The latest release from Dragon's Domain is THE JOHN OTTMAN COLLECTION VOL. 1, a two-disc set featuring three scores by the popular composer and Oscar-winning film editor -- an expanded and remastered release of his score for the romantic caper INCOGNITO, and the first ever releases of his scores for the 2004 short LONELY PLACE and the 2006 feature BROTHER'S KEEPER.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - Rupert Gregson-Williams - WaterTower [CD-R]
Blastfighter - Fabio Frizzi - Beat
Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - Colonne Sonore Delle Serie TV Dal 1985 Al 1998 - Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - Beat
The John Ottman Collection Vol. 1 - John Ottman - Dragon's Domain
Piedone d'egitto - Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - Beat
Squadra Antimafia - Goblin - Beat
IN THEATERS TODAY
Night Swim - Mark Korven
Occupied City - Oliver Coates
Some Other Woman - Aaron Drake
COMING SOON
January 12
Atlas - Ronald Stein - Kronos
Los Mercados - Paul Sawtell, Bert Shefter - Kronos
Missions - Etienne Forget - Music Box
Uomini e mari - Francesco De Masi - Kronos
January 19
Live and Let Die - George Martin - La-La Land
Octopussy - John Barry - La-La Land
Silent Night - Marco Beltrami - La-La Land
Date Unknown
El Cuco - Diego Navarro - MovieScore Media
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
January 5 - Leighton Lucas born (1903)
January 5 - Chris Stein born (1950)
January 5 - Jerry Fielding begins recording his score, adapted from Bizet, for The Bad News Bears (1976)
January 5 - Malcolm Seagrave died (2001)
January 5 - Elizabeth Swados died (2016)
January 6 - David Whitaker born (1931)
January 6 - Aaron Zigman born (1963)
January 6 - John Williams records his score for Nightwatch (1966)
January 6 - A.R. Rahman born (1967)
January 6 - Leith Stevens records his score for the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episode “Man-Beast” (1968)
January 6 - Jerry Fielding begins recording his score for The Wild Bunch (1969)
January 6 - Jay Chattaway records his score for the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Blood Fever” (1997)
January 6 - Georgy Sviridov died (1998)
January 6 - Mario Nascimbene died (2002)
January 7 - Jose Maria Vitier born (1954)
January 7 - Jeff Richmond born (1961)
January 7 - Clint Mansell born (1963)
January 7 - Jerry Goldsmith records the pilot score to The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1964)
January 7 - Paul Sawtell records his score for the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episode “Eleven Days to Zero” (1964)
January 7 - Joseph Mullendore records his score for the Land of the Giants episode “Panic” (1970)
January 7 - Jeff Toyne born (1975)
January 7 - James Horner begins recording his score for Rascals and Robbers: The Secret Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (1982)
January 7 - David Lindup died (1992)
January 8 - Ron Goodwin died (2003)
January 8 - Andrae Crouch died (2015)
January 9 - Vic Mizzy born (1916)
January 9 - Robert F. Brunner born (1938)
January 9 - Scott Walker born (1943)
January 9 - Jimmy Page born (1944)
January 9 - Leroy Shield died (1962)
January 9 - James T. Sale born (1967)
January 9 - Alexander Courage records his score for the Lost in Space episode "The Great Vegetable Rebellion" (1968)
January 9 - Kazimierz Serocki died (1981)
January 9 - Anton Karas died (1985)
January 9 - Alan Silvestri begins recording his score for The Delta Force (1986)
January 9 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for The Vanishing (1993)
January 9 - Recording sessions begin for John Powell’s score to Forces of Nature (1999)
January 10 - Jesus Garcia Leoz born (1904)
January 10 - Recording sessions begin for Hugo Friedhofer’s score to Wild Harvest (1947)
January 10 - Tom Chase born (1949)
January 10 - Carlo Siliotto born (1950)
January 10 - Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Wounded” (1991)
January 11 - Charles Previn born (1888)
January 11 - Francesco De Masi born (1930)
January 11 - Michael J. Lewis born (1939)
January 11 - Wolfgang Zeller died (1967)
January 11 - Robert Prince records his score for The New Adventures of Wonder Woman episode “Spaced Out” (1979)
January 11 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The High Ground" (1990)
January 11 - David Whitaker died (2012)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
NAPOLEON - Martin Phipps
"Besides, most historians believe Napoleon was approximately 5’8,” and that the complex that bears his name was more of a posthumous f**k you than an actual cross to bear. Phoenix splits the difference, playing Monsieur Bonaparte like a human accordion whose size appears to shrink or expand by several feet within the span of a single scene (thus making his Napoleon a natural accompaniment to Martin Phipps’ free-reed score, which Scott often ditches in favor of repurposing the music that Dario Marianelli wrote for Joe Wright’s 'Pride & Prejudice'). Phoenix almost never plays his character for comedy (this Napoleon is rarely in on the joke), and the movie around him supports that decision by having each member of its multinational cast talk in their natural speaking voices, so that all of the characters seem at home with themselves even when their country is turning against them."
