Here we are at the end of another fantastic year for film music. Of course, there were many scores that earned my affection in 2022—Michael Giacchino’s best-in-blockbuster-class The Batman, the jazz wizardry of Justin Hurwitz’s Babylon, Arnoud Rebotini’s pulse-pounding Dark […]
To finish up 2022, I attempt to unravel the new murder mystery Glass Onion, with the help of its composer, Nathan Johnson (Knives Out, Looper). Not surprisingly, then, Nathan and I jump into his big, orchestral score, including revisiting themes […]
It’s rare these days to have film score releases contain dialogue excerpts. The rarity shouldn’t be a surprise – after all, presumably most people are listening in solely for the music. Sometimes the combination leaves ample room for the music […]
On this Devil’s Night, who better to raise a little hell with than my latest guest: Ben Lovett (The Night House, The Ritual). Ben and I primarily talk about his latest score, Hellraiser, which is a reimagining/remake of Clive Barker’s […]
It’s safe to say that Alex G’s score for We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is my favorite score release of the year. He brings a sense of inevitable melancholy to the film, a potentially inevitable dark fate. And […]
Author’s note: For the purposes of this write up, I will be focusing on the film’s original score by Michael Abels and not the additional songs on the soundtrack (although they are great). This review is spoiler-free. After shocking audiences […]
Normally the sentiment that “a good film score is one the viewer doesn’t notice” is completely wrong. But, in the case of Phil Tippett’s Mad God, it might have some merit. The film is effectively an 85-minute showcase of stop-motion […]
Not all films can live up to their premise. But at least in the case of Cryptozoo, John Carroll Kirby’s score does. The animated film follows Lauren Grey, a veterinarian cryptozoologist, as she journeys across the world to try and […]
Film composer and director Nicole Russin-McFarland joins The Film Scorer Podcast! But, Nicole didn’t come alone; joining her is voice actor Christopher Andrew Norris, a frequent collaborator of Nicole’s. We discuss their working relationship and process, spanning several dozen radio […]
It’s always exciting when an accomplished, prolific musician makes their first foray into film music. What will it sound like? Will their sound transition? Will it work? With X, experimental/folk/doom/etc. musician Chelsea Wolfe co-scores her first film (with Tyler Bates). […]
At the end of January I “attended” Sundance to watch God’s Country, a drama/thriller starring Thandiwe Newton. Today DeAndre Allen-Toole, the film’s composer, joins the show! We chat about the film, including the challenges of making his feature scoring debut, palette […]
For the first time in several years (since The Knick), long time collaborators Cliff Martinez and Steven Soderbergh reunite with Soderbergh’s “technothriller” Kimi. The film follows Angela, who suffers from anxiety and agoraphobia and monitors transmissions from the controversial smart […]