Music Box has just announced the sixth release in their limited edition series of rare and unreleased scores, LES B.O. INTROUVABLES, this time featuring Asphalte (1981) by Laurent Petitgirard; Balles Perdues (1983) by Michel Portal; Papa est parti, maman aussi (1989) and Mademoiselle Fifi ou Histoire de rire (1990), by Jean-Marie Senia; Les fauves (1984) by Philippe Servain; and Bleu comme l'enfer by Pierre Porte.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Halloween Ends - John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, Daniel E. Davies
Les B.O. Introuvables Vol. 6 - Laurent Petitgirard, Michel Portal, Jean-Marie Senia, Philippe Servain, Pierre Porte - Music Box
Pattie e la colere de Poseidon - Olivier Cussac - Music Box
Thief of Hearts - Harold Faltermeyer - Quartet
IN THEATERS TODAY
Chess Story - Ingo Frenzel
In from the Side - Matt Carter
Missing - Julian Scherle
When You Finish Saving the World - Emile Mosseri
You People - Bekon
COMING SOON
January 27
The English - Federico Jusid - Silva (import)
February 3
The Offering - Christopher Young - Notefornote
February 24
The Retaliators - Kyle Dixon, Michael Stein - Better Noise
March 3
Interview with the Vampire - Daniel Hart - Milan
April 14
Babylon - Justin Hurwitz - Interscope
Date Unknown
El ultimo viaje - Stelvio Cipriani - CSC
Peccato Senza Malizia - Stelvio Cipriani - CSC
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
January 20 - Emil Newman born (1911)
January 20 - Recording sessions begin for Miklos Rozsa's score for Double Indemnity (1944)
January 20 - John Beal born (1947)
January 20 - Franz Waxman begins recording his score to Untamed (1955)
January 20 - Bronislau Kaper begins recording his score to The Prodigal (1955)
January 20 - Pedro Bromfman born (1976)
January 20 - Paul Ben Haim died (1984)
January 20 - Christopher Young’s scores for the Twilight Zone episodes “A Matter of Minutes” and “A Small Talent for War” are recorded (1986)
January 20 - Basil Poledouris records his score for the Twilight Zone episode “Monsters!” (1986)
January 20 - Gerry Mulligan died (1996)
January 20 - Recording sessions begin for John Powell’s score to Agent Cody Banks (2003)
January 20 - Edgar Froese died (2015)
January 21 - Bernard Herrmann records his score for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode “An Unlocked Window” (1965)
January 21 - Peer Raben died (2007)
January 22 - Sid Ramin born (1919)
January 22 - J.J. Johnson born (1924)
January 22 - Al Kasha born (1937)
January 22 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score for The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
January 22 - Velton Ray Bunch born (1948)
January 22 - Keith Forsey born (1948)
January 22 - Ben Mink born (1951)
January 22 - Marc Blitzstein died (1964)
January 22 - Alexander Courage's score to the Star Trek pilot, "The Cage," is recorded (1965)
January 22 - Richard Markowitz begins recording his score for The Wild Wild West pilot episode “The Night of the Inferno” (1965)
January 22 - Fred Steiner records his score for The Wild Wild West episode “The Night of the Undead” (1968)
January 22 - Leith Stevens records his score for the Land of the Giants episode “Night of Thrombeldinbar” (1969)
January 22 - Bruce Broughton records his score for the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode “The Guardians” (1981)
January 22 - Justin Hurwitz born (1985)
January 22 - Christopher Palmer died (1995)
January 22 - Billy May died (2004)
January 23 - Walter Greene born (1910)
January 23 - Marty Paich born (1925)
January 23 - George Aliceson Tipton born (1932)
January 23 - Dick DeBenedictis born (1937)
January 23 - Casablanca released in theaters (1943)
January 23 - Alfred Newman begins recording his score to The President's Lady (1953)
January 23 - Recording sessions begin on Alex North’s score for The Bad Seed (1956)
January 23 - David Arnold born (1962)
January 23 - Recording sessions begin for Danny Elfman’s score for Dolores Claiborne (1995)
January 23 - Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “For the Uniform” (1997)
January 23 - Riz Ortolani died (2014)
January 24 - Muir Mathieson born (1911)
January 24 - Norman Dello Joio born (1913)
January 24 - Joseph Carl Breil died (1926)
January 24 - Nico Fidenco born (1933)
January 24 - Neil Diamond born (1941)
January 24 - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre opens in theaters (1948)
January 24 - Bernard Herrmann records his score for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode “The Jar” (1964)
