Tag Archives: Music

Doctor Who: The Devil’s Chord – TV Review

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TL;DR – It generally hits the right chord, with a villain who commits to the note, and a Doctor who is ready to conduct

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

The Doctor and Ruby on the famous crosswalk near Abby Road.

Doctor Who Review –

When they first announced this first season, the one episode they focused on was the one where we get to run into The Beatles. It has been everywhere, and they have been dropping songs and images to the lead-up. So, I am relieved that we got to dive into this episode in the first batch, along with Space Babies.

So to set the scene, in 1925, Mr Timothy Drake (Jeremy Limb) is showing a student, Henry Arbinger (Kit Rakusen), the joys of the piano when the conversation leads to the ‘Devil’s Chord’, which is just a fancy name for a tri-tone, but was banned less it let the devil enter the room. Not that anyone takes that seriously, but not until someone starts knocking from the piano case and the devil, well, a demon, well, something called Maestro (Jinkx Monsoon) bursts forth. Well, The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) asked Ruby (Millie Gibson) where she wanted to go, and she has only one place in mind: Abby Row, 1965, to see The Beatles record their first album, and the Doctor is there to oblige. Insert obligatory crosswalk photo here. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Musical Scores of 2023 That Wowed Us

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One factor that I will always look out for in a film is the musical score. I can get caught in the world of music as it sits in my head in the days, weeks, months, and even the years that come. There is immense artistry in weaving emotions from music, having us slip into the world that is created, fear the oncoming dread even if we do not know why, or rejoice in the triumph of that final victory.

Music charts the cinematic world as it guides us, lifts us up, and can crush our souls. This is its power.

Our Highly Commended in 2023 are The Boy and the Heron, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, M3GAN, Red, White & Brass & They Cloned Tyrone
Our Best TV Music in 2023 are Ahsoka: Season 1, Doctor Who: 2023 Specials, The Last of Us: Season 1, Loki: Season 2 & Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season 2

So, without further ado, these are the musical scores that moved us in 2023. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead for the films in question.


And the Nominees are –

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Mapping Enya’s Orinoco Flow – Map-It

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TL;DR – We map all the references made in Enya’s Orinoco Flow from Bali to Cali, far beneath the Coral Sea

Ocean and Clouds

Mapping Orinoco Flow –

Some songs are so iconic that you can recognise them by a single chord or word. For me [and I assume many others], one of those songs is Enya’s Orinoco Flow. The song has a rare power to rip me back to the early 1990s in a way I don’t think any other work of media can.

Orinoco Flow is a cultural touchstone, so of course, it has been used in films and TV, both full of irony or used with sincerity. Recently, it was used to strong effect in Gran Turismo, and as I was listening to it, the song came alive. For maybe the first time, I didn’t just vibe with it. I listened to the lyrics.

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Red, White & Brass – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film that brings you joy from the moment they start in a house covered in Tongan flags till those final credits roll.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

The band performs.

Red, White & Brass Review –

There are many emotions that cinema can bring forth, and if I am honest, my favourite is joy. You are just sitting there beaming with a smile stretching from one side of your face to the other. It is so easy for films to come off as disingenuous that it is hard to nail joy in its purest form. However, today, we look at a movie that not only nails it, it revels in it.

So to set the scene, it is Wellington, and the 2011 Rugby World Cup is descending on New Zealand. Flags are popping up all across the city as everyone gets into the celebratory mode. But Veni (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) was not quite prepared to find his house covered, and I mean covered, in the red/white cross of Tonga’s flag. His best friend Maka (John-Paul Foliaki) has been trying to get enough money so all of his church can see the Tonga v France match live. However, when several of his schemes fall through, he discovers a way forward, but it just means getting everyone to become a proficient brass band, oh and only in a couple of weeks.

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Tár – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A phenomenal performance in a severely dull film   

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

Records on the floor.

Tár Review –

This will be a difficult film to review because it is a movie of two very distinct parts, performance and narrative. Thus it becomes a work of incredible highs and deep lows, and trying to pass that feels like climbing a mountain. But climb we will as we dive into this fascinatingly frustrating film.

So to set the scene, Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) is at the height of her career. She is the first female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, being asked to do masterclasses at the Juilliard School, she has a book coming out Tár on Tár, and she has a beautiful homelife with her wife Sharon Goodnow (Nina Hoss) and daughter Petra (Mila Bogojevic). But there is a growing sense that Tár is walking on shifting sands as actions of the past start bubbling to the surface.     

