January's Best & Worst

 January’s Best & Worst

Hello and welcome to Cinema Wellman. I am your host David, and January ends today, so we’re already about 8% through 2026, which is frightening, but it’s right because…math.

Today we’re going to be looking at the Best and Worst of this first month of the new year, and as I mentioned at the end of the last episode, this one should be pretty short.

Not that we didn’t try. We always try here at Cinema Wellman. We ended up screening 61 films during the month (so much for slowing down), but a vast majority of them failed to move the needle drastically in either direction.

Not a total waste of time, of course, watching movies rarely is, but just not a lot that I felt needed to be shared with you here today.

Then you need to factor into that the fact that the Oscar nominations just came out last week which means I’m now on full AA watch for the foreseeable future attempting to screen as many nominated films as possible before the envelopes are opened on March 15th. 

That means any nominated films I screened (good or bad) are not eligible for this episode since they’ll be discussed down the line during one of our two annual Oscar episodes. 

So, when the dust finally settled, we ended up with two movies we’re going to complain about and a handful that are worth a look.

Let’s start where we always do, and that’s at the bottom. 

Today’s bottom is a WWII propaganda short directed by a favorite director of ours, proving that you can’t win them all. 

You, John Jones! (1943)

AP/11 m/IMDb: 6.5/directed by Mervyn LeRoy

Propaganda is defined as information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a particular cause, doctrine, or point of view. 

It’s been around since c. 515 BCE, and I’m positive it’s here to stay, and there’s a reason for that. 

It appears to work on some people. Always has, always will. Unfortunately.

And in case you were thinking this game was only played by the Nazis and the Russians, you’d be incorrect since America is also very good at this dirty game.

Most of America’s propaganda I’m referring to surrounds WWII, as does this short bit of U-S-A-U-S-A-rah rah that blends propaganda with an old-fashioned guilt trip.

James Cagney stars as John Jones, a father and factory worker who is also part of his town’s Civil Defense patrol.

While at his post, Jones begins to feel a little silly since no air raids had hit America.

Then we get a dream sequence involving God and a bunch of vignettes involving non-American children and, “WHAT IF THIS WAS YOUR BABY, JOHN JONES, YOUR BABY?!?”

Enough! And let’s leave God out of this, and please don’t make him narrate it!

I read that this was M.G.M. Studio’s contribution to “United Nations Week,” which adds to the feeling that this was a required project everyone just mailed in. 

For the war effort, you know.

Next up is a movie I watched because I like Christina Ricci and John Cusack, and I should have known better since it’s eight years old and I had never heard of it. 

Distorted (2018)

R/86 m/IMDb: 4.4/directed by Rob W. King

IMDb: “A couple moves to an isolated, modern, safe apartment building with CCTV after the wife has problems with nightmares. However, something’s not quite right with the building.”

It seems like I’ve seen a bunch of these movies recently in which there’s a new dwelling that the inhabitants assume is safe, yet it is sinister.

I usually end up rooting for the dwelling in these films, but I also usually understand the movies as well. 

This was originally titled Distortion, and that would NOT have made a difference.

Ricci’s character and her nasty, unsympathetic husband move in and she begins seeing and hearing things that are upsetting.

Then there are all sorts of subliminal messages coming her way, which I became interested in.

Maybe the director was sneaking in single frames reading “KEEP WATCHING” or “YOU LIKE THIS MOVIE!”

This was mostly nonsense to me because I was never satisfied with who the bad people were, why they were doing these things, and what happened when they were exposed.

John Cusack’s character is absurd. Cusack is given top billing and doesn’t even bother to show up until 42 minutes into the movie. And his final scene was so silly, I actually had to go back to make sure I didn’t miss something.

Okay, so that’s not too bad for the “worst” of the month, let’s look at the five “eligible films” we’d like to talk about in a positive way.

Keep watering those positive cinematic seeds!

 

Brothers in the Saddle (1949)

AP/60 m/IMDb: 6.3/directed by Lesley Selander

        I’ve become a big fan of the “B-movie,” films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second half of a double feature at the old-time cinemas.

Think of it like the “B-side” of a record. Kind of like "Hey Hey What Can I Do" being the B-side of "Immigrant Song."

