Day One The inception of Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar score is very similar to Gustavo Santaolalla’s Brokeback Mountain soundtrack. With the latter, Ang Lee sent a script to Santaolalla, who wrote and recorded the entire score before a single frame was shot. Lee’s genius was deciding […]

The Dark Knight Rises My hometown of Pittsburgh was the shooting location for The Dark Knight Rises. Plenty of movies, TV, and Netflix shows get made here, but the 2011 Dark Knight Rises production was BY FAR the coolest one. Our downtown is mostly high-rise […]

Cornfield Chase I’ve always wanted to double back to the crux of the Interstellar theme, which is really the motif titled “Cornfield Chase.” This was a high-water mark for composer Hans Zimmer. His genius is in not being outsmarted by his own technical skill — […]

The Odyssey Theme At this point, I can definitely hear (composer) Ludwig Göransson’s aesthetic when he’s scoring a Christopher Nolan film. There’s a linear nature to the music… a veneer as familiar as Nolan’s blueish hues and title font. Although completely different, The Odyssey and […]

Gonna Fly Now I was in 3rd grade (8 turning 9) during the ’85-’86 school year — and my childhood was an amazingly patriotic time to be alive. The Cold War was hanging over the culture and this was punctuated by several USA vs. the […]

Love is in the Air, Pt.1 I love this piece from the film Obsession; a movie made on a shoestring budget ($750,000) and grossing nearly 200 million globally. I don’t expect Hollywood to draw any correct conclusions from this, but it would seem original storytelling […]

A Real Hero Drive (2011) was a great movie — artful in the way it introduced an 80s aesthetic while still being set in the present day. The soundtrack was excellent, punctuated with synthwave (or retrowave) producers like College, Kavinsky, and Desire. Music built around […]

Left Behind (The Journey) I’ve always loved this piece, originally titled “Left Behind (Together)” from The Last of Us Vol. 2 — which is actually the soundtrack for the Left Behind DLC  (the first game’s expansion). I’m not a gamer, and in case you’re not […]

What Do You Know? I’ve seen Alex Garland’s Annihilation a few times now. If you haven’t watched it, it’s a beautiful, unsettling science fiction trip. Starring Natalie Portman and directed by Garland (Ex Machina), the film follows a biologist into “The Shimmer”—a mysterious zone where […]

Leaving the Reach A Game of Thrones spinoff has a new composer! Welcome, Dan Romer — you are totally awesome. The soundtrack for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is inextricable from the show. The music feels like a hidden character or bard lending unspoken […]

I Love You Too Much The Book of Life (2014) is a visually stunning tribute to Mexican culture and the traditions of Día de los Muertos. Produced by Guillermo del Toro, the film uses a striking “wooden doll” animation style, giving the characters the charm […]

ocean eyes I’m still struck by the artistry of Billie Eilish’s debut, “dont smile at me”. She brought such a dark and unique sound to pop music—and remarkably, she was only 15 when it was first released. Beyond the music, I loved her unconventional “orthography” […]