Brokeback Mountain Suite About 10 years ago, Gustavo Santaolalla performed the Brokeback Mountain Suite for the Latin program, Encuentro en el Estudio. To date, it’s his best performance of the Brokeback Mountain score (and I’ve watched them all). The guitar tone is gorgeous. You’ll notice […]

Wicked Game For my money, the two greatest unrequited love songs are: U2’s With or Without You, and Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game. The former can prompt one to hold a lighter in the air and bellow “…and you give yourself a-way-a”. The latter makes (me) […]

Rush Directed by Ron Howard, Rush is a sports biography film based on the rivalry of Formula One drivers; James Hunt and Niki Lauda during the 1976 Formula 1 season. I love Hans Zimmer’s “driving” and thematic music. I wasn’t going to capture that on […]

Chevaliers De Sangreal Chevaliers De Sangreal (The Da Vinci Code) is a glorious piece by Hans Zimmer. He has this knack for writing film music with a slight pop sensibility. If we think of Gladiator, Inception and Interstellar — the underpinning of the music is […]

The Theory of Everything The Theory of Everything (2014) is a  biographical romantic drama film set at the University of Cambridge. It details the life of the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. The exquisite music, by the late Johann Johannsson, won the Golden Globe for best […]

The Last of the Mohicans While the film and soundtrack are timeless — the music production was fairly chaotic for The Last of the Mohicans. Director Michael Mann had initially requested that Trevor Jones (composer) provide an electronic score for the film. That surprises me […]

The Ludlows Legends of the Fall (1994) is a sweeping epic that chronicles the lives of the Ludlow family in early 20th century Montana. Colonel William Ludlow, a disillusioned former U.S. Army officer, has retreated to the wilderness with his three sons: Alfred, the responsible […]

Unsolved Mysteries Unsolved Mysteries is a mystery documentary television show — documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena. The series has been revamped on Netflix and it’s enthralling. The first episode, Mystery on the Rooftop is totally bizarre. There’s 6 episodes in total. Each one is […]

No Time for Caution This music is from one of the more intense scenes of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar — as they attempt a perilous docking maneuver that is incredibly intricate and fraught with danger. The Endurance and Endurance B (piloted by Cooper and Dr. Brand) […]

In the House – In a Heartbeat This song is the title track of both 28 Days, and 28 Weeks Later. It’s a gnarly and dread-filled chord progression by composer, John Murphy. The piece has since been used in other television and film works. 28 […]

On the Nature of Daylight Post-minimalism — or neo-classical, depending on who you ask — is a genre of contemporary music that sits somewhere between classical and electronic. It’s slower, more emotive, and deliberately cinematic. The composers who’ve mastered it have found a natural home […]

Batman Begins Eptesicus is a prominent piece in both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. This has always been one of my favorite pieces of music, and it’s usually centered around Bruce Wayne’s love interest, Rachel Dawes. I’ve been re-watching Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. All […]