Well these got finished a lot quicker than most. Helps that I already had almost all of these scores so it was easy to plow through 'em. Anyways, for any of you who give a flap on a flapjack, here are the next entries on IMDb's top 250 list, reviewing both the movie and the score.

-----------

160: Shutter Island

The Movie - 3/5

So I remember being deeply disappointed by this film when I saw it in theatres. I was just so stoked for a Scorsese horror film (I hadn’t seen the much better Cape Fear at the time), and even in the first seconds of the flick, with Scorsese using music made famous in The Shining, I was expecting that level of auteur-director-slumming-in-awesome-horror-genre kind of movie. And it didn’t happen, and I haven’t re-watched it until last night, hoping for something much better. Alas....it wasn’t. Shutter Island is a really mediocre movie, up there with Boxcar Bertha for my least favourite of Scorsese flicks. I can’t exactly blame him - despite the fact that way too much of the film relies on standard shot-reverse-shot dialogue scenes and lacks the exuberant style of his other work, it’s still a fine looking film. The cinematography is excellent, the fractured editing crisp and powerful, the constant homages to Scorsese’s favourite thrillers like Vertigo, Third Man, and The Haunting a real treat for film lovers. But the story SUCKS. Simple truth is I hate the twist ending -- it completely destroys all tension and suspense from the rest of the film, so on the re-watch, I was just wondering “what’s the point” the entire time. Plus, Scorsese telegraphs the twist too much in the opening act; I guessed the surprise 10 mins in on my first viewing, and grew more and more despondent when I realized I was probably right. It’s a lousy twist because its barely above “it was all a dream”, making everything in the flick pointless and route. I’m literally flabbergasted this is rated so highly -- what do people get out of it? As a horror film, it’s never remotely scary; as a thriller, its last act reveal pops the balloon of tension for any future revisits. I guess it works best as a moody drama, hinging on one of DiCaprio’s finest performances, but even then it’s pretty thin soup. Anyways....for any big fans of this flick (must be some around here, considering this is rated so fucking highly), I’d love to hear your opinions.

The Score - N/A

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think there’s any original score here, right? Sure sounded like it was just a collection of classical music (and, of course, Max Richter -- damn, that piece is in SO many movies). I’d probably do more research and hunt down more music, but I’m all Shutter Island-ed out right now.

159: Warrior - Mark Isham

The Movie - 5/5

Sometimes great movies come from unexpected places. I don’t think anyone saw this becoming a fan favourite when it came out. A UFC movie? Blegh. Reviews were decent, but it tanked miserably at the box office, and I dismissed it for years. Finally watched it around 2015 and went....oh, wow, wait, why am I crying? Holy shit, I’m crying again. OH MY GOD I CAN’T STOP. Warrior is my ultimate tearjerker movie - some have Bryan’s Song, some have Bambi, some have Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon....I have Warrior. Bawl like a baby every time. Sure, the story is cliched and predictable -- you basically know from the first 15 minutes of set up that the two main characters are going to fight each other in the ring at the end. And that’s just FINE, because this is solid storytelling and beautiful craftsmanship, where my emotions are so carefully manipulated I don’t care how easy it is to guess what’s coming. It’s the journey, not the destination here, and almost every single fight scene will get you either pumped up or make you a blubbering mess. I’m very happy to see this movie go steadily up this list over the years -- it’s the biggest hidden gem of the 10’s, and my second favourite flick of that decade.

The Score - 4/5

Some of my very favourite music from Mark Isham (as well as the past decade) is found on this score. His awesome utilization of Beethoven, the powerful use of percussion, the insanely uplifting moment when Brendan wins his first Sparta match (and beats Koba)....just so much great material. Unfortunately, the album presentation is wonky as all hell, with almost all of the climactic exciting cues in the first half, and the second half dominated with the more ambient, subtle, dramatic stuff from throughout the film. A shame, though even still, this is an awesome and very underrated score. Plus, that About Today song by The National is amazing, and is used absolutely perfectly in the flick (I start crying literally as soon as the song begins, and I’ve watched this fucker 20 times).

158: Inside Out - Michael Giacchino

The Movie - 4/5

I’ve kinda mentioned once or twice (or five thousand times) that I don’t like Pixar very much. Most of their films I consider insanely overrated and usually at the detriment of other much better animations that get ignored. Inside Out was an exception though, and deserved pretty much all the praise it got. I really loved it at the time, gave it 4.5/5 (first time I ever did that for a Pixar flick)....and then only ever returned to it one more time. For some reason my wife doesn’t love it nearly as much as me, and none of the nieces and nephews care for it much, so I just never really come back to it and the sheen has dropped ever so slightly. Regardless, it’s a delightful film, cute and moving and far more creative than most Pixar screenplays.

The Score - 3.5/5

“Delightful, cute and moving” describe Giacchino’s score, as well. To be honest, though, the 3.5/5 only exists for the cues where he utilizes his wonderfully perky main theme. It’s a real earworm and captures the mood and tone of Inside Out extremely well. Almost everything else on the album kinda irritates me, and halfway through it again I was closer to 3/5 or lower. So. Much. Carnival music! Not sure how else to describe it, but all the action and wacky bits sound like I’m in a carnival. So there’s probably half an hour of awesome music here mixed in with half an hour I didn’t care for at all.

157: No Country For Old Men

The Movie - 5/5

What a frickin great movie. Blew my mind when I saw it in theatres, to a packed audience of Saskatchewan rednecks who made it VERY clear at the end they didn’t like the last 10 minutes by any stretch of the imagination. Even though I’ve always loved No Country, it took me a while to warm up to the end too -- now, though, I find it brilliant, perhaps because I feel closer in emotional age to Tommy Lee Jones’ defeated cop than Llewelyn Moss. The Coens wrote and directed the film perfectly, capturing some of Roger Deakins’ best photography and by far the most exciting and tense action scenes they’ve ever attempted. Like Fargo, though, the film has two major heroes that elevate it into modern masterpiece territory. First, the dialogue; no other movie sounds quite like this, yet not one line feels cheap or phony (film schools should all study the Coin Toss scene for how to write a movie scene properly). And secondly, the performance of Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh. He immediately created a movie villain to rival Hannibal Lecter and The Joker, and he’s just outstanding.

The Score - N/A

Like Bernard Herrmann with The Birds, Carter Burwell “composed” the score to this movie, even though there’s basically no score at all. If memory serves, he basically just manipulated sounds to create low ambient humming at times -- it’s very effective, if not exactly music. There is an end credits suite which is as sparse and spare as the cinematography, but it still didn’t really amount to enough for me to give this an actual rating for its music.

