Mr. Breathmask

So far, I've been to these:
 
The Kid
The Gold Rush
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (twice)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (once, but I already have tickets for another performance in Antwerp next year)
Titanic
West Side Story
Gladiator
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Jurassic Park
 
Predictably, PotC was the weakest of the bunch. They're doing Dead Man's Chest in The Netherlands this Christmas, but I can't really be bothered. At World's End could be good live, though.
 
The final thirty minutes of RotJ is madness for the orchestra to play in one go. Really impressive! T-Rex Rescue and Finale also sounded like quite the workout.
 
On my wishlist are:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
How to Train Your Dragon
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
and a few Potters could be fun.
 
Didn't they also do The Matrix and Independence Day at the RAH at some point? Those would be sweet to hear live too.

https://intl.varesesarabande.com/products/john-williams-presumed-innocent-the-deluxe-edition-cd/

I wish it was there. It would have saved me some hassle creating a playlist and I consider the title song a vital part of the musical Bond experience. Even if it's not written by the score composer.
 
That said, I have a hard time getting through this one. It's so overbearing and busy. I feel it somewhat lacks the clarity of ideas the other Arnold Bond scores have.

Hooray! We're all old now!

Hooray! We're all old now!

Hooray! We're all old now!

Hooray! We're all old now!

Hooray! We're all old now!

Ordered from La-La Land yesterday:
 

Ordered from La-La Land yesterday:
 

My parents never really cared for it themselves, I think. But they were very supportive of the hobby. We went to two Lord of the Rings concerts together when I was still in high school. One was the LotR Symphony in Antwerp, conducted by Howard Shore. The other was in Amsterdam and featured Sir Christopher Lee reading passages from Tolkien, so that was cool. And they let me fly to Spain on my own when I was 19 to attend the film music festival in Úbeda. It was my first solo vacation.
 
My ex-girlfriend didn't really care much either, although I did hook her up with a complete and properly sequenced copy of Goldsmith's Mulan because she was into Disney stuff and I told her it was pretty much the best Disney score. I could get her on board for Disney stuff or Lord of the Rings or even something like Kingdom of Heaven, but I think that was about it. Which is fine, btw.
 
My wife is almost as big a nerd as I am, though. We've been to a whole bunch of live to projection shows together and she went with me to see Williams in both Berlin and Vienna (some of you met her there), but she couldn't make it to London in 2018. We regularly have full scores playing in the living room, although we mix it up with other stuff too. She still finds some of the wilder action music a little overbearing. Like parts of Jurassic Park. And I don't think I'll be doing her a favor if I play stuff like The Matrix Revolutions or even Aliens.
 
My son seems to react positively to stuff like Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Hook, but also not so much The Matrix Revolutions. I guess he takes after his mother.

Doesn't matter, though. Braveheart is his masterpiece.

I love how much better the full score flows compared to the album. I always found the OST a little overbearing after a while, but having everything complete and in its proper place really helps. I'm loving this expansion, but I do have a similar situation to you, @Jay. Only here it's Hook that's currently hogging all the playtime. What a ride that one is! I'm sure I'll get back around to this one soon though.

I love how much better the full score flows compared to the album. I always found the OST a little overbearing after a while, but having everything complete and in its proper place really helps. I'm loving this expansion, but I do have a similar situation to you, @Jay. Only here it's Hook that's currently hogging all the playtime. What a ride that one is! I'm sure I'll get back around to this one soon though.

I have that set. It was one of my favourites as a kid. Still have it.

I had the rare opportunity yesterday to sit down and have all three discs play in (nearly) one sitting. What an achievement this set is! The music, the sound, the presentation, the art direction. It's all wonderful.
 
I've loved the music from Hook for a long time, but I also found it hard to connect to the full score, as there was never a definitive presentation. The bootlegs had music missing or sound quality issues. I completely skipped the old LLL expansion when it became clear it basically had some of the same issues as the bootlegs.
 
Now that we have this Ultimate Edition, the whole score is able to unfold in all its glory. I love it.
 
Just the fact that this set opens with a never-before heard version of the Prologue immediately grabbed my attention. Then both We Don't Wanna Grow Up and Banning Back Home are extended. All this before we get to the proper orchestral score.
 
