[Closed] Now Playing XLVII

Broadchurch garnered the majority of plaudits but far, far better was the unbelievably good though more depressing Happy Valley.

I've never heard of Happy Valley. It certainly sounds very jolly!

Yup! It isn't called Happy Valley for nothing. Seriously though, this drama is pure quality with stunning performances.

I've steered clear of BROADCHURCH, as I'm not a fan of crime/detective shows -- at least not those that are fairly traditional, which this seems to be. But give me a TWIN PEAKS or TRUE DETECTIVE etc., and I'm game!

@ Broadchurch: It ain't Shakespeare, but I can't emphasize enough how great the performances are. They are worth watching the show. That said, series two is less about finding out who really did it, but to see to it that the murderer doesn't get away. It's quite certain who's done it by the end of series one. The real case this year is another. Actually, I'm quite satisfied that they use the court scenes to address some of the ridiculous things they did on series one.

@ Gracepoint: It´s a scene by scene copy that does nothing to enhance the experience. The few new scenes and twists are actually painfully annoying. The acting is mostly okay, but some performances are incredibly weak. Add to it the inferior cinematography, the less-than-stellar score, and the fact that it feels just as if it's a play that's being done by another, inferior team, all over again, and you can see why it's simply unnecessary to put yourself through it.

@ True Detective: All that being said, there is no doubt whatsoever that True Detective is mopping the floor with Broadchurch and leaves it bleeding and whimpering in a dark corner. Doesn't change the fact that Olivia Coleman deserves every praise she gets for her performance on Broadchurch.

Ben Button Al Desplat

My second favourite Desplat score. (And I love a lot of Desplat scores.)

What's your favourite Desplat score?

In my experience, I've never known a woman who fancied Cristiano Ronaldo. Leastways, none over the age of 14. And that's the way it should be, stupid stuck-up self-worshipping preening peacock that he is.

I've known some but it was all about lust. The man has looks, body and oodles of skill but I doubt there's anyone who loves him more than he loves himself.

Fifty Shades of Grey (Danny Elfman)

Haven't seen the film (though most people say it's safe and rather boring) but if the music is an indicator, I say it's safe and boring. The final tracks are rather interesting (Bliss is quite lovely) but altogether, it's completely devoid of the sexual tension of masterpieces such as Basic Instinct and Body Heat. Expected more of this

Oops! I attributed this to Kanno, who did excellent work on GUNSHI KANEI, indeed, but I should have said that it was written by Takatsugu Muramatsu.

25 minutes, anymore, is just the right length for me. I rarely listen to a whole score anymore unless I'm just listening to it for one of the first times. And those first listens are usually just to identify the best music from the album, which is usually all I'll listen to of it in the future. Film scores, by necessity, include a bunch of music that provides little more than ambiance for the films they accompany. It takes a truly exceptional score for me to want to listen to all of it. I only have 5 or 6 scores, probably, that I will listen to in their entirety. It's just so easy to improve the listening experience by deleting a track or five. Or if the album really isn't strong, only ever listening to one or two cues.

NP: MANHUNTER (various)

One of my favourite 'songtracks' -- Mann is a master at these, btw, however frustrating it is for his composers -- including score cues by Michel Rubini, Shriekback etc.

Oh, absolutely. That would have been a great album too. Except for 4-5 glaring flaws, I found it to be a great film with lots of Mann's trademark deliciousness in vistas and staging.

And I've been picking up the remaining Mann soundtracks that I didn't own before (in fact, I had intended to do a Mann episode of Celluloid Tunes, before settling on the tribute to Tangerine Dream instead).

50 you know whats - Elfman

I haven't been very interested by anything Elfman's done for a dramatic film in a while - his non-film stuff and the documentaries have been good, but it's felt like he's been going through the motions most of the time to me. I would never have expected this to be the film that would inspire him to do something other than go through the motions, but for whatever reason that does seem to have been the case.