Among the dozens of mysteries and procedural series from European TV that I’ve reviewed, almost all the assessments were based mainly on entertainment value, rather than historical or cultural insights to be derived. The French six-hour miniseries “Sambre” is quite an exception. It’s based on the 30-year run of France’s most prolific serial rapist before he was finally caught and convicted. Though the script is fictional, it does closely follow the appalling realities that transpired. The title refers to the river near which the earlier rapes were perpetrated.
Structurally, each of the half-dozen episodes covers one of the creep’s active periods between the first known case in 1988, and his ultimate conviction three decades later. We’re pretty sure early on who the perp is, so the suspense lies in how many women he’ll victimize and how he’ll eventually be caught. Each episode also focuses primarily on one of the key figures in that time frame, whether victim, profiler, prosecutor or cop, with considerable attention to the emotional damage and the effects on friends and loved ones; as well as the frustrations of many law enforcement people who tried and failed along the way. The main asset of the scripts from this trio of credited writers, which included the investigative journalist who wrote the underlying non-fiction book about these events, Alice Geraud, is the depth with which it explores so much of the aftermath and collateral damage.
Though he committed about 50 rapes during this stretch, the series shows very little of the violence wreaked upon the victims. They mention that 74% of serial killers and rapists are socially repressed loners, who drift from job to job with little stability in any facet of their lives, passing unnoticed in any crowd. This guy was quite the exception, which was part of why it took so long to ID him. The fellow was a solid family man with a lifelong factory job and active in the community, well-liked and respected by all who knew him.
One other reason for the delay – the lack of DNA tracing in the early years – is no longer an issue. Another is that he committed his brutal crimes in several towns on both sides of the French-Belgian border, keeping any of their local authorities from seeing the whole pattern. But the skeptical treatment given to the young women who dare to report such crimes remains an inhibiting factor. Perhaps the harshest scene in the series isn’t any of the stalking or rapes, but the brutish interrogation of a young victim by a cop who wouldn’t even consider that she might possibly be telling the truth.
The cast is solid throughout, with a number of suspenseful or otherwise powerful scenes. The pace is slow in the early episodes, but less so in the later ones. Credit also goes to the makeup department for masterfully aging several of the main players who appear in multiple episodes. MHz Choice subscribers or other genre fans may also appreciate – as did I – the fourth episode featuring Clemence Poesy and Patrick Descamps as statistical profilers brought in before such expertise became widely available to law enforcement. Among series I’ve covered before, Poesy notedly starred as a lead detective in “The Tunnel”. Descamps brought warmth and gravitas to “In Tandem”, playing the lead actress’ father.
Approach this like a documentary, though it isn’t one, to set your mood properly for awareness rather than escapism.
French crime drama SAMBRE premieres September 15, 2026 in the U.S. and Canada on MHz Choice.
THIS FALL, THE DIRECTORS OF PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISHBRING YOU A DAZZLING AND EMOTIONAL STORY ABOUT TWO LIFELONG FRIENDS WHO MUST COME TOGETHER… BEFORE THEY DRIFT APART. DREAMWORKS ANIMATION PRESENTS H.E.R. (pronounced “her”), LIZA SOBERANO, DAVE FRANCO AND JENNY SLATE IN FORGOTTEN ISLAND.
IN THEATERS SEPTEMBER 25TH.
The special screening is at 7om on Tuesday, September 22 at Marcus Ronnie’s Cine (Doors at 6PM).
Each winner will each receive 4 passes to the screening.
From the mind of visionary filmmaker Zach Cregger (Weapons, Barbarian) comes a thrilling – and terrifying – reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise. In an all-new story, Resident Evil follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos.
From Columbia Pictures and Constantin Film, in association with TriStar Pictures, Resident Evil hits theatres September 18, 2026.
TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW. From the mind of Zach Cregger, director of Weapons and Barbarian. Filmed for IMAX – Resident Evil is in theatres September 18. #ResidentEvilㅤpic.twitter.com/WDLHtzf2Xr
Mr. Irrelevant is the inspiring true story of John Tuggle (David Corenswet), the last player selected in the last round of the 1983 NFL draft by the New York Giants. A true underdog, Tuggle defied expectations on the field and off for his then first-year head coach, Bill Parcells (Michael Shannon), his newfound love (Isabel May), and his team, proving that remarkable hope and perseverance can transcend even the greatest challenges.
Helmed by Jonathan Levine (THE WACKNESS, 50/50, WARM BODIES), catch the new trailer now.
