[no spoilers] Weapons I wouldn’t have seen Zach Cregger’s Barbarian had it not been for the recommendation of a few friends. Upon first glance, the film seemed to be about a woman’s chance encounter with a psychopath. I felt like I had “the gist” and […]

Lima Lima is one of my favorite tracks from Gustavo Santaolalla’s The Motorcycle Diaries soundtrack. Rather than his usual minimalist approach, Lima really displays Santaolalla’s guitar prowess. I had an opportunity to see Gustavo Santaolalla play live in Pittsburgh (in 2013) with his band Bajofondo. Rather […]

Mathilde I wrote this piece well over a decade ago. I had already been a guitar player (and teacher) since my early teenage years — but only began experimenting with fingerstyle composition in my mid-30’s. It’s is actually the first “fingerstyle song” I ever wrote. […]

Resolve This piece is from the HBO Max series, The Last of Us (season 1). The series is directly based on the iconic PlayStation game where —  in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by a fungal pandemic, Joel, a hardened smuggler, is tasked with escorting Ellie, […]

Severance Severance is a psychological thriller series on Apple TV+ about employees at Lumon Industries who have undergone a “severance” procedure, surgically dividing their memories between their work and personal lives. This creates two distinct versions of themselves: one for work (the “innie”) and one […]

The Brutalist The Brutalist is a film is about a Hungarian-Jewish architect named László Tóth. Having just survived the horrors of the Holocaust, László seeks refuge and a fresh start in the United States. Being separated from his wife during the war — he carries […]

The Shire Howard Shore’s score for The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a masterpiece, and among its many highlights, “The Shire” stands out as a beacon of warmth and nostalgia. This gentle, folk-inspired theme captures the idyllic homeland of the hobbits. The opening melody […]

[no spoilers] Goodbye Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu is a superb and long overdo remake of the 1922 gothic horror classic. The movie looks incredible, and is very well acted — especially by Lily Rose-Depp. I found the film to be an absolute romp: horrifying, arousing, macabre, […]

Greensleeves: a brief history Believed to be composed in the late 16th/early 17th century, ‘Greensleeves’ never began it’s many incarnations as a Christmas song. It was only until William Chatterton Dix wrote the carol What Child Is This (set to the Greensleeves tune) in 1865 — […]

Closing “Closing” is the title theme of the film, We Live In Time — a poignant romantic drama that explores the complexities of love, loss, and the passage of time. The film stars, Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. The music is from Bryce Dessner, who […]

First Love and the Falling Snow I wrote “First Love and the Falling Snow” for my wife, Jennifer — as we approach our 23rd Wedding Anniversary in just a few days. Foremost in my memory is one of our early dates in 1998. (As a […]

Writing’s On The Wall The theme of 2015’s Spectre is “Writings On The Wall”, by Sam Smith. The song reminds me of the campy, Roger Moore-era James Bond themes. With Sam Smith’s crooning falsetto, it feels more in league with songs like: “Nobody Does it […]