Puzzle - Dustin O'Halloran

The first score I ever heard from Dustin O'Halloran was from the movie Like Crazy. I find his scores very calming. I watched the movie Puzzle and thought it was a good movie.  The music worked very well with the movie.  I always liked the acting of Irrfan Khan, who recently passed away in April 2020.

Not sure I have a favorite track yet.

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1917 - Thomas Newman

I have to say, 1917 was a movie that had visually great cinematography. It seemed like they filmed the movie in one whole take.  There wasn't much to the plot, but the camera work kept me entertained.

Favorite: Track #19 - Come Back to Us

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Helping Out the World Passively

Bumblebee (Motion Picture Score) - Dario Marianelli

Recently saw Bumblebee. The movie was somewhat better than I had expected.  I ended up waiting for it to come out on video rather than spending so much movie to see a movie that might not have been worth seeing in the theater.  Bumblebee is somewhat of a back story to the original Transformer movie.  It focused more on the relationship of Bumblebee and Charlie.  You can always add in CGI action and explosions, but that is only part of the story.  You need to feel for the characters.  This is something that I thought came across really well and the score seems to reflect that.

It doesn't look like there's a CD release of the score.  There is also a motion picture soundtrack.

Favorite: Track #21 - Saying Goodbye

Captain Marvel - Pinar Toprak

I think I'm starting to get a little tired of superhero movies. I think my main problem is there is too much CGI and the action scenes (while there needs to be in superhero movies) are too fast and more of a blur to watch.  I enjoyed Captain Marvel.  I like the strong heroine character.  ***SPOLIER*** I really enjoyed the flashback scenes where she gets knocked down but with her strong will and determination she gets back up again and again.  ***/END SPOILER***

Favorite:  Track #15 - New Clothes

Moss Glen Falls - Granville Vermont

Went on a little day trip with a friend to Vermont.  Visited two waterfalls, both named Moss Glen Falls.  One in Granville Vermont and one in Stowe Vermont.  We even passed by the Ben and Jerry's Factory... unfortunately we didn't stop there.  Next time!

Hans Zimmer Live 2017

Went to see Hans Zimmer Live at Foxwoods.  It was a great concert!  Hoping more movie score composers do more concerts.

Wonder Woman - Rupert Gregson-Williams

The summer box office starts and it starts strong with Wonder Woman.  I definitely enjoyed the movie.  The pacing was slow in places, but the score kept me into it.  Looking forward to other Rupert Gregson-Williams scores.

Favorite: Track #5 - Pain, Loss & Love

John Williams & Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection

Lots of music to listen to on a long road trip. Plenty of favorites in this collection!!

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Michael Giacchino

After seeing Rogue One in the theater, I liked it better than Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  The story is as expected.  If you're a Star Wars fan, you know how it should end.  I did like the character development, even though it felt rushed at times.

Favorite: Track #19 - Jyn Erso & Hope Suite

Hidden Figures (Original Score) - Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams & Benjamin Wallfisch

I knew very little about the mathematicians that worked behind the scenes of NASA. I don't remember it being mentioned when I was in school, but it's something that probably should have been discussed a lot more.  Eventually I'll see the movie.  In the meantime, I'm going to search the internet for more information on.  Some of piano cues surprisingly to me sounds like James Horner. There is also a soundtrack.  Not really my cup of tea.

Favorite: Track #20 - Katherine Calculates


For those with kids, there's a Lego set with the Women of NASA.  This may help inspire or spark an interest in the next generation of engineers and mathematicians.

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Tried out Swagbucks and so far I've earned a good amount of gift cards. Take a survey here or there, watch some videos and you'll earn enough points to cash in for a gift card.


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Hollywood in Vienna: The World of James Horner

Just got Hollywood in Vienna: The World of James Horner on blu-ray released by Varese Sarabande.

In Memory of James Horner

The music world lost composer James Horner on June 22, 2015.  Going through the movie scores in my collection, I have 26 of his CD's.  Apparently his themes and music appealed to my ears.



Take a listen to track #9... "There's No Goodbye...Only Love"

Furious 7 - Brian Tyler

Furious 7 is over the top as all the other Fast and the Furious movies. It is also the last Fast and the Furious movie with Paul Walker who had passed away from a car accident unrelated to the movie.

Sure the Fast and the Furious movies are over the top and totally unbelievable, but for me I didn't care.  I expected it to be over the top and it was.  Sometimes a movie doesn't have to be believable to be entertaining.

The score is composed by Brian Tyler.  While the majority of the score is action music, there are some nice reflective themes within the score.

Favorite:  Track #20 - Letty and Dom

Cinderella - Patrick Doyle

Haven't seen the movie yet, but I've heard it was good. I'll probably wait til it comes out on video. From listening to the score, I really liked it. I've really liked a lot of Patrick Doyle's recent scores and this one doesn't disappoint. Not exactly sure what my favorite track is yet.

A Million Ways to Die in the West - Joel McNeely

I got a Sonos Play 3 as a present and I've been listening to a lot of new movie scores I've never heard before.  This is probably a good and bad thing.  The good is there are so many movie scores I probably would have never gone out of my way to hear.  The bad is that there are so many movie scores that I want to buy.  I heard A Million Ways to Die in the West composed by Joel McNeely on Cinemix FM channel on tunein radio.



Favorite:  Track #11 - Anna and Albert

Divergent (Score) - Junkie XL

Haven't seen the movie yet, but I do like what Junkie XL composed for the movie. I haven't heard of him before, but he's done a lot of collaborating with Hans Zimmer.  There is a movie soundtrack also available.

Favorite: Track #10 - A Friend

Thor: The Dark World - Brian Tyler

While I really liked Patrick Doyle's score for the first Thor movie, Brian Tyler did a good job the sequel... Thor: The Dark World. It seems like he has been doing a lot of scores lately and I'm beginning to like more and more of his scores.

Favorite:  Track #07 - Into Eternity

Gravity 2013 - **POSSIBLE SPOILERS**

I went to see Gravity in 3D, unfortunately not in Imax.  It was definitely Hollywood and there wasn't that much plot but I enjoyed the movie.  It seemed like a shorter version of Castaway, but just in space.  I think there were only 5 actors that you see in the movie... well that is if you count the 3 dead astronauts.  Ed Harris being the mission controller voice brought me back to seeing Apollo 13.  The visuals and cinematography were stunning.  All I can say is I would be freaking out spinning out of control away from the Earth.