the cuckoo clock

THE SPECIALIST - Composed by John Barry

2011-12-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

The Specialist (1994)Barry's Last Bond Score? For years John Barry fans eagerly waited and hoped for that one last James Bond score he might finally do. Of course it never happened, and The Living Daylights (1987) proved to be his swan song for the series. I've often wondered what Barry would've done had he continued scoring the series into the nineties. The Specialist is probably the best

Sunshine (Dir. Danny Boyle. 2007)

2011-12-07T15:48:00.000-08:00

Britain does 3 things well. 1. Bad weather. 2. Movie bad guys. 3. Science Fiction film. I’ll be focusing on the 3rd while watching the 1st through my window. Danny Boyle has never been afraid to reference his influences and pay homage to his peers and they’re starkly obvious this time around. Sunshine is the illegitimate child of 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) and Alien (

Goldfinger (dir. Guy Hamilton. 1964)

2011-12-06T18:32:00.000-08:00

Every so often a film comes along that is so significant that it changes the face of cinema, influencing filmmakers for years to come. Although not the first James Bond film, Goldfinger did just that in the 1960s, revolutionizing the action adventure genre and kick starting a spy movie craze that lasted until at least the early 1970s. After 22 “official” entries (and 2 “unnofficial” entries) it’

Young Sherlock Holmes (dir. Barry Levinson - 1984)

2011-12-05T22:41:00.000-08:00

I'm well aware that what I'm about to say is blasphemous, but I'll say it all the same: I don't consider Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes tales to be very good mysteries. They're great stories, to be sure, full of wonderfully crafted characters, but as pure mystery tales, they fall short. To paraphrase S. S. Van Dine, in a good mystery tale, a reader must have the same chance of solving

From Russia With Love (dir. Terence Young. 1963)

2011-12-05T16:20:00.000-08:00

In From Russia With Love, many of the classic elements that would define the James Bond series began to coalesce into a solid formula. The plot involves SPECTRE, the evil organization first mentioned in Dr. No, using Bond and Soviet Agent Tatiana Romanova (played by the beautiful italian actress Daniela Bianchi) as unknowing pawns in a plot to obtain the Russian Lektor decoding device. It’s

Dr. No (dir. Terence Young. 1962)

2011-12-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

When a British agent stationed in Jamaica is brutally murdered, MI6 agent James Bond is sent to investigate. Bond survives several attempts on his life, ulitimately going head-to-head with the reclusive Dr. No, a member of a mysterious organization known as SPECTRE. Compared to today’s action films, Dr. No may seem a bit pedestrian, and while it does indeed drag at times, it really picks up the

Nadja (Dir. Michael Almereyda. 1994)

2011-05-15T07:28:00.000-07:00

Note: If Nadia appears in italics it’s the film I’m referring to, any other instance is the titular character. Vampires used to be scary, monstrous and dangerous predators. Then Hollywood made them sexy and enchanting, darkly seductive but still dangerous.Lately they’ve been sparkly and twee. Occasionally they are arthouse. Tony Scott’s wonderfully dreamy The Hunger (1983) springs instantly

CUCKOO'S TOP 10 SCORES OF 2010

2011-04-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

Better late than never. In my defense, some of professional and respected score reviewers just posted their lists in the past few weeks. Without further ado: 10. CLINT MANSELL (and Pyotr Tchaikovsky) / BLACK SWAN A fascinating mixture of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake masterpiece stirred into Clint Mansell's distorted and unsettling sonic manipulations. Not for everyone but without a doubt one of

CLINT MANSELL (and Pyotr Tchaikovsky) / BLACK SWAN

2011-04-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

If you went anywhere near a magazine stand, the television or the cinema last year, director Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller Black Swan needs no introduction whatsoever. One of the most anticipated films of 2010, Swan was one of the few films to actually live up to the buzz it generated before it’s release. The film graced us with wonderfully disturbing performances, beautifully

YOUR HIGHNESS - composed by Steve Jablonsky

2011-04-20T23:49:00.000-07:00

I should start off this review by stating this is not the original album I was going to scrutinize as my next review. In fact I was planning on ripping apart Steve Jablonsky's uninspired Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen score from 2009. I was planning on treating it to a very poor rating and bury it in my cat's litter box to see if the cat shit improves the quality anymore. That was until

Cashback (Dir. Sean Ellis. 2006)

2011-03-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

Cashback is a little gem of a film albeit with some very visible flaws when held up to the cold light of criticism. I don’t know how many of these films get made each year (too few) but I do know that most of them fall under the radar due to a lack of promotion. Large studio films often achieve a profit due to their extensive promotion, even when they don’t have the substance to warrant such

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON - John Powell

2011-02-28T23:45:00.000-08:00

2010 had a lot great films and the scores to coincide with them but nothing took me by surprise like DreamWorks Animations' fantasy/adventure How To Train Your Dragon did. Loosely based upon the children's series novels written by Cressida Cowell, How To Train Your Dragon tells the story of a forbidden friendship between a viking boy and his dragon. Filled with adventure, comedy, action,

83rd ANNUAL OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

2011-02-26T21:59:00.000-08:00

Like the past three years, I'll do a short review of 4 of the nominees and a complete review of my pick of what I think should be the winner. 127 HOURS - A.R. Rahman The story of 127 Hours is about being stuck between a rock and...well..another rock. It's based on the true events involving thrill-seeker Aron Ralston's struggle to survive after he suffers a brutal accident leaving him

