The Best 75 Original Movie Scores
From Korngold to Steiner to Herrmann to Greenwood, Levi, and Britell, here are my 70 all-time favorite original movie scores.
Gilda (1946) Queer Film A-
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The Great Cinematographers of Hollywood’s Golden Age
Hal Mohr** is the only person to have won a competitive Academy Award without being nominated for it. Mohr was allowed to keep his Oscar and won a second.
75 Queer Films Under the Hays Code (1934-1967)
From “The Bride of Frankenstein” to “Reflections in a Golden Eye”, here are 70 Queer Films made under the watchful gaze of the Hays Code from 1934-1967.
75 Queer Films of the New Hollywood (1968-1980).
The death of the Hays Code and the rise of the New Hollywood saw an explosion of Queer Cinema from Jason to Taxi zum klo.
The Great Tunesmiths of Hollywood’s Golden Age
Irving Berlin tops the list with twenty-one songs, followed by Harry Warren with twenty and Harold Arlen and Jimmy Van Heusen with eighteen apiece.
Which 7 Films Did Hitchcock Make That Were “Perfect”?
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Eleanor and Frank Perry
Eleanor and Frank Perry’s last movie together was their best, a wonderful adaptation of Sue Kaufman’s “Diary of a Mad Housewife”.
Eight Legendary Foreign Actresses Who Did Not Make It In Hollywood.
They were the darlings of the art house circuit. Their work in a language other than English is some of the greatest ever captured on film. But Hollywood…
Joni Mitchell – Painting with Words and Music A+
Joni dazzles in the best of her three live albums. It helps that the show is built around “Hejira”. Of the 19 tracks, 4 are from this album.
Steely Dan – Donald Fagen: Rated
Rated: the Dan’s seven classic albums released between 1972 and 1980. Rated: Donald’s “The Nightfly” as continuum with “Aja” and “Gaucho”.
The Great Lyricists of Hollywood’s Golden Age
Irving Berlin tops the list with 21 songs, followed by Johnny Mercer with 19, Sammy Cahn with 16, Ira Gershwin with 14, and Johnny Burke with 10.
My All-Time Favorite Horror Movies
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NYFCC Award for Best Supporting Actress.
“NYFCC Award for Best Supporting Actress”: In the fifty-six years since 1969 fourteen of their choices have failed to land. a nomination. That’s 25%.
The History of Sound (2025) Queer Film B-
After a while, though, you begin to feel beaten down by the sheer refinement of it all. The perfectly framed, perfectly edited tableaux. The exquisite, sparingly used music score. The subtle, to the point of being abstruse, performances of the stars
Blue Moon (2025) Queer Film. Lorenz Hart. B+
The story unfolds, in real time, almost entirely within the confines of Sardi’s bar in New York, where Hart spends the evening grappling with his fading relevance, alcoholism, homosexuality and mental health struggles.
The Ugly Stepsister (2025) Queer Film A+
Our heroine suffers through the most hideous body sculpting indignities, heaped on her by the effete and sadistic proto-plastic surgeon, Dr. Esthetique.
Echo Valley (2025) Queer Film. Another Julianne Moore Triumph. B+
Director Michael Pearce moves with visceral precision and Julianne Moore shows us, yet again, what a magnificent actress she can be.
Best Final Movie Made by a Great Director
Although Charles Laughton made only one and, therefore, final film, based on this film alone, he is of the Great Directors.
Number One: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (Sidney Lumet: 2007). Number Five: Family Plot (Alfred Hitchcock: 1976).
Nitram (2022) Caleb Landry Jones A+
As for Judy Davis she gives what is probably her most outstanding performance, which means it’s one of the greatest performances ever captured on film.
The Tale of King Crab (2022) Enchanting! Directors Alessio Rigo de Righi & Matteo Zoppis A-
The directors are extremely cine-literate. However, their references never seemed forced and I basked in their cinematic vision.
Great Freedom (2021) Queer Film A-
Meise directs what must be some of the most beautiful and heartfelt scenes ever captured on film between two men in love.
There Was A Crooked Man (1970) Queer Film B+
Hume Cronyn and John Randolph are our happy and well-adjusted gay couple. Yes, they fight and bicker all the time. However, they are clearly madly in love with each other.
Jeanne Dielman (1975) Queer Film A+
In “Jeanne Dielman”, a feminist masterpiece, the everyday details of a caring mother contrast with her life as a prostitute.
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Queer Film A+
In “Kind Hearts and Coronets”: Alec Guinness has fun playing all eight (or nine) of the unfortunate D’Ascoynes, including Lady Agatha D’Ascoyne. The photograph shows Dennis Price with Joan Greenwood who plays that little minx Sibella.
Glenn Close Returns in Wake Up Dead Man (2025) (B)
Like Mrs. Danvers, Delacroix materializes rather than enters; her first appearance, looming behind Josh O’Connor’s Father Duplenticy (Johnson has a Dickensian flair for surnames), is a jolt for the ages—I shat my pants!