Varese Sarabande has announced three new CD Club releases -- a greatly expanded Deluxe Edition of Leonard Rosenman's score for the 1990 sequel ROBOCOP 2 ("Ro-bo-cop...."); a two-disc Deluxe Edition of James Newton Howard's score for the Stephen King sci-fi/horror movie DREAMCATCHER (previously released as part of Varese's Stephen King boxed set); and an Encore Edition of one of the label's earliest -- and longest out-of-print -- Club releases, Jerry Goldsmith's charming score for the period drama RAGGEDY MAN (which is already out of stock from most sellers).
The latest CD from La-La Land is a remastered and slightly expanded release of James Horner's lively score for the sci-fi-tinged 1987 thriller PROJECT X, starring Matthew Broderick as a young Air Force pilot who becomes part of a government experiment involving chimpanzees.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
The Beach Bum - John Debney - Milan
Dead Ant - Edwin Wendler - Notefornote
Dreamcatcher: The Deluxe Edition - James Newton Howard - Varese Sarabande CD Club
L'Heure de la Sortie/Irreprochable - Zombie Zombie - Music Box
Operation Mystery - Toru Fuyuki, Naozumi Yamamoto - Cinema-Kan (import)
Project X - James Horner - La-La Land
Raggedy Man (Encore Edition) - Jerry Goldsmith - Varese Sarabande CD Club
RoboCop 2: The Deluxe Edition - Leonard Rosenman - Varese Sarabande CD Club
Test/Wild Field - Alexei Augui - Music Box
Woman with Seven Faces - Katsuhisa Hattori - Cinema-Kan (import)
IN THEATERS TODAY
Dragged Across Concrete - Jeff Herriott, S. Craig Zahler - Score CD due June 14 on Lakeshore
The Eyes of Orson Welles - Matt Regan
Flashout - Spencer David Hutchings
Hotel Mumbai - Volker Bertelmann - Score CD on Varese Sarabande
Knife + Heart - M83 - Score CD due April 26 on Mute
Skid Row Marathon - Kim Planert
Sunset - Laszlo Melis
Triple Threat - Joel J. Richard
Us - Michael Abels
COMING SOON
March 29
The Chaperone - Marcelo Zarvos - Sony
Hotel Mumbai - Volker Bertelmann - Varese Sarabande
Never Look Away - Max Richter - Deutsche Grammophon
April 5
Dumbo - Danny Elfman - Disney
Halt and Catch Fire: Volume 2 - Paul Haslinger - Lakeshore
April 12
The Curse of La Llorna - Joseph Bishara - WaterTower [CD-R]
High Life - Stuart Staples - Milan
April 19
Being Rose - Brian Ralson - Notefornote
April 26
Knife + Heart - M26 - Mute
May 10
First to the Moon: The Journey of Apollo 8 - Alexander Bornstein - Notefornote
June 14
Dragged Across Concrete - Jeff Herriott, S. Craig Zahler - Lakeshore
Date Unknown
Arthur Gesetz - Christophe Blaser - Kronos
Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype - Richard Band - Dragon's Domain
The Joel Goldsmith Collection vol. 1 - Joel Goldsmith - Dragon's Domain
Le Gran Promesa - Rodrigo Flores Lopez - Kronos
976-Evil II - Chuck Cirino - Dragon's Domain
The Paul Chihara Collection vol. 2 - Paul Chihara - Dragon's Domain
Si Puo Fare...Amigo - Luis Bacalov - Digitmovies
Wish You Were Here - Andre Matthias - Kronos
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
March 22 - Stephen Sondheim born (1930)
March 22 - Angelo Badalamenti born (1937)
March 22 - Andrew Lloyd Webber born (1948)
March 22 - Goran Bregovic born (1950)
March 22 - Wally Badarou born (1955)
March 22 - Max Richter born (1966)
March 22 - Zeltia Montes born (1979)
March 22 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score for Time After Time (1979)
March 22 - Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Time Squared” (1989)
March 22 - Bebo Valdes died (2013)
March 23 - Alan Blaikley born (1940)
March 23 - Michael Nyman born (1944)
March 23 - David Grisman born (1945)
March 23 - Trevor Jones born (1949)
March 23 - Aaron Copland wins his only Oscar, for The Heiress score (1950)
March 23 - Philip Judd born (1953)
March 23 - Richard Shores records his score for The Wild Wild West episode “The Night of the Burning Diamond” (1966)
March 23 - Damon Albarn born (1968)
March 23 - Lionel Newman re-records pre-existing Jerry Goldsmith cues for The Last Hard Men’s replacement score (1976)
March 23 - Hal Mooney died (1995)
March 23 - Michael Linn died (1995)
