8 Days - December 07, 2017

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8 DAYS

MOVIES

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BY DOUGLAS TSENG

Good Will Hunting (NC16)

Starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Robin Williams | Directed

by Gus Van Sant | On Netflix

On December 5, 20 years ago, this little drama

— about a doleful therapist (Roblin Williams,

you’re missed) counselling a blue-collar math

genius (Matt Damon) with anger management

issues — came out in the US. It went on to be a

critical and commercial hit (it won two Oscars and

earned US$225 million worldwide) and launched

Damon and his BFF Ben Affleck’s careers. The

poignant film still holds up, but here’s the thing

— it’s produced by Harvey Weinstein. And in light

of his current legal woes, it’s hard to imagine —

and even harder to watch — that a film which

has given us so much joy was created in a

toxic environment of hurt and harassment. That

said, do you feel weird sitting through Toy Story,

knowing now what we know about John Lasseter?

John Carpenter Anthology:

Movie Themes 1974-1998

If you like the music of Stranger

Things, you can trace its DNA to this

compilation of classic themes from John

Carpenter’s movies. With the exception

of shape-shifting shocker The Thing

(which features an unusually minimalist

and atmospheric score by Ennio

Morricone), the Master of Horror also

supplies the soundtracks to his own

flicks with his brand of synthesiser-rock

tunes which are cheesy, catchy and cool

at the same time.

Hans Zimmer: Live in

Prague

Relive the Oscar-winning German

composer’s greatest ‘hits’ —

from over 10 movies, including

Gladiator, Crimson Tide and The

Dark Knight Trilogy — recorded in

May during the European leg of his

first-ever world tour. For the most

part, Zimmer let the music do the

talking until track No.13’s ‘Aurora’,

a mournful number he wrote shortly

after learning about the mass

shooting at a screening of The Dark

Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado.

Justice League

When Joss Whedon took over Zack

Snyder’s directorial duties, he also

replaced the original composer,

electronic musician Junkie XL,

with Danny Elfman and his more

traditional orchestral score. While

it’s nice that Elfman has included

bits of his own Batman theme

and John Williams’ old Superman

march, the soundtrack lacks a

unifying motif to make it stand

out. The music is disjointed and

chaotic, rarely inspiring. Just like

the movie.

Keepin’ score

Heard a good movie lately?

PHOTO: TPG NEWS/CLICK PHOTOS