Yeah, about all that stuff I said in the last post…

The job is as far as I can tell still technically mine, but there is a lot standing in the way of my happily ever after:

- It’s unfortunate that I had to reach back to my customer service job to teach me anything, but in utilizing Western Union, I was taught that structured transactions over the course of one day - or, in my case, over consecutive days - can cause one’s bank account to be frozen. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out and you’re shit out of look if you wanna know how much you got left, but I’m pretty lucky in this regard; at least, I’m sure I have a pretty hefty chunk left over.

- Actually, I called my bank and I'm in the goddamn red. Whether or not this particular job situation is a scam as the woman on the phone theorized, a good job should take you out of debt, not put you further in, so I'm not sure if this is a business I want to be a part of. I'm applying elsewhere. People shit talk LinkedIn, but I'm fucking desperate.

- Without a functioning checking account, I can’t make a down payment on a new car (to say nothing of the automatic payments that are due), which pretty much means I’m still stuck with my rusted out shit box in need of a) an oil change, b) new brakes and c) a myriad of other issues that can’t be fixed with a simple reset of an engine light.

- The recruiter I’m talking to about all of this just now tried to tell me that this has never happened with any prior applicants to this job, which leads me to one of two disturbing but distinctive scenarios: a) he’s lying to me or b) he’s fucking lying to me and that’s just not cool.

- All this stuff may be settled by the time April rolls around or it may not, but that’s just too long to wait for a new job, a new paycheck, a new car, a new everything.

- Once again, the universe treats the piddling little stuff that I ask for as the hardest shit in the fucking world to deliver. I don’t think anybody screaming the N-word in my face for ten minutes on end could be more offensive than that.

- At this rate, I might actually end up eating dog food.

Close a door, open a window.

As ever, Conan O’Brien did the best he could, but between a number of the wins and a number of the quote-unquote "comedy" routines, last night's Oscars were something of a shit show. I actually kind of wish I skipped over to "American Dad". Weird to think they aired a new episode last night and despite my worries about being back on the Fox farm after seeing the big city lights of TBS, this new season is crushing it. 

But there is still joy in Mudville, folks. The unemployment situation I was staring down the barrel of has resolved itself. Paying off my bills for the foreseeable future and - more importantly - being able to get a new car to replace a rusted out shit box whose brakes could literally go at any second...well there’s only one thing to say:

Ah, to have 'Oscar-winner' in front of your name...

Less than a week to go, so I may as well get to work. Last year, I went 7 out of 23. I'm sure I can do better this year.

Picture: Again with the ten nominees. That's the way it is, I suppose.
What would I have added to the category: Mickey 17 and Weapons.
My pick: Sinners, if only to convince Warner Bros. that stories made by, for and about people of color have worth, something their (possibly, but hopefully not) imminent bosses will not embrace even with loaded guns pointed at them.

Actor: No matter how right or wrong Chalamet's comments may have been, they do not erase the performance of his career. Period. There is a strong chance at a sympathy vote for Jordan. Di Caprio was good, but...he already has an Oscar. Didn't see The Secret Agent or Blue Moon.
Who would I have added to the category: Brendan Fraser (Rental Family), Paul Walter Hauser (The Luckiest Man in America), Robert Pattinson (Mickey 17) and Channing Tatum (Roofman)
My pick: Michael B. Jordan (but only if people are as sick of Chalamet as Twitter claims they are)

Actress: Didn't see a single one of these movies, so I have no dog in this fight...but unlike opera and ballet, I do care about cats. Eat shit, Jessie Buckley*.
Who would I have added to the category: Kirsten Dunst (Roofman), Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another) and Sophie Thatcher (Companion. Yes, she was that damn good.)
My pick: Rose Byrne

Supporting Actor: Perhaps, the most difficult category of the night. Haven't seen Skarsgard's work and Penn was fine, but his wasn't even the best performance nominated for this movie in this category. That leaves three. Dangit. Couldn't we get a tie for this?
Who would I have added to the category: Mark Ruffalo in Mickey 17. I am dead fucking serious. Also, Jeffrey Wright for Highest 2 Lowest and Michael Cera (for The Phoenician Scheme, to be specific).
My pick: Delroy Lindo.

