Knight of Ren

I absolutely recommend the whole score for Demon Slayer. It's one of the best anime soundtracks I've heard, because the composer Go Shiina was allowed to score the show with a brand-new piece of music for each scene, in the traditional film scoring way, so he had to create many hours of new music for each season, all tied together by dozens of leitmotifs for each of the many different main characters. It's an astonishing job in my opinion! Here's the latest released track, from the end credits of the movie that is being released during this month in many countries, which mixes the opening song from S3 with several leitmotifs from across the show!

From what I gathered when comparing the FYC and the OST I feel that the soundtrack is the composer's preferred presentation, and the FYC gives us basically the film mixes/edits of all the cues. In some cues the difference is just a couple of seconds shorter or longer, but other times there are huge chunks of music only present in one of the two versions. And for example, the track Arturo's Death is completely different to 4m20B Arturo's Death, so I don't know what's up with that!

I mean, it would be my personal pick, but The Zone of Interest is there and it also has several nominations in other categories which might give it the upper hand. Both great films so I wouldn't mind either of them, but I would personally choose Bayona's film!

Yess! Really deserved. It's such a shame that he wasn't nominated for an Oscar, as it has now become one of my favorite 2023 scores, and one of my favorite Giacchino scores in recent years. Also worth mentioning is the fact that the movie took home 12 out of the 13 awards it was nominated in the Goya Awards. I think there might be a small chance of it winning the Best International Film at the Academy Awards, but it has some strong competitors, so who knows.

Yeah, I feel the film is a bit over-scored, at some points, but that more Nolan's way of doing things. Goransson's score works great within the film, truly elevating some sequences like the Trinity test. On album is a great listening experience, moody, atmospheric and hypnotic, with some interesting interplay between synths and orchestra. It's actually more thematic than it appears at first, and that's something I've noticed with many Goransson scores, where I only fully appreciate what he's doing after several listens.

Some thoughts on a couple of films I watched recently: The Zone of Interest One of the most disturbing films from last year, because of how sick it makes you feel, while not showing you nothing at all, That's where it shines the most, in the way it constructs the story and we get to see the ordinary lives of these people, making us almost connect and empathize with them. But the genius of the film lies in the way it uses sound to constantly remind us of the truth behind this beautiful and idyllic facade, and that makes it really scary and frightening. Great photography and great acting all around. I felt the film went on for a bit too long, and there are a couple of "abstract / dreamy" sequences that I don't really know if work well with the rest of the film, but overall, a very solid and thought provoking film. Killers of the Flower Moon The film is really long, but Scorsese's direction never lets you feel bored or disinterested, and it's constantly moving the narrative forward, supported by a brilliant cast. The story is complex and full of nuance, and offers a poignant reflection on the corruption and greed of these white men that led to the murder of many people who were just trying to live in peace in their own land. DiCaprio is great, as is DeNiro, both portraying their characters' double-faced intentions with ease, but who impressed me the most was Lily Gladstone. She embodies all the suffering and pain of the Osage, and you can feel this just by looking at her eyes, full of sorrow and anger. She is subtle when she needs to be, but I also love the scenes she shares with DiCaprio, where she stands her ground with ease. She's definitely an actress to keep an eye on. I wish the film had focused a bit more on the Osage people, on Molly and her relationship with her sisters, but the way its told, it feels more authentic and frustrating, just like reality. Asteroid City If you like Wes Anderson, you'll like this one. If you hate Wes Anderson, you'll hate this one. I'm usually a fan of his style, and this movie sees him take another step forward into the distillation of his particular style. The visuals and set designs are top notch, the cast is full of recognizable faces that all offer great, profound and memorable performances, however short they might be, and the story is as quirky and melancholic as with any of his movies. Actually, I felt this movie had more emotional depth than for example, The French Dispatch, and while not all of it works, it pays off greatly in a third act that is both unexpected and emotionally captivating. Desplat's brief score works brilliantly within the film too!

