Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey Score Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
The Mission Impossible franchise has been going strong for nearly thirty years, so it's a bit surreal to see it apparently come to an end, with Tom Cruise hanging up the mantle as Ethan Hunt. To celebrate the final entry, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, the film's composers Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey join the show! Naturally, the three of us spend most of the interview talking about Mission: Impossible, including spending a year straight exclusively scoring the film, how score fits into the broader film making process in a project of this scale, the difficulty in scoring the two major set pieces, and how and when to utilize Lalo Schifrin's iconic main theme.
The last point was a particularly interesting one to me, as I've seen quite a few people wondering about it as well given that they don't quote the full theme often at all. Trust me, it's all intentional and done for good reason!
I also want to point out how prevalent the theme of teamwork is in this interview. Naturally, it's become a main thematic motif throughout the film series, with Cruise's Ethan Hunt willing to essentially do anything possible to save his team (and, in turn, save the world). Would Max or Alfie hold onto a biplane as it speeds thousands of feet in the air? Not sure. But they will spend a lot of timing raising up their colleagues and team members. Something I can definitely get behind.
One note: Alfie's voice is the first you'll hear and Max provides the first longer answer.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is currently in theaters, and Max and Alfie's score (as well as much of their other work) is available on all major platforms.
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44:19
Scoring Squid Game with Jung Jae-Il (Parasite, Mickey 17)
Ahead of the premiere of the third and final season of Squid Game, I chat with the show's composer, Jung Jae-Il (Parasite, Mickey 17). Obviously Jae-Il and I spend much of the conversation talking about Squid Game, including the palette, the differences in score and approach between the seasons (due to different games and loads of character deaths), and the closure that season 3 brings. Along the way we cover things like 90s British death metal, the piano as his natural language, the social themes of the projects he scores, and plenty more.
Season 3 of Squid Game premieres on Netflix on June 27, and Jae-Il's score is forthcoming. However, much of Jae-Il's other music, including scores and solo work, is available physically and on all major platforms.
We also used a translator here (although Jae-Il's English is very good), whose voice you will hear throughout the interview.
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18:54
Leo Birenberg & Zach Robinson (Cobra Kai, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man)
Composers Leo Birenberg & Zach Robinson join The Film Scorer Podcast to round out the unofficial (and accidental) trilogy of duo interviews (joining Meg Remy & Grace Glowicki and Aaron May & David Ridley). Leo and Zach are fresh off of scoring the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai as well as the first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, so it's no surprise that we spend much of our conversation talking about those two scores (and Cobra Kai as a whole). In doing so, we cover things like the importance of putting their own stamp on a score (including making individual Cobra Kai fights seem unique and making their Spider-Man distinct from the many other entries), the daunting nature of creating a Spider-Man score in the wake of Daniel Pemberton's masterpieces, and the bittersweet nature of finishing Cobra Kai. For reference, of the two, Leo is the first to speak.
Leo & Zach's scores are available on all major platforms, as are their other various other scores. There's also a compilation album of "greatest hits" from Cobra Kai seasons 4, 5, and 6 coming out later this year via Mutant. Cobra Kai is currently on Netflix while Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is on Disney+. You can find out more about Leo & Zach on their respective websites (Leo; Zach).
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50:26
Adolescence with Aaron May and David Ridley
For my second of three consecutive duo interviews, I chat with composers Aaron May and David Ridley. While they've been composing together for a while, their biggest project is also their most recent - the viral Netflix series Adolescence, from director Philip Barantini and starring Stephen Graham. It's not surprise, then, that we spend a lot of our chat talking about the series, including working in the single take, real time format, understanding that the series might not need score at all, and the genesis of the child vocalization that forms an integral part of their score's palette. Dave has also scored all of Phil's projects, with Aaron also scoring all but the first two, so we discuss this long term director combination as well as how the two work together (and work separately).
This is one of the more tangential conversations I've had - Aaron and Dave warned me beforehand that it might happen, but I certainly instigated it! I should have known it was coming when we lost track of time before recording talking about East Anglia and the British ritual/folk year. Shame that wasn't recorded too...
Aaron and Dave's score is available on all major platforms, as are their other scores and their debut solo albums (each released in 2023). Adolescence is currently on Netflix, and there are rumors that a second season may come (though this would at least be a surprise to me). You can find out more about Aaron and Dave on their joint website.
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41:55
The "Best" Film Scores of 2024
Although we're now a couple months into 2025, I finally present you with the "best" film scores of 2024. As usual, there are some very mainstream scores in here that most observers would agree with and there are a few left field choices. If you're a longtime listener, that shouldn't surprise you. As with all of these lists, although I say they're the "best", what I really mean is these are my favorites. Who's to say what's really the best? Surely not me.
If you can't control yourself, look below to see what scores I picked, though you'll miss out on the why of it all. And make sure to check out my conversation with David Rosen (from Piecing It Together) to see what we think are the best film scores of the decade (so far).
Evil Does Not Exist – Eiko Ishibashi
Smile 2 – Cristobal Tapia de Veer
Megalopolis - Osvaldo Golijov
AGGRO DR1FT – AraabMuzik
Dune 2 – Hans Zimmer
The Brutalist – Daniel Blumberg
Challengers – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Le Comte de Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo) - Jerome Rebotier
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - John Paesano
A Different Man – Umberto Smerilli
The Film Scorer Podcast features a wide array of long-form interviews with film composers, including up-and-comers, established veterans, and everybody in between.
Hear first-hand from masters of the craft about the film scoring process, see behind-the-scenes, and learn all about the art of film and film music.
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