Last week La-La Land announced its "Black Friday" batch of five new, end-of-year releases: a three-disc, greatly expanded edition of the soundtrack for director Norman Jewison's 1971 film version of the Broadway classic FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, featuring the songs by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick as well as the arrangements and incidental music by John Williams, which won the maestro the first of his five (to date) Oscars; a two-disc edition of Alfred Newman's beautiful, Oscar-nominated score for George Stevens' 1959 film of THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK; the first release of the full score for the love-hate romantic comedy hit LOVE ACTUALLY, composed by Craig Armstrong; a remastered and expanded "Ultimate Cut" edition of Harry Manfredini's score for the original FRIDAY THE 13TH; and an expanded version of Bill Conti's score for the final film in the original Karate Kid series, THE NEXT KARATE KID, starring Hilary Swank in the title role.
Intrada plans to announce an epic release next week.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons - Bary Gray - Silva
The Diary of Anne Frank - Alfred Newman - La-La Land
Fiddler on the Roof - Jerry Bock, John Williams - La-La Land
Friday the 13th - Harry Manfredini - La-La Land
Gabriel Yared: Music for Film - Gabriel Yared - Silva
Ghostbusters Afterlife - Rob Simonsen - Sony
The Hitcher - Mark Isham - Silva
Le Professionnel/Le Marginal - Ennio Morricone - Music Box
Les specialistes/Moi vouloir toi - Eric Demarsan - Play Time
Love Actually - Craig Armstrong - La-La Land
Matalo! - Mario Migliardi - Beat
Mychael Danna: Music for Film - Mychael Danna - Silva
The Next Karate Kid - Bill Conti - La-La Land
Shigeru Umebayashi: Music for Film - Shigeru Umebayashi - Silva
IN THEATERS TODAY
Benedetta - Anne Dudley
Betrayed - Johan Soderqvist
Castle Falls - David Rosengren
Deadlock - Yagmur Kaplan
Death of a Telemarketer - Timo Chen
Drive My Car - Eiko Ishibashi
Encounter - Jed Kurzel
Funny Thing About Love - Robert Allen Elliott
The Hand of God - Lele Marchitelli
Him & Her - Brian Ralston
Home - Volker Bertelmann, Raffael Seyfried
I Was a Simple Man - Pierre Guerineau, Alex Zhang Hyungtai
Lady Buds - Abby Posner
The Paradigm of Money - Erick Bolivar
Silent Night - Lorne Balfe
This Game's Called Murder - Bear McCreary
Wolf - Stefan Wesolowski
COMING SOON
December 17
Altrimenti ci arrabbiamo - Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - Digitmovies
Lo Chiamavano Trinita - Franco Micalizzi - Beat
The Serpent - Dominick Scherrer - Svart
Zombie Flesh Eaters - Franco Micalizzi - Beat
December 24
Encanto - Germaine Franco, Lin-Manuel Miranda - Disney
January 7
The Wheel of Time: The First Turn - Lorne Balfe - Milan
January 28
All Creatures Great and Small: Series 2 - Alexandra Harwood - Silva
Without Remorse - Jonsi - Krunk
Date Unknown
Anemos/Una Sconosciuta - Pino Donaggio - Quartet
Byleth il demone dell'incesto - Vasco Vassil Kojucharov - Beat
Colpo Rovente - Piero Piccioni - Quartet
Don't Go in the House - Richard Einhorn - Howlin' Wolf
Gli occhi freddi della paura - Ennio Morricone - Beat
Gli occhiali d'oro - Ennio Morricone - Caldera
Good Tidings - Jean Michel Noir - Howlin' Wolf
Holiday Hell - Semih Tareen - Howlin' Wolf
Il Dio Sotto La Pelle - Piero Piccioni - Quartet
Love Gets a Room - Victor Reyes - Quartet
Terminal Exposure - Hans Zimmer - Notefornote
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
December 3 - Nino Rota born (1911)
December 3 - Karl de Groof born (1923)
December 3 - Franz Waxman begins recording his score for Woman of the Year (1941)
December 3 - Christopher Slaski born (1974)
December 3 - Elmer Bernstein begins recording his score to McQ (1973)
December 3 - Adam Wingard born (1982)
December 3 - Hoyt Curtin died (2000)
December 3 - Dee Barton died (2001)
December 3 - Derek Wadsworth died (2008)
December 4 - Alex North born (1910)
December 4 - Richard Robbins born (1940)
December 4 - Rob Walsh born (1947)
December 4 - Leonard Rosenman records his score for the Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode “One of the Family” (1964)
December 4 - Jason Staczek born (1965)
December 4 - Benjamin Britten died (1976)
December 4 - On Golden Pond opens in New York and Los Angeles (1981)
December 4 - Harry Sukman died (1984)
December 4 - Frank Zappa died (1993)
December 4 - Tito Arevalo died (2000)
December 5 - Karl-Ernst Sasse born (1923)
December 5 - Johnny Pate born (1923)
December 5 - John Altman born (1949)
December 5 - Richard Gibbs born (1955)
December 5 - Osvaldo Golijov born (1960)
December 5 - Cliff Eidelman born (1964)
December 5 - Jerry Goldsmith records his score for the Room 222 pilot (1968)