David Ehrlich, IndieWire
"As the Austrian and Russian armies race across the snowy tundra, they do not realize that they are, in fact, treading precariously atop a frozen lake. In a cacophony of horror and mayhem, French cannons explode across the sky, breaking the sheets of ice and sending the opposing forces plunging to their icy deaths in a halo of blood and water (shot gorgeously by frequent Scott collaborator Dariusz Wolski), all while Martin Phipps’ anachronistic score hums and pulsates like a war drum. Such liberty with historical inaccuracy makes for an exhilarating action setpiece in a film which feels otherwise restrained by its facts."
Brianna Zigler, Paste Magazine
"Through it all, Napoleon’s military genius is so peerless and unquestioned that Scott, regrettably, doesn’t feel compelled to unpack it. We’re meant to take it on faith when Napoleon alone determines how to take out the Anglo-Spanish fleet at Toulon with their own cannons. Or how, in the movie’s most visually and musically arresting sequence, to send the Russian and Austrian troops at Austerlitz to a bloody, watery grave. To his credit, Scott possesses his own brand of military genius, cinematically speaking; he can make spatially coherent sense of bayonet-wielding army formations in a way that few other studio filmmakers can, and he never stops visualizing new forms of splattery payoff. Old ones, too: When Napoleon’s pony gets hit by a cannonball head-on, the exploding entrails suggest an 'Alien' chestburster homage. Really, Napoleon just wants to be liked -- and, in the case of Joséphine, loved. Their fascinatingly mercurial relationship lends the movie what structure it has, establishing a kind of combative dialectic between Napoleon’s personal and professional battles. When he and Joséphine are together, sometimes butting heads and sometimes collapsing into a strangely sincere tenderness, you catch glimpses of the epic romantic subversion that Scott may have been after. You hear it, too, in the sparkling piano chords of Dario Marianelli’s 2005 'Pride & Prejudice' score, repurposed in an Austen-tatious musical gesture that adds a touch of poignance to the characters’ looming tragedy: Joséphine is Napoleon’s most meaningful and elusive conquest, and she is destined to precede him in exile."
Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
"The film’s biggest extended set-piece is the Battle of Waterloo, with the English led by Rupert Everett drolly chewing the scenery like a scowling pantomime ponce as the Duke of Wellington. (This is not a film in which the supporting cast generally gets to make much of a mark.) The fighting itself is expertly orchestrated, with Napoleon failing to anticipate the crushing effectiveness of frontal assault by the Brits and a flank attack by the Prussians. But the movie’s battles are more impressive in scale than in visceral impact, even with inventive use of period music and a wide-ranging score by Martin Phipps. There’s also a disappointingly murky look to much of cinematographer Dariusz Wolski’s widescreen visuals."
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
ORIGIN - Kris Bowers
"Finally, there’s Ava DuVernay’s incredibly ambitious 'Origin,' a late addition to the TIFF line-up and a recent acquisition by Neon. They have one of the most fascinating conversation starters at any company right now, a film that attempts nothing less than to reshape the discussion around race in the modern era. The basic thrust of 'Origin' comes early in a conversation about the relative inadequacy of the word 'racism' to describe far too many different things. We often use that word to explain any situation with racial inequity, but is a convenience store security guard following a Black customer more than his white ones the same thing as the systemic issues that led to the death of Trayvon Martin? With this challenging adaptation of a bestselling novel, DuVernay explores the divisions of the world in a way we haven’t really seen before. There are times in which it feels like the non-fiction nature of the source pushes back against traditional film storytelling in ways that could frustrate some critics, but there’s so much to admire here, especially a stellar performance by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and a stunning score by Kris Bowers."
Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
"DuVernay isn’t afraid of sentimentality. She gets her camera in close to her actors, cues the music, and supercharges moments with feeling. 'Origin' has instances of raw domestic melodrama, but the emotions are so sincere that it’s hard not to be moved by it all. The film’s depiction of moments out of history is similarly textured. A Nazi book-burning is nightmarishly in-your-face. Later, the camera swirls around the ghostly, blank shelves of the Empty Library, a present-day memorial built into the cobblestone streets of Berlin’s Bebelplatz. Glimpses into the Middle Passage are close-up and stomach-turning."
Bilge Ebiri, New York
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older films in Los Angeles-area theaters.
January 5
ALIEN (Jerry Goldsmith) [Nuart]
BLOW OUT (Pino Donaggio) [Vidiots]
BROKEN EMBRACES (Alberto Iglesias) [Los Feliz 3]
DOGTOOTH [BrainDead Studios]
AN EDUCATION (Paul Englishby) [Aero]
EL NORTE (Los Folkoristas) [Academy Museum]
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Jon Brion) [Vidiots]
GIANT (Dimitri Tiomkin) [New Beverly]
HEAT (Elliot Goldenthal) [Egyptian]
THE HOST (Byung-woo Lee) [Vidiots]
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS [New Beverly]
THE IRON GIANT (Michael Kamen) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE LONG GOODBYE (John Williams) [New Beverly]
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS (Howard Shore) [Alamo Drafthouse]
MAGNOLIA (Jon Brion) [Alamo Drafthouse]
RAW FORCE (Walter Murphy) [Alamo Drafthouse]
RUN LOLA RUN (Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil) [Alamo Drafthouse]
January 6
ALI (Lisa Gerrard, Pieter Bourke) [Aero]
THE ATTORNEY (Cho Young-wuk) [Academy Museum]
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (Carter Burwell) [Alamo Drafthouse]
DERSU UZALA (Isaac Shvarts) [Egyptian]
E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (John Williams) [Academy Museum]
FANTASIA [New Beverly]
FROM BEYOND (Richard Band) [New Beverly]
GIANT (Dimitri Tiomkin) [New Beverly]
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (Alexandre Desplat) [Vidiots]
THE HUNT (Nikolaj Egelund) [Los Feliz 3]
THE IRON GIANT (Michael Kamen) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS (Howard Shore) [Alamo Drafthouse]
MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (Joe Hisaishi), HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE (Joe Hisaishi), PRINCESS MONONOKE (Joe Hisaishi), SPIRITED AWAY (Joe Hisaishi) [Egyptian]
THE NEVERENDING STORY (Klaus Doldinger, Giorgio Moroder) [Vidiots]
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Richard O'Brien, Richard Hartley) [Nuart]
THE ROOM (Mladen Milicevic) [Landmark Westwood]
A ROYAL AFFAIR (Gabriel Yared, Cyrille Aufort) [Los Feliz 3]
RUMBLE FISH (Stewart Copeland) [BrainDead Studios]
RUN LOLA RUN (Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek) [Alamo Drafthouse]
UNDER THE SKIN (Mica Levi) [Alamo Drafthouse]
VALHALLA RISING (Peter Kyed, Peter Peter) [Los Feliz 3]
VOLCANO (Alan Silvestri) [Academy Museum]
January 7
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Oliver Wallace) [Vidiots]
AVALANCHE (William Kraft) [Academy Museum]
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (Carter Burwell) [Alamo Drafthouse]
FANTASIA [New Beverly]
GIANT (Dimitri Tiomkin) [New Beverly]
LITTLE BIG MAN (John Hammond) [Academy Museum]
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (Howard Shore) [Alamo Drafthouse]
MAGNOLIA (Jon Brion) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (John Phillips) [Vidiots]
THE MAN WHO LAUGHS [Los Feliz 3]
McCABE AND MRS. MILLER (Leonard Cohen) [Aero]
PACIFICTION (Joe Robinson, Marc Verdaguer) [Egyptian]
POLICE STORY (Siu-Tin Lai) [BrainDead Studios]
RUN LOLA RUN (Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek) [Alamo Drafthouse]
SOLARIS (Eduard Artemyev) [Egyptian]
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET [Egyptian]
ZABRISKIE POINT [Los Feliz 3]
January 8
THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE BEAUTY (Fu-Ling Wang), THE SHOOTOUT [New Beverly]
THE IRON GIANT (Michael Kamen) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Carter Burwell) [Aero]
THE PSYCHIC (Bixio-Frizzi-Tempera) [Los Feliz 3]
A TAXI DRIVER (Cho Young-wuk) [Academy Museum]
