Just in case your boxed-sets of Howard Shore's scores for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies were getting lonely on your shelf, Mondo has just announced a ten-CD set of Bear McCreary's music for the first season of the lavish streaming prequel series THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER. Mondo first made this set available to pre-order this last Monday morning, and it apparently sold out its currently announced run by that evening. No word if it will ultimately be available from other on-line sellers.
The latest releases from Buysoundtrax and their related labels are THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE-FICTION, VOL. 3, featuring cues from Elmer Bernstein's scores to the '50s B-movies Cat Women of the Moon and Robot Monster, plus music from Devil Girl from Mars by Edwin Astley (The Saint); THE MORTON STEVENS COLLECTION VOL. 2, featuring the Emmy-winning composer's score for 1979 TV movie The Flame Is Love plus other Stevens compositions; and Craig Safan's score for the TV movie biopic SAMARTIAN: THE MITCH SNYDER STORY, starring Martin Sheen as the activist who crusaded for the rights of the homeless.
IN THEATERS TODAY
Asphalt City - Nicolas Becker, Quentin Sirjacq
A Cat's Life - Julien Jaouen
DogMan - Eric Serra - Score CD on Because Music
Femme - Adam Janota Bzowski
Free Time - Mason Margut
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - Tom Holkenborg, Antonio Di Iorio
In the Land of Saints and Sinners - Diego Baldenweg, Lionel Baldenweg, Nora Baldenweg
Karaoke - Gal Lev, Leo Perla
La Chimera - no original score
Lousy Carter - Leafcuts
Wicked Little Letters - Isobel Waller-Bridge
COMING SOON
April 12
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - Dario Marianelli - Sony (import)
May 17
One Day - Anne Nikitin, Jessica Jones, Tim Morrish - Silva
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
March 29 - Ulpio Minucci died (2007)
March 29 - Maurice Jarre died (2009)
March 29 - Krzysztof Penderecki died (2020)
March 30 - Kan Ishii born (1921)
March 30 - Eric Clapton born (1945)
March 30 - Dimitri Tiomkin wins his third Oscar, for The High and the Mighty score (1955)
March 30 - Georges Delerue begins recording his score for Rapture (1965)
March 30 - Ennio Morricone, inexplicably, doesn't win the Best Score Oscar for The Mission, which was pretty much the only score album anyone in Hollywood listened to during the late '80s; Herbie Hancock wins Oscar for Round Midnight score instead (1987)
March 30 - Alan Menken wins his third and fourth Oscars, for Beauty and the Beast's score and title song (1992)
March 30 - John Williams begins recording his score for Jurassic Park (1993)
March 30 - David Bell records his score for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “In the Pale Moonlight” (1998)
March 30 - Dennis McCarthy and Kevin Kiner record their score for the two-part Star Trek: Enterprise episode “In a Mirror, Darkly” (2005)
March 31 - Arthur B. Rubinstein born (1938)
March 31 - Alejandro Amenabar born (1972)
March 31 - Michael Gore wins his first two Oscars for Fame's score and title song (1981)
March 31 - Cliff Eidelman begins recording his score for The Meteor Man (1993)
March 31 - Terry Plumeri died (2016)
April 1 - Winfried Zillig born (1905)
April 1 - Pete Carpenter born (1914)
April 1 - George Garvarentz born (1932)1
April 1 - Matthew McCauley born (1954)
April 1 - David Raksin begins recording his score for Until They Sail (1957)
April 1 - Philip Lambro begins recording his unused score for Chinatown (1974)
April 1 - Marvin Gaye died (1984)
April 1 - Adam Schlesinger died (2020)
April 2 - Serge Gainsbourg born (1928)
April 2 - Marvin Gaye born (1939)
April 2 - Marvin Hamlisch wins Oscars in all three music categories, for adapting The Sting and for The Way We Were's score and title song, the first and only time this has happened in 96 years of Academy Awards (1974)
April 2 - Jean-Baptiste de Lauber (aka Para One) born (1979)
April 2 - Bill Conti begins recording his score for The Karate Kid (1984)
April 2 - Bill Conti begins recording his score for Gotcha! (1985)
April 2 - Jay Chattaway records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Chase” (1993)
April 2 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for The Sum of All Fears (2002)
April 2 - Mark McKenzie records his score for the Enterprise episode “Horizon” (2003)
April 2 - Clifford "Bud" Shank died (2009)
