With nearly 400 scores to his credit, Ennio Morricone is one of the most prolific and influential film composers working today. He has collaborated with many significant directors, and his scores for such films as The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly; Once Upon a Time in America; Days of Heaven; The Mission; The Untouchables; Malena; and Cinema Paradiso leave moviegoers with the conviction that something special was achieved-a conviction shared by composers, scholars, and fans alike. In Composing for the Cinema: The Theory and Praxis of Music in Film, Morricone and musicologist Sergio Miceli present a series of lectures on the composition and analysis of film music. Adapted from several lectures and seminars, these lessons show how sound design can be analyzed and offer a variety of musical solutions to many different kinds of film. Though aimed at composers, Morricone's expositions are easy to understand and fascinating even to those without any musical training. Drawing upon scores by himself and others, the composer also provides insight into his relationships with many of the directors with whom he has collaborated, including Sergio Leone, Giuseppe Tornatore, Franco Zeffirelli, Warren Beatty, Ridley Scott, Roland Joffe, the Taviani Brothers, and others. Translated and edited by Gillian B. Anderson, an orchestral conductor and musicologist, these lessons reveal Morricone's passion about musical expression. Delivered in a conversational mode that is both comprehensible and interesting, this groundbreaking work intertwines analysis with practical details of film music composition. Aimed at a wide audience of composers, musicians, film historians, and fans, Composing for the Cinema contains a treasure trove of practical information and observations from a distinguished musicologist and one of the most accomplished composers on the international film scene.

With nearly 400 scores to his credit, Ennio Morricone is one of the most prolific and influential film composers working today. He has collaborated with many significant directors, and his scores for such films as The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly; Once Upon a Time in America; Days of Heaven; The Mission; The Untouchables; Malena; and Cinema Paradiso leave moviegoers with the conviction that something special was achieved a conviction shared by composers, scholars, and fans alike. In Composing for the Cinema: The Theory and Praxis of Music in Film, Morricone and musicologist Sergio Miceli present a series of lectures on the composition and analysis of film music. Adapted from several lectures and seminars, these lessons show how sound design can be analyzed and offer a variety of musical solutions to many different kinds of film. Though aimed at composers, Morricone s expositions are easy to understand and fascinating even to those without any musical training. Drawing upon scores by himself and others, the composer also provides insight into his relationships with many of the directors with whom he has collaborated, including Sergio Leone, Giuseppe Tornatore, Franco Zeffirelli, Warren Beatty, Ridley Scott, Roland Joffe, the Taviani Brothers, and others. Translated and edited by Gillian B. Anderson, an orchestral conductor and musicologist, these lessons reveal Morricone s passion about musical expression. Delivered in a conversational mode that is both comprehensible and interesting, this groundbreaking work intertwines analysis with practical details of film music composition. Aimed at a wide audience of composers, musicians, film historians, and fans, Composing for the Cinema contains a treasure trove of practical information and observations from a distinguished musicologist and one of the most accomplished composers on the international film scene."

A double-bill of sci-fi horror. In John Carpenter's 'The Thing' (1982), a research team in the Antarctic, led by R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russell), discovers a spaceship buried beneath the ice, and becomes terrorised by the shape-changing monster that is housed within. In the 2011 prequel, the action is set on a research site in Antarctica three days before the action of the original story, the film focusing on the Norwegian camps that were the initial target of the alien invasion. When they discover an alien spacecraft on the site, science graduate Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and experienced researcher Dr Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) disagree about how to act. When Dr Halvorson refuses to abandon his research, Kate teams up with tough Vietnam veteran Sam Carter (Joel Edgerton) to pursue the alien intruders by helicopter.

Clint Eastwood is a keen-eyed, quick-witted bounty hunter on the bloody trail of Indio, the territory's most treacherous bandit. But his ruthless rival, Colonel Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef), is determined to bring Indio in first...dead or alive!

Failing to capture their prey - or eliminate each other - the two are left with only one option: team up, or face certain death at the hands of Indio and his band of murderous outlaws.

Kristy McNichol, Paul Winfield and Burl Ives star in this American drama directed by Samuel Fuller. When young actress Julie (McNichol) unwittingly runs over a white Alsation one night, she panics and takes the animal to the vet. While trying to find the stray dog's owners Julie takes him home with her where he proves useful as he fends off an attack from a rapist. Suspecting that something is not quite right with the dog, Julie takes it to a specialist trainer where she learns that the dog has been trained to attack black people. Can Julie and the trainer reprogramme the dog into being the loving family pet he once was?

