I am currently on vacation, so if any breaking news happened since I left you can probably learn about it on our Message Board.
La-La Land was expected to announce their latest batch of end-of-year Black Friday releases today.
Dragon's Domain and Buysoundtrax have announced three new releases - Ken Thorne's score for the offbeat, Japan-set ghost story THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS, starring Edward Albert, Susan George and Doug McClure; and CD-Rs of THE DANIEL LICHT COLLECTION VOL. 2 (his music for Beneath the Dark and the 1998 TV version of Brave New World) and THE JOE HARNELL COLLECTION VOL. 3 (various TV projects).
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Divinity - DJ Muggs, Dean Hurley - Sacred Bones
IN THEATERS TODAY
Fallen Leaves - no original score
Leave the World Behind - Mac Quayle
Maestro - Leonard Bernstein - Score CD on Deutsche Grammophon
Napoleon - Martin Phipps
Wish - Dave Metzger (score), Julia Michaels, Benajmin Rice (songs) - Song CD on Disney
COMING SOON
December 1
Maestro - Leonard Bernstein - Deutsche Grammophon
My Animal - Augustus Muller - Nude Club
Scream VI - Brian Tyler, Sven Faulconer - Varese Sarabande
December 8
Killers of the Flower Moon - Robbie Robertson - Sony
December 15
I predatori di Atlantide - Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - Beat
La Donna Invisible - Ennio Morricone - Beat
Terrahawks - Richard Harvey - Silva
Date Unknown
Cerrar los ojos - Federico Jusid - Quartet
Cliffhanger - Trevor Jones - Quartet
The Daniel Licht Collection Vol. 2 - Daniel Licht - Dragon's Domain [CD-R]
Doctor Who: Revenge of the Cybermen - Carey Blyton, Peter Howell - Silva
Doctor Who: Time and the Rani - Keff McCulloch - Silva
El Cuco - Diego Navarro - MovieScore Media
The Ernest Gold Collection Vol. 2 - Ernest Gold - Dragon's Domain
Fairytopia - Eric Colvin - Buysoundrax [CD-R]
G-Saviour - John Debney, Louis Febre - Dragon's Domain
Gli Italiani e l'industria - Piero Umiliani - Kronos
Godzilla Minus One - Naoki Sato - Rambling (Import)
Guido & Maurizio De Angelis: Television Soundtracks Collection - Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - Beat
The House Where Evil Dwells - Ken Thorne - Dragon's Domain
The Joe Harnell Collection Vol. 2 - Joe Harnell - Five Jays [CD-R]
The Joe Harnell Collection Vol. 3 - Joe Harnell - Five Jays [CD-R]
La contadora de peliculas - Fernando Velazquez - Quartet
La ermita - Pascal Gaigne - Quartet
La polizia incrimina la legge assolve - Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - Beat
Le Casse (The Burglars) - Ennio Morricone - Music Box
Le clan/Renseignements generaux - Claude Bolling - Music Box
Le grand pardon/Le grand pardon II - Serge Franklin/Romano Musumarra - Music Box
Rage - Louis Febre - Buysoundtrax [CD-R]
Savate - Kevin Kiner - Buysoundtrax [CD-R]
Tess - Philippe Sarde - Music Box
Theatre of Blood - Michael J. Lewis - Quartet
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
November 24 - Alfred Schnittke born (1934)
November 24 - Pino Donaggio born (1941)
November 24 - Michael Small died (2003)
November 24 - Kan Ishii died (2009)
November 24 - Harold Faberman died (2018)
November 25 - Virgil Thomson born (1896)
November 25 - Stanley Wilson born (1917)
November 25 - Michel Portal born (1935)
November 25 - Eleni Karaindrou born (1941)
November 25 - Daniele Amfitheatrof begins recording his score for The Last Hunt (1956)
November 25 - Maurice Jarre begins recording his score for Grand Prix (1966)
November 25 - Raymond Legrand died (1974)
November 25 - Michael Small begins recording his score for The Postman Always Rings Twice (1980)
November 25 - Craig Safan records his scores for the Twilight Zone episodes “The Uncle Devil Show” and “Opening Day” (1985)
November 25 - Nicholas Pike begins recording his score for Stephen King’s The Shining (1996)