Supporting Actress: I don't know. Maybe, I should see Sentimental Value one of these days. It must be something if it got two nominations in this category.
Who would I have added to the category: Gwyneth Paltrow (Marty Supreme; for real, I am gobsmacked she was left out), Regina Hall (One Battle After Another; likewise) and Glenn Close (Wake Up, Dead Man).
My pick: Wunmi Mosaku.

Director: Another solid lineup.
Who would I have added to the category: Honestly, I can't think of anyone.
My pick: Ryan Coogler.

Original Screenplay: It Was Just an Accident sounds rather depressing and Blue Moon sounds like a filmed play topped off with cutesy cameos. Seriously, what went wrong here?
What would I have added to the category: Rental Family and Weapons. There. Much nicer.
My pick: Sinners (Much as I enjoyed Marty Supreme, it's about an unlikable schlemiel stepping on everyone in his path. I don't know if voters in this category would respond to this.)

Adapted Screenplay: Generally, a pretty expected lineup. Still, being nominated should be prize enough. Adapting someone else's material cannot be easy.
What would I have added to the category: Almost enough to fill five more slots. Highest 2 Lowest. Mickey 17. Roofman. The Roses. 
My pick: One Battle After Another

Cinematography: Nothing here to object to, I think.
What would I have added to the category: I think Weapons was well-shot.
My pick: Marty Supreme

Editing: Not really anything to say here, which is unfortunate given that I hope to edit the movies I make. What can I say?
What would I have added to the category: Highest 2 Lowest. Also, Roofman. God's sakes, it deserved something.
My pick: Sinners

Production Design: Nothing to argue here. Good list, if somewhat predictable.
What would I have added to the category: Mickey 17 and The Running Man. And Fantastic Four. That nomination should've been a slam dunk.
My pick: Frankenstein

Costume Design: Pretty solid grouping of nominees, though I still think the Avatar nod is some bullshit.
What would I have added to the category: I don't know. Maybe, The Housemaid? Oh, wait. The Phoenician Scheme. Shit, everyone forgot that movie.
My pick: Sinners

Original Score: Of course, I'm gonna have an opinion on this. Very middlebrow a lineup. That's the problem with this category and film scoring as a medium today: Nobody wants to even attempt coloring outside the lines for fear of getting into trouble. If no one experimented in film music, Goldsmith's Planet of the Apes would be merely decent instead of memorable and awesome (and, hey, it was an Oscar nominee!)
What would I have added to the category: Nicholas Britell's Jay Kelly (because the music was that damn good) and Brian Tyler's Nuremberg (because he's long overdue major award recognition). Outside the official shortlist, there's Michael Giacchino's The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Howard Drossin's Highest 2 Lowest (seriously, you haters can all blow me) and Alan Silvestri's Play Dirty. A brand new category unto itself.
My pick: Frankenstein

Original Song: Just another group of songs. Unlike years past, though, I'm struggling to think of a tune that was unfairly cheated here.
What would I have added to the category: See previous statement.
My pick: "Golden", I guess.

Animated Feature: As of last weekend, I saw all five nominees. I genuinely can't remember the last time that's happened before watching the ceremony. The lineup is pretty strong, but...
What would I have added to the category: The Dreamworks features Dog Man and The Bad Guys 2 to sit in for the somewhat pretentious foreign entries. And how did The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and Predator: Killer of Killers escape any notice?!
My pick: KPOP Demon Hunters. The hype is real, y'all.

Visual Effects: What I wouldn't give for a nominee in this category that didn't rely primarily on CGI. I know it could never happen at this point, but there's no law against dreaming...yet.
What would I have added to the category: What wouldn't I have added? Captain America: Brave New World, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Final Destination: Bloodlines, How to Train Your Dragon, M3GAN 2.0, Mickey 17, A Minecraft Movie, Paddington in Peru (I had to look it up. None of these movies have ever been nominated in this category. Open the schools!), Predator: Badlands, Superman, Thunderbolts* and Until Dawn. Oh, and Snow White, just to troll people.
My pick: Jurassic World: Rebirth, if only to throw off any haters (you know who you are) upset at a potential Sinners streak.