December 5 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score to Coma (1977)
December 5 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Outrageous Okona" (1988)
December 5 - Masaru Sato died (1999)
December 5 - Dave Brubeck died (2012)
December 5 - Manuel De Sica died (2014)
December 6 - Mort Glickman born (1898)
December 6 - Lyn Murray born (1909)
December 6 - Dave Brubeck born (1920)
December 6 - Piero Piccioni born (1921)
December 6 - Maury Laws born (1923)
December 6 - Roberto Pregadio born (1928)
December 6 - Willie Hutch born (1944)
December 6 - Joe Hisaishi born (1950)
December 6 - Recording sessions begin for Sol Kaplan’s score for Destination Gobi (1952)
December 6 - Morgan Lewis died (1968)
December 6 - Lalo Schifrin begins recording the original soundtrack LP to Bullitt (1968)
December 6 - Hans Zimmer begins recording his score for Broken Arrow (1995)
December 6 - Richard Markowitz died (1994)
December 7 - Ernst Toch born (1887)
December 7 - Tom Waits born (1949)
December 7 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service opens in Los Angeles (1969)
December 7 - Georges Delerue begins recording his score for Les Visiteurs (1979)
December 7 - Star Trek -- The Motion Picture is released in theaters (1979)
December 7 - Basil Poledouris begins recording his score for White Fang (1990)
December 7 - John Addison died (1998)
December 7 - Paul Baillargeon records his score for the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Latent Image” (1998)
December 8 - Leo Shuken born (1906)
December 8 - Moisey Vainberg born (1919)
December 8 - John Rubinstein born (1946)
December 8 - Bruce Kimmel born (1947)
December 8 - Russell Garcia begins recording his score for The Time Machine (1959)
December 8 - Dominic Frontiere records his score for The Invaders episode “The Mutation” (1966)
December 8 - Junkie XL born as Tom Holkenberg (1967)
December 8 - Antonio Carlos Jobim died (1994)
December 8 - Richard Thompson begins recording his score for Grizzly Man (2004)
December 8 - Edward Williams died (2013)
December 9 - Von Dexter born (1912)
December 9 - Chris Wilson born (1958)
December 9 - Sune Waldimir died (1967)
December 9 - Geoff Barrow born (1971)
December 9 - William Goldstein records his score for the Twilight Zone episode “Her Pilgrim Soul” (1985)
December 9 - Alessandro Cicognini died (1995)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
ANTLERS - Javier Navarrete
"Exceptional cinematography by Florian Hoffmeister and Javier Navarrete’s subtle score round out a package sure to appeal to those non-horror buffs who’ve embraced scary movies like 'Hereditary.' Given the breadth of Cooper’s work to date, ranging from true crime and historical epics to the intimate musical portrait in 'Crazy Heart,' it seems highly unlikely he’ll latch onto this genre in the way 'Hereditary' helmer Ari Aster has. But it will be a shame if he and del Toro don’t collaborate again somewhere down the road."
John Defore, The Hollywood Reporter
ETERNALS - Ramin Djawadi
"The Avengers are briefly mentioned and never seen. There are no crash courses in tesseract physics or Asgardian politics. Instead there are crystalline images (shot by Ben Davis) of sandy beaches, surreal rock formations and active volcanoes, set against music (composed by Ramin Djawadi) that’s less Alan Silvestri than 'Koyaanisqatsi'-era Philip Glass. The action jumps between centuries and sometimes millennia for reasons that have nothing to do with the quantum realm. As present-day scenes blur into prehistoric flashbacks and the running time swells past two hours, our heroes find themselves in the grip of an existential mystery: What are we doing here? Why did our maker put us here, and why has he fallen silent for so long?"
Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
THE STARLING - Benjamin Wallfisch
"And that’s the problem with 'The Starling:' It has no idea what it is and leans into audience manipulation tools instead of scenes of substance. Emotions are overbearingly guided by a weepy, piano-plunky score by Benjamin Wallfisch that’s always going straight for your tear ducts. As backup, there’s the folksy, on-the-nose needledrops created bespoke for this film from the likes of The Lumineers, Brandi Carlile and Fun’s Nate Ruess. So instead of focusing on a realistic narrative about grief and marital crisis, we get fortune cookie wisdom from Dr. Fine, or sudden epiphanies that are insultingly easy for anyone who has truly struggled with actual depression or mental illness. And don’t get me started on Lilly getting tread on like a doormat for the majority of the film, just to turn around and say, 'It’s ok' in the end. No, it’s not ok and how this movie frames her agency is not ok at all."
