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November - December 2022
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12/31/22
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The Karate Kid: Part III (Bill Conti)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you desire a combination of the first score's formula and the sequel's contemplative ethnic depth, Bill Conti discovering a
satisfying balance between the two modes in this third entry.
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| Avoid it... |
if you still await thematic catharsis in these scores, the finale of The Karate Kid: Part III supplying overdue redemption but
the remainder stewing without much distinction before getting there.
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12/27/22
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Dune (Hans Zimmer/Various)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
if you believe that intentionally abrasive sound design can function well as film music, Hans Zimmer's endless hunt for radical
new synthetic manipulations defining this overhyped score.
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| Avoid it... |
on any of the score's insufferable album presentations if you expect to hear effective music that speaks to interpersonal
relations, political intrigue, or most of the other fundamental appeals of Dune.
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12/22/22
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The Karate Kid: Part II (Bill Conti)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
only if you are an established enthusiast of the franchise's music, the second score more symphonic and thematically varied but
comparatively lifeless.
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| Avoid it... |
if you demand spirited personality, dramatic intensity, or instrumental authenticity in this rather understated score of few
ensemble highlights.
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12/17/22
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Star Trek: Enterprise (Dennis
McCarthy/Various)
Updated Review, With Additional Albums
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| Buy it... |
if you can forgive the inappropriate rock song over the opening titles and the tired
orchestral formulas thereafter despite honest efforts to spice up the episodic scores with
percussive and electronic personality.
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| Avoid it... |
on all but the 2014 4-CD set that contains the best summary of impressive music from the
series, including engaging entries by Brian Tyler and Mark McKenzie.
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12/12/22
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Cloud Atlas (Tom Tykwer/Johnny Klimek/Reinhold Heil)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you are prepared to render a verdict on one of the most polarizing "love it or hate it" scores of the digital era, a work that
requires careful deliberation in context to appreciate.
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| Avoid it... |
if you've never been able to warm up to the other scores by these composers, Cloud Atlas exhibiting their tendencies towards
lifeless, soulless, and passionless performances.
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12/6/22
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Willow (James Horner)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
if you are any fan of superior fantasy and adventure scores that combine orchestral majesty with exotic beauty, for James
Horner's Willow is among the best such works of the digital era.
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| Avoid it... |
if you have absolutely no curiosity about the initial inspiration for most of Horner's self-references later in his career.
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12/2/22
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Cinema Paradiso (Ennio Morricone/Andrea Morricone)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if nostalgically bittersweet Southern European scores touch your heart, Ennio and Andrea Morricone providing softly likeable
romantic sensibilities throughout.
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| Avoid it... |
if you have little patience for repetitious themes or quaint personalities in a musical narrative that is butchered in the film
and wayward on album.
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11/28/22
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Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Jerry Goldsmith)
Updated Review, With Additional Albums
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| Buy it... |
if you are unfamiliar with the feature Star Trek scores and seek Jerry Goldsmith's original classic of romance, adventure, and
suspense that influenced most of the subsequent music in the franchise.
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| Avoid it... |
on any album prior to the 2012 3-CD set, that nearly comprehensive presentation of the score and its early, rejected alternative
by Goldsmith offering the best sound quality available.
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11/23/22
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The Untouchables (Ennio Morricone)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if the memorable thematic highlights of Ennio Morricone's wildly varied score are enough to justify an inconsistent listening
experience apart from the film.
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| Avoid it... |
if you expect those highlights to last more than fifteen combined minutes in what is otherwise a disjointed and occasionally
grating score.
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11/18/22
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Hocus Pocus (John Debney/James Horner)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you appreciate John Debney's playful children's mode, because while his themes and the mix for this score aren't stellar, the
demeanor is perfect.
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| Avoid it... |
on the long-collectible promotional album from 1993 if you seek James Horner's lovely six minutes of music for this score, that
music only available on the expanded 2013 product.
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11/14/22
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Matinee (Jerry Goldsmith)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
if you can't get enough of Jerry Goldsmith's sentimental themes for suburban innocence, in which case this neatly packaged
collection of familiar ideas will please you with its summary of the composer's early 1990's comedy norms.
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| Avoid it... |
if you are expecting to hear the horror source material heard in the story's "film within a film" or are only a casual Goldsmith
enthusiast with no interest in the composer's more redundant comedy entries.
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11/10/22
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Johnny English Strikes Again (Howard Goodall)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if all forms of espionage parody music appeal to your tastes, for Howard Goodall offers up a sufficient entry in this franchise
without making the most out of the opportunity.
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| Avoid it... |
if you had hoped that Goodall would recapture the larger-than-life scope of the original Johnny English score he helped to
fashion, his solo effort here disappointingly shallow and perfunctory.
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11/6/22
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Field of Dreams (James Horner)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
only if you've enjoyed the score in the context of the film and can translate the magic of the narrative into an understanding of
the restrained, diverse, and arguably disjointed score on album.
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| Avoid it... |
if you're taking advisement from some James Horner collectors for whom this score is a crowning achievement, because despite its
highlights within the picture, it remains a very overrated work.
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11/1/22
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Johnny English Reborn (Ilan Eshkeri)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you desire a lesser cousin of Edward Shearmur's snazzy style for the first film in this franchise, Ilan Eshkeri offering
decent but ultimately more generic parody James Bond music.
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| Avoid it... |
if your attraction to this concept's music centered on the previous film's main theme, which Eshkeri mostly abandons in its
original form here, a highly annoying decision to the detriment of this otherwise engaging outing.
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