156: The Seventh Seal

The Movie - 5/5

To Riley’s great irritation, The Seventh Seal is becoming passé in the film critic world. This is probably due to the fact that all films that wear their emotions on their sleeves these days are considered “old fashioned”, and the only really great stuff are the subtle slice-of-life stuff (to which I say, BULLSHIT). And because Bergman had so many films that tackled his issues with death, religion, and humanity in much more understated ways, Seventh Seal is now being picked on and forgotten a bit. A shame, because this sucker is Bergman’s ultimate masterpiece, and one of the very finest flicks ever made. Its so much more than the famous “chess with Death” scene -- numerous moments take my breath away with their exquisite writing, direction, and performances. It’s a very haunting, moving film that often feels depressing, but its actually full of hope and has some nice humorous elements as well. Plus, the actor that plays Death is just so, so great. Anyways, if you haven’t given this flick a shot yet, please hop on it. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

The Score - N/A

Like almost every Bergman film during this journey so far, I couldn’t find (nor remember) any non-diagetic music apart from some very subtle stuff in the opening credits. I know there’s some lovely choral work at the end during the Dance of Death, but that was probably classical music, and a lot of the other music bits I can recall are religious stuff performed by people within the film itself.

155: V For Vendetta - Dario Marianelli

The Movie - 3.5/5

I guess to a lesser extent, this is another Shutter Island situation for me, where I saw the film once, enjoyed it quite a bit, then moved on with my life rarely returning to it. Yet the #155 best film ever??? Weird. It just doesn’t seem like it would have that kind of staying power with people; for an action movie, there’s very little action, and for a comic book flick, it’s a total bummer with the lead hero doing such a despicable thing to poor Natalie Portman that I hated him for the rest of the film. ALWAYS stay away from Natalie. Unless you’re Mila Kunis, then....that’s just fine :P Aaaaaanyways, V For Vendetta is a cool, nifty movie, but its also the poor man’s 1984. Instead of watching Vendetta for the fifth time, go watch that one for the first time, and I’ll accept your thanks in a postcard titled “You Are Always Right Mr. Riley”.

The Score - 3.5/5

I remember buying this score at the same time as Brothers Grimm, and much preferred this one. It was a good score to do homework to, in that (much like the film) its constantly moving and building without a ton of loud, explosive releases (until that last track, of course). Listening to it again for the first time in years, I found more of the score a bit duller than I remembered -- the suspenseful cues are fine I suppose, yet the times I really perked up were the dramatic bits, like Evey Reborn, which is just a splendid cue. Anyways, like the film, good-not-great.

154: Chinatown - Jerry Goldsmith

The Movie - 5/5

The greatest film noir and a top 10 flick of all time, Chinatown has made an indelible mark on my life for almost two decades now. I saw it fairly young (probably too young; a lot went sailing over my head) and just couldn’t get it out of my mind. Its also the first time I ever bought a screenplay, and read that sucker like most people would a great novel. Because indeed, Robert Towne’s script deserves comparison to any famous novel you can mention; it’s that damn good. Complex, intricate, mesmerizing, and darkly funny, Chinatown has it all. You want a twisted romance? You got it. Action and suspense? Plenty. A gut-churning mystery that surprises in ways you still don’t really see coming even after multiple watches? Absolutely. It’s a masterpiece of a movie, and despite Polanski being a bit of a tricky subject to discuss these days, he directs the hell out of it and crafted a damn near perfect film.

The Score - 5/5

Probably the most famous (and famously successful) last minute replacement score ever written, Jerry Goldsmith’s Chinatown took a while to finally appeal to me as a stand alone listen. So much of the very short album consists of scratchy suspense music, which isn’t really my cup of tea, so for the longest time I just treated it as one of those great scores that works perfectly in the film and has an awesome theme, and that’s it. WRONG. So wrong. I’ve listened to this sucker multiple times over the past year and can easily claim it to be one of the best scores ever written, somehow being both beautiful and melancholy while simultaneously creepy as fuck. That he composed it all so quickly at the last minute is truly mind-boggling.

153: Dial M For Murder - Dmitri Tiomkin

The Movie - 3.5/5

Hitchcock had just about more great films under his wide belt than anyone else, which is why I’m usually surprised at how much love and attention Dial M For Murder gets. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very fun example of his styles, obsessions, and ease of creating suspense with just one small set and a couple of characters. I just think we’ve seen all of those done much better in many other films, and to be honest, the only really memorable scene of this flick is the attempted murder of Grace Kelly. The last half hour, in particular, takes a long way to get to where we all know its gonna end up. I’m also bothered with how Hitch had to shoot in 3D, which of course now almost no one sees the film as such. It means in 80% of the shots there’s a damn lamp in the foreground or a table or desk or whatever, anything Hitch could shove in there to create a 3D effect. Anyways, I shouldn’t rag on this flick too much, cause it is quite fun.

The Score - 4/5

And speaking of fun, Tiomkin’s score is a delight, with a real zinger of a theme that keeps crawling back throughout most of the cues. Most of the music focuses on the primary antagonist rather than anything warm or romantic (perhaps a bit difficult when scoring a film with Grace Kelly, possibly cinema’s most alluring face, so good on him). This focus creates a very devilish little score, something that sounds like it could’ve been composed by Danny Elfman as opposed to a standard Golden Age composer. Really good stuff.

152: The Gold Rush - Charlie Chaplin

The Movie - 4/5

They made us watch a lot of Chaplin “The Tramp” movies in film school, and yet ironically the one I liked the most is the rare one they didn’t show. Gold Rush is by far the funniest flick I’ve seen of his with his Tramp character, and what’s weirder, it holds up to young audiences still today (when I teach silent films we usually start by watching this sucker, and you’d be surprised how much laughter it still generates from 7th and 8th graders). The effects are really well done too, especially all the scenes in the mountain cabin that’s about to tip over. Full of charm and wit, Gold Rush is dang solid, and dare I say better than his more acclaimed films like City Lights and Modern Times (however, Chaplin’s best movie by far is Monsieur Verdoux, just a deliciously good black comedy. Once you see his slapstick shenanigans in a plot about him trying to murder his wife, you’ll never see the cute lil Tramp the same way again).

The Score - 2/5

So I don’t wanna knock Chaplin the Composer here, because he wrote a fine silent film comedy score, and it suits the movie well. The problem is that it’s a silent film comedy score. By definition, it HAD to constantly comment on the action, Mickey-Mousing the entire way through. If Charlie falls down, “plink plonk” go the pianos. If a lumbering bully starts walking towards Charlie, “bwoom bwoom bwoom” go the bassoons in time with his steps. To be honest, I couldn’t even listen to the whole thing, cause it was literally like watching the movie with a blindfold on, thereby completely stripping it of its charm and enjoyment.

151: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Carter Burwell

The Movie - 3.5/5

So this is a tricky one. First time I saw the flick back when it came out, it was immediately one of my top 3 films of the year. I gave it 4.5/5 in the paper and raved about how wonderful it was. Every time I see it since then....my appreciation devalues considerably. The biggest problem I have is with the dialogue - ironic, cause that was my favourite aspect on first viewing. It just feels, as the years progress, more and more phoney, and occasionally REALLY on the nose (like when Frances McDormand yells out to her kid, right before she’s raped and murdered, “I HOPE YOU GET RAPED AND MURDERED YOU LITTLE BITCH!” I might be paraphrasing, but only slightly...and that’s a problem). The plot and characters are still wonderful, the acting top notch all over, yet the script gives me a lot of trouble now. Everyone is so profane and quirky that it just feels false, like when Woody Harrelson tells his little girls he’s gonna go fuck their mom in the bushes. First time around I laughed -- third time around I winced. Funny how that happens.