Tara Bennett, Paste Magazine
"The overbearing score by Benjamin Wallfisch and a soundtrack featuring soulful, but intrusive songs by Brandi Carlile and others, doesn’t help the movie’s mawkish vibe."
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
"The crew is also packed with underused veterans. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher, whose resume spans from 'Garden State' to 'Godzilla' to 'Joker,' is required to pair his work to the film’s deeply conventional tone. He frames every scene just so, which suits the overall structural artifice but can’t enhance it. Music supervisor Julia Michels ('A Star Is Born') commissioned new songs from Brandi Carlile and The Lumineers, but the soundtrack is used in a way that feels insistently literal. Benjamin Wallfisch’s stringy score shares this approach, jauntily reminding us that we’re watching a woman fight with a bird, or save a bird, or be inspired by a bird."
Elizabeth Weitzman, The Wrap
"Human/nature metaphor is easier to write, however, than true human nature: 'The Starling' is heavy with a particularly Hallmark-ready variety of the former, and digestibly light in all other respects. Losing a child is the kind of pain unimaginable to those who have never had the misfortune, but here it feels familiar from countless other films on the subject, its ugliest truths softened with cute visual shorthand, a stringy, positively suffocating score by Benjamin Wallfisch, and the kind of tidy, teary therapy-speak that you never actually hear in therapy. It’s easy enough to watch, thanks largely to its leading lady’s reliably buoyant charisma, but you can’t help thinking it should be harder."
Guy Lodge, Variety
"Number of montages shown while we hear pop songs: a whopping five. One montage shows Lilly in the garden working, another clearing the baby furniture out of her daughter’s room. Two songs are by Brandi Carlile, and they are all pleasant enough, but the overload of the technique comes close to making this a grief musical. Apart from the montages, Benjamin Wallfisch’s score features tinkling, saccharine melodies while Lilly is looking at the empty crib and soaring music when the starling, yes, soars."
Caryn James, The Hollywood Reporter
WIFE OF A SPY - Ryosuke Nagaoka
"Then, when the woman he brought back from Manchuria is found dead in the sea and Fumio is arrested for her murder, Sakoto makes up her mind to defend her marriage and keep her husband out of prison. It’s almost as though she’s still acting in a spy movie as she stealthily opens her husband’s safe, the combination of which she knows by heart. But who is she really bent on betraying? All bets are off until a shockingly clever twist ends the suspense, augmented in any case by Ryosuke Nagaoka’s score."
Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older films in Los Angeles-area theaters.
December 3
BLAST OF SILENCE (Meyer Kupferman), THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (Walter Schumann) [New Beverly]
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (Carter Burwell) [Brain Dead Studios]
DJANGO UNCHAINED [New Beverly]
ELF (John Debney) [Alamo Drafthouse]
LOVE ACTUALLY (Craig Armstrong) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (Angelo Badalamenti) [Alamo Drafthouse]
PONYO (Joe Hisaishi) [Academy Museum]
PRISONERS (Johann Johannsson) [New Beverly]
SPEED (Mark Mancina) [Brain Dead Studios]
STEP (Laura Karpman, Raphael Saadiq) [Academy Museum]
December 4
AMERICAN HISTORY X (Anne Dudley) [Brain Dead Studios]
ELF (John Debney) [Alamo Drafthouse]
ESCAPE FROM L.A. (Shirley Walker, John Carpenter) [Brain Dead Studios]
EYES WIDE SHUT (Jocelyn Pook) [New Beverly]
HOME ALONE (John Williams) [Hollywood Legion]
IMITATION OF LIFE [Los Feliz 3]
LITTLE WOMEN (Thomas Newman) [Academy Museum]
LOVE ACTUALLY (Craig Armstrong) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (Angelo Badalamenti) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE SHINING (Wendy Carlos, Rachel Elkind) [New Beverly]
THE TURNING POINT [Los Feliz 3]
WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE (J. Peter Robinson) [Brain Dead Studios]
WITH DRAWN ARMS (David Wittman) [Academy Museum]