Monsters (Dir. Gareth Edwards - 2010)

2011-02-21T07:02:00.000-08:00

Monsters is an independent British film from first time film director Gareth Edwards and it’s one of the better films to come out of Britain for a very long time. I’m allowed to say that because I live there. Edwards worked in TV for some years before moving into film and he carries that TV ‘get the job done as inexpensive as possible’ attitude with him.He wrote the script, he storyboarded it,

TETSUO I - II & TETSUO: THE BULLET MAN - composed by Chu Ishikawa

2011-02-19T23:04:00.001-08:00

Some people don't like having their senses attacked and beaten into a pulp. I do. So naturally writer/director Shinya Tsukamoto's frantic Tetsuo sci-fi/thriller series appealed to me from the get-go. The industro-punk trio of films carry themselves like a '70's era David Cronenberg film overdosing on amphetamines, with elements of twisted, campy humor and stomach churning erotica

Tetsuo I, II, III (Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto)

2011-02-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989, 67 mins) Summary: You’re a regular metal fetishist. You like to cut yourself and insert bits of metal into the wound. Hey, it’s a crazy world, right? You are minding your own business, walking down the street enjoying your own private and harmless perversion when some fool messes up your day with his car. What do you do? My first thought after viewing Tetsuo: The

RAVENOUS - Damon Albarn & Michael Nyman

2011-02-12T19:56:00.000-08:00

Cannibalism is weird. It's even weirder the way it's portrayed in the 1999 horror/black comedy Ravenous, by English director Antonia Bird, based loosely on the cannibalistic murders of the infamous Donner Party incident. Ravenous was a narrative mess that is never quite sure what sort of film it's supposed to be, meandering back and forth between pure horror and oddly misplaced comedic

TRON: LEGACY - Daft Punk

2011-02-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

1982 saw the release of the groundbreaking, Disney sci-fi cult film TRON, written and directed by animator Steven Lisberger. The animator was inspired to create the digital world, known as The Grid, after getting a sneak peek of the revolutionary video game known as Pong in 1976. Leading the cast was Oscar winner Jeff Bridges as protagonist Kevin Flynn and Babylon 5's Bruce Boxleitner in

JOHN BARRY R.I.P. 1933 - 2011

2011-01-31T00:36:00.000-08:00

I am sad to say that the film score community has lost one of it's last true greats this morning. Composer John Barry suddenly passed away from a heart attack at the age of 77.He was the composer of the iconic James Bond theme and other classics such as The Black Hole, Midnight Cowboy, Chaplin, Out Of Africa, The Lion In Winter and Dances With Wolves.Barry will be missed and remembered dearly,

BLACK SWAN (Dir. Darren Aronofsky. 2010.)

2011-01-02T00:33:00.000-08:00

Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) needs a passionate and beguiling ballerina to play the lead in his newest Swan Lake adaptation. His former “Little Princess” is out of the running and some new blood is needed. Enter Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) whose virginal qualities make her a perfect fit for the fragile White Swan. However the production demands that the White Swan also become the troubled

82nd ANNUAL OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

2010-12-17T18:52:00.001-08:00

AVATAR - James Horner Avatar. Where to begin? It's not one of the greatest cinematic achievements of our time, like Hollywood would like you believe. Nor is it one of the worst films made, like bitter internerd fanboys would like you to believe either. It's simply an evenly told adventure story, that tries a little too hard to preach eco-issues to the audience. Visually and technically

INK (Written & Dir. Jamin Winans. 2009.)

2010-03-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

Good people do good things and bad people do bad things, or more often than not bad people get someone else to do it for them. Ink is such a person, or thing, sent on an errand by a higher power to kidnap an eight year old girl as she sleeps seemingly safe in her bed. And despite the combined efforts from a number of strangers, he succeeds in snatching little Emma. His motivations for this

MARNIE music composed by Bernard Herrmann

2010-01-22T12:54:00.000-08:00

The working relationship between iconic director, Alfred Hitchcock and composer, Bernard Herrmann was a match made in heaven. Together they worked on a number of classic films (nine to be exact), beginning with Shirley MacLaine's 1955 film debut, The Trouble With Harry and then followed with a variety of humorously macabre thriller projects, including Psycho, Vertigo and North By Northwest.

MARNIE (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. 1964)

2010-01-22T09:36:00.000-08:00

“You’re a cold practiced little method actress of a liar.” Marnie Edgar is a beautiful but disturbed young woman with an aberrant fear and mistrust of men, thunder and lightning, and the colour red. Marnie is also a career criminal, who charms her way into jobs only to steal from her boss at the first opportunity, and then moves onto the next town and the next identity. And yes she is blonde,

Cuckoo's TOP 10 SCORES OF 2009

2010-01-06T22:39:00.001-08:00

Every year we're graced (or punished) with an army of film scores. I've picked out my Top 10 favorite of 2009....hopefully, you'll find something you like here or perhaps have some sort of disagreement with me...whatever it is, I'm more than happy to hear about it.....I should mention that all the listed scores are 4 out of 5 stars, with the exception of number one that earned a 4 1/2 out of 5.