Intrada records has released three volumes of CD's featuring scores from many of the episodes from the series -- works of John Williams, Bruce Broughton, Michael Kamen, Alan Silvestri, ect-ect-ect.

Vol. 3 arrived in the mail the other day; I've already purchased (and enjoyed) the first two volumes. This volume is the best, mostly due to the fact it contains the score Williams wrote for the Spielberg directed episode"The Misson"... which is 25min worth of perhaps some of the best music ever written for television.

The series on the other hand, well... pretty hit-and-miss, IMO.

I remember watching a few episodes as a kid, like Spielberg's "Ghost Train" and Zemeckis' "Go to the Head of the Class" (on of my fav's). But re-watching them from time to time on the Sci-Fi channel has reminded me how many stinker episodes there were. I did like the quirky and weird episode entitled "Thanksgiving", which is in the realm of my writing style.

Anyway, yeah, enough recollecting, back to the music...

The other night I re-watched my first Capra experience - "You Can't Take It With You". Marvelous film! Of course, Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur are always some of my favorites, who I can watch in any mood. Capra directed one of my fav films by the way, "It Happened One Night", another totally charming, fantastic film.

"Lost Horizon" is another great one -- certainly his biggest budget from the looks of it in size and scope. Also "Mr. Smith Goes to Washigton" isn't too shabby either... get 'em, Jimmy!

I love revisiting his films, especially with the Frank Capra collection on DVD, which I found for $20 used. What a deal!

VOLVER - it's out on DVD, rent it, it's truly a great film -- Almodovar (who I'm a huge fan of) really makes his best film since "All About My Mother" in my opinion. Penelope Cruz gives the best performance of her career. José Luis Alcaine's cinematography is beautiful, he really knows how to light women! Also Alberto Iglesias' music score is terrific, with nods to Bernard Herrmann.

THE HOST - Creature-fest from South Korea, it really delivers! Tons of great stuff if you're into slimy monsters attacking people, which I am! It's sprinkled with humor and has some really outstanding CGI. Can't wait for it to come out on DVD.

BLACK BOOK - To me, this was kind of the brother/sister movie to Verhoeven's "Soldier of Orange", which is a classic, IMO. Carice Van Houten is excellent as the lead in the film as "Rachel" -- certainly look for her in the future. The film is full of dark suspense, nail-biting scenes, and terrific performances.

PAN'S LABYRINTH - Certainly very worthy of all the acclaim it got. This is the best film director Del Toro has made yet. It's beautifully designed, superbly shot, and full of great performances. Also of note: the music by Javier Navarette is perfect -- heartbreaking, sad, beautiful...

Next to King's "The Talisman" this is another book of his I want to make into a film. It's such a strong fantasy tale -- kings, princes, evil magicians, betrayal, heroics... certainly my cup of tea. (and I'm a sucker for any fantasy)

If you haven't read it, pick it up, it's a great read.

Today I received in the mail a boxed-set of all four Karate Kid film scores by Bill Conti. Total geek-dom ran over me as I played the the score to the first, bringing back memories of crushes on Elisabeth Shue and getting in kick-fights with my brother. Of course, who didn't have a crush on Shue and go through a "karate kid" wannabe phase in their youth? I certainly did.

Anyway back to the music. Conti uses a pan flute on all four scores, backed by a terrific sounding studio orchestra, recorded by the great Dan Wallin. Just hearing the crispness of the brass on the main titles to the first film was quite a moment!

The box set is a lofty $50, but certainly is a great buy if you're a fan of Conti and the films. If you're not, then I doubt you read this far in the blog.