December 5
DETOUR (Leo Erdody) [Los Feliz 3]
ELF (John Debney) [Alamo Drafthouse]
EYES WIDE SHUT (Jocelyn Pook) [New Beverly]
FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (Joe Walsh) [Brain Dead Studios]
FRIDAY [Brain Dead Studios]
JINGLE ALL THE WAY (David Newman) [New Beverly]
THE KILLING (Gerald Fried) [Los Feliz 3]
NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (Angelo Badalamenti) [Alamo Drafthouse]
1941 (John Williams) [Brain Dead Studios]
TEEN KANYA [TWO DAUGHTERS] (Satyajit Ray) [Academy Museum]
WHALE RIDER (Lisa Gerrard) [Academy Museum]
December 6
DOLORES (Mark Kilian) [Academy Museum]
ELF (John Debney) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (Angelo Badalamenti) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER (Artie Kane), MS. 45 (Joe Delia) [New Beverly]
ON ANY SUNDAY (Dominic Frontiere) [Brain Dead Studios]
December 7
FANTASTIC MR. FOX (Alexandre Desplat) [Academy Museum]
NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (Angelo Badalamenti) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER (Artie Kane), MS. 45 (Joe Delia) [New Beverly]
December 8
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (Miklos Rozsa) [Academy Museum]
THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (Bo Harwood) [Brain Dead Studios]
THE LONG RIDERS (Ry Cooder) [New Beverly]
NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (Angelo Badalamenti) [Alamo Drafthouse]
SWITCHBLADE SISTERS [Alamo Drafthouse]
Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN [Laemmle Playhouse] [Laemmle Royal]
December 9
IL DIVO (Teho Teardo) [Los Feliz 3]
FORBIDDEN PLANET (Louis & Bebe Barron) [Academy Museum]
THE PINK PANTHER (Henry Mancini), GROUNDHOG DAY (George Fenton) [New Beverly]
2046 (Shigeru Umebayashi) [Aero]
THE WIND RISES (Joe Hisaishi) [Academy Museum]
December 10
ABHIJAN [THE EXPEDITION] (Satyajit Ray) [Academy Museum]
BLADE RUNNER (Vangelis) [Brain Dead Studios]
THE DAY OF THE BEAST (Battista Lena) [Los Feliz 3]
DJANGO UNCHAINED [New Beverly]
THE GREAT BEAUTY (Lele Marchitelli) [Aero]
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (Michael Galasso, Shigeru Umebayashi) [Los Feliz 3]
MEAN GIRLS (Rolfe Kent) [New Beverly]
MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE (Ryuichi Sakamoto) [Los Feliz 3]
THE PINK PANTHER (Henry Mancini), GROUNDHOG DAY (George Fenton) [New Beverly]
PREDATOR 2 (Alan Silvestri) [Brain Dead Studios]
SHIVA BABY (Ariel Marx) [Los Feliz 3]
December 11
CASABLANCA (Max Steiner) [Academy Museum]
ELF (John Debney) [New Beverly]
FANNY AND ALEXANDER (Daniel Bell) [New Beverly]
THE LION IN WINTER (John Barry) [Aero]
MULHOLLAND DRIVE (Angelo Badalamenti) [Brain Dead Studios]
RARE EXPORTS (Juri Seppa, Miska Seppa) [Los Feliz 3]
SCREWED (Michel Colombier) [Los Feliz 3]
SHADOWS (Shafi Hadi, Charles Mingus) [Los Feliz 3]
THE SHINING (Wendy Carlos, Rachel Elkind) [New Beverly]
THE UNFAITHFUL (Max Steiner) [Los Feliz 3]
December 12
BARFLY (Jack Baron) [Brain Dead Studios]
BATMAN RETURNS (Danny Elfman) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (Hugo Friedhofer) [Academy Museum]
COLORS (Herbie Hancock) [Brain Dead Studios]
ED WOOD (Howard Shore) [Brain Dead Studios]
GET CRAZY (Michael Boddicker) [Los Feliz 3]
GRAND HOTEL [Academy Museum]
THE HOLIDAY (Hans Zimmer) [Alamo Drafthouse]
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (Hugh Martin, Ralph Blaine, Georgie Stoll) [Alamo Drafthouse]
MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR LAWRENCE (Ryuichi Sakamoto) [Los Feliz 3]
METROPOLITAN (Mark Suozzo, Tom Judson) [Aero]
A SEPARATION (Sattar Oraki), THE SALESMAN (Sattar Oraki) [Aero]
SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (Leo Shuken, Charles Bradshaw) [Los Feliz 3]
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
Heard: The Glorias (Goldenthal), Moby Dick/For the Fallen (Herrmann)
Read: The Kobra Manifesto, by Adam Hall (aka Elleston Trevor)
Seen: Julia [2021], The Unforgivable, Baby Face, Night Nurse
Watched: Star Trek ("I, Mudd"); Star Trek: Lower Decks ("Envoys"); Penny Dreadful: City of Angels ("Maria and the Beast")
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