> Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019) - ****˝

Not heard, but the hype is real, so I will need to at some point!

> Seven Worlds, One Planet (2019) - ***

I *thought* I had heard this, but it wasn't in my "albums listened" document, so perhaps not.

> Gemini Man (2019) - **

I liked this a little better than you, but not enough to quibble. I also remember nothing of it outside of a vague recollection of chugging strings, so maybe I'm due a re-listen lol.

> 6 Underground (2019) - *˝

Not heard, and seems to be to Balfe what Spenser Confidential was to Jablonsky (can't wait to hear your thoughts on that one lol).

> His Dark Materials Series 1 (2019) - ****

The book series came to me at the start of the pandemic, courtesy of my girlfriend, and lemme tell you, it was perfect timing. The apocalyptic tones of the series, the distrust and existential themes, all felt appropriate for the time (add onto that some of the themes of the books lined up with some personal turmoil I was feeling at the time)> Balfe's material fit the book like a glove as I read (haven't seen the series), and while I don't remember much about his music, it left a warm glow. Need a revisit, and to check out the rest of his work for the series.

I still hate that Desplat never got a chance to develop his work, but it would be madness to hold that against Balfe. There was never any reasonable expectation that Desplat would work on this, and a nil chance of him reprising those themes (and Balfe did a spectacular job anyway, as you laid out). On top of that, the film version is a textbook example of an adaptation screwing up the story such that it would ruin future installments, a la Eragon). Not sure where I was going with all that, but hopefully it makes sense lol.

Steampunk absolutely, and it's outright sci-fi in the latter two books. I may cringe at saying this, but HDM would have made a killer anime.

> Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019) - **˝

I'd put this at a solid three stars, maybe three-and-a-half. It has some Wreck-It Ralph-esque material that wows, and a lot of workmanlike animated scoring. The film's amazing as well. Okay, maybe it's not the best thing ever, but I can't describe how good it felt to see Pokemon brought to life so convincingly, and for there to *finally* be a video game movie that's resoundingly good.

> Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) - ***˝

Not heard or seen, but have wanted to!

> 21 Bridges (2019) - ***˝

Ditto, except that I didn't really want to hear this one. Belcher's presence doesn't usually portend good things (though I did enjoy passages of The Grey Man, so maybe that could change), but your description intrigues me.

> -----------------------

> Next time: ”Look how the music business has fallen apart. We're never
> going to get our six-platinum album anymore.”

Debates abound on whether music streaming is a net good for society, but we've yet to settle on a good model for artist compensation (and a good chunk of that is rightfully blamed on Spotify's notoriously stingy payout structure). Looking forward to seeing what context this comes from!