At the Filmtracks message board, someone posted a topic asking members to choose a new composer for the major franchises. Some of the people there had some interesting choices, but I think I exhibited the most creativity and elan in picking new composers.

1. Star Trek (Mark McKenzie) - I admit that this flies in the face of one of the post's few tenets - "It can't be a composer that previously worked on the franchise."; McKenzie scored a couple of "Enterprise" episodes. - but the man can deliver all the wonder and excitement the franchise scores demand.

2. James Bond (Terence Blanchard) - One can't help but be excited at what Blanchard could cook up for a Bond movie, especially since one of his scores - the marvelous Inside Man - was, in a roundabout way, compared to a Bond score.

3. The Fast and the Furious (Joel McNeely) - "One last ride", my eye. Based this choice solely on Terminal Velocity. Listen to "Cadillac Freefall" and tell me he wouldn't crush this franchise.

4. Star Wars (Christopher Gordon) - Williams is this franchise, no doubt, but if something happened to him, God forbid, Gordon (Daybreakers) would be truly amazing. Search your feelings. You know this to be true.

5. Transformers (Graeme Revell) - I really believe that Revell could hearken back to his mid-90s heyday on these movies, like Street Fighter, Power Rangers...hey, these are all kid-centric properties blown up into ridiculous movies. Weird that I just now got that.

6. Man of Steel (John Debney) - Admittedly not much of a voice, but Debney has a way with an orchestra that these movies desperately need.

7. Spider-Man (Elliot Goldenthal) - He's been away for too long. I hope that his accident didn't lay him too low to take on a project like this. Plus, these films seem to be cut from the same cloth as the Schumacher Batman movies, so there's that.

8. X-Men (Rolfe Kent) - Because if I don't give him a chance to score a comic book movie, who the fudge will? (Ottman could use some time in the corner after Days of Future Past.)

9. Iron Man (Kevin Manthei) - He's made a foray into superheroing (Justice League: the New Frontier) that, I think, would make him a natural for this.

10. Thor (Debbie Wiseman) - An exciting musical journey as told through orchestra. Miss Wiseman can get it done. (If you don't have Arsene Lupin, how can you even say that you like music?)

11. Captain America (David Newman) - Newman's talents would've done wonders for these movies; just imagine the old-fashioned heroics of The First Avenger (but don't get it twisted; I liked Silvestri's score) giving way to the serious thrills of The Winter Soldier.

12. The Avengers (Richard Band) - Kind of like what I said in #8, except he doesn't even have quirky comedies to fall back on. Family loyalty is a commendable thing...unless you're a talented composer and your brother is Charles Band.

13. The Hunger Games (Hummie Mann) - I said this at FSM's message board a long time ago and it still stands: 'It's shameful that Mann didn't (doesn't?) have as big a career as his scores for the Mel Brooks movies would warrant'. Besides, he could use a big franchise on which to stretch his legs...or any movie, for that matter.

14. Guardians of the Galaxy (Marc Shaiman) - This choice is so outside the realm of conceivability that it has to happen sooner or later. Granted, given his Broadway shows and friendship with Rob Reiner, he's not exactly hurting for work, but still...what if?

15. The Maze Runner (Theodore Shapiro) - Cards on the table, all I know of Shapiro are his comedy scores, but there's more than enough here to suggest a strong talent for drama ("The Naughty Purse" from Dinner for Schmucks) and action (several cues from Diary of a Wimpy Kid...seriously).

16. Halloween (Jeff Grace) - I Sell the Dead points toward an incredible gift for horror. (I could care less about the movies, but I think Grace could elevate them.)

17. Jurassic World (Robert Folk) - Folk has given his all to so many movies (okay, most of them are stupid comedies), and the music has been consistently fantastic. Just let him do this. Don't we owe him at least one good dinosaur movie?

18. Planet of the Apes (Carter Burwell) - The music for these movies is gonna require a lot of percussion. Burwell's scores for Conspiracy Theory and The Jackal show that he can nail it.

19. Fifty Shades of Grey (Brian Tyler) - Dude needs a break from action movies and I'm sure he'd tell you so himself.

20. Avatar (Cliff Eidelman) - Lush scenery and adventure. Remember when Eidelman was the go-to guy for this (Star Trek VI, Christopher Columbus)?

What do you think?