Yeah, Hollow Knight is such a great score! The samples are a bit noticeable at some points, but is remarkable how great everything sounds considering the low budget they had. The score works brilliantly within the game but also works great as a listening experience. I love Larkin's themes and I wonder if some of them will pop up in some form in Silksong! This score was released today. I watched the movie a couple of months ago and I really enjoyed it, and I remember liking the score in context. It's quite atmospheric for the most part, but perfectly underscores the danish wastelands and the isolation portrayed in the movie, and as the score progresses, it becomes more orchestral and dramatic. The last couple of cues are actually quite beautiful and emotional. Romer is such an interesting composer which sadly doesn't work a lot, but I definitely recommend some of his work. Apart from this one, I also really enjoyed his scores for Luca and Wendy, if you're looking for some recommendations!

Hollow Knight is one of my favorite games, and has one of my favorite videogame scores ever! I've been waiting for Silksong for so long, but I don't know if it will come out this year or what. It's been almost 5 years since they announced it! Oh yes! Forgot about House of the Dragon. I'm looking forward to all of Djawadi's projects this year, but I have a special interest in this. Season 1 was such a great score!

That's too bad! Yeah, not releasing anything would be really weird, because I think all of his scores from the last few years have been released, even if they were handled by his team, like Foundation S2 or Percy Jackson.

The scores I'm looking forward the most this year are: -Zimmer's Dune Part Two and Kung Fu Panda 4 -Bear McCreary's score for RoP Season 2, and hopefully the release of Outlander S7 -Christopher Larkin's score to Silksong if the game is finally released this year (at this point, I'm keeping my hopes lowered though) -Holkenborg's Furiosa, as I feel his Mad Max score was great! -Whatever either James Newton Howard or John Powell do this year -HGW has been hit or miss these last couple of years, but I think he has a chance to shine again with Gladiator 2 -There's always a couple of anime soundtracks that come out of nowhere and really surprise me each year. I'm already looking forward to Frieren's full release, and Go Shiina's score for the new season of Demon Slayer, but I'm sure more will come up during the year! Also, I already listened to a score this year that caught my ear! Alberto Iglesias' score is elegant, melodic and vibrant, with the particular highlight being the intricate writing for piano, strings and woodwinds that he showcases in some tracks. The album is a bit too long and some tracks tend to fall a bit more under the atmospheric style, but whenever the main theme and the exquisite orchestrations are giving space to shine, it's where the score works best!

Just finished the last episode of the season of Percy Jackson and I really enjoyed it! As a huge fan of the books, they made a satisfying adaptation, changing some bits here and there, but retaining the same spirit and magic. Here's a little breakdown of which cue corresponds to which episode. The album is a bit of a mess, honestly, and almost all of the tracks are made out of many different pieces from across the episode, which are longer and contain some thematic material that is sadly missing from the release. Also, I noticed that the end titles track is a bit different in each episode, having some musical hints of the characters that appear in the "next episode" teaser: I think there are at least 6 or 7 themes with a clear meaning, but I think there are some hints of possible future themes during some scenes, knowing how the story will go. Apart from a theme for each of the three main characters, there is a theme for Camp Half-Blood, a theme for Hades, another for Ares, and I think Hephaestus has a theme that plays several times during the episode he appears. I hope they announce the renewal for Season 2 as I would like them to do all five books, which in my opinion get progressively better!

I would say that apart from The Village, the other score that could benefit from an expanded release is The Last Airbender. There are some nice missing cues, and a chronological presentation of the score would be a much better listening experience than the OST (where the Porlogue cue appears in track 8!). Too bad the movie is awful and it isn't really a popular score outside of film music fans I think.

I really like he shows how passionate he is about the music he writes via his blogs because when I was discovering his music in shows like Outlander or the God of War games, reading his process and the way he comes up with the themes and instrumentations really help you appreciate all the work that is behind the art of composing music. And he makes it seem all so accesible for everybody, which is no small feat I think.

I feel McCreary has always been very open about projects where he has help from assistants at Sparks&Shadows, and he either mentions them in his blog posts or in a tweet when they announce the project, plus they are credited on the actual credits of the movie or show. Many composers have additional help, specially if they're as busy as McCreary, so as long as they're credited and the music remains of the same quality, I don't really mind. For example, I thought the music in Season 2 of Foundation was even better than the first season, and that was mostly handled by his team, and something similar is happening with S2 of Masters of the Universe, which so far sounds really great! I hope they release an album soon. As for Percy Jackson, I feel the album doesn't really do justice to the score, and feels too short and missing some important thematic pieces, and I feel I appreciate the music a lot more while watching the show than listening to the album on its own. I mean, I wouldn't have realized that Grover and Annabeth have themes because they're almost completely missing from the album!

