The latest CD from Intrada is the first-ever release of Elmer Bernstein's score for the 1972 British kids fantasy film THE AMAZING MR. BLUNDEN, directed by and starring Lionel Jeffries (First Men in the Moon)
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Air Force One: The Deluxe Edition - Jerry Goldsmith, Joel McNeely - Varese Sarabande CD Club
The Amazing Mr. Blunden - Elmer Bernstein - Intrada Special Collection
Mrs. Lowry and Son - Craig Armstrong - Verve (import)
Paradise War: The Story of Bruno Manser - Gabriel Yared - Sergent Major (import)
Rooster Cogburn: The Deluxe Edition - Laurence Rosenthal - Varese Sarabande CD Club
Solis - David Stone Hamilton - Perseverance
Star Trek: The Deluxe Edition - Michael Giacchino - Varese Sarabande CD Club
IN THEATERS TODAY
The Addams Family - Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna
Albanian Gangster - Frank Hall
Along Came the Devil 2 - Kevin Coughlin, Chad Lanier
Beloved Beast - Sara Broshofske
Clemency - Kathryn Bostic
The Dead Center - Jordan Lehning
Doubting Thomas - David Majzlin
El Camino - Dave Porter
Gemini Man - Lorne Balfe - Score CD due Oct. 18 on La-La Land
A German Youth - Alan Mumenthaler
Gift - Serge Nakauchi Pelletier
High Strung Free Dance - Nathan Lanier
Holiday Hell - Semih Tareen
Jexi - Christopher Lennertz, Philip White
The King - Nicholas Britell
Liberty: Mother of Exiles - David Benjamin Steinberg
Lucky Day - tomandandy
Mary - The Newton Brothers
Parasite - Jaeil Jung
Sink or Swim - Jon Brion
The Sky Is Pink - Pritam Chakraborty
Up There - Mikel Hurwitz
COMING SOON
October 18
Bride of Frankenstein - Franz Waxman - La-La Land
Gemini Man - Lorne Balfe - La-La Land
Halloween [expanded edition] - John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, Daniel Davies - Sacred Bones
Il Pelo Nel Mondo - Bruno Nicolai, Nino Oliviero - Beat
La Fameuse Invasion des Ours en Sicile - Rene Aubry - Milan (import)
L'Ultimo Squalo - Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - Beat
The Lighthouse - Mark Korven - Milan
Minority Report - John Williams - La-La Land
The Quinn Martin Collection Vol. 2: The Invaders - Sidney Cutner, Dominic Frontiere, Irving Gertz, Richard Markowitz, Duane Tatro - La-La Land
October 25
Dracula/The Curse of Frankenstein [re-recordings] - James Bernard - Tadlow
Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds - Masao Yagi - Cinema-Kan (import)
November 8
Encounter - Penka Kouneva - Notefornote
Go Fish - George Streicher - Notefornote
The Good Liar - Carter Burwell - WaterTower [CD-R]
Windjammer - Morton Gould - Sepia
November 15
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, vol. 1 - Daniel Pemberton - Varese Sarabande
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, vol. 2 - Daniel Pemberton, Samuel Sim - Varese Sarabande
November 22
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark - Marco Beltrami, Anna Drubich - eOne
Date Unknown
Bastardos y Diablos - Louis Febre - Dragon's Domain
The Dan Redfield Collection vol. 1 - Dan Redfield - Dragon's Domain
Deep Water - Toydrum - Silva
La Setta - Pino Donaggio - Cinevox
Lavender Braid - Eugene - Kronos
L'Avocat/Le Tueur - Gregoire Hetzel - Music Box
Le Coeur en Braille/Que D'Amour! - Philippe Jakko - Music Box
Marco Beltrami: Music for Film - Marco Beltrami - Silva
Music for Dinosaurs - David Spear - Dragon's Domain
Rory's Way - Frank Ilfman - Kronos
Rwanda - Davide Caprelli - Kronos
Trois Jours et Une Vie - Rob - Music Box
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
October 11 - Art Blakey born (1919)
October 11 - Laura opens in New York (1944)
October 11 - Michel Legrand begins recording his score for The Happy Ending (1968)
October 11 - Henry Mancini begins recording his score for The Moneychangers (1976)
October 11 - Neal Hefti died (2008)
October 12 - Ralph Vaughan Williams born (1872)
October 12 - Joseph Kosma born (1905)
October 12 - John Williams records his score for the Lost in Space episode "My Friend, Mr. Nobody" (1965)
October 12 - Gil Melle begins recording his score for The Andromeda Strain (1970)
October 13 - Maurice Jarre records his score for The Last Tycoon (1976)
October 13 - Raoul Kraushaar died (2001)
October 13 - Berto Pisano born (1928)
October 13 - Paul Simon born (1941)
October 13 - Recording sessions begin for Miklos Rozsa’s score to Woman of the Town (1943)
October 13 - Lud Gluskin died (1989)
