Movie Review: THE FIRST OMEN

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 04/05/2024
THE FIRST OMEN movie poster | ©2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Rating: R Stars: Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, Sonia Braga, Tawfeek Barhom, Maria Caballero, Bill Nighy, Nicole Sorace Writers: Tim Smith & Arkasha Stevenson and Keith Thomas, story by Ben Jacoby, based on characters created by David Seltzer Director: Arkasha Stevenson Distributor: 20th Century Studios Release Date: April 5, 2024 It’s tough to figure out how to rate THE FIRST OMEN. Taken completely on its own – that is, blotting out any expectations that OMEN in the title bring to it – it feels a bit like a ‘70s Italian horror movie. This is partly because THE FIRST OMEN is […]Read On »


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LINK and POWDER soundtracks – CD Reviews

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 04/28/2016
LINK soundtrack | ©2016 La La Land Records

here Jerry Goldsmith was lionized for any number of inventive, mainstream scores like BASIC INSTINCT, TOTAL RECALL and THE WIND AND THE LION, the composer had an equal knack for embodying idiosyncratic characters for movies well below the widely accepted radar like UNDER FIRE, THE SALAMANDER and THE TRAVELING EXECUTIONER. Goldsmith’s creativity flowed with noticeable enthusiasm for these soundtracks where he could show off his devilishly clever humor and emotional resonance, whether accompanying an orangutan manservant or a mystical albino. In his follow up to PSCYHO II for director Richard Franklin, Jerry Goldsmith was given the opportunity to play a not-so obviously lethal killer. Instead, […]Read On »


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CD Review: KING SOLOMON’S MINES (1,000 edition) soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 05/30/2015
KING SOLOMON'S MINES soundtrack | ©2014 Quartet Records

They were musical equals in my opinion. Yet for the better part of the careers of John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith, it always seemed that the latter was chasing the coattails of the first when it came to picture quality. For if John got Irwin Allen’s THE TOWERING INFERNO, then Jerry received that producers’ dog called THE SWARM. While John flew with SUPERMAN, Jerry remained earthbound in the enjoyably silly company of SUPERGIRL. But perhaps no second-cousin removed picture that Goldsmith got to score was a ludicrously close to aping a way better picture than when it came to comparing […]Read On »


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CD Review: OUR MAN FLINT and IN LIKE FLINT soundtracks

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 12/08/2014
OUR MAN FLINT and IN LIKE FLINT soundtrack | ©2014 Intrada Records

In the ying-yang universe of deserved film score karma, Jerry Goldsmith might have ended up with flying with SUPERGIRL instead of SUPERMAN, or battling a SWARM of killer bees as opposed to climbing THE TOWERING INFERNO. But that never meant that Goldsmith didn’t give his musical all to some truly wacky wannabes, especially when it came to putting on a lady killing outfit for America’s Z.O.W.I.E. agent Derek Flint (as opposed to musically tailoring that certain other British spy). But as 60s-jazz as John Barry might have gotten with Her Majesty’s Secret Service, one couldn’t imagine that composer scaling the […]Read On »


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CD Review: DENNIS THE MENACE soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 06/11/2014
DENNIS THE MENACE soundtrack | ©2014 La La Land Records

While he was a maestro of nearly every musical style, the one genre that Jerry Goldsmith never quite seemed to master was straight-up, non-genre comedy, particularly in such oddball scores as THE LONELY GUY, FIERCE CREATURES and MR. BASEBALL. Maybe it was because the melodies got all sentimental when confronted with straight-up romance, as opposed to playing the hijinks of gremlins and psycho neighbors. While he might not have horns, the devilish mischief of 1993s DENNIS THE MENACE does much to rectify the Goldsmith comedy curse, especially since the romance here is giving a yucky kiss to Margaret Wade. DENNIS […]Read On »


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CD Reviews: THE BLUE MAX: THE LIMITED EDITION and THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER soundtracks

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 04/24/2014
THE BLUE MAX: THE LIMITED EDITION soundtrack | ©2014 La La Land Records

Jerry Goldsmith came roaring out of the gate in the mid-60s to impress Hollywood with his seemingly boundless talent to play any number of genres. And two of his best scores from this furiously creative period couldn’t be more apart, or more in demand from Goldsmith collectors than 1966s THE BLUE MAX and 1963s THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER, one a soaringly romantic exercise in the nobility of battle, and the other a playfully insane game of all-star masquerading murder suspects that at last get the releases they’ve long-deserved on special editions from La La Land and Varese Sarabande Records. […]Read On »


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CD Review: QB VII soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 04/18/2014
QB VII soundtrack | ©2013 Prometheus Records

Back in the day, television movies-cum-miniseries weren’t just films for free. They were often multi-night events that tried to rival the big screen for its epic, star-filled scope and serious subject matter, hiring top-flight Hollywood composers and affording them the cinematic resources and creativity to rival their widescreen work. One particular musician who benefitted from the networks’ most prestigious offerings was Jerry Goldsmith, who’d started out with series like DR. KILDARE and THE TWILIGHT ZONE before taking home Emmy wins for THE RED PONY, BABE and MASADA. But it was arguably 1974s QB VII that gave Goldsmith his most stirring […]Read On »


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CD Review: THE SALAMANDER soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 10/05/2013
THE SALAMANDER soundtrack | ©2013 Prometheus Records

An entertaining, obscure 1981 political thriller that stands as one of the nuttier pictures that Jerry Goldsmith scored is now just as remarkable for becoming one of the best, and boisterously re-performed soundtracks that the legendary composer has gotten. That’s thanks to the always-excellent triple-threat of album producer James Fitzpatrick, conductor Nic Raine and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, who follow up their recent take on Goldsmith’s HOUR OF THE GUN with an album that will completely blow fans away. This musical masterwork accompanied Franco Nero as a hapless Italian police whose investigation into a series of […]Read On »


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CD Review: SHOCK TREATMENT soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 05/13/2013
SHOCK TREATMENT soundtrack | ©2013 Intrada Records

Jerry Goldsmith had a particular talent for playing characters in the process of losing their minds, drawing on the dark, string musings of such avant garde composers as Bela Bartok to pioneer his own Hollywood sound for psychosis. Using a chamber approach of devilish fiddles and strings for the TWILIGHT ZONE episode “The Invaders,” the composer further plumbed a snapping mind with the waltzing sexual symbolism that haunted his Oscar-nominated FREUD to the eerie, conspiratorial tones of assuming a new identity in SECONDS. But when it comes to the pure, batshit enjoyment of a breakdown, then 1966s SHOCK TREATMENT gets […]Read On »


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CD Review: GLADIATOR soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 03/24/2013
GLADIATOR soundtrack | ©2013 Intrada Records

Jerry Goldsmith was arguably the greatest composer to hit Hollywood. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of producing delightful cheese as much as he was a true masterworks. Case in point is his score for 1992’s GLADIATOR, an inner city boxing melodrama long forgotten in the wake of the Russell Crowe picture whose stakes were life and death. In this case, it was a TKO for Goldsmith when ROADHOUSE director Rowdy Herrington kicked his score to the curb in favor of Brad Fiedel, a composer whose electronic abilities were likely more “with it” than the veteran musical fighter. Yet […]Read On »


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