Intrada will announce a new release next week. For those who do not mind soundtrack "spoilers," go to this Message Board thread.
The week after next, La-La Land will be releasing score CDs for the second and third seasons (the latter a two-disc set) of the Karate Kid-spinoff Netflix series COBRA KAI, composed by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson.
Varese Sarabande is expected to announce their latest CD Club releases today.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
The Twentieth Century - George Antheil, Paul Creston, Gail Kubik, Darius Milhaud, Harold Shapero - Kritzerland
IN THEATERS TODAY
No major new releases are expected today but the films released at the end of 2020 are still playing where theaters are open, and some theaters are even still screening films from earlier in the year like Tenet and The War with Grandpa.
COMING SOON
January 22
Cobra Kai: Season Two - Leo Birenberg, Zach Robinson - La-La Land
Cobra Kai: Season Three - Leo Birenberg - Zach Robinson - La-La Land
Film Music 1976-2020 - Brian Eno - Astralwerks
The Orville: Season Two - Andrew Cottee, John Debney, Joel McNeely - La-La Land
Rams - Brian Eno - Universal
February 5
Lost Themes III: Alive After Death - John Carpenter - Sacred Bones
February 19
Zappa - John Frizzell, songs - Zappa Records
April 2
No Time to Die - Hans Zimmer - Decca
Date Unknown
Civilta Del Mediterraneo - Bruno Nicolai - Kronos
Fireball XL5 - Barry Gray - Silva
Gaza Mon Amour - Andre Matthias - Kronos
L'Uomo Europo - Francesco DeMasi - Kronos
The Shepherd - Arthur Valentin Grosz - Kronos
Sostiene Pereira - Ennio Morricone - Caldera
Viking Women and the Sea Serpent - Albert Glasser - Kronos
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
January 8 - Bernard Herrmann begins recording his score to On Dangerous Ground (1951)
January 8 - Bruce Broughton begins recording his score for The Boy Who Could Fly (1986)
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)
January 10 - Jesus Garcia Leoz born (1904)
January 10 - Recording sessions begin for Hugo Friedhofer’s score to Wild Harvest (1947)
January 10 - Tom Chase born (1949)
January 10 - Carlo Siliotto born (1950)
January 10 - Recording sessions begin for Frederick Hollander's score for The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1952)
January 10 - Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Wounded” (1991)
January 11 - Charles Previn born (1888)
January 11 - Francesco De Masi born (1930)
January 11 - Michael J. Lewis born (1939)
January 11 - Wolfgang Zeller died (1967)
January 11 - Robert Prince records his score for The New Adventures of Wonder Woman episode “Spaced Out” (1979)
January 11 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The High Ground" (1990)
January 11 - David Whitaker died (2012)
January 12 - Joseph Gershenson born (1904)
January 12 - Pino Calvi born (1930)
January 12 - Franco Piersanti born (1950)
January 12 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score to Men of the Fighting Lady (1954)
January 12 - Frank LaLoggia born (1954)
January 12 - Jeremy Sams born (1957)
January 12 - Gabriel Migliori born (1975)
January 12 - Maurice Jarre begins recording his score for Mandingo (1975)
January 12 - John Williams begins recording his score for Family Plot (1976)
January 12 - Anna Meredith born (1978)
January 12 - Bryan Senti born (1983)
January 12 - Basil Poledouris begins recording his score to Amerika (1987)
January 12 - David Newman records his score for the Amazing Stories episode "Such Interesting Neighbors" (1987)
January 12 - Luis Bonfa died (2001)
January 12 - Sadao Bekku died (2012)
January 13 - Richard Addinsell born (1904)
January 13 - Bruno Coulais born (1954)
January 13 - Trevor Rabin born (1954)
January 13 - Frederick Hollander begins recording his score for Sabrina (1954)
January 13 - Richard Hazard records his score for the Mission: Impossible episode “Kitara” (1971)
January 13 - John Frizzell records his score for the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Proving Ground” (2004)
January 14 - Hans J. Salter born (1896)
January 14 - Mark Lawrence born (1921)
January 14 - Lex de Azevedo born (1943)
January 14 - T Bone Burnett born (1948)
January 14 - Elmer Bernstein begins recording score to The Great Escape (1963)
January 14 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for Von Ryan’s Express (1965)
January 14 - Dave Grohl born (1969)
January 14 - Maurice Jarre begins recording his score for Plaza Suite (1971)
January 14 - Harry Nilsson died (1994)
January 14 - Emil Stern died (1997)
January 14 - Fred Myrow died (1999)
January 14 - Harvey R. Cohen died (2007)
January 14 - Angela Morley died (2009)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
THE CROODS: A NEW AGE - Mark Mothersbaugh
"The songs by Mark Mothersbaugh are bangers, naturally, and parents might be glad to discover that the catchiest song on the soundtrack isn’t a new one, but the Partridge Family classic, 'I Think I Love You.' If only the rest of the film were more memorable. It’s not a disappointment by any means. It’s what you expect from the characters and the world, and it gets the job done. But the most enthusiasm we can muster of 'A New Age' is that it isn’t new -- it’s the same primitive family-friendly fare that made the original a box-office sensation."