Make-Up and Hairstyling: Pretty solid lineup here, even if I've never heard of one of these movies and couldn't sit through another even if you paid me. I'll leave you to figure out what's what.
What would I have added to the category: Weapons. For real, how do you beef that? Oh, and The Toxic Avenger. Yes, really.
My pick: It's got to be Frankenstein, full stop.

Casting: The first year for this category. Sucks that it had to be introduced the year after Saturday Night. For real, that was spot-on.
What would I have added to the category: Companion, How to Train Your Dragon, The Life of Chuck, The Luckiest Man in America, Mickey 17, Roofman and Weapons. 
My pick: Sinners

Animated Short Subject: "Retirement Plan". It just sounds nice.

Live-Action Short Subject: Didn't really watch any of these, so I looked up the plot summaries online. "The Singers" sounds sweet enough, if lightweight, but among the others, the least malign of them - "A Friend of Dorothy" - would be my choice.

Documentary Short Subject: "Perfectly a Strangeness" and no, I will not elaborate.

Documentary Feature: No John Candy: I Like Me. This show is a farce. It seems the trend is current events, but I would think that they'd award something a bit uplifting. Come See Me in the Good Light.

International Feature: Sirat sounds the most interesting (and least depressing) of the bunch.

Sound: F1, if only because it's the least insulting category for the film to be nominated in.

And that's my personal ballot. Hell, I'm not gonna have a job in a few weeks. Make me an Academy member! Watch movies? Fuck yeah! That's a living!

* - This comment was made in jest. I'm sure she's a lovely person, overall.

Oh, yeah, the Oscars.

Hey. Better late than never.

- With the newly added Best Casting category, Sinners is the most nominated (16) movie of all time. It’s very rare that my favorite movie of the year is so honored, so there’s extra reason to celebrate.

- Damn shame that both of DreamWorks' animated features were shut out. Either The Bad Guys 2 or Dog Man would've been a worthy nomination. Arco was fine, but a little too derivative of E.T. and Hayao Miyazaki's oeuvre to really hit the mark.

- After so many potential nominees for horror movies get passed over, Amy Madigan scores one for Supporting Actress for Weapons. I suppose it was asking a little too much to have the film be nominated in categories beyond that, but, hey, it is what it is. Credit where credit is due: it was a terrific performance.

- Though not the lineup I'd have chosen, this year's Original Score category is perfectly cromulent; no Babylons or Social Networks to offend the ear.

- Speaking of music, apparently that is the same Nicholas Pike nominated for Best Original Song that works with Mick Garris. Who knew?

- A whole lot of first-time nominees for acting: Jessie Buckley, Rose Byrne, Jacob Elordi, Elle Fanning, Michael B. Jordan, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Delroy Lindo, Wagner Moura, Wunmi Mosaku, Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard and Teyana Taylor.

- Some unfortunate snubs to speak of: Highest 2 Lowest, Mickey 17 (yes, I'm serious), The Phoenician Scheme and Rental Family.

- Okay, did Avatar: the Thingy of Whatsis honestly get a nod for Costume Design? A lot of those outfits were created in a computer and this is really in contest with designers and their teams who made outfits by hand? Paul Zastupnevich wept.

- March 15th. Beware the Ides of March.

Deal of the Century (Arthur B. Rubinstein)

Arms dealer Eddie Muntz (Chevy Chase) has been doing pretty well, but an opportunity falls into his lap for the score of a lifetime: a military plane to a South-of-the-border country...with a few bugs. No one seems to like this movie, least of all its star and director (William Friedkin!!!), but while it's unlikely to be confused with Dr. Strangelove, this satire manages some hearty laughs.

Between this, WarGames and Blue Thunder, Arthur B. Rubinstein seemed to be the go-to composer for 1983's ‘military hardware gone berserk’ movies. (Do you think he’d have also done Best Defense if it hadn’t pushed back to 1984?) Rubinstein creates a number of fascinating elements, from a 'doubt' motif for Gregory Hines' born-again pilot (“Hobbling to the Rescue”, “Bickering”) to a slinky love theme (“End Credits”) as well as flavorful, exotic cues (“San Miguel”) and a quietly noble march theme for Chase's Eddie (“Ed's Got a Plan”, “Finale”).

