he Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and The River of Doubt are fantastic reads about his exploits, and Theodore Rex
A lot of strange and operatic music, from Sigur Ros to Mogwai to Oliver Arnold to Damien Rice to Counting Crows to the Rolling Stones to U2 - it’s pretty much an eclectic mix. But I’m most inspired by a lot of operatic movie and movie composers like Hans Zimmer or Patrick Cassidy…
check this story out: I was filming REIGN OF FIRE - I was filming in Dublin, and I went to see HANNIBAL the movie, which I didn’t particularly enjoy, but when the music came on at the end, I felt I like I had been touched by God - and when everyone was walking out at the end, I felt like yelling at them “WHat the eff are you doing? Do you hear this music?” I went straight to Virgin records and bought the CD, and took it home, and played it all night, and the next day the landlord came up to say hello - not to complain - and I said “You have to listen to this,” and i played it for him, and he said “Jesus! That’s Patrick Cassidy! He used to live in this apartment” and it turns out that Patrick Cassidy had rented the exact same apartment that i was living in. And I think that indeed he won an Oscar for that score.
I’ve had so many of these incredible synchronicities in my life, and i use them as a sign that I’m moving in the right direction.
As an aside - Ricky just brought up THE MISSION, by Ennio Morricone - you guys should check out another composer called Max Richter, who did that animated movie about the attack in Lebanon - WALTZ WITH BASHIR. Check him out. If anybody is interested, I will make a list.