November 25 - Chico Hamilton died (2013)
November 26 - Scott Bradley born (1891)
November 26 - Jerry Fielding begins recording his score for The Killer Elite (1975)
November 26 - Bernardo Segall died (1993)
November 27 - Alberto Colombo born (1888)
November 27 - Richard Stone born (1953)
November 27 - Lyle Mays born (1953)
November 27 - Arthur Honegger died (1955)
November 27 - Bernard Herrmann marries Norma Shepherd, his third and final wife (1967)
November 27 - Lalo Schifrin begins recording his score for Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You (1969)
November 27 - Nick Thorburn born (1981)
November 27 - Filip Kutev died (1982)
November 27 - Stanley Black died (2002)
November 27 - Kunio Miyauchi died (2006)
November 28 - Mario Nascimbene born (1913)
November 28 - Gato Barbieri born (1932)
November 28 - Randy Newman born (1943)
November 28 - Terry Plumeri born (1944)
November 28 - Bernard Herrmann records his score for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode “Where the Woodbine Twineth” (1964)
November 28 - Joseph Mullendore records his score for the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episode “The Return of Blackbeard” (1967)
November 28 - Richard LaSalle records his score for the Land of the Giants episode “Home Sweet Home” (1969)
November 28 - Robert Prince records his score for the Land of the Giants episode “Nightmare” (1969)
November 28 - Laurence Rosenthal begins recording his score to Clash of the Titans (1980)
November 28 - Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Elementary, Dear Data” (1988)
November 28 - Jerry Goldsmith records his music for the Judge Dredd trailer (1994)
November 29 - Chuck Mangione born (1940)
November 29 - Recording sessions begin on Herbert Stothart’s score for Hills of Home (1947)
November 29 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score to Moonfleet (1954)
November 29 - Erich Wolfgang Korngold died (1957)
November 29 - Russell Garcia begins recording his score for Atlantis the Lost Continent (1960)
November 29 - Alexander Courage's score to the second Star Trek pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," is recorded (1965)
November 29 - Carl Stalling died (1972)
November 29 - George Harrison died (2001)
November 29 - Shirley Walker died (2006)
November 29 - Allan Zavod died (2016)
November 30 - Gordon Parks born (1912)
November 30 - Edward Artemyev born (1937)
November 30 - Victor Young begins recording his score for September Affair (1949)
November 30 - Christophe Beck born (1972)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
ATHENA - Surkin (aka Gener8ion)
"Integral to the sensation that this is an epic battle between the forces of good and evil, almost in a holy sense, is the darkly operatic score by composer Surkin ('Gener8ion') that folds in choir voices to exalt the grave stakes at play. An imposing shot of Karim overlooking the fortress he and his comrades have erected, as well as the media attention their righteous battle has garnered, is made even more heroic as the music soars."
Carlos Aguilar, The Wrap
"Truth be told, Surkin’s pulsating score that spreads itself over this sequence (and many other similarly impressive ones thereafter) is big and exhausting. The dynamic between the music and visuals is one that brings to mind Hans Zimmer’s occasional overindulgence when composing for Christopher Nolan -- competing against the magnitude of the filmmaker’s already grand images, instead of amplifying them. But apart from that, 'Athena' -- a Greek tragedy constructed by the son of Costa-Gavras with recognizable hints of 'Z' -- immensely satisfies as a fast-moving political thriller and urban drama that feels genuinely cinematic, with technical finesse to spare."
