The latest release from Intrada features Elmer Bernstein's final score for producer-director Ivan Reitman, for the 1986 comedy-mystery LEGAL EAGLES. A lavish attempt to recreate the kind of Golden Age entertainment that made Hepburn and Tracy an iconic team, it starred Robert Redford, Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah, with an impressive supporting cast including Terence Stamp, Brian Dennehy, Christine Baranski and Steven Hill. The CD feautures the cues Bernstein re-recorded for the original LP release, as well as two vintage songs and the performance piece Hannah performs in the film, and the liner notes include an essay by myself about the film's production and the history of Bernstein's collaboration with Reitman.
Notefornote is releasing the score for Christopher Young's most recent collaboration with director Sam Raimi, the three-part "The Golden Arm (Michigan)" from the Quibi series 50 STATES OF FRIGHT.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Adventures in Dinosaur City - Frederic Ensign Teetsel - Dragon's Domain
His Dark Materials: Season Two - Lorne Balfe - Silva
Legal Eagles - Elmer Bernstein - Intrada Special Collection
The Mark Snow Collection Vol. 3: Southern Gothic - Mark Snow - Dragon's Domain
Vampirella - Joel Goldsmith - Dragon's Domain
IN THEATERS TODAY
No major new releases are expected to open tomorrow, though more cities have re-opened cinemas including San Francisco.
COMING SOON
March 19
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan - Fred Mollin - La-La Land
The Time Tunnel: Volume One - Robert Drasnin, Lyn Murray, Paul Sawtell, John Williams - La-La Land
March 26
Bersaglio Mobile - Ivan Vandor - Digitmovies
Ed ora...raccomanda l'anima a dio! - Franco Bixio - Digitmovies
The Tattooed Torah - Daniel Alcheh - Notefornote
Date Unknown
The Bear (re-issue) - Philippe Sarde - Music Box
50 States of Fright - Christopher Young - Notefornote
I Malamondo - Ennio Morricone - Sugar/CAM
Metti lo diavolo tuo ne lo mio inferno/Leva lo diavolo tu dal...convento/Racconti proibiti...de niente vestiti - Stelvio Cipriani - Digitmovies
Mondo Cane - Riz Ortolani - Sugar/CAM
My Name Is Nobody - Ennio Morricone - Beat
The Serpent (re-issue) - Ennio Morricone - Music Box
Vamos a Matar Companeros - Ennio Morricone - Beat
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
March 12 - Georges Delerue born (1925)
March 12 - Aldemaro Romero born (1928)
March 12 -
Leonard Rosenman begins recording his score for
Prophecy (1979)
March 12 - David Shire begins recording his score for Short Circuit (1986)
March 13 - Hugo Friedhofer wins his only Oscar, for The Best Years of Our Lives score (1947)
March 13 - Lionel Newman, Cyril Mockridge and Leigh Harline begin recording their score for River of No Return (1954)
March 13 - Terence Blanchard born (1962)
March 13 - Lalo Schifrin begins recording his score for Joe Kidd (1972)
March 13 - Anthony Gonzalez born (1980)
March 13 - Carl Davis begins recording his score to The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
March 13 - Bruce Broughton records his score for the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode “Shgoratchx!” (1981)
March 13 - Ustad Vilayat Khan died (2004)
March 14 - Les Baxter born (1922)
March 14 - Quincy Jones born (1933)
March 14 - Roy Budd born (1947)
March 14 - Steve Bramson records his score for the JAG episode “Cowboys and Cossacks” (1997)
March 14 - Peter Maxwell Davies died (2016)
March 15 - Jurgen Knieper born (1941)
March 15 - Ry Cooder born (1947)
March 15 - Stomu Yamashta born (1947)
March 15 - Harry Bromley Davenport born (1950)
March 15 - Recording sessions begin for
Jerry Goldsmith’s score for
Morituri (1965)
March 15 -
Jerry Fielding records his score for the TV pilot
Shirts/Skins (1974)
March 15 - Jerry Fielding begins recording his score for Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
March 15 - Jay Chattaway records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Starship Mine” (1993)
March 15 - Recording sessions begin for Mark Mancina’s score to Twister (1996)
March 15 - Arnold Schwarzwald died (1997)
