The laest release from Intrada is Hans Zimmer's score for director Penny Marshall's hit 1992 women's baseball comedy A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, starring Geena Davis, Tom Hanks and Madonna. The original soundtrack release featured mostly songs plus a suite of Zimmer's music, while Intrada's League includes nearly an hour of Zimmer music (though not, not surprisingly, Madonna's song "This Used To Be My Playground.")
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Atragon - Akira Ifukube - Cinema-Kan
A League of Their Own - Hans Zimmer - Intrada Special Collection
Sarah, Plain and Tall/Skylark - David Shire - Caldera
IN THEATERS TODAY
The Amateur - Volker Bertelmann
Drop - Bear McCreary
The King of Kings - Tae Seong Kim
Marshmallow - Nicholas Elert
Sacramento - Peter Erskine
That They May Face the Rising Sun - Irene Buckley, Linda Buckley
Warfare - no original score
When Fall Is Coming - Sacha & Evgueni Galperine
COMING SOON
April 18
La morte non conta i dollari - Nora Orlandi, Robby Poitevin - Beat
L'anticristo/Sepolta viva - Ennio Morricone - Beat
May 2
Once Within a Time - Philip Glass, Susan Deyhim - Orange Mountain
May 9
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare - Chris Benstead - Filmtrax
May 23
Speak No Evil - Sune "Koter" Kolster - Svart
May 30
The Brutalist - Daniel Blumberg - Milan
Coming Soon
Gladiator - Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard - La-La Land
Stand By for Action! 2: Tunes of Danger - various - Silva
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
April 11 - Norman McLaren born (1914)
April 11 - Koichi Sugiyama born (1931)
April 11 - Herbert Stothart begins recording his score to Dragon Seed (1944)
April 11 - Caleb Sampson born (1953)
April 11 - Edwin Wendler born (1975)
April 11 - John Williams wins his fourth Oscar, for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial's score; Jack Nitzsche wins his only Oscar, for An Officer and a Gentleman's song "Up Where We Belong"; Henry Mancini wins his fourth and final Oscar, for Victor/Victoria's song score (1983)
April 11 - Alan Silvestri begins recording his score for Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
April 11 - Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne, Cong Su win Oscars for their Last Emperor score (1988)
April 12 - Russell Garcia born (1916)
April 12 - Edwin Astley born (1922)
April 12 - Ronald Stein born (1930)
April 12 - Herbie Hancock born (1940)
April 12 - David Raksin begins recording his score for Right Cross (1950)
April 12 - Herbert Gronemeyer born (1956)
April 12 - Andy Garcia born (1956)
April 12 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score to Lust For Life (1956)
April 12 - Lisa Gerrard born (1961)
April 12 - Elmer Bernstein begins recording his score for Rampage (1963)
April 12 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for One Little Indian (1973)
April 12 - Georg Haentzschel died (1992)
April 12 - Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Shattered Mirror” (1996)
April 12 - Jay Chattaway records his score for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “The Changing Face of Evil” (1999)
April 12 - Richard Shores died (2001)
April 12 - Bruce Broughton begins recording his score to Eloise at the Plaza (2003)
April 13 - Vladimir Cosma born (1940)
April 13 - Bill Conti born (1942)
April 13 - John Addison wins his only Oscar, for Tom Jones's score (1964)
April 13 - Joel J. Richard born (1976)
April 13 - Howard Shore begins recording his score for Sliver (1993)
April 13 - John Williams begins recording his score for Minority Report (2002)
April 13 - Teo Usuelli died (2009)
April 14 - Jack Shaindlin born (1909)
April 14 - Ali Akbar Khan born (1922)
April 14 - Shorty Rogers born (1924)
April 14 - A.C. Newman born (1968)
April 14 - John Barry wins his third Oscar, for The Lion in Winter score (1969)
April 14 - Win Butler born (1980)
April 14 - Georges Delerue wins his only Oscar, for A Little Romance's score; David Shire wins song Oscar for Norma Rae's "It Goes Like It Goes" (1980)
April 14 - Elisabeth Lutyens died (1983)