The Score - 3.5/5

Both times I’ve heard this score on its own, I liked it well enough and barely noticed a note of it. Burwell’s score is very short and ably supports the film, though with little life as a stand alone listen. I dunno. Its fine.

> 160: Shutter Island

> The Movie - 3/5

> So I remember being deeply disappointed by this film when I saw it in
> theatres. I was just so stoked for a Scorsese horror film (I hadn’t seen
> the much better Cape Fear at the time), and even in the first seconds of
> the flick, with Scorsese using music made famous in The Shining, I was
> expecting that level of auteur-director-slumming-in-awesome-horror-genre
> kind of movie. And it didn’t happen, and I haven’t re-watched it until
> last night, hoping for something much better. Alas....it wasn’t. Shutter
> Island is a really mediocre movie, up there with Boxcar Bertha for my
> least favourite of Scorsese flicks. I can’t exactly blame him - despite
> the fact that way too much of the film relies on standard
> shot-reverse-shot dialogue scenes and lacks the exuberant style of his
> other work, it’s still a fine looking film. The cinematography is
> excellent, the fractured editing crisp and powerful, the constant homages
> to Scorsese’s favourite thrillers like Vertigo, Third Man, and The
> Haunting a real treat for film lovers. But the story SUCKS. Simple truth
> is I hate the twist ending -- it completely destroys all tension and
> suspense from the rest of the film, so on the re-watch, I was just
> wondering “what’s the point” the entire time. Plus, Scorsese telegraphs
> the twist too much in the opening act; I guessed the surprise 10 mins in
> on my first viewing, and grew more and more despondent when I realized I
> was probably right. It’s a lousy twist because its barely above “it was
> all a dream”, making everything in the flick pointless and route. I’m
> literally flabbergasted this is rated so highly -- what do people get out
> of it? As a horror film, it’s never remotely scary; as a thriller, its
> last act reveal pops the balloon of tension for any future revisits. I
> guess it works best as a moody drama, hinging on one of DiCaprio’s finest
> performances, but even then it’s pretty thin soup. Anyways....for any big
> fans of this flick (must be some around here, considering this is rated so
> fucking highly), I’d love to hear your opinions.

I watched it once, eons ago. I remember being impressed by the performances, the Atmosphere, the Cinematography and the music, and I was involved in it enough that I didn't really mind the twist ending all that much. I can understand why some people might not like it but, and to be fair to Scorsese, this is an adaptation of a novel of the same name, so his hands were pretty much tied.

> The Score - N/A

> Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think there’s any original score
> here, right? Sure sounded like it was just a collection of classical music
> (and, of course, Max Richter -- damn, that piece is in SO many movies).
> I’d probably do more research and hunt down more music, but I’m all
> Shutter Island-ed out right now.

Yeah, no Score was written for this movie. Scorsese instead opted for already existing material, from Composers like John Adams, Gustav Mahler, Györgi Ligeti, Morton Feldman, John Cage, Alfred Schnittke, Brian Eno and Max Richter. I said I was impressed by the Music and I mean it: This selection was right up my alley and it worked like gangbusters in context, I think. A 2-CD-Album was released at the time the movie came out and I listen to it from time to time:
https://www.amazon.com/Shutter-Island-John-Adams/dp/B002MJM87K/ref=sr_1_1?crid=IMJ3RR532UU4&dchild=1&keywords=shutter+island+soundtrack&qid=1600959797&sprefix=shutter+island+soun%2Caps%2C256&sr=8-1

> I watched it once, eons ago. I remember being impressed by the
> performances, the Atmosphere, the Cinematography and the music, and I was
> involved in it enough that I didn't really mind the twist ending all that
> much. I can understand why some people might not like it but, and to be
> fair to Scorsese, this is an adaptation of a novel of the same name, so
> his hands were pretty much tied.

Yeah, I can't blame Scorsese for having to use the same plot as the book...I can kinda blame him though for not masking the twists well enough. Then again, it was only his like, what, second thriller ever?

> Yeah, no Score was written for this movie. Scorsese instead opted for
> already existing material, from Composers like John Adams, Gustav Mahler,
> Györgi Ligeti, Morton Feldman, John Cage, Alfred Schnittke, Brian Eno and
> Max Richter. I said I was impressed by the Music and I mean it: This
> selection was right up my alley and it worked like gangbusters in context,
> I think. A 2-CD-Album was released at the time the movie came out and I
> listen to it from time to time:
>
> https://www.amazon.com/Shutter-Island-John-Adams/dp/B002MJM87K/ref=sr_1_1?crid=IMJ3RR532UU4&dchild=1&keywords=shutter+island+soundtrack&qid=1600959797&sprefix=shutter+island+soun%2Caps%2C256&sr=8-1

Ah yes, there we go. Kinda remembered that from when it came out, wondering "where the heck did Howard Shore go??"

> Well these got finished a lot quicker than most. Helps that I already had
> almost all of these scores so it was easy to plow through 'em. Anyways,
> for any of you who give a flap on a flapjack, here are the next entries on
> IMDb's top 250 list, reviewing both the movie and the score.

I DEMAND CLICKBAIT!

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

> 160: Shutter Island

> The Movie - 3/5

> The Score - N/A

> 159: Warrior - Mark Isham

> The Movie - 5/5
> The Score - 4/5

> Some of my very favourite music from Mark Isham (as well as the past
> decade) is found on this score. His awesome utilization of Beethoven, the
> powerful use of percussion, the insanely uplifting moment when Brendan
> wins his first Sparta match (and beats Koba)....just so much great
> material. Unfortunately, the album presentation is wonky as all hell, with
> almost all of the climactic exciting cues in the first half, and the
> second half dominated with the more ambient, subtle, dramatic stuff from
> throughout the film. A shame, though even still, this is an awesome and
> very underrated score. Plus, that About Today song by The National is
> amazing, and is used absolutely perfectly in the flick (I start crying
> literally as soon as the song begins, and I’ve watched this fucker 20
> times).

Huh, I might have to check this out!

> 158: Inside Out - Michael Giacchino

> The Movie - 4/5

> I’ve kinda mentioned once or twice (or five thousand times) that I don’t
> like Pixar very much. Most of their films I consider insanely overrated
> and usually at the detriment of other much better animations that get
> ignored. Inside Out was an exception though, and deserved pretty much all
> the praise it got. I really loved it at the time, gave it 4.5/5 (first
> time I ever did that for a Pixar flick)....and then only ever returned to
> it one more time. For some reason my wife doesn’t love it nearly as much
> as me, and none of the nieces and nephews care for it much, so I just
> never really come back to it and the sheen has dropped ever so slightly.
> Regardless, it’s a delightful film, cute and moving and far more creative
> than most Pixar screenplays.

I feel like this is one that resonates a lot more strongly with people once they've been through some of the stuff Riley and her parents have (feels like there's a lot of subtext going on with the parents). But I also saw it in college, not as a kid, so I don't know how it plays with the young ones.

