The latest release from Quartet, JOHN BARRY: THE POLYDOR YEARS, is a three-disc set featuring three albums the composer recorded for the Polydor label in the 1970s: The Concert John Barry, Play It Again, and Americans.
IN THEATERS TODAY
The Damned - Stephen McKeon
Vermiglio - Matteo Franceschini
COMING SOON
January 10
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse - Isobel Waller-Bridge - Sony (import)
The Outrun - John Gurtler, Jan Miserre - Decca (import)
January 31
The World of Hans Zimmer Part II: A New Dimension - Hans Zimmer - Sony
March 7
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim - Stephen Gallagher - Mutant
Coming Soon
John Barry: The Polydor Years - John Barry - Quartet
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
January 3 - Maurice Jaubert born (1900)
January 3 - George Martin born (1926)
January 3 - Van Dyke Parks born (1941)
January 3 - Recording sessions begin for Bronislau Kaper's score for Ada (1961)
January 3 - Alfred Newman begins recording his score for Nevada Smith (1966)
January 3 - Dominic Frontiere records his score for The Invaders episode “The Leeches” (1967)
January 3 - Patrick Williams records his score for The Streets of San Francisco episode “Act of Duty” (1973)
January 3 - Thomas Bangalter born (1975)
January 3 - Bernhard Kaun died (1980)
January 3 - Recording sessions begin for Hans Zimmer’s replacement score for White Fang (1991)
January 3 - Alan Silvestri begins recording his score for Reindeer Games (2000)
January 4 - Lionel Newman born (1916)
January 4 - Buddy Baker born (1918)
January 4 - Joe Renzetti born (1941)
January 4 - Recording sessions begin for Sol Kaplan’s score for The House on Telegraph Hill (1951)
January 4 - Michael Hoenig born (1952)
January 4 - John Green begins recording his score to Raintree County (1957)
January 4 - Angela Morley records her score for The New Adventures of Wonder Woman episode “Going, Going, Gone” (1979)
January 4 - Pino Calvi died (1989)
January 4 - Jay Chattaway records his score for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Past Prologue” (1993)
January 4 - Basil Poledouris begins recording his score for On Deadly Ground (1994)
January 5 - Leighton Lucas born (1903)
January 5 - Chris Stein born (1950)
January 5 - Jerry Fielding begins recording his score, adapted from Bizet, for The Bad News Bears (1976)
January 5 - Malcolm Seagrave died (2001)
January 5 - Elizabeth Swados died (2016)
January 6 - David Whitaker born (1931)
January 6 - Aaron Zigman born (1963)
January 6 - John Williams records his score for Nightwatch (1966)
January 6 - A.R. Rahman born (1967)
January 6 - Leith Stevens records his score for the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episode “Man-Beast” (1968)
January 6 - Jerry Fielding begins recording his score for The Wild Bunch (1969)
January 6 - Jay Chattaway records his score for the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Blood Fever” (1997)
January 6 - Georgy Sviridov died (1998)
January 6 - Mario Nascimbene died (2002)
January 7 - Jose Maria Vitier born (1954)
January 7 - Leigh Harline begins recording his score for The True Story of Jesse James (1957)
January 7 - Jeff Richmond born (1961)
January 7 - Alfred Newman begins recording his score for The Pleasure of His Company (1961)
January 7 - Clint Mansell born (1963)
January 7 - Paul Sawtell records his score for the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episode “Eleven Days to Zero” (1964)
January 7 - Joseph Mullendore records his score for the Land of the Giants episode “Panic” (1970)
January 7 - Jeff Toyne born (1975)
January 7 - James Horner begins recording his score for Rascals and Robbers: The Secret Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (1982)
January 7 - David Lindup died (1992)
January 8 - Bernard Herrmann begins recording his score to On Dangerous Ground (1951)
January 8 - Ron Goodwin died (2003)
January 8 - Andrae Crouch died (2015)
January 9 - Vic Mizzy born (1916)
January 9 - Robert F. Brunner born (1938)
January 9 - Scott Walker born (1943)
January 9 - Jimmy Page born (1944)
January 9 - Leroy Shield died (1962)
January 9 - James T. Sale born (1967)
January 9 - Alexander Courage records his score for the Lost in Space episode "The Great Vegetable Rebellion" (1968)
January 9 - Kazimierz Serocki died (1981)
January 9 - Anton Karas died (1985)
January 9 - Alan Silvestri begins recording his score for The Delta Force (1986)
January 9 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for The Vanishing (1993)
January 9 - Recording sessions begin for John Powell’s score to Forces of Nature (1999)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM - Stephen Gallagher
"Still, there are those moments that incorporate the score of the original trilogy soundtrack that manage to inspire the same sense of wonder that was present in Peter Jackson’s first foray into presenting 'The Lord of the Rings.' When you get a chill down your spine as the music plays to show a cavalry charge by the Riders of Rohan, you know that the filmmakers had the right idea in mind when presenting the scene. In an anime format? Not so much."
