Intrada plans to release a new CD next week. For those happy to learn what it is already, just follow this link.
The Varese Sarabande CD Club has announced two new limited Deluxe Edition expanded re-releases: a two-disc collection of John Debney's music for Steven Spielberg's lavish attempt at an underwater TV equivalent to Star Trek, SEAQUEST DSV, with his score for the pilot episode (including his Emmy-winning main title theme) on Disc One and cues from six additional first season episode scores on Disc Two; and Harold Faltermeyer's score for THE RUNNING MAN, the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi action vehicle based on the novel by "Richard Bachman" (aka Stephen King).
Dragon's Domain has announced three new film music CDs: Lee Holdridge's score for the 2004 disaster TV miniseries 10.5; a remastered edition of Richard Band's score for the sci-fi thriller THE DAY TIME ENDED (seen on the most recent season of MST3K); and THE EDWARD DAVID ZELIFF COLLECTION, VOL. 1, a two-disc set featuring the composer's music for documentaries and religious dramas.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that the 93rd Oscars, originally scheduled for February 28, 2021, will be held instead on April 25, and the eligibility period for films to be released will be extended to February 28, 2021 (reminiscent of the first years of the Oscars, where the eligibility period was actually from August through July). They also announced that the long-awaited Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has a new official opening date of April 30, 2021.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
5% de risque/Demain les momes - Eric Demarsan - Music Box
Romance - Eric Demarasan - Music Box
The Running Man: The Deluxe Edition - Harold Faltermeyer - Varese Sarabande CD Club
SeaQuest DSV: The Deluxe Edition - John Debney - Varese Sarabande CD Club
The Thing - Ennio Morricone - Quartet
COMING SOON
June 26
Sliver - Howard Shore - La-La Land
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea - Alexander Courage, Robert Drasnin, Jerry Goldsmith, Lennie Hayton, Joseph Mullendore, Nelson Riddle, Paul Sawtell, Herman Stein, Leith Stevens - La-La Land
July 10
Da Corleone a Brooklyn - Franco Micalizzi - Digitmovies
La schiava io ce l’ho e tu no - Piero Umiliani - Beat
August 7
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (re-release) - Joel McNeely - Varese Sarabande
September 25
Hackers - Simon Boswell, songs - Varese Sarabande
Date Unknown
The Day Time Ended - Richard Band - Dragon's Domain
Django Il Bastardo - Vasco Vassil Kojucharov - Beat
The Edward David Zeliff Collection, Vol. 1 - Edward David Zeliff - Dragon's Domain
Everybody's End - Luigi Seviroli - Digitmovies
Genova a Mano Armata - Franco Micalizzi - Digitmovies
La Polizia Accusa: Il Servizio Segreto Uccide - Luciano Michelini - Digitmovies
La Svergognata/Anima Mia - Berto Pisano, Franco Pisano - Digitmovies
L'Agnese Va a Morire - Ennio Morricone - Beat
Occhio Malocchio Prezzemolo E Finocchio - Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - Beat
One Potato, Two Potato - Gerald Fried - Caldera
Poliziotto Senza Paura - Stelvio Cipriani - Digitmovies
Preparati La Bara - Gian Franco Reverberi - Digitmovies
Rambo: Last Blood - Brian Tyler - Rambling
10.5 - Lee Holdridge - Dragon's Domain
Thunderbirds - Barry Gray - Silva
2019 dopo la caduta di New York - Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - Beat
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
June 19 - Leon Klatzkin born (1914)
June 19 - Johnny Douglas born (1920)
June 19 - Maurice Jaubert died (1940)
June 19 - Bruce Broughton records his score for the Amazing Stories episode "Mr. Magic" (1985)
June 19 - Joseph Mullendore died (1990)
June 19 - Recording sessions begin for James Newton Howard’s score for Waterworld (1995)
June 20 - Recording sessions begin for Elmer Bernstein’s score to The Buccaneer (1958)
June 20 - Jeff Beal born (1963)
June 20 - Robert Rodriguez born (1968)
June 20 - Fred Karlin begins recording his score to Westworld (1973)
June 20 - Jaws opens in New York and Los Angeles (1975)
June 20 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for Night Crossing (1981)
June 21 - Lalo Schifrin born (1932)
June 21 - Eumir Deodato born (1942)
June 21 - Philippe Sarde born (1948)
June 21 - Nils Lofgren born (1951)
June 21 - Paul Dunlap records his score for Hellgate (1952)
June 21 - Kasper Winding born (1956)