Deal of the Century
composed & conducted

by

Arthur B. Rubinstein

1. Main Title 0.15
2. Tankbuster Ad 0.47
3. San Miguel 1.15
4. “Oh my, oh my.” 1.45
5. Successful Sale 0.28
6. “...a sorry thing.” 0.19
7. Bearing Arms 1.20
8. The Peacemaker 0.50
9. Ed's Got a Plan 0.33
10. The Airport 0.57
11. Babysitting 1.17
12. Not Under Control 0.36
13. Harold's Affairs 1.38
14. “I believe you.” 1.28
15. Ray Reminisces 0.48
16. Bickering 0.26
17. “A little touch-up.” 0.39
18. Regret 0.10
19. Cram Session 0.44
20. Good Night 0.34
21. Beddy-Bombs 1.00
22. Re-Gifting 0.21
23. Arms for Peace ‘84 0.20
24. “Shine” 2.50
25. A Gift to Kathy 0.50
26. Making a Date 1.26
27. Baptism 0.33
28. Hobbling to the Rescue 1.06
29. Peacemaker Chase 2.34
30. Planes in Flames/Finale 1.29
31. End Credits 1.51

Here's the “End Credits” cue:

The film music of 2025.

Another year of composers sticking it to the man and writing memorable film music. Let's take a gander.

My favorite scores of 2025:

(Theodore Shapiro - Lakeshore)
Wonderfully sinuous music that played like a soundtrack for a much better version of this movie.
Favorite cues: “Into the Lion’s Den”, “I Know Who You Are”, “We Belong Together”

(Danny Elfman - Because)
With this latest adaptation, Elfman was in his element; dark, yet beautiful.
Favorite cues: “Detective Work”, “The Dance”, “Amen”

(Alan Silvestri - Netflix)
Whatever one could say about the movie, Silvestri throwing back to his Back to the Future heyday was greatly appreciated.
Favorite cues: “The Year the World Changed”, “See Where the Day Takes Us”, “The Day is Ours”

(Carter Burwell - Lakeshore)
Burwell provided this comedy with a mix of light pop and heavenly grandeur.
Favorite cues: “Wings Over L.A.”, “You’re Gonna Make Me Go Back?”, “A Life Worth Living”

(Howard Drossin - A24)
The kind of bold, upfront music that seems to have disappeared from cinema.
Favorite cues: "Somebody Got Trey", “We Got This”, “Free Yung Felon”

(John Powell - Back Lot)
Okay, so Powell wrote this score fifteen years ago, but that didn’t stop it from still kicking ass.
Favorite cues: “I Hit a Night Fury”, Test Driving Toothless”, “We Have Dragons”

(Nicholas Britell - Netflix)
A truly lovely effort and a career-best score from Britell.
Favorite cues: “Practicing the Score”, “Here in Italy/Driving With Alba”, “Jay Kelly Suite”

(Alexandre Desplat - Back Lot)
Desplat got to put his own stamp on the franchise with his rambunctious music.
Favorite cues: “Boat Chase”, “Crossing the River/T-Rex”, “Bella and the Beast”

(Brian Tyler - Lakeshore)
The third time was the charm for Tyler, pulling off some interesting new tricks.
Favorite cues: “Upstaged”, “A Twist in the Tail”, “The Vandenberg Family”

(Brian Tyler - Sony Classical)
Tyler responded well to the subject matter, crafting one of his most substantive works.
Favorite cues: “Begin”, “Goring and Hess”, “End Titles”

(Alan Silvestri - La La Land)
Silvestri’s too-cool-for-school music may have been even more fun than the (entertaining) movie.
Favorite cues: “Main Titles”, “Rob an Entire Country”, “The Vault”

(Benjamin Wallfisch - Netflix)
The highlight of an especially eclectic year for Wallfisch; a grand thriller score.
Favorite cues: “The Yacht”, “Carrie”, “The Gala”

Other good scores of 2025:

The Alto Knights (David Fleming), Desperate Journey (Ilan Eshkeri), Dog Man (Tom Howe), Downton Abbey: the Grand Finale (John Lunn), Dust Bunny (Isabella Summers), Final Destination: Bloodlines (Tim Wynn), Fountain of Youth (Chris Benstead), Frankenstein (Alexandre Desplat), One Battle After Another (Jonny Greenwood), Presence (Zack Ryan) and The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (John Debney)

My favorite CDs of 2025:

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein...and the Keystone Kops (Frank Skinner, William Lava, Herman Stein and Henry Mancini - Intrada) - Skinner’s scary/fun score for the classic horror-comedy was topped off with the Mickey-mousing madness of …Keystone Kops.