Sergio Leone's classic spaghetti western forms the final part of the trilogy that brought Clint Eastwood to Hollywood's attention. During the American Civil War, the paths of three loners - Joe (Eastwood), Tuco (Eli Wallach) and Setenza (Lee Van Cleef) - cross as they search for the grave of Bill Carson, home to a hidden fortune. As the war intensifies, the treasure seekers become drawn into a battle that dwarfs their own mercenary pursuits.

Box set of eight classic Clint Eastwood films. In 'Play Misty for Me' (1971) Dave Garland (Clint Eastwood) is a Californian DJ who runs a late night call-in show, and receives regular requests from a female caller for Erroll Garner's 'Misty'. The fan, Evelyn Draper (Jessica Walter), turns out to be a maniacal stalker. In the western 'High Plains Drifter' (1973) the unwelcome arrival of a stranger (Eastwood) in the town of Lagos causes resentment and fear among the locals. However, when they come under threat from a band of escaped convicts, it is to the stranger that the townsfolk turn for salvation. In 'The Beguiled' (1970), during the American Civil War, a wounded Union soldier (Eastwood) is taken in by the all-female staff of a Confederate Louisiana girls' school as their 'prize'. However, the soldier cunningly plays the women off against each other, working on their sexual frustrations and biding his time until he can make an escape. 'Breezy' (1973) is an Eastwood-directed effort in which Breezy (Kay Lenz) is a teenage hippy hitchhiker taken advantage of by a ruthless rotter who wants to use her for sex. She escapes in a remote area and meets kindly middle-aged man Frank Harmon (William Holden) whom she hopes will take her in. Harmon is (rightfully) reluctant and his worst imaginable scenario comes true when the impressionable teen falls in love with him. In 'Joe Kidd' (1972) Eastwood plays a drunken tracker coerced by American business tycoon Robert Duvall to go in search of Mexican agitator John Saxon. The film is scripted by renowned crime writer Elmore Leonard. In 'Two Mules for Sister Sarah' (1969) a gold-digger (Eastwood) in old Mexico shows his fundamentally noble nature by saving a 'nun' (Shirley Maclaine) from being raped. She turns out in fact to be a prostitute, and the odd couple team up, facing continual confrontation with the French forces. In 'Coogan's Bluff' (1968) Eastwood is Arizona deputy Walt Coogan, sent to New York city to escort a prisoner home. The prisoner isn't ready to be transferred back to Arizona so Coogan cuts a few corners. This helps the prisoner escape and, after Coogan clashes with the Sherrif McElroy (Lee J. Cobb), he is ordered back to Arizona. In 'The Eiger Sanction' (1975) college lecturer Jonathan Hemlock (Eastwood) tops up his university paypacket by carrying out the occasional assassination. His latest assignment involves joining a climbing expedition up the Eiger, identifying the Russian killer amongst the group, and then neutralising his threat.

Box set of eight classic Clint Eastwood films.

Play Misty for Me (1971)
Dave Garland (Clint Eastwood) is a Californian DJ who runs a late night call-in show, and receives regular requests from a female caller for Erroll Garner's 'Misty'. The fan, Evelyn Draper (Jessica Walter), turns out to be a maniacal stalker.

High Plains Drifter (1973)
The unwelcome arrival of a stranger (Eastwood) in the town of Lagos causes resentment and fear among the locals. However, when they come under threat from a band of escaped convicts, it is to the stranger that the townsfolk turn for salvation.

The Beguiled (1970)
During the American Civil War, a wounded Union soldier (Eastwood) is taken in by the all-female staff of a Confederate Louisiana girls' school as their 'prize'. However, the soldier cunningly plays the women off against each other, working on their sexual frustrations and biding his time until he can make an escape.

Breezy (1973)
An Eastwood-directed effort in which Breezy (Kay Lenz) is a teenage hippy hitchhiker taken advantage of by a ruthless rotter who wants to use her for sex. She escapes in a remote area and meets kindly middle-aged man Frank Harmon (William Holden) whom she hopes will take her in. Harmon is (rightfully) reluctant and his worst imaginable scenario comes true when the impressionable teen falls in love with him.

Joe Kidd (1972)
Eastwood plays a drunken tracker coerced by American business tycoon Robert Duvall to go in search of Mexican agitator John Saxon. The film is scripted by renowned crime writer Elmore Leonard.

Two Mules for Sister Sarah (1969)
A gold-digger (Eastwood) in old Mexico shows his fundamentally noble nature by saving a 'nun' (Shirley Maclaine) from being raped. She turns out in fact to be a prostitute, and the odd couple team up, facing continual confrontation with the French forces.