I guess I would say Alan Menken. Not that I disliked his music, but being younger I thought it was just inconsequential fluff for kiddie movies. Then, I rewatched some of his classic ones, like Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame or Aladdin, and realized he's one of the best in the field. The way he has created dozens of memorable melodies, how he interweaves them within the score, and how he also manages to create some memorable underscore for film with such a song-heavy focus is quite marvelous. His score for BatB and Huchback are now some of my favorite animated scores ever!

Across the Spider-Verse seemed like it was going to be nominated. Shame. Oppenheimer will probably win.

Yeah, definitely recommend his Violet Evergarden scores! Great stuff. Emotional, lyrical, orchestral and emotional. Both the albums for the main series and the movie are worth a listen. They're called: Automemories, and Echo Through Eternity, and both are on Spotify: Both albums also have a couple of songs in between. And the second album is quite long, but I recommend listening to the first 35 tracks as that corresponds to the movie soundtrack in full.

Frieren's great, both the music and the anime! Charming, heartwarming, epic and memorable. The main theme is beautiful, and Zooltrak is a banger! The full album comes out when the season is over, sometime in April according to this. Evan Call is such a great composer, and his work is usually beautiful and emotional, but also epic and exciting when it needs to. I hold a special place in my heart for his Violet Evergarden score, as that was the one I first heard from him! I recently watched the first two eps of Solo Leveling and Sawano's doing the music. So far, quite similar to his AoT scores, but there's a cue on the second episode which was quite chilling in context, and I feel he will deliver some great tracks for the show, which so far seems to be really interesting.

That doesn't make a lot of sense, since Fast X ended with a big cliffhanger involving Momoa, so it would be really weird if he just disappears in Fast 11. Not that logic was one of the franchise's strongest feast but even so...

Yeah, the first part was the best and I also really liked the last 30 minutes or so, but I guess that's up to everyone's taste. It's a movie I enjoyed, and which I can appreciate for what it tries to be, but I also get all the criticism and it would make perfect sense if someone hated completely! And yeah, director Emerald Fennel was known as an actress before jumping onto the directing chair. She appeared briefly this year in Barbie, but I knew her for the role of Camilla in The Crown, I think in seasons 3 and 4!

A couple of 2023 films I hadn't been able to watch until recently: Society of Snow Brilliant film! Probably the best Bayona has ever done. I found it to be very moving, but also terrifying and difficult to watch at times, because of the realistic way everything is portrayed. The crash is shocking and uses to great effect the sound and editing, which then play a big part in the rest of the movie, making the mountains and the plane feel like an alien, moving and living entity that the characters have to confront. The way the movie portrays the drama, the shock and the tragedy felt so real and human, and that makes it much more emotional as the story progresses. I loved how respectful the movie is to all those who didn't came back and serves as a sort of belated homage to all those people who gave their lives to help those who did come back to return home. Giacchino's score works brilliantly within the film, being both devastating and hopeful, with some great musical moments in its third act, like the Andes Ascent or Found, and both the score and the film would enter a top 10 of 2023 without a doubt! Saltburn I feel the film goes on for a bit too long in its middle section, and subtlety isn't one of its strongest feats, but it's such a fun and wild ride that I can forgive some of its flaws. Emerald Fennel's direction and Linus Sandgren's photography offer some of the most beautiful shots of the year, and I feel they add to the story and help the (again, not so subtle) allegories and visual metaphors feel more captivating. The story has some unexpected turns, and some quite shocking moments, that sometimes fall on the gimmicky side, but also give more depth to the characters, portrayed brilliantly by the respective actors. Jacob Elordi is great, charming and charismatic, and it's the perfect counterpoint to Barry Keoghan's mysterious, creepy and enigmatic presence. He's an actor that again and again shows how great he is, and I love how unnerving but also absorbing his presence is on screen, and he's one of the reasons why this movie holds up its entire duration and some of its missteps. Fallen Leaves I get what it was trying to do, what it pays homage to and the feelings it tries to convey, but because of the tone and mood it settles on, I found myself constantly detached from the emotional journeys of the characters, and I wasn't that invested in their relationship. It's a shame because I had heard great things about it, but it left me disappointed that I wasn't able to connect with it for most of its duration. Great acting from both leads though!

