Soundtrack News: The ‘Resident Evil’ Soundtrack from the Netflix Series to be Released July 15

Milan Records has announced the release of RESIDENT EVIL (SOUNDTRACK FROM THE NETFLIX SERIES) with music by composer Gregory Reveret. Available Friday, July 15, the album features score music written by Reveret for Netflix’s Resident Evil, the first live-action series of the global franchise.

A longtime fan of Resident Evil, Reveret crafted an action-adventure-horror score wholly unique to the new series, which unfolds over eight episodes and across two distinct timelines. Recording with a South African orchestra, the multidimensional soundscape incorporates heavy percussion, tribal vocal chants and a sound bed largely produced by vintage laboratory test equipment. At times sweepingly orchestral and others darkly industrial, Reveret’s expansive score straddles the divide between the show’s timelines with a genre-defying sound befitting the brand new story.

The soundtrack also features “My Heart Has Teeth,” a brand-new original song from a long-time fan of the franchise, critically acclaimed electronic musician deadmau5 featuring pop vocalist Skylar Grey. For his soundtrack contribution, deadmau5 drew upon his older JUNO and Jupiter synths forgoing trendy analog synths and sci-fi features, resulting in a grindy, downtempo vibe. “’Dystopian suburbia’ is the kind of vibe I had in mind when making this song. It’s been pretty cool because I like that weird, corporate overtone of this entity that owns the village if you would. I just imagine what that would be like while roughly composing the song with of course the vocal accoutrement of Ms. Skylar Grey. She’s an amazing talent to work with and she just nailed the lyrics.” Look for the song to be available as a single on deadmau5’ label mau5trap soon.G

Of the soundtrack, composer Gregory Reveret had the following to say:

“I wanted to explore and push the boundaries from the earlier sounds of the franchise while delivering a fun, action-packed score that would give fans something they could really enjoy and have fun with. The thematic material needed to be bold, to really serve as a continuous thread between the two timelines in the story. I bought this obscure lab/test-equipment that was originally used in NASA laboratories and is not really supposed to make music, but it sounds really interesting and alive. It gave the music a cool industrial edge and eventually became a main feature of the score. Much of the story is based in my hometown of Cape Town, South Africa, so I also worked with local musicians and recorded a South African orchestra, which is something I’m very proud of.”

ABOUT RESIDENT EVIL

Year 2036 – 14 years after the spread of Joy caused so much pain, Jade Wesker fights for survival in a world overrun by the blood-thirsty infected and mind-shattering creatures. In this absolute carnage, Jade is haunted by her past in New Raccoon City, by her father’s chilling connections to the sinister Umbrella Corporation but mostly by what happened to her sister, Billie.

RESIDENT EVIL (SOUNDTRACK FROM THE NETFLIX SERIES)

TRACKLISTING –

Sea of Zeroes
Plague from God
The Doberman
What is Happening
Evelyn’s Plan
Lab Search
My Son is Dead
Venus Flytrap (Main Theme)
Meet Bert
Humvee Chase
Don’t Eat Cats
Home Safe
Lickers Attack
Final Battle
My Heart Has Teeth – deadmau5 featuring Skylar Grey

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My Thoughts on: The Music Room (1958)

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Yesterday, for the first time in a while, I sat down and watched a movie from my collection. I’ve actually seen The Music Room before, but I hadn’t blogged about it, so today I decided to change that.

If you’ve never seen Indian cinema, then The Music Room (Jalsaghar) is a pretty good place to start. The film was directed by the legendary Satyajit Ray and was released in 1958. I believe the story is set sometime after India achieved its independence from the British Empire in the late 1940s, a time of great change for millions of people. But for Biswambhar Roy (Chhabi Biswas), the main character of the story, all of these things don’t concern him in the least. He’s a zamindar (landlord) from a noble family and he happily spends his days throwing parties and music recitals instead of managing his lands or his dwindling finances.