October 13 - Dave Pollecutt died (2001)
October 14 - Bill Justis born (1926)
October 14 - Thomas Dolby born (1958)
October 14 - Recording sessions begin for Bronislau Kaper's score for Two Loves (1961)
October 14 - Richard Markowitz’s score for The Wild Wild West episode “The Night of the Glowing Corpse” is recorded (1965)
October 14 - Leonard Bernstein died (1990)
October 14 - Alan Silvestri begins recording his score for Predator 2 (1990)
October 14 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
October 15 - Fumio Hayasaka died (1955)
October 15 - Simon Boswell born (1956)
October 15 - Franz Reizenstein died (1968)
October 15 - Kevin Kliesch born (1970)
October 15 - Lalo Schifrin begins recording his score to THX-1138 (1970)
October 15 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Lonely Among Us" (1987)
October 15 - Jay Chattaway records his score for the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Pathfinder” (1999)
October 16 - Bernard Herrmann records his score for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode “Misadventure” (1964)
October 16 - Maurice Jarre begins recording his score for Taps (1981)
October 16 - Art Blakey died (1990)
October 16 - Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Year of Hell, Part I” (1997)
October 16 - David Bell records his scores for the Enterprise episodes “Terra Nova” and “Dear Doctor” (2001)
October 16 - Albert Elms died (2009)
October 16 - Pete Rugolo died (2011)
October 17 - Luiz Bonfa born (1922)
October 17 - Around the World in Eighty Days premieres in New York (1956)
October 17 - Bullitt opens in New York (1968)
October 17 - Basil Poledouris records his score for the Twilight Zone episode “A Message from Charity” (1985)
October 17 - Jay Livingston died (2001)
October 17 - Vic Mizzy died (2009)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
ALWAYS IN SEASON - Osei Essed
"Archival materials offer details of the gruesome past, and interviews and present-day reporting are nicely counterbalanced by moments of visual poetry that capture the lyrical aspects of rural Southern life -- even as we suss out its less-than-sweet side. A notable contributor to the thoughtful assembly is a nuanced, diverse score by Osei Essed of New York City roots music band the Woes."
Dennis Harvey, Variety
AMERICAN ASSASSIN - Steven Price
"Sadly, though, those same generic beats make American Assassin highly forgettable. The film’s cinematography, although glossy, isn’t particularly memorable either, bathing nearly every scene in a badass gunmetal gray. Similarly, the action, while occasionally inventive (a fistfight on a speedboat is a giddy highlight) and visceral enough to earn its R rating, passes by in an indifferent blur, which is a weird thing to say about a movie that has a graphic torture scene in it. The soundtrack is similarly expected, a patriotic orchestral thrum not too far off from the heavy metal track used in a faux jihadi recruitment video toward the beginning of the film. But hey, at least it goes light on shaky cam."
Katie Rife, The Onion AV Club
"By gifting the 23-year-old character the skills readers expect, including pick-pocketing, drag racing, dog evasion, multiple languages and parkour, he’s less an intelligence expert than a superhero in jeans. The excess makes him silly. But the movie’s thrumming cello and shadowy cinematography demand we take him seriously, a combination made for giggles. Even Oscar nominee Keaton, here as lean and deadly as a garrote, nearly chokes on the braggadocio. Early on, when he stares down the camera and dares his pupils to 'kill me,' the advance screening audience howled. Keaton’s better cackling with a mouthful of blood, the kind of exploitation mayhem that the film pretends is beneath it."
Amy Nicholson, Variety
"With Chediak’s fluid camerawork and Conrad Buff’s dynamic editing, Cuesta makes seamless work of demanding, high-intensity action sequences in the midst of crowded city centers including Warsaw, Istanbul and Rome (only the latter was an actual production location) and in more private quarters, like a high-rise apartment. A climactic showdown on the sea, involving a speedboat, helicopter and the U.S. fleet, combines ace visual effects with live action for a near-disaster of chilling, thrilling proportions, with Steven Price’s score suggesting the shifting of tectonic plates."
Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter
FLATLINERS - Nathan Barr
"But then (ominous bass fiddles!) mysterious things start to happen. Courtney is visited by an apparition that's obviously connected to her feelings of guilt over her sister's death. In short order, Jamie, Marlo and Sophia all begin experiencing creepy events and disturbing visions. By the time the movie reaches its midpoint, there's no question of where the film has to go before the credits roll. Fully 20 percent of the movie's running time consists of characters wandering along through dark apartments, basements and corridors, wondering if the noises they hear are just their imaginations while out-of-focus shapes and faces dart through the negative space nearby. Sometimes these shocks are amplified by a shriek of atonal soundtrack music, and once in a while you'll get a jolt of graphic violence that rarely has any long-term consequences. The whole thing is too much of a tease, and once you figure that out, there's no actual suspense to speak of, just momentary manipulations."
Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
FRIEND REQUEST - Gary Go, Martin Todsharow
"There are some impressively gooey practical effects in addition to the more sterile CG scares. And if you worry that you might miss one of the grislier moments by checking your WhatsApp or whatever, never fear, because Gary Go and Martin Todsharow’s omnipresent score will let you know whenever anything cool, like someone slitting their own throat or bashing themselves to death inside an elevator, is about to happen."
Jessica Kiang, Variety
"At least some of 'The Secret Service''s outrageousness has carried over: Poppy Land, with its murderous android hairdresser and letter-jacket-clad goons; a grotesque Bond-style opening that pits Eggsy against Charlie (Edward Holcroft), a failed Kingsman recruit who sports a killer cybernetic arm, inside of a veering, bulletproof London minicab; the camera gliding through a pair of red panties mid-third-base to a gush of John Barry-esque brass. But for the most part, the movie is too busy with its ungainly, underwhelming plotting to be even stupidly fun. The class discomfort is basically identical to the first movie; Vaughn caricatures politicians as cynical opportunists and the people who elect them as mindless mobs, while his camera bends down to lick the dirt off his posh old-money conspirators’ black leather Oxfords. The politics of Bond -- a Tory creation, the alpha male forever fighting megalomaniacs, traitors, and modernist architecture -- were never this literal or important."
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, The Onion AV Club
LOVING VINCENT - Clint Mansell
"Style definitely trumps substance here, as most of the actors are better defined through their vocal performances rather than their shape-shifting physical presences. Van Gogh himself shows up primarily in moody black-and-white photographic-like flashbacks told from his point of view as played by look-alike Polish theater actor Robert Gulaczyk. In fact, my favorite scene involves a smiling little girl at the inn running to Vincent and briefly sitting in his lap as he sketches a chicken with skinny legs -- just like hers, he teases. In those few minutes, he is momentarily at peace and smiling for once. Helping to set the right melancholy mood is a superb score by Clint Mansell, propelled by strings and piano."
Susan Wloszcyna, RogerEbert.com
"The worst stretches make that same case even more convincingly. As neat as it is to see 'The Starry Night' squiggle about like a piece of background animation leftover from 'Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist,' altering van Gogh’s paintings has a curious way of disrupting their magic. The figures in van Gogh’s paintings are so expressive precisely because his ecstatic brush strokes allowed their souls to shine through, but assigning them voices -- mundane, ordinary voices -- results in an unpleasant tug-of-war between the senses. All movies, especially this one, rely on the relationship between reality and illusion, but 'Loving Vincent' antagonizes those forces against one another. Only Clint Mansell’s characteristically fluid score maintains any sort of audiovisual equilibrium."
David Ehrlich, IndieWire
"The artist himself has been dead a year when the story begins, so we aren’t seeing things through his eyes so much as in ersatz homage to his style, where bold colors and thick, energetic strokes of paint transform traditional live-action footage into living tableaux, rendered all the richer by Clint Mansell’s gorgeous score. It’s an impressive conceit, and one that allows us to float through van Gogh’s 'Starry Night Over the Rhone' or pop in for a drink at the 'Café Terrace at Night' -- just two of nearly 130 actual paintings that Kobiela and co-writer/director Hugh Welchman weave into the relatively conventional detective story (of all things!) that frames this one-of-a-kind work of art."
Peter Debruge, Variety
SISTER AIMEE - Graham Reynolds
"Aimee decides to abandon her parish and set off through the desert to Mexico to chase this story. This is where things start to get convoluted, as Buck and Schlingmann attempt to weave Sister Aimee’s quest for the truth (bringing along an oblivious Kenny) as she redesigns her own story back home to keep her believers talking about her while she’s away. As an evangelist whose work demands a level of unequivocal belief, Sister Aimee is already a master storyteller with a flair of theatrics -- a type of manipulation rarely attributed to a woman of the cloth in film, much less in real life. (That flighty and unapologetic air carries through in Graham Reynolds’ memorable score, which includes the fancy-free 'Somebody Stole My Gal.')"
