Writer-director Guy Ritchie's street-tough look at London's decrepit underworld and the unsavory dealings of four best friends whose cockiness is undercut by some serious trouble features a soundtrack of quick dialogue sound clips, a smattering of classic rock, pop, and reggae, and a few current submissions as well. Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves," known most to rock audiences by the Clash cover, is a great piece of political resistance and laidback dub groove. James Brown's "The Payback" and "The Boss" and Iggy and the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" stake out the sharp end, while the late Dusty Springfield paints the softer corner with "Spooky." Ocean Colour Scene delivers the backwards guitar driven "100 Mile High City," and Stretch's "Why Did You Do It?" is a great recreation of early '70s soul.
Mark Knopfler's fine soundtrack to the film Metroland nicely evokes the picture's wistful, nostalgic atmosphere. Rounding out the collection are late-'70s classics from Dire Straits ("Sultans of Swing"), Elvis Costello ("Alison") and the Stranglers ("Peaches"), in addition to left-field inclusions like Françoise Hardy's "Tous Les Garcons et Les Filles" and Django Reinhardt's "Blues Clair."
Tangerine Dream's 'Wavelength' is the soundtrack to an obscure Robert Carradine sci-fi film from 1983, and while it offered nothing truly fresh or groundbreaking from the band, it's still makes for a fine background listen while offering several variations of spacey/electronic ambience. Composed by the trio of Edgar Froese, Christopher Franke and Johannes Schmoelling, considering the albums around it such as 'Hyperborea', 'White Eagle' etc, 'Wavelength' still features the ghostly Melloton, as well as having a distinct mid-70's TD period sound instead of the cold plastic 80's that was emerging during that time. It's mostly comprised of short little interludes and snippets which unfortunately means that many of the tracks rarely get time to develop better, and some sections are reworked pieces from previous albums…
Hollywood never learns. Hot on the heels of box-office failures Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Can't Stop the Music, comes the roller-skating Olivia Newton John in Xanadu. This soundtrack is fluff stuff to be sure, but some pearls float amongst the mire. Lead-off "Magic" remains a fine single…
Beethoven's 2nd is a 1993 American family film directed by Rod Daniel, and the first sequel to the 1992 film, Beethoven. It starred Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt, and Beethoven's four puppies, Chubby, Dolly, Tchaikovsky, and Moe. This is the second of six installments in the Beethoven film series. Initially, no theatrical sequel to Beethoven was planned, but Beethoven's 2nd was produced after the unexpected financial success of the film.
The theme song, "The Day I Fall in Love", performed by Dolly Parton and James Ingram, was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy Award for Best Song from a Motion Picture.
Spike Lee's powerful rumination on the last 24 hours of freedom of a young convicted felon (Edward Norton) before he serves a seven-year prison sentence that will forever change his life is charged with melancholy regrets–and slim hopes of redemption. Longtime Lee collaborator Terence Blanchard's haunting score was deservedly nominated for a Golden Globe for the stark, sophisticated way it colors a challenging story with music that's at once haunting and achingly introspective. Blanchard's orchestral music here may at first seem like his most obvious bowing to symphonic film-scoring traditions. But as it masterfully turns on a difficult emotional axis of despair and apprehension, its sad string passages and wordless arias can evoke both the Celtic and the Middle Eastern, then melt into loping jazz signatures in a heartbeat. It's a brooding, elegantly sophisticated soundtrack that pays only occasional tribute to Blanchard's rich jazz accomplishments, but one that dramatically underscores his true range and dramatic potential as a film composer.
Mark Knopfler's fine soundtrack to the film Metroland nicely evokes the picture's wistful, nostalgic atmosphere. Rounding out the collection are late-'70s classics from Dire Straits ("Sultans of Swing"), Elvis Costello ("Alison") and the Stranglers ("Peaches"), in addition to left-field inclusions like Françoise Hardy's "Tous Les Garcons et Les Filles" and Django Reinhardt's "Blues Clair."…