Bill Wrobel's DVD - Film Score Rundowns

personal action, in the Leo-5 th house, and that Mars at 3 Capricorn harmoniously trine
Sun at 3 Taurus in the 9 th -fire house. Moon is also conjunct that Mars and trine Sun, so
potential for success, a man of strong feelings. Mercury in Aries in the 9 th suggests a
sharp wit, fearless in direct questioning, speaking one’s mind, being honest. Progressed
Midheaven (MC) in Cancer will be coming to an opposition to that natal Mars exact in
about 2 and a half years. I hope he doesn’t have to undergo surgery or have an accident or
an issue with self-will and the limits of self-will. Opposite Moon as well so a potential
change of residence, family/home change, a separation of some sort perhaps. Some sort
of status change, an overt action in the world tied to work and career. I don’t have
Current TV that premiered Monday with Countdown With Keith Olbermann, but I
understand Michael Moore was the first quest. I wish I could’ve watched it.
-Ronin (1998) *** 1/2 [music **]
http://www.amazon.com/Ronin-Robert-
Niro/dp/6305263248/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1293330899&sr=1-2
I haven’t seen this movie for many years, so I popped in this dvd into my player a
short while ago with the commentary on. It is always educational listening to what John
Frankenheimer has to say! While this film is not in the caliber of his mid-Sixties triumphs
such as Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May, and Seconds) it is still quite
suspenseful. I don’t consider it a classic, si I won’t give it a four**** star rating. By the
way, he said in the commentary that he felt that Battle of Algiers was pretty much a
perfectly made picture, his favorite movie. Interesting. I’ve never seen it. He talks about
gratuitous violence starting 1:14:04 when the DeNiro character was being operated on by
the doctor (played by Michael Lonsdale). Maybe Renny Harlin should listen to the
commentary! Needless to say, the casting is superb—almost as powerful an ensemble as,
say, Glendary GlenRoss. Just having DeNiro there as the principal heavyweight is
enough for me, but to add Jean Reno, Sean Bean briefly, Lonsdale, and the others makes
for a terrific ensemble. It is interesting at the end of the commentary how Frankenheimer
was influenced by select test audiences regarding alternate endings involving Deirdre
returning to the café. One such ending had her arrested by the authorities. People hated
those versions, so the director acquiesced to MGM and had the ending that became
official (sans Deirdre).
Frankenheimer discusses (starting dvd 1:22:26) the music score composed by a
young Czech named Elia Cmiral. He said the composer captured what he wanted,
especially with the use of the Armenian Duduk instrument (heard during the commentary
here about the music) playing the soft theme of the movie (the Ronin theme). Then a lot
of the movie has this modern metallic synch sound, he states, to push the movie forward,
to underscore the action. Personally I find the music ok but I would’ve preferred
Goldsmith or Horner or somebody!
-Wild Strawberries (1957) *** [music ***]
http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Strawberries-Collection-Victor-
Sj%C3%B6str%C3%B6m/dp/B00005UQ7T/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=129333
0977&sr=1-1
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