One reason I love Portland

I love the selection of Root Beer!
(Okay, so not all of those are root beer, but they were all good.)

Aquilera and the National Anthem

I missed the performance of the national anthem prior to the super bowl today, but when I started seeing facebook posts about how Christina messed up the words, it didn't take long before I was all caught up. In case you missed it:

First of all I should preface the following by writing that this is my opinion. Also, I do appreciate popular music and certain trends in the genre.
Upon watching the video it wasn't too hard to figure out that she had messed up some of the lyrics. You know what? That kind of stuff happens a lot, and I didn't care that much because she was professional enough to maintain and continue.
However, I felt the performance was not very good. I understand that many people really like Aguilera's work and her performance style, and that's okay. But I feel that they way she applied it to the national anthem was pretty indulgent.
I don't know how you feel, but when I'm at a sporting event, I like to sing along with our national anthem. I feel like it bonds the people in the community (bleachers/stands) and it makes me feel just a little patriotic. And when compared with some other countries, sometimes I feel like we don't sing it together enough.
When Aguilera sang it, there would have been no way I could sing along because of all the runs, and trills and pop techniques she applied. It felt like a disservice to the meaning of the song, and more of a testament to how many more notes she could sing in one breath.
It's my humble opinion that when it comes to the national anthem, simpler is better.

My favorite scores of 2010 (Top 5)

2010 wasn't a huge year for new score releases, but there were definitely a few that I absolutely adore! Now that I've had time to think about it, I've put together my favorites.
So without further explanation, and in alphabetical order, here are my favorite scores from 2011:

Ghost Writer - Alexandre Desplat
Desplat has some great orchestration chops, and for me, Ghost writer was his best score this year. Don't get me wrong, I loved Harry Potter, and The King's Speech... but this score bears multiple listens. Music On Film compared this score to something Bernard Herrmann would have done for Hitchcock, which only makes me like it more!
Favorite cue: "Chase on the Ferry"

How to Train Your Dragon - John Powell
The most Williams-like of my top scores from 2011, this score continues the expansion of John Powell's dominance over my heart. A good movie, this score kicks major ass. A fully orchestral, bombastic accompaniment for a Viking boy who befriends a dragon. Is it just me, or does Powell have, perhaps, the most distinct voice for being an alumnus of Zimmer's school of composition, Remote Control Studios?
Favorite cue: "Dragon's Den"

Inception - Hans Zimmer
This score really surprised me at how cool it was. A beautiful blend of synth and orchestra (minus woodwinds), and built on a beautiful progression, the score makes for great repeat listening. Written to represent dreams and dreamscapes, Zimmer provides a very haunting score, with some very clever musical transformations including getting the big brass stabbing motif from a slowed down version of a song performed by Edith Piaf.
Favorite cue: "Dream is Collapsing"

Predators - John Debney
I know the controversy surrounding Debney's homage score. Using the same theme's and orchestration style as Alan Silvestri on his efforts for Predator, and Predator 2, he took a lot of heat, and some people were not happy that Silvestri didn't receive a credit. Despite all that, I love this score. It sounds very pristine, and I was happy that it was such a huge homage!
Favorite cue: "Free Fall"

Tron: Legacy - Daft Punk (Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Thomas Bangalter)
I've written about my feelings on this score already, and I still like it a lot. Even with the comparisons to Zimmer and Howard's Dark Knight, I still love this score, and it is still inspiring me for the "next big project (in my head)".
Favorite cue: "Rinzler"
Honorable mention:

The re-recording of Basil Poledouris' Conan the Barbarian.
The only reason this isn't in the top five may be pretty obvious... it is not from a movie released in 2010. It is a re-recording of a movie from 1982. But I have to say that this score really rocks my face off!
Favorite cue: The Tree of Woe / Recovery

Fringe - Michael Giacchino, Chris Tilton, Chad Seiter
One of my favorite shows on television, the score is also super awesome. These composers are super at creating interesting sounds and timbres to fit the Fringe universe... er, universes!
Favorite cue: "Gurney For Your Thoughts" (Tilton)

Human Target - Bear McCreary
Bear has been doing a lot of work lately, whether it was finishing up BSG, Terminator: Chronicles of Sarah Connor, Caprica, The Walking Dead, and now The Cape. Human Target is epic for one reason... in this day and age when it's much easier, cheaper, and time saving to use synth and sample scores, this dude was composing for a full orchestra for this show every week. Very admirable, and something I can only hope to do in the future.
Favorite cue: Honestly, it's too hard to choose from the nearly 3 1/2 hours of music that was released on the CD!