B-movies didn’t have the big budgets or the big stars, but they certainly were to the point (usually around 1 hour), and a lot of them were certainly entertaining. 

I chose Brothers in the Saddle to talk about, but I’m really speaking about the now eight or nine Tim Holt movies I’ve seen recently.

All “B-movies,” all Westerns, all around an hour, and all a lot of fun.

Tim Holt was a top western star during the 40s and early 50s making 46 “B” westerns for RKO Pictures between 1940 and 1952.

Holt made 29 of those westerns with sidekick Chito Jose Gonzalez Bustamonte Rafferty, an Irish-Mexican cowboy played by Richard Martin.

Holt and Martin together are a lot of fun. Chito is most certainly the sidekick in these movies, but he and Holt are seen as equals, and Holt is never condescending or dismissive which can sometimes happen when sidekicks are involved.

I also like that the Holt Westerns never cast Native Americans as the villains and stick to land barons, cattle rustlers, and other outlaws to portray the people with the black hats. 

This film, for example, was about Tim’s brother going bad and it did NOT end the way I thought a little B-Western from 1949 would end, which was nice.

The next two films were both from my research for our last episode, “Film Composers of Note,” and before I mention either of the titles, they are “must sees” if you are at all interested in movie music.

These two films were also the source of much of the information I shared with you last episode. 

Score (2016)

NR/93 m/IMDb: 7.5/directed by Matt Schrader

IMDb: “A look at the cinematic art of the film musical score, and the artists who create them.”

I won’t go into too much depth on Score or the next film documentary since they are about film composers and we just spent an entire episode celebrating eight of the best ever.

Suffice to say that Score gives viewers a fabulous behind-the-scenes look at one of the most important parts of the movies we love.

It also highlights some of the younger, up and coming film composers that I didn’t cover during our last episode.

Our second film composer documentary we highly recommend is about the G.O.A.T. himself…

Music by John Williams (2024)

PG/105 m/IMDb: 8.2/directed by Laurent Bouzereau

This is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen about film and filmmaking.

Director Laurent Bouzereau has certainly caught my attention recently.

Three of his film documentaries are among my recent favorites, and ALL have been discussed here; Becoming Hitchcock: The Legacy of Blackmail, JAWS @50: The Definitive Inside Story, and now Music by John Williams.

Bouzereau is phenomenal. I can’t wait to see who he has on tap next. It doesn't hurt that he seems to land directly in my wheelhouse with his subject matter, but he’s still an amazing documentarian.

It doesn’t matter how much you know about John Williams or the films he’s scored; this is an amazing look at one of the most talented people ever to be associated with the film industry.

And Williams’ music isn’t only recognizable in movie theaters; he also composed four different Olympic themes and the theme for NBC News. 

A favorite story of mine about his successful collaborations with Spielberg is when he asked Williams to compose the score for Schindler’s List. 

When Williams told Spielberg he needed a better composer than him for such a powerful film, Spielberg replied, “I know, but they’re all dead.”

I mentioned a beautiful quote by Steven Spielberg about John Williams in our last episode, and here’s another; “Without John Williams, bikes don’t really fly, nor do brooms in Quidditch matches, nor do men in red capes. There is no Force, dinosaurs do not walk the Earth, we do not wonder, we do not weep, we do not believe.”

Amen!

Next up is a film I screened because of a work conversation about Kevin Bacon, as in Jenn saying, “Wait, you like Kevin Bacon, but you’ve never seen….”

Stir of Echoes (1999)

R/99 m/IMDb: 6.9/directed by David Koepp

IMDb: “A man has visions of a missing neighborhood girl.”

Yes, I do like Kevin Bacon, and yet this film evaded me for a quarter of a century!

I found Stir of Echoes to be an entertaining suspense thriller/psychological horror film.

I kind of figured part of it out early, but that didn’t prevent me from enjoying the movie.

Bacon plays a normal guy with a normal family and normal job until he is hypnotized by his sister-in-law at a party.

That’s when things start to go sideways.

The sister-in-law is played by the always fabulous Illeana Douglas who I love in everything! 

Have you seen To Die For?!? If not, put that on a short list. Good stuff.

