Digital Roundup: 11/26/14
New this week in the Rhino Room at iTunes:
Various Artists, High School High: Original Soundtrack: Back in 1996, when the reputation of genre-parody films hadn’t been almost irredeemably ruined by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer…oh, okay, maybe their films aren’t that bad, but they’re certainly no Airplane! Anyway, what were we talking about? Right: we were getting ready to discuss High School High, the Jon Lovitz vehicle that parodies flicks like Dangerous Minds, Lean on Me, The Substitute, and so forth…or, more specifically, its soundtrack. Yes, the unexpurgated version has been available digitally for some time now, but if you’re someone who prefers their hip-hop and R&B a little bit cleaned, then you’re in luck, because the edited version is now available, too. You’re welcome.
Dave Grusin, Tootsie: Original Soundtrack: Dave Grusin may be best known as a jazzman to most, but he’s done his fair share of scores over the years, including films as diverse as Three Days of the Condor, On Golden Pond, and The Goonies. He’s had particularly great luck when it comes to films starring Dustin Hoffman, though: not only did he do the score for The Graduate – you know, the music that wasn’t by Simon & Garfunkel – but he also worked on this film. You probably know it best for the first track, “It Might Be You,” which Grusin co-wrote with Marilyn and Alan Bergman: sung by Stephen Bishop, it went on to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. It’s a nice easy-listening soundtrack through and through, though, so it’s nice to have it available again.
Jerry Fielding, The Wild Bunch: Original Soundtrack: When looking back at the history of westerns, one of the undeniable turning points in the genre turning grittier and more violent is 1969’s The Wild Bunch, directed by Sam Peckinpah, and given how many people hold the film up as a classic, you can only imagine that quite a few folks are going to be excited to see this score being added to our digital catalog. Composer Jerry Fielding isn’t as well-known as some of his peers, due to being blacklisted after pleading the Fifth before the House Un-American Activities Committee, but that doesn’t make his work on The Wild Bunch any less rousing. (Plus, it earned him an Academy Award nomination, which ain’t half bad as achievements go.)