January 24 - Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Conundrum” (1992)
January 24 - Ken Darby died (1992)
January 24 - Larry Crosley died (1998)
January 25 - Albert Glasser born (1916)
January 25 - Antonio Carlos Jobim born (1927)
January 25 - Benny Golson born (1929)
January 25 - Tobe Hooper born (1943)
January 25 - Hans-Erik Philip born (1943)
January 25 - Venedikt Pushkov died (1971)
January 25 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for Poltergeist (1982)
January 25 - Paul J. Smith died (1985)
January 25 - James Horner begins recording his score for A Far Off Place (1993)
January 25 - Gregory Smith records his score for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Field of Fire” (1999)
January 25 - Simeon Pironkov died (2000)
January 25 - Normand Corbeil died (2013)
January 25 - John Morris died (2018)
January 26 - Hugo Riesenfeld born (1879)
January 26 - Stephane Grappelli born (1908)
January 26 - Ken Thorne born (1924)
January 26 - Marc Fredericks born (1927)
January 26 - Christopher L. Stone born (1952)
January 26 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score for All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953)
January 26 - Elmer Bernstein begins recording his score for The Miracle (1959)
January 26 - Wendy Melvoin born (1964)
January 26 - Victoria Kelly born (1973)
January 26 - Recording sessions begin for Jerry Goldsmith’s score for Damnation Alley (1977)
January 26 - Gustavo Dudamel born (1981)
January 26 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "A Matter of Honor" (1989)
January 26 - Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Q-Less” (1993)
January 26 - Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Far Beyond the Stars” (1998)
January 26 - Bruce Broughton begins recording his score for Mickey Donald Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004)
January 26 - Michel Legrand died (2019)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
EMANCIPATION - Marcelo Zarvos
"But in terms of psychology and character, a 360-degree experience is actually the opposite of immersive, and it’s at odds with the fleet, propulsive survival thriller Fuqua seems to be trying to make. The more the movie pulls away from Peter’s perspective, the more it undercuts its own tension. And even with a physically impressive production at his disposal, Fuqua’s filmmaking instincts are clumsy and prone to cliché. Every flourish -- a closeup of horses’ hooves pounding the mud, an action scene rendered in partial slow-motion, a sudden gasp as Peter’s wife, Dodienne (Charmaine Bingwa), awakens from a premonitory nightmare -- suggests a filmmaker constrained by the visual grammar of the Hollywood action flick. (The musical grammar, too, judging by Marcelo Zarvos’ unsubtly wielded score.)"
Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
"And the same might be said of the staid, unimaginative crafts: Too often, Fuqua and cinematographer Robert Richardson ('Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood') mistake sweeping images for big emotions, as though a drone shot gliding over a desolate color-zapped field will break the cynical veil of a viewer already turned off by such bleak narratives. It's especially grating because the pair hits that well more than a few times, causing the film to sag with visually unoriginal repetitiveness. The drudging score doesn't add any further life to the proceedings either. Is the chase from enslavement toward freedom supposed to be inarticulately rendered, so unlived in, so clearly gruesome without the land ever becoming a real environment?"
Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
EO - Pawel Mykietyn
"Certain images here have a scrappy found intensity, such as traveling shots of EO walking among the dystopia of a junkyard, while others embody enraptured despair, like a moment of EO standing on a bridge passing by a vast waterfall that suggests oblivion. Skolimowski is very attentive to the notion of capturing the donkey’s view of things, going so far as to imply that the animal has daydreams, as in a beguiling sequence where the camera floats above the countryside, surveying the hills and trees and wind turbines. And, in a moment of brutal surrealism after EO is beaten, he’s daringly imagined as a robot animal crawling along the ground. These images seem to symbolize the unmooring sense of disembodiment that violence can foster in a victim. All these sequences are united by Pawel Mykietyn’s music, a kind of swooning techno opera that bridges classicism with grunge."