March 23 - James Horner begins recording his score for Braveheart (1995)
March 23 - James Horner wins his first and last Oscars, for Titanic's score and song; Anne Dudley wins the third Comedy or Musical Score Oscar, for The Full Monty (1998)
March 23 - Elliot Goldenthal wins his first Oscar, for the Frida score (2003)
March 24 - Michael Masser born (1941)
March 24 - Brian Easdale wins his only Oscar, for The Red Shoes score (1949)
March 24 - Alberto Colombo died (1954)
March 24 - Fred Steiner's score for the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" is recorded (1967)
March 24 - John Barry begins recording his score for The Deep (1977)
March 24 - Arthur B. Rubinstein begins recording his score for WarGames (1983)
March 24 - Alex North wins an Honorary Oscar, "in recognition of his brilliant artistry in the creation of memorable music for a host of distinguished motion pictures; " John Barry wins his fourth Oscar, for the Out of Africa score (1986)
March 24 - Gabriel Yared wins the Dramatic Score Oscar for The English Patient; Rachel Portman wins the second Comedy or Musical Score Oscar, for Emma (1997)
March 24 - John Barry wins his fifth and final Oscar, for the Dances With Wolves score; Stephen Sondheim wins his first Oscar, for the song "Sooner or Later" from Dick Tracy (1991)
March 25 - Riz Ortolani born (1926)
March 25 - Recording sessions begin for Frederick Hollander’s score for The Great McGinty (1940)
March 25 - Elton John born (1947)
March 25 - Bronislau Kaper wins his only Oscar, for the Lili score (1954)
March 25 - John Massari born (1957)
March 25 - Henry Mancini begins recording his score for 99 & 44/100 % Dead (1974)
March 25 - Ken Thorne begins recording his score for Superman II (1980)
March 25 - Maurice Jarre wins his third and final Oscar, for the A Passage to India score (1985)
March 25 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Royale" (1989)
March 25 - Luis Bacalov wins his only Oscar, for Il Postino; Alan Menken wins the first Comedy or Musical Score Oscar, as well as Best Song, for Pocahonatas (1996)
March 26 - Larry Morey born (1905)
March 26 - Leigh Harline born (1907)
March 26 - Charles Dumont born (1929)
March 26 - Alan Silvestri born (1950)
March 26 - Bernard Herrmann begins recording his score for White Witch Doctor (1953)
March 26 - Victor Young begins recording his score for Little Boy Lost (1953)
March 26 - Louis Silvers died (1954)
March 26 - Noel Coward died (1973)
March 26 - John Williams begins recording his score for SpaceCamp (1986)
March 26 - Alan Menken wins his first Oscars, for The Little Mermaid score and its song "Under the Sea" (1990)
March 26 - John Corigliano wins his first Oscar, for The Red Violin score (2000)
March 26 - Fred Karlin died (2004)
March 27 - Ferde Grofe born (1892)
March 27 - Dave Pollecutt born (1942)
March 27 - Tony Banks born (1950)
March 27 - Victor Young wins posthumous Best Score Oscar for Around the World in 80 Days (1957)
March 27 - Lalo Schifrin begins recording his score for Coogan’s Bluff (1968)
March 27 - Charlie Chaplin et al win score Oscar for Limelight (1973)
March 27 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score to Winter Kill (1974)
March 27 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for Gremlins (1984)
March 27 - Hans Zimmer wins his first Oscar, for The Lion King score (1995)
March 27 - Dudley Moore died (2002)
March 27 - Recording sessions begin for Nathan Barr's score to Hostel Part II (2007)
March 28 - Jay Livingston born (1915)
March 28 - Alf Clausen born (1941)
March 28 - Arthur Bliss died (1975)
March 28 - Waldo de los Rios died (1977)
March 28 - Carmen Dragon died (1984)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
BENCHED - Jared Faber
"While both actors play their parts convincingly, first-time feature directors Robert Deaton and George Flanigen, better known for their country music videos for Big & Rich, Reba McEntire and others, are less successful at extricating the vehicle from its stage-bound confines despite fleshing out the scenery with an actual baseball field populated by pint-sized characters facing off against an overworked score."