Tuggle played college football at the University of California, Berkeley (Cal), where he was a standout running back and lettered four years (1979–1982), leading the team in rushing during his senior year. elected dead last in the 1983 draft, a position traditionally christened as “Mr. Irrelevant” via Los Angeles Times coverage of the annual event.
During the 1984 preseason, Tuggle began experiencing severe chest pains and fatigue. He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of angiosarcoma (a rare cancer of the blood vessels). He tragically passed away on August 30, 1986, at just 25 years old.
Discover the world through the eyes of John Tuggle. Based on the incredible true story, see Mr. Irrelevant only in theatres December 25. pic.twitter.com/DiyzsbTkwB
Here’s a first look at the brand new teaser for the highly anticipated REMAIN.
From Warner Bros. Pictures, REMAIN, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, is an unprecedented collaboration between two of the world’s most creative minds: best-selling author Nicholas Sparks, and visionary filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan.
When reclusive architect Tate Gordon moves to small coastal town to complete his latest project, he encounters an alluring young woman who pulls him out of his shell, and into the center of a deadly mystery that hangs over the town.
Gyllenhaal stars alongside Phoebe Dynevor, Ashley Walters, Julie Hagerty and Jay O. Sanders.
Shyamalan directs from his own screenplay, story by Shyamalan and Sparks. The film is produced by Shyamalan, Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and Theresa Park, with Sparks executive producing.
Joining Shyamalan behind the camera are director of photography Adolpho Veloso, production designer Sam Lisenco, editor Noëmi Preiswerk, costume designer Caroline Duncan, casting director Douglas Aibel, music supervisor Gabe Hilfer and composer James Newton Howard.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents a Blinding Edge Pictures Production, an M. Night Shyamalan Film, Remain, in theaters across North America February 5, 2027, and internationally beginning 3 February 2027, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
A scene from horror movie EVER AFTER. Courtesy of Level 33
– By Mark Glass –
Though the title of EVER AFTER reads like the ending of a fairy tale, this one’s a horror flick with all the gore that fans of the genre could hope for. But the fairy tale connection still exists. Seven young lovelies go to the prototypical isolated house in the woods for a weekend bachelorette party. We know they’re bound to be besieged by crazed locals but instead of the usual range of DELIVERANCE-style rubes, their assailants are dressed as characters from old children’s tales – Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, etc.
Despite those allusions, there’s nothing amusing about the costumes and masks. Or what their occupants do. I had expected some measure of campy humor in the mix but the script from director and co-author Laszlo Illes never heads in that direction. This is straight slasher fare from the get-go. If you like the zaniness of Rob Zombie’s repertory company of Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) and his colorful costumed killer cohorts, this will not scratch that itch.
Very little time is spent in fleshing out the young women’s’ characters before their flesh starts getting flailed. A mixed bag of personalities unfolds to some degree during their ordeal but no one grabs the reins as the standard protagonist most likely to survive. EVER AFTER is a low-budget affair, with most of the funds likely spent on crafting and showcasing the yucky stuff, rather than salaries.
The two biggest names – Malcolm McDowell and Kane Hodder (Jason in the FRIDAY THE 13TH series) – only lend their voices to the proceedings. The next most familiar actor, Mark Sheppard, gets a role late in the proceedings that calls for him to ham it up, and he does so with villainous gusto.
No nudity, very little sexual activity. This would be R-rateable solely on the gruesomeness factor. The only novelty lies in the personae of the pursuers. But if you’re in the mood for one of these flicks, you could easily do worse. I certainly have on many occasions.
EVER AFTER opens Friday, Sept. 4, 2026 in theaters and on demand on Oct. 27, 2026.
ONSLAUGHT is an action/horror film about a ex-Army sniper defending herself and her daughter against an attack by a team of super soldiers gone rogue in a 1970s style grind-house action film, a few touches intended as gallows humor. But director Adam Wingard’s action/horror flick delivers little, with an uninspired, predictable plot, stock or unconvincingly weird characters, and more style than substance, making even its brief 90 minutes feel too long. After watching this disappointing actioner, one question springs to mind: why is this actioner in theaters instead of going straight to streaming. Far better films than this one have had that fate. Or been shelved for a tax write-off.
The press materials describe the story, which largely takes place in the New Mexico desert at a rundown trailer park, as being about a “badass” ex-Army sniper (Adria Arjona) who “unleashed hell” trying to protect her daughter from “an army of genetically engineered” opponents. There are several points in which this grind-house actioner does not match that description. While, frankly, this writer is less enamored of grind-house action than some, if a film is going to promise this stuff, it should deliver it.
