The latest release from La-La Land - available to pre-order and expected to begin shipping next week - is a two-disc release of the soundtrack to one of the most iconic films of the 1980s, TOP GUN, featuring the first full release of the original Harold Faltermeyer score plus the songs from the original soundtrack CD.
The latest releases from Buysoundtrax and their associated labels include GOLIATH AWAITS, George Duning's* score for the 1981 two-part TV movie about the discovery of survivors living in an ocean liner decades after its sinking, starring Mark Harmon and Christopher Lee; THE DAVID MICHAEL FRANK COLLECTION VOL. 3, featuring the composer's scores for the TV movies A Will of Their Own and About Sarah (both from 1998); and Paul Gilreath's score for the 1985 action movie NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER, co-starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
*Not Morton Stevens' score - I only noticed this correction in the Message Board nine days later. As a wise man once said, d'oh!
Just a reminder, the 96th Academy Awards are this Sunday at 4pm Pacific Time. Music Oscars will be given - probably to Ludwig Goransson and possibly to Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas (that's my guess, anyway). My predictions are at the bottom of this column.* Please feel free to revel in my inevitable wrongness (I'm always much better at predicting nominations).
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Cliffhangers - Joe Harnell - Five Jays [CD-R]
The Joe Kraemer Collection Vol. 1 - Joe Kraemer - Dragon's Domain [CD-R]
IN THEATERS TODAY
Accidental Texan - Carl Thiel
American Dreamer - Jeff Russo
Cabrini - Gene Back
Damsel - David Fleming
Glitter & Doom - Amy Ray, Emiliy Sailers
Imaginary - Bear McCreary
Kung Fu Panda 4 - Hans Zimmer, Steve Mazzaro
Love Lies Bleeding - Clint Mansell
Yolo - Fei Peng
COMING SOON
March 15
Top Gun - Harold Faltermeyer - La-La Land
March 22
Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Danny Elfman - Varese Sarabande CD Club
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - John Powell - Varese Sarabande CD Club
Coming Soon
The David Michael Frank Collection Vol. 3 - David Michael Frank - Dragon's Domain
Goliath Awaits - George Duning - Dragon's Domain [CD-R]
No Retreat, No Surrender - Paul Gilreath - Dragon's Domain [CD-R]
Once Upon a Time in the West - Ennio Morricone - Beat
Rock-a-Doodle - Robert Folk - Quartet
Scorpio - Jerry Fielding - Quartet
Scusi, ma lei le paga le tasse?/Come rubammo la bomba atomica - Lallo Gori - Beat
Viva la foca/Cornetti alla crema/La moglie in vacanza l'amante in citta - Detto Mariano - Beat
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
March 8 - Dick Hyman born (1927)
March 8 - Franz Waxman begins recording his score for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
March 8 - Bruce Broughton born (1945)
March 8 - Jerry Goldsmith records his score for the pilot to Dr. Kildare (1961)
March 8 - Alex North begins recording his unused score for Sounder (1972)
March 8 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording orchestral cues for Logan's Run score (1976)
March 8 - Dave Grusin begins recording his score for Murder by Death (1976)
March 8 - Paul Chihara begins recording his score, adapted from Gilbert & Sullivan, for The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978)
March 8 - William Walton died (1983)
March 8 - James Newton Howard begins recording his score for Dave (1993)
March 8 - George Martin died (2016)
March 9 - John Cale born (1940)
March 9 - Arlon Ober born (1943)
March 9 - Mark Mancina born (1957)
March 9 - Bernard Herrmann begins recording his score for Psycho (1960)
March 9 - Deborah Lurie born (1974)
March 9 - Jane Antonia Cornish born (1975)
March 9 - Bill Conti begins recording his score for Wrongfully Accused (1998)
March 9 - Richard Stone died (2001)
March 9 - Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson died (2004)
March 10 - Arthur Honegger born (1892)
March 10 - Angela Morley/Wally Stott born (1924)
March 10 - Charles Previn, head of the Universal Music Department, wins the Score Oscar for One Hundred Men and a Girl, for which no composer is credited (1938)
March 10 - Brad Fiedel born (1951)
March 10 - Marc Donahue born (1953)
March 10 - Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen born (1960)
March 10 - Michel Legrand records his score for Summer of ’42 (1971)