April 14 - Jay Chattaway records his score for the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “E2 (2004)
April 15 - Gert Wilden born (1917)
April 15 - Michael Kamen born (1948)
April 15 - Dick Maas born (1951)
April 15 - Carlo Crivelli born (1953)
April 15 - Bernard Herrmann begins recording his score for A Hatful of Rain (1957)
April 15 - John Williams records his replacement score for the Land of the Giants pilot episode “The Crash” (1968)
April 15 - Francis Lai wins his only Oscar, for Love Story’s score (1971)
April 15 - John Greenwood died (1975)
April 15 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for Parts 1 & 2 of Masada (1980)
April 15 - John Williams records his score for the Amazing Stories episode "Ghost Train" (1985)
April 15 - Tim McIntire died (1986)
April 15 - Arthur Morton died (2000)
April 15 - Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Enterprise episode “Cogenitor” (2003)
April 15 - Les Reed died (2019)
April 15 - Lee Konitz died (2020)
April 16 - Charles Chaplin born (1889)
April 16 - Warren Barker born (1923)
April 16 - Henry Mancini born (1924)
April 16 - Perry Botkin Jr. born (1933)
April 16 - Chaz Jankel born (1952)
April 16 - David Raksin records his score for Pat and Mike (1952)
April 16 - Alex North begins recording his score for Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
April 16 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for The Detective (1968)
April 16 - Jay Chattaway records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Frame of Mind” (1993)
April 17 - Jan Hammer born (1948)
April 17 - David Bell born (1954)
April 17 - Recording sessions begin for Bronislau Kaper's score for The Power and the Prize (1956)
April 17 - Ernest Gold wins his only Oscar, for the Exodus score (1961)
April 17 - Elmer Bernstein begins recording his score for Summer and Smoke (1961)
April 17 - Philippe Sarde begins recording his score for The Tenant (1976)
April 17 - John Williams begins recording his score for Stanley & Iris (1989)
April 17 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for Dennis the Menace (1993)
April 17 - Paul Baillargeon records his score for the Enterprise episode “Vox Sola” (2002)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
BLACK BAG - David Holmes
"'Black Bag' isn’t overly concerned with the rest of George and Kathryn’s fellow spies, but the film would never have been able to justify the seductive groove of David Holmes’ score or survive the sterility of Soderbergh’s direction -- a sterility this story is able to weaponize to its advantage more effectively than anything he’s made since 'Side Effects' -- without the lifeforce the supporting cast brings with them."
David Ehrlich, IndieWire
"Like when George spikes his entrée and needles his guests, their secrets and complications, insults and come-ons, flooding George and Kathryn’s immaculately designed open floor plan home. Each performance is pitch-perfect. Burke is gregarious, his charm carrying a touch of sliminess. Regé-Jean Page has venom in his smile. But it’s Harris and Abela who impressed me most. When Harris’s Zoe tells Kathryn that an 'aroma of hostility wafts in ahead of you' -- so perfectly delivered that the words could bleed a stone dry -- I cackled with delight. And Marisa Abela, I’d seen you before but I wasn’t familiar with your game. You’re bold and bruising, with a mask-off ferocity that brings out the vitality of any scene partner. It’s a pure shot of joy watching these actors play off one another in Soderbergh’s barbed yet mesmerizing world of chrome and charisma, where bodies are forever in motion toward their next hit of pleasure or violence, all encased in a spiky, felicitous score by David Holmes (who worked with Soderbergh on the 'Ocean’s' films)."
Angelica Jade Bastien, New York
"Serving as DP and editor under his customary pseudonyms, Peter Andrews and Mary Ann Bernard, respectively, Soderbergh gives the film a lustrous look, with lots of sinuous tracking shots and slashes of lens flare. The jazzy rhythms are echoed by David Holmes’ moody, percussive score."
