AFOS: "Superhero Worship" playlist

Airing today at 10am and 3pm Pacific on the Fistful of Soundtracks channel is one of my most well-received episodes of A Fistful of Soundtracks: The Series, "Superhero Worship" (WEB54) from November 2004. Last week, I was looking for some older eps to stream in the Wednesday "Classic AFOS" time slot and noticed I hadn't streamed WEB54 in a while. I played back some of WEB54 on GoldWave and thought, "Hmm, unlike most of the eps I did in 2004 and 2005, this ep isn't so bad," so that's what I'll be streaming in this week's "Classic AFOS" slot.

1. John Williams, "Prelude and Main Title March," Superman: The Movie, Warner Archives/Rhino
2. Michael Giacchino, "The Glory Days," The Incredibles, Walt Disney
3. Bob Harris, "The Amazing Spider-Man," Sci-Fi's Greatest Hits Vol. 4: Defenders of Justice, TVT
4. Danny Elfman, "Spider-Man 2 Main Title," Spider-Man 2: Original Motion Picture Score, Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax
5. John Ottman, "Suite from X2," X2, Superb/Trauma
6. Shirley Walker, "Main Title," Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Reprise
7. Puffy AmiYumi, "Teen Titans Theme," Nice, Bar/None
8. Michael Giacchino, "Saving Metroville," The Incredibles, Walt Disney
9. Joey Scarbury, "Theme from Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)," Fahrenheit 9/11, Warner Bros./Rhino
10. Danny Saber & Marco Beltrami, "Blade II (Main Title)," Blade II: Original Motion Picture Score, Varèse Sarabande
11. 702, "Pootie Tangin'," Pootie Tang, Hollywood
12. Al Hirt, "Green Hornet," Kill Bill Vol. 1, A Band Apart/Maverick/WMG Soundtracks
13. Danny Elfman, "Theme" (from The Flash), Music for a Darkened Theatre: Film & Television Music--Volume Two, MCA Soundtrax
14. Nerf Herder, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme"
15. Thomas Chase, Steve Rucker and James L. Venable, "The Powerpuff Girls," Toon Tunes: Action-Packed Anthems, Rhino
16. Doug Katsaros, "The Tick," Toon Tunes: Action-Packed Anthems, Rhino
17. Michael Giacchino, "The Incredits," The Incredibles, Walt Disney

Film and TV music journalist Jon Burlingame recently did a nice L.A. Times profile on Giacchino, who's had a busy year so far (Star Trek, Up, Land of the Lost Box Office Receipts). From my archives, here's some feedback about the Giacchino-heavy "Superhero Worship":

"Hi! This isn't to request any music ( well, actually, I do have something I would like to hear) but to tell you what a pleasant surprise you gave me.... I saw The Incredibles a few weeks ago ( loved it) and I was bowled over by the cue that accompanies the scene where Mr. Incredible uncovers Syndrome's plan and then is captured... I loved how Giacchino did a great John Barry without being a parody. I bought the soundtrack and I have been wearing out that cue, plus others...so it was really nice, after listening to it at least 10 times last night, to come in this morning and hear it on your show! Thanks! It's always cooler when someone else plays it...."
--Kevin Greene, New Jersey, December 6, 2004

"I LOVE THIS EPISODE! Oh man, I had goosebumps most of the time and I think I teared up during some of the themes. I am totally geeking out over the whole thing. What wonderful scores! Ah! I can't get over how COOL this new episode is!

I was thinking about eventually requesting the theme that's played during the credits of The Incredibles, but now I have my fix, so nevermind! Yay!

Thank you again for the work you put into Fistful... it's such a wonderful station to listen to while working."
--Ginger Ludden, Indianapolis, December 6, 2004

"I must say, the recent Fistful ep, Superhero Worship, is my favorite one to date."
--www.psychoandy.com, Scottsdale, Arizona, February 28, 2005

Here are mentions of "Superhero Worship" on other people's sites:

"I was listening to A Fistful of Soundtrack at work the other day, and Jim Aquino had put together a show all about superhero themes. Ranging from good (Superman title) to awful (60's Batman theme). Which got me to thinking how completely great some of these themes are."
--"The Take Out Bandit," NeoGAF Forum, July 2, 2005

"So, as far as superhero costume designs go, they don't get much simpler than the outfit worn by the X-Men's Cyclops, in the late 1960's and 1970's. Cyke had pretty much straight blue spandex, with yellow trunks, gloves, and cuffed boots, that plastic, yellow visor with a red lens, and a red belt, with a yellow-and-black 'X' logo design. His mouth and nose were visible, while the rest of his head was covered in the blue spandex, making his cranium look like a penis with glasses.

Credit for the 'penis' joke goes to Jimmy Aquino, at http://jim.aquino.com"
--www.psychoandy.com, "Action Figure Customizing 101," 2005

Repeats of A Fistful of Soundtracks: The Series air Wednesdays at 10am and 3pm.

Ratatouille leftovers

Even though I usually avoid G-rated movies like the President avoids troop withdrawal bills--or reality--the G-rated Ratatouille is the summer movie I've been looking forward to the most before its release because 1) it stars the voice of one of my comedy idols, Patton Oswalt, 2) it's writer/director Brad Bird's follow-up to The Incredibles, my favorite Pixar flick, and 3) it features an original score by Incredibles and Lost composer Michael Giacchino. I'm not as familiar with Giacchino's filmography outside of Pixar and Bad Robot, but is this Giacchino's first foray into romantic comedy?

Ratatouille is a love story, but it's not your usual one. The main romance of the film is not the Linguini/Colette relationship--it's Remy the rat's love of cooking and fine dining. Giacchino's lush and playful score beautifully captures Remy's optimism and enthusiasm for the art of cooking without getting all overly gooey on us, which is why I'm adding to "Assorted Fistful" rotation four cues from the Walt Disney Records release of Giacchino's Ratatouille soundtrack.

Other things I dug about Ratatouille: the clever casting of Ian Holm, who played a similar "sellout" restaurateur character in the Deep Throat of food porn flicks, Big Night; Bird's jabs at the merchandising tactics of a certain parent company with a name that rhymes with "piznee" (during the scenes in which Holm's villainous Skinner plans to launch an inane line of frozen dinners exploiting the image of his deceased former boss, celebrity chef Gusteau); and the refreshing absence of corny and unsubtle pop culture reference gags that have been abundant in sub-Pixar animated flicks.

Was the casting of Brian Dennehy as Remy's dad Django an intentional nod to one of Oswalt's greatest stand-up bits, his parody of Robert Evans' strange ESPN radio ads ("A heroin-crazed Brian Dennehy burst into my trailer and punched me in the solar plexus...")? It must have rocked Oswalt's world when he found out one of the celebs he name-dropped in his Evans routine was cast as his dad. And it would have been even cooler if the animators threw in a moment in which Django put his arm around his son and then lightly punched him in the solar plexus.

Next on my list of summer flicks I want to see: The Simpsons Movie, followed by The Bourne Ultimatum, Superbad, Live Free or Die Hard, and Sam Witwicky: The Movie (why so much focus on Shia LaBeouf in the commercials?--I understand Paramount wants to create an aura of mystery with the new versions of Optimus, Bumblebee and Megatron, but the LeBeouf-heavy ads are like if someone did a feature film version of The Munsters and gave most of the screen time to Marilyn).