Intellimusica

Fleeting One of the things that gives Gustavo Santaolalla his je ne sais quoi is the element of surprise within his music. Often times, he’ll have a verse section that is slightly minor keyed, and emotionally ambiguous (perfect for film). Santaolalla will then proceed with […]

Rooftop Kiss This a beautiful piece of music from The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). It’s by the late composer, James Horner, who also composed the music for modern classic film’s like Titanic, Braveheart, and Legends of the Fall. The song is from a romantic and well […]

The Star Spangled Banner The Star Spangled Banner is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from a poem written on September 14, 1814, by a then 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key. He wrote the piece after […]

What Was I Made For? is the prototypical tune from Billie Eilish. However, the underpinnings show incredible musicality and restraint. Billie Eilish and her brother/writing partner FINNEAS created a very intimate song. I especially like Eilish’s choice of a delicate, breathy falsetto. She explains and demonstrates […]

El Paso El Paso is beautiful little étude for Spanish guitar. The piece is by composer, Harry Gregson-Williams, from the 2004 film, Man on Fire. The film starred Denzel Washington as “Creasey” a washed up former special forces operator, who takes a gig as the […]

American Prometheus I’ve been obsessing over the Ludwig Göransson’s Oppenheimer soundtrack since the film’s release. Just brilliant. Like Hans Zimmer at his peak in the 2010’s. This is a complex story about a complex individual — and Christopher Nolan leans heavily on the music to […]

Tim & The Bears I’ve always loved this piece by the legendary British folk guitarist, Richard Thompson. Tim & The Bears is from Werner Herzog’s quirky documentary, Grizzly Man. The film is about Timothy Treadwell, a nature enthusiast who lived with Alaskan Grizzlies for 13 seasons […]

A Time of Quiet Between the Storms After completion of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune in 2021, Hans Zimmer, was still inspired and continued writing music. This led to the piece, A Time of Quiet Between the Storms. Zimmer tours extensively, bringing his film music to audiences […]

Schindler’s List “Schindler’s List” is one of the greatest films of the 20th Century, and it serves as an accurate, historical document of the Holocaust. In kind, Oskar Schindler is one of greatest heroes the world will ever know. Schindler was a paradoxical figure; a […]

Grizzly Man Grizzly Man is a 2005 American documentary film by acclaimed German director, Werner Herzog. The film accounts the life (an eventual death) of bear enthusiast, Timothy Treadwell at Katmai National Park, Alaska. The park has the largest coastal grizzlies in the world, as […]

Bella Poor Things is a 2023 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. The movie is based on the 1992 novel (of the same name) by Alasdair Gray. The story follows Bella (Emma Stone), a young woman in Victorian London, who is brought back to life by […]

The Road This piece, by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, is the theme from the 2009 film “The Road”; based on the Cormac McCarthy novel (by the same name).  The story details the grueling journey of a father and his young son over a period […]