Coogan's Bluff (1968)
Eastwood is Arizona deputy Walt Coogan, sent to New York city to escort a prisoner home. The prisoner isn't ready to be transferred back to Arizona so Coogan cuts a few corners. This helps the prisoner escape and, after Coogan clashes with the Sherrif McElroy (Lee J. Cobb), he is ordered back to Arizona. But Coogan does not want to give up his pursuit of the prisoner and takes the matter into his own hands.

The Eiger Sanction (1975)
College lecturer Jonathan Hemlock (Eastwood) tops up his university paypacket by carrying out the occasional assassination. His latest assignment involves joining a climbing expedition up the Eiger, identifying the Russian killer amongst the group, and then neutralising his threat.

Sean Penn, Ed Harris and Gary Oldman star in this neo-noir crime drama directed by Phil Joanou. Irish-American Terry (Penn) returns to his old neighbourhood after a mysterious absence. He is reunited with his childhood friend Jackie (Oldman) who is now working in arson and extortion rackets, but a possible alliance with an Italian mob brings trouble for Terry's friends. The film is based on real-life New York gang, The Westies, who ruled 'Hell's Kitchen' during the 1970s.

Made-for-television biopic, directed by Peter Hall, about the famous Biblical character. Jacob (Matthew Modine) and Esau (Sean Bean) are two brothers fighting for their father's affection and inheritance, driven to war, enmity, and eventual reconcilliation. Also featuring performances from Lara Flynn Boyle and Joss Ackland.

The story of the conflict between slave-traders and Jesuits during the colonisation of South America by Spain and Portugal. In 1750 Jesuit priest Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) arrives in the Amazon to build a mission for the Guarani Indians. He comes into conflict with slave trader Mendoza (Robert De Niro), who kills or captures many of the tribe but escapes punishment due to the fact that he is an aristocrat. However, it transpires that even Mendoza has a conscience when he comes to Gabriel asking for penance.

Pier Paolo Pasolini writes, directs and stars in this Italian comedy drama based on Giovanni Boccaccio's novel. Made up of nine individual stories, the film includes tales of betrayed husbands, young lovers, immoral nuns, deceptive doctors and unlikely saints as well as two friends who wish to find out about the afterlife. Meanwhile, a painter's pupil named Allievo di Giotto (Pasolini) arrives in Naples to paint a mural.

Triple bill of Sergio Leone Westerns starring Clint Eastwood as the Man With No Name. In 'A Fistful of Dollars' (1964), the laconic gunslinger (Eastwood) makes a financial killing by playing two feuding families off each other in a small southwestern town. 'For a Few Dollars More' (1965) sees him reluctantly joining forces with bounty hunter Colonel Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef) to battle psychotic bandit El Indio (Gian Maria Volonte) and his gang of outlaws. In 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' (1966), set during the American Civil War, the paths of three loners - Joe (Eastwood), Tuco (Eli Wallach) and Setenza (Van Cleef) - cross as they search for the grave of Bill Carson, home to a hidden fortune. As the war intensifies, the treasure seekers become drawn into a battle that dwarfs their own mercenary pursuits.

Pier Paolo Pasolini writes, directs and stars in this Italian adaptation of Chaucer's medieval poem. The film includes eight of Chaucer's 24 stories - those of the Merchant, Friar, Cook, Miller, Wife of Bath, Reeve, Pardoner and Summoner - and ends with Pasolini's vision of hell, as a group of pilgrims make their way to Canterbury.

Brutal crime drama from Italian director Umberto Lenzi, in which a petty crook decides to act out his dream of becoming one of the most feared criminals in Italy. Small-time miscreant Giulio Sacchi (Tomas Milian) has scraped by on spare change for most of his life, but one day he decides he wants to make something of himself. When he discovers his girlfriend Iona (Anita Strindberg) is working for a wealthy businessman, he gathers together some friends in order to kidnap the man's daughter (Laura Belli) for ransom. All goes according to Giulio's plan at first, but it's not long before his sadistic nature reveals itself and the gang descends into violent paranoia. The cast also includes Henry Silva as the tough cop on the kidnappers' trail.

Italian comedy drama co-written and directed by Elio Petri. After becoming disillusioned with his job, young bank clerk Total (Flavio Bucci) decides to get revenge on his wealthy clients. Targeting the greedy local butcher (Ugo Tognazzi), Total begins tormenting him by stealing his possessions before finally going after his wife Anita (Daria Nicolodi). The cast also includes Mario Scaccia and Julien Guiomar.