I feel like I'm always burying people here--you're just not dead till you've died on this blog--but today I celebrate a milestone: The 80th birthday of composer Ennio Morricone, who's still going strong, with a score or two in the can and Brian De Palma's prequel to The Untouchables in the works. I have that Oscar-nominated masterpiece on CD, along with the awesome Once Upon a Time in the West and a good collection, Cinema Paradiso: The Classic Film Music of Ennio Morricone, that pulls in that film, The Mission, and numerous others. Video WatchBlog's Tim Lucas has penned a fine appreciation, that is best enjoyed to the accompaniment of Morricone music. Here he is receiving his honorary Oscar at the 2007 ceremony.