Biswambhar Roy’s financial difficulties, and indeed his decline throughout the story are set in direct contrast to the rise, well, the attempted rise, of Mahim Ganguli (Gangapada Bose), the son of a moneylender, who works and invests his way into great wealth by the end of the story. It is made painfully obvious that Mahim is attempting to buy his way into the polite society that Biswambhar Roy belongs to, thinking that money alone is all he needs to get in. But what Mahim fails to understand is that, in this society at least, money is not what makes one noble, but rather one’s background. That’s why, despite eventually being left with no money, Biswambhar Roy still receives more respect from the locals than Mahim can ever dream of getting.

However, don’t think that this is only a story about Mahim Ganguli rising where Biswambhar Roy falls. While that is a significant side plot, the crux of the story is with Roy and the end of life as he knows it. As I said at the beginning, Biswambhar Roy is obsessed with giving music recitals, indeed he’s obsessed with music in general (even his wife comments on it). And it’s this obsession that leads to the downfall of the family. Even though Biswambhar Roy is cautioned that the money is running out, the zamindar is determined to prove that he can still provide the entertainments traditionally expected of men of his status, especially if it shows up upstarts like Mahim Ganguli. This he does….but with tragic consequences that bring Roy’s world crashing down upon him in a scene of pure heartbreak.

Speaking of music, part of what makes The Music Room so notable is that the film highlights Indian music and Indian dance and incorporates both into the story. We are treated to several vocal performances from some of India’s greatest musicians of the time (I particularly highlight Begum Akhtar’s performance as the singer in the film’s first music sequence). The Music Room was the first film to do this and I feel it captures a perfect snapshot of Indian music and dance from that era. Indeed, if I ever found myself teaching a music class again, when the time came to discuss world music I would have my students watch this film because it highlights so much of Indian music so well.

Ultimately, The Music Room is a tragedy of the highest order. No matter how much Biswambhar Roy wishes it, the glory days of his family will never return and watching this man lose everything is a heartbreaking experience that will stick with you long after the credits roll.

Let me know what you think about The Music Room in the comments below and have a great day!

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Soundtrack News: HOA (Original Video Game Soundtrack) Available July 15

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Sony Music Masterworks today releases the lead single from HOA (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) with music by composer Johnannes Johansson – listen to “Waltz” here. Johannes Johansson is a Swedish composer and pianist. He is best known for his YouTube channel Akmigone where he posts original music, piano arrangements, as well as other creative piano-related content.

Available in full Friday, July 15 and to preorder now, the album features music composed by Johansson for the breathtaking new puzzle-platforming game from PM Studios. Johansson was assisted by an audio team consisting of orchestrator and sound design Lauri Koivisto, who led the soundtrack’s live recording sessions, and sound engineer Simon Evig, whose mixing, editing and recording expertise brought the music of Hoa together. The resulting 17-track collection matches the peaceful, relaxing atmosphere of the game with captivating story-telling and a touch of nostalgia. Hoa is available to play now on PC, Mac and consoles.

Hoa is a beautiful puzzle-platforming game that features breathtaking hand-painted art, lovely music, and a peaceful, relaxing atmosphere. Experience the magic of nature and imagination as you play the main character, Hoa, on her journey through breathtaking environments back to where it all began.

HOA (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK): TRACKLISTING –

Intro
Waltz
Hoa
Bouncy Larvas
Dance of the Ladybugs
Hello Rocks
Underwater
The Factory
Rescue
Alarm
RUN!
Remember
Memory
Lullaby
Lullaby (Mirror)
Lullaby (Upside Down)
Lullaby (Reverse)

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Soundtrack News: ‘Rise’ Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Available Now

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Walt Disney Records has released the RISE Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, featuring a stirring score by Ré Olunuga. Ré Olunuga is a Nigerian composer of multi-genre orchestral and experimental music. With a unique approach to instrumentation that imbues his music with an unmistakable sense of engagement and tactility, Ré’s work spans across Film & TV soundtracks to ambitious art pieces and even a dalliance with the mainstream through collaborations with commercial recording artists.

