Photo by Allison Batley | Unsplash Fantastic Beasts The Fantastic Beasts movies — as with the Harry Potter predecessors — seem to be set in winter more often then not. For that reason, I think of the films, and the music by James Newton Howard, […]

Photo by Diogo Fagundes on Unsplash Comptine d’un autre été, l’après midi Comptine d’un autre été, l’après midi (Nursery rhyme from another summer, the afternoon) is a piece of music by composer, Yann Tiersen. As the principle song from Amelie, it’s by far his most […]

Photo by Todd Steitle | Unsplash Harry in Winter While I haven’t seen many of the Harry Potter films — the music is fantastic. Harry in Winter is so thematical, that it resonates with me, even though I haven’t seen the Goblet of Fire. Written […]

Photo by Laine Cooper | Unsplash Léon Léon is one of my all time favorite movies. Starring Natalie Portman, Jean Reno, and Gary Oldman — Léon: The Professional is an amazingly casted and highly entertaining crime/thriller. When it was first released (on VHS) in 1994 […]

Photo by Mimipic Photography on Unsplash The Princess Bride The Princess Bride (1987) is a fantasy adventure comedy directed by Rob Reiner.  It was adapted from the 1973 novel of the same name, and tells the story of Westly — who must rescue his true love, Princess […]

Photo by Barrie Johnson | Unsplash The Bones The Bones is a song by pop/country star, Maren Morris. Six months after its release in 2019, the song was reimagined with Hozier singing the second verse. I love this song, and I’ve been teaching the basic […]

Photo by Rowan Freeman | Unsplash An Ending, a Beginning Dustin O’Halloran might be my favorite composer next to Gustavo Santaolalla. Chances are you’ve heard his music and just didn’t realize it. He was nominated for an Oscar, and a Golden Globe for Lion (2016). That […]

Photo by Shifaaz Shamoon | Unsplash 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 […]

Photo by Jessica Rockowitz | Unsplash Wonderful Tonight Wonderful Tonight is far and away Eric Clapton’s most famous song — and one of the most romantic songs ever written. I’ve had this arrangement in my back pocket for 20 years. I had been developing and […]

Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash 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, […]

Photo by Johannes Plenio | Unsplash The Ludlows Legends of the Fall (1994) is an epic American historical drama, directed by Edward Zwick and starring Brad Pitt. The film is about three brothers and their father living on the plains of Montana in the early […]

Photo by Sam Manns | Unsplash Cover Me Up Cover Me Up was the song that first introduced me to incredible singer/songwriter Jason Isbell. Forget the writing – the raw honesty of the song, and power of Isbell’s voice is what captured me. It’s just […]