John Kirk, Original Cin
"For every triumphant, nostalgic blare of the Howard Shore-inspired score in my theater, I felt an inaudible minor note: This story, about a war that started when a good white father didn’t want a bad brown man as his son-in-law, is gonna be a softball pass to some of the worst parts of Tolkien fandom."
Susana Polo, Polygon
'Such failures make it all the more striking in the rare moments Kamiyama is effectively able to split the difference, as he does when the diseased pachyderm runs afoul of an even deadlier creature, but most of the action here is far too stilted to engage with, and layering it with occasional echoes of Howard Shore’s immortal score for 'The Two Towers' only enhances the vertigo-like prequelitis of a movie that makes it feel like Rohan’s best days are behind and ahead of it all at once. Needless to say, it makes all too much sense that Héra’s legend has been forgotten by the time that Aragorn and his friends arrive in her father’s kingdom some two centuries later."
David Ehrlich, IndieWire
"Set nearly two centuries before 'The Hobbit,' the film opens with a young woman with hair the color of Advil tablets riding to the peak of a mountain, where she feeds a giant ham hock to one of the great eagles. This is no ordinary lass, as a swirling 360-degree shot and Éowyn’s opening narration affirms: 'By her hand, many great deeds were done. But do not look for tales of her in the old songs. There are none.' The familiar choir-like score, composed by Stephen Gallagher (a music editor on Jackson’s films), may well send chills down your spine. If nothing else, 'War' demonstrates how thrilling it can be to spend time in that movie-dream space we think of as Middle-earth."
Peter Debruge, Variety
"Fans are sure to appreciate the call-outs and references to the earlier movies, including sections incorporating composer Howard Shore’s original themes and a late shout-out to Gandalf. But those not familiar with Tolkien minutiae will still be able to enjoy 'The War of the Rohirrim' on its own visually grand, mythic storytelling terms, even if it does eventually seem overlong at 134 minutes (brief by comparison to the live-action entries, but still). That many of the film’s creatives are veterans of the Jackson’s groundbreaking trilogy provides further evidence that this complementary work has been carefully and lovingly designed."
Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
THE RETURN - Rachel Portman
"This is the down-to-earth part of the Odyssey, and Pasolini’s version makes it simultaneously visceral and contemplative. He takes his mythology seriously, and so do composer Rachel Portman and a crew of actors headed by Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus and Juliette Binoche as Penelope. It’s gritty and dirty and eventually smeared with blood, but it takes its time and weighs every word. The conversations between Odysseus and Penelope, even before she realizes that the wounded veteran begging for scraps in her castle is actually her husband, are slow and deliberate, studded with pauses and measuring each word. If there’s a default mood in 'The Return,' it’s somber foreboding, which is intensified both by Portman’s music and by dark, candlelit interiors filled with silhouettes."
Steve Pond, The Wrap
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older films in Los Angeles-area theaters.