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
HELL OF A SUMMER - Jay McCarroll
"The kills themselves are extremely tame, but Bryk and Wolfhard play them for laughs by leaning on a variety of silly match cuts (to the point that it’s easy to forgive certain lapses in logic re: which murders we’re seeing and why). Meanwhile, Jay McCarrol’s Carpenter-esque synths help thread the needle between sincerity and homage. The cast keeps the energy up throughout, the goofy but resolute Hechinger most of all, and it never fails to amuse that each of the characters only cares about the murders so far as they reflect their own self-image; when Bobby figures out that the counselors are dying in reverse order of hotness, he’s furious that no one has tried to butcher him yet."
David Ehrlich, IndieWire
"In 'Hell of a Summer,' the lightly humorous yet oddly undercooked feature debut of co-writers, -directors and -stars Finn Wolfhard ('Stranger Things') and Billy Bryk, every element feels like it’s a gateway to what could be a solid enough film. Alas, despite it trying to take parts of better horror films (including its John Carpenter-esque score), it never arrives there in one piece. The familiar premise, which involves a group of young counselors being picked off one by one at the remote Camp Pineway by a masked killer, is defined not by a dynamic dance of death, but by a prevailing lifelessness to its execution. Even as it strives to be a 'Friday the 13th' meets 'Wet Hot American Summer' romp, it lacks the punch of either of these respective genre classics. Instead, for all it throws at you, it’s neither consistently funny nor scary enough to leave a mark."
Chase Hutchinson, The Wrap
"Now, I’ve been on Earth as long as Wolfhard and Bryk put together, and yet, these two have clearly seen more slasher movies than me. I’d actually put off watching 'Friday the 13th' until last year, when researching Variety’s 100 Best Horror Movies of All Time list forced me to check it out … even if the film didn’t make the cut. By contrast, the young filmmakers have not only seen but internalized that movie and so many of its imitators, to the point that they can both quote and subvert the codes -- from Jay McCarrol’s catchy electronic score (a hat tip to John Carpenter) to the postmodern killer-as-pop-culture-addict meta-critique screenwriter Kevin Williamson brought to 'Scream.'"
Peter Debruge, Variety
OPUS - Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans (score); Nile Rodgers, The-Dream (songs)
"The plot does veer off the rails somewhat in the final act, as the all-too-obvious starts happening and blood is shed. But it’s impossible to resist Malkovich as Moretti, particularly when he’s gyrating his hips while wearing a golden space suit and performing one of his new tracks to the captive audience. With brilliantly funky tracks (especially ‘Dina, Simone’) supplied by Chic legend Nile Rodgers and The-Dream, he’s clearly lost none of his genius. Dialling up the weirdness, there’s also a puppet show devoted to the 'tragedy' of singer Billie Holiday."
James Mottram, NME.com
"It’s certainly not helpful that Malkovich appears pretty checked out during the film. If Moretti is supposed to be some amalgamation of Elton John, David Bowie, Prince, and other innovators of ’70s and ’80s pop stardom, Malkovich (who definitely does have a peculiar mystique about him usually) seems unable to cast much of a spell as anyone who would warrant a legion of lackeys, much less those who’d live on campus with him. The couple of songs in the film, produced by Nile Rodgers and The-Dream, have a dizzy and dazed thwomp about them. But Malkovich’s voice is so digitally augmented and the production is so synth heavy that you don’t get a sense of the lyrics and artistry that are supposed to be so appealing about the character."
Kyle Turner, Slant Magazine
"But, as expected, the real star of the show is Malkovich as Moretti, a grand spectacle of a man who is celebrity personified to the extreme. Malkovich is having a ball here, and he truly is a star you can’t take your eyes off when he’s on screen. Malkovich plays Moretti as both a mystery and likable figure, so it’s understandable why so many would follow him. At the same time, we can tell that there’s something far more sinister and egotistical underneath the surface. Malkovich also recorded the Moretti songs himself, which were also worked on by Nile Rogers and The-Dream, and simply put, these songs are absolute bangers. Honestly, Opus could quite possibly turn 71-year-old Malkovich into a pop star, and fingers crossed that happens."