June 21 - Piero Umiliani begins recording his score for Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)
June 21 - Dario Marianelli born (1963)
June 21 - Elmer Bernstein begins recording his score to 7 Women (1965)
June 21 - Gerald Fried's score for the Star Trek episode "Catspaw" is recorded (1967)
June 21 - Chinatown released in Los Angeles and New York (1974)
June 21 - John Ottman begins recording his score to Cellular (2004)
June 22 - Todd Rundgren born (1948)
June 22 - Darius Milhaud died (1974)
June 22 - Rene Garriguenc died (1998)
June 22 - James Horner died (2015)
June 22 - Harry Rabinowitz died (2016)
June 23 - Peter Knight born (1917)
June 23 - Rolf Wilhelm born (1927)
June 23 - Francis Shaw born (1942)
June 23 - Yann Tiersen born (1970)
June 23 - Howard Shore begins recording his score to The Fly (1986)
June 23 - Carlo Savina died (2002)
June 23 - Allyn Ferguson died (2010)
June 23 - Fred Steiner died (2011)
June 24 - Jeff Beck born (1944)
June 24 - Patrick Moraz born (1948)
June 24 - Anja Garbarek born (1970)
June 24 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for The Russia House (1990)
June 24 - Maurice Jarre begins recording his score for The Setting Sun (1991)
June 25 - Carly Simon born (1945)
June 25 - Victor Young begins recording his score for Shane (1952)
June 25 - Pascal Gaigne born (1958)
June 25 - Wolfram de Marco born (1966)
June 25 - Maurice Jarre begins recording his score for The Mackintosh Man (1973)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
CRAWL - Max Aruj, Steffen Thum
"If 'Crawl,' then, is an easily digestible piece of workmanlike thrills, its only real bit of gristle is its po-faced father-daughter bonding. Haley and Dave are somewhat estranged; the family home was meant to have been sold off after Dave’s recent divorce from Haley’s mother; and flashbacks to childhood swim meets show father and daughter tempting fate with flagrantly ironic use of the term 'apex predator.' In the face of certain death, they cobble their relationship back together through Hallmark-card platitudes while sentimental music plays on the film’s soundtrack. It’s the absolute thinnest of familial drama, and it will do little to redirect your emotional investment away from the survival of the family dog."
Steven Scaife, Slant Magazine
"In Florida, you’re constantly reminded of the scope and power of your surroundings, and how small humanity can seem in the face of it. Coral snakes underfoot. Gators in the water. The clouds above hang low, apocalyptic. Director Alexandre Aja (the French filmmaker best known for 'Haute Tension') and writers Michael Rasmussen and Shawn Rasmussen understand this, mining the anxiety for all its bloody worth. But the film is dented slightly by its inability to technically capture the heat and humidity of its setting, or the particular heavy, amber quality of the Florida light. Cinematographer Maxime Alexandre chooses a glow a touch too white and clean (perhaps a result of the film not actually being shot in Florida, but in Siberia, though exterior footage was shot in Tampa). Another aesthetic issue is the score, laid on a shade too thick during the emotional conversations between Haley and Dave. They’re too similar to get along; Haley blames herself for her parents’ divorce, feeling Dave’s dedication to her as a swimmer distracted him from seeing the loneliness in her mother."
Angelica Jade Bastien, New York
"And that level of playfulness ends up making 'Lego Movie 2' an impressive experience, even when it can’t live up to its predecessor’s surprises and innovations. The new film hits many of the same beats, from Mark Mothersbaugh’s bouncy electro-score to some of the same character gags. (Batman: still extremely into his own hype. Benny: still extremely into spaceships. Lucy: still pretty naggy and insecure about whether other people see her as enough of a badass.) Its constantly changing and rebuilding world is still startling, but apart from the dazzling work on Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi, a lot of the novelty is gone at this point. The closing-credits song featuring Robyn and The Lonely Island is hilarious, but little more than an add-on after the meat of the movie is over. On the surface, 'Lego Movie 2' is smaller and less ambitious than the series’ kickoff film, and it’s less frantic and funny to boot. It has fewer fantastic worlds, and less to discover in them."
