Composing Greatness: #9. The Musical or Comedy Scores - "James and the Giant Peach" (1996)

Scene from James and the Giant Peach

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.

Best Song: "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" (2019)

Scene from Rocketman

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now but wait until the bad years.

Composing Greatness: #1. Oscars 2020 Edition - "Marriage Story"

Scene from Marriage Story (2019)

Welcome to a very special edition of Composing Greatness. In this limited series, I will be looking at the five scores nominated for this year's Best Original Score category. To avoid favoritism, the list will be done in alphabetical order of composers and feature the same guidelines as the original series. This is meant to explore the music behind the great films of 2019, and provide insight into what makes each of them special and whether or not they deserved to be nominated at all. Join me all week as I listen to the music, leave some thoughts, and hopefully sway you to check out these wonderful, wonderful scores.

Best Song: "We Belong Together" (2010)

Scene from Toy Story 3

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

Best Song: "The Weary Kind" (2009)

Scene from Crazy Heart

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

Best Song: "I Need to Wake Up" (2006)

Scene from An Inconvenient Truth

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

Best Song: "If I Didn't Have You" (2001)

Scene from Monsters Inc.

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

Best Song: "Things Have Changed" (2000)

Scene from Wonder Boys

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

Best Song: "You'll Be in My Heart" (1999)

Scene from Tarzan

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

A Look at Roald Dahl's Box Office Curse

Scene from The BFG

While everyone is busy today celebrating Independence Day, it looks like director Steven Spielberg may have a bit of worry on his hands. His latest film The BFG opened this past weekend, and the results were far from the stellar numbers that you'd expect from the man behind Jaws and Jurassic Park. With an estimated $18 million opening weekend for a film budgeted at approximately $140 million, it's going to need major business overseas to even recoup its initial cost. However, what if I were to say that this is pretty common for movies adapted from Roald Dahl books? Yes, to date there has only been one runaway hit of the seven big screen adaptations, and it's one of the less revered titles on the list. The following is a look at those films and the curse of Dahl.

Best Song: "When You Believe" (1998)

Scene from The Prince of Egypt

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

Theory Thursday: "Toy Story 2" is Pixar's Best Movie

Scene from Toy Story 2

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. 

Best Song: "Colors of the Wind" (1995)

Scene from Pocahontas

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

Best Song: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" (1994)

Scene from The Lion King

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

Best Song: "Under the Sea" (1989)

Scene from The Little Mermaid

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

Best Song: "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (1981)

Scene from Arthur

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

At 20 Years, "Toy Story" is Still the Little Computer Animated Movie That Could

Scene from Toy Story

In the grand scheme of cinema, there are few animated movies that have had as much of an impact as that of director John Lasseter's Toy Story. While CG animation has become the norm, it is difficult to note just how much of a risk the film was in 1995. It was the first feature length release by Pixar about the unlikeliest of subjects: toys that come to life. Considering the success of Disney around the time with The Lion King and Pocahontas, it almost seems like a miracle that the studio came out of the gate strong. As the film celebrates its 20th anniversary today, it feels important to look back on the film's impact, and why it continues to resonate with audiences.

Review: "Monsters University" is a Great Welcome Back to the Fun Side of Pixar

If forced to poll a random group of people what their favorite Pixar movie was, there would be little doubt that Monsters Inc. ranked near the top. Its whimsical look into a world of monsters who scare for a living has become one of the studio's most successful both with audiences as well as tonally. It made Billy Crystal a star to a whole new generation and created a universe of wonderment. It only seemed logical that 12 years later they would want to revisit the characters with a trip to Monsters University: a film that saw these characters meet and even bond over their love of scaring. With the voice talents who made the first successful, is it possible that they managed to create another hit?