Actually there are only three of these deadly fellows, not an army. They are not “generically engineered” but psychologically-altered and biologically-enhanced veterans like herself who were selected for their ability to survive rather than something lab-created. These super soldiers escape a secret private paramilitary installation that was once a military facility but is now run by an ancient German ex-Nazi played by Dan Stevens, dressed in all white and sporting some weird make-up, with an obvious bald cap with white haired fringe, an unwrinkled face with bushy eye brows but age-spotted wrinkled hands. We first meet this German mad scientist character at home with his younger, dominate wife (Rebecca Hall), indulging in a little foot-fetish fun. The three super soldiers had been activated to demonstrate their skills for a potential client, but when they get loose, Dan Stevens’ German decides a little field testing might be a good idea.
Meanwhile, we first meet Adria Arjona’s ex-sniper, Celeste, as she is engaged in a little target practice with a line of jack-o-lanterns. That they are jack-o-lanterns, not just pumpkins is a tip-off that this woman who has time on her hands. Target practice with a rifle, which she does, makes sense but finishing off the pumpkins with a semi-automatic assault weapon, which she also does, does not make sense, as it is just has to be pointed in the general direction, making that just a show for the camera.
While Arjona’s character has plenty of time to carve pumpkins to shoot up, cleaning the trailer where she lives in a run-down trailer park, is another matter. When she spots her wealthy ex-husband’s car driving up the the worn rural trailer park, she flies into a frenzy of straightening up, bed-making and, responsibly, locking up her weapons. The ex is there to drop off their young daughter, even though it is not Celeste’s week to have her. The ex has some urge business that has come up and just assumed he could drop her off. He also informs her that he is planning to move across the country, and reminds her that she does not need to live in this decrepit trailer park. Celeste tells him she wants to live there, because she feels comfortable among the residents, these fellow wounded people. Their seven-year-old daughter, Daisy (Blake Kennedy), is a sweet, polite little girl who seems not to know her mother well.
The cast is filled out with an assortment of sad residents in the old trailer park, including a cop and a few older military veterans. When the U.S. government gets wind that things have gone wrong at their former military site, they dispatch a young, stylish “fixer” named Cyrus (Drew Starkey), who they call up from his night off at a S&M club.
As far as “unleashing hell,” in fact our sniper mostly is unable to reach her large store of weapons and spends a lot of time knocked on her back and screaming until pure chance saves her from certain death at the hands of whichever super soldier is attacking. The super soldiers are nearly indestructible but they are not too bright and nearly as predictable as the plot of this sorry film.
There isn’t much to say about the acting since the characters are so predictable or stock, and there isn’t much for any of them to work with. However, Dan Stevens deserves mention for his weird-looking old-young German character, only to say that he might reconsider his recent choices of roles. The talented Rebecca Hall is wasted in her small part.
ONSLAUGHT has the gore, violence, body count and bits of sexual raciness that the genre calls for, but it falls short on the specifics the promotional materials seem to promise. Again, it is all style but little substance.
The one perhaps admirable aspect is the film’s sympathy for veterans, mistreated and discarded by the military and their government, and the long history of that treatment that is alluded to in the opening credits montage, which references WWII and U.S. wars since then. Still, that is just background to the carnage, familiar plot and stock characters, and the heroine’s many escapes by mere chance.
As said earlier, at 90 minutes, it still feels too long. Some scenes seem almost laughable with little indication that they were supposed to be comedy, and moments of intended gallows humor are more grim than actually funny. There isn’t much to recommend this action/horror offering, whose much interesting parts are the rather clever opening and closing credits.
ONSLAUGHT opens in theaters on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026.
This weekend’s big streaming premiere harkens back to a movie staple of the 1980s, the “mis-matched” buddy action comedy. And, appropriately enough, it is set in the 1980s. Another exercise in nostalgia, you’d think. Well, it’s a bit more complex than that since a big chunk of it deals with the then still “very frigid” Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union (a bit like that 81′ classic STRIPES). As for the “buddies”, we get a most unusual pairing of actors (and acting “styles”). Toss in much of the main plot of 2001’s BEHIND ENEMY LINES, chill, and then cool off with an irreverent road trip that starts with a frantic distress call of MAYDAY.