RISE is based on the triumphant real-life story about the remarkable family that gave the world the first trio of brothers to become NBA champions in the history of the league – Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Laker Kostas Antetokounmpo, and their younger brother Alex.

TRACK LIST

The Adetokunbos (0:59)
The Whole Family Scores (2:03)
Giannis Discovers Basketball (1:34)
Mama! Police! (1:16)
Charles and Vera’s Escape (3:41)
Bamidele’s Rent (1:05)
This Is Our Home (1:22)
Giannis Wonders About Francis (2:17)
Vera’s Hope (2:58)
Giannis and Thanasis Train in the Rain (1:32)
Like Father, Like Sons Pt. 1 (1:14)
A Difficult Game / Ko Easy! (1:15)
Akin’s BBQ (1:00)
Like Father, Like Sons Pt. 2 (0:56)
The Family Gets Evicted (0:59)
Leading the Team (2:21)
Charles and Vera (1:30)
Tell Them Who We Are (2:35)
RISE MAIN THEME / ADETOKUNBO (5:07)
Rise – Ofili (3:38)
Obago (feat. Obi Iross) – Ofili (3:29)
One Day – Shirazee (3:35)

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My Thoughts on: Men (2022)

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*Note: this review was originally published for subscribers on Patreon in May

*minor spoilers below*

Well, it was bound to happen sometime. After seeing over ten movies in theaters (so far) this year, I’ve finally seen a movie that completely disappointed me and that is Alex Garland’s Men.

What really hurts about this is I was genuinely excited, if slightly nervous, about seeing this movie. I’ve been a fan of Garland’s directorial work since his debut with Ex Machina. I also saw Annihilation in theaters and I liked that film quite a bit (though Ex Machina remains his best work). Based on that history, it seemed reasonable to assume that I would enjoy Men to some degree as well.

Well….that didn’t happen.

The biggest issue is, I sat through the entire movie and I still can’t tell you what Men is supposed to be about. This didn’t bother me for most of the runtime, because I figured a last act twist was coming that would explain everything. Well, there were some last act twists all right, but they did absolutely nothing to explain what the BLEEP was going on in that movie. I don’t mind when movies don’t completely spell everything out for you (Garland’s first film Ex Machina is a prime example) but Men doesn’t come close to explaining what is happening or why.

An equally grievous fault is that Men is trying way too hard to be clever about its subject matter (whatever that is). It’s almost like Garland thought that by filling the movie with lewd, disgusting men who are *minor spoiler alert* ultimately defeated by a woman, that he would find a receptive audience. But, if anything, the male characters in this film were a complete turnoff for me. Perhaps if Garland had done a better job explaining what was going on in the story, it might have been more palatable. But as it is, we were subjected to a litany of offensive comments that at times had the audience commenting out loud about how offensive they were (especially when the priest character tried to justify the spousal abuse that the main character suffered). That moment disgusted me and in hindsight I probably should’ve walked out at that point.

For a time, it almost seemed like the film had an interesting premise going. It seemed to me that our heroine was encountering the manifestation of an ancient pagan god (depicted on an ancient basin used as a baptismal font in the village church) who was interested in acquiring a mate because, well, that’s what fertility gods do. But then, as I alluded to earlier, there was a last act twist that not only blew that theory to ribbons, it also completely confused me because it seemed to come completely out of left field.

I will say this much for the film: Rory Kinnear puts on the performance of a lifetime in this movie. I lost count of all the characters he played, but there’s such a wide variety it’s stunning to think that he pulled them all off himself. I also enjoyed Jesse Buckley’s performance as Harper, especially in the latter half of the film when the action starts ramping up.

The only other detail of this film that I thoroughly enjoyed was the music. As with Garland’s previous films, the music was composed by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow and it is superbly done. Indeed, had the music been not so good I don’t think I could’ve made it through the film.