> The Score - 3.5/5

> “Delightful, cute and moving” describe Giacchino’s score, as well. To be
> honest, though, the 3.5/5 only exists for the cues where he utilizes his
> wonderfully perky main theme. It’s a real earworm and captures the mood
> and tone of Inside Out extremely well. Almost everything else on the album
> kinda irritates me, and halfway through it again I was closer to 3/5 or
> lower. So. Much. Carnival music! Not sure how else to describe it, but all
> the action and wacky bits sound like I’m in a carnival. So there’s
> probably half an hour of awesome music here mixed in with half an hour I
> didn’t care for at all.

Fair points.

> 157: No Country For Old Men

> The Movie - 5/5

> What a frickin great movie. Blew my mind when I saw it in theatres, to a
> packed audience of Saskatchewan rednecks who made it VERY clear at the end
> they didn’t like the last 10 minutes by any stretch of the imagination.
> Even though I’ve always loved No Country, it took me a while to warm up to
> the end too -- now, though, I find it brilliant, perhaps because I feel
> closer in emotional age to Tommy Lee Jones’ defeated cop than Llewelyn
> Moss. The Coens wrote and directed the film perfectly, capturing some of
> Roger Deakins’ best photography and by far the most exciting and tense
> action scenes they’ve ever attempted. Like Fargo, though, the film has two
> major heroes that elevate it into modern masterpiece territory. First, the
> dialogue; no other movie sounds quite like this, yet not one line feels
> cheap or phony (film schools should all study the Coin Toss scene for how
> to write a movie scene properly). And secondly, the performance of Javier
> Bardem as Anton Chigurh. He immediately created a movie villain to rival
> Hannibal Lecter and The Joker, and he’s just outstanding.

Third hero: the sound design. I can probably just mention The wrapper uncrinkling and you know what I'm on about.

> The Score - N/A

> Like Bernard Herrmann with The Birds, Carter Burwell “composed” the score
> to this movie, even though there’s basically no score at all. If memory
> serves, he basically just manipulated sounds to create low ambient humming
> at times -- it’s very effective, if not exactly music. There is an end
> credits suite which is as sparse and spare as the cinematography, but it
> still didn’t really amount to enough for me to give this an actual rating
> for its music.

Loved the Smugley release though.

> 156: The Seventh Seal

> The Movie - 5/5

> To Riley’s great irritation, The Seventh Seal is becoming passé in the
> film critic world. This is probably due to the fact that all films that
> wear their emotions on their sleeves these days are considered “old
> fashioned”, and the only really great stuff are the subtle slice-of-life
> stuff (to which I say, BULLSHIT). And because Bergman had so many films
> that tackled his issues with death, religion, and humanity in much more
> understated ways, Seventh Seal is now being picked on and forgotten a bit.
> A shame, because this sucker is Bergman’s ultimate masterpiece, and one of
> the very finest flicks ever made. Its so much more than the famous “chess
> with Death” scene -- numerous moments take my breath away with their
> exquisite writing, direction, and performances. It’s a very haunting,
> moving film that often feels depressing, but its actually full of hope and
> has some nice humorous elements as well. Plus, the actor that plays Death
> is just so, so great. Anyways, if you haven’t given this flick a shot yet,
> please hop on it. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

So good. And bizarrely comedic at times. I need a rewatch. Or I can get to the rest of the Bergers you sent me.

> The Score - N/A

> 155: V For Vendetta - Dario Marianelli

> The Movie - 3.5/5

> I guess to a lesser extent, this is another Shutter Island situation for
> me, where I saw the film once, enjoyed it quite a bit, then moved on with
> my life rarely returning to it. Yet the #155 best film ever??? Weird. It
> just doesn’t seem like it would have that kind of staying power with
> people; for an action movie, there’s very little action, and for a comic
> book flick, it’s a total bummer with the lead hero doing such a despicable
> thing to poor Natalie Portman that I hated him for the rest of the film.
> ALWAYS stay away from Natalie. Unless you’re Mila Kunis, then....that’s
> just fine :P Aaaaaanyways, V For Vendetta is a cool, nifty movie, but its
> also the poor man’s 1984. Instead of watching Vendetta for the fifth time,
> go watch that one for the first time, and I’ll accept your thanks in a
> postcard titled “You Are Always Right Mr. Riley”.

Haven't seen 1984 but I've read it and would agree. After watching this one my reaction was basically "That was fun, I should avoid thinking about it because otherwise I'm going to hate it and get pissed off." So I've avoided thinking too much about the politics of it ever since.

> The Score - 3.5/5

> I remember buying this score at the same time as Brothers Grimm, and much
> preferred this one. It was a good score to do homework to, in that (much
> like the film) its constantly moving and building without a ton of loud,
> explosive releases (until that last track, of course). Listening to it
> again for the first time in years, I found more of the score a bit duller
> than I remembered -- the suspenseful cues are fine I suppose, yet the
> times I really perked up were the dramatic bits, like Evey Reborn, which
> is just a splendid cue. Anyways, like the film, good-not-great.

I do return to this one more often probably because I'm in an angsty/revolutionary mood more often. It's not riveting through and through, but every motif hits hard, and the chord progression of "Evey Reborn" and all the similar bits throughout...oh that's the good stuff.

> 154: Chinatown - Jerry Goldsmith

> The Movie - 5/5

> The greatest film noir and a top 10 flick of all time, Chinatown has made
> an indelible mark on my life for almost two decades now. I saw it fairly
> young (probably too young; a lot went sailing over my head) and just
> couldn’t get it out of my mind. Its also the first time I ever bought a
> screenplay, and read that sucker like most people would a great novel.
> Because indeed, Robert Towne’s script deserves comparison to any famous
> novel you can mention; it’s that damn good. Complex, intricate,
> mesmerizing, and darkly funny, Chinatown has it all. You want a twisted
> romance? You got it. Action and suspense? Plenty. A gut-churning mystery
> that surprises in ways you still don’t really see coming even after
> multiple watches? Absolutely. It’s a masterpiece of a movie, and despite
> Polanski being a bit of a tricky subject to discuss these days, he directs
> the hell out of it and crafted a damn near perfect film.

Good stuff.

> The Score - 5/5

> Probably the most famous (and famously successful) last minute replacement
> score ever written, Jerry Goldsmith’s Chinatown took a while to finally
> appeal to me as a stand alone listen. So much of the very short album
> consists of scratchy suspense music, which isn’t really my cup of tea, so
> for the longest time I just treated it as one of those great scores that
> works perfectly in the film and has an awesome theme, and that’s it.
> WRONG. So wrong. I’ve listened to this sucker multiple times over the past
> year and can easily claim it to be one of the best scores ever written,
> somehow being both beautiful and melancholy while simultaneously creepy as
> fuck. That he composed it all so quickly at the last minute is truly
> mind-boggling.

Good stuff.

> 153: Dial M For Murder - Dmitri Tiomkin

> The Movie - 3.5/5

> The Score - 4/5

> And speaking of fun, Tiomkin’s score is a delight, with a real zinger of a
> theme that keeps crawling back throughout most of the cues. Most of the
> music focuses on the primary antagonist rather than anything warm or
> romantic (perhaps a bit difficult when scoring a film with Grace Kelly,
> possibly cinema’s most alluring face, so good on him). This focus creates
> a very devilish little score, something that sounds like it could’ve been
> composed by Danny Elfman as opposed to a standard Golden Age composer.
> Really good stuff.