Tasha Robinson, The Verge
"Janney’s character gives Sue Ann hell, and it’s clear that it’s not the first time she’s been bullied. 'Ma' is indebted to horror films of the ’70s and ’80s, most notably 'Carrie,' with its warnings about the revenge of outcasts. There are some stylistic nods (those split diopter shots, of course), but it leans hardest into the vintage vibe with its musical cues. Gregory Tripi‘s score has some nice synth moments, but a lot of it comes from the diegetic music. Ma is stuck in the past, and so the party playlist she provides includes 'Funkytown' and 'The Safety Dance' (though there’s no protest from the kids over the old-school music, which … sure)."
Kimber Myers, The Playlist
"Taylor’s most distinct stylistic choice here, preceded by obvious music cues and stale party scenes, are Sue Ann’s torture methods. Given the unwritten rules for horror villains, one can be grateful that Taylor and Landes stay true to her physical capacity and accessibility -- I’ll let you imagine what clever terror a middle-aged veterinarian can orchestrate, but some of it had my screening audience wriggling in unison. And yet delivered within such a gutless course of events, Sue Ann’s actions feel less like a cumulative grand finale, and more like a reward for simply staying tuned."
Nick Allen, RogerEbert.com
"The M.O. of familiarity, convention and rushing-to-get-started desperation in 'Men in Black: International' is made abundantly clear from the opening credits and an opening 20 minutes that feels like a frantic car chase and collision. Beginning with the familiar chalkboard-style franchise font (set to Danny Elfman’s score, repurposed by Chris Bacon), instead of introducing anyone, it only details the production companies and the title before elevator-slam-dropping you, in media res, into a clunky and noisy prologue with Agents H (Chris Hemsworth) and T (Liam Neeson) fighting an advanced alien race called The Hive. That’s immediately followed by a 20-years-earlier flashback of a young science-obsessed girl named Molly (Mandeiya Flory) who has an encounter with the MIB without being neuralized and then you’re time-warp flash forwarded back into the present day at breakneck speed. If reading this gives you whiplash, then imagine the experience of watching 'MIB: International' itself, a clunky, rushed, shapeless picture that lacks any kind of depth, substance, text, subtext or otherwise. 'MIB: International' is under the false impression that audiences just want to get straight into alien ass-kicking, lasers, chases, quips, and the likes, but utterly forgets about the inner conflicts, clashes, and chemistry that made the original such a hit."
Ryan Oliver, The Playlist
"Most of what’s enjoyable about this sequel have been cribbed from other movies, like the star pairing from 'Thor: Ragnarok,' the villains’ similarity to the Twins in 'The Matrix Reloaded' and the many references to the original 'Men in Black,' including the score and the basic character arcs of a rookie learning the ropes from a top agent. Without its stars’ chemistry, there’s little life left on this sequel planet besides surface-level jokes, too-cute aliens and a convoluted story."
Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com
MISSING LINK - Carter Burwell
"While the movie wears its forward-thinking identity politics as lightly as it does Carter Burwell’s exuberant score, ‘Missing Link’ finds a number of ways to deepen and texturize its message of mutual self-acceptance; everyone wants to belong, but no group is worth joining that requires you to betray who you are. Friendship is the only thing that allows us to cross that gap -- friendship (wait for it) is the real missing link."
David Ehrlich, IndieWire
"Further providing a familiar throughline is the soundtrack, again composed by Alexandre Desplat with jazz-inflected orchestrations that pay homage to Scott Bradley’s Tom and Jerry scores from the '40s and '50s. It's undeniably melodic, but as with everything else about the film, it would have been nice had the assembled menagerie been taught a few new tricks."
Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter
TOLKIEN - Thomas Newman
“Alas, that isn’t the only regard in which ‘Tolkien’ tries to draft off the audience’s pre-existing connection to the author’s work, and -- perhaps even more importantly -- to the other films that have already been inspired by it. The oft-repeated ethos of Helheimr, the boys’ carpe-diem like code for self-betterment and seizing the day, tends to clash with the magical thinking the script inflicts upon their story: it’s hard to live in the moment when many of those moments are reverse-engineered from how they might have impacted a series of fantasy novels (it doesn’t help that Thomas Newman’s score is so inspired by Howard Shore’s genius that it sounds about three notes away from inspiring Howard Shore’s legal team). Most scenes feel precious and isolated, as though they’re being watched through a pensieve. Tolkien’s trip to the opera leads to at least two different jokes about how it shouldn’t take six hours to tell the story of a magic ring. You probably get it, but there’s really very little here for you if you don’t."
