Now Playing L

Ouch. Of all of the several hundreds scores I've heard this year, this is actually in my top 3. Absolutely marvelous score! But I haven't seen the series yet. Looks kinda hokey.

It is a shame about SOLO. Why was it disqualified?

I like this whole shortlist thing. I'm glad to see some big heart-on-sleeve scores here. Those don't usually get a whole lot of love from the academy. I'm sure the dull and unpleasant ones will end up getting nominated, but I really hope MARRY POPPINS wins it all. Of this list it is the most deserving, in my opinion. I'm really glad to see THE DEATH OF STALIN on here, and pretty shocked. I would never have expected it to get any notice from awards groups. I quite liked BLACK PANTHER, CRAZY RICH ASIANS, FANTASTIC BEASTS, and VICE, and would be happy to see any of those scores nominated. And I would be happy to see Silvestri get a nomination, for either of his scores.

But it wouldn't surprise me to see FIRST MAN win. I still need to see that film. I understand the score works really well in context. It just didn't do a whole lot on its own for me.

I've enjoyed the series.

BUMBLEBEE - Dario Marianelli

Strange score. I was really looking forward to it, based on the strength of DM's work with the director Travis Knight - Kubo and the Two Strings, which was fantastic. I loved the Darkest Hour last year as well. But this feels a tad too mechanical. And so many different composers in there. At some points, it sounds straight out of a RC action score, at times pure Marianelli, others very similar to T. Newman (I'm sure one cue was temped on a Finding Nemo track) and sometimes Spielberg/Williams influenced. Not a bad theme, and some nice tracks though.

Struggling to connect with the action material - whilst I do appreciate that it is far more listenable than Jablonsky's stuff. Might take a while. The softer stuff is really nice, though heavily Newman influenced. Wish there was more of that.

I enjoyed this one as well, was very hypnotizing and actually calmed me down when I was stuck in traffic

Oh, you remember that. It's worse than ever

NP: Bram Stoker's Darcula (1992) - Woziech Kilar

A 70 minutes playlist I made from the recent gorgeous La-La-Land release. I added those suites from the bonus material and replaced "The hunt builds" and "Ascension / The End" with their respective score versions. This seems less repetitive a listening experience than the complete score is.

Volker

Hans Zimmer - The Thin Red Line

As per tradition, that's the first album I listen to on the New Year.

In another note, after playing Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault I have been thinking a bit of scores for films about the Pacific Theater. And I still don't think there are enough films/games featuring it.

I'm disappointed by the lack of flames shooting out of smoke towers in my city. I was promised more flames shooting out of smoke towers.

That's true. Perhaps the extended Blade Runner universe is more realistic.

As I'm not sure what you're getting at exactly, it was Batman Begins that was screened by Nolan to the crew telling them "that's our Gotham City" (which later turned into the Los Angeles of 1995 as The Dark Knight was inspired by Heat).

Sounds a little self-involved to show his own Batman Begins to tell his crew how Gotham should look like .

No posts here for the past 22 days!

Today I'm listening to some of the best things I've heard in 2018, and some recommendations I haven't been able to hear yet.

I gave MAX AND ME another listen. I still think it's fantastic.

Right now I'm giving FRONTIER OF LOVE by Mark Chait a second listen. It's really good. I'm enjoying it even more than I did initially. Anyone who enjoys beautiful orchestral scores with some Asia influence should definitely check this one out.

Ooh, that's a must-get for me. I haven't ordered it yet, but I certainly will. I just re-watched the film just so that I could hear the cues I've never had on album. That's just such an excellent score.