Heard good things, haven't gotten around ot it.

> 152: The Gold Rush - Charlie Chaplin

> The Movie - 4/5

> They made us watch a lot of Chaplin “The Tramp” movies in film school, and
> yet ironically the one I liked the most is the rare one they didn’t show.
> Gold Rush is by far the funniest flick I’ve seen of his with his Tramp
> character, and what’s weirder, it holds up to young audiences still today
> (when I teach silent films we usually start by watching this sucker, and
> you’d be surprised how much laughter it still generates from 7th and 8th
> graders). The effects are really well done too, especially all the scenes
> in the mountain cabin that’s about to tip over. Full of charm and wit,
> Gold Rush is dang solid, and dare I say better than his more acclaimed
> films like City Lights and Modern Times (however, Chaplin’s best movie by
> far is Monsieur Verdoux, just a deliciously good black comedy. Once you
> see his slapstick shenanigans in a plot about him trying to murder his
> wife, you’ll never see the cute lil Tramp the same way again).

I think this is the first Chaplin I watched. This has a random boxing match in it too, right? I still think a lot of the image of him stumbling around as the wind blows him about. Usually when it's windy outside and I want to pretend I'm the Tramp.

> The Score - 2/5

> So I don’t wanna knock Chaplin the Composer here, because he wrote a fine
> silent film comedy score, and it suits the movie well. The problem is that
> it’s a silent film comedy score. By definition, it HAD to constantly
> comment on the action, Mickey-Mousing the entire way through. If Charlie
> falls down, “plink plonk” go the pianos. If a lumbering bully starts
> walking towards Charlie, “bwoom bwoom bwoom” go the bassoons in time with
> his steps. To be honest, I couldn’t even listen to the whole thing, cause
> it was literally like watching the movie with a blindfold on, thereby
> completely stripping it of its charm and enjoyment.

> 151: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Carter Burwell

> The Movie - 3.5/5

> So this is a tricky one. First time I saw the flick back when it came out,
> it was immediately one of my top 3 films of the year. I gave it 4.5/5 in
> the paper and raved about how wonderful it was. Every time I see it since
> then....my appreciation devalues considerably. The biggest problem I have
> is with the dialogue - ironic, cause that was my favourite aspect on first
> viewing. It just feels, as the years progress, more and more phoney, and
> occasionally REALLY on the nose (like when Frances McDormand yells out to
> her kid, right before she’s raped and murdered, “I HOPE YOU GET RAPED AND
> MURDERED YOU LITTLE BITCH!” I might be paraphrasing, but only
> slightly...and that’s a problem). The plot and characters are still
> wonderful, the acting top notch all over, yet the script gives me a lot of
> trouble now. Everyone is so profane and quirky that it just feels false,
> like when Woody Harrelson tells his little girls he’s gonna go fuck their
> mom in the bushes. First time around I laughed -- third time around I
> winced. Funny how that happens.

Interesting, never got around to this one, but I imagine parts of it play differently in our present political climate.

> The Score - 3.5/5

> Both times I’ve heard this score on its own, I liked it well enough and
> barely noticed a note of it. Burwell’s score is very short and ably
> supports the film, though with little life as a stand alone listen. I
> dunno. Its fine.

I think this just slipped into my top 25 that year. It's one of those types of scores that Burwell is really good at and could do in his sleep (not that he's asleep for this one).

> I DEMAND CLICKBAIT!

:P I really thought about it, but figured I better save those for when it goes back to getting almost no views or replies. Gotta sparse out my douchey clickbait for the right times, man!

> I feel like this is one that resonates a lot more strongly with people
> once they've been through some of the stuff Riley and her parents have
> (feels like there's a lot of subtext going on with the parents). But I
> also saw it in college, not as a kid, so I don't know how it plays with
> the young ones.

Fair enough -- a buddy of mine just had a little girl when it came out, and it was his #1 flick of the year.

> Third hero: the sound design. I can probably just mention The wrapper
> uncrinkling and you know what I'm on about.

Agreed and good call. Most sinister plastic bag of peanuts in cinema history.

> Loved the Smugley release though.

Hahaha they've had some gooders, haven't they? :P

> So good. And bizarrely comedic at times. I need a rewatch. Or I can get to
> the rest of the Bergers you sent me.

Winter Light!!! Almost the perfect time of year for it, too! Actually, the despair and fear Sydow has in that movie makes all the more sense these days...

> I think this is the first Chaplin I watched. This has a random boxing
> match in it too, right? I still think a lot of the image of him stumbling
> around as the wind blows him about. Usually when it's windy outside and I
> want to pretend I'm the Tramp.

I'm picturing you do that now, and its adorable. Try doing it up here in Southern Alberta -- the wind speed yesterday was 100 clicks. Insane. Had trouble opening my car door when I went to gas it up.

> 160: Shutter Island

> The Movie - 3/5

I don't entirely disagree. I've only seen it once, and haven't had much impetus to go back to it, but at the time I saw it, I loved its atmosphere, loved the scene with the Mahler Piano Quartet ('No, it's Mahhhler'), and loved Dicaprio's performance. My sympathies as to the twist are similar to yours, though. Oddly enough, there were several girls at my school who loved this film to death, because of the twist and, to them, how dark it was (the same girls tended to obsess over Tim Burton) - yet they'd never heard of Scorsese, and certainly hadn't seen his earlier films. Used to baffle me, because I obsessed over his earlier stuff (still do), but found nothing to rave about Shutter Island. That's how it is, I guess.

> 159: Warrior - Mark Isham

> The Movie - 5/5

Saw this during lockdown, not sure if I mentioned. I'd have it at a solid 4/5 - loved the acting, and how over the top Tom Hardy was, and how pathetically nice Joel Edgerton was - how broadly the director drew that contrast. But, I'm sorry, the music let it down. I'm quite a fan of Isham at his best (generally when he whacks his trumpet out), but here he could have made the film really soar, and then I probably would have teared up. As it was, I was sitting there thinking 'the actors are doing all the necessary work, the plot is there, but the filmmakers aren't getting that now is the time for a big weepy string theme'. So the idea that it would be anywhere near my decade top ten is out of the question, but I appreciated the film, and see why you love it.

> 158: Inside Out - Michael Giacchino

> The Movie - 4/5

Funny, again, given how big a pixar fan I am, that I've only seen this once, maybe twice. I'd agree that it's one of their cleverest screenplays, but I'm never one to pick intellectual over sentimental, so it will never hold the place in my heart that the Toy Stories do, nor several other Pixars.

> The Score - 3.5/5

Very catchy theme, for sure.

> 157: No Country For Old Men

> The Movie - 5/5

We've been here before, but this is either my favourite film, or my second favourite, on any day of the week. Only at 157, with all the crap above? The stuff we have to live with!

> The Score - N/A

Gotta love the end credits piece, quite catchy actually, but it takes its time getting there. And yeah, not really a score to speak of - hence why that Mexican band entering makes such an impact when Llewellyn wakes up south of the border.