January 3
ALIEN (Jerry Goldsmith) [BrainDead Studios]
BLOOD SIMPLE (Carter Burwell) [Nuart]
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF [Academy Museum]
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (Wendy Carlos) [Alamo Drafthouse]
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (Wendy Carlos) [BrainDead Studios]
FOOTLOOSE (Miles Goodman) [Vidiots]
GRINDHOUSE: DEATH PROOF [New Beverly]
GROOVE (D.E. Levison) [Los Feliz 3]
LABYRINTH (Trevor Jones) [Vidiots]
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (Tom Holkenborg) [Alamo Drafthouse]
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS [Vista]
MIRROR (Edward Artemyev) [Alamo Drafthouse]
MISS STEVENS (Rob Simonsen) [Los Feliz 3]
POSSESSION (Andrzej Korzynski) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE ROOM (Mladen Milicevic) [Landmark Westwood]
SANTA SANGRE (Simon Boswell) [Vidiots]
SECRETS & LIES (Andrew Dickson) [Aero]
SORCERER (Tangerine Dream) [Egyptian]
SPEED RACER (Michael Giacchino) [Alamo Drafthouse]
VIDEODROME (Howard Shore) [Academy Museum]
January 4
BLAZING SADDLES (John Morris) [Vidiots]
COCKFIGHTER (Michael Franks) [BrainDead Studios]
ESCAPE FROM L.A. (Shirley Walker, John Carpenter) [Vidiots]
EXISTENZ (Howard Shore) [Academy Museum]
THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN [Egyptian]
THE HUSTLER (Kenyon Hopkins) [Academy Museum]
INFERNAL AFFAIRS (Chan Kwong Wing) [BrainDead Studios]
INSIDE OUT 2 (Andrea Datzman) [Aero]
THE KING (Nicholas Britell) [Los Feliz 3]
MEANTIME (Andrew Dickson) [Egyptian]
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS [Vista]
MIRROR (Edward Artemyev) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NAKED (Andrew Dickson) [Egyptian]
A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY (David Kitay) [Los Feliz 3]
PERSONA (Lars Johan Werle) [Alamo Drafthouse]
ROBOT DREAMS (Alfonso de Villalonga) [Academy Museum]
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Richard O'Brien, Richard Hartley) [Nuart]
SANS SOLEIL [Vidiots]
TERRORVISION (Richard Band) [New Beverly]
UPTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT (Tom Scott) [Vista]
January 5
AMERICAN GANGSTER (Marc Streitenfeld) [Los Feliz 3]
ANDREI RUBLEV (Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov) [Egyptian]
AT THE CIRCUS (Franz Waxman) [Los Feliz 3]
BEFORE MIDNIGHT (Graham Reynolds) [Vidiots]
CABARET (John Kander, Ralph Burns) [Vidiots]
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (Wendy Carlos) [Alamo Drafthouse]
COCKTAIL (J. Peter Robinson) [Los Feliz 3]
FERNGULLY: THE LAST RAINFOREST (Alan Silvestri) [Vidiots]
FLASHDANCE (Giorgio Moroder) [Academy Museum]
HUD (Elmer Bernstein) [Academy Museum]
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (Tom Holkenborg) [Alamo Drafthouse]
MIRROR (Edward Artemyev) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE NEVERENDING STORY (Klaus Doldinger, Giorgio Moroder) [Aero]
POSSESSION (Andrzej Korzynski) [Alamo Drafthouse]
TOTAL RECALL (Jerry Goldsmith) [BrainDead Studios]
A TOWN CALLED PANIC [BrainDead Studios]
UPTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT (Tom Scott) [Vista]
WONKA (Joby Talbot) [Los Feliz 3]
January 6
ALIEN: ROMULUS (Benjamin Wallfisch) [Aero]
BEAUTIFUL BOY [Los Feliz 3]
THE BLOODSTAINED SHADOW (Stelvio Cipriani) [Los Feliz 3]
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (Wendy Carlos) [Alamo Drafthouse]
EMA (Nicolas Jaar) [Egyptian]
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (John Carpenter, Alan Howarth) [Culver]
IDIOCRACY (Theodore Shapiro) [Vidiots]
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (Tom Holkenborg) [Alamo Drafthouse]
MIRROR (Edward Artemyev) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NERUDA (Federico Jusid) [Egyptian]
POSSESSION (Andrzej Korzynski) [Alamo Drafthouse]
January 7
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (Wendy Carlos) [Alamo Drafthouse]
EL CONDE [Egyptian]
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (Tom Holkenborg) [Alamo Drafthouse]
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (Marvin Hamlisch) [Egyptian]
PERSONA (Lars Johan Werle) [Alamo Drafthouse]
POSSESSION (Andrzej Korzynski) [Alamo Drafthouse]
SPEED RACER (Michael Giacchino) [Alamo Drafthouse]
24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE [Los Feliz 3]
January 8
CHRISTINE (John Carpenter, Alan Howarth) [BrainDead Studios]
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (Wendy Carlos) [Alamo Drafthouse]
FAR FROM HEAVEN (Elmer Bernstein) [Aero]
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (Mychael Danna) [Academy Museum]
