyman, a Catholic priest, a Protestant pastor and a Jewish rabbi to discuss the religious content of Baird’s Roman epic; the ensuing discussion pokes deft fun at the petty sectarianism of organized religion, and the ease with which it can be pounded and churned into big-screen kitsch. But there’s no denying the power of said kitsch in the studio’s climactic re-creation of Calvary, complete with stirring music and soaring speeches, turning 'Hail, Caesar!' into a rousing new testament to that old-time religion known as the movies."
Justin Chang, Variety
JANE GOT A GUN - Lisa Gerrard, Marcello de Francisi
"There are more than a few tips of the Stetson to other classic Westerns, ranging from visual quotes (a gaze-through-the-doorway shot that recalls the beginning and end of 'The Searchers') to plot developments (the 'Magnificent Seven'-style approach to rigging booby-traps around the Hammond homestead). And there is a classical look and feel to the movie overall, with handsome widescreen lensing by Mandy Walker and aptly evocative music by Lisa Gerrard and Marcello de Francisci."
Joe Leydon, Variety
THE LAST MAN ON THE MOON - Lorne Balfe
"Beautifully shot and edited, with incredible archival footage throughout, and compellingly scored, 'The Last Man On The Moon' is, more than anything else, an engaging look back at one of the most exciting times in American history. The lens through which it chooses to view this story, though, might be the least fascinating aspect -- or at least the least understood. Cernan, as interesting, arrogant, intelligent, and insightful as he is, doesn’t allow much room for discovery or interpretation; he already knows everything about himself. Of course, this is no fault of the doc, but one it never truly figures out how to handle, even as the film switches gears and focuses in on Cernan’s life now, and the family he is once again taking for granted."
Gary Garrison, IndieWire
"In a sense I understand why. NASA, and particularly the Apollo program, has been the subject of an awful lot of movies and television shows, some fictional, some documentary, some hybrid. If one is making a film about an Apollo astronaut at this late date, you might want to add more zip. Unfortunately director Mark Craig’s idea of adding zip is to roll out tropes and conventions that the real-men-in-space sub-genre has pretty much already beaten to death. The 'Forrest Gump'-influenced song soundtrack, for instance, with doo-wop in the ‘50s and 'Signs' (the original!) playing over stock footage of, yup, carpet-bombing in Southeast Asia. (The non-song soundtrack, meanwhile, by Lorne Balfe, initially comes off like Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois’ music for 'Apollo' reconfigured for a Michael Bay picture.)"
Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com
"Director Mark Craig assembled a wealth of archival footage and home videos featuring Cernan, originally a naval aviator, during his years in the Apollo space program. He intercuts them with narration and reflection from the now 81-year-old retiree -- and a soaring, 'Martian'-rivaling soundtrack from composer Lorne Balfe."
Sara Stewart, New York Post
"Eugene ‘Gene’ Cernan, now 82, made his way from a rural upbringing on a farm with no electricity to become one of the gilded few scientists deemed worthy of representing America in space. Cernan flew on both Apollo 10, the pathfinder mission for Apollo 11, in 1969, and the final manned moon mission to date, Apollo 17, in 1972. His story, detailed in the autobiography that provided this film with its source material, thus covers the life cycle of the Apollo programme. That’s material which has been covered a lot in documentaries, and this does have a familiar feel -- with its stirring orchestral score and its focus on the personal impact of space travel, it bears a particular resemblance to 2007’s 'In the Shadow of the Moon.'"
Hannah McGill, The List
"Cernan covers everything from being measured for his first space suit to losing close friends in the Apollo 1 disaster, while his memories of the moon landing itself come close to poetry. Director Mark Craig has an annoying tendency to ‘enhance’ the narrative with creaky, ‘Mad Men’-style animated sequences and overbearing music. If ever a story needed no embellishment, it’s this. Still, Cernan’s life is well worth celebrating."
Tom Huddleston, Time Out London
"The director began his career working in graphics for British television, which helps explain the film's strong visual look. Opening with zippy animated credits that recall the legendary Saul Bass, 'The Last Man on the Moon' includes spectacular CG sequences that recreate Cernan's space missions in Gravity-style widescreen dimensions. Visual effects supervisor Penny Holton and sound designer Nick Adams both do great work here. Lorne Balfe's stirring score also adds to the sense that we are witnessing the last will and testament of an old-school hero from a more innocent age."
Stephen Dalton, Hollywood Reporter
ROAD GAMES - Daniel Elms
"Daniel Elms' score has been signaling danger all along (even when the action seems purely libidinous), so we're not exactly surprised when the vibe inside this ill-lighted manse turns sour. Grizard's hosting game is off; Mary's is off-er. (Crampton's stiff discomfort doesn't serve the pic as well as Pierrot's strangely pushy helpfulness.) Soon enough, Jack and Veronique realize they're not meant to leave."