I was reading that this film didn’t get the attention it may have deserved because it was released around the same time as The Sixth Sense.

There’s a film I figured out really early, and it did kind of ruin the whole experience. But that’s on me.

I enjoy movies that deal with displaced spirits looking for closure and a final, peaceful, resting place.

I feel really bad for them, and hope that never happens to my spirit, but I do enjoy movies about them.

And our final film today was recommended by my two-year-old great nephew, Lincoln, who had me screen it because he enjoys the animals.

Lincoln’s first movie recommendation to me, and it makes a “Best of the Month” list?!?

Excellent start, my friend.

The Incredible Journey (1963)

G/80 m/IMDb: 7.0/directed by Fletcher Markle

IMDb: “Two dogs and a cat set off on a treacherous 200-mile journey towards home.”

When I dog sat Nora, I screened two Homeward Bound movies and was all set to re-watch one of them to celebrate Lincoln on his birthday (part of the 2026 Birthday Project Wild Card!) when I found out that one of those movies was a remake of this film, The Incredible Journey from 1963.

Which is why the title of the Sally Field, Michael J. Fox, and Don Ameche voiced movie is titled Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.

And while I enjoyed that film and its sequel Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco, this 1963 original is my favorite.

And before I’m accused of being that anti-remake broken record, I have a reason!

Nothing against Field, Fox, and Ameche, but this original version (remember these are all live action, not animation) does NOT have the animals talking to one another.

Instead, there’s a Disney narrator telling us that, “This curious little guy has run into some trouble with that den of vicious wolverines.”

I much prefer that option. 

The nature, animals, and scenery are excellent in both, but I don’t need Mama Gump talking to Marty McFly and Mortimer Duke to enjoy the scenery.

I will say that these three animals, a Siamese cat, a bull terrier, and a golden retriever are put through the ringer in parts of this!

At one point, the cat finds itself in a raging river! The poor kitty is struggling to keep his head above the rapids, and it was actually kind of terrifying.

Didn’t the budget include stunt cats?!?

Bring in the stunt cats!

Well, that is a wrap for our recap of the Best & Worst of January; always a mixed bag.

Just like the New England weather.

We hope you join us on Super Bowl Sunday for a special Wellman Bowl Football Movie Special!

All the great football movies packed into one episode kicking off on Sunday, February 8th!

You can watch while you pregame!

Until then, take care.

 Film Composers of Note

Hello and welcome to Cinema Wellman. I am your host, David, and today we’re going to celebrate some of the greatest composers in film history.

We here at Cinema Wellman love movies and music and movie music! We know how important music can be to a film, so this is our 4th episode dealing with movie music, with others in the planning stages.

Before we begin, a quick reminder as to the difference between a movie’s soundtrack and a movie’s score.

The soundtrack of a movie is ALL of the sound in the film; dialogue, songs, sound effects, foley effects, AND the score.

The score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. It’s music composed for the film by a composer.

The film’s score is “non-diegetic” sound; it cannot be heard by the characters. “Diegetic” sound in a film is sound that can be heard by the characters. 

Scoring a film is a painstaking process involving a great number of people. It all starts with the composer who then brings in the orchestra, the sound engineers, mixers, editors, and other folks whose tasks I do not understand.

Even though the score is one of the most important pieces to a film’s “puzzle,” it’s often one of the last pieces to be added.

I’ve heard film composers tell stories of seeing posters and ads for a film they’re working on, along with a release date, and they aren’t DONE with the score yet!

Composers are often shown films by directors with “temporary” soundtracks “Frankensteined” from existing sources and even other films. This is done to have some sound behind the images while they’re being worked on in other phases of the production.

This sometimes proves difficult when directors become enamored with what’s temporarily added and ask the composer for “something like that.”

In the early days of silent movies, orchestras played music sent with the film, or improvised on their own if they didn’t have the music for a specific film. 

Having live music accompany your movie in the theater on a regular basis must have been amazing back in the day.

As I’ve mentioned before, Dakota and I were lucky enough to experience a live orchestra movie event a few years ago when we saw JAWS accompanied by a symphony orchestra.

