Based on the life of Iranian dance choreographer Afshin Ghaffarian, the music for Desert Dancer functions as a discrete, almost ambient sonic work. Most of the cues are performed by strings and hints of Persian instruments and harmonics, and while not abstract…
Reviews of Hours (2013), Paul Walker’s third-last film, released on DVD by Lions Gate, plus Benjamin Wallfisch’s score on CD from Varese Sarabande.
After writing the scripts for the franchise reboots A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), The Thing (2011), plus Final Destination 5 (2011), Eric Heisserer earned a crack at directing, and his debut is an economical, cleverly produced drama that’s also part disaster film, albeit scaled down to what a singular character sees from inside an abandoned hospital…
In a film where almost the entire drama occurs inside an abandoned hospital, Benjamin Wallfisch (Dear Wendy, Hammer of the Gods) adds both scope and subtext using a driving rhythm and recurring fragments of a gentle main theme, often played on piano or accentuated with delicate woorwinds…
Review of Spielberg (2017), Susan Lacy’s engaging doc on the iconoclastic filmmaker from HBO.
Clark Gable at Fox: Soldier of Fortune + The Tall Men (1955)
Clark Gable’s 1955 diptych is comprised of an underrated gem + a dud: the stellar THE TALL MEN on Twilight Time Blu + SOLDIER OF FORTUNE on Fox DVD.
Examining the Image: Mike Wallace Is Here (2019) + Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2018)
Two recent docs on TV and cinema icons: MIKE WALLACE IS HERE (2019) from Magnolia + JANE FONDA IN FIVE ACTS (2018) from HBO.
Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson in 3 unique productions: THE PRESIDENT’S LADY (1953) on Twilight Time Blu + Cecil B. DeMille’s 1938 and 1958 productions of THE BUCCANEER from Olive Films.
Podcast: Austin Wintory’s REMNANTS + ERICA (2019)
In a new podcast, composer Austin Wintory discusses scoring the interactive PS4 video game ERICA + the eclectic music on the compilation album REMNANTS.
Podcast: Austin Wintory’s REMNANTS + ERICA (2019)
In a new podcast, composer Austin Wintory discusses scoring the interactive PS4 video game ERICA + the eclectic music on the compilation album REMNANTS.
Dante Tomaselli’s Out-of-Body Experience (2019)
Admirers of Dante Tomaselli’s prior sonic explorations will be quite surprised at the shift the director of Torture Chamber (2013) and Desecration (1999) took with his latest album, titled Out-of-Body Experience, released July 4th, 2019 via TuneCore…
ArtScopeTO 09: Interview with Photographer Pengkuei Ben Huang
ArtScopeTO Podcast interview with photographer Pengkuei Ben Huang, whose series SOLEMN PINES FADING THINGS is running at Toronto’s Urban Gallery as part of the 2019 Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival.
Distilling the career, the creative and industry accomplishments of Steven Spielberg into even a 147 mins. doc is quite a chore, but like her subsequent portrait…
Director Raoul Walsh may have been attracted to The Tall Men by the oddness of the story, in which former Confederate Col. Ben Allison (Clark Gable) rescues young lass Nella Turner (Jane Russell) from an Indian massacre, falls for her one night…
DVD: Soldier of Fortune (1955)
Upon it’s original theatrical release, Clark Gable’s first picture after being ‘dumped’ by longtime studio MGM wasn’t well appraised by critics, and although the passing years may have enhanced the film’s curio value…
DVD: Mike Wallace Is Here (2019)
The title of Avi Belkin’s highly entertaining documentary on 60 Minutes’ most recognizable investigative journalist refers to the fear that could…
Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2018)
Few actors from a dynastic Hollywood family have had such a varied career as Jane Fonda, and Susan Lacy’s lengthy but never dull documentary is comprised of five chapters that trace…
Written during his busiest period (1968-1970), Quincy Jones’ score for John and Mary was quite sparse, leaving obligatory space for the film’s myriad dialogue exchanges and source music, but the score is memorable for being atypical of the material Jones was writing at the time: action comedies (The Italian Job, The Hell with Heroes), comedies (Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,Cactus Flower), and the funky style of They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!
For some soundtrack fans, it was a bit of surprise to learn the composer of pioneering synth scores had begun his career with large orchestral scores for John Boorman’s Excalibur (1981) and Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal (1982)…
LP: Bourne Identity, The (2002)
The first film in the enduring franchise gave John Powell the perfect opportunity to write what remains both his definitive action sound, and the definitive action score of that decade, blending large orchestral sounds with layers upon layers of electronics…
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