- Homepage
-
The bit that you skip #148: Michael Kamen & Orbital – Lewis & Clark
By 1997, Michael Kamen was a well-respected composer in Hollywood. After a strong start by composing arrangements for Pink Floyd, Queen, Tom Petty and many monoliths of classic rock, he crossed over to film scores thanks to The Wall’s soundtrack album. What galvanised his status as a master of suspense and action was the trifecta…
-
The bit that you skip #147: Elia Cmiral – Ronin
John Frankenheimer’s late-career Ronin is a strange beast. Released in 1998, you could swear it’s a lost film from the 70s. From the muted colours on everyone’s clothes, to the action scenes, it’s a movie that didn’t feel “modern” back then. Sure, they had top of the line equipment (for the era) and tracking a…
-
The bit that you skip #146: Brian Hodgson – Cybermen Stab & Music
Musique Concrète is a genre that goes for found sounds and creates soundscapes through manipulation. Add a splash of reverb, reverse the sound, slow it down, add a delay or a chorus, then reverse again. The BBC radiophonic went for this approach, using things such as lamps, bells, and vocals and render all of these…
-
The bit that you skip #145: Hildur Guðnadóttir – Mortar
I can’t sleep on a moving vehicle. Bus, car, boat, airplane, you name it, if it’s move, I can’t sleep. I might nod, but no real sleep for me. On long flights, I try to catch up with movies that either I missed or didn’t make it to Mexico and I couldn’t be arsed to…
-
The bit that you skip #143: Don Davis and Juno Reactor – Mona Lisa Overdrive
Once the Matrix sequels got announced, the hype exploded in a way only The Phantom Menace had back in those days. The Matrix was a sleeper hit in 99, a cultural watermark from The Wachowskis, whose only directing credit was Bound, a sleazy and slick crime flick. Sure, they had credits for rewrites, like in…
-
The bit that you skip #142: Jerry Goldsmith – Outland Main Theme
Outland gets a terrible reputation in many circles. Either these people haven’t rewatched it or simply go by someone else’s critique. I’ve recently rewatched after a few decades (!) and found it entertaining. Yes, it’s High Noon in space but it’s shot quite well and the production design has that “worn future” that both Alien,…
-
The bit that you skip #141: Lorne Balfe – Regan vs. Trebolt
The last trip I had with my parents was in 2011. We were in London before taking a bus tour around Great Britain and some parts near Trafalgar Square were closed for the day. On the distance, gaffers and dudes with smoking hot cuppas of tea stood around. One fellow was pointing towards St. James’s…
-
The bit that you skip #140: M83 – Starwaves
The early 2010s weren’t good for neither Tom Cruise nor Joseph Kosinski. Cruise’s Day & Knight and both Jack Reacher flicks failed to catch momentum, and Kosinski’s visually impressive Tron Legacy was a box office disappointment (like all Tron movies, so maybe it’s a curse?) When I read that both Cruise and Kosinski would make…
-
The bit that you skip #139: Jóhann Jóhannsson – The Beast
Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario was a hard sell in my house. My parents automatically dismissed it as a “racist movie” with stereotypes of Mexico. They thought the same of Soderbergh’s Traffic and I didn’t really insist on them watching the movie. Instead, I ended up in a half empty late function, the way I prefer them.…