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Awards – The Musical Scores of 2022 That Wowed Us

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One factor that I will always look out for in a film is the musical score. I can get caught in the world of music as it sits in my head in the days, weeks, months, and even the years that come. There is immense artistry in weaving emotions from music, having us slip into the world that is created, fear the oncoming dread even if we do know why, or rejoice in the triumph of that final victory.

Music charts the cinematic world, as it guides us, lifts us up, and can crush our souls. This is its power. So without further ado, these are the musical score that moved us in 2022. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead for the films in question.

And the Nominees are –

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Moonage Daydream – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This documentary is a psychedelic kaleidoscope, but you should come into it preparing for a marathon rather than a sprint    

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film

Warning – This film contains strobing lights in places.

Glitter falls from the celling into Bowie.

Moonage Daydream Review –

While I have been enjoying this current resurgence of musical biopics, I have connected the most instead when films have dived into the more traditional documentary form to explore someone’s life, like Gurrumul. Today we look at a documentary that might also be an experimental artwork in its own right.  

So to set the scene, well, actually, I am not sure that works in this particular situation because this is a film that does not follow a traditional or even non-traditional form of narrative structure. What we get here is a snapshot of different parts of David Bowie’s life, works, and art, as well as what inspired him and how he inspired so many.

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6 Festivals – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A transcendent exploration of music, youth, and the times in our lives where the two powerfully intersect.    

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this film.

Warning – contains scenes that may cause distress.

Utopia Valley, Central Coast, NSW, New Year's Eve.

6 Festivals Review –

When people write stories about young people, they often look back to their own lives as inspiration. But there becomes a disconnect between setting something in the now based on a feeling from the past. This issue can lead to outdated films before they even make it to the screen. Well, today, we look at a movie that avoids those pitfalls by focusing on the very real and now.

So to set the scene, we open on a small rowboat in the middle of the river as three friends, James (Rory Potter), Maxie (Rasmus King), and Summer (Yasmin Honeychurch), drink wine out of a box and sing Powderfinger’s My Happiness. They are using the boat to sneak into the Utopia Valley music festival on the central coast of Australia’s New South Wales. But they are soon rumbled by the cops and have to do a quick fence jump to get in. The festival is a riot, right up until the cops catch up with them, and James is forced to reveal that he has cancer. Knowing that he can use his cancer as a good excuse, the three convince James’s mum Sue (Briony Williams), to take them to the Big Pineapple festival and more, as they try to hit six festivals in a row.     

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The Musical Scores of 2021 That Wowed Us

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One factor that I will always look out for with a film is the musical score. I can get caught in the world of music, as it sits in my head in the days, weeks, months, and even the years that come. There is immense artistry in weaving emotions from music, having us slip into the world that is created, fear the oncoming dread even if we do know why, or rejoice in the triumph of that final victory.

Music charts the cinematic world, it guides us, it can lift us up, and it can crush our souls. This is its power. So without further ado, these are the musical score that moved us in 2021. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead for the films in question, and if you click on the titles, you will be taken to the full review. 

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Respect – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film anchored by a transcendent performance that captures you from the start and never lets you go.      

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

Disclosure – I attended a Press Screening of this film

Respect. Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

Respect Review –

It has been the era of the musical biopic, with Elton John, Freddie Mercury, and even the Sparks Brothers getting a film all about them. But if one person is missing from this list, it would be the seminal Aretha Franklin. Her voice is like no other, and you get taken to another world every time you hear it. Today, we get to look at a film that not only fixes that glaring gap but does so in a way that left tears in my eyes.

So to set the scene, we open in Detroit, 1952, in the house of Reverend C. L. Franklin (Forest Whitaker). He is hosting a party for several influential people in the African-American community. Making his way to the back of the house, he finds Aretha ‘Re’ Franklin (Skye Dakota Turner) asleep in her bed. He asks her if she wants to sing, and the answer is, of course, yes. Even at a young age, she leads the choir at her father’s church, but as Aretha (Jennifer Hudson) grows older, she wants to do more to help Martin Luther King Jr. (Gilbert Glenn Brown). But at a party, her father surprised her with a ticket to New York to meet with John Hammond (Tate Donovan), a famous music producer, who could make her into a star.

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