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Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I had accidentally stumbled into a Star Trek thread. I'll be on my way then...

I would argue that Shore's first approach to the scene was written from Thorin's point of view, where his own arrogance, rage and pride drive him to face Azog when there is no chance of defeating him and thus the heroic Khuzdûl choir drives him on in this delusional dash only to be cut short when the orc easily dispatches him. I think it is a very effective piece of musical misdirection which builds anticipation but then suddenly twists as our expectations are not fulfilled, the hero does not defeat the villain in single combat. The second version, the film approach with the Nazgûl theme doesn't leave much doubt to who is going to win the contest, at least not in my mind when the chorus is blasting the evil theme right from the start. It is a doomed effort from the get go.

The Book Thief is far from a middling score. It should have won best score that year.

No, they are genuinely good scores made with care from JW. He didn't phone anything in.

- Managed to catch a couple of films at TIFF this last week. Some good, some not so good... Ford v Ferrari Not quite the thriller that the trailer promised. It's your average, sentimental sports flick, just with fancy cars and Christian Bale. It's perfectly watchable and handsomely produced but pretty vanilla. Bale's quirky performance and some fun race sequences make it a decent ride. Honey Boy Shia LaBeouf's semi-autobiographical screenplay brought to life with director Alma Har'el's restrained, slightly impressionistic touch. It's a little unfocused but it casts a sympathetic light to LaBeouf's public meltdowns by dramatizing his childhood trauma. And it works, largely because of the brilliant kid who plays a young LaBeouf (he also stars in Ford v Ferrari). That kid is going to be a star. LaBeouf is also quite excellent as his father. I'm not sure if it works as a way to validate his past behaviour, but hopefully it allows him to do more good work. Uncut Gems Every now and then, the industry comes up with an excuse to remind us why Adam Sandler is a brilliant actor. The Safdie brothers live up the task with their follow-up to their smash indie-darling Good Times, following a wickedly funny series of mishaps by an all-too ambitious jewellery vendor. It's dark, anxiety-inducing and laugh-out funny. Hope Sandler gets some well-deserved Oscar buzz with this. Lucy in the Sky What a strange strange film. Noah Hawley, whose gift for witty visual storytelling (re: Fargo), seems to stumble awkwardly around putting together a feature film based on what's essentially a tabloid piece. Somewhere in this mess of overcooked visuals (drawing on what he played with in Legion, but with less logic - Sam Esmail was way better at this stuff in Homecoming), kitschy dialogue and half-assed metaphors (prepare for lots of eye rolling at the butterfly stuff) is a good Portman performance. But it's hard to tell when the film can't quite make up its mind between being an absurdist, over-the-top satire and earnest psycho-drama. Jeff Russo's score is basically First Man-lite. Part of me still likes some of the more ridiculous parts (like the ending), but it's a half-hearted mess with an identity crisis. A Hidden Life Hallelujah! This film is proof that Malick and his mythos thrives best in nature, as his last few duds can attest. Returning to a coherent narrative structure, and a more grounded setting, Malick returns to form with this moving portrait of a man facing a crisis of faith. This is what he's best at. All his familiar questions and lines of inquiry return, but is made all the more potent by August Diehl and Valerie Pachner as the leads. This might be the first romance that Malick has successfully sold to me. A Hidden Life is not as obviously flashy as Tree of Life and other Lubezki-driven works with its visual beauty. It aims for a far more pensive quality, and plays with darkness and light in wonderful ways, especially for a film where the protagonist is essentially locked up in a chamber for half of its duration. But don't let that fool you, there are some gobsmacking gorgeous shots. Of course, Malick cynics will not have their minds changed here. Expect plenty of montages of airy, swooning shots galore. He’s not really doing anything new. But A Hidden Life just validates for me, that the more expansive, "non-linear" quality to Malick's storytelling cultivates an extraordinarily emotional experience in the right room. The powerful scenes and ruminations near the film's end were accompanied by much sniffling and man-tears in the cinema. A Hidden Life is Malick's Silence, just with a more humanist lens. If he only had the guts to cut about 30-40 min from the anemic first act, this could have been a truly brilliant film. But as it is, it's very good stuff. Oh and James Newton Howard's score is rather lovely, and from what I could tell, largely preserved in the film. It's led by his familiar Village-esque violin writing and a lovely motif that sounds like something out of Kung Fu Panda. The rest of the film was scored with Pärt, Gorecki and some choral hymns I couldn't recognize. I look forward to hearing it on album.

Aside from four unplayable tracks, the album can still be found here: http://web.archive.org/web/20160306221204/http://www.uscg.mil/band/Live/williams.asp

Yeah, I want them to release this too!

I’ve never understood why Desert Chase is seen as one of his best, or at least, most exciting to listen to, action cues.

Virtually impossible to not wear a smile while listening to this.

If he hires Balfe again we’ll know McQuarrie’s excuse for not having Kraemer return for Fallout was BS

Now we just need a new Tom Cruise.

I don't mind the correction, I'd rather be aware!