Asher Luberto, The Playlist
"With no disrespect meant to the film’s composer, Mark Mothersbaugh, 'A New Age' received a noticeable downgrade from Alan Silvestri’s original score. The soundtrack was one of the highlights in 'The Croods,' punctuating its important moments with a weight that only Silvestri and a handful of other composers add. Mothersbaugh’s, by comparison, is completely unmemorable, serving each scene’s purpose but never exceeding it. That said, 'The Croods' was never meant to be an emotional franchise to start with, so perhaps Silvestri’s loss isn’t as damaging here as it might be in something more dramatic."
Joseph Stanichar, Paste Magazine
"In some cases, it pays off to play against type. Rather than seeing each other as rivals, Eep and Dawn hit it off, heading out on adventures together. And once the movie hits its truly crazy streak in the final third, it’s the men who are captured and offered to the monster, while Gran and her 'Thunder Sisters' do the rescuing. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t exhausted long before the movie turned into a sequence of antic action scenes. In fact, that feeling set in after the first five minutes, when the Croods were battling giant 'kangadillos' in a breakneck canyon race. (It doesn’t help that Mark Mothersbaugh’s busy score elbows into every moment where we might catch our breath.)"
Peter Debruge, Variety
"Editor James Ryan and composer Mark Mothersbaugh work overtime keeping the thin story barreling along to a concluding message almost identical to that of the first movie -- that strength and intellect are mutually beneficial and a unified pack is the way forward. But despite the talents of the pro voice cast (Cage and Stone once again are MVPs) and the attention to detail in the CG environments, the movie is more often assaultive than engaging, and seldom genuinely funny. Unless you think slapping a soundtrack of Partridge Family and Spandau Ballet pop hits on a prehistoric romance is hilarious, in which case, you're welcome to it."
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
DREAMING GRAND AVENUE - Seth Boustead
“Dreaming Grand Avenue'' isn't altogether a neo-noir, a romance, or a social justice piece. It’s as varied as our nightly fantasies, accompanied here by a mystifying score from Seth Boustead. But by the time Schulze adds both a demonic figure (Jay Worthington) who works to tempt Jimmy, and the Indigenous employers who want Jimmy to paint a medicine wheel—an ode to Chicago’s Potawatomi past—“Dreaming Grand Avenue'' stumbles to an unearned finish. And while there’s quite a bit to admire about Schulze’s ambition, by trying to address all of his characters’ ills he awakes to the prime disease—the erasure of people of color from Chicago—when it’s too late.
Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
FOSTER BOY - Kathryn Bostic
"By the time we finally arrive at the moving scene where Jamal opens up about the crimes committed against him, performing verses he had written in journals as a mode of coping with the trauma, it is too little too late. In a maddening flourish, Jamal’s tearful monologue is accompanied by the hokey swell of a non-diegetic score, a layer of artifice that does little more than distract from how effective an actor McGhie is in conveying his character’s raw agony on his own terms. After a pat resolution in which all the formulaic cogs click into place at the expected time, we are faced with a title card informing us that of the half a million children currently in foster care, over forty percent of them will end up 'homeless, incarcerated or die within three years of leaving the foster care system.' These children are sorely deserving of having this injustice be addressed in a film that doesn’t upstage their plight with the hollow heroics of a white savior. Had the filmmakers put forth the effort to view the story through Jamal’s eyes, they may have had a worthy cinematic counterpart to their noble off-camera achievements."
Matt Fagerholm, RogerEbert.com
HAPPIEST SEASON - Amie Doherty
"Cinematographer John Gulesarian ('An American Pickle'), aided by the art directors and set decorators, gives the proceedings all the coziness and twinkle lights that the season demands, and the score by Amie Doherty ('The High Note') dovetails nicely with soundtrack producer Justin Tranter’s compilation of Christmas songs performed by the likes of Sia and Tegan & Sara."
Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM - Branford Marsalis
"Washington, who serves as lead producer here, has expressed his hope to make screen versions of all 10 plays in Wilson's Century Cycle. Like the film of 'Fences,' 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' is too inextricably welded to its theatrical conception to become fully cinematic, even with Schliessler's lustrous visuals and the deluxe trappings of Mark Ricker's period production design, Ann Roth's gorgeous costumes and Branford Marsalis' jazzy underscoring. But watching actors of this caliber lose themselves in characters of such aching humanity is ample reward, with Boseman's towering work standing as a testament to a blazing talent lost too soon. It's impossible to watch his astonishingly gutsy performance without the sorrowful feeling that he's acting like he's running out of time."