It's official again

I am now a certified Bachelor of Music in Composition... so I'll take all those composition jobs now, thank you!
You may also notice that whilst earning this degree I did so with great flair as noted by the "summa cum laude".
Good times!

Winter NAMM show 2011

My friend and studio partner Ben L. and I made the trek down to Anaheim, CA for the winter NAMM show, and i have to say that it was a blast!

We saw many cool things, but were absolutely blown away by Electro Harmonix's pedal: V256. Seriously... there was a tiny woman demoing the pedal, and when she activated it, she went from sounding like a small woman to a 6'7" tough guy. There were other effects on the pedal that have put it high up on my list of "things I want for the studio."

I also got to play around with the Moog guitar, and I love it. The infinite sustain (perpetuated by internal magnets) make this a very special guitar. Although it is also on the list, it'll most likely remain there for a while as it is pretty expensive. I also got to play with the Minimoog Voyager. So awesome! I need to start selling some blood because this thing comes in at $4995... but worth it... right? Yes!

Out of everything at the show, the thing that I ordered right away was the Logic Pro cover from KB Covers. It is a plastic cover for your computer keyboard that has all of the shortcuts and macros for the Pro Audio software Logic, or many others. If you are interested in one of these, they have a show discount for 20% off through 1/23. Promo Code: CES2011
While we were down in Anaheim we popped on over to Disney Land and California Adventure (don't worry... I didn't go on more than a couple rides because of my back). Here you can see Ben and I blasting some "astros". I wasn't very good.

Golden Globes: Trent Reznor and film music

Now that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have won the Golden Globe for Best Original Film Score, I thought I should try to explore my thoughts about Trent Reznor and Film music.
I read the other day that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have been asked to score the US remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
SIDEBAR - This is not a post about whether or not a remake should be made at all, only a couple years after the original foreign film was released (2009). Nor is this a review about Jacob Groth's effort on that film.
The first thought I had about the news of Reznor and Atticus was that I wouldn't like their score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and that maybe Trent should stick with writing his Nine Inch Nails music in his electronica/pop genre, because, in my opinion... he has created a lot of music that I love and have listened to for years!
After, thinking about it, I'm wondering to myself why I have contempt prior to investigation.
I'm still deep in consideration, but here's what I know right now...
Out of all the scores that I've purchased this year, The Social Network is the only one that is almost entirely electronic.
When I first heard who was scoring The Social Network, I was looking forward to hearing it! I knew that Reznor could do many things musical. Combine that with the guy who wrote the very cool score for The Book of Eli, and I don't really see how it could be bad.
Finally I heard it.
The Social Network was a great underscore for the on screen manifestation of Aaron Sorkin's screenplay. I write underscore because, to be honest with you, aside from the electronic version of "In the Hall of the Mountain King", it isn't really all that memorable to me besides being Reznor's first foray into film scoring. And while it was different sounding compared to film scores released around the same time, it isn't a stretch from what I was hoping Reznor could do. And in thinking of things that he's already done like The Downward Spiral, The Social Network just seems like B-side Reznor noodleing. Harsh, but that's how I feel.
If I had to guess, it sounds like Atticus deferred to Reznor. I can hear elements of him buried at sporadic intervals throughout the score, but overall... it feels like Reznor to me.
With all that said, I should also write that their first joint effort does not a voice make. (God that sounds pretentious). I guess I hope that when they do team up again for their next effort, I want them to flex their musical muscles, and blow me away like I know they can.

I broke my back

Okay, the title may have been a little overstated, but i totally did break something in my back. According to those who know and understand these things, i ruptured my L4 disk in my spine.


