The latest release from La-La Land features Tom Holkenborg's score for the number-one film at the U.S. weekend box-office, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Adultere (Mode d'Emploi) - Bruno Coulais - Music Box
Antony I. Ginnane Presents Classic Australian Film Scores from the '70s and '80s - various - Dragon's Domain
Assicurasi Vergine - Bruno Nicolai - Saimel
At Eternity's Gate - Tatiana Lisovskaya - Filmtrax
Breath [UK release] - Harry Gregson-Williams - Filmtrax
Dinosaur Land - Chuck Cirino - Dragon's Domain
Hoax - Alan Howarth - Dragon's Domain
I Guerrieri Dell'anno 2072/La Casa Sperduta Nel Parco - Riz Ortolani - Beat
The Musical Anthology of His Dark Materials - Lorne Balfe - Silva
The Personal History of David Copperfield - Christopher Willis - MVKA
Sonic the Hedgehog - Tom Holkenborg - La-La Land
The Story of O - Pierre Bachelet - Music Box
IN THEATERS TODAY
After We Leave - Chanda Dancy
Brahms: The Boy II - Brett Detar
The Call of the Wild - John Powell
Emma. - Isobel Waller-Bridge, David Schweitzer
I Am Fear - Gregory Tripi
Just One More Kiss - Rene Osmanczyk, David Yousefi
The Night Clerk - Erik Hall
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band - Matthew Chalmers
Premature - Patrick Scannell, Stefan Swanson
Standing Up, Falling Down - David Schwartz
Swift - Frank Schreiber, Steffen Wick
10 Things We Should Do Before We Break Up - Ariel Marx
The Times of Bill Cunningham - Ezinma
The Woman Who Loves Giraffes - Tom Third
You Go to My Head - Hacene Larbi
Zombi Child - Bertrand Bonello
COMING SOON
March 13
Charles Gerhardt Conducts Classic Film Scores [12-disc set] - various - Sony
El Cuento de la Comadrejas - Emilio Kauderer - Sony (import)
The Matrix Symphony - Don Davis - Perseverance
Radioactive - Evgueni Galperine, Sacha Galperine - Milan [import]
Wings over Everest - Kenji Kawai - Milan [import]
March 27
No Time to Die - Hans Zimmer - Decca
Date Unknown
Agatha [unused score] - Howard Blake - Dragon's Domain
Apocalypse Domani - Alessandro Blonksteiner - CSC
The Conrad Pope Collection, vol. 1 - Conrad Pope - Dragon's Domain
Le Dolci Signore - Armando Trovajoli - Digitmovies
Sbirro, La Tua Legge E Lenta...La Mia...No! - Stelvio Cipriani - Digitmovies
Supercar - Barry Gray - Silva
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
February 21 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score for The Story of Three Loves (1952)
February 21 - Ron Grainer died (1981)
February 21 - Laurence Rosenthal begins recording his score for Who'll Stop the Rain (1978)
February 21 - Basil Poledouris begins recording his score for Flesh + Blood (1985)
February 21 - Morton Gould died (1996)
February 22 - Angelo Francesco Lavagnino born (1909)
February 22 - Maurizio De Angelis born (1947)
February 22 - Gary Chang born (1953)
February 22 - James Horner begins recording his replacement score for Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
February 22 - William Loose died (1991)
February 22 - A.R. Rahman wins the Original Score and Song Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire and its song "Jai Ho" (2009)
February 23 - Allan Gray born (1904)
February 23 - Erich Wolfgang Korngold wins Original Score Oscar for The Adventures of Robin Hood, the first year the award goes to the composer instead of the head of the studio's music department; Alfred Newman wins Score Oscar for Alexander's Ragtime Band (1939)
February 23 - Rachel Elkind born (1939)
February 23 - Alfred Newman and Bernard Herrmann begin recording their score for The Egyptian (1954)
February 23 - David Buttolph begins recording his score for The Horse Soldiers (1959)
February 23 - Richard Markowitz records his score for the Mission: Impossible episode “Live Bait” (1969)
February 23 - Lorne Balfe born (1976)
February 23 - Recording sessions begin for Danny Elfman’s score for Dick Tracy (1990)
February 23 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Offspring" (1990)
February 24 - Fred Steiner born (1923)
February 24 - Michel Legrand born (1932)
February 24 - George Harrison born (1943)
February 24 - Rupert Holmes born (1947)
February 24 - Franz Waxman died (1967)
February 24 - Jerry Goldsmith records his score for Crosscurrent (1971)
February 24 - Roy Budd begins recording his score to The Carey Treatment (1972)
February 24 - Walter Scharf died (2003)
February 24 - Mychael Danna wins the Original Score Oscar for Life of Pi (2013)
February 25 - George Duning born (1908)
February 25 - Erich Wolfgang Korngold begins recording his score for The Sea Wolf (1941)
