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| 12/31/07
- | 28 Days: (Richard Gibbs)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you enjoyed the performances by Loudon Wainwright III in the film.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect anything more than droning electronic base, tired drum pad hits, and lazy rhythm
loops from Richard Gibbs' score.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 12/28/07
- | What Lies Beneath: (Alan Silvestri)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you are prepared to appreciate a technically adept adaptation of Bernard
Herrmann's score from Psycho for the horror sequences in What Lies Beneath.
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Avoid it... |
if the surprisingly and disappointingly mundane and sparse orchestration of Alan
Silvestri's suspense cues for the first half of the film cannot compensate for
those snappy moments of Herrmann inspiration later on.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 12/24/07
- | The Kite Runner: (Alberto Iglesias)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you appreciate Alberto Iglesias' extremely intelligent merging of worldly genres in his
highly textured and authentic cross-cultural works.
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Avoid it... |
if you prefer your dramatic scores to leave an impression with you via memorable themes rather
than instrumental and rhythmic devises.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 12/20/07
- | Eastern Promises: (Howard Shore)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you are typically drawn to classical crossover scores of restrained beauty and are lured by
solo violin performances of austere distinction.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect substantial variance or dramatic inflection in Howard Shore's thematic
development, leaving instead a score that is potentially stagnant in its consistency.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 12/17/07
- | Requiem for my Friend: (Zbigniew Preisner)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you succumb to the power of dark, mystical, and thematically gripping choral music in even
its most solemn and deliberate forms.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect either of the two concerts on the album to convey the same power that they
undoubtedly do when heard in person on location.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 12/14/07
- | Rambo: First Blood Part II: (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you're driven by Jerry Goldsmith's relentless action of the 1980's, with
outstanding adaptations of his themes from First Blood serving as highlights of
the sequel score.
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Avoid it... |
if you have previously been annoyed by Goldsmith's mid-80's scores that feature
extremely harsh tones in the prominent mix of their synthetic rhythms.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 12/11/07
- | P.T. Barnum: (Hummie Mann)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you relax to the modern adaptations of style from 19th Century Americana spirit
and could tolerate some John Philip Sousa thrown in as well.
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Avoid it... |
if you become impatient with scores that do not vary in style, instrumentation, or
emotional attitude from scene to scene.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 12/8/07
- | Lost and Found: (John Debney)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you are the world's most absolute, #1 John Debney fan and have no other goal in life
than to collect all of his promotional releases.
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Avoid it... |
if Debney's competent, but anonymous and predictable writing for light comedies and romances
borders on being frustratingly pointless for you.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 12/4/07
- | Mickey Blue Eyes: (Basil Poledouris/Wolfgang
Hammerschmid)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you enjoyed the particular collection of classic Italian-flavored songs heard in the
film.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect blazing brilliance from more than two of Basil Poledouris' eight minutes of
material on the album.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 12/1/07
- | Cleopatra (TV): (Trevor Jones)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek perhaps the best and boldest theme of Trevor Jones' career, along with remarkably
erotic vocals over a powerful orchestral score.
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Avoid it... |
if an infusion of exotic new age style into that massive orchestral construct is too disparate
for you to accept in a Roman and Egyptian setting.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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