March 15 - Recording sessions begin for
Danny Elfman’s score for
Restless (2010)
March 16 - Harry Rabinowitz born (1916)
March 16 - John Addison born (1920)
March 16 - Zdenek Liska born (1922)
March 16 - Alesandro Alessandroni born (1925)
March 16 - Aaron Copland begins recording his score to The Red Pony (1948)
March 16 - Recording sessions begin for Hugo Friehdofer’s score to Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1949)
March 16 - Nancy Wilson born (1954)
March 16 - Michiru Oshima born (1961)
March 16 - Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco died (1968)
March 16 - Marcus Trumpp born (1974)
March 16 - Recording sessions begin for Leonard Rosenman's score to Cross Creek (1983)
March 17 - Alfred Newman born (1901)
March 17 - Tadashi Hattori born (1908)
March 17 - Karl-Heinz Schafer born (1932)
March 17 - John Sebastian born (1944)
March 17 - Benjamin Bartlett born (1965)
March 17 - Billy Corgan born (1967)
March 17 - Chris Bacon born (1977)
March 17 - Georges Delerue begins recording his score for Memories of Me (1988)
March 17 - John Williams begins recording his score for Far and Away (1992)
March 17 - Ernest Gold died (1999)
March 17 -
Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for
The Mummy (1999)
March 17 -
Dennis McCarthy and
Kevin Kiner record their score for the
Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Damage” (2004)
March 17 - Jean Prodromides died (2016)
March 18 - William Lava born (1911)
March 18 - John Kander born (1927)
March 18 - Yoko Kanno born (1964)
March 18 - Frank Ilfman born (1970)
March 18 - Clinton Shorter born (1971)
March 18 - Guillaume Roussel born (1980)
March 18 - John Williams begins recording his score for The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
March 18 - John Phillips died (2001)
March 18 -
Paul Baillargeon records his score for the
Enterprise episode “The Crossing” (2003)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
APPLES - The Boy [Alexander Voulgaris]
"Furthermore, despite falling into the oversaturated cinematic trend of revitalizing the 4:3 aspect ratio -- thanks a lot, A24 -- its inclusion here remains justified throughout by highlighting the oppressive constraints of uncertainty and the sentiment of being forced into a lifestyle outside of one’s control. Bolstered by Bartosz Swiniarski’s cinematography and Alexander Voulgaris’ score, 'Apples' adopts a frigid, albeit memorable aesthetic that, directly comparable to its plot structure, succeeds in simplicity. Much of the film’s mindedly constructed momentum should be credited to Giorgos Zaferis’ editing, whose talents ensure “Apples” retains its ripe magnetism throughout its, relatively short, runtime."
Jonathan Christian, The Playlist
"Nikou strikes a pleasing balance between ironic observation and melancholy reality, subtly modulating the tone with his use of a pensive score by Alexandros Voulgaris, who records as The Boy, and with dense soundscapes of traffic and birdsong. The clinical detachment of the doctors is played to arch extremes, and odd dreamlike interludes like a costume party where the man pads around in an outsize astronaut suit convey an off-kilter world. Pain and isolation, it seems, are essential parts of our existence, and accepting them can be both traumatic and curative."
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
BOMBAY ROSE - Yoav Rosenthal
"Yoav Rosenthal’s swooning, lushly orchestrated score -- interspersed with several florid, rather stately ballads -- likewise pays tribute to more traditional Indian cinema, though the sweetly unexpected use of the Latin standard 'Cucurrucucú Paloma' (as used so evocatively in 'Talk to Her' and 'Moonlight') is a sly reminder that Rao is playing on a global arthouse stage. Yet it’s the film’s lustrous visual evocation of Mumbai’s slums that lingers most here, whether painted in vivid, tactile spice-market hues or, in one remarkable time-lapse scene, stripped layer-by-layer to monochrome, like an oil painting in reverse. Whatever 'Bombay Rose’s' script weaknesses, Rao proves she has no shortage of ways to fill a larger canvas."