February 25 - Victor Reyes born (1962)
February 25 - Penka Kouneva born (1967)
February 25 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for Outland (1981)
February 25 - Haim Mazar born (1983)
February 25 - Laurence Rosenthal records his score for To Heal a Nation (1988)
February 25 - Ennio Morricone wins an Honorary Oscar, "for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music;" Gustavo Santaolalla wins his second consecutive Best Score Oscar, for Babel (2007)
February 26 - Hagood Hardy born (1937)
February 26 - Bernard Herrmann wins his only Oscar, for the All That Money Can Buy score (1942)
February 26 - John Lanchbery died (2003)
February 26 - Ludovic Bource wins the Original Score Oscar for The Artist (2012)
February 26 - Justin Hurwitz wins Oscars for La La Land’s score and original song “City of Stars” (2017)
February 27 - The first score Oscar is awarded, to Victor Schertzinger and Gus Kahn's score to One Night of Love; however, Academy policy at the time awards the Oscar to the head of the studio's music department, Louis Silvers (1935)
February 27 - Leigh Harline, Ned Washington, Paul J. Smith win Best Score Oscar for Pinocchio (1941)
February 27 - Recording sessions begin for Bronislau Kaper's score to A Life of Her Own (1950)
February 27 - Mort Glickman died (1953)
February 27 - Elmer Bernstein begins recording his score for True Grit (1969)
February 27 - Herbert Don Woods records his score for the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode “The Crystals” (1981)
February 27 - George Duning died (2000)
February 27 - Nathan Scott died (2010)
February 27 - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross win the Original Score Oscar for The Social Network (2011)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
BLACKKKLANSMAN - Terence Blanchard
"The core narrative of 'BlacKkKlansman' is about Ron Stallworth, who in the early 1970s became the first African American detective in the Colorado Springs police department, and through a series of bizarre accidents and mistaken identities managed to infiltrate the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. We meet Stallworth (John David Washington) as he’s being interviewed to be the 'Jackie Robinson' of the local force. Lee styles and frames Washington like a Blaxploitation hero, his Afro perfectly picked out, his sense of cool unruffled and impenetrable within the soft visual haze of the era. Accompanied by an expressively lush jazz-blues score by Lee’s regular composer Terence Blanchard, 'BlacKkKlansman' announces from the jump that viewers are in for a lush, sensory treat as Lee plays with the film vernacular he’s manipulated so adroitly and expressively for three decades."
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
"But for all its amazing high points (and this satirically minded takedown of the ludicrousness of the American racist right has many of those) 'BlacKkKlansman' also shows Lee at his weakest. The slight running time drags, a sensation not helped by Terence Blanchard's underwhelming score. That's a tragedy, considering how much he helped build the tempo of Lee's last narrative feature, 2015's equally scattershot but much more successful 'Chi-Raq.'"
Richard Whittaker, The Austin Chronicle
"But it is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years, from composer Terence Blanchard. Every frame is packed with meaning and metaphor from the opening, the famous crane shot from Victor Fleming’s 'Gone With the Wind,' onward to the sins of the present day. It’s a Spike Lee joint that is not to be missed."
Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press
COME TO DADDY - Karl Steven
"Still, the delightfully scene-stealing Kiwi comedian Madeleine Sami adds a surprising amount of depth to an otherwise petty and overwhelmingly masculine package with a memorable scene -- it feels like an unfortunate cheat when she doesn’t return. Moreover, a dauntingly jawed Michael Smiley and a placid Martin Donovan deliver two knowingly over-the-top performances as once-friendly foes. From composer Karl Steven’s mischievously eerie score to Katz’s playful compositions that maximize colors and sharp contrasts, 'Come to Daddy' has the look and makings of a high-end production. If only the laughs could also rise to the occasion. While inflating his film’s genre-bending silliness (perhaps in search of something that can’t be pigeonholed like the lead character), Timpson misses out on a dark comedy several shades edgier."