John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter
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.
August 11
ARMY OF SHADOWS (Eric Demarsan) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
CONAN THE BARBARIAN (Basil Poledouris) [Nuart]
DJANGO UNCHAINED [New Beverly]
THE EVIL DEAD (Joseph LoDuca) [Silent Movie Theater]
KING KONG (Max Steiner) [New Beverly]
THE LOST MAN (Quincy Jones), EDGE OF THE CITY (Leonard Rosenman) [UCLA]
THE THING (Ennio Morricone) [Cinematheque: Aero]
August 12
THE BLOB (Michael Hoenig) [New Beverly]
CURSE OF THE PINK PANTHER (Henry Mancini) [New Beverly]
THE DARK CRYSTAL (Trevor Jones) [Cinematheque: Aero]
HAROLD & MAUDE (Cat Stevens) [Silent Movie Theater]
LE DOULOS (Paul Misraki) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
TWO-LANE BLACKTOP, VANISHING POINT [UCLA]
UN FLIC (Michel Colombier) [Cinemathque: Egyptian]
VARIETE [Silent Movie Theater]
August 13
BOB LE FLAMBEUR (Eddie Barclay, Jo Boyer) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
CURSE OF THE PINK PANTHER (Henry Mancini) [New Beverly]
LAST ACTION HERO (Michael Kamen), STREETS OF FIRE (Ry Cooder) [Cinematheque: Aero]
LE SAMOURAI (Francois de Roubaix) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING (Maurice Jarre), SINFUL DAVEY (Ken Thorne) [UCLA]
WILD SEED (Richard Markowitz), THE IDOL (John Dankworth) [New Beverly]
August 14
FOXY BROWN (Willie Hutch), COFFY (Roy Ayers) [UCLA]
WILD SEED (Richard Markowitz), THE IDOL (John Dankworth) [New Beverly]
August 15
EASTER PARADE (Irving Berlin, Johnny Green, Roger Edens) [LACMA]
THE EVICTORS (Jaime Mendoza-Nava), LOVE AND THE MIDNIGHT AUTO SUPPLY (Ed Bogas) [New Beverly]
JULIE & JULIA (Alexandre Desplat) [Arclight Santa Monica]
August 16
GET ROLLIN' [Silent Movie Theater]
THE HAPPENING (Frank DeVol), THE PRIVATE FILES OF J. EDGAR HOOVER (Miklos Rozsa) [New Beverly]
HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON (Sante Maria Romitelli), FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON (Piero Umiliani) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
August 17
BARAKA (Michael Stearns) [Cinematheque: Aero]
FRITZ THE CAT (Ed Bogas, Ray Shanklin), DOWN AND DIRTY DUCK (Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE HAPPENING (Frank DeVol), THE PRIVATE FILES OF J. EDGAR HOOVER (Miklos Rozsa) [New Beverly]
THE WHIP AND THE BODY (Carlo Rustichelli), BARON BLOOD (Les Baxter) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
August 18
BLACK SUNDAY (Les Baxter), LISA AND THE DEVIL (Carlo Savina) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
DJANGO UNCHAINED [New Beverly]
EYES OF LAURA MARS (Artie Kane), HICKEY & BOGGS [UCLA]
GET ROLLIN' [Silent Movie Theater]
HOOK (John Williams), BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II (Alan Silvestri) [Cinematheque: Aero]
THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (Marvin Hamlisch), MOONRAKER (John Barry) [New Beverly]
August 19
BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (Carlo Rustichelli), A BAY OF BLOOD (Stelvio Cipriani), EVIL EYE (Les Baxter) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (John Wiliams) [New Beverly]
GET ROLLIN' [Silent Movie Theater]
HEAVY METAL (Elmer Bernstein) [New Beverly]
THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (Marvin Hamlisch), MOONRAKER (John Barry) [New Beverly]
TRON (Wendy Carlos) [Cinematheque: Aero]
August 20
ALWAYS (John Williams) [Cinematheque: Aero]
BLACK SABBATH (Roberto Nicolosi), KILL, BABY...KILL (Carlo Rustichell8) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (John Wiliams) [Cinematheque: Aero]
E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (John Williams) [New Beverly]
THE GENERAL [UCLA]
THE LAST HARD MEN (Jerry Goldsmith) , THE RETURN OF JOSEY WALES (Rusty Thornhill), FROM DUSK TILL DAWN 3: THE HANGMAN'S DAUGHTER (Nathan Barr) [New Beverly]
TOKYO DRIFTER (Hajime Kaburagi) [Silent Movie Theater]
12 ANGRY MEN (Kenyon Hopkins) [UCLA]
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