Guy Lodge, Variety
CHERRY - Henry Jackman
"Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel soaks the screen in honeyed, music-video compositions, drifting around actors and throwing up so many fisheye lenses and lens flares you start to ache with the earnest ain’t-i-a-stinker jaundice of it all. Probably the film’s major saving grace is Henry Jackman’s glossy, discordant score, which flits between the perverse romance of Cherry and Emily’s mutual descent into darkness and bizarre instrumentation that hammers home the clanging mayhem of the story’s more violent turns. Still, these elements, along with Jeff Groth’s demonstrative editing, end up leaning into the Russos’ overwrought approach. There’s a difference between effortless style and trying too hard, and 'Cherry' leans into the latter more often than not."
Clint Worthington, Consequence of Sound
CLEMENTINE - Katy Jarzebowski
"Much like slices of a clementine are far more satisfying than, say, trying to eat the entire thing at once with the skin on, the film’s disparate parts are far better than their end summation. (This is better clementine symbolism than what the film actually proposes, trust me.) Sydney Sweeney’s performance, Andres Karu’s cinematography, Emily E. A. Baker’s sets, and Katy Jarzebowski’s Hitchcockian score are breathtakingly excellent on their own, though together they blend into a bizarrely tone-deaf whole. Screechy betrayal music plays over benign dialogue. Sweeney has to say things like, 'Can I braid your hair?' with a straight face."
Lena Wilson, The Playlist
"It is Karen's heart that is broken by D the next time we see her. While that is a different kind of awakening, 'Clementine' unspools like a dream, Karen's distress and uncertainty reflected in the patient, understated unfolding of the story, the externals underlying what she is feeling. She has run away to D's lake house, breaking a window in order to enter, the glass cutting her hand. As she listens repeatedly to an old voicemail from D about bringing her there, breaking in is at once rebellion, escape, revenge, and trying to find an alternate reality, the one where the promise of that enticing message has come true. The house is remote with reflective surfaces and retro touches, an old-style corded phone, a turntable and analog LP records, and the score by Katy Jarzebowski has a raw, unsettling sound, adding to the mood of dislocation and displacement. And there's a gun in a drawer, too, and a teenage boy, both bringing a threatening male energy."
Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com
"Writer-director Lara Gallagher can be praised for avoiding the 'gay porn cliches' this story could have devolved into. But she shoots for a thriller tone with this, and beat that notion into Katy Jarzebowsk [sic], who did the 'tenterhooks' thriller score."
Roger Moore, Movie Nation
"Meanwhile, Katy Jarzebowski’s unsettling score tries its hardest to make you think you’re watching a thriller, with the echoes of plunked piano note and the scraping of bows across strings suggesting that something sinister is about to happen."
Steve Pond, The Wrap
"Gallagher finds ready compatriots in tweaking and then downshifting the film’s moods. Katy Jarzebowski’s spare, progressively ominous score whets the edges. Cinematographer Andres Karu gently teases horror flick gestures -- e.g. a shot from directly behind a character -- but also captures the natural world with devotion. (Think Kelly Reichardt’s Pacific Northwest films.)"
Lisa Kennedy, Variety
CORONATION - Punkgod, Ling Ling
"For obvious reasons, 'Coronation' doesn’t identify the many figures it captures throughout; given the country’s record with censorship, the very existence of this footage is a small miracle. Ai, who lives in Germany, seems to have smuggled footage out of the country from an unnamed team of collaborators who managed to capture opposing factors in China’s battle with the virus: Citizens whose lives are destroyed by the lockdown, ailing patients shunted into understaffed hospitals, and relatives struggling to work through the propaganda machine just to pick up their dead. Often set to an ominous electronic score (credited to Punkgod and Ling Ling), the movie oscillates between post-apocalyptic neo-noir and slow-burn medical thriller as it toggles from individual survival stories to mechanical processes of the hospital routine."
Eric Kohn, IndieWire
HALF BROTHERS - Jordan Seigel
"Shot primarily in New Mexico, the U.S.-Mexico coproduction is assembled attractively enough, with Thomas Scott Stanton’s widescreen camerawork and Jordan Seigel’s original score among its more pleasing elements. But the screenplay is a kind of deep-dyed mediocrity that the film and its cast cannot transcend."
