My buddy Tim got married a couple of weeks ago. I wasn’t at the wedding and I’ve never even met Tim in person. Yet we’ve connected through Twitter, this blog, and our love of film music. You really can connect with people online, even when you haven’t physically met. I was as happy for Tim [...]

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 at how they treated the music categories. A [...]

When Pixar  announced that their entry into the already over-crowded litter of critter movies in 2007 was to be about a rat, to paraphrase Hermione Gingold in THE MUSIC MAN: ”I was reticent. Oh, yes, I was reticent!” Even with Pixar’s credentials, how could they pull off a film about vermin? But RATATOUILLE served up a smorgasbord of [...]

Much has already been written in these pages about my admiration for Michael Giacchino’s score for UP. Much has also been written about my dissatisfaction with the “download only” release of the soundtrack. While I miss the tactile sensation and the sense of permanency of a physical CD, iTunes has one-upped Amazon in their release. [...]

After missing THE INCREDIBLES and WALL-E in the theater, I was determined to not let that happen again with UP. The film made my heart soar. Michael Giacchino’s score left me floating on cloud nine. Pixar raises the bar even further with their first film in 3-D. The  process allows the stunning set pieces to take [...]

To “celebrate” their 10th animated film, Pixar has elected to release Michael Giacchino’s score for UP as a download only purchase on Amazon and iTunes. If you’ll allow me to vent a bit, this seems a poor way to market the film and to repay Giacchino, who has contributed wonderful scores for his last two [...]

According to The Pixar Blog, Disney has confirmed that Michael Giacchino’s score to Pixar’s UP will be released by Walt Disney Records as a digital download only. As reported earlier, the soundtrack will become available for download on May 26. Sound clips can be heard on Amazon’s product page. I assume it will be available on iTunes as well. It remains [...]

What made this STAR TREK so appealing to me? I haven’t seen a STAR TREK film since 1984′s THE VOYAGE HOME. I didn’t watch any of the later TV incarnations and I certainly left my Trekkie days back in my teen years. So why this particular STAR TREK and why now? Was it the Hollywood [...]

Let’s get it out of the way right at the beginning. Michael Giacchino’s score for STAR TREK (2009) is not the “instant classic” that Jerry Goldsmith’s STAR TREK – THE MOTION PICTURE was. But then, how could it be? Goldsmith’s score is a work of, dare I say, genius. Not simply a great sci-fi score, but a [...]