David Ehrlich, IndieWire
"Young Ronald (Harry Gilby) is first shown playing with swords during his idyllic childhood in Sarehole village. His love of myths is passed on to him from his mother Mabel (Laura Donnelly), who regales her two sons with stories of dragons and knights and gold. When Mabel dies, Ronald and his brother are orphaned, and become wards of Father Francis Morgan (Colm Meaney), who places them in a boarding house for children in similar circumstances. After a bumpy start at school, Ronald finds himself with three best friends, Christopher Wiseman (Ty Tennant), Robert Gilson (Albie Marber) and Geoffrey Bache Smith (Adam Bregman). They gather at Barrows after school and talk about their artistic pursuits, calling themselves the T.C.B.S. (Tea Club, Barrovian Society). This is the formation of Tolkien's cherished "fellowship," underlined by sweeping music in case you missed the connection. The young actors create a believable bond, as do the group of older actors who portray them once they reach college college (Nicholas Hoult, with intense blue eyes and sharp cheekbones, as Tolkien, Anthony Boyle as Geoffrey, Tom Glynn-Carney as Christopher, and Patrick Gibson as Robert)."
Sheila O’Malley, RogerEbert.com
TRIPLE FRONTIER - Disasterpeace [Rich Vreeland]
"And its ethical texture is what imbues 'Triple Frontier' with a meaningful gravity throughout, not to mention the sobering lacerations that cut deep when thing go horribly wrong. And yet, at the same time, Chandor doesn’t skimp on the craft of action. At the very least, 'Triple Frontier' is incredibly nerve-wracking and intense, especially when this team is white-knuckling it out of the hairiest situations (props to the Disasterpeace score and DP Roman Vasyanov). As things grow more desperate, 'Triple Frontier' becomes increasingly bruising both emotionally and spiritually and panicky from a cinematic perspective."
Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
"Liberated by a sizable Netflix budget and dazzling outdoor scenery, Chandor makes the most of it, careening from a claustrophobic showdown in the jungle to a dramatic helicopter crash in the middle of the mountains and a trepidatious cliffside hike with unruly mules. The complex settings often upstage the central conundrum, and some of the more violent twists materialize out of nowhere and in blunt terms, but ‘Triple Frontier’ collects a dazzling array of images (in tandem with Diasterpeace’s ominous score) that keep the landscape at the center of the story."
Eric Kohn, IndieWire
UNDER THE SILVER LAKE - Disasterpeace [Rich Vreeland]
"In a 'Hollywood Babylon'-style LA of popping, sunshiney colors (Mike Gioulakis‘ cinematography is reliably scrumptious throughout), fringed with palm trees slathered in Lost Dog posters, Sam is on the brink of eviction. He lies to his mother that he’s working but actually, he spends his days reading a local comic book/zine called 'Under The Silver Lake,' trying to work out what word the parrot next door keeps squawking (definitely 'Yanny,' not 'Laurel') and spying on his neighbors. It’s a bit 'Rear Window' but if you don’t get the Hitchcock allusion here, don’t worry, there’ll be 'Vertigo'-style dolly zooms and extended following sequences, enormous blasts of Disasterpeace‘s excellent Bernard Herrmann-esque scoring, haphazardly applied, and if all else fails, a shot of a memorial plinth in an LA cemetery emblazoned with the word 'Hitchcock.'"
Jessica Kiang, The Playlist
"Driven by Sarah’s sudden disappearance, his own raging hormones and the fuck-it-all idleness that comes with a five-day eviction notice, Sam begins tugging on the thread -- and this is where 'Under the Silver Lake' becomes the stealth comedy it really is. Rich Vreeland’s voluptuous orchestra score goes full 'Vertigo', brewing a menace that Mitchell consistently undercuts with banal, dopey details: Who is the mysterious pirate in blue jeans running across a lawn? What exactly happened to deceased '‘billionaire daredevil' Jefferson Sevence? (Fans of subversive novelist Thomas Pynchon, your kindred spirit has arrived.) Why does a meeting with an intense zine maker (the expertly alienating Patrick Fischler) end in a bloody mess? And most worrisome: Doesn’t Sam have a change of clothes that aren’t pajamas?"
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
"Aided by cinematographer Mike Gioloukas’ sunny visuals and a searching Disasterpiece [sic] score, the movie becomes a bittersweet ode to wanting answers from an indifferent world overwhelmed by superficial distractions. The homage can be irritating and some of the transitions work better than others across an unwieldy running time -- but even the flaws speak to the movie’s beguiling raison d’etre. It’s fascinating to watch Mitchell grasp for a bigger picture with the wild ambition of his scruffy protagonist."