It’s one of my all-time favorite movie experiences. Goosebump stuff. Great movie, great music, and we all know who wrote that music.

More on him later.

I have great respect for the men and women who provide the music that helps make our movie going experiences so unforgettable. 

My student film scores were just cuts from the Thief soundtrack album or other cuts by Tangerine Dream. 

Good enough for Michael Mann, good enough for me. 

We have eight film composers lined up today. The first four are part of an “honorable mention” category before we get to Cinema Wellman’s Mt. Rushmore of film composers.

Our four film composers in the extremely honorable mention category are Danny Elfman, Maurice Jarre, Franz Waxman, and Max Steiner.

We’ll begin with a composer you’ll be familiar with if you enjoy the films of Sam Raimi or Tim Burton, OR the music of “Oingo-Boingo!”

Danny Elfman (b. 1953)

Yes, he was the frontman of Oingo Boingo (think Weird Science) before starting a very successful career as a film composer (and some TV; theme from “The Simpsons”). 

He also found time to marry Bridget Fonda!

To date, Elfman has four Oscar Nominations; Milk, Big Fish, Men in Black, and Good Will Hunting. 

Elfman has zero Oscar wins to date, but I’m confident that will change sooner rather than later.

Before I mention other films scored by Elfman, I want to let you know that I’ll be throwing out a LOT of movie titles during this episode, and many of them are films that are considered all-time greats and classic cinema.

This is not coincidental in any way since each of those film’s scores were huge reasons why those films are so well regarded.

Music really is that important in movies!

So here are some other Elfman scored movies you may know (and love!): Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Spy Kids, Silver Linings Playbook, and one of my favorites, Midnight Run. 

Releasing next month is Elfman’s latest project, director Luc Besson’s Dracula.

I have a feeling I’ll be seeing that.

Next up is a film composer who was part of eight (8) films to be nominated for Best Picture; Maurice Jarre.

Maurice Jarre (1924-2009)

French born Maurice Jarre was a late bloomer who didn’t become interested in music until he was in his late teens. 

Against his father’s will, (we hear that an awful lot in success stories!) he enrolled at a music conservatory.

Jarre, as mentioned, was part of eight films to be nominated for Best Picture. He also earned nine Oscar nominations for his composing, and his three wins were all epic films; A Passage to India, Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia.

Jarre also composed the music for Dead Poets Society, Fatal Attraction, Best Picture nominee Ghost, a favorite of mine, Judex, and to prove that these film composers are as versatile as any actor/actress/or director…Top Secret!

So the person who scored five-time-Oscar-winner Doctor Zhivago ALSO scored  the Val Kilmer slapstick parody film Top Secret!

And Omar Sharif was in BOTH of those films!

Jarre’s final project before his passing in 2009 was a 2001 TV movie about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943.

Next up is a composer who worked with Billy Wilder four times and Alfred Hitchcock four times, so I’m sure he had some stories to tell. 

Franz Waxman (1906-1967)

Franz Waxman was born in 1906 in a part of Germany that is now part of Poland. He worked as a bank teller and paid for music lessons with his salary. 

If he worked with Wilder and Hitchcock so often, I’m sure it’s fair to say Mr. Waxman was a very patient man.

He earned a whopping 12 Oscar nominations during his career and won twice for A Place in the Sun, and the sensational Sunset Boulevard.

Waxman also scored the classic horror film Bride of Frankenstein, and one of my all-time favorites, Mr. Roberts.

Two of his collaborations with Hitchcock, Rebecca, Suspicion, were Best Picture nominees, while another, Rear Window, was NOT NOMINATED FOR BEST PICTURE?!?! How on earth does that happen? Hitchcock gets a Best Director nomination, but the film gets snubbed for Best Picture?!?  

Waxman’s final film was also a TV movie about WWII, which may be a thing for retiring composers?

Our final composer in this extremely honorable mention category is a true workhorse in every sense of the word.

Max Steiner (1888-1971)

Max Steiner was born in Austria-Hungary, which is now just Austria, in 1888. He was extremely musically gifted from a young age and even studied under Gustav Mahler which is a name that even I recognize. 

In 1934, Max Steiner composed the music for 36 films. THIRTY-SIX! 