April 2 - Gato Barbieri died (2016)
April 3 - Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco born (1895)
April 3 - Edward Ward born (1900)
April 3 - Marvin Hatley born (1905)
April 3 - Francois de Roubaix born (1939)
April 3 - Richard Bellis born (1946)
April 3 - Philippe Rombi born (1968)
April 3 - Ferde Grofe died (1972)
April 3 - Bruce Broughton records his score for the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode “Testimony of a Traitor” (1981)
April 3 - Lionel Bart died (1999)
April 3 - Paul Baillargeon records his score for the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Live Fast and Prosper” (2000)
April 3 - Dusan Radic died (2010)
April 4 - Elmer Bernstein born (1922)
April 4 - Monty Norman born (1928)
April 4 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score for Madame Bovary (1949)
April 4 - Michel Camilo born (1954)
April 4 - Miklos Rozsa wins his third and final Oscar, for his Ben-Hur score (1960)
April 4 - Brian May begins recording his score for Cloak & Dagger (1984)
April 4 - Roberto Nicolosi died (1989)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE - Dario Marianelli
"There’s a lived-in, authentic feeling to a number of the more ghostly sequences, as director Gil Kenan embeds a lot of the ’80s 'Ghostbusters' DNA into 'Frozen Empire,' from a heavy use of practical effects to the aforementioned cast appearances to the New York setting to the soundtrack leaning hard on tracks that invoke Elmer Bernstein’s score for the 1984 original. (Composer Dario Marianelli doesn’t skimp on the jauntiness here.)"
Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
"Jokes in the new movie are relegated almost exclusively to quips and one-liners. The actors do their best to sell the punchlines, particularly series newcomer James Acaster as a droll British paranormal scientist, but no one can save bits that feel straight out of a C-tier Marvel movie like 'Thor: Love and Thunder' or Rudd’s 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.' Meanwhile, the movie’s only jolts come when the musical themes from the original movie kick in, breaking through 'Frozen Empire''s otherwise bland and generically dramatic score to remind us that this series was once fun, energetic, and full of life, before it felt like just a haunted wax museum."
Austen Goslin, Polygon
"Meanwhile, Kenan handles the obligatory emotional stakes-raising with staid clumsiness, dribbling soft piano music underneath the temporarily sidelined Phoebe’s burgeoning nocturnal friendship with a cool-girl teen ghost from a hundred years ago. There are some romantic overtones to this subplot, which could have been interesting -- and their growing bond does feed into the main narrative eventually -- but did it ever occur to the filmmakers that the idea of a teenage girl becoming best friends with a ghost could also be, you know, fun?"
Bilge Ebiri, New York
SPACEMAN - Max Richter
"Dano’s magical performance as the 'Hal meets Yoda' spider-like companion is pure tragic comfort. When you add Max Richter’s beautiful score and the exemplary sound design, it’s a sensory bath that risks creating a perfect storm that hinders rather than helps. There’s no denying it’s compelling and connective."
Simon Thompson, The Wrap
"Though it is somewhat boy-misses-girl navel-gazing, one-note in atmospheric tone, and admittedly feels a bit trifling by the end -- maybe a five-minute Bowie pop song can’t sustain an entire 90-minute movie -- 'Spaceman' is still watchable and has lots going for it. There’s great craft, impressive creature design, a lugubrious, eventually-soaring score by Max Richter, an excellent Paul Dano nailing the childlike tenor of his inquisitive creature, and low-key Adam Sandler sitting in the pocket, enjoying the chill ease of never overdoing it. Judged against the vastness of the universe, 'Spaceman' does feel a little small and insignificant. But the picture works well as something to experientially wash over you, as it floats off into the distance in the most peculiar way."
Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
"Sandler’s performance, Jan Houllevigue’s post-Soviet production designs and Max Richter’s soaring score enliven a handsome if dreary drama. The pacing, alas, is painfully slow, and every character save the spider is underwritten. Ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in space. If only we had somewhere exciting to go."