Chuck Bowen, Slant Magazine
"The humans get to have their moments. First, Eo’s handler Kasandra (Sandra Drzymalska), named for the woman who prophesied the fall of Rome, reenters the film on Eo’s birthday with a muffin before abandoning him again. Later, a long-haul truck driver (Mateusz Kosciukiewicz) shares his food with a woman before meeting a grisly fate. It doesn’t all gel: the strings on Miroslaw Koncewicz and Pawel Mykietyn’s score do a bit too much heavy lifting, some of the transitions are confusing, and the sequence featuring Huppert, involving a priest (Lorenzo Zurzolo) with a gambling problem, a hint of incest, and with no sightings of our hero, feels bizarrely bolted on."
Rory O'Connor, The Playlist
"It begins with a screen-flooding burst of red light and a thunderous passage from Pawel Mykietyn’s orchestral score, which pulses and surges hypnotically throughout. In this early moment, EO is part of a circus act with a young performer, Kasandra (Sandra Drzymalska), who coos to him, caresses his coat and gives him carrot muffins to eat. Kasandra becomes the love of his life, the human he dreams about and longs for after they’re separated and he is shipped off to his next home. But that’s as far as Skolimowski goes in imputing motives or desires to EO, apart from the basic compulsions to eat, rest and roam. As the director seems to signal with regular closeups of EO’s enormous eyes -- they’re somehow both inscrutable and soulfully expressive -- there are limits to how much we can enter into, or even imagine, a donkey’s inner life."
Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
"What draws us in is the inventive and luminous cinematography from Michal Dymek (with additional footage by Pawel Edelman and Michal Englert), using drone shots, fish-eye lenses and red and blue filters. Accompanied by an unsettling electronic score, the donkey-in-a-disco effect is trippy, a hallucinogenic projection of what it might be like to live in an animal’s consciousness, including its dreams and flashbacks."
Liam Lacey, Original CIN
"Meanwhile, this movie wouldn’t be the same if EO were CG, and part of its magic (for the film is effective, even if it was made with a heavy hoof) comes from the way we project human emotions on its largely silent protagonist. Skolimowski uses other tricks to communicate the mood, such as Pawel Mykietyn’s unambiguous electronic score and a dizzying array of trick shots, some from EO’s point of view. In one deliberately ironic scene, the donkey gazes out the window to see a herd of wild horses running free. Is that envy we’re meant to see on his face?"
Peter Debruge, Variety
PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH - Heitor Pereira
"The script by Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow is very silly, to be sure, but everything works. The animation is well done, the music has a lovely Spanish flair, and the cast does an excellent job bringing the characters to life. Directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado adopt a fun, Looney Tunes-style vibe, which I enjoyed so much that, when threatened with yet another sequel at the end, I was too entertained to protest."
Odie Henderson, The Boston Globe
"Cartoon cats can stand all kinds of abuse -- just ask Tom, after years of Jerry’s violent shenanigans -- but it’s probably best not to test fate if standing in Puss’ shoes, especially when pursued by a big-bad-wolf bounty hunter (as Wolf, 'Narcos' boss Wagner Moura gives a terrifically menacing turn). Crawford stages Puss’ first run-in with this reaper like a scene straight out of a Sergio Leone movie, the way Frank Miller might have drawn it for one of his 'Daredevil' comics: all strong poses, extreme angles and high-contrast graphic effects. (Composer Heitor Pereira delivers the Morricone-style music to match.)"
Peter Debruge, Variety
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older movies in Los Angeles-area theaters.