The Bruce Broughton Collection - Vol. 1 (Dragon's Domain) - A pair of solid TV-movie thriller scores that gave ample hints of the compositional force yet to hit the big screen.

The Celluloid Closet (Carter Burwell - Quartet) - Perhaps, the biggest shock of the year; a stirring score for the underrated documentary.

Class (Elmer Bernstein - Quartet) - The only 80s teen comedy on Bernstein’s resume was propelled by a nicely stirring main theme.

The Dark Crystal (Trevor Jones - La La Land) - Arguably Jones’s magnum opus, brought to powerful, melodic life in this complete release.

Flatliners (James Newton Howard - Intrada) - Howard brought together a lot of disparate elements for this thriller, resulting in one of his first great scores.

The Lalo Schifrin Collection - Vol. 1 (Dragon's Domain) - A collection of previously released minor classics joined by the debut of Day of the Animals. Enough said. Now bring on Love and Bullets and/or The Manitou!

A League of Their Own (Hans Zimmer - Intrada) - Zimmer’s first collaboration with Penny Marshall owed a debt to Randy Newman, but it was great fun, all the same.

The Secret of N.I.M.H. (Jerry Goldsmith - Intrada) - Every blessed note of this spellbinding score was finally made available, revealing the full breadth of Goldsmith’s storytelling prowess.

The Twelve Chairs (John Morris - Quartet) - Perhaps the most forgotten of Mel Brooks’ movies, given a Morris score that was equally joyous and melancholy, while showcasing Brooks’s wonderful theme song.

Other great CDs of 2025:

Beverly Hills Cop III (Nile Rodgers - La La Land)

Cape Fear (Bernard Herrmann - Quartet)

The Chairman (Jerry Goldsmith - Intrada)

Crimson Tide (Hans Zimmer - Intrada)

Devil in a Blue Dress (Elmer Bernstein - La La Land)

How Did You Get In? We Didn't See You Leave (Alan Silvestri - Music Box)

Starship Invasions (Gil Melle - Dragon's Domain)

Table for Five (John Morris - Dragon's Domain)

The Three Musketeers (Michael Kamen - Intrada)

Union Pacific: the Paramount Westerns Collection - Vol. 2 (various - La La Land)

Random thoughts:

- In listening to the scores for these year-end posts, I, inevitably, found myself running into a composer whose music filled me with such ennui, if not outright hatred, that I was pretty much forced to cut them off cold turkey. There were quite a few on that short list, but just missing it was recent Oscar winner Volker Bertelmann. His music is less bad than a lot of the people I run into, but there’s just no life to it. Just, you know, ‘punch in, provide 50 minutes to an hour of droning porridge and that’s it, let’s do it again, sometime’. He had a whopping six scores from the previous year many of which fell into the ‘porridge’ category. There was a little more life in the score for the animated movie Grand Prix of Europe, but nothing terribly memorable, but then came Ballad of a Small Player. It didn’t end up making the top 25, but holy piss, it’s like Bertelmann‘s battery got switched on. Why isn’t he writing music this lively all the time?

- Okay, according to Scott Bettencourt, none of these scores - among the top hundred of those I listened to for the year-end cram session - have received physical releases of any kind (and, no, LPs do not count because why the fuck would they?): The Alto Knights, The Amateur, Americana, Anaconda, Another Simple Favor, Avatar: Fire and Ash, The Bad Guys 2, Ballad of a Small Player, Bugonia, Captain America: Brave New World, The Conjuring: Last Rites, David, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, Desperate Journey, Dog Man, Dracula: a Love Tale, Dust Bunny, Eden, Ella McCay, The Electric State, Elio, Eternity, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Fixed, Fountain of Youth, Gabby's Dollhouse: the Movie, Good Fortune, Grand Prix of Europe, Highest 2 Lowest, Honey, Don't!, The Housemaid, I Know What You Did Last Summer, In Your Dreams, Jay Kelly, The King of Kings, The Legend of Ochi, Long Distance, A Loud House Christmas: Naughty or Nice, Marty Supreme, Materialists, A Minecraft Movie, The Naked Gun, Now You See Me: Now You Don't, Nuremberg, Oh, Hi!, One of Them Days, Paddington in Peru, The Phoenician Scheme, Predator: Badlands, Predator: Killer of Killers, Presence, Primitive War, The Roses, Rule Breakers, Sarah's Oil, Smurfs, Snow White, Soul on Fire, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, Stitch Head, Thunderbolts*, 28 Years Later, Until Dawn, Wake Up, Dead Man, The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, William Tell, Wolf Man, The Woman in Cabin 10 and Zootopia 2. Clearly, something needs to change...or change back. Varese Sarabande, where art thou?**

