Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 01:09:49 -0800 From: Jeff Keibel (redshift@INTERLOG.COM) Subject: Albino Alligator It was written: > What is HNIA's Albino Alligator (it's a Kevin Spacey movie, i think)? It IS in fact a soundtrack to the movie Kevin Spacey directed and starred in. However, the artist who contributed the soundtrack is 4AD's Michael Brook as opposed to His Name Is Alive. The movie received glowing reviews when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Fest in September. Someone connected to 4AD told me the album and the movie are released in February. Jeff Keibel Scarborough, ON CANADA redshift@interlog.com Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1997 19:00:27 -0500 From: Jeff Keibel (redshift@interlog.com) Subject: Albino Alligator albino alligator: used in billiards to sacrifice a ball to block your opponent's shot, thereby ensuring your own win... every once in a while a white alligator is born, an albino alligator. this oddball reptile is sacrificed by its peers for the collective good. A day off for me today (Jan. 31st) but still, my roommate woke me up at Wars" at the York theatre. After enjoying this new model version of the film, I travelled down to the Carlton theatre and took in the 1:40 pm showing of "Albino Alligator". It was a surprisingly well attended matinee showing, at least 90% full! Since I'm a big fan of Kevin Spacey I was going to see this movie regardless but the added bonus of an all-4AD soundtrack was icing on the cake. The music created by Michael Brook was highly effective in this movie. The range of styles Brook uses are quite varied. Since the film takes place in New Orleans, the Brook instrumentals have a slight cajun feel to them. At times, the music is very This Mortal Coil-ish and atmospheric. At other times, his intense purcussion pieces remind me of an uptempo "Cobalt Blue" style. There's even a shade of a "Going South" like counrty flare mixed into one track. A lot of it is rather overall "Heat"-esque and fits the mood of the movie's story well. There's nifty sax textures used within some of the songs that brings to mind a "Filigree & Shadow" era TMC. I'm looking forward to the official 4AD soundtrack to this movie very much. I only wish 4AD could release Brook's soundtrack to "Fires Of Kuwait" as well. The movie poster for "Albino Alligator" is nice and I wonder if it was done by v23. Will the soundtrack sport the movie poster image or will v23 do up something else for it? We'll know later on in February. The movie itself, while not a 100% success, was fun to watch and features a number of cool actors like Faye Dunaway, Matt Dillon, Gary Sinese and "Heat" vet William Fichtner (the guy De Niro and his team steal all the bonds from)... Viggo Mortenson (Exene from X's ex) plays the funniest character - a Montrealer named Guy who ends up being the most mysterious guy shacked up in the basement bar Dillon and his team wander into. Kevin Spacey was restrained on his first directorial outing but will improve as he gets more experience in the director's chair. The soundtrack is top notch work from Brook without question. Nifty stuff, indeed! Date: Sun, 1 Mar 1998 02:20:51 +0100 From: Emiel Efdee Subject: ALBINO ALLIGATOR - The Movie >It's "4AD-soundtrack-weekend" over here cause tomorrow I'm going to rent >'Albino Alligator'... And I did. After watching this one I can't see why it didn't get a regular cinema release. Good directing debut for Kevin Spacey. Michael Brooks music works very well in this movie. There are some pieces of music in the movie that can't be found on the CD-release. Different versions and a few more rythm-tunes. The music he used for the movie sometimes sounds like a remix of the album. There are also a few album-tracks that were not used in the movie (like the Michael Stipe song). This must be the reason why he wrote "music from and inspired by the Miramax motion picture Albino Alligator" on the album-sleeve. If you find a copy in your local video-store you should rent it someday.