There are heroes. There are villains. And then there’s Peacemaker…Fresh from his explosive role in last year’s hit film The Suicide Squad, and from the brilliantly twisted mind of James Gunn, comes PEACEMAKER – a new series achieving peace on HBO Max at any cost starting January 13. The DC spinoff series is written and directed by James Gunn, and the show explores the continuing story of the character that John Cena reprises in the aftermath of Gunn’s 2021 film. The colorful patriot is a compellingly vainglorious man who believes in peace at any cost. And like the titular character, seasoned composer Kevin Kiner doesn’t care how many ear drums he has to kill to give us great music. This…
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Interview…Composer Don Davis Shares Stories Plugging Into ‘The Matrix’
In a world of remakes and reboots, one property we thought we’d never see expanded or revisited was the universe of The Matrix. It was, and still is, a landmark film, one that raised the bar for filmmakers and the industry as a whole. A triple-kick of story, visuals and action, The Matrix was a high watermark for cinema. As the series expanded, the arcs of the three leads finished in a less than satisfying (or deserving) way, yet it still seemed the most logical and inescapable end. Fate? Perhaps. The third film culminates in an uneasy truce between humans and machines (and between programs themselves). More importantly it’s not…
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Interview…Director James Cullen Bressack on Bruce Willis and ‘Fortress’
From Lionsgate comes a new action thriller directed by James Cullen Bressack. Fortress is fast and shoots from the hip. Just short of a midnight movie, it has fun with its premise and delivers some surprises, including a noteworthy and unexpectedly delicious turn from Chad Michael Murray. But the best part about this film is the man behind the camera. Ahead of the film’s release this month, we got to chat with the young but seasoned director/producer – who has 44 shorts, features and music videos to his credit and he’s not even 30 – and it was a real treat. Bressack is incredibly humble, well-versed, really knows his films,…
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Interview…Composers Zach Robinson and Leo Birenberg on Music, Metal and Mayhem in ‘Cobra Kai’
You want to become a master of kicking ass in a musical soundscape? It’s easy! Just remember these three simple rules: Strike first, strike hard, show no mercy. Well, whether it’s sweeping the leg, or nailing a face-melting guitar/saxophone solo, our guests today can certainly tell us about their path to be the best…around. It takes time, talent, patience and a good amount of networking. Earlier this year, we spoke with composer Zach Robinson and had a blast getting to learn about his musical journey. Today, Zach is back as well as the other half of the sonic dojo that props up the Cobra Kai TV show. The duo have…
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Interview…Composer Daniel Hart on ‘The Green Knight’
Daniel Hart is a composer and performer based in Los Angeles. Hart made his feature film debut in 2013 with the critically acclaimed Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, which began his collaboration with filmmaker Dallas native David Lowery (we spoke to Lowery at the time of the release) and Hart has composed the music for all of Lowery’s films, including Pete’s Dragon, A Ghost Story, Old Man and The Gun, and 2021’s The Green Knight. He has also written music for This American Life, and composed the score for S Town, one of the most popular podcasts of all time. To score The Green Knight, Hart went on his own epic personal journey as the religious overtones of the film…
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Interview…Philip Gelatt and Morgan King on ‘The Spine of Night’
The mainstream entertainment world doesn’t get a lot of animated dark fantasy. So, besides outliers like Fire & Ice, Heavy Metal, and, to a degree, Netflix’s Castlevania, if you wanted to dive deep into mystical and alluring universes in the world of adult animation, your choices are finite. Now enter a curious entry called The Spine of Night. It clicks most of the boxes those titles occupy, and then some. Sorcery? Check. Wildly imaginative? Check. Violence, nudity and dazzling visuals? Check, check and check! The Spine of Night is an epic fantasy tale about the history of a land that never was. The story begins when an ambitious young man…
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Interview…Composer/Orchestrator Tim Davies on ‘Maya and the Three’
Tim Davies leads a very busy musical life, and the Grammy- and Annie-nominated musician splits his time between orchestrating for features, television, and video games; composing his own scores; and conducting and arranging for orchestras all around the globe. Whether it is as composer/orchestrator/conductor or a combination of all three, he’s been a part of Frozen and Frozen 2, both Ant-Man movies, The Lego Movie 2, La La Land, Trolls, Minions, The Peanuts Movie, The Croods: A New Age, Empire and WandaVision. He is currently lead orchestrator for Christophe Beck, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Fil Eisler. When not on the scoring stage, Davies can be found at the podium conducting orchestras…
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Interview…Brittany Allen On Acting, Composing and Finding Her Voice
Brittany Allen, aka BRITT, is a multi-disciplinary artist, who on the heels of a successful career as an actor, is now emerging as one of the most exciting young female composers to watch. Her first score was for the critically acclaimed indie What Keeps You Alive (SXSW ’18) which was named a NYTimes Critic’s Pick, one of Rolling Stone’s Top Ten Horror Films of 2018, and hit the Top Ten films on Netflix. She followed that up with her “soul-tugging score” for Z, one of AMC / Shudder’s most watched films of 2020. Most recently, Allen scored the fan favorite episode of “American Horror Stories,” the anthology spinoff of the…
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Interview…Marco Beltrami and Miles Hankins Collaborate on ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’
In the world of film scores, there are many composer/director relationships that get a lot of notoriety. But in the last twenty years, co-composing has become more accepted and just as celebrated. Many times – due to the nature of the business and the timelines on certain projects – it is simply a necessity. Whether it’s temporary help, or invaluable creative input throughout the assignment depends on the project, but having that extra bit of assistance can bring a new voice, err sounds and ideas to the palette. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard on the first two Nolan Batman films, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on The Social Network,…
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Interview…Brian Tyler on ‘The Fast Saga’, Personal Projects and Connecting with the Audience
When it comes to contemporary composers, Brian Tyler is one of our favorite musicians. He is supremely accomplished – skilled in playing piano, guitar, drums, bass, cello, world percussion, guitarviol, charango and bouzouki – and able to walk through multiple genres, even in the same film. It’s been a long time since we interviewed Brian about his work, but he’s done a lot since 2016. Over the years, we’ve had lively and insightful conversations about some of his standout scores: Rambo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Iron Man 3, Now You See Me, The Expendables 3, and Criminal. For years, Brian has been interested in listening to and deconstructing a wide…