The Adventures of Milo and Otis (Michael Boddicker)

Milo, a cat and Otis, a dog, grow up as the best of friends, but when Milo gets swept down river, Otis sets off to find him. Episodic, but incredibly charming family movie. Not much substance, but hard to resist.

Though the project cried out for a David Newman, Michael Boddicker's synth score has its share of delightful passages and could make for a decent album (it does tend toward repetitiveness in the film, somewhat).

The Adventures of Milo and Otis

composed and performed

by

Michael Boddicker

1. "Walk Outside" (Main Titles) 1.14

2. Milo Meets Otis/Mischievous Milo 4.50

3. Hide and Seek/Babysitting 3.08

4. The Intruder 2.54

5. Hatching/To the Dock 5.15

6. Boat Trip 2.06

7. Encounter with a Bear 1.57

8. Over the River/Scary Night 2.27

9. Otis Searches/Empty Box/Digging for Lunch 4.40

10. Storm Clouds/Ride from a Turtle 4.41

11. Hopping with a Fox 1.03

12. Road of Wood and Iron 0.56

13. Friendly Wildlife/Sunset/Dreams of Home/Rescue of a New Friend 8.25

14. Fighting for Fish 2.30

15. Shelter 1.29

16. Teasing the Bear 2.25

17. From a Snake to a Pit 1.18

18. Reunited Rescue 2.07

19. Frolic of Friendship/Courting/Winter/Bigger Family 10.17

20. Lost in the Storm/Fish Delivery/Extended Family 6.37

21. Cats and Dogs 0.54

22. "Walk Outside" (End Credits) 2.24

Yes, Boddicker didn't write "Walk Outside", but the soundtrack to this movie would be rather naked without it, I think.

My deepest apologies for not posting anything in a while. Laziness and apathy are a deadly mix, especially when mixed with self-doubt.

I can't promise that I'm working on something big. If and when I post something, it'll likely be the same old shit.

BTW, I submitted an entry for The Writers' Store's 'Industry Insider Screenwriting Contest'. Take one of their loglines and write the first 15 pages of it and maybe, you could win. (My logline choice: "A superhero has a one night stand with her arch enemy and discovers she's pregnant with his child.") The list of the top 10 finalists were just posted and, of course, I wasn't on it, though one of the finalists - who I can only assume chose the same logline - had a most amusing title: Wonder Broad.

Still, as I'm sure I mentioned before, the logline inspired me for the first time in ages. I'm a third of the way through. Here's hoping I get the drive to finish.

Yep. Welcome to another "This is so going in my blog!" moment.

As part of Free Comic Book Day, before heading out to partake of Avengers: Age of Ultron and the comics of FCBD, I decided to fire up the ol' laptop and watch episodes of some of my favorite animated comic-book based shows. I even drew up a schedule and everything.

I managed to watch all of one episode. It was of "X-Men: Evolution". It was available in all its uncut glory and, tellingly, it's the only show amongst my picks to be available on Netflix. Strangely enough, the other episodes I tried to watch were either crippled by incompetent site management ("Batman: TAS", "Green Lantern: TAS"), sped-up footage to avoid removal ("Fantastic Four") or overzealous ad placement ("Teen Titans"*; it's one thing to interrupt the show to run an online ad, but running an ad on top of the show as it plays should be grounds for immediate castration).

This experience raises a bigger question: Why do so many cartoons fall through the cracks? You'd think something as well-known and critically revered as "Batman: TAS" would be available on a wider platform, like Hulu or Netflix (okay, it's on Amazon Prime, but as God is my witness, I really thought I had to pay to watch it and I am, for lack of a better word, a cheapskate).

I don't pretend to know what exactly goes on in the minds of people who make the big programming decisions, but I can't help but feel like our generation is coming up on a steady stream of gruel with the occasional steak thrown in for variety. (How many cartoons built around the early "Spongebob" episodes where he and Patrick annoy Squidward can there be? A large number, if you know how to search.)

I remember a time when the steak to gruel ratio was a lot more balanced. Funnily enough, most of the cartoons I tried to watch this morning came up in that era. It would've been so nice to revisit the Saturday morning cartoon watching heyday I once enjoyed.

* - It is truly sad that the only real "Teen Titans" I can get on my television is when Boomerang deigns to air "Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo" while that juvenile rip-off dominates Cartoon Network. It's almost like how they were able to delete any traces of "Sheep in the Big City" from existence, likely thinking that if people can't watch it, eventually, they'll forget it ever existed. Cocksucking motherfuckers.