“Nope” by Michael Abels, Various Artists

Finally, after over two and a half years, I went to the movies again, and it couldn’t have been a better homecoming than with Jordan Peele’s Nope. The film tells the story of a remote horse ranch in the California back country called Haywood Hollywood Horses where strange things are happening. Clutter is falling from the sky, electronic equipment is failing regularly, and the horses are acting increasingly startled. It’s only when the ranch owners set up security cameras in the valley that they realize the real danger is lurking behind the clouds. This rather simple premise is unfolding a…

“Magnolia” by Jon Brion, Aimee Mann

There are films that you consider to be flawless until you watch them again years later and realize that they aren’t even as good as you thought they were. Instead they’re more like testimonials of their time, grounded in the very moment. Times are constantly changing and many of the films from back then evoke quite different emotions today. But there are also the rare exceptions that haven’t lost any of their magic. Films that years and decades later still manage to captivate just like they did when they were originally released. Magnolia is such a case for me. I…

“Jurassic World: Dominion” by Michael Giacchino

So… what the hell happened? Why haven’t I published anything in almost 18 months? No sign of life, nothing? Well, I’ll tell you why… Like most stories, it all started with a pointless software update (*pause for laughing track*). In December 2018, WordPress forced the new Gutenberg Block Editor onto their customer base. And as any grumpy old man would do, I refused to adopt to the new tool right away. It was unintuitive, it wouldn’t let me do my muscle-learned workflows, and worst of all, it broke all my previous blog posts. Damn it, I’m too old for this…

“FM4 Sunny Side Up” by Various Artists

There’s something special about Sunday mornings. That’s the way it is. Sunday mornings are for lovers, for sunshine talks, for being nice to the cat. Every other morning we want a kick cause there’s stuff we’ve got to get done. On Sundays, we want kisses. Lots of them. Preferably not from the cat. We want songs that feel like kisses. Songs that let us dream our way into the day. Songs that let us go back to sleep for a while. These are the FM4 kisses. This is how the initiators – radio host John Megill and music director Marcus…

“Watchmen” by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

Who would have ever believed that Trent I Wanna Fuck You Like An Animal Reznor would one day score a Pixar movie? Not me, that’s for sure, even though I’m a big NIN fan and certainly know about the musical qualities of this man and his creative partner. But an animated film? One that is rooted in the Jazz genre? Even for the year 2020 that felt a little bit like fake news to me. But it’s certainly true, thanks to the innovative thinking of Pete Docter, director and creative director of Pixar, who time and again has proven that…