I can’t in good conscience recommend going to see Men. It was overall a complete disappointment for me and it is far from Alex Garland’s best work.

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Music for the Female Gaze: Talking with Composer Karl Frid about ‘Pleasure’

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Just recently I had the opportunity to speak with composer Karl Frid about his work on the movie Pleasure. Karl Frid studied classical music at the Royal College of Music in London with trombone as his main instrument, before making a musical U-turn. He went to study Afro-Cuban music at the CNSEA in Havana, Cuba before finishing his studies in Afro-American music at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Since then, he has worked as a full-time freelance musician, composer, arranger, and producer. His vast knowledge in music ranges from classical and jazz to Latin, hip-hop, and pop music.

Since 2011 Karl has been working closely with his brother, Pär Frid under the name Frid & Frid. They primarily write music for film and TV and have scored several features and TV series of different genres. In 2018 they were nominated in the Best Music category at the Swedish Film Institute “Guldbaggen” Awards for their score for the documentary Citizen Schein.

Karl’s latest work for film is the feature Pleasure, by Ninja Thyberg, which was in the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival 2020 and later premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2021, where it received outstanding reviews with special mentions of the score. At the Gothenburg Film Festival, the film was awarded the FIPRESCA Award by the international critic’s jury. The score is a mixture of sacred choral opera and hip-hop.

I hope you enjoy our conversation about the movie Pleasure!

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How did you get started as a film composer?

I’ve always had an interest in film and film music. During my last year of my studies at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, I took some extracurricular classes in many different fields and one of them was scoring for film and games. I found it very fun, creative, and exciting to be able to create tension and different emotions to picture. But it wasn’t until a few years later when I teamed up with my brother Pär and started Frid & Frid that I really got started with scoring for film. At first, we did some commissions for children’s television and ads, and then we got to do more extensive and challenging projects.

How did you get connected with working on this movie? What drew you to it once you saw it?

Pär and I were approached pretty late in the process, about a month from the intended final cut. We had worked with the producers Erik Hemmendorf, Eliza Jones, and Markus Waltå before and they asked us for a meeting with Ninja and sent us a rough cut of the film without any temp music. I remember I was just knocked out by the strength of the film and the fresh and raw look into this special universe. It was so liberating with this obvious and genius take on the female gaze. At the time, Pär was tied up in another project, working on commission for a symphony orchestra, but I was so taken by the film that we decided that I would do the score by myself.

How did you come up with the idea to juxtapose sacred opera and hip-hop in the score for Pleasure, that’s not a genre pairing you usually encounter in a soundtrack. What’s the story behind this, I really like how it all turned out.

I had such a great collaboration with Ninja. It was a collective process of problematizing, analyzing, discussing and testing different angles and ideas. We had many long discussions about the patriarchal structures being displayed in the film, about female empowerment, and about our own preconceptions about the porn industry. The idea of mixing sacred choral opera with hip-hop beats came quite early in the process. We talked a lot about finding the inner voice of Bella, and about how she pictures herself, opposed to how the patriarchal society perceives her. This became the musical manifestation of the Harlot vs the Madonna. Heaven or hell. The hip-hop also represents the self-image of the female porn actresses as “bad ass,” with full control over themselves and their surroundings, and we found the clash between the hip-hop and the sacred opera very interesting.

The film has so many layers, and I was constantly reminded and enlightened by Ninja about all the different meanings and details. The film is also changing between many different storytelling techniques – social realism, dark comedy, and elevated scenes in slow motion almost seductive like a music video. We wanted to explore the sounds of the female body and the orgasm, and found this correlation between the fake orgasm and opera, as it’s not a ”normal” way of singing, rather a theatrical, constructed expression. There was also a reference to Hildegard von Bingen, a German nun in the 12th century who composed choral works for nuns. She was also pretty cool since she was pretty outspoken about female sexuality and actually is supposedly the first person to have written the first description of the female orgasm, with her text ”Causae et Curae.” She’s also been known to have had a positive and relaxed view of sex and often opposed to the church’s tendencies to demonize female sexuality.

