Every 27 Years [Updated and reposted from 2017.] Every 27 Years is a hauntingly beautiful composition by composer, Benjamin Wallfisch, that was featured in the 2017 film adaptation of Stephen King’s IT. The piece serves as a thematic undercurrent — hinting at the cyclical nature […]

Alien Alien (1979) is a groundbreaking film that follows the crew of the commercial spaceship Nostromo, as they investigate a mysterious signal on a desolate planet, and encounter a deadly extraterrestrial creature. The film’s claustrophobic suspense, and iconic (H.R. Giger) creature design have made it […]

La Muerte De La Poderosa I revisit The Motorcycle Diaries soundtrack often. The whole thing is a masterpiece. I love everything Gustavo Santaolalla does, but for me, the big two are: The Motorcycle Diaries and Brokeback Mountain. Gustavo Santaolalla’s work on The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) embodies […]

Skyfall As the highest-grossing Bond film of all time, Skyfall raked in a stunning $1.1 billion upon its release in 2012. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $1.5 billion today. The other Daniel Craig era Bond films have massive box office numbers, but none of […]

Bathroom Dance Todd Phillips’ 2019 film, Joker, is a gritty exploration of mental health and societal alienation. The film follows Arthur Fleck, a struggling comedian who descends into madness, culminating in a city-wide uprising. The film’s haunting atmosphere is greatly enhanced by the dread-filled soundtrack […]

The Prince That Was Promised House of the Dragon, begins nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. The show portrays the reign of House Targaryen, and their children battling for control of the Iron Throne. The glorious music is from Game of […]

Invited “Invited” is of course, by multi-instrumentalist composer, Gustavo Santaolalla. Having won 2 Academy Awards, he’s widely considered one of the greatest film-composers of all time. This piece is originally played on Santaolalla’s signature instrument, the Ronroco (a small Andean guitar). The Last of Us […]

Across the Stars This song is a beautiful motif by the greatest film composer of all time, John Williams. Across the Stars was recommended to me by one of my long time Intellimusica members, and it’s one of the all-time classic Star Wars themes. In […]

“Gabriel’s Oboe” is the title theme for the 1986 film The Mission. The piece was written by Italian composer Ennio Morricone, and is widely considered to be one of his greatest musical achievements. The Mission is a period drama about the experience of a Jesuit […]

The Light of Hidden Flowers My thematic inspiration for this piece was love sonnet XVII, by Pablo Neruda. Specifically this line: “I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz, or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off. I love you […]

Her Life Was Over, by Gustavo Santaolalla, is a short fingerstyle motif from the soundtrack of Wild Life. This film is a documentary about life of Doug Tompkins (founder of North Face) and his wife, Kris. Although the documentary is not widely known, the guitar […]

Leaves From The Vine Leaves From The Vine was recommended to me by one of my guitar students. This piece is from the original anime series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. I thought it was beautiful and poignant. There’s also a nice orchestrated version from the […]