Foster on Film

So, I was in a mood, so decided to escape with one of the most emotive film composers. He’s also one of the best; I only place Erich Wolfgang Korngold clearly above him. Williams’s music as made films work. Without the power of this themes, many of our modern film “classics” would just be nice. He made

Lubitsch was one of the most important directors of early Hollywood, but he’s mostly known now for those he inspired, particularly Billy Wilder, who coined the term “The Lubitsch touch” to describe the perfect solution to any cinematic problem. Lubitsch started as a silent director in Germany, then moved to the US where he directed

I tried to avoid Christmas again, but am failing, so oh well, I’ll dive into this: Xmas songs. Let’s face it, most rock Christmas songs are horrible. The covers of carols are universally rotten. No Bruce Springsteen cannot put it off. Traditional carols just don’t lend themselves to a rock makeover. A few artists have

I’ve seen multiple rankings of all the Doctor Who episodes (or just all the modern ones) recently, and they all have been horribly wrong. I know this because they don’t match mine, and mine are correct. That’s just the way the universe is. Obviously I will have to fix this. OK, if I’m going to

Fred Astaire is the king of cinematic dance. No one is even close. I’ve loved watching him dance all my life, though the movies he danced in didn’t always live up to his talents. But his finest are the cream of film musicals. Astaire is best known for his paring with Ginger Rogers. They made

Handsome and debonair, Milland’s early career was mainly in romantic comedies and light action films. His big break came with The Jungle Princess (1936), which made Dorothy Lamour a star as The Sarong Girl. His reputation changed with The Lost Weekend (1945) which won multiple Oscars, but is hard to view as anything other than

A top 10 list of superhero film scores is ever-so-slightly more meaningful than many other cinematic top 10 lists because it gives you the 10 scores to listen to–because that’s it. There are 10 good ones. After that, we’re pretty much done and even at 10 we’re starting to get a bit wobbly at the

Few stars have had such an impact on pop culture, yet there is a strange mixed appraisal of her work. She was mesmerizing on screen, with great comic timing, substantial dramatic chops, unlimited charisma, and a pleasing and memorable singing voice. And, of course, she was breathtakingly beautiful. She was also exceptionally sexy, and neither

It’s Halloween-time, so time to look at horror film scores/theme songs. To keep this apples-to-apples, I’ll only be including original compositions (otherwise this list would include a lot of classical works, and as much as I love Swan Lake, that’s not what I’m looking for today). That means no Tubular Bells, the music that tricked

Generally I write about film–something I know a bit about. Lately I’ve been posting on the Hugos and the Sad Puppy smell–something I am acquainted with. Today I felt it was time I brought up something I know nothing about: Japanese Metal. Why? Because it is awesome. If you follow Japanese music, you will find

An elfin beauty that arose at the close of the golden age of Hollywood, Hepburn had aspects of both royalty and innocence. Her fame came from romantic comedies, where those qualities, and her nearly supernatural charisma could shine. Those attributes were muted in dramas, which made it harder for her to rise over the material,

Ginger Rogers will forever be known as the dancing partner of Fred Astaire; they fit together. Together they made some of the greatest film musicals of all time. She could manage the steps, as well as both the sophisticated and common attitudes needed for the comedy and romance. Astaire danced with others who were technically