I Love You Too Much The Book of Life (2014) is a visually stunning tribute to Mexican culture and the traditions of Día de los Muertos. Produced by Guillermo del Toro, the film uses a striking “wooden doll” animation style, giving the characters the charm […]

Taboo I watched Taboo way back in 2017, and I honestly still think it’s great. If you’re into historical fiction with a heavy dose of mud, mysticism, and Tom Hardy being intensely brooding, this is definitely your show. The story is set in the soot-stained, […]

ocean eyes I’m still struck by the artistry of Billie Eilish’s debut, “dont smile at me”. She brought such a dark and unique sound to pop music—and remarkably, she was only 15 when it was first released. Beyond the music, I loved her unconventional “orthography” […]

Variation 15 (Dunkirk) While Hans Zimmer served as the principal composer for Dunkirk, the score’s soft, ambient, and melodic textures were crafted by Benjamin Wallfisch and inspired by Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934). The film’s most poignant theme is a reimagining of Elgar’s “Nimrod” from his […]

[no spoilers] The Bone Temple Hildur Guðnadóttir is a cellist and composer who has become a leading figure in post-classical and film music. She represents a bit of a funny paradox: she is a beautiful, cheerful Icelandic woman who is best known for creating unrelenting, […]

Brooklyn Baby Lana Del Rey’s “Brooklyn Baby” (Ultraviolence, 2014) is a satirical nod to Brooklyn’s hipster subculture. Produced by Dan Auerbach, it perfectly captures the “California-noir” and psychedelic rock vibe of that era. There is a bittersweet story behind the track: Lana had planned to […]

Embers I originally wrote this piece for a foreign language film titled Broken Noons, directed by Guillermo Vasquez and shot in Spain. I’ve always been proud of the work I did for that project, so I’ve recently been re-recording and releasing those tracks. “Embers” is […]

Remember 28 Years Later is a long way off from the 2002 original. Being in my late 40s, I still fondly remember Danny Boyle’s gritty, grainy direction and how he completely rebooted the zombie genre. 28 Days Later was also, of course, the world’s introduction […]

Iguazu This is an arrangement of Gustavo Santaolalla’s famous composition, “Iguazu.” By the late 90s, Santaolalla was already an icon in Latin alternative music as both a musician and producer, but “Iguazu”—specifically its haunting use in the 1999 film *The Insider*—kicked off his prolific “third […]

A soft collision of breath One of my favorite composers is Max Richter. To me, he is the father of post-classical music (sometimes referred to as post-minimalism or neo-classical). The magic of his work—take “On the Nature of Daylight,” for example—is that it’s simple enough […]

Your hand, a map of oceans This piece is about the uncertain, sometimes turbulent path of a new beginning. We often forget that personal progress is fueled by the very growth that only change can deliver. Sometimes, that means stepping out of your comfort zone […]

Coventry Carol One of my all-time favorite Christmas albums is Loreena McKennitt’s A Winter Garden, released in 1995—the very year I graduated high school. At that time, I was working part-time mornings at Natural Wonders (while teaching guitar late afternoons and evenings). Natural Wonders was […]