On a related note, are there any themes in the music for specific characters? Or does the music not go in a thematic direction?

Yes, there are. The ”Confutatis” theme, along with “Voca Me Cum Benedictus,” and ”Oro Supplex” are all Bella’s themes – symbolizing her journey in the porn industry and manifesting her innocence and self-image. “Fata Viam Invenient,” is the theme of her antagonist Ava, and “Una Gioia Sempre Viva,” is written as the friendship theme of Bella & Joy, and also works as Joy’s theme.

Were you given any specific directions on what to include in the film’s soundtrack?

Not from the start. Ninja wanted an epic score and a unique and special sonic universe for the film. The music should be a statement and a character in itself. It was also very important that the score wasn’t generic or tried to push emotions or judgment on the characters. Music that shouldn’t always go with the emotions but rather be a juxtaposition on what we see on the screen.

Were there any musical ideas you tried for the score but ultimately abandoned because they weren’t working out?

Oh yes. The first sketches I made, featuring cello, all turned out too generic. Haha, so I had to restart and find a different angle. But that was great. I think it’s often better to try something out and realize that it doesn’t work, to help you find what does. If you don’t eliminate different options, you’ll have a much harder time finding what you’re looking for.

Did the pandemic affect the recording of the score at all?

Yes, but not necessarily in a bad way. For one, it gave me more time to work on the score. It also limited my resources, which I often find, from a creative perspective, can be really inspiring and force you to explore and push the limitations rather than if you had all the choices in the world. Since so many concerts and events were cancelled during this period, it also meant that Caroline had a lot of time and could be at my disposal in a way that would have been unlikely under normal circumstances as she is often very busy. Which was great for me and the score. It created space for us to go into this creative bubble. Of course, at the same time things were really rough for so many of my fellow colleagues and musicians and times were really uncertain.

How much time did you have to work on the music?

At first, not that long, but because of the pandemic, with cancelled festivals etcetera, I got more time to work on the score. I would say that in total I was working on it for about four months.

Excluding the voices, is any type of traditional orchestra used in this soundtrack or is it all synthesized?

No, for this score there are no traditional orchestral instruments involved. I basically created the score around the voices of Caroline Gentele and Sofia Kappel. Then, I used those recordings as samples from which I built different voice synthesizers and drums. Apart from that, I basically worked with different 808 samples and drums as well as the Moog Grandmother synthesizer which I find myself returning to for every new project I’ve done since I bought it.

Do you have a favorite piece in the score?

I think my favorite piece is “Una Gioia Sempre Viva,” because of its warmth and meaning. But I also like the other pieces a lot. Then, of course, I LOVE the rap tracks I created together with Mapei and Ludvig Klint – “Una Gioia,” “Hard to the Core,” and ”Good Girl/Bad Girl.”

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I wanted to say thank you to Karl Frid for taking the time to speak with me about his work on Pleasure. I hope you enjoyed this interview, and have a great rest of the day!

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Soundtrack News: ‘Mr. Malcolm’s List’ Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to be Released July 1st

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Lakeshore Records is set to release Mr. Malcolm’s List—Original Motion Picture Soundtrack featuring music by award-winning neo-classical composer Amelia Warner (Wild Mountain Thyme), digitally on July 1. Warner is adept at creating timeless sounding scores for films with expansive stories and for this historical drama, she balances gravitas and grandeur with playful, energetic cues. The Bleecker Street film directed by Emma Holly Jones and starring Freida Pinto Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù and Zawe Ashton exclusively in theaters on July 1^st.