Hook is like a Peter and the Wolf tapestry of themes and motifs. It is such a joy to listen to and listening to it in full completely reaffirmed to me why I love orchestral film scores like this. It's big, it's bold, and it's so, so rich with melody and excitement.
 
Finally, Hook is one of those films that has meant different things to me at different stages in my life.
 
When I first saw it at seven years old, it was my favorite thing ever. The production design instantly launched me to this magical playground world made for kids. To a seven year-old, that's quite something.
 
In my teens, as I was discovering more of cinema, it lost some of its glamour. That playground world suddenly seemed fake and soundstagey and I found the film waaaaaay to sugary to be enjoyable.
 
Later on, I found new appreciation for it, mostly because of the performances by Williams, Hoffman and Hoskins. And it became more a part of Spielberg's filmography than a film of its own, with its recurring themes of fatherhood being another variation on things said in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Jurassic Park. 
 
Yesterday, as I was making my way through the score and the liner notes, my eight month-old son was enjoying himself in his playpen next to me. And not having seen the film in a while, it suddenly hit me how the whole point of the film - the one thing it builds to for ninety minutes - is a working father realising his children are the brightest center of his universe.
 
It was... a moment.
 
Thanks again to everyone involved for this amazing release. We are truly blessed to be able to tick off a Holy Grail like this in such a fashion.

I had the rare opportunity yesterday to sit down and have all three discs play in (nearly) one sitting. What an achievement this set is! The music, the sound, the presentation, the art direction. It's all wonderful.
 
I've loved the music from Hook for a long time, but I also found it hard to connect to the full score, as there was never a definitive presentation. The bootlegs had music missing or sound quality issues. I completely skipped the old LLL expansion when it became clear it basically had some of the same issues as the bootlegs.
 
Now that we have this Ultimate Edition, the whole score is able to unfold in all its glory. I love it.
 
Just the fact that this set opens with a never-before heard version of the Prologue immediately grabbed my attention. Then both We Don't Wanna Grow Up and Banning Back Home are extended. All this before we get to the proper orchestral score.
 
Hook is like a Peter and the Wolf tapestry of themes and motifs. It is such a joy to listen to and listening to it in full completely reaffirmed to me why I love orchestral film scores like this. It's big, it's bold, and it's so, so rich with melody and excitement.
 
Finally, Hook is one of those films that has meant different things to me at different stages in my life.
 
When I first saw it at seven years old, it was my favorite thing ever. The production design instantly launched me to this magical playground world made for kids. To a seven year-old, that's quite something.
 
In my teens, as I was discovering more of cinema, it lost some of its glamour. That playground world suddenly seemed fake and soundstagey and I found the film waaaaaay to sugary to be enjoyable.
 
Later on, I found new appreciation for it, mostly because of the performances by Williams, Hoffman and Hoskins. And it became more a part of Spielberg's filmography than a film of its own, with its recurring themes of fatherhood being another variation on things said in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Jurassic Park. 
 
Yesterday, as I was making my way through the score and the liner notes, my eight month-old son was enjoying himself in his playpen next to me. And not having seen the film in a while, it suddenly hit me how the whole point of the film - the one thing it builds to for ninety minutes - is a working father realising his children are the brightest center of his universe.
 
It was... a moment.
 
Thanks again to everyone involved for this amazing release. We are truly blessed to be able to tick off a Holy Grail like this in such a fashion.

I had the rare opportunity yesterday to sit down and have all three discs play in (nearly) one sitting. What an achievement this set is! The music, the sound, the presentation, the art direction. It's all wonderful.
 
I've loved the music from Hook for a long time, but I also found it hard to connect to the full score, as there was never a definitive presentation. The bootlegs had music missing or sound quality issues. I completely skipped the old LLL expansion when it became clear it basically had some of the same issues as the bootlegs.
 
Now that we have this Ultimate Edition, the whole score is able to unfold in all its glory. I love it.
 
Just the fact that this set opens with a never-before heard version of the Prologue immediately grabbed my attention. Then both We Don't Wanna Grow Up and Banning Back Home are extended. All this before we get to the proper orchestral score.
 
