Thor

I can't remember if I've checked out the earlier albums.

Intriguing. Piano versions of themes can be a bit samey, but I love the selection of titles here. NOT WITH MY WIFE YOU DON'T! One of my top 10 JW scores, but rarely showcased like this.

What Amazon show? THE GRAY MAN was rather disappointing and generic, yes. I haven't seen CHERRY. But as producers, they've done some fine things post-Marvel. The two EXTRACTION movies and RELIC are great. Also, the super-chilling show FROM -- very Stephen King.

Another vinyl found in the bunch I got from my dad. Nice, but not on the level of 52ND STREET, obviously.

Yes, AMERIKA is fine indeed.

Sure is.

I've gone from 'hate' to 'indifference' in regards to Woody Allen films over 30+ years, so that's some progress, but one of these days, I'm going to attempt again. I do like SEINFELD and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, so presumably there should be something to build on there -- in that nervous, existential Jewish humour, the awkward situations and all that. I'm more curious to see if there are any visual ideas that stand out, though, that I've previously overlooked due to my distaste of the dialogue-heavy material and the frenzied characters. I did watch COUP DE CHANCE last year, which was okay. A finely tuned romance triangle that neither blew me away nor bored me.

Cool! I'm not a big fan of BIG MESS, but it has a couple of decent songs. I still need to get that CD in physical format (as well as BIGGER MESSIER); they've been out of my financial reach so far. For the next album, I wish he tuned down the contemporary indierock/metal/fuzz thing a bit, and instead went back to the smoother new wave/ska/synthpop sounds of the Oingo Boingo days. Not gonna happen, but one can always wish...

Been over on FSM, eh?

https://filmmusicreporter.com/2024/05/02/alan-silvestri-scoring-anthony-joe-russos-the-electric-state/ This is intriguing. I love Simon Stålenhag's work, but I never expected there to be a film adaptation of this (and certainly not from Hollywood A listers such as the Russos and Silvestri). But I guess TALES FROM THE LOOP opened some doors. If you're not familiar with Stålenhag's work, I recommend taking a look at his gorgeous artworks, which insert sci fi elements into very mundane, Scandinavian surroundings. Stålenhag is also a good composer, and did this SUPERB concept album based on his own THE ELECTRIC STATE work. If you like moody Vangelis, this is right up your alley: I doubt Silvestri will take a similar approach, but nothing would please me more than if he reawakened some of his 80s synth roots for this.

I'm not NOF, but Tarkovsky is GREAT! Shame he was taken from us way too soon. Love the classics, of course -- SOLARIS, STALKER, THE MIRROR. But you can't really go wrong with the other four either. And those Artemiev scores! Man, goosebumps galore.

Sure! I don't own it, but I remember sampling it years ago. I always confused Bruce Smeaton with Bruce Rowland! But in any case -- thanks for the reminder; I'll give it another go.

I adore Tarantino. Cronenberg, I've never really been a fan of, despite growing up with his films and perfectly able to recognize the qualities in them. I think I've seen them all, except for FAST COMPANY and STEREO. Where's THE DEAD ZONE on your list, G?

Anyone had a chance to listen to this yet? It has some really beautiful tracks, like Zimmer's earlier Holocaust entry THE LAST DAYS, but also plenty of darker and more challenging moments, of course, befitting the subject matter. I think I had vaguely heard about this assignment being on the horizon, but completely forgotten about it, so nice surprise out of the blue.

No, I think it was Mancini. But I wouldn't be surprised if he said something like that in another setting. Sounds like him.