March 10 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for The Swarm (1978)
March 10 - Bruce Broughton begins recording his score for Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992)
March 11 - Gottfried Huppertz born (1887)
March 11 - Astor Piazzolla born (1921)
March 11 - Recording sessions begin for Bronislau Kaper's score to Lili (1952)
March 11 - David Newman born (1954)
March 11 - Rob Simonsen born (1978)
March 11 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Heart of Glory" (1988)
March 11 - Paul Dunlap died (2010)
March 11 - Francois-Eudes Chanfrault died (2016)
March 11 - Keith Emerson died (2016)
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)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
HOW TO HAVE SEX - James Jacobs
"The extraordinarily perceptive 'How to Have Sex' pulls off many feats of daring: Nicolas Canniccioni’s alcopop-hangover photography, James Jacobs’ chemical club-anthem score, Mia McKenna-Bruce’s star-making central turn. But the most impressive is first-time writer-director Molly Manning Walker getting us not just to forgive her central triad their brash and brainless bravado but to grieve for it when it’s gone. Set in Malia, on the island of Crete, 'How to Have Sex' is a different kind of Greek tragedy -- no grand myth, just a heart-sore, everyday observation of what the world does to girls and what the world makes girls do to themselves."
Jessica Kiang, Los Angeles Times
"Manning Walker does a fine job building a sense of dread and shifting tone without losing the story’s momentum. Tara’s silences hit differently as the week progresses. She’s always felt behind compared to her friends, and the weight of this experience only adds to her sense of isolation. There’s a haunting element to the latter half of 'How to Have Sex,' which intelligently captures the difficulty of processing sexual assault, of navigating consent, of even starting a conversation. James Jacob’s score at first complements the disorienting, bass-heavy EDM soundtrack of the resort, but then becomes more subdued, allowing us to hear evidence of Tara’s silences: labored breathing, clothes rubbing against sheets as she curls herself into the fetal position."
Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter
LISA FRANKENSTEIN - Isabella Summers
"Getting there, though, is somewhat rough. Just as Lisa (Kathryn Newton) can’t seem to connect with the world around her at first, Zelda Williams’s direction has trouble finding its footing in the world that Cody has created: a nondescript suburb in 1989 where most kids appear to be hostile jocks or big-haired cheerleaders, and all the adults are jocks and cheerleaders who never left town. Aside from some choice ’80s needle drops, the beautifully animated opening credits, and the wonderful score by Florence and the Machine keyboardist Isabella Summers, the film’s deliberate, glacial pacing early on doesn’t quite give us enough to latch onto."
Justin Clark, Slant Magazine
"The ’80s vibes burn bright in 'Lisa Frankenstein' with a slick combo of smart costuming, seamless set design, and a pitch perfect score and soundtrack. The movie feels like ’80s done right. It’s not such an overt nostalgia piece that you’re being beaten over the head with visuals and references, but it’s also clearly a love letter to the era in the way director Zelda Williams builds out the world of the film. Lisa’s costumes, which at their height end up resembling the best of Stevie Nicks’ wardrobe, feel so quintessentially of the time while also doing a wonderful job of visually chronicling Lisa’s inner evolution as the events play out."
Lex Briscuso, The Wrap
"'Lisa Frankenstein' feels like a film that was written for the studio system back in the late 2000s: when Eighties nostalgia was at an all-time high, Barnes & Noble had a specific slice of their Young Adult section dedicated to 'Paranormal Romance,' and Diablo Cody’s name on a script was catnip for young, female cinephiles. The skirts are fluffed, the music is synth, and the romance is dire."
Jenny Nulf, The Austin Chronicle
MEA CULPA - Amanda Jones
"Perry tries to infuse some heat into the proceedings with Amanda Jones’ score. But using music to create erotic tension that doesn’t exist is a fool’s errand, no matter how loud or soft it gets. The actors are just not in rhythm. They seem to be waiting for one another to finish sentences, throwing off the flow of the scenes."