Ross Bonaime, Collider
"The three original songs in 'Opus,' written by industry heavyweights Nile Rodgers and The-Dream, also lack the oomph that Green so hopelessly attempts to conjure. 'Dina Simone,' Moretti’s ‘90s hit, is presented as one of the greatest pop songs to have ever graced the planet, yet its chorus never had a chance of becoming a successful earworm. Even the new material -- which the invitees, including Ariel, fawn over -- hardly feels evocative of a late period masterpiece. 'Bring me ass, bring me lips,' he moans in the chorus of one such song, which inspires an erotic dance circle among the press. Aside from being generic, the songwriting oddly doesn’t even connect to the sinister plot that unfolds on the compound, a lost opportunity to tie the adored singer’s catalogue into the group’s ploy for cultural domination."
Natalia Keogan, Paste Magazine
"Beyond three great songs written by Nile Rodgers and The-Dream and recorded by Malkovich (yes, that’s him singing), as well as a wild live performance by Moretti, the movie only gets interesting at the very end. The tone turns serious and Green unspools the real, transgressive ideas he wants to play with. A pop star with a vendetta against a media machine that tried to tear him down? For the most part, that’s just a red herring. There are real stakes at play, and there are more questions that need to be answered. It’s all just a little too late for you to genuinely care."
Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist
"Obviously, things aren’t going to end well, but they sure do take their time getting there. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing: The film is at its best when it lets Malkovich be a supreme oddball enacting little charades for his followers and performing his songs for the journalists he’s gathered. Watching Moretti in a caftan and a golden disco robot suit, lip-syncing while running in literal circles around his listeners and periodically pausing to gyrate and thrust in their laps, we’re taken with both Malkovich’s playful physicality and his hilarious stone face that, counterintuitively, goes with this perfectly. And it helps too that the songs are quite catchy old-school techno tunes with shouted, one-word lyrics that are mainly there to provide a background for beats and dreamy melodies. These were created by Nile Rodgers and The-Dream, and while you can laugh at the songs, you might also start dancing to them. They’re pitched at the same level as Malkovich’s performance: self-aware, silly, but involving."
Bilge Ebiri, New York
"In hindsight, the film makes its point more effectively during the earlier moment when Alfred performs an awkward dance while his supposed masterpiece plays in the background, his guests too enraptured by their proximity to an icon to care that the music is recycled pop swill. The song is as unexceptional and repetitive as the rest of the movie around it, but it demands that people clap along to it all the same."
Chase Hutchinson, IndieWire
"'Opus' is an attack on media mouthpieces and mindless sycophants, but its barbs only scratch the surface before the inevitable mayhem takes over. First-time writer/director Mark Anthony Green, a former style columnist for GQ, has a good feel for the media landscape, but his storytelling needs more definition. Too many scenes need greater exposition and more precise aim. The film’s closing sequence is somewhat baffling, as well. Most prominently, the film needs much better music in order for us to believe that Moretti is a musical god revered the world over. (The film’s music is by the legendary Nile Rodgers and The-Dream, who are also credited as producers.) Malkovich does his own singing and pelvis-thrusting and carries on in his inscrutable Malkovich way, while Edebiri holds her own in the lead role. The fabulous costumes (by Shirley Kurata) and Malkovich’s diverting turn will be the reasons for checking into this mysterious retreat. However, I bet that there’s already another group of movie characters waiting in the wings to fly away to the next ill-advised excursion."
Marjorie Baumgarten, The Austin Chronicle
"If “Opus” has any chance to plausibly sell Moretti as a great icon, whose influence is compared to the likes of David Bowie and Prince, it needs to feature some truly sensational tunes. Sadly, it doesn’t, despite sporting original songs from legendary producer Nile Rodgers and The-Dream. The first track that introduces Moretti, 'Dina Simone' (actually sang by Malkovich like the rest of the tracks), is catchy enough, but a silly and inconsequential, no matter how much Green tries to convince the audience (through a globe-spanning montage of fans singing and dancing to it) that it is one of the greatest hits that humanity has known. In Shirley Kurata’s eye-popping costumes -- embellished velvet get-ups, vibrant eccentric ensembles and a shiny silver spacesuit -- the styling of Moretto suggests he is a combination of Bowie, Elton John and Daft Punk. But he doesn’t have the songs to show it."
