I’m a bit behind when it comes to translating my Dutch reviews to this blog (although I’m slowly catching up) and this is a blindspot movie of last year. I knew the music of it, but had never seen the actual film. Which is weird as the rest of my family had seen it several times. Had to change that…on to the hills which apparently are alive with the sound of music… Continue reading
Category Archives: Music
Patti Cake$ (2017) – Review
The story of the underdog, who continues reaching for the top despite all kinds of obstacles, is one that I have seen a lot over the years. A lot of sports films take it as a starting point (Eddie the Eagle or Creed), but also in the field of music, specifically rap, you can think of films like 8 Mile or Hustle & Flow. Patti Cake$ can be added to this category and is about Patti (Danielle Macdonald), who wants to make it as a rapper Continue reading
The Art of Organized Noize (2016) – Review
Organized Noize will not be a name everyone will recognize immediately. But if you are familiar with the early work of Outkast, Goodie Mob or the songs “Waterfalls” by TLC or “Do not Let Go (Love)” by En Vogue, you will know their work. It is the production team behind the music that put Atlanta on the map as a music city. This documentary, which can be found on Netflix, shows their history and how they managed to reach the top, but also how they eventually lost that position. Continue reading
Music inspired by films: Cube – Freek Mastwijk
Although I write lots of reviews, I occasionally like to do something different, something new. A while ago I was thinking about movies and music, but not the score, but music inspired by a specific film. Of course there are a lot of music videos based on movies and there are lots of songs that sample them, but what would a musician do if I asked to create a song that truly was inspired by film? Continue reading
Score: A Film Music Documentary (2016) – Review
Film music can make or break a film. Whether you are aware of it or not (I belong to the latter camp), it sets the tone for what you see. It can create tension, strengthen emotions and can even help making a movie a classic. If you hear the word Star Wars, Psycho or Jaws, you can easily sing the music that goes along with those films. But what has been the role of music over the years, who are the composers behind all that music and how do they work? These are all questions that are addressed in this documentary. Continue reading
West Side Story (1961) – Review
West Side Story is a title that was not part of my Blindspot films this year, but I still was very curious about it. A musical from the sixties that won no less than ten Oscars and that I never came around to watching. When I saw this film was available on the inflight entertainment system this past summer I thought it was a good choice to kill some time. Continue reading
All Eyez on Me (2017) – Review
When Straight Outta Compton came out in 2015, it was a huge success. And as things go with successful films, others see a “formula” that can be repeated in order to achieve the same result. It meant at the time that various hip-hop related films were announced that would also thought of becoming “unexpected hits”. One of them is All Eyez on Me, which looks at the life of rapper Tupac Shakur, who was shot in Las Vegas at the age of 25, at a time when there was a lot of tension between artists on the west and east coast Continue reading
808 (2015) – Review
808 is a number you might not be familiar with, but if you do something with music chances are that you know what it references, namely the Roland TR-808 drum machine which was released in 1980. It might be an old machine, but the sounds it produces are still used today. When I made music myself I mainly did so on my PC, but I did have a digital version of this machine (in the form of Rebirth, which now is available as an app on your iPad) which I sometimes used. The 808 is a legendary machine that has left its influence and this documentary takes the viewer along on a musical journey to make that clear. Continue reading
Sing (2016) – Review
Ever since debuting their first movie Despicable Me in 2010, Illumination Entertainment has managed to release a financially successful string of movies, including The Lorax, Despicable Me 2, Minions and The Secret Life of Pets. The reviews weren’t as positive though, because after their first movie the Metactric score has never been above 62 points for any of their films, usually because the movie might have fun moments, but lack an emotional depth. The studio isn’t able to measure up to the greats like Pixar and Disney yet. Sing is their latest film and the question is whether this is any good. Continue reading
Hip Hop Evolution: Season 1 – Review
My favorite music genre has been hip hop for years. Since I started listening at the beginning of the nineties I’ve read a lot about it and seen various documentaries (with a lot of them of pretty bad quality). So I’m not afraid to admit that I know quite a bit about it. When this documentary series showed up on Netflix I was curious if it would have to offer something I didn’t know yet. Continue reading