January 20
BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF (Joseph LoDuca) [Alamo Drafthouse]
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (John Williams) [BrainDead Studios]
THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV (Marc Verdaguer) [Los Feliz 3]
DJANGO UNCHAINED [New Beverly]
THE GOONIES (Dave Grusin) [Alamo Drafthouse]
GUMMO [New Beverly]
LIBERTE [Los Feliz 3]
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (Howard Shore) [Alamo Drafthouse]
MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (Frank Skinner), WRITTEN ON THE WIND (Frank Skinner) [Aero]
SOME LIKE IT HOT (Adolph Deutsch) [BrainDead Studios]
January 21
BRINGING OUT THE DEAD (Elmer Bernstein) [Los Feliz 3]
BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF (Joseph LoDuca) [Alamo Drafthouse]
CASTLE IN THE SKY (Joe Hisaishi) [New Beverly]
HANDS UP! [Los Feliz 3]
INLAND EMPIRE (David Lynch) [BrainDead Studios]
IVANS XTC. (Matt Schultz, Elmo Weber) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE LAND BEFORE TIME (James Horner) [Academy Museum]
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (Howard Shore) [Alamo Drafthouse]
NIGHT MOVES (Michael Small) [Academy Museum]
OVARIAN PSYCOS (Jimmy Lavalle) [Los Feliz 3]
SHANE (Victor Young), MONTE WALSH (John Barry) [New Beverly]
3 WOMEN (Gerald Busby) [BrainDead Studios]
THE VIGIL (Michael Yeserzki) [New Beverly]
January 22
ANIMAL CRACKERS [Los Feliz 3]
BIRDSONG [Los Feliz 3]
BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF (Joseph LoDuca) [Alamo Drafthouse]
CABARET (John Kander, Ralph Burns) [Alamo Drafthouse]
CASTLE IN THE SKY (Joe Hisaishi) [New Beverly]
DARK CITY (Trevor Jones) [BrainDead Studios]
GIANT (Dimitri Tiomkin) [Aero]
GLORY (James Horner) [Fine Arts]
THE GOONIES (Dave Grusin) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (Bo Harwood) [Alamo Drafthouse]
ORLANDO (David Motion, Sally Potter) [BrainDead Studios]
REDS (Stephen Sondheim, Dave Grusin) [Academy Museum]
ROMAN HOLIDAY (Georges Auric) [Fine Arts]
SHANE (Victor Young), MONTE WALSH (John Barry) [New Beverly]
TETSUO II: BODY HAMMER (Chu Ishikawa) [BrainDead Studios]
THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK (John Williams) [Academy Museum]
THE WOUNDED MAN (Fiorenzo Carpi) [Los Feliz 3]
January 23
BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF (Joseph LoDuca) [Alamo Drafthouse]
DEATH LAID AN EGG (Bruno Maderna) [Los Feliz 3]
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (Howard Shore) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE MERCENARY (Ennio Morricone, Bruno Nicolai), IT CAN BE DONE...AMIGO (Luis Bacalov) [New Beverly]
MILLENNIUM ACTRESS (Susumu Hirasawa) [Alamo Drafthouse]
January 24
BRINGING UP BABY (Roy Webb) [Academy Museum]
BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF (Joseph LoDuca) [Alamo Drafthouse]
CITY SLICKERS (Marc Shaiman), TANGO & CASH (Harold Faltermeyer) [New Beverly]
MILLENNIUM ACTRESS (Susumu Hirasawa) [Alamo Drafthouse]
SECONDS (Jerry Goldsmith) [Los Feliz 3]
January 25
ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS (Frank Skinner) [Los Feliz 3]
BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF (Joseph LoDuca) [Alamo Drafthouse]
CITY SLICKERS (Marc Shaiman), TANGO & CASH (Harold Faltermeyer) [New Beverly]
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD [Los Feliz 3]
PURPLE NOON (Nino Rota) [BrainDead Studios]
ROMAN HOLIDAY (Georges Auric) [Fine Arts]
January 26
BEND OF THE RIVER (Hans J. Salter) [Los Feliz 3]
BONNIE AND CLYDE (Charles Strouse), BREATHLESS (Marital Solal) [Aero]
