![]() Stetson finds the exact right notes for us to hear the horror and the comedy in “The Menu,” and understands that both are equally sharp. ![]() It is this mix of slightly discordant elements, playing sometimes for the kind of white-knuckle tension that would make Bernard Hermann smile, and playing sometimes gently, just for contrast, that gives the score for “The Menu” a little extra bit of a kick. But Anya Taylor-Joy is also present among the guests getting their just deserts, and accordingly there’s an electric undercurrent in Stetson’s music that comes out at key moments to help the audience look past the film’s initial presentation. There’s a glee to all of the neo-classical, and deeply satirical, fanfares on the score, and if that were all that was going on, it would certainly be enough to support the mayhem that unfolds at Slowik’s final dinner service. Just as Chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) has responded in a very specific way to the stifling, over-intellectualized culture of high cuisine, there’s something unnervingly fancy about Colin Stetson’s score for “The Menu.” The composer plucks strings and arranges vivace flourishes with the same precision as the chefs at Hawthorne brush snowflakes onto the plates of their diners. ![]() May we all be so lucky to have our own stories end that way. It all culminates in a jubilant, movie-capping, calypso-style celebration that pulls out every one of the character’s and the composer’s tricks. But much of that gets swept away in the sequences of wonder, with Disasterpeace offering that dreamy, technicolor floating feeling that you usually only get from underwater scenes. This isn’t all cotton candy grapes, though: There’s a real feeling of loneliness and loss in certain stretches, with the wistful attitude of someone looking at the world from the outside. In the process, there’s a musical can-do spirit that flows through the score, perfect for a story of a misfit trying to find their way in the world. With a hodgepodge of electronic and organic layers, Disasterpeace comes up with something as creative as all of tiny Marcel’s day-to-day necessities. Much like the film it’s a part of, the “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” score feels like eating a dessert that’s somehow not only delicious but good for your health. “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” (Disasterpeace) When Eichner’s Bobby finally does open up in a song Shaiman crafted in collaboration with the actor/writer, it’s one of the funniest, sweetest moments in any movie this year. ![]() For “Bros,” Shaiman leans into the deliriously romantic feelings that the characters have for each other but often have trouble expressing even when they’re not saying how they feel, the music says it for them. Among the film’s many virtues is an infectiously melodic score reminiscent of rom-com favorites like “When Harry Met Sally” and “Sleepless in Seattle,” which is no coincidence since “Bros” shares composer Marc Shaiman with those classics. Every Studio Film Directed by Filmmakers of Color Coming Out in 20īilly Eichner and Nicholas Stoller’s “Bros” may have broken new ground, but its appeal comes from its unabashed classicism - a romantic comedy with an unprecedented amount of LGBTQ talent in front of and behind the camera delivers the same old-fashioned pleasures the genre has provided audiences since the days of Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, and delivers them with wit and heart. ![]()
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