Murtada Elfadl, Variety
ORDINARY ANGELS - Pancho Burgos-Goizueta
"Despite such strengths, the film has notable weaknesses as well. It’s a blessing that Gunn and screenwriters Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig find room for subtlety and nuance, but they lack confidence that their audience will remember what’s at stake, spelling it out on a few occasions. Ed’s crisis of faith is neither innovative nor sufficiently integrated, reducing to simplistic tropes and scenarios. Composer Pancho Burgos-Goizueta’s sappy strings are too omnipresent, doing much of the heavy lifting in the obstacle-upon-obstacle third act, racing to the makeshift hospital transport location during an already harrowing, real-life snowstorm in 1994."
Courtney Howard, Variety
PROBLEMISTA - Robert Ouyang Rusli
"There’s a too-muchness about 'Problemista' that feels like a charm bracelet manacled around your wrist. The barrage is at its best when we’re meant to feel overwhelmed. As Elizabeth launches into one of her rants, the score bristles, invisible gremlins start to mutter, and we’re transcended into a hellscape patrolled by Swinton in a series of increasingly spiked blouses. The chaos melds into an aria of panic."
Amy Nicholson, New York Times
"'Problemista' unfolds in its own universe, untethered to the logic of our world. Torres, who also wrote the screenplay, bathes us in the layers of his vision: Voiceover narration by Isabella Rossellini lures us into the past, where we learn about Alejandro’s imaginative and sheltered childhood with his attentive artist mother Dolores (Catalina Saavedra); DP Fredrik Wenzel’s sweeping camerawork plunges us into Alejandro’s verdant childhood home in El Salvador before whisking us to the gray, trash-filled streets of Brooklyn, where the young artist now lives; and Robert Ouyang Rusli’s crisp and exciting score propels us from one moment to the next."
Loviya Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older films in Los Angeles-area theaters:
March 8
THE APPLE (Coby Reith) [Alamo Drafthouse]
CAT PEOPLE (Roy Webb), THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (Roy Webb) [New Beverly]
CHEECH & CHONG'S NEXT MOVIE (Mark Davis) [Vista]
CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 (Michael Legrand), VAGABOND (Joanna Bruzdowicz) [Aero]
COOL WORLD (Mark Isham) [Los Feliz 3]
DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST (John Barnes) [Vidiots]
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT (Brian Tyler) [BrainDead Studios]
FRESH (Alex Somers) [Vidiots]
GRINDHOUSE: DEATH PROOF [New Beverly]
HOTEL MONTEREY [Los Feliz 3]
LA REGION CENTRALE [UCLA/Hammer]
THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Jonny Greenwood) [New Beverly]
TOKYO! (Etienne Charry, Byung-woo Lee) [BrainDead Studios]
UNCUT GEMS (Daniel Lopatin) [Nuart]
VICE SQUAD [Egyptian]
March 9
BORN IN EAST L.A. (Lee Holdridge) [Vidiots]
CAT PEOPLE (Roy Webb), THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (Roy Webb) [New Beverly]
CHEECH & CHONG'S NEXT MOVIE (Mark Davis) [Vista]
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (John Williams) [Egyptian]
THE FLYING DEUCES (John Leipold, Leo Shuken) [Vista]
GRIZZLY MAN (Richard Thompson), GATES OF HEAVEN (Dan Harberts) [UCLA/Hammer]
I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS [Los Feliz 3]
INFERNO (Keith Emerson) [New Beverly]
JE TU IL ELLE [Los Feliz 3]
JODOROWSKY'S DUNE (Kurt Stenzel) [Vidiots]
JOHNNY GUITAR (Victor Young) [Vidiots]
LES CREATURES (Pierre Barbaud) [Aero]
THE LITTLE RASCALS (William Ross) [Alamo Drafthouse]
LUPIN THE THIRD: THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO (Yuji Ono) [BrainDead Studios]
