Films to watch out for 2021

Nicolas Cage in PIG

Nicolas Cage and a pig…what more do you want?
Nicolas Cage ‘losing it’ big time over his missing pig? Yep.
A whole load of ‘all that is good is ruined by greed and the masses’.Yep…and ‘pay back’ time. Yep Yep Yep.
I’ve always been a big fan of Nicolas Cage – especially when he gets into odd-ball territory where we can really see his acting chops (Leaving Las Vegas, Birdy, Wild at Heart). There is still no one like him.

Dune

Directors who can do no wrong and have the power to make magic – Denis Villeneuve and Christopher Nolan.
The first Denis Villeneuve film I watched was Incendies. Incredible. At one point in the film it throws you out of a 5th floor window followed by a a ton of bricks and leaves you with a panic attack. Then he made Prisoners, then Enemy, then Sicario, then Arrival, then Blade Runner – probably the best sequel ever? What more can I say. I’m not really interested in ‘Dune’ but I’ll see it because of him.

The Goat

Sometimes you come across a film where you just keep saying ‘WT-A-F’ while watching the trailer.
The Lamb is that film, from A24, filmed in Iceland.
I’m not sure if it’s a comedy or a horror. I know goats can be kind’a spooky but I never thought about a lamb in that way.
You’ve got to watch it.

The Green Knight

Another A24 film and directed by David Lowery.
As an intro go and watch A Ghost Story (2017) also directed by Lowery.
A Green Knight stars Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander and Sean Harris amongst others and is a ‘re-telling of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’.
Dev Patel should have had a few Oscars under his belt by now and just keeps getting better.
Put all these ingredients together and, just by the look of the trailer, you’re in for an amazing deep cinema experience.

Brahms and Monsieur Hire

If you’re into French cinema, especially the 80’s/90’s, then Monsieur Hire has got to be on your list of films to watch – with Three Colours, Betty Blue, Hairdresser’s Husband etc.
It shows how great cinema can be when focused on one simple idea, be it a character study, the outcast or obsession.

The haunting melody from a Brahms piano quartet perfectly reflects the film’s themes. I wonder how this short simple tune, buried in the middle of a quartet, like a flip from one radio station to another, ever came to be on the radar for a film soundtrack. I would love to know who’s idea it was. The script writer may have listened to it ‘on loop’? The director might have been a Brahms fan and was forever looking for a moment to shine the light on it?

Luckily this small nugget of Brahms magic translates to the piano perfectly. In the first version you can get a taste of the interweaving counter melodies that a quartet allows. With the simpler version the melody is more than enough to savour.

I hope it eventually haunts your dreams you as much as it should.

Sheet music can be found here

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Gabriel’s Oboe

If Ennio Morricone was born to produce a soundtrack, other than Cinema Paradiso (and a few more), it was ‘The Mission’ starring Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons and Liam Neeson.

Released in 1986 it tells the story of an 18th Century Jesuit Priest who travels into the depths of the Amazon rainforest to build a mission and convert the local inhabitants.

If one was going to go into the jungle and try and win over a lost tribe you couldn’t do better than start playing ‘Gabriel’s Oboe’. I often wonder how many people started playing the oboe after hearing is as well!

The film is definitely worth a revisit, especially with a new HD/Blu-Ray version available.

So here is a version for piano solo rated at around (UK) Grade 1 or 2 level with a single repeat.

Hope you enjoy!

A simplified version in MIDI file format for Synthesis or similar app will be put on my Patreon.

Stealing Home

If you’re into your 80’s teen classics ‘Stealing Home‘ is one for you to checkout or revisit. I’d give it a 7/10 on the ‘test of time’ scale.

It’s one big sentimental nostalgic pancake. Americana, baseball, golden summers at Jersey Shore. Jodie Foster is great in her usual awkward and tormented way, while Mark Harmon breezes his way through.

Like many 80’s (teen/mid life crisis) dramas you won’t be spending much time discussing the plot. But you’ll love the music. And you’ll have another reason to check out Bob’s diner on the outskirts of Philadelphia and other locations around Jersey Shore.

The ‘Stealing Home’ theme has been on my piano ‘list’ ever since I first saw it. Composed by David Foster, it’s a highlight of 80’s soundtracks…’that’ piano sound and an essential 80’s sax solo and hits the sentimental mark perfectly. Other soundtracks of his include St. Elmo’s Fire and The Secret of My Success.

The sheet music includes the original and easy key versions. The easy key version slightly simplifies the melody’s off-beat, syncopated rhythm and slows the left hand accompaniment. Play it at a really slow tempo, say 60 bpm then speed up if you feel like it. For those using Synthesia the midi file will be up on my Patreon page in the next week.

Hope you enjoy!

Your Kind Support

Here is hopefully the future working plan of this blog, YouTube channel and sheet music creations.

The goal is to be able to work on these projects full time within a year so every little bit of support helps so much!

I would be very grateful if you would consider supporting this by subscribing to the YouTube channel and, if you have and spare change, support via one of the two sites below.

Buy Me A Coffee
Patreon

In return I will be…
…continuing to help you expand your repertoire
…gradually be adding MIDI files of the music I have arranged, and adding it to the Patreon site.
…adding audio files of non-copyright music I have arranged or composed. This includes backing tracks and piano accompaniments.
…keeping on arranging music that time has forgot.

If you just feel like buying me a coffee to fuel further posts, coffee art and compositions please do – Buy Me A Coffee.

The YouTube channel is slowly growing but it is a little bit niche – often long forgotten film score tracks mixed with chart hits from yesterday.

My aim was to help bring a wide variety of music to your attention that you may never have thought about playing or getting hold of, and arranging these for various ability levels – tracks like Under Your Spell or Building the Barn.

Thanks again.

Bunny and Clive teaser and behind the scenes

Bunny and Clive website can be found here