THE GOONIES (Dave Grusin) [Alamo Drafthouse]
ICE STATION ZEBRA (Michel Legrand) [Los Feliz 3]
MISTER SCARFACE (Luis Bacalov), AMERICAN NITRO (Denny Jaeger) [New Beverly]
January 27
ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (John Carpenter) [Alamo Drafthouse]
BEND OF THE RIVER (Hans J. Salter) [Los Feliz 3
DJANGO UNCHAINED [New Beverly]
ENTER THE VOID [New Beverly]
FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! (Paul Sawtell, Bert Shefter) [Alamo Drafthouse]
LOSING GROUND (Michael Minard) [Academy Museum]
MONA LISA AND THE BLOOD MOON (Daniele Luppi) [Los Feliz 3]
THE NEVERENDING STORY (Klaus Doldinger, Giorgio Moroder) [Los Feliz 3]
SANTA SANGRE (Simon Boswell) [BrainDead Studios]
STALKER (Edward Artemyev) [Aero]
UNDER THE SKIN (Mica Levi) [BrainDead Studios]
THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (Air) [New Beverly]
WAR HUNT (Bud Shank), RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY (George Bassman) [UCLA/Hammer]
WRITTEN ON THE WIND (Frank Skinner) [Los Feliz 3]
January 28
THE BAD BATCH [Los Feliz 3]
BEETLEJUICE (Danny Elfman) [Academy Museum]
THE BREAKFAST CLUB (Keith Forsey) [Academy Museum]
CISCO PIKE [Academy Museum]
THE DARK CRYSTAL (Trevor Jones) [New Beverly]
ENTER THE VOID [New Beverly]
A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT [Los Feliz 3]
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (Howard Shore) [BrainDead Studios]
MI VIDA LOCA (John Taylor) [Los Feliz 3]
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS (Angelo Badalamenti) [Los Feliz 3]
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE PRESTIGE (David Julyan) [BrainDead Studios]
TICKLED (Rodi Kirkcaldy, Florian Zwietnig) [BrainDead Studios]
THE VIGIL (Michael Yezerski) [New Beverly]
January 29
A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (John Williams) [Aero]
AU HASARD BALTHAZAR (Jean Weiner) [Los Feliz 3]
BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (John Williams) [Academy Museum]
THE DARK CRYSTAL (Trevor Jones) [New Beverly]
ENTER THE VOID [New Beverly]
FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! (Paul Sawtell, Bert Shefter) [Alamo Drafthouse]
HOOP DREAMS (Ben Sidran) [Alamo Drafthouse]
THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (Heinz Roemheld) [BrainDead Studios]
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS (Angelo Badalamenti) [Los Feliz 3]
SECONDS (Jerry Goldsmith) [Los Feliz 3]
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (Nacio Herb Brown, Lennie Hayton) [Alamo Drafthouse]
SOLOMON KING (Jimmy Lewis) [UCLA/Hammer]
STAND BY ME (Jack Nitzsche) [Fine Arts]
THE TARNISHED ANGELS (Frank Skinner) [Los Feliz 3]
WATCHMEN (Tyler Bates) [BrainDead Studios]
WONDER BOYS (Christopher Young) [Academy Museum]
THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY
Heard: The Classic Film Music of Georges Auric Vol. 3 (Auric), Fiddler on the Roof (Bock/Williams), Notre Dame de Paris: The Music of Maurice Jarre (Jarre), The Empire Strikes Back (Williams), The Brothers Grimm (Marianelli), William Alwyn Film Music (Alwyn); Raiders of the Lost Ark (Williams); The Film Music of Mario Nascimbene (Nascimbene)
Read: Conversations with the Father, by Chris Matheson
Seen: All That Breathes; Plane; Moonage Daydream; Serpico; Close Encounters of the Third Kind; M3GAN; Attack!; Ten Seconds to Hell
Watched: The House of Exorcism; Masters of Sex ("Dirty Jobs"); Stop Me Before I Kill!; Mission: Impossible ("The Short Tail Spy"); The Big Boss
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