Hook is like a Peter and the Wolf tapestry of themes and motifs. It is such a joy to listen to and listening to it in full completely reaffirmed to me why I love orchestral film scores like this. It's big, it's bold, and it's so, so rich with melody and excitement.
 
Finally, Hook is one of those films that has meant different things to me at different stages in my life.
 
When I first saw it at seven years old, it was my favorite thing ever. The production design instantly launched me to this magical playground world made for kids. To a seven year-old, that's quite something.
 
In my teens, as I was discovering more of cinema, it lost some of its glamour. That playground world suddenly seemed fake and soundstagey and I found the film waaaaaay to sugary to be enjoyable.
 
Later on, I found new appreciation for it, mostly because of the performances by Williams, Hoffman and Hoskins. And it became more a part of Spielberg's filmography than a film of its own, with its recurring themes of fatherhood being another variation on things said in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Jurassic Park. 
 
Yesterday, as I was making my way through the score and the liner notes, my eight month-old son was enjoying himself in his playpen next to me. And not having seen the film in a while, it suddenly hit me how the whole point of the film - the one thing it builds to for ninety minutes - is a working father realising his children are the brightest center of his universe.
 
It was... a moment.
 
Thanks again to everyone involved for this amazing release. We are truly blessed to be able to tick off a Holy Grail like this in such a fashion.

I had the rare opportunity yesterday to sit down and have all three discs play in (nearly) one sitting. What an achievement this set is! The music, the sound, the presentation, the art direction. It's all wonderful.
 
I've loved the music from Hook for a long time, but I also found it hard to connect to the full score, as there was never a definitive presentation. The bootlegs had music missing or sound quality issues. I completely skipped the old LLL expansion when it became clear it basically had some of the same issues as the bootlegs.
 
Now that we have this Ultimate Edition, the whole score is able to unfold in all its glory. I love it.
 
Just the fact that this set opens with a never-before heard version of the Prologue immediately grabbed my attention. Then both We Don't Wanna Grow Up and Banning Back Home are extended. All this before we get to the proper orchestral score.
 
Hook is like a Peter and the Wolf tapestry of themes and motifs. It is such a joy to listen to and listening to it in full completely reaffirmed to me why I love orchestral film scores like this. It's big, it's bold, and it's so, so rich with melody and excitement.
 
Finally, Hook is one of those films that has meant different things to me at different stages in my life.
 
When I first saw it at seven years old, it was my favorite thing ever. The production design instantly launched me to this magical playground world made for kids. To a seven year-old, that's quite something.
 
In my teens, as I was discovering more of cinema, it lost some of its glamour. That playground world suddenly seemed fake and soundstagey and I found the film waaaaaay to sugary to be enjoyable.
 
Later on, I found new appreciation for it, mostly because of the performances by Williams, Hoffman and Hoskins. And it became more a part of Spielberg's filmography than a film of its own, with its recurring themes of fatherhood being another variation on things said in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Jurassic Park. 
 
Yesterday, as I was making my way through the score and the liner notes, my eight month-old son was enjoying himself in his playpen next to me. And not having seen the film in a while, it suddenly hit me how the whole point of the film - the one thing it builds to for ninety minutes - is a working father realising his children are the brightest center of his universe.
 
It was... a moment.
 
Thanks again to everyone involved for this amazing release. We are truly blessed to be able to tick off a Holy Grail like this in such a fashion.

I had the rare opportunity yesterday to sit down and have all three discs play in (nearly) one sitting. What an achievement this set is! The music, the sound, the presentation, the art direction. It's all wonderful.
 
I've loved the music from Hook for a long time, but I also found it hard to connect to the full score, as there was never a definitive presentation. The bootlegs had music missing or sound quality issues. I completely skipped the old LLL expansion when it became clear it basically had some of the same issues as the bootlegs.
 
Now that we have this Ultimate Edition, the whole score is able to unfold in all its glory. I love it.
 
Just the fact that this set opens with a never-before heard version of the Prologue immediately grabbed my attention. Then both We Don't Wanna Grow Up and Banning Back Home are extended. All this before we get to the proper orchestral score.
 
Hook is like a Peter and the Wolf tapestry of themes and motifs. It is such a joy to listen to and listening to it in full completely reaffirmed to me why I love orchestral film scores like this. It's big, it's bold, and it's so, so rich with melody and excitement.
 
