SteveMc

Dune is kind of insufferable, sorry.

The French Connection First time watching this classic front to back. It is visceral, but does not feel excessive or artificial. A wonderful example of cinematic balance. It does not dwell too long on character or rely too heavily on plot, it just has a confidence and a fullness in these elements, helped by the excellent performances and direction, that draws you in. The movie just plays out, without artifice. And yet, for that to happen, the guiding hand has to be extremely deft. You feel there, in the thick of 70s New York and its dark side. I'm not sure dark side is the right word, though. Unlike movies that seem focused intently and obviously on the dark side of society or the psyche, this one feels like it is just putting a camera quite naturally in front of society and the psyche. There is no dark side or light side or even society or psyche, there is just life, basic motivations, actions, and consequences, all without the artifice of a message. This is a kind of filmmaking that does not really exist anymore, and the fact that it ever existed at all is remarkable. 4/4

Top 10 overall? Oh wow. Let's see. No order and not too much thought: Ben-Hur - Rozsa Schindler's List - Williams Superman - Williams The Land Before Time - Horner Spitfire Grill - Horner Krull - Horner The Russia House - Goldsmith The Mission - Morricone The Book Thief - Williams Jane Eyre - Williams

The Celtic music in Far and Away was actually the first time I sat up and noticed JW when they played it on the classical station one night. I rather love it, and subjectively find it superior to Horner's Celticisms, which I've generally found to be a bit overdone.

Sorry to say, but I think it is just ok. Maybe I'm jaded, I dunno.

This is great! The old guard is finally embracing one of the 20th century's titans.

Shrek came out when I was a kid. I never liked it. Watching classic Disney, and the excellence Pixar was putting out regularly at that time, made Shrek absolutely look and feel ridiculous.

Shrek was selected for preservation because it became a cultural touchstone, not because it is good. The culture is wrong.

I always viewed TreeSong as Concerto No.2 as well. It might get a bit lost in the shuffle if it is not. I suppose Williams views in as a kind of tone poem for violin and orchestra.

Preach.

Rogue One Michael Giacchino Kind of an underwhelming score all things considered. It meanders for the most part without a very clear focus, stuck between being a thematic score and a more atmosphere giving one, doing neither very well. There are moments where themes or orchestration shines a bit, but these moments are scattered and they generally pass by without being satisfactorily developed. The use of JW's themes is probably the weakest part of the score. The variations MG tries to put them through simply feel off. Could have been a lot better.

I would say no. If his concert career took off in the 60s, he probably would have continued to write more stuff in the vein of the Essay for Strings, Prelude and Fugue, and Flute Concerto. Possibly he would have, like Rouse, allowed a little more traditional consonant forms into his music in the 90s and beyond, but even then something like JWs Oboe Concerto would be about as far as it would get.

For sure we have: 1. The Book Thief 2. Jane Eyre 3. Far And Away 4. The Cowboys As for #5, it is an agonizing decision right now it is Nixon.

When should tickets go on sale?

Great news!

It's one of my very favorite JW scores. In the past few years I have only revisited it a couple of times, but when I was first getting into JW the whole score or some stand-out cues were in heavy rotation. It helps maybe that I discovered the score several years before I saw the film. I view them as two distinct works of art, really. It is one of maybe a handful of Williams scores were he seems to have written almost a distinct composition to accompany the film as opposed to just a musical score.

Après X-Men, le deluge.

What are your top 10 John Williams scores? You don't have to rank them in order. Here are mine as of right now. Jane Eyre Jaws Close Encounters of the Third Kind Superman The Empire Strikes Back ET Empire of the Sun Schindler's List Lincoln The Book Thief

A top 10 JW score for me.

Generations is my favorite of the TNG films. The list has issues.

Good movie. Watched it a couple of years back.

Goes way back before Morricone in the classical form of vocalise. IIRC, "Where Dreams Are Born" had a working title of just "Vocalise."

I can maybe hear an echo or two of Morricone in the early contours of the main melody there, but the structure and treatment and orchestration is full-bodied JW. The main theme here feels a great deal like Morricone, with a JW twist in the direction the piece takes.

We need to pass a law requiring Steve McQueen and Mel Gibson's respective faces be plastered on the covers to tell them apart.