I couldn't find any previous thread on this, the big sci fi film of the year (in addition to STAR WARS IX). Anyways, just came back from it and offer some spoiler-free comments. My colleagues, who saw it in Venice, were rather lukewarm, but I could glean from their comments that this would probably be more up my alley. I was correct in my assumption. I loved the film. It's a hodgepodge of various inspirarions -- 2001, FURY ROAD, Malick, GRAVITY, EVENT HORIZON etc., but it works to its benefit. Plus James Gray's usual fascination for APOCALYPSE NOW and Coppola, which he explored so wonderfully well in the brilliant THE LOST CITY OF Z. At one level, it's a regular space adventure -- with some hokey elements that aren't necessarily connected to the overall storyline -- but on another level, it's a beautiful, cerebral science fiction film about fundamental human issues, mainly the relationship between a father and his son. Most great sci fi films have this balance of elements. I also love the "road movie" feel of it, with each location firmly set with its own atmosphere. In that way, it has a kind of 'vignette' feel to it; I could easily see a whole film taking place in each of these locations. I'll save more specific comments for later. As for the score, I really liked it. It has Richter's usual minimalist style, but with some expansive chords. There's an electronic "motif" or beat of sorts that was particularly captivating. I have no idea what Richter did and what Balfe did (perhaps Balfe's the one that did the beautiful electronic thing), but I can't wait to hear it on album. If it gets an album, and we don't have another GHOST IN THE SHELL situation on our hands.

Enjoy!

Fantastic! One of my best friends, Roberto, playing 4th chair cello with the RPO was telling me that she sounded absolutely fantastic during the rehearsals and the concert. Completely different to the CD. Hope you had an amazing time. He said when they played ET he looked up and it was a full moon and that it made it even more special. He also mentioned that his favorite was Sabrina. He also said that originally they were contracted to do the album with her. Not sure why they changed it although he said "I think it's because he is sick".... I hope there is nothing more than him not being able to travel. As for seeing it, he asked me to find it online as it was televised and should be online right now, so we should be able to see the concert.

And what is more, apparently the manuscript of the second symphony, which, among other qualities, has a very memorable theme worth of Bizet or Tchaikovsky, has only been found in June this year. I just read a post of the discoverer on another forum. Isn't it great to be able to witness such re-discoveries being made as we speak?

I mean, how long have people been waiting for Conan the Destroyer? How long did they wait for The Ten Commandments? From the time MV first hinted that Harry Potter was "close" to the time of its actual release was 5 years. That's a long time, sure, but it doesn't seem terribly unusual anymore, well, not to me anyway.

Reported!

.

Look where I suddenly find myself.

I reached out to the USCG Band directly and did eventually receive a physical copy of this CD last year.

This morning, I'll restart where I left. So... where did I left? The latest expansion I added was Superman... So let's turn back the time a bit! ___ EDIT: Main Discography UPDATED! The next sections will be updated later. Did I miss a reissue? Source: http://www.goplanete.com/johnwilliams/music/disco/albums.htm

It's a good piece but very straightforward (in that regard a precursor to the likewise very stripped-down action material of Tintin). No match for the baroque spectacle of ToD, which is still JW's best in that vein.

I'm all in just for Castile and Foxes. I discovered A. Newman's work recently and marvel how colorful and gorgeous his scoring was. The guy was a powerhouse, 4-5 scores a year sometimes!

And Lorne Balfe will still find a way to bitch about it

Generations made slightly more than TUC. It's clearly a better movie.

As you can see, it's right at the top of the list.

Most popular one? By what measure? Do you mean most popular out of the four mediocre-to-shitty TNG films? Yavar

(it bears repeating)

Well it happened again. On my flights to and from Vegas last week, I pulled out my Switch and looked at all my options - should I start Mario + Rabbids? Shantae? Boxboy? Finish up the Mario Maker 2 levels I hadn't beaten yet?? With all those options... I still chose to return to HOLLOW KNIGHT. I beat three Grimm thingies and got my Grimmchild upgraded, and found the Grimm lord dude hanging upside and fought his Nightmare version, which was brutal (I died quickly and didn't attempt a second time). I freed another grub. I attempted to be the SOul Tyrant many, many times, and ultimately failed, but came really close once (got to his third phase). I looked for the White Defender but couldn't find him. I looked for the Lost Kin but went to the wrong place. I looked for Nym but coulnd't find him. Still loved it all

Got it!

Ivanhoe by Miklos Rozsa Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by John Williams Hubris by John Powell The Book Thief Karol

Oh I've got this one too. It's wonderful. I'm pretty sure they did it for 2001? Karol

Most are probably Seinfeld related.

Extended the edges of the Rise of Skywalker poster to get a better fit for a 1:1 square. Widened the Mandalorian poster to get a 'grander' feel to the cover.

Williams took the award from Powell, gave it to William Ross instead!

A new apprentice.

Hey all - I've added Hooten Plays Williams to the Trumpet Concerto section of concert works of the wikipedia. The album drops on Friday, and as I just finished the edit of our podcast interview with Mr. Hooten, I figured I would update the listings. I'll share the link to the podcast later tonight. The mini album is great, and we learned from Mr. Hooten that the end of the first movement has been rewritten by John Williams for this recording. (JW also conducts on this.) Born on the 4th of July is included too. Here's the cover art. Sorry if it sounds like I am shilling for this! (Although I was a KS backer on it, so maybe I am entitled a bit.)

This! this sums up everything that's wrong with this film. And This! This sums up everything that's wrong with the score.

That's nice and everything, but that's, like, the 4th or 5th recording of that concerto. Somebody make a proper recording of the clarinet concerto already!

He has also mentioned the second movement of his violin concerto as among his best. Of Star Wars themes, he has said Yoda's is his favorite (though that was pre-Rey).

I only get 30 second snippets of the above Spotify playlist, but WTF! Track 3 (Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra) is Finn's Theme, clear as day!

I'll believe this only after the movie is released and we start complaining about unreleased cues.

I'd like to direct Jennifer Lawrence in something.

[media=] At around 4:38 John Rhys-Davies actually talks about how Spielberg changed from Raiders to Last Crusade.