It is 1987, the last couple of Cold War years, when we meet Navy fighter pilot and “hot shot”, Troy “Assassin” Kelly (Ryan Reynolds). After helping out another pilot when his jet malfunctions, Troy stops off to visit his ailing papa Harold (David Morse). Troy wants to spend the evening with him, but Dad insists that he join his flyer pals for a night on the town. Their revelry is cut short when they run into their C.O. (Clark Johnson), who wants a private “word” with Troy. He’s going to be the “second seat” or co-pilot on a “hush hush” trek into Russia to snap some photos of a “secret operations base”. However, things go “sideways” when enemy jets attack. The Air Force’s main pilot is killed, and Troy must eject when the “spy plane” is destroyed. Flaming debris rips his chute, causing him to plummet into a snowy Russian forest. Before he blacks out, Troy sees an approaching man with a rifle. When Troy comes to, he’s tied to a bed inside a cabin. His wounds have been treated by his “rescuer”, ex-KGB Nikolai Ustinov (Kenneth Branagh). Ah, but he’s not going to take Troy to the military or the police. It seems that “Nick” adores everything about the ole’ US of A, with posters adorning his walls and a very illegal VHS “bootleg” of TOP GUN always playing on his TV. The place is warm and cozy, but Troy wants to get home. Nick insists that his former comrades are on the hunt for him, so Troy’s best escape plan is to steal an “untappable” airwave telephone and contact the US Embassy in Moscow, many miles away. But he can’t do it alone. Can these two former foes work together to escape the quickly advancing agents of the USSR and avoid an “international incident” that could heat up the COLD WAR?
And so how are these two “action buddies”? Surprisingly good, it turns out. Who’d ‘thunk it? Maybe it’s because they both “eased” a touch out of their “comfort zones”. That’s certainly the case with Reynolds as he softens his motor-mouthed wiseguy persona and makes us really connect to Troy’s plight. He’s the ultimate “fish out of water’ and that’s near the boiling point. Still, Reynolds’ Troy is steadfast, determined, and caring, particularly in the opening scenes with his hospitalized Pop. And Reynolds shows us that Troy gradually warms to his “enemy/healer/guide” Nick, subtly played by the talented Branagh. In past roles, he’s often overwhelmed his roles with bombast and bravado. Here, he shows us the quiet intensity and intelligence of a man hoping to atone for his past while reaching for a brighter new life in that utopian ideal of America (he so wants a Big Mac). Branagh also stuns in the complex “close quarters” combat sequences (can he really be in his 60s?). The film provides him with a great arch-nemesis in the current KGB overlord Volkov, played by Marcin Dorocinski with a constant menacing sneer. He’s disgusted by the warming relations with the US, and sees the capture of Kelly as a way to get Russia “back on track”. Opposing him is Nick’s estranged daughter Anna, played by “Borat’s daughter”, the compelling Maria Bakalova (also great in THE APPRENTICE as the first wife of DJT). She doesn’t hesitate to help Troy in his escape plan, but still questions her papa’s motives, while we see her yearning to reconnect with him. Morse is solid as Kelly senior, as is Johnson’s Troy’s military patriarch. Kudos also to Louis Cancelmi as the humorless Air Force “a-hole” and the hilarious Jacob Hanlon as Gorgo, the lad with the frozen “sour and sinister gaze”.
This is another solid entertainment from the writing and directing duo of Jonathan Go;dstein and John Francis Daly (forever Sam Weir on the one-season TV classic “Freaks and Geeks”). After their last flick, the “better-than-it-deserved-to-be” 2023 Dungeons and Dragons reboot, the team has returned to a more grounded reality with this action-character-driven comedy. And the action is indeed very good, going from the amazing aerial acrobatics in the first act (“Maverick”-worthy), with a nail-biting sky attack, to a dazzling barroom brawl, and a harrowing chase aboard a moving train. Sure, we’ve seen these types of set pieces before, but there’s a terrific vitality to this new “take” mainly thanks to Reynolds and especially Branagh. The Cold War paranoia is expertly recreated, down to a brief ideology debate between Troy and Nick. The film has some great location work, with Canada and Hungary seemingly subbing for Russia. So much of this is truly engaging, though a trip into 80’s action fantasy-overkill involving a big parade just doesn’t mesh with the deft blending of thrills and laughs in the earlier segments. Still, this remains a solid, briskly paced, well-acted nostalgic ride filled with engaging twists and turns that deserved a slot at the multiplex. You’ll give your big-screen home streaming set-up a terrific workout and a cinema showcase for the often marvelous MAYDAY.
3 Out of 4
MAYDAY streams exclusively on Apple TV on Friday, September 4, 2026
This 16th season of “Murder In…” – like the others – is an anthology of eight 90-minute French telefilms, with each having a different cast and location. There’s no need to have seen the earlier productions, or to watch these in any order, since there’s no overlap among them. They’re all quite good, with some appealing to me more than others. But there’s not a clunker in the seven made available for review as I write this.