UNDER THE SKIN (Mica Levi) [Alamo Drafthouse]
January 9
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (Carter Burwell) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE GODFATHER PART II (Nino Rota, Carmine Coppola) [Landmark Pasadena]
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (Howard Shore) [Alamo Drafthouse]
MEN WITH GUNS (Mason Daring) [Los Feliz 3]
MYSTERY MEN (Stephen Warbeck, Shirley Walker) [Alamo Draftouse]
NINE TO FIVE (Charles Fox), THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS [New Beverly]
RUN LOLA RUN (Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek) [Alamo Drafthouse]
SAFE (Ed Tomney) [Egyptian]
UNDER THE SKIN (Mica Levi) [Alamo Drafthouse]
January 10
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (Carter Burwell) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE BIG CHILL [Academy Museum]
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (Howard Shore) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NINE TO FIVE (Charles Fox), THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS [New Beverly]
RAW FORCE (Walter Murphy) [Alamo Drafthouse]
RUN LOLA RUN (Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA (Ton-That Tiet) [Aero]
January 11
BABETTE'S FEAST (Per Norgard) [Los Feliz 3]
HEAT (Elliot Goldenthal) [New Beverly]
THE HOST (Byung-woo Lee) [Academy Museum]
ROAD HOUSE (Michael Kamen) [Vidiots]
January 12
CHOCOLAT (Rachel Portman) [Los Feliz 3]
EARTHQUAKE (John Williams) [Academy Museum]
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (John Carpenter, Alan Howarth) [Vidiots]
EVIL DEAD II (Joseph LoDuca) [Vidiots]
HEAT (Elliot Goldenthal) [New Beverly]
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS [New Beverly]
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD [New Beverly]
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (Anthony Willis) [Aero]
ZARDOZ (David Munrow) [Nuart]
January 13
THE AGE OF SHADOWS (Mowg) [Academy Museum]
ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (Alberto Iglesias) [Alamo Drafthouse]
AMIGO (Mason Daring) [Los Feliz 3]
THE BLACK STALLION (Carmine Coppola, Shirley Walker) [Academy Museum]
THE DARK CRYSTAL (Trevor Jones) [Vidiots]
GIMME SHELTER [New Beverly]
HEAT (Elliot Goldenthal) [New Beverly]
THE IRON GIANT (Michael Kamen) [New Beverly]
JELLYFISH EYES [BrainDead Studios]
JURASSIC PARK (John Williams) [New Beverly]
THE KING OF COMEDY [Vidiots]
NACHO LIBRE (Danny Elfman) [Los Feliz 3]
POPEYE (Harry Nilsson, Tom Pierson) [Vidiots]
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Richard O'Brien, Richard Hartley) [Nuart]
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (Daniel Pemberton) [Aero]
V FOR VENDETTA (Dario Marianelli) [Landmark Westwood]
THE WAVE (Magnus Beite) [Academy Museum]
YOU WON'T BE ALONE (Mark Bradshaw) [Los Feliz 3]
January 14
ARCHANGEL [BrainDead Studios]
COLLATERAL (James Newton Howard) [Egyptian]
DELUGE [Academy Museum]
ELECTION (Rolfe Kent) [Alamo Drafthouse]
GETTYSBURG (Randy Edelman) [Fine Arts]
HEAT (Elliot Goldenthal) [New Beverly]
JURASSIC PARK (John Williams) [New Beverly]
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (Howard Shore) [Alamo Drafthouse]
SISTER ACT (Marc Shaiman) [Vidiots]
A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE (Bo Harwood) [Academy Museum]
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (John Morris) [Vidiots]
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
Heard: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook Vol. 1 (Fitzgerald); I'll Be Seeing You (Marcovici); Seance on a Wet Afternoon/Katharine Hepburn (Barry); Kangaroo (Kaplan); The Quintessential Billie Holiday Vol. 3 (Holiday); Wolfen (Safan); Dinah Shore: Legendary Song Stylist (Shore); Black Mirror: Hang the DJ (Somers)
Read: Dating Your Mom, by Ian Frazier
Seen: The Color Purple [2023]; Ferrari; The Crime Is Mine; Anyone But You; Die Hard 2; The Boys in the Boat; The Teacher's Lounge; Jackass 3D; His Girl Friday; The Apartment; After the Thin Man; Monkey Business [1931]; A Day at the Races; O Lucky Man!
Watched: Exorcist II: The Heretic; The Boys ("Payback"); Children's Hospital ("The Black Doctor"); William Peter Blatty's Legion; Columbo ("Prescription: Murder"); The Good Place ("The Brainy Bunch")
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