Composing Greatness: #2.The Musical or Comedy Scores - "The American President" (1995)

Scene from The American President (1995)

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

R.I.P. Kirk Douglas (1916-2020)

Kirk Douglas

On February 5, 2020, actor Kirk Douglas passed away at the age of 103 in Beverly Hills, California. He is best known for his career of playing tough men in films like Spartacus and Ace in the Hole, earning acclaim as one of the best actors of his generation. He is considered to be one of the last surviving members from the Golden Age of Hollywood and lives his life with a tough work aesthetic that he carried over from his youth. With a prolific career that includes breaking up the blacklist, he leaves behind an impressive body of work and one that shows the defiant power of his generation in its purest form. His work will continue to live on unwilling to die just like the man himself.

Theory Thursday: "Wall Street" is Overrated

Michael Douglas in Wall Street

Welcome to a weekly column called Theory Thursdays, which will be released every Thursday and discuss my "controversial opinion" related to something relative to the week of release. Sometimes it will be birthdays while others is current events or a new film release. Whatever the case may be, this is a personal defense for why I disagree with the general opinion and hope to convince you of the same. While I don't expect you to be on my side, I do hope for a rational argument. After all, film is a subjective medium and this is merely just a theory that can be proven either way. 

Super Delegates: President Andrew Shepherd in "The American President" (1995)

Michael Douglas in The American President

Welcome to Super Delegates, a bi-monthly column released on Tuesdays and are done in part to recognize politics on film, specifically in regards to Oscar-nominated works. With this being an election year in the United States, it feels like a good time to revisit film history's vast relationship with politicians of any era and determine what makes them interesting while potentially connecting them to the modern era. The series plans to run until the end of this 2016 election cycle, so stay tuned for every installment and feel free to share your thoughts on films worthy of discussion in the comments section.

Nothing But the Best: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975)

Scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Welcome to the series Nothing But the Best in which I chronicle all of the Academy Award Best Picture winners as they celebrate their anniversaries. Instead of going in chronological order, this series will be presented on each film's anniversary and will feature personal opinions as well as facts regarding its legacy and behind the scenes information. The goal is to create an in depth essay for each film while looking not only how the medium progressed, but how the film is integral to pop culture. In some cases, it will be easy. Others not so much. Without further ado, let's start the show.

Birthday Take: Michael Douglas in "Wall Street" (1987)

Michael Douglas in Wall Street

Welcome to The Birthday Take, a column dedicated to celebrating Oscar nominees and winners' birthdays by paying tribute to the work that got them noticed. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive retrospective, but more of a highlight of one nominated work that makes them noteworthy. The column will run whenever there is a birthday and will hopefully give a dense exploration of the finest performances and techniques applied to film. So please join me as we blow out the candles and dig into the delicious substance.