Each title is “Murder In {that film’s location}”. The common threads among them are lovely, sometimes stunning exteriors; a satisfyingly complex murder (or murders) mystery du jour; police protagonists that are easy to root for. The process is invariably mixed with an assortment of personal issues and backstories for characters on both sides of the law. Suspense is sustained until reaching resolutions that make sense from the well-written scripts. As usual for such Eurofare, there’s not a lot of action; no naughty bits shown. We do see the victims in situ and on the morgue tables, but very little gets particularly gruesome.
The first is in Nimes. A dude in a gladiator costume is found with an antique sword stuck in his midsection. He’s dressed for a historical play being staged in the local Roman arena that’s being restored. Juliette Plumecocq-Mech stands out as a grizzled veteran detective on the verge of retirement due to lasting emotional wounds from a family tragedy.
The next occurs in Puy-en-Velay. A woman is found in a cathedral, apparently having died simply from fright, raising questions as to whether it was due to her frail health, or an intentional act. The real star here is Gaelle Bona, playing one of the lead detectives who is going blind from diabetes, and struggling with that even more than with the case.
The next is set in the port city of Honfleur. The local member of parliament is hauled in by some surprised fisherman who find him wrapped in a tarp and covered with salt, consistent with the procedure of a regional legend. The case goes to Captain Justine, who is pissed off by a politico imposing a retired cop-turned-professor (Bernard Farcy) on her. Her anger comes from their shared history that we learn during the episode. Another treat is a plum supporting role for one of my favorite character actors – Dominique Pinon. You may not know his name, but you’ll recognize his face.
Next we move to the city of Caudry in the Dentelles region. It’s France’s lace manufacturing center, and the stiff of the week is a member of the family owning one of the biggest companies. He’s found dead in their factory. The main subplot here involves the local main cop being surprised when his daughter turns up to take the lead. She’s angry as heck; he’s remorseful about whatever happened before they became estranged.
For an idyllic change of pace, the next takes us far away to tropical Marquises in French Polynesia. A distraught cop from France (Sara Mortensen) is there for the wedding of her bestie. Unfortunately, on the morning of the ceremony, Sara goes snorkeling and finds her pal’s body floating over the coral in her bridal gown. The local top cop tries to write it off as suicide, but Sara persists, and they eventually realize it was murder. The investigation dives deeply into local legends, rituals and superstitions, with a nod to the music of Jacques Brel. (digression: Mortensen is a lithe blond with very fair skin. I wonder if they named her character Alba as an inside joke because she contrasts considerably with the sunbaked populace?)
“Murder in Chartres” takes us to the city of that famous cathedral, and another interrupted wedding. This time the Best Man is displayed in the crypt in a Christlike pose, again evoking ritual of regional lore. This one stars another lovely and familiar face – Alexia Barlier – forced to partner with her husband (Gil Almo). They’re both competing for an imminent promotion to Commander, and the rivalry and machinations between them gives this one the most comic relief of the lot.
Family schisms again rule in the murder of the guy who runs Millau’s bird sanctuary. This one features the most spectacular landscapes from soaring cliffs surrounding the town. The lead detective sneaks her disgraced-cop father-in-law into town for help on the case, hoping to heal the long-standing rift between him and her hubby, and give their son a chance to finally meet his grandpa. This one plays out with more of a soap opera tenor than the others, but not enough to annoy your curmudgeonly correspondent.
Considerable credit goes to all the location scouts and directors for making these do double duty as travelogs for the featured areas. As to the stories, my favorites were the first and the fifth (Nimes and Marquises), but your mileage may vary.
Murder In… Season 16 premieres in September 2026 in the U.S. and Canada on MHz Choice.
Over the final weekend of August, something special happened. A movie that wasn’t supposed to see the light of day did. And what happened next was magical – COYOTE VS ACME “bolstered by an online rescue effort and strong reviews, debuted to $15.4 million.” (Indiewire) It was a huge hit with audiences and the film earned an A CinemaScore.
After enduring years of catastrophic product failures at the hands of ACME, Inc, a tenacious, unemployed coyote (Wile E. Coyote) uncovers a corporate cover-up and spearheads an unhinged battle against the multinational conglomerate that’s been blowing him up in the name of profit. Teaming up with billboard accident lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte), he takes on slick corporate counsel Buddy Crane (John Cena) and ACME, Inc., the profit-obsessed conglomerate behind every one of the Coyote’s chaotic catastrophes.
From director Dave Green, Coyote vs. Acme is a movie about a hero who always keeps going, no matter what is thrown in his path. As Jim Batts wrote in his review, the film “really has “heart”.