> 156: The Seventh Seal

> The Movie - 5/5

I was surprised just how medieval this was, and I mean gaudy, messy, crude medieval. I loved it. I'd put a few Bergmans above it, certainly 'Wild Strawberries' and my current favourite, 'Cries and Whispers', but there's no doubting its greatness.

> 155: V For Vendetta - Dario Marianelli

Not seen.

> 154: Chinatown - Jerry Goldsmith

Agreed, both 5/5 in my book. Really does get better each time. Finally got the expanded soundtrack set this year, and there's some lovely little gems in there - a sparse, brief score, but one of the best.

> 153: Dial M For Murder - Dmitri Tiomkin

At least 4.5 for me, though I'm more generous than you in general, and especially to Hitchcock. This is just really hard to fault, and so much fun.

> The Score - 4/5

Not heard it in isolation. Want to.

> 152: The Gold Rush - Charlie Chaplin

Been meaning to see for years, not found it yet.

> 151: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Carter Burwell

It's interesting this comes up. I finally saw it a month or so ago, and I pretty much agree with you. It's pretty good, but not great. Nothing on 'In Bruges', that's for sure, and actually to my mind not as succesful as 'Seven Psychopaths', despite getting far more acclaim because of its political edge and female protagonist. I think we can still agree it deserved to beat 'Shape of Water' in that low-bar two horse Oscar race of its year, though. A 3.5/5 for me, and yeah, the score is very forgettable.

> I don't entirely disagree. I've only seen it once, and haven't had much
> impetus to go back to it, but at the time I saw it, I loved its
> atmosphere, loved the scene with the Mahler Piano Quartet ('No, it's
> Mahhhler'), and loved Dicaprio's performance. My sympathies as to the
> twist are similar to yours, though. Oddly enough, there were several girls
> at my school who loved this film to death, because of the twist and, to
> them, how dark it was (the same girls tended to obsess over Tim Burton) -
> yet they'd never heard of Scorsese, and certainly hadn't seen his earlier
> films. Used to baffle me, because I obsessed over his earlier stuff (still
> do), but found nothing to rave about Shutter Island. That's how it is, I
> guess.

Funny, cause if you read the IMDB user reviews, they all kinda feel like teenagers. "OH MY GOD THE TWIST CHANGES EVERYTHING WHAT A MASTERPIECE" and I'm going, shit....have you ever seen another movie? Cause if you've even experienced 5 film noirs, you'll be able to guess the twist within the first dang act.

> Saw this during lockdown, not sure if I mentioned. I'd have it at a solid
> 4/5 - loved the acting, and how over the top Tom Hardy was, and how
> pathetically nice Joel Edgerton was - how broadly the director drew that
> contrast. But, I'm sorry, the music let it down. I'm quite a fan of Isham
> at his best (generally when he whacks his trumpet out), but here he could
> have made the film really soar, and then I probably would have teared up.
> As it was, I was sitting there thinking 'the actors are doing all the
> necessary work, the plot is there, but the filmmakers aren't getting that
> now is the time for a big weepy string theme'. So the idea that it would
> be anywhere near my decade top ten is out of the question, but I
> appreciated the film, and see why you love it.

Hmmmmm....I'm usually all for "more" when it comes to emotional music, but I have a feeling the director specifically asked Isham to keep it more grounded because he knew the story itself was already cheesy enough.

> We've been here before, but this is either my favourite film, or my second
> favourite, on any day of the week. Only at 157, with all the crap above?
> The stuff we have to live with!

Right?! And There Will Be Blood is only a couple notches higher. Yet fuckin' Oldboy is in the top 60. Barf.

> I was surprised just how medieval this was, and I mean gaudy, messy, crude
> medieval. I loved it. I'd put a few Bergmans above it, certainly 'Wild
> Strawberries' and my current favourite, 'Cries and Whispers', but there's
> no doubting its greatness.

Excellent!

> At least 4.5 for me, though I'm more generous than you in general, and
> especially to Hitchcock. This is just really hard to fault, and so much
> fun.

In that case, what would your 10 Hitchcock's be?

> It's interesting this comes up. I finally saw it a month or so ago, and I
> pretty much agree with you. It's pretty good, but not great. Nothing on
> 'In Bruges', that's for sure, and actually to my mind not as succesful as
> 'Seven Psychopaths', despite getting far more acclaim because of its
> political edge and female protagonist. I think we can still agree it
> deserved to beat 'Shape of Water' in that low-bar two horse Oscar race of
> its year, though. A 3.5/5 for me, and yeah, the score is very forgettable.

Yeah, I'm with ya there. In Bruges was decent the first time I saw it and it keeps getting better, whereas Three Billboards is the exact opposite. Forgot this one was up against Shape though...man, that was just a weak-ass Oscars. I don't hate Shape of Water, but it's just so.....so NOT Best Picture.

> Hmmmmm....I'm usually all for 'more' when it comes to emotional music, but
> I have a feeling the director specifically asked Isham to keep it more
> grounded because he knew the story itself was already cheesy enough.

Hmm, I'd still rather have some rich orchestration over more ambient tones, but I see the argument.

> Right?! And There Will Be Blood is only a couple notches higher. Yet
> fuckin' Oldboy is in the top 60. Barf.

Having a look at the list now, my go-tos would be 'Dark Knight at four? Barf' or 'Fight Club at eleven?' but sure haha.

> In that case, what would your 10 Hitchcock's be?

Argh I dunno - so many of them need rewatching... I'll give it a go

1. Vertigo
2. Notorious
3. Strangers on a Train (needs rewatch)
4. Psycho
5. Shadow of a Doubt
6. The Lady Vanishes
7. Rear Window
8. Dial M for Murder
9. Saboteur
10. Frenzy

or 'Marnie', 'Young and Innocent', 'To Catch a Thief', 'North by Northwest', 'Sabotage', 'The Lodger', 'Rebecca' (why are they remaking this?), or 'The Birds'

Yeah, I just basically listed em all, in no particular order beyond the top five, and even they are uncertain. Oh, 'Lifeboat' was pretty good, too. Gosh, time for some rewatches haha. Also need to finally get round to 'The Wrong Man', among others. You?

> Hmm, I'd still rather have some rich orchestration over more ambient
> tones, but I see the argument.

> Having a look at the list now, my go-tos would be 'Dark Knight at four?
> Barf' or 'Fight Club at eleven?' but sure haha.

Yeah those are bonkers. Don't even get me STARTED on Fight Club. Fuck that movie so hard.

> Argh I dunno - so many of them need rewatching... I'll give it a go

> 1. Vertigo
> 2. Notorious
> 3. Strangers on a Train (needs rewatch)
> 4. Psycho
> 5. Shadow of a Doubt
> 6. The Lady Vanishes
> 7. Rear Window
> 8. Dial M for Murder
> 9. Saboteur
> 10. Frenzy

> or 'Marnie', 'Young and Innocent', 'To Catch a Thief', 'North by
> Northwest', 'Sabotage', 'The Lodger', 'Rebecca' (why are they remaking
> this?), or 'The Birds'

> Yeah, I just basically listed em all, in no particular order beyond the
> top five, and even they are uncertain. Oh, 'Lifeboat' was pretty good,
> too. Gosh, time for some rewatches haha. Also need to finally get round to
> 'The Wrong Man', among others. You?