Tomris Laffly, RogerEbert.com
"The rehearsed nature of each long take isn’t just a neat gimmick, the way it arguably is in Sam Mendes’ '1917,' a war film whose faux one-take design loses perspective on the characters’ surroundings, causing its tension to dissipate. Instead, the choreography in Athena is its own symphony, placing the living, breathing details of the brothers’ environment in its crosshairs with every turn, as it builds to moments of darkness swiftly consumed by flame. Thick smoke and flying embers soon become its default lingua franca, as if it were an up-tempo remix of Sergei Bondarchuk’s 'War and Peace.' The music, by Gavras’ own collaborative project Gener8ion, combines booming, Hans Zimmer-esque percussion with operatic vocalizations in a fixed state of crescendo. The music, like the image, rarely stops moving or progressing, but around each corner lies some new and surprising confrontation, so it never loses steam."
Siddhant Adlakha, Polygon
"The result is nothing short of an urban war movie, as charismatic characters decide to do something about the outrage people have been expressing toward law enforcement in the real world. The movie starts with a bang -- an act of revenge against the police --then brings the fight home to the projects where Karim and his brothers live (it was filmed at the Parc aux lièvres in Évry-Courcouronnes, south of Paris). Looking fearless and determined, like a suburban Che Guevara, Karim stands on the ramparts as fireworks erupt all around. A scene not so different from this inspired the lyrics to America’s 'Star-Spangled Banner' (here, drums beat and choirs soar on Gener8ion’s operatic soundtrack)."
Peter Debruge, Variety
DESCENDANT - Ray Angry, Rhiannon Giddens, Dirk Powell
"There are grace notes throughout, from descendants reading excerpts from 'Barracoon' to the plaintive, roots-tinged score (by Ray Angry, Rhiannon Giddens and Dirk Powell). Repeated images of rippling water don’t only refer to what’s been buried for so long but potently remind us that with past and present, what looks constant is always changing, and vice versa. Brown also frames Africatowners against their surroundings in ways that convey their sturdiness as a tightknit, embattled and resilient community across time."
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
"Brown tracks in on the historic Oakleigh house in Mobile, a stately Southern mansion where slaveowners resided, with a woozy drone shot, bringing us in with an almost spectral, ghostly quality, the score eerie and suspenseful. We watch as one of Lewis’ descendants, Emmett, with long dreadlocks and a resonant Alabama drawl, enters and reads from 'Barracoon.' It’s a powerful image, and he knows the significance of sitting on those chairs in that parlor, reading his ancestor’s words in his own voice. But the moment is overwhelming for him."
Kate Walsh, The Wrap
FOUR DAUGHTERS - Amin Bouhafa
"One could debate the ethics of this thing for years; for every argument ('she says this is helping her work through her trauma!'), there is a counterpoint ('she’s too young to provide real consent!'). Ben Hania makes similarly divisive stylistic decisions: strong lighting and unnatural framing evoke a layer of knowing artifice; whenever seated as a trio, Olfa hovers behind her daughters like a prison warden. The score swoons and swells, and there’s an awful lot of symbolism relating to doors and windows. But just like her uncomfortably brutal 'Beauty and the Dogs' and Oscar-nominated 'The Man Who Sold His Skin,' everything seems to coalesce in a way that feels like it’s all meant to be this way."
Steph Green, IndieWire
"This last is where 'Four Daughters' is perhaps on shakiest ground. Metafictions tend to be scrappy affairs, for the obvious reason that unscripted reality rarely obeys the rules of narrated drama. But Ben Hania cannot quite suppress her aesthetic instincts toward glossy melodrama, which can lead us to question the spontaneity of even the most overtly documentary-like segments. DP Farouk Laaridh employs a rich, saturated, unmistakably artificial color palette, and arranges even off-the-cuff interviews into careful tableaux. When the camera spies on Sabri rehearsing her lines, a flattering, slatted directional light falls across her face just so: These women are all remarkably photogenic and it appears hard to resist their glamorization. Couple that with Amina Bouhafa’s elegant classical score, full of cello chords that take up residence in the middle of your chest, and the overall polish of the package sits at odds with its angular, disruptive aims."