THE MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN (Joe Raposo) [BrainDead Studios]
NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (Joe Hisaishi) [New Beverly]
NEWS FROM HOME [Los Feliz 3]
ORLANDO (David Motion, Sally Potter) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Richard O'Brien, Richard Hartley) [Nuart]
A SCANNER DARKLY (Graham Reynolds) [Los Feliz 3]
WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT (Julian Nott) [Vidiots]
March 10
THE FLYING DEUCES (John Leipold, Leo Shuken) [Vista]
FROZEN (Christophe Beck) [Vidiots]
THE GLEANERS AND I (Joanna Bruzdowicz) [Aero]
GRINDHOUSE: PLANET TERROR/DEATH PROOF (Robert Rodriguez, Graeme Revell) [New Beverly]
HEAVY METAL (Elmer Bernstein) [Los Feliz 3]
LES RENDEZ-VOUS D'ANNA [Los Feliz 3]
NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (Joe Hisaishi) [New Beverly]
THE SOFT SKIN (Georges Delerue) [Los Feliz 3]
THE STRANGLER (Roland Vincent) [Los Feliz 3]
TIME BANDITS (Mike Moran) [Alamo Drafthouse]
March 11
BIRDBOY: THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN (Aranzaju Callega) [Los Feliz 3]
CHINATOWN (Jerry Goldsmith) [Egyptian]
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FABULOUS STAINS, THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN (Craig Safan) [New Beverly]
MURMUR OF THE HEART [Los Feliz 3]
THE PHANTOM OF LIBERTY [Egyptian]
PULP FICTION [Alamo Drafthouse]
UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES [Vidiots]
March 12
ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE [Egyptian]
CHINATOWN (Jerry Goldsmith) [Egyptian]
THE GETAWAY (Quincy Jones) [Landmark Pasadena]
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FABULOUS STAINS, THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN (Craig Safan) [New Beverly]
THE LORD OF THE RINGS (Leonard Rosenman) [Los Feliz 3]
NEWS FROM HOME [Los Feliz 3]
NIMONA (Christophe Beck) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE PARALLAX VIEW (Michael Small) [Egyptian]
PINK FLAMINGOS [Vidiots]
STINKING HEAVEN (Paul Grimstad) [BrainDead Studios]
March 13
THE APPLE (Coby Reith) [Alamo Drafthouse]
BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA (John Frizzell) [Los Feliz 3]
CHINATOWN (Jerry Goldsmith) [Egyptian]
JOHNNY GUITAR (Victor Young), FORTY GUNS (Harry Sukman) [New Beverly]
MISSISSIPPI MASALA (L. Subramaniam) [Vidiots]
SET IT OFF (Christopher Young) [BrainDead Studios]
THE TRAVELER (Kambiz Roshanravan) [Egyptian]
A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE (Bo Harwood) [Egyptian]
March 14
AMARCORD (Nino Rota) [Egyptian]
THE CONVERSATION (David Shire) [Egyptian]
JOHNNY GUITAR (Victor Young), FORTY GUNS (Harry Sukman) [New Beverly]
THE KRAYS (Michael Kamen) [Los Feliz 3]
LES CHOSES DE LA VIE (Philippe Sarde), NELLY AND MONSIEUR ARNAUD (Philippe Sarde) [Aero]
LES RENDEZ-VOUS D'ANNA [Los Feliz 3]
PI (Clint Mansell) [Alamo Drafthouse]
TOTAL RECALL (Jerry Goldsmith) [Vidiots]
March 15
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Oliver Wallace) [Vista]
BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE (George Duning), THE CASSANDRA CAT (Svatopluk Havelka) [UCLA/Hammer]
CESAR AND ROSALIE (Philippe Sarde) [Los Feliz 3]
DAYS OF HEAVEN (Ennio Morricone) [Vidiots]
DRUNKEN MASTER II (Wai Lap Wu), MR. NICE GUY (J. Peter Robinson) [New Beverly]
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Jon Brion) [BrainDead Studios]
THE GREASY STRANGLER (Andrew Hung) [Vidiots]
GRINDHOUSE: DEATH PROOF [New Beverly]
HELI (Lasse Marhaug), LOS BASTARDOS [Aero]
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER (Trevor Jones) [Alamo Drafthouse]
MAX AND THE JUNKMEN (Philippe Sarde) [Los Feliz 3]
MEMORIES OF MURDER (Taro Iwashiro) [Vidiots]
ROAD TO PERDITION (Thomas Newman) [New Beverly]
SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND [Alamo Drafthouse]
TWELVE MONKEYS (Paul Buckmaster) [Nuart]
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON (Alexandre Desplat) [Alamo Drafthouse]
March 16
A CIAMBRA (Dan Romer) [UCLA/Hammer]
ABOVE THE RIM (Marcus Miller) [Alamo Drafthouse]
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Oliver Wallace) [New Beverly]
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Oliver Wallace) [Vista]
CLASSE TOUS RISQUES (Georges Delerue) [Egyptian]
CROOKLYN (Terence Blanchard) [Alamo Drafthouse]
DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD [Egyptian]
DRUNKEN MASTER II (Wai Lap Wu), MR. NICE GUY (J. Peter Robinson) [New Beverly]
FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL (Richard Rodney Bennett) [Alamo Drafthouse]
LEPRECHAUN (Kevin Kiner) [New Beverly]
MAMMA MIA! [Vidiots]
NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK (Frank Skinner) [Vista]
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Richard O'Brien, Richard Hartley) [Nuart]
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON (Alexandre Desplat) [Alamo Drafthouse]
WAKING LIFE (Glover Gill) [Los Feliz 3]
WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (Leslie Bricusse, Walter Scharf) [Vidiots]
March 17
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Oliver Wallace) [New Beverly]
BLOOD [Los Feliz 3]
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB [Vidiots]
DRUNKEN MASTER II (Wai Lap Wu), MR. NICE GUY (J. Peter Robinson) [New Beverly]
GRAND HOTEL, ANNA KARENINA (Herbert Stothart) [UCLA/Hammer]
JEANNE DIELMAN, 23, QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES [Egyptian]
NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK (Frank Skinner) [Vista]
SHORT CUTS (Mark Isham) [BrainDead Studios]
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON (Alexandre Desplat) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE UNTAMED (Guro Moe, Masse Marhaug, Martin Escalante) [Los Feliz 3]
VINCENT, FRANCOIS, PAUL AND THE OTHERS (Philippe Sarde) [Los Feliz 3]
WONDER WOMAN (Rupert Gregson-Williams) [Fine Arts]
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
Heard: Forsaken Themes from Fantastic Films Vol. 2: Who Wants to Live Forever (various); The Godfather (Rota); King of Kings (Rozsa); Dawn of the Dead (various); Last Tango in Paris (Barbieri); Deadly Friend (Bernstein); Alien Nation (Goldsmith); The Missouri Breaks (Williams); Pachinko (Muhly)
Read: The Money That Money Can't Buy, by James Munro, aka James Mitchell
Seen: "The Unseen Scene: The Academy Film Archive Trailer Show"; Drive-Away Dolls; Problemista; Coonskin; Heavy Traffic
Watched: Loving Couples [1964]; The Wire ("Homecoming")
*My predictions for the 96th Academy Awards winners:
Picture: Oppenheimer
Actor: Jeffrey Wright
Actress: Lily Gladstone
Supporting Actor: Robert Downey, Jr.
Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph
Directing: Oppenheimer
Original Screenplay: The Holdovers
Adapted Screenplay: American Fiction:
Cinematography: Oppenheimer
Costume Design: Poor Things
Film Editing: Oppenheimer
Makeup and Hairstyling: Maestro
Original Score: Oppenheimer
Original Song: "What Was I Made For?"
Production Design: Poor Things
Sound: Oppenheimer
Visual Effects: Godzilla Minus One
Animated Feature Film: The Boy and the Heron
Animated Short Film: WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
Documentary Feature Film: 20 Days in Mariupol
Documentary Short Film: The Last Repair Shop
Live Action Short Film: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
International Feature Film: The Zone of Interest
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