Tomris Laffly, Variety
"'Opus' starts off on a relatively strong note, first with Green’s brief portrayal of magazine office culture and then with Ariel’s early experience at the compound. The film boasts the same sleek aesthetic as its predecessors, a choice that heightens the artifice of these scenarios. The score (composed by Danny Besi and Saunder Jurriaans) is appropriately haunting, and it’s a nice touch that Moretti’s songs are written by Nile Rodgers and The-Dream."
Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter
SEVEN VEILS - Mychael Danna
"Alas, it's possible to affirm that Egoyan's reunion with Seyfried 15 years after shooting 'Chloe' was well worth the wait. 'Seven Veils' is an intense psychodrama, enriched by Seyfried's magnetism and the director's ability to piece together the content of Strauss' opera with the protagonist's repressed memories. Its breathtaking cinematography and eerie score add texture to the film's dramatic turn of events, as well as allow for there to be a difference between the opera as it were for a live audience and the opera presented on a screen. Although the project offers a gripping character study, inspecting the blurred lines between art and life, it does fall through when it comes to balancing Clea's arc with the main character's nuanced journey. Leaving certain aspects of the story open to interpretation, Egoyan's most recent work will surely appeal to those who don't mind having far more questions than spoon-fed answers by the time the credits roll."
Isabella Soares, Collider
"Phillip Barker’s production design is sumptuous and at times just a little bit sinister, with flickers of images projected across undulating backdrops conveying shadowy hints of German Expressionism. Mychael Danna’s admirably low-key score knows better than to try to compete with all those grand operatic flourishes."
Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter
A WORKING MAN - Jared Michael Fry
"Ayer’s visuals are aptly gritty and Jared Michael Fry’s score telegraphs every twist with unsubtle bombast, and the plot is mostly around to give the headliner a reason to destroy a procession of enemies. It’s as straightforward as they come, and determined to posit its hero as a righteous avenger, such that he even saves Dr. Roth from a burning building and, for his valor, is encouraged by the grandpa to finish what he started."
Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older movies in Los Angeles-area theaters.
April 11
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (Elliot Goldenthal) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI (Michael Boddicker) [BrainDead Studios]
AFTER HOURS (Howard Shore), DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN (Thomas Newman) [New Beverly]
BLADE RUNNER (Vangelis) [Academy Museum]
CASINO [Vista]
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (John Williams) [BrainDead Studios]
THE FLY (Howard Shore) [Nuart]
GATES OF HEAVEN, VERNON, FLORIDA (Claude Register) [Aero]
JU DOU (Zhao Jiping) [Academy Museum]
KILL BILL: VOL. 2 (RZA, Robert Rodriguez) [New Beverly]
THE LAST DRAGON (Misha Segal) [New Beverly]
MADONNA: TRUTH OR DARE [Egyptian]
THE ROOM (Mladen Milicevic) [Landmark Westwood]
STARSHIP TROOPERS (Basil Poledouris) [Vista]
VAMPIRE HUNTER D (Testuyo Kimoya) [Alamo Drafthouse]
April 12
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (Elliot Goldenthal) [Alamo Drafthouse]
AFTER HOURS (Howard Shore), DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN (Thomas Newman) [New Beverly]
THE BEAR (Philippe Sarde) [Egyptian]
BLADE RUNNER (Vangelis) [Academy Museum]
CASINO [Vista]
DAZED AND CONFUSED [Alamo Drafthouse]
DUNE (Toto) [Vidiots]
FAST, CHEAP & OUT OF CONTROL (Caleb Sampson) [Los Feliz 3]
FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (Ray Cooper) [New Beverly]
THE FLINTSTONES (David Newman) [Vidiots]
A GOOFY MOVIE (Carter Burwell) [El Capitan]
HATED: GG ALLIN AND THE MURDER JUNKIES [Los Feliz 3]
HORSE FEATHERS [Vista]
HOUSE OF WAX (David Buttolph) [New Beverly]
KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE (Joe Hisaishi) [Vidiots]
NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (Joe Hisaishi) [Academy Museum]
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Richard O'Brien, Richard Hartley) [Nuart]
THE ROOM (Mladen Milicevic) [Landmark Westwood]
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (A.R. Rahman) [Vidiots]
STARSHIP TROOPERS (Basil Poledouris) [Vista]
THE THIN BLUE LINE (Philip Glass), A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME (Philip Glass) [Egyptian]
April 13
AFTER HOURS (Howard Shore), DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN (Thomas Newman) [New Beverly]
THE BIG CHILL [BrainDead Studios]
BIRD (Lennie Niehaus) [Vidiots]
THE CRAZY FAMILY [BrainDead Studios]
CASINO [Vista]
CREED (Ludwig Goransson) [Alamo Drafthouse]
EARTH (George Fenton) [UCLA/Hammer]
ENCHANTED (Alan Menken) [Vidiots]
HAMLET (Patrick Doyle) [Fine Arts]
HORSE FEATHERS [Vista]
HOUSE OF WAX (David Buttolph) [New Beverly]
KOYAANISQATSI (Philip Glass) [Aero]
NOBODY'S FOOL (Howard Shore) [Academy Museum]
NOT FADE AWAY [Alamo Drafthouse]
PSYCHO (Bernard Herrmann) [Los Feliz 3]
SELENA (Dave Grusin) [Alamo Drafthouse]
VAMPIRE HUNTER D (Testuyo Kimoya) [Alamo Drafthouse]
April 14
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (Elliot Goldenthal) [Alamo Drafthouse]
BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE (Sung Woo-jo) [Academy Museum]
BLADE RUNNER (Vangelis) [Academy Museum]
CASINO [Vista]
CREED (Ludwig Goransson) [Alamo Drafthouse]
CURE (Gary Ashiya) [Vidiots]
THE DRAGON, THE HERO (Wen Ma, Chan Tung), THE NEW SOUTH HAND BLOWS AND NORTH KICK BLOWS (Mou-Shan Huang) [New Beverly]
SELENA (Dave Grusin) [Alamo Drafthouse]
TOP SECRET! (Maurice Jarre) [Culver]
April 15
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (Elliot Goldenthal) [Alamo Drafthouse]
ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (Max Steiner), THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL (Max Steiner) [New Beverly]
BLUE VELVET (Angelo Badalamenti) [Landmark Pasadena]
CASINO [Vista]
SELENA (Dave Grusin) [Alamo Drafthouse]
April 16
ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (Max Steiner), THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL (Max Steiner) [New Beverly]
CALIFORNIA SPLIT [BrainDead Studios]
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (Sufjan Stevens) [Egyptian]
CASINO [Vista]
CENTRAL STATION (Antonio Pinto, Jacques Morelenbaum) [Academy Museum]
THE DEADLY SPAWN (Michael Perilstein) [Alamo Drafthouse]
OUT OF AFRICA (John Barry) [Egyptian]
SELENA (Dave Grusin) [Alamo Drafthouse]
VAMPIRE HUNTER D (Testuyo Kimoya) [Alamo Drafthouse]
April 17
DAZED AND CONFUSED [Alamo Drafthouse]
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (Shigeru Umebayashi) [Academy Museum]
SHORT CUTS (Mark Isham) [New Beverly]
April 18
CRASH (Howard Shore) [Nuart]
THE DEAD ZONE (Michael Kamen) [Vidiots]
FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE (Zhao Jiping) [Academy Museum]
FEMALE TROUBLE [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE FLY (Howard Shore) [BrainDead Studios]
KILL BILL: VOL 2 (RZA, Robert Rodriguez) [New Beverly]
THE MATRIX (Don Davis) [Academy Museum]
MIDNIGHT COWBOY (John Barry) [BrainDead Studios]
MUSTANG (Warren Ellis), CUTIES (Niko Noki) [UCLA/Hammer]
PRINCESS MONONOKE (Joe Hisaishi) [Egyptian]
REEFER MADNESS (Abe Meyer) [Vista]
RUNAWAY TRAIN (Trevor Jones) [New Beverly]
SHORT CUTS (Mark Isham) [New Beverly]