The thing that unlocked the whole movie for me was this idea that we watch cartoons and we laugh at the cartoon characters in them, and we laugh at their cartoon pain. We always have! So, in some ways, the idea of this movie was of us saying, ‘We’re sorry!’ This idea that Wile E. Coyote has been through 75 years of mistreatment and is totally sick and tired of it!” Green says.
“That then became, ‘Well, what if we treated his problem seriously? What if this whole thing wasn’t just a lark but went deeper and explored themes that we haven’t gotten to explore before?’ That was what excited me. This question: ‘What if we created real, actual empathy for Wile E. Coyote?’”
Producer producer Chris deFaria says ““We all believe that we’re Road Runner, but deep down inside, we know we are actually Wile E. Coyote.”
To help answer that musically, Green turned to the Oscar-winning composer Steven Price. For 30 years Price has been composing soundtracks for lauded movies in diverse genres. From the space opera of Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity to the war-torn battlefields of the Brad Pitt-starring Fury, not to mention a four-time action-comedy collaboration with Edgar Wright dating back to 2013’s The World’s End, his work has amplified stories, loading them with thrills and emotion.
For Coyote vs. Acme, Price was tasked with creating an original score that pays homage to classic Looney Tunes music by legendary composer Carl Stalling, while musically bringing the cartoon characters into a modern-day story of corporate intrigue and courtroom drama.
I recently spoke with the composer about his brainwave that would define the unmistakable sound of Coyote vs. Acme. In our discussion about the film, we talked about his research on the classic tracks from the Looney Tunes universe, why we should root for the Coyote, and his obsession with composing scores to give films their unique voice.
WAMG: The first time we spoke was on August 21, 2013 and here it is August 21, 2026. And we spoke about your work on Edgar Wright’s THE WORLD’s END
Steven Price: What a coincidence. The first interview I ever did.
WAMG: Coyote vs Acme. Oh, my gosh. I saw it last week. The movie that almost wasn’t is now here. Reviews are fantastic. It’s doing so well on Rotten Tomatoes.
Steven Price: Yeah, it’s been amazing to see it because it’s been quite the journey, shall we say.
WAMG: How were your first approached about composing and how did David Green say, Hey, I think you’d be great on this film?
SP: I just got called in for a meeting they were cutting in London and they called me in for a chat. They sent me the script, first of all, actually. I remember thinking it was incredibly smart. And I had a vague memory of the original article it’s all based on. I think it’s 1990 in the New Yorker. There was the original Coyote versus Acme sort of article. It’s such a great idea, the idea that he would finally sue for all of the terrible inventions that he’d bought over the years. And the script was amazing. The script was really smart and it felt like this is a really interesting way of revisiting these characters. And it’s got the best of all worlds. You get the fun of the chases and all the sort of slapstick stuff. But at the same time, you’ve got an emotional story about these cartoon characters. So that was exciting. And then I went in, they showed me, I think, 2 sequences that weren’t finished animation or anything like that, but you just got a sense of it and you realized that he was just absolutely nailing this idea. And wouldn’t it be fun to get to do music? And we talked about music and seemed to get along. So that was the start. And then it was a great experience writing it really.
WAMG: The musical cues match all the physicality, the edits, the sound effects. And how did you start planning out how you were going to combine the traditional Looney Tune world that we grew up with real life.
SP: I think the film kind of helps you out because it’s the first thing I was tackling was the start of the film, which is these incredible, authentic Looney Tunes kind of action sequences. And I’d obviously grown up with the cartoons, but I went back and rewatched lots and lots of them. And you’re kind of struck by how amazing the music is in those things and how, they didn’t have computers and all that. They were doing it for real back in the day. The first time they heard it was when it was played on the stage.
And it’s so accurate to the picture. It’s so imaginative. And the way they use the musicians and the orchestra swirling around and people are overblowing instruments to get really sort of pictorial noises out of them and that sort of thing. That was all very inspiring, so I started off doing that. And that was when I kind of established my themes as well. And then you got to take those ideas, but also thread them through into this courtroom kind of drama and this tale of intrigue and corporate espionage and all that stuff. But it was all kind of interlinked and it was kind of fun to work out how you could join the two and make them feel true all the time. It could work for the original Looney Tunes stuff and it would be full of that sort of character. But at the same time, you could slide that in and hopefully make you feel something for cartoon characters that you may not have looked at in that way before.
WAMG: Throughout the whole movie, you can hear the iconic voices of June Foray and Mel Blanc, as well as the traditional Looney Tunes we all grew up with. For many that was their first exposure to classical music like the Minute Waltz from Chopin, the Barber of Seville. Rossini, the William Tell Overture, Richard Wagner’s Tannhauser, and “What’s Opera, Doc” in 1957. So let’s talk about the professional choir singing Roadrunner’s signature Meep Meep, which I thought was so genius.
