The Last of Us (HBO) HBO’s The Last of Us is being heralded as “the greatest video game adaptation ever”. No surprise as Craig Mazen is the executive producer and showrunner. Mazen’s Chernobyl mini-series (on HBO) was one of the greatest shows I have ever […]

Halloween As evidenced by this blog, I’m a huge fan of multi-instrumentalist composer, Gustavo Santaolalla. His music is synonymous with the world. He seems to capture at once the sound of Latin America, as well as distant cultures from all continents. For this interpretation of […]

The Shawshank Redemption Written and directed by Frank Darabont, The Shawshank Redemption, is a 1994 drama film based on the 1982 Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.  The film tells the story of a banker who is (despite his claims of innocence) sentenced […]

The Terminator The original Terminator theme was written by 80’s synthesizer composer, Brad Fiedel. Even though he composed a lot of movie scores through the 80’s and early 90’s, The Terminator theme was the defining work of his career. The best version of this theme […]

Game of Thrones Having just watched the 1st episode of House of the Dragon, I find myself enamored (all over again) with Ramin Djawadi’s Main Title theme. I’m so happy that is still the central motif in the new prequel series. Episode 1 delivered on […]

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) is a science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. E.T. tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial who is stranded on Earth. Elliott and his siblings help E.T. return to his home […]

Jurassic World John Williams is an icon, and his ‘Jurassic theme’ is one of many modern classics by the long time composer. It’s incredible how he has been pitch perfect for nearly 50 years of film making. My entire youth has been sound-tracked by John […]

My Heart Will Go On I recently heard a super minimal version of My Heart Will Go On played with two cellos. I believe the duo’s name was literally 2CELLOS. It was beautiful and I wanted to create a subtle and minimal guitar version too. […]

A Gift of Thistle James Horner’s music for the film Braveheart is one of the most iconic and beloved scores in cinematic history. Most consider ‘A Gift of Thistle’ to be the central theme of the film. This track is played during the scene where […]

Running Up That Hill If you’re right around my age (or older) you might fondly remember Kate Bush’s 1985 hit, Running Up That Hill. I was in second grade when that came out. Like everything from the 80’s — it’s a reminder of a far […]

Top Gun Top Gun: Maverick has me totally pumped up. I’m 45 and remember the VCR revolution in the mid 80’s. Prior to VCRs and home video rental shops, we relied on HBO or encore showings at smaller theaters to see movies like Return of […]

Mary Goes to Jesus Mary Goes to Jesus is the most solemn and exquisite piece of music from The Passion of the Christ. It is also from the most poignant scene: The Apostle John, takes Mary to a better vantage point to possibly see, touch, […]