Eric Kohn, IndieWire
"Accompanied by an ironic, 1940s-style classic-noir score, 'Under the Silver Lake''s first hour contains its strongest scenes, as Mitchell reveals ever-newer depths to Sam’s lunacy and self-debasement. (At one point, a homeless man notes how bad Sam stinks.) Intriguingly, he’s always got a buddy to talk to -- a loose confederation of failsons who enable each other’s worst tendencies, like a subreddit in real time. Those guys are preoccupied with the invisible alpha males running the world -- a secret brotherhood supposedly sending hidden messages to each other through the media. It’s such a timely parody of a particular brand of paranoid, narcissistic masculinity that the film immediately diminishes when it turns out there is a conspiracy afoot, and that pop culture actually is being used to brainwash the masses."
Inkoo Kang, Slate.com
"'Under the Silver Lake' navigates its thicket of references with breeze confidence, undergirded by Disasterpeace’s lush, menacing score. But as with the more efficient It Follows, it’s never evident what the film’s subtexts are meant to add up to. Even after the film (quite entertainingly) explains itself, during a lengthy musical medley with a brutal climax, it never feels lie more than a howl of frustration and cynicism. Mitchell’s L.A. proves to be a sort of zombie culture, one whose artists are fed notes and messages from hidden ghostwriters and where originality was unceremoniously wiped out some decades ago. Every party is designed to be an experience, but every experience is forced and fundamentally hollow."
Christopher Gray, Slant Magazine
"'Under the Silver Lake' is a down-the-rabbit-hole movie, at once gripping and baffling, fueled by erotic passion and dread but also by the code-fixated opacity of conspiracy theory. The movie is impeccably shot and staged, with an insanely lush soundtrack that’s like Bernard Herrmann-meets-Angelo-Badalamenti-on-opioids. When it’s over, though, you feel like you’ve seen a meta-mystery made by someone who spent too much time scrawling notes in the margins of his frayed copy of 'Infinite Jest.'"
Owen Gleiberman, Variety
"While the score by Richard Vreeland, aka Disasterpeace, stirs up high drama in the lush symphonic mode of Franz Waxman or Bernard Hermann, Mitchell appears to be giving a cheeky wink when he quite literally ties his own work to Hitchcock. The more consistent touchstone is David Lynch, though that's shooting himself in the foot when 'Mulholland Drive' did this kind of thing so much more beguilingly."
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
US - Michael Abels
"The credit sequence that follows is diabolically brilliant: The camera rests on a white rabbit, then slowly pulls back to reveal a cage and then a vast wall of cages, each with its own leporine specimen. Michael Abels’s blend of 'The Omen'-like Latin chants and polyphonic Afro-rhythms is so infectious you don’t even realize that by tapping your feet you’re helping to conjure the devil. It possesses you, this music."
David Edelstein, New York
"Peele directs 'Us' with a masterful collection of horror-movie tricks -- jump scares that actually pay off, a cat-and-mouse game in an isolated place filled with bright lights and deep pools of impenetrable shadow, a throat-closing Michael Abels score full of intense drumming and choral chanting that elevates the action to operatic levels of drama. But his greatest asset is the performances, which turn an already creepy premise into something endlessly inhuman and unnerving. His stated intention is to get people thinking about their own capabilities for harm, and their own culpabilities in what goes on in America. The capabilities Nyong’o and her castmates show in stepping outside of familiar humanity, and dragging an audience along with them into an unrecognizable place, make a strong argument that we don’t always know what we’re capable of, or what horrors we might contain."
Tasha Robinson, The Verge
"A suspenseful story and marvelous cast need a great crew to make the film a home run, and 'Us' is not short on talent. 'It Follows' cinematographer Mike Gioulakis creates unsettling images in mundane spaces, like how a strange family standing at a driveway isn’t necessarily scary, but when it’s eerily dark out, they’re backlit so that their faces go unseen and the four bodies are standing at a higher elevation from our heroes, so it looks like evil is swooping in from above. Kym Barrett’s costume designs not only supply the doppelgängers’ nefarious looking red jumpsuits but also the normal, comfy clothes the Wilsons and Tylers wear on vacation. Michael Abels, who also composed the score for 'Get Out,' and the ominous notes from the sound design team lay the groundwork for nerve-wracking sequences."
Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com
"It was obvious from ‘Get Out’ that Peele has a knack for indelible imagery, which ‘Us’ matches with visual sophistication to spare: Reflections, doorways, and high ceilings frame some of the most absorbing moments, which avoid the obvious jump scares (although they make a few appearances). Cinematographer Michael Gioulakis plays with light and shadow to menacing effect, while Michael Abels’ unnerving score builds to shrieking crescendos, some of which do push this jittery material over the top."
Eric Kohn, IndieWire
“‘Us’ is full of genuine scares, award-worthy performances (Tim Heidecker does something that had me howling), and a chilling score (don’t worry, there’s an ‘I Got 5 on It’ reprise), but as the film progresses, the story gets a little messy. It’s one of those movies where you walk out after wondering if you missed something, or if the script needed an extra scene or five percent more exposition.”
Josh Kurp, Uproxx
"But long before the police have a chance to arrive (they never get there, by the way, which is one more reason N.W.A’s 'F--- tha Police' feels like such a fitting addition to a soundtrack that otherwise relies mostly on Michael Abels’ nerve-twisting suspense work), those four uninvited guests find their way into the Wilsons’ living room, and wouldn’t you know, they look just like their hosts. The press notes refer to these almost zombie-like home invaders, dressed in red and all but incapable of human speech, as 'the Tethered,' although 'twins' is the closest the characters come to naming them."
Peter Debruge, Variety
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
Heard: The Theme Scene (Mancini), La La Land (Hurwitz), The Lego Ninjago Movie (Mothersbaugh), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Goldsmith), Starry Eyes (Snipes), Marrowbone (Velazquez), Tomb Raider (Holkenborg), The Red House (Rozsa), Baby Driver (Price)*, If/Then (Kitt), Isle of Dogs (Desplat), Second Pianoforte Sonata/Three-Page Sonata/Four Transcriptions from Emerson (Ives), Chappaquiddick (Stevenson), The Fountain (Mansell), O Lucky Man (Price), Sexykiller (Velazquez), The Apple (Recht), Ghost Stories (Ilfman), Darkest Hour (Marianelli), Moses (Morricone), All the Money in the World (Pemberton), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Eidelman), Bram Stoker's Dracula (Kilar), Victoria & Abdul (Newman), Monkey Shines (Shire), Good Time (Lopatin), Breathe (Sawhney), First Daughter Suite (LaChiusa), Wonder (Zarvos)
Read: Waltz into Darkness, by Cornell Woolrich
Seen: Last week it was announced that California movie theaters are allowed to re-open, beginning last Friday, June 12th, but not none of the theaters in my immediate area have been racing to re-open, for understandable practical reasons. I've never watched a film wearing a face mask and latex gloves before, but it's an experience I look forward to, in an ambivalent way.
Watched: Song of the Thin Man, Archer ("Skytanic"), Gilmore Girls ("Forgiveness and Stuff"), At the Circus, The Avengers (“- Look - (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) But There Were These Two Fellers…”), Happy Endings ("The Quicksand Girlfriend"), Gosford Park, Battlestar Galactica ("Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 1")
*Possibly the most irritating soundtrack I've listened to in a long time, this second volume of music from Edgar Wright's hit Baby Driver features songs, dialogue cues and Steven Price's brief score -- but, maddeningly, all but one of the Price cues features at least some film dialogue over it (which I hadn't known when I started listening to the CD).
I'm sure I'm far from the only score collector who hates when dialogue is laid over music on score CDs; fifteen years later, I'm still mad that my favorite cues from John Williams' War of the Worlds have Morgan Freeman's narration laid over them, and Freeman is one of my favorite actors, with an extraordinary voice. To have listen to the Baby Driver score with the voice of -- ugh! -- Ansel Elgort is intolerable.
It's not like Elgort is the worst or least appealing actor out there, but to me he epitomizes a current trend of smug prettyboy leading men, and his casting was my least favorite aspect of Baby Driver, a film I otherwise greatly enjoy. Last year when I saw the trailer for the young adult romance The Sun Is Also a Star my first thought was "Great, now there's a Korean-American Ansel Elgort," and when one of the reviews mentioned that the actor's performance involved a lot of "preening" I felt my instinct to skip the film was correct.
Coincidentally, I also just listened to the Varese score CD for Ghost Stories, a movie I did not care for at all (and I had been thrilled at the prospect of a horror anthology film in the old Amicus style), and while that CD also has dialogue snippets from the film, the soundtrack producers were thoughtful enough to program them separately so they do not overlap the music. That's how you do it.
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