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I'm certainly not the only one being anxiously curious about Cameron's choice for Horner's successor. Personally, I think James Newton Howard (I'm thinking about Atlantis and Raya) would be the perfect choice, with Daniel Pemberton (Dark Crystal) a close second. The question is who'd be willing to spend the better part of this decade on the job having daily fights with Cameron? Especially knowing how Horner's original concept was like and how Cameron did everything to sabotage Horner's efforts.

I'm still hoping for Alan Silvestri (if James Newton Howard isn't chosen). At least he knows how to work with Cameron. For the love of god, not Simon Franglen. If it's to copy James Honer, then no. Better an original voice with someone to mimic the sound of Avatar than a copy / paste job without the magical Horner touch.

NP: MORTAL KOMBAT (Benjamin Wallfisch)

I love EDM more than most people here, but the type of techno on display in "Techno Syndrome 2021" is not really my cuppa tea, especially not when it goes all dubstep (which has been out of fashion for a while now). There is some fine music in the score otherwise, though; the oriental instrumentation is nice. It's best when it's downtempo and textural, the action music feels very generic. Lots of noise, fuss and breaks. All rather uninteresting.

Justice League (Tom Holkenborg)

up to track 10 and I'm sitting here, WHY? For the love of god WHY?

NP: AMERICAN BEAUTY - THOMAS NEWMAN

First day back at work... just got back. Quick glass (or two) of wine with some of the more serene cues from this score.... and I'll be

NP: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL (Thomas Newman)

Haven't played this in ages! It's Newman's classic 90s, "skewed" style combined with some latin flavours and whatnot. Quite lovely, actually.

John Williams - Schindler's List

My very good friend's father passed away from COVID today. I knew the man. Felt appropriate.

NP: MADE IN FRANCE (Rob)

For me, this 2016 score is the only score of Rob's that comes close to his masterpiece MANIAC from 2012. Spacey, minormoded, cool beats and very "French".

Sorry to hear that Pawel, all the best to the family

NP: MEENAXI: A TALE OF 3 CITIES (A.R. Rahman)

Rahman works both mornings and nights. This 2004 score is a nice display of his sophisticated arrangements skills.

Hans Zimmer - Drop Zone

The expansion which actually improved my opinion on the score for a couple of reasons I will explain shortly:

1. There is more filler material, which makes the score less relentless than it is. Some of it is quite cool even (Finding Swoop, for one).
2. The vocal film version of Hi Jack is ways better than the guitar one that is presented on the original album, even if I preferred vocal was mixed louder on this CD;
3. Some more melodic action material is missing from the original, namely the final part of After the Dub. Also nice is the fact that the "jumping theme" (featured originally only twice in Too Many Notes...) .

Jerry Goldsmith - Islands in the Stream

Reportedly among his personal favorites if not THE favorite score of his. I haven't heard it for a very long time and I'm on a bit of a Goldsmith roll recently, mostly listening to the expansions of his mid-90s action scores (some of which become way fuller or reinstate a missing recurring theme, like U.S. Marshals).

I actually like it quite a lot for its very impressionistic sound, but I asked an expert.

Whether he knows Goldsmith's reasoning here.

NP: QUEEN OF THE SOUTH (Giorgio Moroder & Rayne Shockne)

Moroder's first 9 tracks are so gorgeous, they're to die for. You can read my pocket review here, if you're interested: http://celluloidtunes.no/queen-of-the-s … y-shockne/