Dennis Harvey, Variety
JUMBO - Thomas Roussel
"Not having a dialog forward script, 'Jumbo' relies mostly on film form, Wittock using the undeniable strength of ethereal audio/visual synergy to possess the audience into an altered state in which sensory pleasure is all that matters. The score and cinematography are uniformly outstanding, synth notes and piano percussion swaying between atmospheres: soothing, ominous, and euphorically orgasmic. The bucket of bolts sound mix paired with the enraptured cinematography -- coming to life every time Jumbo lights up at night -- forms a cacophony of splendor, but does so without ever earning it, like going straight to great sex before getting to know much about the person you’ve brought to bed."
Andrew Bundy, The Playlist
"The flirtation is one-sided at first, but Merlant approaches the obscure object of Jeanne’s desire with the same tactile intensity that she previously used on Adèle Haenel in 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire.' The ride resembles an overturned metal starfish, and Jeanne looks at it as though her gaze were enough to give it life. She cleans its rivets with her spit, starts to call it 'Jumbo' -- a name that’s both silly and undeniably hyper-sexual -- and waits for the ride to notice her. The shadowy and ethereal synth score by Thomas Roussel helps suggest that it’s only a matter of time before that happens, while also discouraging viewers from caring whether it will be 'real' when it does. Men are unreliable (especially men like Jeanne’s father), but Jumbo is always waiting there for her. Men have ulterior motives, but Jumbo is fueled only by gasoline. Men are at the mercy of their own desires, but Jumbo was built to give pleasure to others. The machine literally sweeps Jeanne off her feet."
David Ehrlich, IndieWire
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON - James Newton Howard
"The voice work is stellar throughout. Tran finds just the right mix of vulnerability and strength in Raya and Awkwafina locks into a register of optimistic wonder that’s infectious. The whole ensemble brings their A-game: Kim grounds a father/daughter dynamic with just a few scenes, Wong is so fun that he could anchor a spin-off about his character, and Chan sells the complex arc of a young woman forced by her mother to act against her own beliefs. All of them are also ably supported by one of James Newton Howard’s best scores."
Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
"But the fights -- both in the choreography and in how the characters and their weapons interact with each other -- are so engrossing that you almost wish the film was a full martial arts epic. Raya’s whip-sword rules, and the combat is smartly segmented into visually digestible stages and comprehensible motions by directors Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada. In keeping with the adventurous spirit of the film, the music from James Newton Howard (who also scored two of Disney’s most rollicking affairs, 'Treasure Planet' and 'Atlantis') is full of peppy blockbuster blasts with unique instrumentation. Raya might not get any songs, but she’s the first Disney princess to get into a full-fledged fist fight with her rival (Gemma Chan) and it’s awesome."
Jacob Oller, Paste Magazine
THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY - Kris Bowers
"One of Daniels' bigger swings in terms of departing from the conventional bio-drama mold is a scene in which Jimmy shoots up for the first time -- effectively accompanied by Charlie Wilson's 'The Devil and I Got Up to Dance a Slow Dance.' (This is one of three original songs integrated with beautifully arranged standards and Kris Bowers' bluesy original score.)"
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
WRONG TURN - Stephen Lukach
"Presumably inspired by the twisted moral dynamics of Ari Aster’s film, 'Wrong Turn' divides its horror thrills between graphic gore and the dramatic presentation of impossible ethical choices. The execution is much cruder here, however, with puffed-up lectures sprinkled throughout so the viewer can’t miss that there are implications to the violence. In between, the cinematography and editing have the generic flash of a commercial for a medication with deadly side effects, or perhaps an app promising to disrupt walking in the woods. Self-aware though the film may be about its motifs, it’s less conscious of the line between ominous and ridiculous. Take, for example, the scene where a character gasps, 'We’ve been sleeping in a graveyard!' as the score quavers and the camera pulls back to reveal weed-covered gravestones."
Katie Rife, The Onion AV Club
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