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
SOUND OF METAL - Abraham Marder
"One of the best features of 'Sound of Metal' is its refusal to indulge in triumph-of-the-human-spirit clichés that so often weigh down disability narratives. Ruben’s hearing loss is sudden and shocking, and while editor Mikkel E.G. Nielsen ('Beasts of No Nation') uses montage to portray Ruben’s experiences and progress in the community, neither that editing nor Abraham Marder’s score are trying to push our 'Rocky' buttons."
Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
SPIRAL - Avery Kentis
"Unfortunately, the movie’s genre elements don’t do much to compliment Malik’s worries. Viewers will find most the scares familiar, from creaky basements and blood-soaked attics to the standard, cult finale. The score is fine, mixing quiet synths with hair-raising music cues, which play an important part in foreshadowing where this dark, twisted narrative is going. Hint: It’s going nowhere good for Malik, the only Black guy in town."
Asher Luberto, The Playlist
STARDUST - Anne Nitikin
"If you're going to have an announcer welcome to the stage Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, 'in their first performance on Planet Earth,' you either need a sizzling classic Bowie track or at least a strong semblance of the Bowie sound of that era. Flynn is an accomplished musician, who also plays acoustic guitar, harmonium and violin on Anne Nitikin's trippy period-flavored score, and he aces the vocal requirements of the role. But the scrappy version of 'I Wish You Would,' an unmemorable cut from Bowie's 1973 covers album 'Pin Ups,' merely dulls the impact of the protagonist's butterfly-like emergence from his cocoon of insecurity."
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
THE SWERVE - Mark Korven
"Kapsalis knows the story he wants to tell and he sticks to it in a controlled way. Nothing distracts. The color scheme is extremely specific, all chilly blues and greys, monochrome, lifeless. The colors are so controlled that when bright colors do show up -- in the the vivid greens of the produce section in the store, in the red and white checkered cloth over Holly's fresh-baked apple pies -- they register like a warning bell. Something is not right. Holly is often placed off-center in the frame, huddled in the corner with space above her head, a visual manifestation of the yawning abyss around her. Mark Korven's unnerving score gives Holly's mental state the tenor of a horror film."
Sheila O’Malley, RogerEbert.com
UNCLE FRANK - Nathan Barr
"At least it looks good. Ball’s staging is often stilted, particularly once the party arrives back in South Carolina -- there’s a scene in which one can practically feel how badly Martindale wants to get out of her armchair and do some real acting. But with the help of cinematographer Khalid Mohtaseb and composer Nathan Barr, Ball manages to conjure a hell of a lot of atmosphere. The New York sun plays differently than the light in South Carolina; somehow the Southern air feels different, too."
Allison Shoemaker, The Onion AV Club
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
This section of my weekly column was originally inspired by Steven Soderbergh's blog, where once a year he posts a list of everything he watched and read in the previous year. For those interested in what Soderbergh enjoyed in 2020, go to this link.
Heard: The Top Part (Mulaney), Ad Astra (Richter/Balfe), North by Northwest (Herrmann), Stranger Things 3 (Dixon/Stein), Windflowers: The Songs of Jerome Moross (Moross), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Williams), She Loves Me (Bock), Gimme Shelter (Arnalds), Orbitones, Spoon Harps & Bellowphones (various), Hotel Artemis (Martinez), Bang, Bang: The Early Years (Cher), Miss Potter (Westlake/Portman), Alive (Howard), Prancer (Jarre), The Power and the Glory (Rosenthal), The Blue-Eyed Bandit (Morricone), Paris Under the Stars (Tiomkin), Oh, Come On (Cross), The Big Fix (Conti), Blue Denim (Herrmann), Her Alibi (Delerue), Dolores Claiborne (Elfman), Kismet (Borodin/Wright/Forrest), U.S. Marshals (Goldsmith), Forbidden Planets: Music from the Pioneers of Electronic Sound (various), Road House (Kamen)
Read: Limitations, by Scott Turow
Seen: I'm hoping No Time to Die gets delayed once more, until after the vaccines are more widely distributed. This is not impossible, especially since it's a rare tentpole/franchise that tends to skew towards older moviegoers, who are less inclined to risk their lives just to see a new movie -- even a Bond movie.
Watched: Star Trek: Discovery ("Saints of Imperfection"); Westworld ("Akane no Mai"); Alias ("Page 47"); Tales That Witness Madness; Archer ("The Figgis Agency"); Torchy Gets Her Man; Star Trek: Discovery ("The Sound of Thunder"); Westworld ("Phase Space"); Barry ("Chapter One: Make Your Mark")
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