THE THIRD MAN (Anton Karas) [Fine Arts]
TIE ME UP! TIE ME DOWN! (Ennio Morricone) [Fine Arts]
TWISTER (Hans Zimmer) [Aero]
WILD TALES (Gustavo Santaolalla) [Vidiots]
April 19
CLAUDINE (Curtis Mayfield) [Vidiots]
DO THE RIGHT THING (Bill Lee) [Los Feliz 3]
DUMB AND DUMBER (Todd Rundgren) [Vidiots]
EXPERIMENTER (Bryan Senti) [Los Feliz 3]
FERNGULLY: THE LAST RAINFOREST (Alan Silvestri) [Academy Museum]
FINDING DORY (Thomas Newman) [Vidiots]
THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE (Henry Mancini) [New Beverly]
THE GREAT RACE (Henry Mancini) [Fine Arts]
HARVEY (Frank Skinner) [Vista]
HUD (Elmer Bernstein) [Fine Arts]
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING WOMAN (Suzanne Ciani) [New Beverly]
KILLING THEM SOFTLY (Marc Strieitenfeld) [Los Feliz 3]
KING KONG (Max Steiner) [Fine Arts]
THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE (Carter Burwell) [Los Feliz 3]
MARJORIE PRIME (Mica Levi) [Egyptian]
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (Ralph Burns) [BrainDead Studios]
PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE (Danny Elfman) [Aero]
POPCORN (Paul Zaza) [New Beverly]
REEFER MADNESS (Abe Meyer) [Vista]
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Richard O'Brien, Richard Hartley) [Nuart]
THE SWIMMER (Marvin Hamlisch), DAVID AND LISA [Aero]
TEKKONKINKREET (Plaid) [BrainDead Studios]
TOKYO DRIFTER (Hajime Kaburagi) [Vidiots]
TOMMY BOY (David Newman) [Alamo Drafthouse]
April 20
AFTER THE FOX (Burt Bacharach) [BrainDead Studios]
AIRPLANE! (Elmer Bernstein), THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF POLICE SQUAD (Ira Newborn) [Fine Arts]
DAZED AND CONFUSED [Egyptian]
DONNIE DARKO (Michael Andrews), THE EVIL DEAD (Joseph LoDuca) [Aero]
THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE (Henry Mancini) [New Beverly]
HARVEY (Frank Skinner) [Aero]
HARVEY (Frank Skinner) [Vista]
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING WOMAN (Suzanne Ciani) [New Beverly]
INHERENT VICE (Jonny Greenwood) [Vidiots]
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (Denny Zeitlin) [BrainDead Studios]
LADYBUG LADYBUG (Robett Cobert) [Los Feliz 3]
LEAVE NO TRACE (Dickon Hinchliffe) [UCLA/Hammer]
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (Alan Menken, Miles Goodman) [Vidiots]
MAGNOLIA (Jon Brion) [Academy Museum]
MARY POPPINS (Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, Irwin Kostal) [Fine Arts]
MARY POPPINS (Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, Irwin Kostal) [Vidiots]
THE MATRIX (Don Davis) [Academy Museum]
MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN (DeWolfe) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NADJA (Simon Fisher Turner) [Los Feliz 3]
A PLACE IN THE SUN (Franz Waxman) [Los Feliz 3]
THE PUPPETOON MOVIE (Buddy Baker) [Fine Arts]
SILENCE (Kathryn Kluge, Kim Allen Kluge) [Egyptian]
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
Heard: Hero (Tan); House of Flying Daggers (Umebayashi); Curse of the Golden Flower (Umebayashi); The Flowers of War (Chen); Coming Home (Chen); Shadow (Lao); Appleseed (Takahashi); Temptress Moon (Zhao); Killing Me Softly (Doyle); The Wedding Banquet (Mader); Together (Zhao); Reel Life: The Private Music of Film Composers, Vol. 1 (various); The Promise (Badelt); I, Robot (Beltrami); Moonraker (Barry); Fahrenheit 9/11 (Gibbs)
Read: Presumed Guilty, by Scott Turow
Seen: The Host [2006]; The Luckiest Man in America; The Woman in the Yard; Hell of a Summer; Memories of Murder; 1941; The Ballad of Wallis Island; Capote; Daughter of Shanghai; King of Chinatown; Island of Lost Men; A Minecraft Movie; Freaky Tales
Watched: Beach Red; Poker Face ("The Late Shift"); Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt ("Kimmy Goes to College!")
