So many classics, so little time

Inspiration is where you find it, and for composer Graeme Revell, it was in an Australian hospital for the mentally ill. Revell, working as an orderly, became mesmerized by the rhythmic textures in the vocalizations of patients, and he used the sounds in experimental recordings that would later employ insects and industrial machinery. His soundscapes have been woven into the music of his band SPK as well as video games and TV shows such as “CSI: Miami.”

But the big screen has given Revell his broadest canvas. Starting with the 1989 Nicole Kidman thriller “Dead Calm,” the New Zealander’s work has been heard in such films as “The Insider,” “Sin City” and “The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl in 3-D,” opening Friday.

Revell, 49, lives in the San Fernando Valley with his wife, Sinan; son Robert and daughter Mika attend colleges here. When he’s not scouring record stores for “unusual stuff” or beating the bushes for his next six-legged star, Revell uncorks a weekend that sounds invitingly eclectic.

50 bottles of wine

On Friday night, I might go to Banzai in Calabasas for a nice dinner. I really like the crab cakes there, and the special albacore sashimi too. But if it’s not out to a restaurant, what I really love is when my manager, Mark Beaven, has a wine-tasting gathering at his house. We’ll have up to 50 people there, and last time we had 50 spectacular wines, which is a lot to get through in a night. And we drink it, no spitting it out. I don’t have to worry about the drive back home because I use Home James, where a guy comes and picks you up and puts this little fold-up motorcycle in your trunk. Then he drives me in my car back to my house, takes his motorcycle out of the trunk and away he goes.

On Saturday morning, I’ll have one of my friends come over for a couple of hours of racquetball. Then I’ll go for a drive in one of my classic cars. I like the 1953 Ferrari Scaglietti -- it’s worth about $3 million, so I have to be careful not to crash it. I like to drive up on Mulholland in Malibu Canyon. There are great roads up there.

At lunchtime I’ll go to the Hideaway Cafe in Malibu, where I’ll have some kind of healthy sandwich. Then I might go to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills to Christie’s or Sotheby’s and have a look at their catalogs. In 1997 when I was working on the film “The Saint” and living in London around the corner from Christie’s, I discovered I’m interested in just about every collectible.

Seeing what’s hip

In the evening, I might fly to Vegas and check out the trends in the clubs and restaurants in the boutique hotels. I’m getting into business with a team called Crobar and Bed, which has restaurants where you can lie down and eat. Not that anybody does, but it’s a great concept. So I’ll spend the night in Vegas and fly back home midday.

On Sunday after I get back, it’ll be a family day. My son has a metal band, and they’ll come over to my studio and practice. I’ll offer advice, but not too much. Then I’ll go to Venice where my daughter lives and we’ll go check out stores on Abbot Kinney and window-shop at the great galleries there. Then we’ll have dinner at Chaya, where they have an amazing lobster enchilada with lobster sauce and ahi tuna.

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-- Mark Sachs