Deep Quiet Room, Masters of the Universe and more
Two major blockbusters, Toy Story 5 and Masters of the Universe, alongside four under-the-radar gems make up this batch.
Deep Quiet Room (Hanan Townshend, 2025)
This is a Taiwanese suspense film by Ko-shang Shen, about a man who struggles with deep-buried trauma in the wake of his pregnant wife’s suicide. It has received acclaim in the East, but no wide distribution yet in the West. The score is by New Zealand-born composer Hanan Townshend (famous for his Terrence Malick collaborations). It’s a beautiful work, tapping into the ‘post-minimalist romantic’ style that Max Richter popularized two decades ago, heavy on undulating strings and piano. This style is counterpointed by more sustained, high-pitched, static cues (appropriately named “Tinnitus” – and hitting close to home for this writer, who severely suffers from it). It’s a wonderfully cautious, slowly evolving score with shimmering qualities and suggestive tone colours more than pronounced themes. Favourite tracks: «Living a Twisted Life», «Dust in the Air», «The Storm is Coming»
Castigo Divino [Divine Punishment] (Cláudia Correia, 2026)
This is a Spanish “fantasy comedy” about a male nurse who suddenly receives supernatural powers. The reception has so far been less than positive, but the score by Portuguese composer Cláudia Correia (a new acquaintance to me) is a lovely electronic affair. It sits comfortably within the synthwave genre, but with broad, moody stretches inbetween the familiar riffs and hooks. For a comedy, the tone is rather wistful as it veers from small and quirky to big and luscious (no doubt to underline the superpowers). Weirdly, the sound mix is very muffled, as if it emanates from a 1980s boombox, but maybe that’s an intended effect? While the compressed dynamic range clouds some of the instrumental details, there’s a rich tapestry of melodies and moods to savour here. Favourite tracks: «Pedro», «I’m Back», «Carmela»
Kaze, Kaoru [The Scent of the Wind] (Yuji Nomi, 2026)
This is a Japanese television series (a socalled Asadora series), about two pioneer nurses at the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912). 67-year-old composer Yuji Nomi, who was apparently mentored by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto, writes one of those delightful, consonant orchestral scores that can only come out of Japan, really. Not necessarily big and lush, but sweepingly romantic , often with pronounced use of solo instruments like harp, guitar, woodwinds or violin. The album is too long at 74 minutes, there are several rather non-descript tracks (especially in the second half) that can be be weeded out for better, more succinct flow. But the highlights are definitely strong enough to warrant a recommendation. Favourite tracks: «The Scent of the Wind Main Theme», «Ridiculous!!», «Notes on Nursing»
Der verlorene Mann [A Fading Man] (Pablo Jókay, 2026)
This is a German three-way drama about a couple in their 60s that is suddenly visited by the wife’s dementia-suffering ex-husband who thinks they’re still together. German-Hungarian composer Pablo Jókay (another new acquaintance) provides a poignant, autumnal tone poem across its brief 20-minute running time, with shades of Yann Tiersen (with a repeating piano motif). It’s a relatively bleak soundscape, performed by a chamber-sized ensemble, but opens up to hopeful or bittersweet release valves with regular intervals, like distant, haunting oboe solos, performed by David Seghezzo. This is a nice, hidden gem. Favourite tracks: «Reise», «Schneeballschlacht», «Der verlorene Mann»
Toy Story 5 (Randy Newman, 2026)
It’s hard to top the perfect ending of Toy Story 3 (2010), but Pixar has made two more entries in the animated franchise since then. According to the buzz (no pun intended), from critics and audiences alike, this appears to be a qualitative step up from its predecessor. It’s somehow comforting that 82-year-old Randy Newman is still at the music console, despite health issues in recent years. Not even a new (fairly mediocre) Taylor Swift country song can take that legacy away from him. This is very much in the style of the previous films, with playful, twangy, orchestral Americana, and those famous Newman minor/major chord changes. Some of the earlier themes and song tunes show up from time to time; It’s still a warm sound blanket, sprinkled with appropriate amounts of whimsy and mickey-mousing (perhaps slightly on the long side at 75 minutes, but nothing a little whittling can’t fix). Favourite tracks: «Tire Swing Hill», «Calling Woody», «Buried Treasure», «Bonne and Blaze»
Masters of the Universe (Daniel Pemberton & Brian May, 2026)
For those of us who grew up with the iconic He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animation series in the 80s (and collected the action figures), this was serious business. In reality, of course, it was always very camp and a pure marketing ploy by Mattel. Still, the new camp factor, constantly discussing gender roles, has been a rather tiring aspect of both the new animated series and this feature film by Travis Knight. However, the omnipresent Daniel Pemberton has teamed up with legendary guitarist Brian May for an entertaining soundtrack, with a central theme that sounds like ABBA-via-Queen. And some amusing, symphonic rock fusions throughout, peppered with glittering fantasy excursions.
Alas, the album is much too long at 1 hour and 22 minutes, it should be 40-50 at most, so needs a lot of pruning, especially some of the bombastic material. This is more Flash Gordon or Joel Goldsmith’s Kull the Conqueror than the original Levy/Saban music for the series (whose theme only makes a brief cameo at the end), or even the Conti score for the 1987 film, but with several decent tracks worth highlighting. Favourite tracks: «Eternia», «Folding Space (Eternia)», «You Are He», «The Sword of Power», «A Job for He-Man»
