Composing Greatness: #5. Thomas Newman - "Road to Perdition" (2002)

Scene from The Road to Perdition

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. Robert Vaughn (1931-2016)

Robert Vaughn

On November 11, 2016, actor Robert Vaughn died in Ridgefield, Connecticut of leukemia at the age of 83. His work was prolific and over his career he guest starred in over 200 episodes of TV. Among his biggest achievements was playing the lead character in the espionage series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and co-starring in the western The Magnificent Seven. His work garnered him an Oscar nomination for The Young Philadelphians as well as many other iconic roles. What he leaves behind is an impressive body of work that reflected his strengths as an actor capable of leading and supporting major movie stars from over the past 60 years. His work will continue to be admired and appreciated for his ability to bring depth and charisma to each and every role that he played.

R.I.P. George Kennedy (1925-2016)

On February 28, 2016 actor George Kennedy passed away at the age of 91 in Middleton, Idaho from heart problems. Over the course of his career, he starred in over 200 productions in TV and film. He won an Oscar for his role alongside Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke; and is also remembered for his various other roles in films like Airport and The Naked Gun. He leaves behind an impressive body of work that shows his range from serious dramas to more comical performances, most of the time of which he was a straight man. His work remains influential to those looking for performances that complimented as well as enhanced the cinematic medium.

Birthday Take: Paul Newman in "The Hustler" (1961)

Scene from The Hustler

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.

Nothing But the Best: "The Sting" (1973)

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.