SturgisPodmore

I could. That is, if Peter Pan is any indication. Yeah, that shows he's capable of fantasy scores, and since I wouldn't know what to expect exactly from him with a Potter score, I think it would be fun to see. This is the attitude I have for Hooper's score, and that I had for Doyle's. Unfortunately he failed to deliver. I was disappointed by Doyle only after I heard the score, and not at all just because he is not John Williams. If Williams or anyone else had composed that score, I would still find it to be an overall bland effort. I think that given the material onscreen, which was admittedly not great, Doyle could have done a better job suiting the film. This is not at all because I was holding him to any Williams-type standard, but because as a Potter fan, I think the story at hand deserved better than what he gave it. I am thinking especially of the graveyard scene here. This, again, may be due to the definate inability of this scene to carry any of the weight it did in the book, thanks to Voldemort's odd hopping around after being an inhuman "shadow of a man" for 13 years. Still, however (and this is especially in response to the people from other boards who say that this score carried more power and fitted the series better than Williams' scores), just because music is bombastic and brassy, that doesn't necessarily make it more powerful. This holds true for the maze and graveyard scenes in particular. Also, "Harry in Winter" (or "Harry Potter's Love", depending on which version you have) is a shockingly boring repetition of a fairly interesting theme, and features virtually no key changes. People also say that Doyle's score is the most British yet, but I think it's undeniable that PoA was clearly the most British-sounding by far. Perhaps those people were insinuating that British people love bland music and loud but empty blasts of brass. In that case, Doyle can whip out the tea and scones, and stick the sunscreen away! The bottom line is: just because someone dislikes Doyle's score, this doesn't mean that they are biased towards Williams, or were holding Doyle to some kind of impossible standard. The only thing I expected from Doyle was an appropriate score for a great story, and for me, he did not deliver. I don't hate the score by any means; it has some good themes and several delightful cues that work well in the film. The above are simply the things I don't like about the score. ~Sturgis

Yeah, I didn't like how it skipped around a lot, chronologically. Pretty interesting, though. ~Sturgis

JNH all the way. With his stylishly geeky glasses, he's very hip indeed. ~Sturgis

Yeah, Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road for sure. PoA's not a collage. I'm pretty sure the kids can in fact get that close to each other in real life. ~Sturgis, who likes HP:SS very much, but likes PoA better because it's much more unique

Mine also, it was a refreshing change from all those collage-style covers. ~Sturgis

I believe I remember listening to those clips on Halloween, so maybe two-three weeks before the movie? ~Sturgis, who realizes it's already later than that now

As will I (or perhaps if someone I know buys it, and I happen to live in the same house as them, I'll just listen to his). ~Sturgis, who enjoyed the clips from Soundtrack.net

I thouroughly enjoyed Transformers. It was a great action movie, and its main attraction, the special effects, were indeed spectacular. That, after all, is pretty much the point of the movie: the CG Transformer characters. I enjoyed the rest of the characters, too: LaBeouf as the average Joe teen; Megan Fox... ...enough said. Also, John Turturro was wonderful as the "sector seven" agent; I was very excited to see him, as I didn't know he was in this. The mom was also funny and frumpy. The score was, predictably, generic and fairly uninteresting, though it suited the film just fine. The only thing I specifically didn't like was the abruptness with which the soundtrack jumped from score to rock songs, although I thought the Linkin Park song that ended the movie was fine. Anyways, it was a movie that completed its objective: over-the-top action and brilliant effects. It didn't need anything more. A- ~Sturgis, who didn't notice too much annoying Michael Bay editing and liked the use of slow motion to showcase the effects

Indeed! ~Sturgis

I regularly beat Ray down to the ground for his insolence. ~Sturgis

Oh, you must be referring to the most important part of every orchestra, the heartbeat. ~Sturgis - rum pum pum PUM!

Shouldn't you be off somewhere misinterpreting the sound of a french horn? Your own instrument, no less. For shame! ~Sturgis

How dare you question my authority on this matter! ~Sturgis

Far and Away End Credits is one of my favorite Williams pieces; it's fun, beautiful, exciting, silly, triumphant...brilliant! ~Sturgis

Live Free or Die Hard I thought from the trailers that it looked a bit too over-the-top, considering the first one was confined to a single building, but actually I liked it very much. It was just an entertaining, well-made action movie. The only thing I didn't really like was the parts that tried a little too hard to be "deep." I think it would have been a great movie with less of that, but overall it was a very enjoyable time. B Also, this was like the third movie I've seen this summer which had the "analog hero in a digital world" analogy in it. ~Sturgis

I'm gonna have to go with spacially. Just today I was listening to "Charades" from Lady in the Water while driving in the rain, and it was quite magical . . . I imagined myself being followed by a mysterious car in a scene scored by that brilliant cue. ~Sturgis

Indeed. I was shocked when I saw it on the AOL homepage. ~Sturgis - RIP

For Your Eyes Only Definately better than Moonraker, that's for sure. I never knew Conti did a Bond score, and I'm not really sure what he was thinking. A lot of the score seemed strange and out of place to me. Other than that, not a bad movie. I wanted to kill Bibi throughout most of the film, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. B ~Sturgis, who recognized Julian Glover from Last Crusade

~Sturgis, who loved the film

Aha. Thanks. ~Sturgis

What's the difference? ~Sturgis, who just got an HD widescreen TV for his room and is about to get mad if it doesn't support this "full HD" he hears of

I see what you mean, with that dark reprise of the theme, it's chilling. ~Sturgis, who thinks that's a brilliant theme

Indeed, that's an excellent concert piece. ~Sturgis

Or John Williams and John Hammond. ~Sturgis

~Sturgis . . . opps, I hope that wasn't stupid