Tomris Laffly, Variety
CRAZY RICH ASIANS - Brian Tyler
"Chu has put together a slick, highly entertaining package. Unsurprisingly for a director who cut his teeth on films including the 'Step Up' sequels and Justin Bieber concert docs, 'Crazy Rich Asians' is energized by infectious use of Brian Tyler's big, bouncy score and some terrific song choices, notably fun Cantopop versions of 'Material Girl' and 'Money (That's What I Want).' What makes it so genuinely uplifting, however, is the establishment of the central relationship as a union between partners determined to remain on equal footing, far more concerned with each other's mutual happiness than with all the wealth and luxury that stands between them."
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
JOSE - Chen Yao
"Through his purposeful use of the space within the frame and Chen Yao’s rousing score, Cheng avoids turning in an utterly minimalist product. Though the acting benefits from the naturalness common in social-realist films, what encases the performances has a defined dramatic structure and isn’t shy about making the tools in use known."
Carlos Aguilar, The Wrap
SEARCHING - Torin Borrowdale
"Aneesh Chaganty’s 'Searching' opens on a static image of an empty Windows desktop. Eventually, a mouse begins to move around the screen and open various picture and video files, both online and stored on the computer. Disparate types of media pile atop one another as the once-blank canvas transforms into a kaleidoscope of screens within screens that depict the childhood years of Margot (Michelle La). The sequence is fairly mawkish, given the pairing of cloying music with intimate home videos, but it also displays an impressive efficiency in its dispersal of narrative information."
Derek Smith, Slant Magazine
THE TRAITOR - Nicola Piovani
"Bellocchio pushes the theatrical metaphor in the central courtroom scene, where the bosses stand in heavily barred cells around the room. Witnesses face the judges, protected behind bullet-proof glass. Everyone ignores the judge’s warnings to remain silent and not to use flashbulbs, and when Buscetta takes the stand to testify against them, the mafiosi scream and shout their insults like wild animals. Nicola Piovani’s operatic music completes the effect."
Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older films, at the following L.A. movie theaters: AMPAS, Alamo Drafthouse, American Cinematheque: Aero, American Cinematheque: Egyptian, Arclight, Arena Cinelounge, Fairfax Cinema, Laemmle, New Beverly, Nuart, UCLA and Vista.
February 21
ANGEL HEART (Trevor Jones) [Arena Cinelounge]
THE HUNGER (Michel Rubini, Denny Yaeger) [New Beverly]
MARGARET (Nico Muhly) [Fairfax Cinema]
PERFECT BLUE (Masahiro Ikumi) [Vista]
ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS (Nino Rota) [Fairfax Cinema]
SUNSHINE STATE (Mason Daring) [UCLA]
TRAFFIC IN SOULS [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
TRUE ROMANCE (Hans Zimmer) [New Beverly]
WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (Alan Silvestri) [Nuart]
February 22
ANGEL HEART (Trevor Jones) [Arena Cinelounge]
CARMEN, BABY [New Beverly]
COME AND SEE (Oleg Yanchenko) [Cinematheque: Aero]
FATAL ATTRACTION (Maurice Jarre), GONE GIRL (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross), MISERY (Marc Shaiman), DEAD CALM (Graeme Revell) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (Patrick Doyle) [New Beverly]
HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE (Udi Harpaz, Patrice Rushen) [Fairfax Cinema]
THE LIVING DEAD AT THE MANCHESTER MORGUE (Giuliani Sorgini) [Fairfax Cinema]
MARGARET (Nico Muhly) [Fairfax Cinema]
NOSFERATU [Vista]
OUT OF SIGHT (David Holmes) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH (Mason Daring) [UCLA]
February 23
ANGEL HEART (Trevor Jones) [Arena Cinelounge]
BLACK PANTHER (Ludwig Goransson) [AMPAS]
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (Patrick Doyle) [New Beverly]
LITTLE WOMEN (Max Steiner) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THE LIVING DEAD AT THE MANCHESTER MORGUE (Giuliani Sorgini) [Fairfax Cinema]
MARGARET (Nico Muhly) [Fairfax Cinema]
MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ (Bo Harwood) [Alamo Drafthouse]
PATHS OF GLORY (Gerald Fried), THE ASCENT (Alfred Schnittke) [Cinematheque: Aero]
ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS (Nino Rota) [Fairfax Cinema]
February 24
ANGEL HEART (Trevor Jones) [Arena Cinelounge]
BADLANDS (George Aliceson Tipton) [New Beverly]
KAMIKAZE HEARTS (Walt Fowler, Paul M. Young) [Alamo Drafthouse]
LA LA LAND (Justin Hurwitz) [Arclight Culver City]
LA LA LAND (Justin Hurwitz) [Arclight Hollywood]
LA LA LAND (Justin Hurwitz) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (Georges Delerue), THE MISSION (Ennio Morricone) [New Beverly]
February 25
ANGEL HEART (Trevor Jones) [Arena Cinelounge]
BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (Wojciech Kilar) [Alamo Drafthouse]
DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST (John Barnes) [Cinematheque: Aero]
RIDICULE (Antoine Duhamel) [Cinematheque: Aero]
RIO BRAVO (Dimitri Tiomkin) [Laemmle Royal]
SUPER FUZZ (Michelangelo La Bionda), DEATH PROMISE (Bill Daniels, Mike Felder) [New Beverly]
February 26
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (George Gershwin, Johnny Green, Saul Chaplin) [New Beverly]
ANGEL HEART (Trevor Jones) [Arena Cinelounge]
FREEBIE AND THE BEAN (Dominic Frontiere), BUSTING (Billy Goldenberg) [New Beverly]
ROPE (Leo F. Forbstein) [Alamo Drafthouse]
VOYAGE OF THE ROCK ALIENS (Jack White) [Alamo Drafthouse]
February 27
ANGEL HEART (Trevor Jones) [Arena Cinelounge]
DAY OF THE DEAD (John Harrison), DEATH WISH 3 (Jimmy Page) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
DEMON WITHIN (Akira Inoue), BIOTHERAPY [Alamo Drafthouse]
FREEBIE AND THE BEAN (Dominic Frontiere), BUSTING (Billy Goldenberg) [New Beverly]
MODERN ROMANCE (Lance Rubin) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE MOUSE THAT ROARED (Edwin Astley) [Cinematheque: Aero]
OLD JOY (Yo La Tengo), RIVER OF GRASS (John Hill) [Cinematheque: Aero]
February 28
BATMAN (Danny Elfman) [Vista]
CANDYMAN (Philip Glass) [New Beverly]
CRUISING (Jack Nitzsche) [Nuart]
THE HARDER THEY COME (Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker) [Fairfax Cinema]
PASSION FISH (Mason Daring) [UCLA]
TOUCH OF EVIL (Henry Mancini) [Fairfax Cinema]
THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (Jaime Mendoza-Nava) [Fairfax Cinema]
TRUE ROMANCE (Hans Zimmer) [New Beverly]
February 29
EIGHT MEN OUT (Mason Daring) [UCLA]
THE HARDER THEY COME (Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker) [Fairfax Cinema]
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (Nicholas Hooper) [New Beverly]
THE HOSPITAL (Morris Surdin) [New Beverly]
KILLER'S KISS (Gerald Fried), THE KILLING (Gerald Fried) [Vista]
LEAP YEAR (Randy Edelman) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NORTE, THE END OF HISTORY [Cinematheque: Aero]
PANDORA'S BOX [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
TOUCH OF EVIL (Henry Mancini) [Fairfax Cinema]
THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (Jaime Mendoza-Nava) [Fairfax Cinema]
March 1
BATANG WEST SIDE (Joey Ayala) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
BATMAN RETURNS (Danny Elfman) [Vista]
THE CLOCK (George Bassman) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
HAPPINESS (Robbie Kondor) [Fairfax Cinema]
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (Nicholas Hooper) [New Beverly]
MY SUMMER OF LOVE (Alison Goldfrapp, Will Gregory) [Alamo Drafthouse]
TOUCH OF EVIL (Henry Mancini) [Fairfax Cinema]
THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (Jaime Mendoza-Nava) [Fairfax Cinema]
UGETSU (Fumio Hayasaka), LITTLE BY LITTLE [Cinematheque: Aero]
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
Heard: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Shearmur), Star Trek: Is There In Truth No Beauty?/The Empath (Duning); Illya, Darling (Hadjidakis)
Read: I finally finished The Waste Lands: The Dark Tower III, by Stephen King; I mean no disrespect to Mr. King, who has written many terrific novels, and whose writing has inspired many wonderful films, that I doubt I will ever end up reading Dark Towers IV through IX (or however many sequels there were), though one can never really tell where life will take you.
Seen: Bride of Frankenstein; The Lodge; Beanpole; The Last Thing He Wanted; The Pack; Darker Than Amber
Watched: Columbo ("Death Lends a Hand," "Dead Weight," "Suitable for Framing"), The 92nd Annual Academy Awards
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