Candice Frederick, The Wrap
"In that Pancho Villa fable, 'Sister Aimee' touches upon one of its central concerns: the power of myth, and storytelling. That idea is complemented by a fascination with female agency, independence and identity, felt in Aimee’s growing (and latently romantic) bond with Rey. It’s in these two women’s rapport that Buck and Schlingmann’s film feels most assured, although any steadiness is fleeting, as the material continually zigs and zags in any number of directions, kept on course only by cinematographer Carlos Valdes-Lora’s moody panoramas of the Mexican plains and Graham Reynolds’ jaunty score."
Nick Schager, Variety
"The film was made on an indie budget, but the production design and costuming are able to convincingly set a stage that looks like the prohibition era in the American West. Unfortunately, the filmmakers don’t seem to be convinced, and they make a number of choices that step on the movie’s strong visuals. The musical score is a hackneyed imitation of old Westerns that overpowers the action of the scenes. Hollyman works adeptly with what she’s given, but the script flattens Sister Aimee instead of revealing her. By the end of the film the only thing we know for sure is that Sister Aimee is a classic narcissist and the worst archetype of an L.A. actor. Although the movie wants us to root for her and believe in her powers, without providing the necessary character development, it’s clear that being a minister is just an act for Sister Aimee, not a genuine calling. She comes off as a cautionary tale about the dangers of false prophets rather than a hero."
Beandrea July, The Hollywood Reporter
"But fortunately, almost everything in 'Stronger' works really well. Yes, it follows the inspirational true-life story format almost chapter and verse, right down to the part where Gyllenhaal breaks down weeping about how he can’t do it anymore. And yes, I could quibble with a few choices here and there, particularly when it comes to the movie’s score and a couple of its climactic scenes. But 'Stronger' just works, thanks to strong performances across the board and lovely, understated direction from Green (who’s tremendous at how he uses the frame to highlight his actors). It’s a great reminder why Hollywood keeps making movies like this and why the Oscars love them so much. For all future iterations on the form, however, 'Stronger' offers one big lesson worth learning."
Emily Todd VanDerWerff, Vox
"The costumes, the gorgeous real-life settings and interiors, the just-right lighting, the music -- all technical aspects are handled precisely. But if there is a problem with 'Victoria & Abdul,' it exists within the imbalance between the movie’s titular twosome. While Fazal is well suited for his role physically and acquits himself as best as he can, there is no way he can come close to keeping up with Dench in the acting department. It is as if a cloud is pitted against a boulder. "
Susan Wloszczyna, RogerEbert.com
"Cohen's camera settles down into a more composed groove once the key character dynamic is established. And while there's no shortage of visual splendor in Alan Macdonald's production design and Consolata Boyle's beautiful costumes, the unconventional chemistry of the two leads gives the movie a pleasing intimacy, echoed in Thomas Newman's score."
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
ZEROVILLE - Johnny Jewel
"Arriving after four years on the shelf -- the movie's original distributor, Alchemy, folded soon after acquiring it — the myCinema release is not entirely satisfying, but Franco's direction is assured, and he builds a compellingly noirish mood of faded glamour and churning trouble. Working with cinematographer Bruce Thierry Cheung (a frequent collaborator and the director of 'Don't Come Back From the Moon') and production designer Kristen Adams, and deploying an elegant dirge of a score by Johnny Jewel, the helmer conjures a Lynchian sense of the surreal that unifies the comic drama even when the story is strained."
Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older films, at the following L.A. movie theaters: AMPAS, Alamo Drafthouse, American Cinematheque: Aero, American Cinematheque: Egyptian, Arclight, Arena Cinelounge, Laemmle, New Beverly, Nuart, UCLA and Vista.