Jessica Kiang, Variety
PLEASE BABY PLEASE - Giuloi Carmassi, Bryan Scary
"In keeping with the film’s noirish sensibility, every line of dialogue in Kramer and Noel David Taylor’s screenplay oozes not only with street poetics, but winks to queer theory. In certain heightened moments, the actors all but declaim their lines as though at a poetry reading while, on the soundtrack, syncopated drumrolls and double bass play counterpoint."
William Repass, Slant Magazine
STUTZ - Emile Mosseri
"Hill’s nods to filmmaking tricks add to the sense we’re sharing in something authentic: a portrait of affection. The cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt’s crisp, predominantly black-and-white images, and the composer Emile Mosseri’s score accentuate the director’s tender regard."
Lisa Kennedy, The New York Times
"As a formal experiment by an actor whose filmmaking talents are only the latest chapter in his Hollywood story, the documentary offers a touching reflection on Jonah Hill, The Star. Without specifically mentioning movie projects or others' names, he shares his sense of self during success, and how self-esteem remained elusive. His body weight provided its stress and angst. At one point in 'Stutz,' he holds a massive cardboard cutout of his 14-year-old self, which he calls 'undesirable to the world.' Throughout, the yodeling voice of Mason Ramsey -- yes, the viral, young country singer -- is placed inside Emile Mosseri's atmospheric piano compositions, as if Ramsey were the voice of Hill's inner child, roaming an expanded headspace."
Nick Allen, RogerEbert.com
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older films in Los Angeles-area theaters.
November 24
IN A GLASS CAGE [BrainDead Studios]
KISS KISS BANG BANG (John Ottman) [Alamo Drafthouse]
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD [New Beverly]
OPPENHEIMER (Ludwig Goransson) [New Beverly]
REAR WINDOW (Franz Waxman) [Aero]
SCHOOL OF ROCK (Craig Wedren) [New Beverly]
A STAR IS BORN (Max Steiner) [Los Feliz 3]
SUPER TROOPERS (38 Special) [Nuart]
THEY LIVE (John Carpenter, Alan Howarth) [Vidiots]
THE THIRD MAN (Anton Karras) [Vidiots]
WILD THINGS (George S. Clinton) [Alamo Drafthouse]
November 25
ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES (Marc Shaiman) [Vidiots]
BROADCAST NEWS (Bill Conti) [Los Feliz 3]
COMMUNION (Eric Clapton, Allan Zavod) [BrainDead Studios]
DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (Laurie Johnson) [New Beverly]
EVIL DEAD II (Joseph LoDuca) [BrainDead Studios]
THE HOUSE OF MIRTH [Los Feliz 3]
KISS KISS BANG BANG (John Ottman) [Alamo Drafthouse]
KUNDUN (Philip Glass) [BrainDead Studios]
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (Trevor Jones, Randy Edelman) [Los Feliz 3]
MOANA (Mark Mancina) [Academy Museum]
MOULIN ROUGE (Craig Armstrong) [Vidiots]
NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (Angelo Badalamenti) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (Bernard Herrmann) [Aero]
ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (Ennio Morricone) [Academy Museum]
OPPENHEIMER (Ludwig Goransson) [New Beverly]
RATATOUILLE (Michael Giacchino) [New Beverly]
REBECCA (Franz Waxman) [Aero]
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Richard O'Brien, Richard Hartley) [Nuart]
SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT (Marc Shaiman) [Landmark Westwood]
TWISTER (Mark Mancina) [Vidiots]
November 26
THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (David Raksin) [Los Feliz 3]
BLACK GOD, WHITE DEVIL (Sergio Ricardo) [Los Feliz 3]