Says Warner about Mr. Malcolm’s List:

“I had an incredible time working on Mr. Malcom’s List and was so inspired and excited by Emma’s vision for the film. We wanted the music to feel classic and timeless. We hoped that it would ground the story and give the film weight and grandeur. I really enjoyed playing around with textures, using shimmering harmonics and woodwind trills to create a fizziness and energy. I wanted there to be a fun playfulness and mischief to the score which was achieved with characterful and expressive woodwind. I also wanted the score to feel romantic and sweeping and have hopefully achieved that with the main love theme for Malcom and Selina. I wanted this theme to feel like it was glowing and sparkling surrounding it with magical glittering harmonics and flute trills.”

Breakthrough neo-classical composer Amelia Warner is best known for her stunning soundtrack for the 2018 Irish-American film ‘Mary Shelley’, directed by Haifaa al-Mansour and starring Elle Fanning. It won Amelia the ‘Breakthrough Composer of The Year’ at the International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) Awards in 2019, and a nomination in the ‘Discovery of the Year’ category at the World Soundtrack Awards.

Mr. Malcolm’s List is summarized as follows:

When she fails to meet an item on his list of requirements for a bride, Julia Thistlewaite (Zawe Ashton) is jilted by London’s most eligible bachelor, Mr. Malcolm (Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù). Feeling humiliated and determined to exact revenge, she convinces her friend Selina Dalton (Freida Pinto) to play the role of his ideal match. Soon, Mr. Malcolm wonders whether he’s found the perfect woman…or the perfect hoax.

TRACK LIST

01. Overture

02. Quite The Reputation

03. Selina

04. Malcolm and Selina

05. A Plan is Hatched

06. Arriving at Hadley Hall

07. A Gift of Friendship?

08. A Trustworthy Gentleman

09. Selina Arrives in London

10. Julia Discovered

11. Croquet

12. The First Meeting

13. A Forgiving Nature

14. Proposal

15. Oh Henry

16. Heartbreak

17. Julia and Selena Make Up

18. The Chase

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Soundtrack News: ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Original Soundtrack Available Now

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The Obi-Wan Kenobi soundtrack composed by Natalie Holt and John Williams is available now. Obi-Wan Kenobi begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Obi-Wan Kenobi faced his greatest defeat—the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who turned to the dark side as evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.

Commenting on the score, Holt had the following to say:

“Like many children, the iconic music of John Williams underscored my childhood in all the classic movies I watched. It was his music in E.T. that first made me realise that film music existed so to have scored a project that has his musical heritage embedded in it is something very special to me. Although when I told John that he was the reason I’d become a film composer, he laughed and said, ‘Oh dear, I’m so sorry about that!’”

“As a violinist with a classically trained background, I wanted to create something on an epic scale which was both an homage to the musical palette of Star Wars, while having a contemporary flavour. Because the story of the show involved heritage characters, in some way one has to show awareness of and respect for the heritage of the music. At the same time, there were new characters and elements that are not so familiar to many people – such as the Inquisitors – and finding an original sound and theme for those was part of the pleasure and challenge of this project. So that process of working with my hero John Williams and also bringing my own voice to the show has been glorious.”

“There are some Latin influences in the score, some sounds that are more Eastern, and some dark brooding synthesisers. Ultimately though it’s an emotional score. I watched the original Star Wars trilogy with my dad when I was five years old, and that powerful memory has taken on additional meaning for me in recent times because he is now very ill and losing his own memory. I hope the score is something that he would be proud of, that John Williams feels is harmonic with his own incredible work, and that Star Wars fans across the world embrace the continuing journey of this incredible story world and its rich musical heritage.”

TRACK LIST

Obi-Wan – Theme by John Williams
Order 66
Inquisitor’s Hunt
Young Leia
Days of Alderaan
The Journey Begins
Bail and Leia
Nari’s Shadow
Ready to Go
Daiyu
Cat and Mouse
Spice Den
First Rescue
Mapuzo
The Path
Sensing Vader
Parallel Lines
Some Things Can’t Be Forgotten
Stormtrooper Patrol
Hangar Escape
Hold Hands
Empire Arrival
Dark Side Assault
I Will Do What I Must
Sacrifice
No Further Use
Overcoming the Past
Tatooine Desert Chase
Who You Become
Saying Goodbye
End Credit

Will you be checking out the soundtrack to Obi-Wan Kenobi? It’s got some gorgeous music in it and of course John Williams theme for Obi-Wan is perfection.