SP: Oh, it was one of those ideas that came to you and you kind of, you had to work out whether you dare suggest it because it seems so silly. But in my mind, the coyote, Wiley, he’s just an obsessive, right? All he thinks about is the roadrunner. He wants to catch and eat the roadrunner. That’s all he wants in the world. And he keeps trying and every day tries a different way. And the obsession grows and grows and grows. And the idea came. that, maybe he’s haunted by that. Maybe he’s so frustrated after all these years of failure that all he hears in his head is this meep, meep of the thing that keeps getting away from him, you know, all the time it’s going on. And almost felt like it could be like a horror thing, you know, and in his head was this constant sort of mocking him, this meep, meep, meep, meep thing. And so the idea came of doing that with a choir. And I said that to Dave and he was like, that sounds fun. And of course, you can’t demo anything like that because you have to do it for real to know it’s going to work. So then we just had this ridiculous afternoon in Abbey Road, Studio One with a choir, getting them to make that noise. And it was so funny when it first started to happen. You just stood there going, this is good fun. This is great.
WAMG: That’s what I was going to ask you. What was the reaction from the singers, from the choir? When they first get the sheet music, were they, this is great? Were they laughing? Were they like, yeah, this is going to work?
SP: I mean, they’re up for anything, which is great. We had to sit down at the start and have a conversation with them about what the noise was going to be. And I literally had to ask, if you think of the Roadrunner, do you think “beep” or do you think “meep”? And everyone voted for it. And we had to try it both ways because I’ve always thought it’s meep in the cartoon, but if you see it written down, it’s beep. And we tried and it seemed to work that it was meep. So we had that conversation and tried it a few times and then they just seemed to enjoy it, over-enunciating to make it funnier and funnier. And we ended up with the version of the “1812 Overture” with them meeping all over it as well. That was glorious fun.
WAMG: Wasn’t it? When you first hear it, its the Roadrunner, but then you realize, oh, it’s vocals. Oh, my gosh, it’s just mad genius.
SP: There’s something psychotic about it, isn’t there, when you hear it sort of classically like that.
WAMG: And what was the conversation with the film editor or sound editor to have that presence, but for it to be in the background.
SP: We constantly chipped away at it really. I was doing demos from very early on and we all work really closely together. Dave, the director, cast and the editor, myself, we were all constantly trying things and it was kind of fascinating how the comedy would work in these things. You were literally talking about A-frame or two frames would make a massive difference, you know, whether where they cut it or where I placed the music with it. It’s kind of, we had to be really careful to get those moments right because it could make something, feel exciting, feel funny or not, if you got that wrong. So we did a lot of trial and error and Dave was very patient to try a lot of things with me and we’d go a couple of different directions in some places and it gradually started to lock together. And then of course you get the glorious day where you get to record it properly and hear it for real rather than just me sitting in a room pressing keyboards.
WAMG: Since your start, you’ve worked with so many different filmmakers since that first interview. Edgar Wright, you worked on all those films, including The Running Man, which I absolutely loved. It is a great remake.
SP: I was really proud of that one. I enjoyed it.
WAMG: Watch the original, but watch the new version, the updated version, because it’s so good. It really is. You’ve also worked with David Ayer on Fury and Suicide Squad Fury. So with all these collaborations, your scores are not just background noise. It’s always conveying the characters, the feeling, what they’re thinking. So I wanted to ask you about the scene at the end of Coyote vs Acme, where Will Forte’s character is in the courtroom, it’s just so emotional.
SP: It’s one of the things I love to do more than anything really is kind of hopefully find that level of emotion that makes you kind of lean in and not realise it. That feeling of your stomach sort of lurching or just that wave of emotion. And this film sort of had that the performances were so good.
And you know, there was something about him doing the speech about the different way of seeing Wile (E. Coyote), from being this hapless kind of character to being someone who’s resilient and actually really brave and never gives up and that’s sort of admirable, you know, and it was a lovely thing to score because it’s quite a beautifully rousing speech, beautifully written.
So it was so nice to sort of just accompany him really and just build as he built and just follow it along and hopefully the combination moves people.
WAMG: It was just a lovely part of the movie and the score was absolutely perfect for that scene.
SP: The whole thing, to work on a Looney Tunes film that a lot of people keep saying they found it emotional, that’s new, I think, for that world. So that’s a great thing.