Finally, Hook is one of those films that has meant different things to me at different stages in my life.
 
When I first saw it at seven years old, it was my favorite thing ever. The production design instantly launched me to this magical playground world made for kids. To a seven year-old, that's quite something.
 
In my teens, as I was discovering more of cinema, it lost some of its glamour. That playground world suddenly seemed fake and soundstagey and I found the film waaaaaay to sugary to be enjoyable.
 
Later on, I found new appreciation for it, mostly because of the performances by Williams, Hoffman and Hoskins. And it became more a part of Spielberg's filmography than a film of its own, with its recurring themes of fatherhood being another variation on things said in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Jurassic Park. 
 
Yesterday, as I was making my way through the score and the liner notes, my eight month-old son was enjoying himself in his playpen next to me. And not having seen the film in a while, it suddenly hit me how the whole point of the film - the one thing it builds to for ninety minutes - is a working father realising his children are the brightest center of his universe.
 
It was... a moment.
 
Thanks again to everyone involved for this amazing release. We are truly blessed to be able to tick off a Holy Grail like this in such a fashion.

I had the rare opportunity yesterday to sit down and have all three discs play in (nearly) one sitting. What an achievement this set is! The music, the sound, the presentation, the art direction. It's all wonderful.
 
I've loved the music from Hook for a long time, but I also found it hard to connect to the full score, as there was never a definitive presentation. The bootlegs had music missing or sound quality issues. I completely skipped the old LLL expansion when it became clear it basically had some of the same issues as the bootlegs.
 
Now that we have this Ultimate Edition, the whole score is able to unfold in all its glory. I love it.
 
Just the fact that this set opens with a never-before heard version of the Prologue immediately grabbed my attention. Then both We Don't Wanna Grow Up and Banning Back Home are extended. All this before we get to the proper orchestral score.
 
Hook is like a Peter and the Wolf tapestry of themes and motifs. It is such a joy to listen to and listening to it in full completely reaffirmed to me why I love orchestral film scores like this. It's big, it's bold, and it's so, so rich with melody and excitement.
 
Finally, Hook is one of those films that has meant different things to me at different stages in my life.
 
When I first saw it at seven years old, it was my favorite thing ever. The production design instantly launched me to this magical playground world made for kids. To a seven year-old, that's quite something.
 
In my teens, as I was discovering more of cinema, it lost some of its glamour. That playground world suddenly seemed fake and soundstagey and I found the film waaaaaay to sugary to be enjoyable.
 
Later on, I found new appreciation for it, mostly because of the performances by Williams, Hoffman and Hoskins. And it became more a part of Spielberg's filmography than a film of its own, with its recurring themes of fatherhood being another variation on things said in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Jurassic Park. 
 
Yesterday, as I was making my way through the score and the liner notes, my eight month-old son was enjoying himself in his playpen next to me. And not having seen the film in a while, it suddenly hit me how the whole point of the film - the one thing it builds to for ninety minutes - is a working father realising his children are the brightest center of his universe.
 
It was... a moment.
 
Thanks again to everyone involved for this amazing release. We are truly blessed to be able to tick off a Holy Grail like this in such a fashion.

The new modular took the place of the Winter Village set this year. Mostly because I really wanted Majisto's Workshop to go with my Lion Knights Castle. Otherwise I would have gotten the Alpine Lodge in November and the Natural History Museum in December or January.
 
But now that you're pressuring me, I guess I'll have to take one more trip to the LEGO Store this year. Oh noes!

Raiders of the Lost Ark Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Diminishing returns indeed.

Ah, LEGO. That crippling plastic addiction.
 
I gave the Rivendell set a pass. It's a hefty price tag and it's way too big to display anywhere here.
 
That said, here's the sets I got just this year:
 


















 
I may have a problem. Also not enough room anymore.
 
And yet, I still plan on picking up this set in the near future: 
 

 
Send help.

Ah, LEGO. That crippling plastic addiction.
 
I gave the Rivendell set a pass. It's a hefty price tag and it's way too big to display anywhere here.
 
That said, here's the sets I got just this year:
 


















 
I may have a problem. Also not enough room anymore.
 
And yet, I still plan on picking up this set in the near future: 
 

 
Send help.