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (Tom Holkenborg) [Alamo Drafthouse]
POSSESSION (Andrzej Korzynski) [Alamo Drafthouse]
PROMETHEUS (Marc Streitenfeld) [Los Feliz 3]
SPEED RACER (Michael Giacchino) [Alamo Drafthouse]
WHITE (Zbigniew Preisner) [Vidiots]
January 9
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (Sufjan Stevens), BONES AND ALL (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross) [Los Feliz 3]
PARIS, TEXAS (Ry Cooder) [Vidiots]
January 10
BLACK ANGEL (Frank Skinner) , LARCENY (Leith Stevens) [New Beverly]
BRING IT ON (Christophe Beck) [New Beverly]
THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET (Mason Daring), BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS (James Horner) [Vidiots]
CHILDREN OF MEN (John Tavener) [Egyptian]
DUNE: PART TWO (Hans Zimmer) [DGA Theater]
GHOST IN THE SHELL (Kenji Kawai) [Academy Museum]
GRINDHOUSE: DEATH PROOF [New Beverly]
HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING, THE DEFIANT ONES (Ernest Gold) [Los Feliz 3]
RAISING ARIZONA (Carter Burwell) [Nuart]
SEVEN SAMURAI (Fumio Hayasaka) [Alamo Drafthouse]
VALLEY GIRL (Scott Wilk, Marc Levinthal) [Vista]
January 11
ADJUSTMENT & WORK [Los Feliz 3]
THE CHALLENGE (Jerry Goldsmith) [Los Feliz 3]
COOL HAND LUKE (Lalo Schifrin) [Academy Museum]
THE DEVIL'S REJECTS (Tyler Bates) [New Beverly]
FORBIDDEN PLANET (Louis & Bebe Barron) [Egyptian]
FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA (Tom Holkenborg) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER (Joe Raposo) [New Beverly]
THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER (Joe Raposo) [Vidiots]
HOLY MOTORS [Vidiots]
IF I HAD A MILLION [Vista]
LIMBO (Mason Daring) [Los Feliz 3]
A LITTLE PRINCESS (Patrick Doyle) [Los Feliz 3]
ON THE WATERFRONT (Leonard Bernstein) [Vidiots]
ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS (George Bruns) [New Beverly]
PARIS, TEXAS (Ry Cooder) [BrainDead Studios]
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (Clint Mansell) [BrainDead Studios]
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Richard O'Brien, Richard Hartley) [Nuart]
SHAKEDOWN, THE WEB (Hans J. Salter) [New Beverly]
SHREK 2 (Harry Gregson-Williams) [Academy Museum]
VALLEY GIRL (Scott Wilk, Marc Levinthal) [Vista]
THE WITCH (Mark Korven) [Egyptian]
January 12
APUR SANSAR (Ravi Shankar) [Vidiots]
THE BLACK STALLION (Carmine Coppola, Shirley Walker) [Vidiots]
BOYZ N THE HOOD (Stanley Clarke) [Academy Museum]
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (Burt Bacharach) [Academy Museum]
THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER (Joe Raposo) [New Beverly]
IF I HAD A MILLION [Vista]
THE NORTHMAN (Robin Carolan, Sebastian Gainsborough) [Los Feliz 3]
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (Michael Brook) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (Mike Patton) [BrainDead Studios]
THE PREVIEW MURDER MYSTERY [Los Feliz 3]
REPO MAN (Steven Hufsteter, Humberto Larriva) [BrainDead Studios]
RIDE THE PINK HORSE (Frank Skinner), KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY HANDS [New Beverly]
SEVEN SAMURAI (Fumio Hayasaka) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (Michel Legrand) [Vidiots]
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
Heard: The Verdict (Mandel); Harry & Son (Mancini); The Glass Menagerie (Mancini); Fat Man and Little Boy (Morricone); Blaze (Wallace); Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (Robbins, various); The Hudsucker Proxy (Burwell); Nobody's Fool (Shore); Twilight (Bernstein); Message in a Bottle (Yared); Road to Perdition (Newman); Cars (Newman); Cherry 2000/House of God (Poledouris); Inception (Zimmer); The Princess and the Frog (Newman); Short Circuit (Shire); A Nightmare on Elm Street (Bernstein); Crimson Tide (Zimmer)
Read: Two for Tanner, by Lawrence Block
Seen: Nosferatu [2024]; Revenge of the Creature; Cave of Forgotten Dreams; The Fire Inside; Toy Story 3; Babygirl; Friday the 13th - Part III; A Complete Unknown; It Came from Outer Space; Flesh for Frankenstein; Better Man; ParaNorman; The Room Next Door; Pacific Rim; Nickel Boys; Cunningham; Mufasa: The Lion King; Step Up 3D; Sonic the Hedgehog 3; The Brutalist; Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl; Carry-On
Watched: Columbo ("Dagger of the Mind"); Quatermass II; Get Shorty ("Fifteen to Thirty Minutes (Depending on Weight)"); The Good Place ("The Ballad of Donkey Doug"); Columbo ("Requiem for a Falling Star")
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