WAMG: So switching gears to Sir David Attenborough. You won the Primetime Emmy for Life on the Planet. You’re nominated again for The Ocean with David Attenborough. Both are just magnificent. And he just turned 100. He’s like the oldest Emmy nominee.
What was it like working with him?
SP: It’s been just a massive honour really to work with him at all. I’ve been working with him sort of since about 2014. We did a show called “The Hunt” for the BBC and all the people around him are amazing storytellers and the camera work is incredible. David has got to this point in his life, he’s making different sorts of films and certainly something like the Ocean film. It’s an amazing sort of message piece, really. And it was very different from anything we’d done before. It wasn’t sort of pure natural history. It was a thing designed to make a difference and to alert people to the damage that’s being done in the ocean and kind of suggest that this is unsustainable and it’s having terrible effects on the whole planet.
And it’s also not making money. It is just ridiculous. I didn’t know about any of that. And it takes someone like Sir David to stand and stare at the camera and say that. We wanted the score for that to be as emotional as he was really, and to support every bit of his message. It starts off showing the wonder of the oceans, but then it shows you just how terrible it is. And it goes really dark, the score in that place, but it sends you away with a lot of optimism. And we wanted it to feel different. So that one is a very choral score. That’s a lot of voices all overlapping and kind of the voice of the ocean was what was running through my head when I was working on it. Everything is very fluid and all the voices overlap and it kind of moves in waves. And within that, I think you could find a lot of emotion in different ways. It was a very lovely thing to work on. We’re all super proud of that one.
WAMG: How do you go from all these various genres and still keep it fresh after all these years?
SP: I think you just keep putting yourself in positions where you don’t know what you’re doing. Now, that’s my key. Just continually look for things that you haven’t done before, that you want to do in a different way. And just sort of keep trying to find the heart of a film. I like nothing more than trying to make a score that sounds like it couldn’t belong to any other film. That’s my obsession with this thing. And just try and make something that feels like it’s utterly bespoke to those characters and the way it’s been filmed, every aspect of it. So it just feels like one thing. And these lovely moments, if you do get it right every now and then, it all becomes more than the sum of its parts.
WAMG: Your score for Gravity was so unusual, as if it wasn’t made for that film, but it was.
SP: I love making things. I enjoy trying to find a new sound that feels particular. I remember when we did Fury, a lot of the percussion in that film arc the tank. we got bits of the tank delivered to a studio and we hit it and we scraped it and we did all these things and that became, so you can’t separate the film from the music, and that’s something I try and do as much as possible, really, just to try and make things that feel. you know, super unique.
With the Coyote vs Acme film, there are sounds in there that were drawn from the original sounds from the Looney Tunes effects library from the cartoons, like little clicking noises that they would have for people running, that they’re part of my rhythm tracks. I spent ages trying to do slide guitars that sounded like the Bugs Bunny. You just try and make it feel like it’s right for that film.
WAMG: I have one final question. In 2013, during the World’s End interview, my last question was, what advice would you give the young musicians considering a career as a film composer? You said, “there are always jobs that need to be done. And if you’re a musically minded person and you’re nice to have around, I think people appreciate that. And there are opportunities out there. It can appear very daunting getting into the industry at times, but I think if you’ve got the right attitude, and you’re keen to get involved, ultimately you love to do it. And there are definitely openings for people.”
What do you think about that over a decade later?
SP: If anything, I think it’s even more true. I think it’s probably even harder to get into this thing now than it used to be. There’s so many people, I think everyone’s got a studio, everyone’s got a computer, you can make scores with anything, so it can be daunting to get anyone to hear anything. To me, the way forward is to meet people and to be useful to people. There’s nothing better than when someone’s enthusiastic and wants to learn every aspect of this. I look back on my early days and I’m so grateful that I’d learned every job in film music because I had a go at all of it at some point, and helped people do it. And so when you do get to write your own, you kind of have an understanding of that and that helps. That means you’re not wasting time, you learn those things. You can just sort of focus on the job at hand. So I think people, I get a lot of letters from people who just want to write. And I’m always trying to say, oh, you should do everything. You know, the writing will come. If you’re going to write, you’re going to write anyway. But you know, learn all these other things. There’s loads of ways to, you know, to influence this stuff and to, you know, enjoy working in film music.
WAMG: Do you have anything coming up that we can look forward to?
SP: There’s a couple of things that are finished and ready to go, there’s a film called The Way of the Warrior Kid, which is coming out of Apple, I believe, in November. And then returning to the Natural History world, there’s a limited series that I did for Netflix earlier this year about the Arctic, which is a very beautiful show and really deals with how things are changing in the Arctic and how it’s affecting the people who live there and all the nature around them.