October 11
GRINDHOUSE: DEATH PROOF [New Beverly]
HALLOWEEN (John Carpenter) [Nuart]
LIKE CRAZY (Dustin O'Halloran) [Cinematheque: Aero]
THE MISSIONARY (Mike Moran), PRIVATES ON PARADE (Denis King) [Laemmle Ahyra Fine Arts]
PROM NIGHT II (Paul Zaza) [New Beverly]
THE THING (Ennio Morricone) [Vista]
October 12
ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING (George Fenton), A LIAR'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY (John Greswell, André Jacquemin, Christopher Murphy Taylor) [Laemmle Ahyra Fine Arts]
HIGH AND LOW (Masaru Sato) [Vista]
MAD MONSTER PARTY? (Maury Laws) [New Beverly]
ROSEMARY'S BABY (Christopher Komeda) [Vista]
THE SPIELER [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THE TURIN HORSE (Mihaly Vig) [Cinematheque: Aero]
October 13
ALIEN (Jerry Goldsmith) [Laemmle Ahyra Fine Arts]
CAT PEOPLE (Giorgio Moroder) [Vista]
I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (Roy Webb) [Vista]
MAD MONSTER PARTY? (Maury Laws) [New Beverly]
SATANTANGO (Mihaly Vig) [Cinematheque: Aero]
THE SERVANT (John Dankworth) [Alamo Drafthouse]
TIME BANDITS (Mike Moran), MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN (Geoffrey Burgon) [Laemmle Ahyra Fine Arts]
October 14
THE HOST (Byung-woo Lee) [Alamo Drafthouse]
INHERENT VICE (Jonny Greenwood), THE LONG GOODBYE (John Williams) [New Beverly]
SCREAM (Marco Beltrami) [New Beverly]
SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II (Richard Cox) [Alamo Drafthouse]
October 15
THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (Max Steiner) [Cinematheque: Aero]
EVIL DEAD 2 (Joseph LoDuca) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
FRIDAY THE 13TH (Harry Manfredini) [Arclight Culver City]
INHERENT VICE (Jonny Greenwood), THE LONG GOODBYE (John Williams) [New Beverly]
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (Charles Bernstein) [Arclight Hollywood]
October 16
THE HOST (Byung-woo Lee) [Alamo Drafthouse]
INHERENT VICE (Jonny Greenwood), MODEL SHOP [New Beverly]
LACOMBE, LUCIEN [Laemmle Royal]
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (Frank DeVol) [New Beverly]
ZOMBIELAND (David Sardy) [Alamo Drafthouse]
October 17
THE EXORCIST [Arclight Hollywood]
HALLOWEEN (John Carpenter) [Arclight Culver City]
INHERENT VICE (Jonny Greenwood), MODEL SHOP [New Beverly]
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (DeWolfe) [Alamo Drafthouse]
VAMPIRE HUNTER D (Tetsuro Komuya) [Alamo Drafthouse]
October 18
FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (Graeme Revell) [New Beverly]
HELLRAISER III: HELL ON EARTH (Randy Miller) [New Beverly]
THE HILLS HAVE EYES (Don Peake) [Vista]
THE KILLER (Lowell Lo), HARD BOILED (Michael Gibbs) [Cinematheque: Aero]
MONA LISA (Michael Kamen), THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY (Francis Monkman) [Laemmle Ahyra Fine Arts]
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 3: DREAM WARRIORS (Angelo Badalamenti) [Nuart]
October 19
BLACKBEARD'S GHOST (Robert F. Brunner) [New Beverly]
BULLET IN THE HEAD (Sherman Chow) [Cinematheque: Aero]
FACE/OFF (John Powell), HARD TARGET (Graeme Revell) [Cinematheque: Aero]
MONTY PYTHON LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL [Laemmle Ahyra Fine Arts]
A PRIVATE FUNCTION (John Du Prez) [Laemmle Ahyra Fine Arts]
WITHNAIL & I (David Dundas, Rick Wentworth), HOW TO GET AHEAD IN ADVERTISING (David Dundas, RIck Wentworth) [Laemmle Ahyra Fine Arts]
October 20
BLACKBEARD'S GHOST (Robert F. Brunner) [New Beverly]
BUNUEL IN THE LABYRINTH OF TURTLES (Arturo Cardelas) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THE DARK CRYSTAL (Trevor Jones) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE HOUSEMAID (Sang-gi Han) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NUNS ON THE RUN (Hidden Faces) [Laemmle Ahyra Fine Arts]
THE SEDUCTION OF MIMI (Piero Piccioni), LOVE & ANARCHY (Nino Rota, Carlo Savina) [Cinematheque: Aero]
WATER (Mike Moran) [Laemmle Ahyra Fine Arts]
THE WILD GOOSE ON THE WING [UCLA]
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
Heard: Life (Ekstrand), The Golden Apple (Moross), Penny Dreadful: Seasons 2 & 3 (Korzeniowski), Live at St. Ann's Warehouse (Aimee Mann), Almost Holy (Ross, Ross, Krlic), Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic (Bernstein)
Read: The House that Jack Built, by Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter)
Seen: Zodiac; Lucy in the Sky; Joker; Judy; Pain and Glory; Genese; Loro
Watched: Penny Dreadful ("Verbis Diablo"), Space: 1999 ("End of Eternity"), The Haunting of Hill House ("Eulogy")
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