Michael Rechtshaffen, Los Angeles Times
"The technical elements are first rate, from the gloomy (sometimes too gloomy) cinematography of Jarin Blaschke ('The Witch') to the music score by Victor Reyes that recalls classic Hammer horror films of the '60s and 70s. Thurman is a hoot as the imposing headmistress who hissingly refers to her charges as 'miscreants' when riled; Robb makes the rebellious Kit surprisingly endearing; and Moroles nearly steals the film as the no-holds-barred Veronica."
Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST - Julian Wass
"Akhavan elicits finely layered performances from her cast. Moretz digs deeper than she has in years for a sensitive lead turn that harmonizes especially well with her co-stars. Particular praise is due to Gallagher and Campbell, who touchingly project people desperate to wear a skin of 'normalcy' that's as friable as wet tissue. Still, pains are taken to show how similar the young characters are to teenagers everywhere, keen to let rip dancing even if it must be to a Christian rock beat combo or to lip sync with goofy abandon to 4 Non Blondes' 'What's Up?' The use of music is adept throughout, not least thanks to Julian Wass's distinctive, sometimes eerie original score."
Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter
PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH - Fabio Frizzi
''The Littlest Reich' leaves behind the quaint, micro-micro-budget of the Full Moon Features tradition and boasts some star power, both behind and in front of the camera. Directed by Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund, the film features a rousing score from Lucio Fulci regular Fabio Frizzi and a cast of actors you’ll recognize. But perhaps the biggest surprise of the bunch is the involvement of 'Bone Tomahawk' and 'Brawl in Cell Block 99' filmmaker S. Craig Zahler, who wrote the script. You’ll be able to feel Zahler’s presence in the kill scenes, which maintain his flourish for extreme moments of unforgettable bloodshed, though there’s unfortunately little evidence of his knack for stoic, straightforward dialogue (admittedly, there are a few quality zingers), his deft hand at navigating challenging themes, or his talent for creating unforgettable characters."
Haleigh Foutch, Collider
"Like Carpenter’s 'The Thing' and Cronenberg’s 'The Fly,' 'Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich' is the rare horror remake that manages to be superior to the original. To avoid hyperbole by throwing out big, beloved titles like those, it goes without saying that the bar for remaking 'Puppet Master' is not as high as 'The Thing From Another World' or 'The Fly.' However, saying that isn’t a high bar should not diminish the feats that 'The Littlest Reich' does accomplish. By bringing in a strong screenwriter, hungry filmmakers with a vision, and a cast and crew who care deeply for the work (can’t believe we got this far into the review without mentioning that legendary Lucio Fulci collaborator Fabio Frizzi did the score), you get the recipe for a delightful and deranged modern-day exploitation film that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but somehow, asks you to take it more seriously than you might have otherwise. And it works. The film concludes with an interesting, yet frustrating sequel-feeding ending (and somewhat abruptly, giving it more unexpected weight), and in this instance, it’s a sequel that should happen."
Ryan Oliver, The Playlist
"'The Littlest Reich,' in other words, aims to shock. Its sensibility falls somewhere between Fangoria, the movie mag that produced the film, and the edge lord provocations of a particularly trollish subreddit. Horror buffs should appreciate the nods, from a score by Lucio Fulci’s regular composer, Fabio Frizzi, to the appearance of 'Re-Animator' alum Barbara Crampton as the cop who killed Toulon and now leads tediously expository tours of his mansion. And the gore, to be clear, really is something: an impressive, elaborate, practically achieved smorgasbord of spraying arteries, loosed entrails, and tiny hands bursting through rubber flesh. Yet in their cruder, much less self-aware way, the early 'Puppet Master' movies had more charm. Their titular terrors, for one thing, possessed real personality -- a sense of life that 'The Littlest Reich,' inventive though it can be in the dismemberment department, can’t match. It’s all guts, no glory, and a little too self-satisfied with its own 'transgressive' mean streak to be much fun."
