Ennio Morricone: Les Plus Belles Musiques d'Ennio Morricone Vol. 2 (GM France)
Purchased used at Half Price Books
Ah well, another day, another Ennio Morricone collection. I suppose this one falls under the same general category as The Residents' Commercial Album, that is to say, comfort music for me.
It's somewhat unclear from the cover what is what at times. There is very familiar material on here, such as the "Man With a Harmonica" theme from Once Upon a Time in the West, the main title theme for The Sicilian Clan, and the theme from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
I watched the second half of the latter a few weeks ago. I'm not a fan of Westerns but Sergio Leone films are another matter. Even at their most "normal" they're strange, gritty, bordering on surreal. It seems to me none of the leads are good, and they're all bad and ugly to varying degrees.
Among his many scores, I didn't remember that he composed for La Cage Aux Folles. It's super-sweet and poppy, more than my taste, but that's fine for today. I have plenty of depressing music lined up should I need to rely on it.
Thinking of La Cage brings back memories of the Pittsburgh Playhouse's film series. Anyone who was in Pittsburgh of a certain age will recall their monthly calendar. Sometimes they had two screens running simultaneously, all repertory or second-run films. It was well curated. Among the films I saw the first time there included: Harold and Maude, Eraserhead, Dawn of the Dead, 1984, Forbidden Planet, Glenn or Glenda?, Reefer Madness, Liquid Sky, Freaks, Mad Love, and that's just off the top of my head. Sell out showings were common.
I remember seeing La Cage there with my wife and thinking it was hilariously funny, so much so that I had no desire to see the American remake years later with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. More recently I did see the end with Gene Hackman escaping the club in drag, and I admit it was okay.
Maybe I'm feeling nostalgic as we head into this dreaded election, to say nothing about the frustrations of dealing with my car. Sorry. I look forward to Pennsylvania not being the center of the political universe again.
And here I sit listening to Morricone again, who's sounding alternately epic or weirdly saccharine on various turns.
