> April Attractions:
> Already out: A Minecraft Movie (Mark Mothersbaugh)

I recommend this one to all. It's a "play the stupid comedy movie mostly straight" affair and Motherbaugh is clearly having fun in the fantasy-adventure genre. You can skip the songs at the start of the album, though... even if a few of them are based on themes int eh score proper.

> Drop (Bear McCreary) - Techno thriller set in a high-rise
> restaurant. Film looks fun, hope Bear felt inspired by this one. April 11.

Toss of the coin if this is a Bear McCreary effort or a "Bear McCreary effort" (i.e, associates galore).

> Sinners (Ludwig Goransson) - Ryan Coogler! Vampire movie! Period
> piece! Michael B. Jordan! Two of him! (bonk) Expecting great stuff from
> Ludwig. (Related: Olivier Deriviere's new game score South of Midnight is
> really good, and seems to have a similar Deep South Gothic fantasy vibe.)
> April 18.

Looking forward to this one!! Also thanks for reminding me I need to check out South of Midnight.

> And...that's about it for the big headliners.

*insert comment about 2025 being a so-so year thus far*

> Others of note:
> G20 (Joseph Trapanese) - Action flick, April 11.

Such a stupid looking flick. Maybe Trapaense can give us some retro-power anthem theatrics? Will probably be electronic drones and screeches, though.

> The Amateur (Volker Bertelmann) - Action flick, April 11.
> The Accountant 2 (Bryce Dessner) - Action flick, April 25

... eh?

> Until Dawn (Benjamin Wallfisch) - Wallfisch basically the go-to
> horror guy now. Does the game this is based off of have good music? April
> 25

Admittedly I'm O.K with Wallfisch being our go-to horror composer at the moment. We usually at least get a solid central theme out of his work in the genre.
As for the OG game, I haven't listened to it yet though it's a Jason Graves venture so I have high hopes. The remake that came out last year had a quick replacement score by Mark Korven which was... serviceable.

> May We Have Some Blockbusters?
> Another Simple Favor (Theodore Shapiro) - I'm surprised there's a
> sequel to A Simple Favor, but I quite enjoyed Shapiro's score for the
> first one, so sure, let's do another! May 2.

The first one was surprisingly good and is another case where it's a perfectly good "one and done" affair. Early buzz on the sequel is that it's pretty bad.

> Thunderbolts* (Son Lux) - Superhero score from the guys who did
> Everything Everywhere. I liked that score more than a lot of y'all, but I
> have no idea what to expect from this. Not loving the vibes around the
> movie but we'll see! May 2.

Sure. I'm kinda over current superhero scores, but this one might be a fun diversion.

> Karate Kid: Legends (Dominic Lewis) - Awww yeah! Just in time to
> fill the Cobra Kai-shaped hole in my heart. Also since this is also a
> sequel to the Jackie Chan movie, maybe this will give me the nudge to
> finally listen to Horner's score. May 30.

Wait... they're making a legacy sequel to the Jakie Chan remake? Huh. Anyway, moderately curious to hear what Lewis does. Also should probably revisit Horner's effort as well.

> The Phoenician Scheme (Desplat) - Wes Anderson scores can be
> extremely hit or miss. And it feels like the whole concept may have peaked
> with Grand Budapest Hotel. And Asteroid City really pissed me off. BUT...
> this one's an espionage thriller. And I do like my Desplat spy thrillers.
> May 30.

It's Desplat. I'll give it a chance.

> Promising stuff from the middle of the month:
> Fountain of Youth (Chris Benstead) - Heist adventure film from Guy
> Ritchie? Hell yeah.
> Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning (Lorne Balfe) - So
> Fallout's score grew on me over time. Dead Reckoning's did not. But
> also... maybe this is the last film in the series. Hoping they go all out.
> May 23.
> Lilo & Stitch (Dan Romer) - The latest in remakes no one asked
> for, but I like Romer and think he's a good fit for this. May 23.
> Fear Street: Prom Queen (???) - No composer listed that I can find.
> But Beltrami and co wrote some great material for the previous three
> films, so perhaps they'll return? May 23.

I have pretty equal amounts of tempered expectations for all of these. Hope at least one or two prove to be especially great.

> Also of note:
> Clown in a Cornfield (Brandon Roberts/Marcus Trumpp) - Slasher film, but
> two of Beltrami's best former assistants are on it. May 9.

Oh yeah... I remember seeing a couple of articles about this flick several months ago.