Some damn gooders on there! Happy we share the same #1. Never loved Saboteur, though.

Guess my top 10 would be....

1. Vertigo
2. Psycho
3. Rear Window
4. Rope (gets better every time)
5. North by Northwest
6. Strangers on a Train
7. Notorious
8. The 39 Steps
9. Spellbound
10. Shadow of a Doubt

And the runner ups:

The Birds
Frenzy
Marnie
Man Who Knew Too Much (both versions)
Dial M For Murder
Rebecca
Lady Vanishes
Suspicion

> Guess my top 10 would be....

> 1. Vertigo
> 2. Psycho
> 3. Rear Window
> 4. Rope (gets better every time)
> 5. North by Northwest
> 6. Strangers on a Train
> 7. Notorious
> 8. The 39 Steps
> 9. Spellbound
> 10. Shadow of a Doubt

> And the runner ups:

> The Birds
> Frenzy
> Marnie
> Man Who Knew Too Much (both versions)
> Dial M For Murder
> Rebecca
> Lady Vanishes
> Suspicion

Ah how did I forget 'Man Who Knew Too Much', both versions are great. I'm not such a fan of 'Spellbound', incredible score by Rosza obviously, but I found the film ever so slightly boring, and Gregory Peck just doesn't hit the spot as much as Hitch's other leading men. Ingrid Bergman was wonderful of course.

> Ah how did I forget 'Man Who Knew Too Much', both versions are great. I'm
> not such a fan of 'Spellbound', incredible score by Rosza obviously, but I
> found the film ever so slightly boring, and Gregory Peck just doesn't hit
> the spot as much as Hitch's other leading men. Ingrid Bergman was
> wonderful of course.

On re-watches I do find the first half of Spellbound a bit duller than I did as a kid (the swooning stuff at the hospital is pretty rough), but the last half is fantastic. Love the Dali sequence, the reveal of his kid brother, and of course the first POV suicide-by-gun shot in cinema history (don't know if that's ACTUALLY true, but I'm pretty sure it is). So much awesome stuff in that last half, it propels all the rest.

> 160: Shutter Island
I finally caught this earlier this year and felt about the same. Could barely even tell it was a Scorsese film. It was clunky storytelling that either needed to be less odd or WAYYYYY weirder. Ambiguous ending was a nice touch though.

> 159: Warrior - Mark Isham
This is up there on the 'films I missed last decade that I need to finally get to' list.

> 158: Inside Out - Michael Giacchino
Agree with your original assessment of the film and your current assessment of the score. One of the music's simultaneous strengths and weaknesses is how well it follows the journey through VERY different areas; it fits the film like a glove but can feel schizophrenic on album.

> 157: No Country For Old Men
I haven't sat through this start to finish since it came out. Shame on me.

Open question whether this or There Will Be Blood was the superior 2007 masterpiece. They're both in my top 10 for the decade.

> 156: The Seventh Seal
I watched this once in high school. I liked it, but more from an academic/intellectual perspective. I have no idea if I'd enjoy it as an adult, even if I still appreciate it's enduring influence on pop culture.

> 155: V For Vendetta - Dario Marianelli
It's been a while since I've seen this start to finish. I found it strong in spite of its flaws. I probably like it more than the graphic novel, which has labyrinthine plotting and a weird 'in love with a computer' subplot.

Music I like a bit more than you do. Marianelli keeps the darkness interesting throughout.

> 153: Dial M For Murder - Dmitri Tiomkin
I should probably see this.

Intrada re-recording is superb.

> 151: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Carter Burwell
Acting was great. Caustic story left me cold by the end though, even though I appreciated how McDonagh has gotten better at telling his stories in a cinematic fashion. It was a not-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts movie that I couldn't understand the praise for.

Never gave the score a standalone listen.

> I finally caught this earlier this year and felt about the same. Could
> barely even tell it was a Scorsese film. It was clunky storytelling that
> either needed to be less odd or WAYYYYY weirder. Ambiguous ending was a
> nice touch though.

Yeah, that's a good point -- it was in this weird middle ground of weird, but not weird enough.

> Agree with your original assessment of the film and your current
> assessment of the score. One of the music's simultaneous strengths and
> weaknesses is how well it follows the journey through VERY different
> areas; it fits the film like a glove but can feel schizophrenic on album.
> I haven't sat through this start to finish since it came out. Shame on me.

Fair enough and good points.

> Open question whether this or There Will Be Blood was the superior 2007
> masterpiece. They're both in my top 10 for the decade.

What's crazy about 2007 (and a testament to how it truly was one of, if not THE, greatest year ever for cinema) is that while both No Country and Blood are in my top 50 films of all time, NEITHER of them are my favourite of 2007. That honour would go to Assassination of Jesse James, which gets better and deeper every year I return to it. Been really happy seeing more essays and stuff written lately about Assasination.

> 160: Shutter Island
> The Movie - 3/5

Yeah, mostly agree here. It's a wonderfully acted, shot and directed thriller/psychological horror, but the script really fails the whole thing. The Twist is indeed telegraphed FAR too much throughout the film and it all feels rather deflated by the time the ending does come.

> The Score - N/A

All previously written pieces, including a handful by Penderecki (The Shining stuff).

> 158: Inside Out - Michael Giacchino
> The Movie - 4/5

Saw it once and really liked it. Haven't seen it since.

> The Score - 3.5/5
> “Delightful, cute and moving” describe Giacchino’s score, as well.

Sounds about right. Remember zilch about the music, expect that it fit well and was clearly a Giacchino work.

> 157: No Country For Old Men
> The Movie - 5/5

Hahaha! Thats great about the audience not liking the super downer ending. XDD

Agree pretty much entirely with this. It's a masterpiece film.

> 156: The Seventh Seal
> The Movie - 5/5

Sooooo, I'm not a huge fan of this one. Not a problem with it being "old fashioned" or "too emotional" just... I don't know. Felt like it wasn't really worth the trip for the ending. Also really didn't like the little circus family, which I get is suppose to be the metaphorical "pure hearts" amongst all the corruption and death in the world, but still found them low-key annoying.

> 155: V For Vendetta - Dario Marianelli
> The Movie - 3.5/5

1984 for the The Matrix generation. It's perfectly fine for what it is, but agree it's not All That. Remember my cousins were all into the "Remember, remember the 5th of November..." poem back when this came out.

> The Score - 3.5/5

Score good in film. Probably will never go and own it for myself.

> 154: Chinatown - Jerry Goldsmith
> The Movie - 5/5

Yeah, Polanski is like the epitome of "the Creator is the literal worst, but their art is great" dilemma. I personally lean more towards still enjoying the art if it's good, but yeah. There's still that nagging feeling in the back of your head if you know about what he did.

> The Score - 5/5

A masterpiece in avant garde suspense by a master. It still boggles my mind this was a last second replacement score.

> 153: Dial M For Murder - Dmitri Tiomkin
> The Movie - 3.5/5

Another Hitchcock I still need to see.