And I’m thinking that his New Year’s Eve resolution at the end of ‘34 was to not be so damn lazy and apply himself since in 1935 he composed the music for 37 films!

Steiner earned 24 Oscar nominations over the course of his prolific career, and won three Oscars for Since You Went Away, The Informer, and Now, Voyager. 

Other classic Steiner scored films include the O.G. King Kong, my father’s favorite movie The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, and two of our all-time favorites both of which were Best Picture nominees; Casablanca and The Caine Mutiny.

Mr. Steiner’s final project before his passing in 1971 was 1969’s short family drama Hang Your Hat on the Wind which was about a Navajo boy rescuing a horse. 

Now on to:

Cinema Wellman’s

Mt. Rushmore of Film Composers

We will begin with a man who once said, “You can’t save a bad movie with a good score.”

Amen.

Ennio Morricone (1928-2020)

Ennio Morricone was born in Rome, Italy in 1928 and he died there 92 years later leaving us with some of the most memorable movie scores in film history.

Morricone was a classmate of director Sergio Leone and they went on to collaborate on six films including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,  and Once Upon a Time in the West.

He received six Oscar nominations, Days of Heaven, The Mission, The Untouchables, Bugsy, Malena,  and The Hateful Eight.

Morricone’s only competitive Oscar was for The Hateful Eight which is along the lines of Martin Scorsese’s only Best Director win being for The Departed and Paul Newman’s only win for The Color of Money. 

He also won one of those “Honorary Oscars” for his “magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music BEFORE winning his “legit” Oscar, which is even more curious to me. 

Other films scored by the great Morricone include La Cage aux Folles, The Thing, Bulworth, State of Grace, Cinema Paradiso, and Orca, of all things!

One of the final projects Morricone worked on before his passing in 2020 was a short western comedy titled The Good, the Bad, and the Hungry, which is about three New Yorkers having a standoff for who can get the last donut in a “fee donut” box.

Well done, my friend. Well done. 

Our next Mt. Rushmore head belongs to a composer who is heavy on electronics and synth music and has scored some of the biggest blockbusters in recent history.

Hans Zimmer (b. 1957)

West German born Hans Zimmer is recognized as one of Hollywood’s most innovative talents and his innovation is one of the reasons a documentary about him is titled; Hans Zimmer: Hollywood Rebel.

Zimmer has earned 12 Oscar Nominations to date; Rain Man, The Lion King, The Preacher’s Wife, As Good as It Gets, The Thin Red Line, The Prince of Egypt, Gladiator, Sherlock Holmes, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Dune: Part One and has won two Oscars, for The Lion King, Dune: Part One. 

 He also scored True Romance, Crimson Tide, The Dark Knight, Blade Runner 2049, and F1: The Movie.

Hans Zimmer is completely self-taught, which is mind blowing to me. I can’t imagine how that would even work.

Zimmer is older than me, but he’s showing no signs of slowing down. He’s working on the score for Dune: Part Three, and has also scored this season of "Euphoria," and will score the upcoming Harry Potter TV series. 

He’s also composed the music for such diverse projects as Twister, Thelma & Louise, Backdraft, The Rock, The Simpsons Movie, The Boss Baby, No Time to Die, and a bunch of Kung Fu Panda movies.

There’s no question of how eclectic Zimmer’s credits are.

Next up is a composer who came out of dramatic radio, and it certainly shows.

Bernard Hermann (1911-1975)

Bernard Hermann once said, “There’s one rule to film composing, and that is there are no rules.”

Hermann talked the talk and walked the walk on that statement since he was responsible for some of the most daring film scores of all time by not following the standard rules that seemed to apply at the time. 

He was a major influence on Danny Elfman and earned five Oscar nominations during his career. Those five films were Citizen Kane, The Devil and Daniel Webster, Anna and the King of Siam, Taxi Driver,  and Obsession.

Hermann’s lone Oscar win was for The Devil and Daniel Webster, and I do not recall any of that music.

He also scored Vertigo, North by Northwest, Cape Fear, and Psycho, and I remember a LOT of that music, so the Academy muffs it once again.

Alfred Hitchcock loved Hermann’s score for Psycho so much that he doubled his salary! Cha-ching!