A.A. Dowd, The Onion AV Club
WE THE ANIMALS - Nick Zammuto
"Zak Mulligan's cinematography gives the images a tactile immediacy. You feel you can almost touch the boys' skin, the mud, the colored pencils indenting the paper. Even the light has texture and depth. The images themselves -- the feel and look of them, along with Nick Zammuto's dramatic score, are so much a part of how 'We the Animals' actually works, it's hard to separate them out to examine other story elements. Shot on film, there's a thick grain on the screen, and this creates a multi-layered nostalgia. 'We the Animals' is about childhood, but the nostalgia here isn't for some golden glowing past. The film shows childhood as chaotic and painful, but also sometimes really fun. Zagar, whose background is in documentary film-making and editing, plays to his strengths: he keeps the structure loose for the most part, leaving space for inference and suggestion. Jonah's dreamlike voiceover calls to mind Terrence Malick's use of the same device, and not in a good way, and some of the stylistic choices (Jonah's flashbacks to almost drowning in the river one time) are overplayed, the score blaring like something from a horror movie. Some of 'We the Animals' feels overblown, pushed. But still, the manipulation is minimal. Any potential sentimentality is obliterated by the film's tone and by the performances. It works best when it's most impressionistic. Although the big events in life have the most impact (you wonder what on earth is going to happen to these three boys), it's the small things -- the early morning light, the tall grass, the black flowing river, Ma's smudged mascara, Paps' dazzling grin -- that we really remember."
Sheila O'Malley, RogerEbert.com
"Still, maybe that’s preferable to Zagar’s bungled attempts at evoking the flow of sense memory through sub-Malickian montage, faux-lyrical voice-over, and poetic-sounding dialogue -- devices that often come across as secondhand, if not downright embarrassing. ('Why is that light in a cage?' Jonah asks his father. 'So it don’t fly away,' Paps responds.) A gauzy, beguiling image of Jonah wrapped in a curtain draws a direct connection to Lynne Ramsay’s 'Ratcatcher' (1999), another sensuous evocation of a working-class child’s loneliness. But it’s a comparison that does Zagar no favors, his attempts at a similar brand of visual/aural disorientation notwithstanding. In 'We The Animals,' the moments that linger are often the most hushed -- a rare quality, given Nick Zammuto’s overbearing score -- and mainly have to do with Jonah’s burgeoning sexuality. Rosado’s expression of joy after his character experiences a tender, fleeting moment of intimacy late in the film -- which Zagar only cuts to after holding for just a few seconds on a distant wide shot -- is finely judged."
Lawrence Garcia, The Onion AV Club
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older films, at the following L.A. movie theaters: AMPAS, American Cinematheque: Aero, American Cinematheque: Egyptian, Arclight, Arena Cinelounge, LACMA, Laemmle, New Beverly, Nuart and UCLA.
March 22
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (Louis SIlvers), THE RICHEST GIRL IN THE WORLD (Max Stiner) [UCLA]
KILL BILL: VOL. 2 (The RZA, Robert Rodriguez) [New Beverly]
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (DeWolfe), MONTY PYTHON'S THE MEANING OF LIFE (John DuPrez) [New Beverly]
POLYESTER (Chris Stein, Michael Kamen) [Nuart]
March 23
EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK (Mundell Lowe) [New Beverly]
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (DeWolfe), MONTY PYTHON'S THE MEANING OF LIFE (John DuPrez) [New Beverly]
NATIONAL VELVET (Herbert Stothart) [New Beverly]
NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE (Popol Vuh), THE AMERICAN FRIEND (Jurgen Knieper) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
STAGE STRUCK [UCLA]
March 24
THE MEPHISTO WALTZ (Jerry Goldsmith), SPECIAL DELIVERY (Lalo Schifrin) [New Beverly]
NATIONAL VELVET (Herbert Stothart) [New Beverly]
WINGS OF DESIRE (Jurgen Kneiper) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
March 25
AMELIE (Yann Tiersen) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER (Mychael Danna, Rob Simonsen) [Arclight Santa Monica]
THE MEPHISTO WALTZ (Jerry Goldsmith), SPECIAL DELIVERY (Lalo Schifrin) [New Beverly]
PARTY GIRL (Anton Sanko) [New Beverly]
THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING [AMPAS]
March 26
CABARET (John Kander, Ralph Burns) [LACMA]
DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (Maurice Jarre) [Arclight Hollywood]
SAY ANYTHING (Anne Dudley, Richard Gibbs) [Arclight Culver City]
THE TATTOO CONNECTION (Anders Nelsson), EXIT THE DRAGON, ENTER THE TIGER (Fu Liang Chou) [New Beverly]
