Ilan Eshkeri is an award-winning composer, artist, songwriter, producer and creator. We spoke with Ilan in 2015 (about 47 Ronin, Black Sea and The Snowman & The Snowdog) and were happy to catch up with him to discuss his process writing music for BBC’s A Perfect Planet. This new nature series is his fourth collaboration with legendary naturalist Sir David Attenborough. The bulk of this interview focuses on his efforts to write that music and the underlying idea of hope in many of the themes (we’ve included selections from his score below). Recently, Ilan and Ralph Fiennes completed their third film together – a biopic about Rudolf Nureyev, The White…
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G-S-T Review…Kingsman: The Secret Service
When it comes to Matthew Vaughn, high energy director of Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, Layer Cake and Stardust, the man is a genre unto himself. That said, his latest effort, Kingsmen: The Secret Service, is all out excitement, a sly comedy and self-aware nod to the vintage spy thrillers. It is also Vaughn’s third foray into the comic world and, if it wasn’t clear by now, this is the guy to bring big heroes, and big action to the big screen – it’s fast paced, fast food cinema but not junk food. Matthew Vaughn’s irreverence is so finely tuned and abundant that his work is unparalleled in cinema. If, as they…
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Interview…Film Composer Ilan Eshkeri on the Emotional Depth and Makeshift Magnificence of ‘Black Sea’
Kevin Macdonald‘s Black Sea, which hits U.S. theaters this week, features top-notch acting and, like the submarine, is air-tight, but music is also another highly effective component to the thrilling story. In addition to pulse-pounding sounds and pensive themes, British composer Ilan Eshkeri also adds a thick layer of humanity to the story about about greed, hard metals and icy depths. Best known for his film scores to Stardust, The Young Victoria and Kick-Ass, as well as his collaborations with recording artists and his concert work Eshkeri’s career is notable for its diversity; recently Eshkeri scored Still Alice starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart, 47 Ronin starring Keanu…
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G-S-T Holiday Trailer Round-Up
Aside from #Turkey and #BlackFriday, the interwebs were a blaze this holiday weekend with an equally searched for and buzzed about search: the official Star Wars Ep. VII teaser. Sure, you could see all 88 glorious seconds in a handful of theaters around the country, but it really got a fire strom of attention when it was released online. Rumor had it that the trailer picked up more than 4 million views in 72 hours. In case you need some perspective as to why a new Star Wars is huge news, wrap your head around this. The Force Awakens will be the first new SW film in which fans have…
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G-S-T Review…X-Men: Days of Future Past
In the years since Bryan Singer left the Marvel universe, the iconic X-Men faced a trio of cinematic duds. But following on the heels of the successful X-Men: First Class the franchise is now back on track and looks to stay that way especially with Singer back at the helm for the foreseeable future. Taking inspiration the 1980s comic series that inspired it, X-Men: Days of Future Past shows us that the only way to save the future mutantkind is to revisit their past. Boy, doesn’t that just eerily parallel three of the last four X-based films we had to endure? Fans deserve better and Singer’s film not helps make…
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G-S-T Top 10 – Scenes I Could Watch Over and Over and Over (Part II)
Since I had so much fun with our last post about a number of scenes I could watch on never ending repeat, her are 10 more I find equally pleasing. Note: As is the case with most videos on You Tube there is a wide range in both quality and legitimacy to these clips. In other cases, a specific scene I wanted was just nowhere to be found or if it was has been edited by some dope which ultimately diminishes the integrity of the clip and the point I was trying to make. Anyway, here they are…Enjoy!
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G-S-T Review…X-Men: First Class
Going into yet another X-Men film would make even the most die hard fan weary. I mean, after the last two strike outs this seemed like the last at bat for The Uncanny. But dear friends, in this stylized throwback Singer wound up, hurled one over the plate and Vaughn knocked that grapefruit back, waaay back and out of the park. A new and different X-Men for a new generation, First Class, with confident strides, takes the X-Men series out of the ICU. As a fan myself I breathed a sigh of relief and then had to catch it after seeing Matthew Vaughn’s fantastic film.
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Sweet (International) Trailer…’X-Men: First Class’
Hello World, Marc Here: I don’t know about you but X-Men: First Class just looks better and better with everything that gets released. Maybe it was the red herring in the form of the lousy looking cast photo (which was really more of a concept than anything else) that made people doubt it initially. Good thing because usually when you write something off early, it’s very likely to get better with time. Case in point. The initial First Class teaser looked really good, really really surprising and now we have an even sweeter looking “International” trailer (rough quality not withstanding). Have a look for yourselves… It seems things could be…
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Sweet (International) Trailer…'X-Men: First Class'
Hello World, Marc Here: I don’t know about you but X-Men: First Class just looks better and better with everything that gets released. Maybe it was the red herring in the form of the lousy looking cast photo (which was really more of a concept than anything else) that made people doubt it initially. Good thing because usually when you write something off early, it’s very likely to get better with time. Case in point. The initial First Class teaser looked really good, really really surprising and now we have an even sweeter looking “International” trailer (rough quality not withstanding). Have a look for yourselves… It seems things could be…
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Sweet Teaser…'X-Men: First Class'
Yesterday we saw this mesmerizingly bold new X-Men emblem (below) and today we have the first official trailer. Quite uncanny, wouldn’t you say? Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Well this is more of a teaser than anything else but still more than an announcement. Funny how there are so many categories for something as brief as a movie trailer. Oh well, courtesy of Yahoo! Movies, behold – Xavier’s First Class: Well that certainly lived up to the hype. I’m totally digging the direction of this (using the Cuban Missile Crisis as a backdrop to the story) and the retro feel of it has me more than intrigued. I’m hopeful especially since Mr.…
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Ohhh, Look…’X-Men: First Class’ Official Photos
Yesterday the web was a buzz over the casting of Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. While it wasn’t anything that great (I think Hardy is awesome but not impresses with Hathaway) the other comic related bit was this suspicious X-Men photo: Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert), January Jones (Emma Frost), Jason Flemyng (Azazel), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Lucas Till (Havok), Zoe Kravitz (Angel Salvadore), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) and James McAvoy (Charles Xavier)
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G-S-T Review…Kick-Ass
Not being very familiar with Kick-Ass, I was excited because of how the trailers looked and felt, but more importantly, the fact that this is directed by long time Guy Ritchie collaborator, Matthew Vaughn. So, knowing little to nothing about the “source material” I walked into the theater hoping for a ride as sweet as Red Mist‘s Mustang. In short, the movie didn’t live up to the trailers but was still an enjoyable time. PREMISE: Without any super powers to be found (or injected by radio-active insects) Dave Lizewski, after reading a few too many comic books, decides to become a real life superhero. Taking a fair amounts of knocks in his newfound profession…