I mentioned earlier that Hermann came out of dramatic radio, and one of the radio broadcasts he scored was Orson Welles “War of the Worlds” broadcast.

You may have heard of that.

One of Bernard Hermann’s final projects was scoring the horror sequel It Lives Again about an epidemic of monster babies sweeping across America. 

He was supposed to score Carrie, but died before post-production on the film began. I like to think that Pino Donaggio, who did score Carrie, tipped the baton to Hermann since the music when Carrie is “looking around” is a lot like the knife wielding music in Psycho.

And that leaves just one film composer left to talk about today, and that is the undeniable G.O.A.T. and Friend of Cinema Wellman…

🐐John Williams (b. 1932)🐐

There is no doubt that John Williams is the greatest composer in film history. When all is said and done, he may be considered one of the greatest composers in “history history,” not just film history. Not sure why there’s a difference, if a difference exists. 

Why can’t John Williams be mentioned in the same sentence as Bach, Mozart, and Ludwig van?!

Not in the “strict classical-era sense,” but Williams’ music is just as recognizable at this point. 

To date, John Williams has earned 54 Oscar nominations, second only to that hack Walt Disney’s 59.

I’m not going to list all 54 of those films, but when I start reeling off his films, your head will be spinning.

There are so many amazing accomplishments to mention that I’m just going to go “old school” list of facts!

*Williams is the ONLY person ever to be Oscar-nominated in seven consecutive decades.

*He played piano for Franz Waxman AND Bernard Hermann movie scores!

*He played piano on the film scores for The Apartment and West Side Story.

*He likes to use the term, “musical grammar,” so…a fan!

*Five of his Oscar nominations are in a hated category of mine; Best Original Song, including the song from the terrible movie Yes, Giorgio!

*His son, Joseph, is the lead singer of TOTO! Did you know that?!? TOTO!

*John Williams was awarded an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016, well deserved and much more meaningful than one of those honorary Oscars.

*He scored the “Holy Trinity” of Disaster Movies; The Poseidon Adventure,  Earthquake, and The Towering Inferno!

*Williams scored  JFK, Home Alone, The Patriot, The Eiger Sanction, Black Sunday, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan,  and 3 Harry Potter films!

*He scored Kubrick’s The Killers as “Johnny” Williams!

*I mentioned the 54 Oscar nominations, and wanted to add that 5 wins came from those nominations, and the total could have been five times that and no one would have complained. Williams’ five Oscar wins were for Fiddler on the Roof,  E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Schindler’s List, JAWS, and Star Wars.

*Before JAWS there was Gilligan’s Island (20 episodes)!

*Before Star Wars there was Lost in Space (5 episodes)! And he wrote that theme on a ukulele. 

*John Williams has worked with directors Chris Columbus, Brian De Palma, Clint Eastwood, John Frankenheimer, Alfred Hitchcock, Ron Howard, Barry Levinson, George Lucas, George Miller, Alan Parker, Arthur Penn, Sydney Pollack, Don Siegel, Oliver Stone, William Wyler, and, of course Steven Spielberg.

*With the upcoming Spielberg film Disclosure Day, Williams will have provided the music for 30 of Steven Spielberg’s 35 films.

*Williams has scored ALL of Spielberg’s films except Duel, The Color Purple, Bridge of Spies, Ready Player One, and West Side Story.

Steven Spielberg once said of ‘Johnny’; “It’s the purest form of art I’ve ever experienced from any human being.”

And THAT is good enough for us.

That’s a wrap from here at Cinema Wellman as we did our best to celebrate eight of the greatest film composers of all time.

A special thanks to Dakota who suggested today’s topic making this kind of a “request” episode. I loved putting it together and I’m happy to say that there are at least three more “request” episodes in the works for this season. If you ever have an idea you’d like to see us explore here at Cinema Wellman, don’t hesitate to let us know!

We hope you join us again next time as we break down the Top 10 and Bottom 5 for the month of January. As of right now, that’s a total of 28 movies, and yet not much has registered on either end, so that may be a shortie of an episode!

I won’t take up too much of your time so you’ll have more time to work on those New Year’s resolutions.

Until then, take care.