March 27
CITY HALL (Jerry Goldsmith) [Cinematheque: Aero]
MEDIUM COOL (Mike Bloomfield) [Laemmle Royal]
POINT BLANK (Johnny Mandel), THE OUTFIT (Jerry Fielding) [New Beverly]
WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (Alex North) [New Beverly]
March 28
POINT BLANK (Johnny Mandel), THE OUTFIT (Jerry Fielding) [New Beverly]
SENSO, SANDRA [Cinematheque: Aero]
SPACEBALLS (John Morris) [Laemmle NoHo]
March 29
BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (Jeremy Schmidt) [Nuart]
KILL BILL - VOL. 1 (The RZA) [New Beverly]
LA STRADA (Nino Rota), IL BIDONE (Nino Rota) [New Beverly]
THE LEOPARD (Nino Rota) [Cinematheque: Aero]
TRAPPED (Sol Kaplan), THE FILE ON THELMA JORDON (Victor Young) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
March 30
AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON [New Beverly]
APPOINTMENT WITH DANGER (Victor Young), SHADOW ON THE WALL (Andre Previn) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THE BLACK STALLION (Carmine Coppola, Shirley Walker) [New Beverly]
LA STRADA (Nino Rota), IL BIDONE (Nino Rota) [New Beverly]
ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS (Nino Rota) [Cinematheque: Aero]
THE WEDDING MARCH (J.S. Zamecnik), AMERICAN MADNESS [UCLA]
March 31
THE BLACK STALLION (Carmine Coppola, Shirley Walker) [New Beverly]
DAMES (Leo F. Forbstein), FOOTLIGHT PARADE [New Beverly]
THE DAMNED (Maurice Jarre) [Cinematheque: Aero]
THE MATRIX (Don Davis) [Arclight Culver City]
THE MATRIX (Don Davis) [Arclight Hollywood]
THE MATRIX (Don Davis) [Arclight Santa Monica]
THE MATRIX (Don Davis) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
SUDDEN FEAR (Elmer Bernstein), THE NARROW MARGIN [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
I don't remember the films I saw as a child quite as vividly as I do the moments in those films that disturbed me, moments that now naturally seem tame after the decades of splatter films, "torture porn," and other types of filmic imagery that barely existed in the late '60s and early '70s when I first started going to the movies. A burned body in The Poseidon Adventure, the corpse-strewn ground after a flood in The Little Ark, a withered corpse in a Night Gallery episode ("The Dead Man" - still a pretty grisly makeup effect for 1970 network TV) -- all shots that kept me from getting to sleep as a child, but these days the average child can see more disturbing imagery on the street in a poster for the latest season of The Walking Dead. There was a traumatic image in Krakatoa, East of Java that I'd completely forgotten until I saw the film again at the New Beverly in 2017 - a (non-graphic) shot of Sal Mineo's love interest getting fatally clobbered by a flaming volcanic projectile.
One film that I remember utterly freaked me out as a very young child was Darby O'Gill and the Little People. There's nothing especially gruesome in the film, but the lighthearted fantasy turns decidedly dark in the finale, when a major character is on the brink of death and a banshee descends from the sky to take them to the other world.
When the New Beverly announces their slate of movies each month, I am usually relieved when I see only a few movies on the calendar that I need to catch up with, though I end up adding even more movies to my list, almost against my will. I think to myself, "Do I really need to see Point Blank and The Outfit yet again," and end up deciding "Yes, yes, I really do."
I actually saw Darby O'Gill there a few years ago, the first time I'd seen it in a theater since childhood, and seeing it again so soon wasn't a high priority, but as part of a St. Patrick's Day double feature it was playing with The Quiet Man, a classic (and Best Director Oscar winner!) that I'd never seen in any format.
So I was especially surprised at how good Darby O'Gill was this time around (particulary since it was preceded by trailers for far less impressive Disney productions -- The Monkey's Uncle and The Gnome-Mobile). Along with such joys as a literate script and a singing Sean Connery, it had wonderful visual effects that managed to still look great 60 years later, which you can't say about every film from the 1950s. The matte paintings by Peter Ellenshaw (Mary Poppins) are consistently gorgeous and evocative, and the use of forced perspective, in-camera effects is absolutely seamlesss.
For Angelenos who frequent the revival theaters, the New Beverly has just announced most of their April schedule, with Bruce Dern as the main theme (including three great John Williams scores -- The Cowboys, and a Family Plot/Black Sunday double feature) and Neil Simon as a subtheme (where else will you get the chance to see a Only When I Laugh/I Ought to Be in Pictures double feature?)
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