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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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

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.

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 - Steven Price

I don't think I'll catch this movie in the theater.  After seeing the previews, it seems a little too unrealistic.  Yeah I know... it's a movie.  But seriously though, I don't think space suits can withstand that type of abuse, especially in space.  I think this is the first time I've heard a score from composer Steven Price. The tracks sound like they fit very well with a movie about space.  It has an "air-y-ness" feel to it.

Favorite:  Track #11 - Aurora Borealis

Man of Steel - Hans Zimmer

I really enjoyed the reboot of Superman. More the reminiscing scenes than the action scenes.  The cues Hans Zimmer used for those scenes of reflection played out well.

Favorite:  Track #3 - Sent Here For A Reason

Star Trek Into Darkness - Michael Giacchino

Michael Giacchino carries forward some of his themes from the first Star Trek movie into Star Trek Into Darkness.  His score to me seems to keep the new franchise fresh.  It has both good action and dramatic feel.  I enjoyed the movie and look forward to the next one.  You kind of wonder how long they can keep the current cast together before they all start asking for more money.

Favorite:  Track #10 - Warp Core Values
                 Track #11 - Buying the Space Farm

Iron Man 3 - Brian Tyler

Ahh the 2013 season of summer blockbuster or so called blockbuster movies begins. The highly anticipated Iron Man 3 is no exception. The score is composed by Brian Tyler who scored movies such as Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Battle LA and the Expendables.  There isn't much hints of the previous Iron Man scores.  The first one was composed by Ramin Djawadi and the second one was composed by John Debney.  The first track Iron Man 3 gets you into the superhero feel.  It sounds like the movie will be action filled and fun.

Favorite: Track #06 - New Beginnings

Oblivion - M83, Anthony Gonzalez & Joseph Trapanese

Not really a big Tom Cruise fan once he started going wacko with the cult of Scientology. I'm planning on seeing Oblivion anyways more for the special effects but then again now that I've heard the score I might enjoy it more. If you've been following my blog, most of the scores that I lean more towards dramatic scores rather than action scores. Tracks like StarWaves, Raven Rock and I'm Sending You Away are more to my liking.

The album is made up of 17 tracks, with the 17th tracking being a vocal song track.  There is also deluxe version of the score with 30 tracks on eyetunes.

Favorite: Track #04 - StarWaves

The Bible - Hans Zimmer & Lorne Balfe

Just in time for Easter, the History channel has been showing the TV mini series The Bible.  After hearing a track on the Cinemix station, I ordered it.  You can definitely tell that this is a Hans Zimmer score.  This is not because there are some tracks with vocals featuring Lisa Gerrard who also did some vocals in Gladiator.  I think this is the 2nd religious score that Zimmer had done, the other one being The Prince of Egypt from what I can remember.

Favorite: Track #2 - In The Beginning

Safe Haven - Deborah Lurie

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. Every Nicholas Sparks book that they make into a movie, I seem to enjoy the movie scores that accompany them.  This is the 2nd Nicholas Sparks movie that Deborah Lurie scored, the first being Dear John.  You can hear pieces of the Dear John but it's subtle unlike the majority of James Horner scores.  The tracks that I like so far are just too short.  It makes me want to hear more.  A couple of the tracks aren't as mellow as they were meant for suspenseful scenes within the movie.  A little jarring if you want to just hit play and listen to the whole score.  I guess that's why playlists are so nice.

There is also a music soundtrack that was released at the same time as the score.  Unfortunately the score appears to be released as a digital download only.

Favorite:  Track #11 - No Safer Place