I can tell you without lying that it hurts, a lot, even though this happened all the way back in October. In the MRI picture, you can see the damaged disk; it's the second from the bottom, and its obscuring the (white) nerve cluster.
So if you're thinking about lifting something heavy, and perhaps heavier than you should lift, consider lifting with your knees and not your back.
This has been your public service announcement for the week (it's mine for life).

First week out of the way

Do you want to know what my new year's resolution was?
It was to not do a whole heck of a lot for the first week of 2011, and guess what... I succeeded.
I may have cheated a little bit by having celebrated Christmas a week late with my in-laws. But I'll take it as a win.
So now 2011 can begin, and boy what a year it's going to be (for better or worse).
Among growing my own wings, there's so much in store that I'm not going to write about it (I'm not one for tempting fate).
So if you please, stay tuned and I'll let you know about stuff as it happens.
So enjoy pics of my nephews!


Talk to you next week.

Forgotten Music, Rediscovered

If you read this blog, you know that I'm a film score fanatic.
What I don't write about very often is my love for other styles of music. Well, today I'm going through my library and recreating a playlist containing music that isn't film music, or classical.
In creating this new playlist, the greatest thing about it is rediscovering music that has been sitting in iTunes for a long while gathering digital dust.
Today, I rediscovered some old albums that are really great, but I haven't listened to in a long while.

Lagwagon - Let's Talk About Feelings
(iTunes) (Amazon)
So many great songs on this album. I love the "muzak" section in the first song separating the punk with something a little softer.

cKy - Infiltrate.Destroy.Rebuild
(iTunes) (Amazon)
For my money, this is cKy's strongest album. Every song is tight, and seems well worked out with all the other songs on the album.

Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come
(iTunes) (Amazon)
An album intended to be a through experience from beginning to end.  I was sad when punk didn't go in this direction... and when the band split.

Reverend Horton Heat - Holy Roller
(Amazon)
Shame on me for losing touch with my rockabilly soul. This album is full of everything one could ever want of this genre. From satire, to same sex cowboys.

Incubus - S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
(iTunes) (Amazon)
The heaviest and different than what came before. My second favorite next to Make Yourself. But how can you not love an album that begins with the sound of a didgeridoo?
And the awesome rediscovered single...
The Avalanches - "Frontier Psychiatrist"
Enjoy!

I'm a new uncle

Congratulations to my sister and brother-in-law for making me a new nephew.
Mother and Baby are well!

Getting close to the end of 2010

The end of 2010 is quickly arriving.
Here's what I'll be ending my year with:

• Listening to some Daft Punk Tron Legacy magic.
• Reading the Dies the Fire series by SM Sterling
• Writing a violin solo for my friend Stella
• Beginning work on music for the Murder-Mystery web series Curtain Call by Michael Stromenger
• Catching up on Dexter and Boardwalk Empire
• Playing with new software called Melodyne (this thing is a beast!)
• Taking the Arkansas Contractors Business and Law test (for my other job)
• Shipping a bunch of gifts for the Christmas Holiday.
• Playing Crackdown 2 finally (I've heard it's not that good, but I don't mind, I can always just replay Halo Reach)

That's a lot to do in 2 weeks, but I think I can handle it.