Really looking forward to hear McCreary & co's music! It looks like it's going to be an epic season and I think he did such a great job in the first season, with lots of memorable themes that I hope come back in one way or another!

I kind of feel the opposite on those two films. I found Past Lives a bit underwhelming, and while I understand what it was trying to do, I felt a bit disconnected with the characters emotionally. On the other hand, I found The Boy and the Heron to be a gripping and absorbing tale, brimming with beautiful images and a profound message about our legacy and our future! Here are some brief thoughts on some other 2023 movies I watched recently: The Holdovers During the first part of the movie I wasn't really getting what all the fuss was about, and it felt a bit slow, but starting at the moment the three main characters are left alone, I started to become more and more invested in their stories and their interactions, and the movie slowly won me over with its apparent simplicity, but filled with many subtleties that make these characters feel real, and the ending left me emotional, and wanting to spend more time with these beautifully written characters. The three leads are Oscar-worthy IMO! How to Have Sex At first it feels like it's going to be one of those empty "hot obnoxious teenagers get drunk and party all night" type of movies, but around half hour in, everything changes, and it starts to become almost a horror movie, with how painfully accurate it becomes. Mia McKeena Bruce is brilliant and I love the subtleties of her performance, expressing lots of emotions with so little. And I feel everyone can connect emotionally with it, because the topics it deals with are very relevant to our society, and still not talked about enough. Definitely recommend it. Wonka I went in expecting nothing and was pleasantly surprised by a charming movie, that is probably going to become a Christmas classic. Chalamet is great in the role, the songs are quite memorable, and the production design is colorful, vibrant and joyful all around, making for a very pleasant watch, that reminded me of the great Paddington movies by director Paul King in its heart-warming tone overall. Nothing groundbreaking, perhaps a bit too long, and sometimes a bit too cartonish, but it works for the kind of film it's trying to be. Maestro I feel this is more Carey Mulligan's film than Bradley Cooper, as she steals every scene they share, and offers the more profound and emotional performance of the two. Her scenes and their relationship is the highlight for me, but I otherwise felt the movie was a bit of a mess at some points. It tries to tell many important moments in the life of Bernstein, but you end up feeling that it didn't really teach you a lot about his importance in the classical music world, and while I like how his music is used through the movie, I would have liked to spent more time learning about Bernstein the musical figure, and less about his family dramas. The scene where he conducts Mahler at a cathedral is a highlight though! Godzilla Minus One Brilliant film! One of my favorites of the year. I love how well balanced the human drama and the monster action are, and it's one of the few Godzilla movies that actually makes you care about its human characters, thus making the third act much more impactful and emotional. I love the way the present Godzilla as a huge menace, and really scary, in particular in the atomic breath sequence which was stunning to experience in a cinema. Naoki Sato's score works brilliantly within the film, and they cleverly used Ifukube's themes only in a couple of key scenes, which makes those themes have more impact and importance when they appear. One of my favorite Godzilla movies ever!

Each track from the album has info about the cues it's made out of, so for example if the track It Wasn't Meant To Be is comprised of 1m01 v1.9.2 Two Ships (Edited) + 1m04B v1.09 Goodbye For Now, 1m1 means that it plays at the beginning of the movie, and plays before than the previous track, Kingdom Of Atlantis, which is 3m20-21 v6.7 Armpit Fish - Atlantis (Edited), and so on. It's a bit hard to do it properly as some album tracks are made out of different cues from different places in the movie or even theme suites, but that should be helpful to sort your way through it!

I recommend checking out that score's entry in the Hans Zimmer webpage, because it has info about what cues were used for the album assembly, which can help you sort out a chronological order!