Tara Brady, The Irish Times
"At once too cerebral and yet awash in sentimentality, 'Spaceman' never quite manages to bring its various elements together into a tonally cohesive whole. Mulligan’s scenes on Earth abstract and deify her character to the point where she’s little else than a figure we can all admit is worth coming back to Earth for. Try as the 'Maestro' actress might, she can’t ever make Lenka anything more than a plot device to advance Jakub’s own interior world which, even in the film’s own odd cosmology, takes up the entire galaxy. Similarly, while Sandler is committed to playing Jakub’s sadness in capital letters, one wonders why Renck felt the need to hand such a beguilingly depressed Eastern European role to an American actor so obviously associated with broad comedy and East Coast angst. (At least Renck was wise enough to recruit Max Richter, whose score here pairs nicely with his synth work in 'Ad Astra' and 'The Leftovers,' two towering propositions about grief and loneliness that somehow make 'Spaceman' feel all the smaller in ambition and execution.)"
Manuel Betancourt, The Onion AV Club
"Led by Sandler’s laconic, haunted performance and breathing with Max Richter’s rainy-day score, Spaceman exists on a wavelength of low-key melancholy. Prominent among its concerns are loneliness and the corresponding silence of vast unbridgeable distances, two qualities not exactly abundant in Happy Madison productions. Which is an even more glaring anomaly than the Chopra Cloud: There’s very little trace of Sandler’s past selves in 'Spaceman.' No one expects the film to be funny, but no one expects Sandler’s character to be so humorless either. Loneliness so defines Jakub that all glimpses of his past, revealing an anguished childhood and a dull and charming courtship with Lenka, show little but trauma. Eventually even Hanuš questions why anyone would want to spend so much time swimming around such miserable memories."
Dom Sinacola, Paste Magazine
"Back in space, meanwhile, Sandler’s Jakub is disheveled and grim, coated in a Max Richter score that’s more an ambient soup enveloping the movie than the plangent melodic orchestrations we’ve come to know from something like 'On the Nature of Daylight,' used to great effect in a much smarter movie about the cosmos’ capacity to reflect our own existential anguish, 'Arrival.'"
Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire
"Every sign points toward, if not a masterpiece, at least a pretty interesting genre experiment. The film has Sandler, whose acting chops are often underrated, in a dramatic role as the titular spaceman, whose name is Jakub. It has the great Carey Mulligan, who is currently up for a best actress Oscar, playing his estranged, pregnant wife Lenka. It is scored by the ubiquitous Max Richter. Its director, Johan Renck, also directed the outstanding mini-series 'Chernobyl,' among the best television made in the past decade. And though it’s the screenwriter Colby Day’s first major feature, it’s based on Jaroslav Kalfar’s novel 'Spaceman of Bohemia,' which won praise from science fiction critics."
Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older films in Los Angeles-area theaters.
March 29
AWAKENINGS (Randy Newman) [Bay]
BITTER RICE (Goffredo Petrassi), THIEVES' HIGHWAY (Alfred Newman) [Egyptian]
CLIFFORD (Richard Gibbs) [Alamo Drafthouse]
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (Tan Dun) [New Beverly]
FORREST GUMP (Alan Silvestri) [Alamo Drafthouse]
GHOSTBUSTERS (Elmer Bernstein) [Vista]
GRINDHOUSE: DEATH PROOF [New Beverly]
RENAISSANCE (Nicholas Dodd) [Los Feliz 3]
SHIVERS [THEY CAME FROM WITHIN] [Alalmo Drafthouse]
SYLVIA SCARLETT (Roy Webb) [Academy Museum]
TETSUO, THE IRON MAN (Chu Ishikawa) [Nuart]
TRANSPOTTING [Aero]
THE UNTOUCHABLES (Ennio Morricone) [Alamo Drafthouse]
WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (Bernardo Bonezzi), RUN LOLA RUN (Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek) [New Beverly]
March 30
BULL DURHAM (Michael Convertino) [Vidiots]
THE DARK CRYSTAL (Trevor Jones) [BrainDead Studios]