- I can only wonder if it was a scheduling conflict that kept Terence Blanchard away from scoring Highest 2 Lowest for Spike Lee, but his orchestrator, Howard Drossin, stepped in and - I think - did a damn fine job. However, most people on the internet don’t quite agree with me, calling this, if you can believe it, ‘one of the worst scores I’ve ever heard!’*. There was an honest-to-blog Goldsmith riff in “Somebody Got Trey” and people are calling this one of the worst scores they’ve ever heard?! It’s just the sort of thing to put someone firmly on Team God, Please Flood This Worthless Fucking Planet.

- I finally figured out Benjamin Wallfisch. When he stays away from any kind of musical distortion, he’s one of our greatest living composers. I’ll definitely keep this in my back pocket if I ever get to work with him.

* - Unless they’ve heard the likes of these, those people can fuck all the way off with their ‘worst score ever!’ talk:

Dunkirk (Hans Zimmer)
Evilspeak (Roger Kellaway)
I Saw What You Did (Van Alexander)
Loverboy (Michel Colombier)
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Edward Ward)
Sharky’s Machine (Doc Severinsen!!)
Star Trek: Generations (Dennis McCarthy)

** - Oh, and for shits and giggles, here's how I think the physical CD situation would've broken down in a better year:

Hollywood
The Amateur
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Captain America: Brave New World
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Predator: Badlands
Predator: Killer of Killers
The Roses
Thunderbolts*

Lakeshore
Another Simple Favor
Bugonia
Good Fortune
Honey, Don't!
The Housemaid
Rule Breakers
Stitch Head

La La Land
The Bad Guys 2
The Naked Gun
Primitive War (because this is probably the only way a 90-minute album like this would ever see a physical release)

Milan
David
Eden
Eternity
The King of Kings
The Legend of Ochi
A Loud House Christmas: Naughty or Nice
Marty Supreme
Materialists
William Tell
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep

Sony Classical
Anaconda
Fixed
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Nuremberg
Oh, Hi!
One of Them Days
Paddington in Peru
28 Years Later
Until Dawn

Varese Sarabande
Americana
Ballad of a Small Player
Desperate Journey
Dog Man
Dracula: a Love Tale
The Electric State
Ella McCay
Fountain of Youth
Gabby's Dollhouse: the Movie
Highest 2 Lowest
In Your Dreams
Jay Kelly
Long Distance
Now You See Me: Now You Don't
Smurfs
Soul on Fire
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
Wake Up, Dead Man
Wolf Man

Walt Disney
Elio
Snow White
Zootopia 2

WaterTower
The Alto Knights
The Conjuring: Last Rites
Final Destination: Bloodlines
Grand Prix of Europe
The Day the Earth Blew Up: a Looney Tunes Movie
A Minecraft Movie

I didn't include The Phoenician Scheme, Presence or Sarah's Oil, because the score content on those albums is less than 30 minutes. Paying $17.99 for a 20-minute album? Honey don't play dat.

“Life is like a hurricane…”

Roger Feigelson and, no doubt, the late, great Doug Fake have proved themselves tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties, because by the time you see this post, the two-CD release of Ron Jones‘s music for the 1987 series “DuckTales” will have been released by Intrada Records. I know better than to do the whole ‘posting what else I would like in this release’s vein’ thing on public forums, but we’re not on public forms. We’re on my blog, so here are a few other releases from Disney cartoon shows I would love to see put out sometime between now and my (undoubtedly food-related) death:

1. TaleSpin (Christopher L. Stone) - The next logical choice for a TV soundtrack release if “DuckTales” is a decent seller (he said, wryly). I had a CD-R of Stone's 40-minute promo back when I first got into obtaining CD-Rs, so, of course, it's practically unlistenable now. All the more reason.