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Soundtrack News: ‘Hustle’ Soundtrack Coming to Vinyl, Available for Pre-Order Now

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Netflix and Diggers Factory are excited to announce the release of the Hustle (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film) LP with music by composer Dan Deacon. The soundtrack is available now for pre-order on Diggers Factory and comes pressed on blue vinyl, with an exclusive red version live on Netflix Shop. Adam Sandler’s Hustle debuted on Netflix’s English Films list at #1 with 84.58M hours viewed and climbing. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 92% from critics and 92% with audiences, the film has been getting rave reviews.

Stanley Sugerman’s (Adam Sandler) love for basketball is unparalleled, but the travel weary Philadelphia 76ers scout who has higher ambitions of being a coach remains stuck on the road looking for the next unknown talent. His search around the world leads him to Spain, when he discovers Bo Cruz (NBA player Juancho Hernangómez), an incredible streetball player with a troubled past. Stanley and Bo connect on and off the court, with their passion for the game and as loving family men who want to prove they can win, in basketball and in life. With the support of Stanley’s wife, Teresa (Queen Latifah), can the underdogs come out on top?

HUSTLE, an inspirational drama, co-stars Ben Foster, Kenny Smith, Anthony Edwards, and Tobias Harris, is directed by Jeremiah Zagar and is produced by Sandler, Allen Covert, Joe Roth, Jeffrey Kirschenbaum, Zack Roth, LeBron James and Maverick Carter.

TRACKLIST
SIDE A

Combine
Streetball
Oak Tree
Best Month
Bo Vs Kermit Pt 1
Run Up Hill Win
Streetball One on One
Drive To Combine
Kermit First Contact
Like I Was Not Even Here

SIDE B

Court Walk
Already Dead
Bo Boards Bus
Coaching Debut Pt 1 & Pt 2
The Chase
Run Up Hill Fail
Are You Obsessed
Coaching Moment
Never Back Down

Will you be pre-ordering the Hustle soundtrack on vinyl?

Have a great day!

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My Thoughts on: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

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*warning: minor spoilers for the movie can be found below, highly recommend watching the movie before reading this review

After the hype-fest that was Avengers Infinity War and Avengers Endgame, I admit to being slightly burnt out on Marvel movies for some time afterward (the pandemic didn’t help matters). Regardless of the reasons, the only Marvel movie I’d seen recently was Black Widow and I almost passed on seeing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as I’ve still yet to see the first Doctor Strange movie.

And then the trailer came out.

To put it bluntly: I was hooked from the start. I’m quite familiar with the work of director Sam Raimi and the thought of seeing him tackle a Marvel film sent chills down my spine (in the best way possible). And the tease of seeing so many iconic characters finally appearing in the MCU, well….I couldn’t pass that up either. Being a longtime fan of the X-Men movies, I simply had to see Patrick Stewart reprise his role as Charles Xavier (I’ll speak more on the cameos later on).

Finally, the day came, and I got to see Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (while dodging almost all spoilers). And….to be honest, I’m still processing exactly what I saw. Because you better believe there’s a LOT happening in this movie.

Let me start at the beginning and see if I can make sense of what happens. The crux of the story revolves around young America Chavez, a girl who literally tumbles into Doctor Strange’s world with a unique power: she can travel the multiverse. This power makes her very desirable to many people, well, to one in particular.

I debated long and hard about whether or not I would directly mention this plot detail in my review, but I have so many thoughts on it, I’ve decided it’s worth it. So here is one final SPOILER WARNING before I continue:

Still here? Okay, you were warned….