Tron Legacy by Daft Punk - Magic to my ears

TronSoundtrack.com 34.98 Deluxe Edition
Amazon.com 11.88 Disc
iTunes 9.99 Digital
At first when I heard that Daft Punk was going to be creating the music for the new Tron film... I felt let down a little. Actually I felt let down a lot.
The original film Tron was one of those movies, as a kid, that I was constantly re-watching and really wishing that I had a light cycle. When it was announced that they were creating a sequel that was finally more than a thought, I was excited for it, but I couldn't understand the choice of composers.
Don't think that I dislike Daft Punk, because I actually like them quite a bit. It's just that their brand of music up until now seemed too... happy.
To me the world that Tron inhabits is very dark, very expansive, and very, very sinister (I mean... I guess one could call it a cyberscape). It didn't seem to me that Daft Punk would be appropriate for this world (unless they were taking the film in a completely different direction from the first, but that wasn't what I was seeing in the trailers). In my mind I couldn't figure out how the film could possibly be good with two hours of "Around the World" underscoring the solar sailers, disk fights, and the other crazy shit, you thought I was going to forget the light cycles, didn't you?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9MszVE7aR4]
And then Daft released some samples from the score. It was not what I was expecting to say the least. It was as if the French DJ duo had taken a bunch of downers but remained like hyper-bots throwing their electronic instruments into minor keys and reading up on how to orchestrate for strings.
A friend of mine, Herr Vogler, commented that it sounded as if "someone had their Dark Knighty o's" referring to how similar the sound of Daft was to that of the string writing from Hans Zimmer's (and James Newton Howard's) Dark Knight score. I had to agree that the sound was indeed very similar. Another similarity can be heard by some of the brass stings they used, which sounds very close to another Zimmer score released this year... Inception.
When I heard the full score, I was able to hear the brilliant marriage between Daft Punk's electronic synthesis and acoustic orchestral instruments.
The cue "Overture" starts off the score. Taking a little while to build up with a dark pad, and introducing the theme slowly in the horn section, it really feels expansive. At about a minute and a half in the synths can really be heard joining the huge sweeping orchestra, putting a nice exclamation point on the opener.
In a lot of the cues, the synths are quite obvious, but blend supremely well with the orchestra. In "The Son of Flynn" Daft begins with an arpeggiated synth figure that reminds me of something Muse would do before breaking out into some rock riffs.
One of my favorite cues is "Outlands". It has a very quick sounding figure in the strings that is expanded into more string sections throughout the piece. Eventually the brass joins in and helps the cue build to its climactic ending. Very cool string writing!
"Adagio for Tron" may be the closest cue to something resembling complete orchestral knowhow, Even with the synth figures entwined in the terrific writing, I still find it very organic. And how can you not love a piece that also includes organ? Ending with a cello solo, this piece is also one of my favorites!
Even though I had been disappointed about the potential to have an electronic Daft Punk score for Tron, I almost couldn't believe my own delight at a couple of the floor ready house electronic cues included in the score, namely "End of Line" and their early single "Derezzed." The only difference between these cues and classic Daft Punk is the fact that they were written for a movie. So awesome. They get my heart pumping and my feet tapping. Makes me very excited to which images they match up with in the film!
For as much as I dreaded this score, I would call this not just a pleasant surprise, but a most welcome guest in my collection, and a definite addition to my favorite scores of 2010. I would also be remiss if I didn't write that this score is inspiring some truly grand ideas in my little human brain... but more on that at a future date!

Writing of a different variety

So Ben L. and I participated in this years National Novel Writing Month, and I thought I'd share that we completed the challenge!

Without going into detail about the different ways in which we broke rules (you're not supposed to write with a partner, etc...) we probably spent between 20-25 days total on the project.
You may ask "Were all of those days in November?"
My question to you is... can I include the parallel universes that are on different calanders?
Anyways, we did it. We collated all of our words last night and came up with a little over 51,000. The neat thing about that is... we still have about a third of our story left to write (I never thought I'd write that much... ever.)
You may wonder when you get to read it. Well, let us finish it first... and then let us edit it as well. How long do those things take? I dunno, I've never done this before.
The tentative title of our book: Meta Pneuma - The Search for the Necronomicon
It's totally steampunk!

Happy Thanksblogging

In honor of the thanksgiving holiday, and the fact that this is my 101st post on the wordpress blog, I'll keep it short and sweet.

Happy Thanksgiving

Aliens ofo the space variety

I've always been a sucker for movies that are set in space, or have an element of space or spacey things in them. Having said that, it's probably no surprise to you that I really love sci-fi movies.
Some of my favorites are The Fifth Element, District 9, Sunshine, Star Wars, Event Horizon, Independence Day, Avatar, WALL-E, Star Trek, Moon, Pitch Black, Deep Impact, Apollo 13, Contact, Aliens, Serenity, Firefly (I know this isn't a movie... but it's pretty damn brilliant!), etc...
You can see from this list that some of these would never make a "best of" list in a lot of people's opinions. However, despite the negative points, I like these things because there are space based things... or aliens.