ELF (John Debney) [Alamo Drafthouse]
EVENT HORIZON (Michael Kamen, Orbital) [BrainDead Studios]
GET SHORTY (John Lurie) [Los Feliz 3]
INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (John Williams) [Fine Arts]
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (Jerry Goldsmith) [Academy Museum]
OPPENHEIMER (Ludwig Goransson) [New Beverly]
RATATOUILLE (Michael Giacchino) [New Beverly]
THE RIGHT STUFF (Bill Conti) [Los Feliz 3]
SOMEWHERE [BrainDead Studios]
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (Dimitri Tiomkin), TO CATCH A THIEF (Lyn Murray) [Aero]
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross) [Aero]
WORKING GIRL (Carly Simon, Rob Mounsey) [Vidiots]
November 27
BLACK MAMA, WHITE MAMA (Harry Betts), THE ARENA (Franceso De Masi) [New Beverly]
BOWFINGER (David Newman) [Los Feliz 3]
GOMORRAH [Aero]
LADY IN WHITE (Frank LaLoggia) [Los Feliz 3]
RHYME & REASON (Benedikt Brydern) [Academy Museum]
WILD THINGS (George S. Clinton) [Alamo Drafthouse]
November 28
BENEDICTION [Los Feliz 3]
THE LIVES OF OTHERS (Gabriel Yared, Stephane Moucha) [Los Feliz 3]
SUNSHINE (John Murphy), RED EYE (Marco Beltrami) [New Beverly]
November 29
BIG (Howard Shore) [Los Feliz 3]
DE-LOVELY (Stephen Endelman) [Los Feliz 3]
MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT (Leo Brouwer) [BrainDead Studios]
OPPENHEIMER (Ludwig Goransson) [UCLA/Hammer]
PERSEPOLIS (Olivier Bernet) [Academy Museum]
SUNSHINE (John Murphy), RED EYE (Marco Beltrami) [New Beverly]
November 30
SMOKE SIGNALS (BC Smith) [Academy Museum]
STATE AND MAIN (Theodore Shapiro) [Los Feliz 3]
SUNSHINE (John Murphy), RED EYE (Marco Beltrami) [New Beverly]
ZAMA [Los Feliz 3]
December 1
BLUE (Simon Fisher-Turner) [Academy Museum]
EASTERN PROMISES (Howard Shore) [New Beverly]
I, THE JURY (Franz Waxman) [Alamo Drafthouse]
KILL BILL - VOL. 1 (RZA) [New Beverly]
LITTLE WOMEN (Alexandre Desplat) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE PLAYER (Thomas Newman) [Los Feliz 3]
THE THING (Ennio Morricone), THE BLOB (Michael Hoenig) [New Beverly]
December 2
CASSANDRO (Marcelo Zarvos), Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN [Aero]
ELF (John Debney) [Alamo Drafthouse]
ELF (John Debney) [New Beverly]
GONE BABY GONE (Harry Gregson-Williams) [Los Feliz 3]
I COME IN PEACE (Jan Hammer) [New Beverly]
LITTLE WOMEN (Alexandre Desplat) [Alamo Drafthouse]
MALE AND FEMALE [UCLA/Hammer]
THE POLAR EXPRESS (Alan Silvestri) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE THING (Ennio Morricone), THE BLOB (Michael Hoenig) [New Beverly]
December 3
AIR, ARGO (Alexandre Desplat) [Aero]
BATTLE OF CHILE [Los Feliz 3]
BLACK GOD, WHITE DEVIL (Sergio Ricardo) [Los Feliz 3]
BLINDSPOTTING (Michael Yezerski), BHAJI ON THE BEACH (John Altman, Kuljit Bhamra, Craig Pruess) [UCLA/Hammer]
THE HOLIDAY (Hans Zimmer) [Alamo Drafthouse]
LITTLE WOMEN (Alexandre Desplat) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (Angelo Badalamenti) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
Heard: Hamlet (Doyle); Robin and Marian (Legrand); William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (Boswell); Cold Mountain (Yared); Titus (Goldenthal)
Read: Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre, by Keith Johnstone
Seen: The Desert of the Tartars; Ikiru; Thanksgiving; Trolls Band Together; The Bird with the Crystal Plumage; Next Goal Wins [2023]; May December; Fargo
Watched: Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("You Got to Have Luck"); Zero Hour!
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