My other two Oscar-obsessed friends and I were recently discussing which nominees in specific categories they would have voted for in particular years, so I decided to make a list of which nominated scores I would have voted for during my lifetime (not that I was cognizant of scores, nominations, or even films in 1961, where I ended the year at barely three months-old).
Despite what this list might indicate, John Williams is still only my third favorite film composer, after Goldsmith and Herrmann. One thing to note is that often a composer's best work of a given year is not the one that gets nominated (for example, The Secret of NIMH, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Glory, Stanley & Iris, Rosewood).
Films in parentheses are close runners-up.
1961: Summer and Smoke, Elmer Bernstein (El Cid)
1962: To Kill a Mockingbird, Elmer Bernstein
1963: How the West Was Won, Alfred Newman & Ken Darby (Cleopatra)
1964: Becket, Laurence Rosenthal
1965: The Agony and the Ecstasy, Alex North
1966: The Sand Pebbles, Jerry Goldsmith
1967: Far from the Madding Crowd, Richard Rodney Bennett
1968: Planet of the Apes, Jerry Goldsmith
1969: The Reivers, John Williams (The Wild Bunch)
1970: Patton, Jerry Goldsmith
1971: Nicholas and Alexandra, Richard Rodney Bennett
1972. Sleuth, John Addison
1973: Papillon, Jerry Goldsmith
1974: Chinatown, Jerry Goldsmith (Murder on the Orient Express)
1975: Jaws, John Williams (The Wind and the Lion)
1976: Obsession, Bernard Herrmann
1977: Star Wars, John Williams (Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
1978: Superman, John Williams (The Boys from Brazil, Days of Heaven)
1979: Star Trek -- The Motion Picture, Jerry Goldsmith
1980: The Empire Strikes Back, John Williams
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark, John Williams
1982: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, John Williams
1983: Under Fire, Jerry Goldsmith
1984: The Natural, Randy Newman (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)
1985: Agnes of God, Georges Delerue
1986: The Mission, Ennio Morricone
1987: The Witches of Eastwick, John Williams (Empire of the Sun)
1988: The Accidental Tourist, John Williams
1989: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, John Williams
1990: Dances With Wolves, John Barry
1991: JFK, John Williams
1992: Basic Instinct, Jerry Goldsmith
1993: The Age of Innocence, Elmer Bernstein
1994: Little Women, Thomas Newman
1995: Nixon, John Williams
1996: Michael Collins, Elliot Goldenthal
1997: Amistad, John Williams
1998: The Thin Red Line, Hans Zimmer (Saving Private Ryan)
1999: The Red Violin, John Corigliano
2000: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tan Dun
2001: A.I. Artificial Intelligence, John Williams (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)
2002: Catch Me If You Can, John Williams (Road to Perdition)
2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Howard Shore
2004: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, John Williams
2005: Memoirs of a Geisha, John Williams
2006: The Good German, Thomas Newman
2007: Ratatouille, Michael Giacchino
2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alexandre Desplat (WALL-E)
2009: Up, Michael Giacchino
2010: The King's Speech, Alexandre Desplat
2011: The Adventures of Tintin, John Williams
2012: Lincoln, John Williams
2013: The Book Thief, John Williams
2014: Interstellar, Hans Zimmer
2015: Bridge of Spies, Thomas Newman
2016: Jackie, Mica Levi (La La Land)
2017: Phantom Thread, Jonny Greenwood
2018: If Beale Street Could Talk, Nicholas Britell
2019: Little Women, Alexandre Desplat
2020: Soul, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
2021: The Power of the Dog, Jonny Greenwood
2022: The Banshees of Inisherin, Carter Burwell
2023: Poor Things, Jerskin Fendrix
2024: The Brutalist, Daniel Blumberg
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