The revelation that the Scarlet Witch is the big villain of the story hit me like a punch in the gut. I know Wanda has been through a LOT of trauma over the course of the MCU, but it still struck me as a surprise that she would go to this extreme in order to be reunited with the children she created in the first place. It just goes to show that love, real or imagined, can drive a person to do terrible things all in the name of keeping that love. There’s a frightening parallel between Wanda’s actions in this film and the evil Doctor Strange in the What If? episode “What if Doctor Strange lost his heart instead of his hands?” Like that Doctor Strange, Wanda is so focused on her goal, i.e. being reunited with her children no matter the cost, that she becomes almost completely blind to what her quest is costing her until the emotional climax of the film. And the moment it DOES hit her, it had me almost in tears, the depth of pain Wanda was feeling.

Here’s the thing, while Wanda is set up as the villain, she’s clearly a tragic villain, one forced into this position because of what’s happened to her. Everything has built up to this outcome and Wanda simply couldn’t take it anymore. In hindsight, it’s almost not a surprise that this happened, because if you lost everything in one universe and suddenly discovered someone had the power to take you to another world where you had NOT lost everything…wouldn’t you be tempted to try and use it?

The one part I disagree with in Scarlet Witch’s story is the ending. I have waited for so many movies for the Scarlet Witch to be fully introduced, and I hate the idea that she was killed off just as we got her. Now, that being said, I don’t THINK that Wanda is actually dead. We’re meant to think she is, obviously, but there was no body seen, so you know there’s every chance she was just sucked into an alternate dimension. I refuse to believe that we lose the Scarlet Witch just as she fully develops.

Then there’s America Chavez. I really like this character, especially the way she interacts with Doctor Strange throughout the story. Based on her interactions with an alternate version of the sorcerer, it takes quite a while for America to develop a connection with “our” Doctor Strange, but once it does develop, it’s very touching. I’m hoping that we see these two pair up in future films, there’s definitely potential for this relationship to be expanded upon.

Now, on to the juicy parts, most notably THAT scene with the Illuminati. This is by far one of the best scenes I’ve seen since Avengers Endgame. The sheer number of cameos and information dropped in that scene had me enthralled, not least because we finally, FINALLY, had an onscreen appearance from a member of the Fantastic Four, something I have been longing to see ever since Marvel re-acquired the rights to that group of superheroes. I don’t know what connection, if any, this appearance will have with the upcoming Fantastic Four movie, but for now this cameo was more than enough. The only thing that could’ve made this better would’ve been an appearance from some of the X-men (besides Xavier) but I’m confident we’ll be getting that eventually. It was also thrilling to see Captain Carter putting in an appearance, she’s one of my favorite parts of the What If? series and this appearance only strengthens my desire to see a full-fledged Captain Carter movie.

If I have one complaint about this movie, it’s that we didn’t visit more dimensions in the multiverse. Watching the trailers, it seemed like we’d be visiting a lot more worlds than we ultimately did. That doesn’t mean that what we got wasn’t enjoyable, I just was left feeling like we could’ve gotten more.

Oh, and before I forget, I really want to talk for a minute about the horror element in this film. If anyone could pull this off it’s Sam Raimi and he did so beautifully. I honestly wasn’t sure if horror could work in the MCU but this movie proved it is indeed possible to combine horror and the MCU (which means we definitely need a Marvel Zombies movie now). I know horror isn’t for everyone, but if you give it a chance, you’ll see that this is really the only way this kind of story could go.

I’m sure as time goes on that I’ll find details about this movie that I didn’t like, but after thinking it over and over, I have to say that I found Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to be a very enjoyable movie. I like the direction the MCU is headed in and I’m curious to see where the story goes next.

And that’s all I’ve really got to say about the movie. There’s more I could talk about, but I don’t want to spoil the entire movie for you.

Let me know what you thought about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in the comments below and have a great day!

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