So with that, I finally watched the trailer for Battle: Los Angeles.  It looks pretty awesome, and it has one of my current favorite actors Aaron Eckhart. It also has Michelle Rodriguez, and Bridget Moynahan. With a $100 million budget and a director hailing from Johannesburg, South Africa (Jonathan Liebesman), I have high hopes for this movie. I'm not expecting District 9, but I hope at least it'll be better than a Roland Emmerich alien invasion film circa 2010.

Another film that is out right now is Skyline, which looks like it'd be right up my alley, but I've decided to hold off until it hits Netflix based on  Ain't It Cool News' reviews.
One funny thing I found out while looking up info on B:LA was that Sony contemplated suing the Strause brothers over Skyline based on the fact that they may have used some of Sony's resources while working on B:LA to finish their own film.
With this knowledge, is there an alien or space film you recommend I see?

Don't destroy your music... please?

A friend of mine recently sent me a recording  of a live solo violin performance, and asked me why it didn't sound very good. The problem, he stated, was that the sound was very flat and sounded compressed, not like previous recordings in the same hall with the same recording equipment.
I was excited, not only to help a brother out, but because I actually learned about ways to measure this particular problem in one of the classes I took at PSU... finally, tuition is paying off... sort of.
I knew, that I would need to use a frequency or spectrum analyzer to see visually, what we could hear aurally. The program I used is a free download called Spectro. And can be used as a plug-in within your Digital Audio Workstation of choice... even garageband.
Each Example sample is also pictured with the corresponding spectrum analysis.
Example #1 (compressed):

stats:

• Bit Rate - 192 kbps
• Sample Rate - 32.000kHz

Example #2 (non-compressed... er, technically, less-compressed):

stats:

• Bit Rate - 256 kbps
• Sample Rate - 44.100 kHz

You'll see in each of the spectral analyses that the partials reached are very representative of the sound. The first example barely reaches 3,900 Hz, while the second example reaches as high as 22,000 Hz.
I also think that you'll be able to hear the difference in sound as you listen. Example #1 sounds very flat, and almost as if it's low fidelity. While the second example sounds more "live in the room", and much richer.
My friend and I are agreed that the loss of fidelity most likely occurred during the initial bounce when the transfer was made from the original disc to mp3.

You can see from this comparison picture that the lower the bitrate, the less dynamic of a range that will remain in the acoustic envelope of sound... basically you're losing a good portion of the overtones, which is definitely part of the music (even though you may not even notice it).
Ideally, you would want a Lossless rip, or for most types of music, 320 kbps... minimum 256 kbps. Anything less and you start losing a lot of sounds, or at least the sounds that help make up the music you're supposed to be listening to.
So now, with this information, you can see why it's important to use greater bit rates when ripping your new Mastodon CD, or downloading a copy of the soundtrack from Beauty and the Beast from your favorite online music store.

A great Halloween treat (that I won)

For Halloween I got a really great treat!
I was one of the winners for Film Score Monthly's Halloween giveaway of Michael Giacchino's score for the horror remake Let Me In.
I'm stoked because not only do I love Michael Giacchino's music, but I also love to win things!
I've heard a couple cues from this score already and I thought that it was a really good, creepy version of music similar to Lost.
I'm super excited to be getting this in the mail and getting some good listening time.
So happy halloween to you!

The Imperial March for piano

I found this on syfy's site blastr.
"What if Beethoven had composed Darth Vader's theme" is the question their site asks.
My answer... it would probably have more scalar movement within the transitions.
Anyways... for your viewing pleasure:

My Top 10 Favorite Movies (List)

Just got home from seeing Jackass 3D, so I thought it'd be a good time to respond to Mikey the Pikey's challenge:
…my favorite movies…ever. The ones I don’t think I’d ever like to be without. The “deserted island” list, if you will. These are the movies that, should I encounter them randomly on television, I’ll stop whatever I’m doing and watch them, regardless of where they are in the film.
This is kindof an impossible task, because there are so many films/movies that speak to me in one way or another. So I'm making the list of those movies that match the second half of the above mentioned criteria, something that, if I randomly come across it, I'll stop and watch.
After compiling the list, I realized that there aren't a lot of heavy dramas in there. It's not because I don't like them, because I do, and I watch them a lot, often multiple times. But I guess I was going for the criteria set up by Mikey the Pikey. So, with that written, here is the list:

The Fifth Element - (1997; dir. Luc Besson; Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich, Chris Tucker; composer - Eric Serra)
I know the list is in no particular order, but this movie was the first in my mind, primarily because it's my most favorite movie. I first saw this the year it came out, and I must say that, for me, it hasn't lost any of its lustre. There are funny things, and serious things. An always beautiful Milla, and one of my favorite actors Gary Oldman. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it's space based science fiction (after all, I was a space studies major (for about six weeks)).

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - (2001; dir. Peter Jackson; Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortenson, Ian McKellan, Ian Holm, many other huge names!; composer - Howard Shore)
Of course, I absolutely love the entire trilogy, but if there's one that I watch more than the others, it would be this one. I think it's because there's nothing better than the beginning of a journey, epic or otherwise!

How The Grinch Stole Christmas - (2000; dir. Ron Howard; Jim Carrey, Jeffery Tambor; composer - James Horner)
This one gets some heavy rotation around the end of year holidays. I don't know why, but its pretty damn funny, and fun to watch. Favorite line that I quote often, "am I eating because I'm bored?" Even now I'm chuckling.

Muppet Treasure Island - (1996; dir. Brian Henson; Tim Curry, Billy Connolly; composer - Hans Zimmer)
This one I probably never would have watched because when I first saw it, I was a junior in high school and thought I was maybe a little too cool for the muppets. After my friend convinced me otherwise, I learned that I was in fact not too cool for the muppets, but perhaps not cool enough. Thank you Tommy C.!

Kung Fu Panda - (2008; dirs. Mark Osborne, John Stevenson; Jack Black, Ian McShane, Dustin Hoffman; composers - Hans Zimmer, John Powell)
I'm a sucker for a lot of the recent animated films beginning with Shrek and running through How To Train Your Dragon. Kung Fu Panda is just one of the ones that I like to have playing when I'm doing anything!

Talladega Nights - (2006; dir. Adam McKay; Will Ferrell, Gary Cole, John C. Reilly, Jane Lynch; composer - Alex Wurman)
A lot of people (and critics) panned on this movie, but that wouldn't be the first time that I enjoyed something that others don't.  I think people dislike the character that Will Ferrell plays (in most of his films). As for me... after a couple viewings, the performances grow on me. I actually don't know if I could live without Talladega Nights anymore.

O, Brother Where Art Thou? - (2000; dirs. The Coens; George Clooney, John Turturo, Tim Blake Nelson; Music - T Bone Burnett)
I love everything about this period piece. The music, the characters, the acting, the setting, and the story (Homer's Odyssey). I could watch it anytime. Anytime at all.

Run Fatboy Run - (2007; dir. David Schwimmer; Simon Pegg, Yank My Area (sorry, Hank Azaria), Dylan Moran; composer - Alex Wurman)
This charming movie is fun to watch and makes me feel good too. And ever since Shaun of the Dead, I've been a fan of Pegg's. This is no exception. I usually look forward to anything that Pegg is a part of.

Shaun of the Dead - (2004; dir. Edgar Wright; Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield)
Even though this film had original music, the soundtrack contains a lot of existing music. And actually, it is one of my favorite soundtracks to listen to completely from start to finish due to its arrangement. So, aside from the soundtrack, the film kicks ass! Zombie killing is great fun, especially when done with and Edgar Wright slant.

Star Trek - (2009; dir. J.J. Abrams; Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana; composer - Michael Giacchino)
Look, another Pegg film. But seriously, I love this film. When it came out, I wasn't keen on going to see it because it just didn't look like it would be impressive. Thankfully, my buddy/partner Ben L. dragged me to see it. That was a good thing, because its awesome! The cinematography is spectacular, and I love the character performances. I also love Giacchino's score... but you probably already knew that.
That's 10 films... but I can't stop there, so here are some alternates:

Army of Darkness - (1992; dir. Sam Raimi; Bruce Campbell; composer - Joseph LoDuca)
I watched this movie at least once a week my freshman year of college. I used many of the soundbites for ringtones. It has a cue from Danny Elfman. I don't know if I need to say more than that.