FIELD OF DREAMS (James Horner) [New Beverly]
FIGHT CLUB (Dust Brothers) [Aero]
GHOSTBUSTERS (Elmer Bernstein) [Vista]
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (Alexandre Desplat) [El Capitan]
THE MIND READER, IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND (Raul Lavista) [Egyptian]
MOANA (Mark Mancina) [Vidiots]
MONEYBALL (Mychael Danna) [Bay]
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (Cyril Mockridge) [Egyptian]
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (Ennio Morricone) [Alamo Drafthouse]
PIGSKIN PARADE (David Buttolph) [Academy Museum]
PLAYTIME (Francis Lemarque) [BrainDead Studios]
POSSESSION (Andrzej Korzynski) [Vidiots]
QUEEN OF KATWE (Alex Heffes) [Academy Museum]
RESIDENT EVIL (Marco Beltrami, Marilyn Manson) [New Beverly]
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Richard O'Brien, Richard Hartley) [Nuart]
SARROUNIA (Pierre Akendengue, Aboulaye Cisse, Issouf Compaore) [Los Feliz 3]
SPEED (Mark Mancina) [Vidiots]
TRAINSPOTTING [Los Feliz 3]
THE UNTOUCHABLES (Ennio Morricone) [Alamo Drafthouse]
WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (Bernardo Bonezzi), RUN LOLA RUN (Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek) [New Beverly]
March 31
AFTER HOURS (Howard Shore) [Los Feliz 3]
BRICK (Nathan Johnson) [BrainDead Studios]
CLIFFORD (Richard Gibbs) [Alamo Drafthouse]
DONNIE DARKO (Michael Andrews), THE EVIL DEAD (Joseph LoDuca) [Aero]
FIELD OF DREAMS (James Horner) [New Beverly]
THE FLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS [Los Feliz 3]
GHOSTBUSTERS (Elmer Bernstein) [Vista]
THE HOUSE BUNNY (Waddy Wachtel) [Aero]
THE IRISHMAN (Robbie Robertson) [Bay]
LE SAMOURAI (Francois De Roubaix) [Egyptian]
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (Ennio Morricone) [Alamo Drafthouse]
REMEMBER THE TITANS (Trevor Rabin) [Vidiots]
RESIDENT EVIL (Marco Beltrami, Marilyn Manson) [New Beverly]
SHANGHAI EXPRESS [Academy Museum]
SOLEIL O (George Anderson) [Los Feliz 3]
THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE (Benoit Charest) [Vidiots]
TWELVE MONKEYS (Paul Buckmaster), LE JETEE [Vidiots]
UNDER THE GUN (Milton Rosen), NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL (Joseph Mullendore) [Egyptian]
April 1
AMERICAN GANGSTER (Marc Streitenfeld) [Bay]
CLIFFORD (Richard Gibbs) [Alamo Drafthouse]
DAYS OF HEAVEN (Ennio Morricone) [Alamo Drafthouse]
HALLELUJAH, SAFE IN HELL [Academy Museum]
MARATHON MAN (Michael Small) [Los Feliz 3]
THE OMEN (Jerry Goldsmith) [Aero]
SHIVERS [THEY CAME FROM WITHIN] [Alamo Drafthouse]
April 2
AFTER YANG (Aska Matsumiya) [Los Feliz 3]
CLIFFORD (Richard Gibbs) [Alamo Drafthouse]
DAYS OF HEAVEN (Ennio Morricone) [Alamo Drafthouse]
FIGHT CLUB (Dust Brothers) [Los Feliz 3]
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross) [Bay]
SHIVERS [THEY CAME FROM WITHIN] [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross), PANIC ROOM (Howard Shore) [New Beverly]
STALKER (Eduard Artemyev) [Vidiots]
April 3
BEING THERE (Johnny Mandel) [Vidiots]
CLIFFORD (Richard Gibbs) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE CRYING GAME (Anne Dudley) [New Beverly]
ELLA ENCHANTED (Nick Glennie-Smith) [Los Feliz 3]
MONEYBALL (Mychael Danna) [Bay]
THE MUSIC ROOM (Ustad Vilayat Khan, Robin Majumdar) [Aero]
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (Ennio Morricone) [Alamo Drafthouse]
SHE'S THE MAN (Nathan Wang) [Los Feliz 3]
SHIVERS [THEY CAME FROM WITHIN] [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross), PANIC ROOM (Howard Shore) [New Beverly]
April 4
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross) [Bay]
THE JERK (Jack Elliott), FLETCH (Harold Faltermeyer) [aero]
LEGALLY BLONDE (Rolfe Kent) [Los Feliz 3]
PANDORA'S BOX [Academy Museum]
THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross), PANIC ROOM (Howard Shore) [New Beverly]
THE UGLY TRUTH (Aaron Zigman) (Los Feliz 3]
April 5
THE ANNIHILIATION OF FISH (Laura Karpman) [UCLA/Hammer]
BLOOD SIMPLE (Carter Burwell), RAISING ARIZONA (Carter Burwell) [aero]
THE CABLE GUY (John Ottman) [New Beverly]
