Ah, the joys of guilty pleasures. And the joys are many in Stanley Kramer’s THE SECRET OF SANTA VITTORIA. Based on Robert Crichton’s bestselling novel, the 1969 film stars Anthony Quinn as the bumbling wine maker Bombolini, who is elected mayor of his small Italian town as a joke and then...

Danny Elfman is composer du jour at the multiplex with his recent scores for THE WOLFMAN and ALICE IN WONDERLAND. So it seemed the perfect time to add him to the “9 on the 9th” lineup. Though I enjoy Elfman’s music, he is not someone I usually turn to when I just want to listen to...

For those of us who thought THE HURT LOCKER a competently made yet rambling, dull, insignificant piece of filmmaking (like me), last night’s Academy Awards was an excruciating affair. And producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman (who, as director of HAIRSPRAY, should know better) should be ashamed...

When I was a budding clarinetist back in high school and college, I would have killed to be able to play arrangements of film music. Except for the odd band arrangement, like Jerry Goldsmith’s wickedly difficult THE WIND AND THE LION, the opportunities to play film music just didn’t exist,...

What has gone unnoticed in this frenzied and long awards season is this year marks the 75th anniversary of the Academy Awards for Music, which were first handed out in 1935 for the films released in 1934. Oscar nuts, no matter their caliber, like to second-guess and rearrange the Academy Awards, and...

There’s only one word to describe IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD…”mad.” Thankfully for us film score fans, Ernest Gold’s wonderful score ties together all the loose threads of this bombastic film. This loud comedy (and I do mean LOUD, as evidenced by its Oscar for...

GENEVIEVE is not a who, it’s a what. A twin-cylinder, 10/12 horsepower Darracq motocar built in Paris in 1904. Found sticking out of a hedge in East London in 1945, the car was rescued from further rust and obscurity by a local bailiff, rebuilt to its original glory, and soon became the star...

The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) has just announced the winners for the best in musical scoring in film and television of 2009. Michael Giacchino, Christopher Young, and James Peterson each came away with multiple wins. The 2009 film winners are: FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR - UP,...

As I’m staring out at over a foot of snow in my backyard, I’m pondering on the month that has just passed. It has been a busy one for me personally with a lot of work, and one in which I felt I had neglected this blog a bit. But looking back on it, I think I was able to cram in some posts...

For fans of Hans Zimmer’s SHERLOCK HOLMES score, here’s a treat. )As the last days of Oscar voting wind down (ballots are due March 2), Zimmer has pulled together a music video in a unique attempt to garner votes for his score. (Thanks to the folks at RopeofSilicon.com.) I was alerted to...