2. Spider-Man (Udi Harpaz) - Technically, it is Disney. A lot of Saban-produced shows and movies in the 90s had orchestral music that the projects didn't really deserve. I genuinely feel that this may have the highest chance of getting a release.

3. Kim Possible (Adam Berry) - No, it's not orchestral, but it is colorful as shit and, sometimes, that's all you need.

And, as long as I'm playing with house money, let's flip around to some other channels with shows whose music I'd love to see released:

Nickelodeon

1. The Penguins of Madagascar (Adam Berry) - As with all of his scores for McCorkle/Schooley shows (see above), Berry’s music is nicely catchy and the jazzy edge is a welcome mix with his energy.

2. My Life as a Teenage Robot (James L. Venable) - The show’s sci-fi/action feel gave Venable a lot to work with and he delivered.

3. The Angry Beavers (Charlie Brissette) - Brissette clearly had a blast with the movie, TV and song parodies he wove into his music. Name me another composer who would reference the theme music from Good Neighbor Sam (“Dag’s List”)!

There are two other shows I'd love the soundtracks for, but there's a big ol' asterisk next to them. May as well pull off the Band-Aid:

Invader Zim (Kevin Manthei)* - Technically, this was released. On a 77-minute promo CD I was lucky enough to obtain and on a mini-CD containing every note that Manthei wrote for the show that I was also lucky enough to obtain. As soon as I find a way to play the latter, I am set.

Ren and Stimpy (too damn many composers to list here)* - The stock music utilized for the many episodes came from Raymond Scott (and I have an album featuring most of them) and a number of production houses. A YouTube user has done great work cataloging the pieces and the episodes in which they were used, but I wouldn't mind a professional pair of hands.

Saturday morning (and elsewhere) mashup:

Beetlejuice (Acrobat Music) - What can I tell you? I've been re-watching the show on MeTVToons and it reminded me of how fun the background music was. The collective known as Acrobat Music did a fine job and even threw in some neat variations on the theme Elfman wrote for the show.

Futurama (Christopher Tyng) - You'd think that this would've found its way out in the Comedy Central era (We got a CD of “Family Guy” scoring. Why not strike while the iron is hot?), but better late than never. Or sooner. It's only a matter of time before Hulu loses interest in financing new seasons, leading to this never coming out.

Galaxy High (Don Felder) - Stemming from an earworm of a theme song, the former Eagle’s underscoring was quite delightful.

Green Eggs and Ham (David Newman) - Each episode score was recorded with a 70-piece orchestra. Add to that the labels' collective allergy to taking a chance on further Newman albums and you have a classic case of pissing in the wind. It's not fair.

Inspector Gadget (Haim Saban and Shuki Levy) - All I want is for some label to come through with this show's underscore the way that La La Land did with Saban/Levy's “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” back in 2012. That's not too much to ask, is it?

Jim Latham - Yes, I know this isn't a cartoon. This is a composer. A damn talented one who provided the music for just about every Sony movie spin-off cartoon series. “Men in Black”. “Jumanji”. “Extreme Ghostbusters”. All deserving of releases. Oh, hell, let's throw in “Godzilla”and “Jackie Chan Adventures” for the sake of completism.

ReBoot (Robert Buckley) - Honestly, it’s been a while since I’ve watched this show, but I have fond memories of Buckley’s underscore. Surely, there’s something about this to appeal to others.

Sailor Moon (Bob Summers) - Summers released a digital album of his tracks a few years ago, but a more comprehensive version would be very welcome. Don't think so? Even people who hated (?!) the DiC dub loved the music.

Tiny Toon Adventures (various) - If nothing else, the chance to hear veteran composers go full Stalling (Broughton, Stevens, Rosenthal, Rubinstein) is worth preservation. 

Xiaolin Showdown (Kevin Manthei) - With a more expansive scope than “ZIM” (appropriate, considering the show’s many characters and settings), Manthei produced some exceptional music.

A boy can dream, can't he?