EL TOPO (Alejandro Jodorowsky) [Academy Museum]
FIVE EASY PIECES, THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS [New Beverly]
GRINDHOUSE: DEATH PROOF [Alamo Drafthouse]
MACHINE GUN MCCAIN (Ennio Morricone) [Vista]
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD [New Beverly]
STAR TREK (Michael Giacchino) [Alamo Drafthouse]
10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU (Richard Gibbs) [Egyptian]
THE THING (Ennio Morricone) [Alamo Drafthouse]
USED CARS (Patrick Williams) [Alamo Drafthouse]
April 6
THE ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR (George Bruns) [Vista]
BAD LUCK BANGING OR LOONY PORN (Jura Ferina, Pavao Miholjevic) [Los Feliz 3]
BLADE RUNNER (Vangelis) [Egyptian]
BONE TOMAHAWK (Jeff Herriott, S. Craig Zahler) [Alamo Drafthouse]
BREAKDOWN (Basil Poledouris) [Alamo Drafthouse]
CRITTERS (David Newman) [Los Feliz 3]
FIVE EASY PIECES, THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS [New Beverly]
GRINDHOUSE: DEATH PROOF [Alamo Drafthouse]
KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER (The Octopus Project) [Aero]
MACHINE GUN MCCAIN (Ennio Morricone) [Vista]
METROPOLIS (Toshiyuki Honda) [New Beverly]
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM [UCLA/Hammer]
THE MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN (Jeff Moss, Ralph Burns) [New Beverly]
NEVER OPEN THAT DOOR (Julian Bautista) [UCLA/Hammer]
PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES [UCLA/Hammer]
PINK FLAMINGOS [Academy Museum]
SIDEWAYS (Rolfe Kent) [El Capitan]
THE THING (Ennio Morricone) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE (Howard Shore) [Alamo Drafthouse]
USED CARS (Patrick Williams) [Alamo Drafthouse]
WHERE IS THE FRIEND'S HOUSE? (Amine Allah Hessine) [Academy Museum]
April 7
THE ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR (George Bruns) [Vista]
BARRY LYNDON (Leonard Rosenman) [Vidiots]
BONE TOMAHAWK (Jeff Herriott, S. Craig Zahler) [Alamo Drafthouse]
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (John Carpenter, Alan Howarth) [Alamo Drafthouse]
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Jon Brion) [Los Feliz 3]
FIVE EASY PIECES, THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS [New Beverly]
GASLIGHT (Bronislau Kaper) [Los Feliz 3]
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (Ennio Morricone) [Egyptian]
INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (Elliot Goldenthal) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU (Mark Mothersbaugh) [Aero]
MAN AND WIFE [UCLA/Hammer]
THE MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN (Jeff Moss, Ralph Burns) [New Beverly]
NEGATIVES (Basil Kirchin) [Los Feliz 3]
THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH (Dean Elliott) [Vidiots]
SMOG (Piero Umiliani) [UCLA/Hammer]
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (Alex North) [Academy Museum]
THE THING (Ennio Morricone) [Alamo Drafthouse]
TOPPER TAKES A TRIP (Edward Powell, Hugo Friedhofer) [UCLA/Hammer]
UPPERCASE PRINT [Los Feliz 3]
THE WAGES OF SIN [UCLA/Hammer]
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
Heard: The Score (Shore); Blue Velvet (Badalamenti); Annie (Strouse); Rebirth (Cliff); Wild at Heart (Badalamenti, various); Sketches of Spain (Davis); The Little Drummer Girl (Cho); Live and Let Die (Martin); Symphonie Fantastique (Berlioz); All Quiet on the Western Front (Bertelmann); Lost Highway (Badalamenti/Adamson); Cinema Septet (Young); Days of Future Passed (Moody Blues); The Biggest Little Farm (Beal); The Straight Story (Badalamenti); Tess (Sarde); Sisters (Herrmann)
Read: Cinema Speculation, by Quentin Tarantino
Seen: Immaculate; The Bride Wore Red; Christopher Strong; Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire; Zouzou; My Man Godfrey; Twentieth Century; Queen Christina; Camille; The American Society of Magical Negroes; Imaginary
Watched: Mission: Impossible; Bob's Burgers ("Beefsquatch"); Mission: Impossible II; The Americans ("Est Men"); Bojack Horseman ("Prickly Muffin")
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