> 151: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Carter Burwell
> The Movie - 3.5/5

Another big film from recent years I still haven't gotten around to.

> Saw it once and really liked it. Haven't seen it since.

I get this reaction a lot when I bring up the movie. Wonder why that is? Maybe because its a bit too deep and emotional for kids, therefore they like it less, meaning parents aren't forced to watch it 9 times a day ala Frozen.

> Hahaha! Thats great about the audience not liking the super downer ending.
> XDD

They were FURIOUS. One guy threw his hot dog packet at the screen :P

> Sooooo, I'm not a huge fan of this one. Not a problem with it being 'old
> fashioned' or 'too emotional' just... I don't know. Felt like it wasn't
> really worth the trip for the ending. Also really didn't like the little
> circus family, which I get is suppose to be the metaphorical 'pure hearts'
> amongst all the corruption and death in the world, but still found them
> low-key annoying.

Hmmm, interesting. I crazy love the ending, with our innocent naive family being the only ones to escape the morbid dance of death, but even so, I definitely think it's a film more focused on the journey than the destination. Because Seventh Seal isn't about answers, its about questions, so really, how could Bergman deliver a really satisfying conclusion? Either way....at least you tried it haha.

> Yeah, Polanski is like the epitome of 'the Creator is the literal worst,
> but their art is great' dilemma. I personally lean more towards still
> enjoying the art if it's good, but yeah. There's still that nagging
> feeling in the back of your head if you know about what he did.

Its one of those things I can get past so long as the art doesn't bring up the artist. If a subplot in Chinatown involved Jack Nicholson doing a 15 year old girl and no one thought it was a big deal, then it would be severely tainted. Its kind of like how I can still watch and enjoy LA Confidential without much thinking about Spacey's allegations, but American Beauty, where the plot is entirely focused on him trying to bang a minor, is completely distracting and uncomfortable now.

> Well these got finished a lot quicker than most. Helps that I already had
> almost all of these scores so it was easy to plow through 'em. Anyways,
> for any of you who give a flap on a flapjack, here are the next entries on
> IMDb's top 250 list, reviewing both the movie and the score.

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

> 160: Shutter Island

> The Movie - 3/5

I agree. Scorsese is no doubt one of the great American directors, but I think people tend to gloss over the fact that he's also made a few less-than-stellar films in his time.

On a related note, I just watched Kundun for the first time a couple nights ago and loved it. Shame on me for not seeing it sooner.

> 159: Warrior - Mark Isham

> The Movie - 5/5

My favorite film of 2011. Agree with your review.

> The Score - 4/5

Yeah, I like the score a little less than you, but some of those cues are really good and works better in the film.

> 158: Inside Out - Michael Giacchino

> The Movie - 4/5

My favorite film of 2015. Classic Pixar goodness with a lot of heart and comedy.

> The Score - 3.5/5

It's a fun score and brings a unique feel to the film. It made my top 10 in 2015.

> 157: No Country For Old Men

> The Movie - 5/5

I only saw this film once when it was first released. And I really liked it, but around the time I thought about buying it, the collector's edition was OOP and there were also rumors Criterion might release it. Several years later, and nothing happened, but the original release did just get back in stock again so I'm planning to get it soon.

> 156: The Seventh Seal

> The Movie - 5/5

I went into this film blind (minus it's reputation) and not sure that was the right choice. It was a bit hard to keep track of everything and all the characters. Maybe my mind was just wandering that night.

> 155: V For Vendetta - Dario Marianelli

> The Movie - 3.5/5

Solid film. Not top 200 material though. I think this was my first Marianelli score, and I still like it.

> 154: Chinatown - Jerry Goldsmith

> The Movie - 5/5

Great film. Been meaning to get the score for a while but every time I check it seems to be out of stock again.

Is the sequel, the Two Jakes, worth watching? Seems like a hard act to follow.

> 153: Dial M For Murder - Dmitri Tiomkin

> The Movie - 3.5/5

Agree with you. Wouldn't make my top 10 Hitchcock films, but might make the top 20.

I don't recall the score making much impression on me compared to some of Hitchcock's other films, but people here really seem to like it.

> 151: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Carter Burwell

It was a good film and was my #15 for best films of 2017, and it was great to see Rockwell win a much deserved Oscar, but to have this film be 151, ahead of other classics, seems crazy.

> I agree. Scorsese is no doubt one of the great American directors, but I
> think people tend to gloss over the fact that he's also made a few
> less-than-stellar films in his time.

> On a related note, I just watched Kundun for the first time a couple
> nights ago and loved it. Shame on me for not seeing it sooner.

It's a beautiful film, for sure, but its also just about the only Scorsese I have trouble finishing once I've started it. Maybe its also because of the hypnotic Philip Glass score, but it just puts me to sleep, every time.

> My favorite film of 2015. Classic Pixar goodness with a lot of heart and
> comedy.

That's saying a lot, cause damn was 2015 a solid year for films. So solid that a movie I didn't even have in my top 5 at the time (Mad Max) might now be my #1.

> I only saw this film once when it was first released. And I really liked
> it, but around the time I thought about buying it, the collector's edition
> was OOP and there were also rumors Criterion might release it. Several
> years later, and nothing happened, but the original release did just get
> back in stock again so I'm planning to get it soon.

Huh, didn't know that.

> Is the sequel, the Two Jakes, worth watching? Seems like a hard act to
> follow.

I've put off Two Jakes for ages, even though I'm extremely interested in seeing it. I just have a feeling my expectations will be too high due to Chinatown, and it'll be an unfair and frustrating viewing.

> Agree with you. Wouldn't make my top 10 Hitchcock films, but might make
> the top 20.

Says a lot about a dude's resume when we have top 20's of theirs, eh? :P

> It was a good film and was my #15 for best films of 2017, and it was great
> to see Rockwell win a much deserved Oscar, but to have this film be 151,
> ahead of other classics, seems crazy.

Agreed. A ton of mind scratchers on this list. #70 - #60 alone has 3 Marvel films...

> It's a beautiful film, for sure, but its also just about the only Scorsese
> I have trouble finishing once I've started it. Maybe its also because of
> the hypnotic Philip Glass score, but it just puts me to sleep, every time.

Yeah, I can understand that. Worth finishing just for the great Deakins cinematography, if nothing else.

> That's saying a lot, cause damn was 2015 a solid year for films. So solid
> that a movie I didn't even have in my top 5 at the time (Mad Max) might
> now be my #1.

Yeah, really strong year.

> I've put off Two Jakes for ages, even though I'm extremely interested in
> seeing it. I just have a feeling my expectations will be too high due to
> Chinatown, and it'll be an unfair and frustrating viewing.

Same. I've seen it compared to Godfather 3. It's a disappointment due to the high quality of the previous film(s), but if you can look past that, it's an good film on it's own terms.

> Says a lot about a dude's resume when we have top 20's of theirs, eh? :P

Sure does.

> Agreed. A ton of mind scratchers on this list. #70 - #60 alone has 3
> Marvel films...

Oh boy. I can almost guess what they will be. It's why I never put much stock into the IMDb list. Especially for recent popular films, which seem to benefit most from their rating method.