Bill Wrobel's DVD - Film Score Rundowns

NYC monster movie. Once, say, jet fighters missile Godzilla, it was history. But this 30story
infant monstrosity (It’s Alive!) in Cloverfield is constantly tanked and helicopterfired
and all that—yet this fleshy creature still is intact, not severely bleeding or
anything! I do like many of the creature effects and other special effects (building being
destroyed, etc.) but I hope the sequel in 2014 will be approached differently./ Please, no
more hand-held camera work (been-there-done-that already)!
-Doctor Who: Horror of Fang Rock (1977) *** [music ***]
http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Horror-Fang-
Story/dp/B0009PVZFK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1293601051&sr=1-1
This 1977 episode features the fabulous Tom Baker incarnation of Doctor Who.
It’s one of the better episodes (Pyramid from Mars is probably one of the best). It
certainly is atmospheric with the characters in the Victorian period (late 19 th century I
believe) trapped in a mysterious lighthouse in a perpetual fog at night! I half-expected
seeing triffids popping out of the dark as an added scare. Tom Baker has great charisma
as Doctor Who, and his toothy wide smile adds to the charm and likeability. There’s good
moody music fitting for this scene. Dudley Simpson provides a guttural-sounding bass
clarinet solo for some spooky scenes, plus of course brass, etc. Make sure you listen to
the commentary by Louise Jameson (playing Leela), John Abbott (playing the young
lighthouse assistant) and Terrance Dicks (who wrote the story). Terrance stated around
16 or 17 minutes into the story that Baker could be a “pain in the neck” and needed
special handling! You’d have to just stand up to him and challenge his bad ideas!
So I recommend this fun episode. Watch out for the big, bright green glowing
jellyfish creature. It might just be a Ruttan monster!
-Jason & the Argonauts (1963) **** [music ****]
http://www.amazon.com/Jason-Argonauts-Todd-
Armstrong/dp/0767810864/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1293601233&sr=1-1
I would marginally consider this a classic fantasy Harryhausen film, but
Herrmann’s music is definitely a classic. I did a 77-page rundown treatment of it here:
http://www.filmscorerundowns.net/herrmann/chordprofile1_new.pdf
http://www.filmscorerundowns.net/blogs/37.pdf
-You’ve Got Mail (1998) *** 1/2 [music ***]
http://www.amazon.com/Youve-Got-Mail-Tom-
Hanks/dp/6305368171/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1293601295&sr=1-2
This is a cute light romantic comedy reuniting (ah-hem!) Tom Hanks and Meg
Ryan in the context of the burgeoning Internet and e-mail chat room age. He’s the head
of a book chain mega-store, and she’s the owner of a cozy little children’s bookshop.
Unfortunately Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) is opening a huge new store right around the corner
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