Crank: High Voltage - (2009; dirs. Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor; Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Dwight Yoakam; composer - Mike Patton)
High octane. Great unintentional video game movie. Awesome hodgepodge score by Mike Patton of Faith No More fame. Statham rocks my face.

Shawshank Redemption - (1994; dir. Frank Darbont; Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman; composer - Thomas Newman)
When I first learned that this story was written by Stehpen King, my appreciation for him grew by leaps and bounds. When I learned that Frank Darbont would be directing AMC's The Walking Dead (starts on Oct. 31st) it gave me the feeling that I wouldn't be disappointed... that and there'll be zombies (Jesus... why do I like zombies so much?). Great movie. I love when other things reference it. For instance, Family Guy. When they performed a cue from the original score, it helped remind me of another reason why I love this film!

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999; dir. George Lucas; Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd; composer - John Williams)
Chastise me if you must, but this is my favorite Star Wars film... based purely on its associative properties. It may not be the best one, but it is the one that is related to some of my fondest memories. The score from this film, was the only music in my car that summer for so many road trips that took place. I will never regret the decision to make this my favorite, not until programmed nanites rearrange my brain's synapses.

The Bourne Supremacy - (2004; dir. Paul Greengrass; Matt Damon, Brian Cox, Julia Stiles; composer - John Powell)
I really love all of the Bourne films, but this one will forever hold a place in my heart because of its score. This was the score I listened to when I made the decision to actually go back to school to pursue my music composition education with the intent to compose for media. So thank you Mike S. for that!!
Well, there you have it. A list of films off the top of my brain that I would enjoy life just a little less without. There are so many that deserve to be on the list... but I honestly don't want to keep looking up some of the information.
What can I say... I'm lazy.

3 things that excite me (right now)

I'm still over here in Chi Town, bankrolling my future, and trying to make my dad a pantload of money. When I'm not working, I'm usually surfing the net, or just vegging out (it's a lot harder managing a railroad company than I imagined).
I  try to read, and I try listening to music, but I usually just end up reading about music. A couple things I've heard about but finally have actually gathered some information on is some upcoming releases that have me absolutely drooling!

Human Target by Bear McCreary
This is being released by La La Land Records on Oct. 19th for $24.95.
I'm excited about this score for a couple of reasons... Bear McCreary scored the lion's share of the remake of Battlestar Galactica. Secondly, the score was performed by a live (and at times, HUGE) orchestra, and anytime that happens in the current entertainment market, I feel obliged to support that!
I never really got into the show, but I'm sure I won't be disappointed by the score.

Elfman/Burton Boxset
I think the title pretty much says it all. This is the culmination of their work together, which is weird, because neither of them are dead yet ( ...I kindof assume that they are going to do more together). It also has other goodies that help justify the price... a little.
You can pre-order the december release at burtonelfman.com, and be forewarned, they're asking for $500 for this! Holy shit. $500?! And they are only making 1000 of these. So the question is, are there 1000 fanboy's with $500 dollars burning a hole in their batman shaped money clip? And the even greater question, does my mom know that I want this for my birthday?
Even if she does, that is a lot to ask... however, if it were to be a combination birthday/christmas gift? Maybe then? I keed... Christmas is about '8 pound 6 ounce baby Jesus' (I'm quoting Ricky Bobby).
But seriously... I'm not above begging.

Avatar
This rare artifact will be released on November 16th with a suggested retail price of $54.99, but can be pre-ordered from amazon for $35.99.
This version will have tons of extras, including more footage in the film itself (even more than the recent version that was released, er... re-released, er... showed recently in theaters. Anyways, they have lots of things on here like documentaries and deleted scenes and other cool goodies.
I'm just really excited to watch some Blu-Ray Avatar in my living room. I initially thought I might wait for the 3D version... but I don't think I want to buy a 3D TV yet.
So there you go. Three things that I'm excited about. Am I missing anything?