Batman Forever (1995) - Soundtrack

I have only seen snippets and sections of Batman Forever (1995), not the complete movie, from beginning to end.

According to the liner notes for this 'Expanded Archival Collection' release, the studio wanted to move away from the dark and grotesque stylings that saturated Batman Returns. The third Batman movie needed to be far lighter in tone and accessible to an all ages audience.

This mandate led to Burton exiting the director's chair and Joel Schumacher taking his place. Something that also led to the exodus of both star Michael Keaton and composer Danny Elfman.

"I was asked to 'reinvent, freshen the franchise,'" Schumacher, who passed away in 2020, is quoted in the liner notes. "And because we had a different Batman and a younger cast in general, I thought it would be insulting to Tim Burton, and especially Danny Elfman, if we used their music." 

Schumacher requested Elliot Goldenthal after hearing a recording of the composer's score for Demolition Man (1993). It was an excellent choice.

It was a combination of good timing and my completist nature that led to my adding this score to my collection. I have the soundtracks for the first two films, why not the toss in the third. Just for continuity's sake?

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Trading Card #18

Recalling the Past

In Burkittsville Cemetery, the documentary filmmakers completed their first series of shots. "There are an unusually high number of children laid to rest here, most of whom passed in the 1940s," reported Heather Donahue meaningfully. "Yet no one in the town seems to recall anything unusual about this time - to us, anyway. Yet legend tells a different story... one whose evidence is all around, etched in stone."

A is for Alien by Charles Gould - Review

Honest to mythical-god, I thought this book was an online gag. But it turns out that A is for Alien is a for real Little Golden Book.

I did not buy this for myself. A friend of ours gave it to me for Christmas. Because this friend has both a sense of humor about, as well as a heartfelt understanding and respect for, my monster-centric interests and hobbies.

This book was clearly written for parents or guardians that want some irony laden in-joke amusement for themselves when reading to their children. A is for Alien manages to follow the general storyline of Alien, albeit without all the gore and scares, and turns it into something safe and silly enough for an all ages bedtime reading session.

There are some words and phrases that will be a tad advanced for toddlers and beginning readers, though. No one in that age demographic is sure to understand, appreciate, or benefit from learning that X is for Xenomorph. But an attentive and caring parent or guardian can, and should, make it work.

While reading this I wondered how the late Gene Siskel, who once threw a memorable hissy fit over the Alien toys released by Kenner in 1979, would have reacted to learning that an R-rated monster movie would become fodder for a weird and whimsical "children's" book.

Imaging that is almost as chuckle inducing as reading A is for Alien was.

Batman Returns (1992) - Soundtrack

For those potential visitors that might be wondering why there is a hole punched in the upper righthand corner of this CD booklet. This was a promotional copy of the soundtrack the store I was working at received and I was allowed to keep.

Like the soundtrack that precedes it in this catalogue sequence, there was a expanded re-issue released that I passed on getting. Again, I am satisfied with this album presentation and do not feel compelled to get an upgrade of it. That might change, but it also might not.

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #15

Last, but not least aboard the refinery starcraft is Jones, Ripley's pet cat and the ship's unofficial mascot.

Jones turned out to be the most contentious character in Alien. If my memory of all the behind-the-scenes and making-of articles, magazines, and books I have read, coupled with all the documentaries and bonus features that I have watched, is correct, it was Walter Hill that added Jones to the screenplay.

This was done so that Hill could snag a screenwriting credit for Alien. It was a gambit that failed, though, as Hill did not receive credit for the minor changes he made to Dan O'Bannon's script. Which was adding a cat and changing the names of the characters.

Changing characters names seems to have been a boilerplate maneuver when tasked with revising, polishing, or doctoring a script. A smoke and mirrors way of making minor or, in some cases, non-existent alterations appear major. 

So it goes, it seems.

Batman (1989) - Soundtrack

While there have been expanded re-issues and special editions of Danny Elfman's iconic score for Tim Burton's Batman, I have passed on every opportunity to purchase an upgraded variation of this original soundtrack, which I purchased way back in 1989. I am quite satisfied with what I have, thank you very much.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Trading Card #17

Welcome to Burkittsville

In 1884, the abandoned town of Blair was reborn as a community called Burkittsville, named after wealthy plantation owner Peter Branwall Burkitt. A friend of Burkitt's was a railroad baron in Maryland, and his while his men were laying new track he became lost in the woods and stumbled upon the overgrown road leading to what was once Blair. Knowing of Burkitt's desire to develop land, he tipped his friend off, and both men died happy millionaires.

Basic Instinct (1992) - Soundtrack

As good as Jerry Goldsmith's score for Basic Instinct is, and it is very good, it is not the music I most associate with the film. That would be Blue by LaTour, because of its being put to excellent use in the film's trailer. That is what I first 'hear' whenever I am wont to think about Basic Instinct. Which is not all that often, truth be told.

After having worked together with excellent results on the 1991 science-fiction action-adventure Total Recall, director Paul Verhoeven and composer Jerry Goldsmith joined forces for 1992's Basic Instinct. While the creation of the main theme for the former went rather smoothly, the journey to creating the main theme for Basic Instinct turned out to be a frustrating and challenging one.

"Jerry felt the movie needed a 'heart' that would elevate it," Verhoeven shares in the liner notes. "But when he started to play music in his studio, I disagreed with it... I didn't want...a romantic heart, because the movie is too harsh and cold-blooded [for] that."

Goldsmith took it in stride, though. After a piece of music eventually caught Verhoeven's ear and was placed under a scene featuring an intimate conversation between femme fatale Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) and troubled detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), the film's elusive main theme was discovered at last.

"In a flash, it became clear to Jerry what the score should be," Verhoeven explains. "From then on, he could write the score in one run, and we were sailing with the wind."

Goldsmith's main theme is not an overtly romantic one, as requested. Instead it is a haunting and almost hypnotic one. The liner notes describe it invoking "the feeling of being mesmerized." Which is accurate.

While most of the score plays under dialogue and sex scenes, there are a few moments that allowed for Goldsmith to display his gift for propulsive and brassy action composition. This occurs during an over-the-top sequence involving a bit of reckless driving on a winding Northern California highway. 

As good as the music for the scene is, the way it plays out always struck me as being ridiculous to the point of self-parody. It is probably intentional, but I nonetheless wince at the melodramatic goofiness of the scene whenever I see it.

But that viewing experience memory does not hamper my listening experience whenever I play this expanded edition soundtrack. The music remains an icy delight to this day. 

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #14

Practically an extension of his boss, Parker, Brett rarely displays any individuality and has little to say about things in general. His favorite response is "Right". 

Underworld: Awakening (2012) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner- January 27, 2012 ]

Underworld: Awakening is one of two films in the Underworld franchise that I have seen. The first one was 2009's Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which appears to have been a prequel film fleshing out the backstory of the first film and all its subsequent sequels. 

Neither film grabbed enough of my interest to compel me to check out the other entries, to see what I was missing out on. The only reason I did see Underworld: Awakening was because a friend-of-a-friend of ours, at the time, did not want to go the movies alone. Since I am a Monster Guy, I was willing to sit through watered down vampires fighting watered down werewolves. I was not all that engaged, but I was not bored, either.

Perhaps if I were to approach the franchise not as horror, but as action film oriented Urban Fantasy adventures, I might get the stick out of my muddy backside and enjoy the Underworld films for what they are. Frothy entertainments.

Maybe. But then, maybe not.