Posts Tagged Film
Archive
July 3, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
The Black Phone: Film
The Black Phone Director: Scott Derrickson Blumhouse Productions / Crooked Highway / Universal Pictures The Black Phone is both a chilling, cold, dark and disturbing horror film and, within it, there’s a beautifully written story of resilience and the manifestations of trauma. It is a survivor’s story. To drill down too far into either is […]Archive
June 30, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #17: Dead Man Walking by Various Artists
I know this technically shouldn’t count – since this series has the word Score so overtly in the title. But the soundtrack to the film Dead Man Walking – by “Various Artists” is a compilation album that feel like a score. Also, it’s fucking great. Ridiculously great. Sublimely great. The film was great too. I’ve […]Archive
June 15, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #15: Baraka by Michael Stearns
I have no idea whether it was the film or the music that came first, for me, with Baraka – but I think, maybe, it was the music. I know I didn’t see the film until about a decade after it was released, and probably I saw it on the back of seeing a few […]Archive
June 1, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #14: Bird by Charlie Parker with Lennie Niehaus
The movie Bird was crucial for me – and so was its soundtrack – not technically ‘a score’ but I’d argue that it absolutely is, and that such a soundtrack is always the score when the film is a biopic of a musician. Bird tells (some of) the story of Charlie Parker and the music […]Archive
May 16, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Where Have All The Kiwi Soundtracks Gone?
My fascination with film scores – listening to them, collecting them – began with a New Zealand movie. But you wouldn’t have such luck now. When I was a kid the Footrot Flats movie, A Dog’s Tail Tale, was a local blockbuster. It was at the cinemas, at a time when not every Kiwi film […]Archive
May 12, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Mike Post About My Favourite TV Composer
In primary school, way back a hundred years ago or so, I learned about Mike Post. He was the guy that wrote the theme tune for Hill Street Blues. I loved that show. I didn’t really understand it so well, at first. But it was one of the shows I was allowed to stay up […]Archive
May 9, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #13: Under The Cherry Moon (aka “Parade”) by Prince
The soundtrack and score for the movie Under The Cherry Moon is actually an album called Parade by star of both the film and the soundtrack, Prince. This threw me when I was a kid. Soundtracks are title after the movie. But Prince got me thinking about how the soundtrack could really live on its […]Archive
April 25, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Danny Elfman at Coachella (2022)
Every year I try to get excited about Coachella – and the ability to watch it live from all the way down here in little old New Zealand, and in the comfort of my own home. But then I find there’s not much I want to actually see. This year I was a bit more […]Archive
April 14, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #12: Eyes Wide Shut by Jocelyn Pook + Various
So many great soundtracks I’ve given away, lost, sold, traded, ditched. And one that springs to mind instantly, one I’ll be getting back a.s.a.f.p is Eyes Wide Shut’s soundtrack. Not a full score – it includes some songs too (but most of them are great) it’s a stunning set of music to a film that […]Archive
April 12, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
X: Film
X Director: Ti West A24 / Little Lamb / Mad Solar Productions Once in a while a film comes along, and you have very high expectations indeed. Almost so much so that it is a bit of a worry. But then, it’s movie night – and not only no worries, your high expectations are shot […]Archive
March 31, 2022 by Simon Sweetman