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James Newton Howard's THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS (2018)


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Good Lord this theme is beautiful...

 

 

:crymore:

6 hours ago, Fargo said:

That theme at 15 seconds in 'Clara's New World' is cool and pretty catchy; one of JNH's best I've heard in recent memory. Very excited for this!

 

That's Tchaikovsky. :)

 

But, yes, this score is great. 

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i think JNH has found his "new formula", right when he created Maleficent. In my assumption, this new formula is very much suitable to his current age and condition, but at the same time also resulting the same vigor and beauty. I consider Maleficent, based on JNH's own statement, to be his second magnum opus ( His 3 Disney scores are the first magnum opus ( the old formula), and The Last Airbender is the transition)

 

That also means, all of his future project will be based on the framework of Maleficent ( again based on my pure assumption) 

 

And, what i can gather from this new formula, the music sounds more "subtle" and especially for the main theme, the notes move like a double helix, fluctuate accordingly without a "spike" whatsoever. And overall, they sound more "cohesive"

 

And boy, how i missed the old formula, JNH is his old Disney era :( when he included a lot of "spikes" to the notes.

 

And this is to be expected, i mean for an artist.

 

But I will always yearn the time when JNH will reopen and unleash that old formula.

( Nutcracker, unfortunately, is not that time)

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Surprised this score isn't getting more attention. Really great stuff - JNH seamlessly integrates the Tchaikovsky material and delivers at least two terrific new themes (maybe there are more that I haven't recognized yet). 

 

Here's one of the themes:

 

 

Classic JNH long lines with a hint of JW's BFG near the end! 

 

And here's the other major theme (probably the main theme):

 

 

Horner-esque!

 

And the score also has lovely little Christmas-y and fantasy moments, complete with tingling bells and feel-good harmonies:

 

 

(^Fans of "The Niffler" from Fantastic Beasts will probably enjoy that one!)

 

 

All in all, I think it's hard to say that JNH wasn't the perfect man for the job. 

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It's ok. Seems to lack any apparent highlight, mostly pleasant underscore, but it has a nice, festive mood. How i wish they would create a 'Maleficent Flies' montage in all of these Disney things for JNH to shine.

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5 hours ago, publicist said:

It's ok. Seems to lack any apparent highlight, mostly pleasant underscore, but it has a nice, festive mood. How i wish they would create a 'Maleficent Flies' montage in all of these Disney things for JNH to shine.

 

Yeah, I agree that it seems a little directionless. Unlike with Fantastic Beasts's flying cue near the end, there's no real sense of finality or climax here imho. Feels like its major flaw. Otherwise very good. 

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I haven’t really listened to this much yet.  What I was really hoping for was some interesting variations or resettings of Tchaikovsky themes. I love when composers take preexisting melodies and make them their own.  If he mostly regurgitates Tchaikovsky I’ll be disappointed.

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3 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

I haven’t really listened to this much yet.  What I was really hoping for was some interesting variations or resettings of Tchaikovsky themes. I love when composers take preexisting melodies and make them their own.  If he mostly regurgitates Tchaikovsky I’ll be disappointed.

 

Actually, I'd say this score mostly stays away from the Tchaikovsky. It's largely built on JNH's new themes, aside from a few specific moments (when the Tchaikovsky does come in, it's very well done). But JNH's natural style fits pretty well with the Tchaikovsky material, methinks, so it's not an awkward mix at all. 

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Hmmm that doesn’t sound like what I was hoping for at all,  which is a wholehearted embrace of the source material.  As in, taking those famous melodies and really having fun with them, twisting and changing them.  I don’t know how to explain what I’m imagining.  I’m going to give it some fair listens though.

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1 minute ago, Disco Stu said:

Hmmm that doesn’t sound like what I was hoping for at all,  which is a wholehearted embrace of the source material.  As in, taking those famous melodies and really having fun with them, twisting and changing them.  I don’t know how to explain what I’m imagining.  I’m going to give it some fair listens though.

 

I know what you mean. #disappointed

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I oddly haven't enjoyed a JNH work in a long time. I used to really love his stuff, Dinosaur, King Kong, Maleficent, and such, then I...just lost interest in him, I guess? His style for some reason hasn't resonated with my ears in awhile, even with the scores I used to love. Which is a bizarre feeling as otherwise my choices for favorite composers has largely remained the same.

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  • 2 weeks later...
5 hours ago, King Mark said:

 don't see it, it's awful

Thanks; I won't make it a priority then, i think.

 

For whatever reason, this is one movie where I don't understand what's the point of it.

Everything, from the concept to execution that I've seen, just sounds so very random...

Why throw huge amounts of money at that, when you could throw it at something else?

A Cassian Andor TV series for example...

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Because they have thrown it at everything else. Di$ney has been pillaging their own repertoire (with several movies like 'Dumbo' in limbo since years) often based on fairy tales and children's books and tries to corner the market. 'Nutcracker' could have been an intriguing project in the hands of someone like Julie Taymor, but the overstuffed turkey , 'Alice' style, they made out of it probably deserves all the flopping it can get.

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On 10/28/2018 at 7:15 PM, kaseykockroach said:

I oddly haven't enjoyed a JNH work in a long time. I used to really love his stuff, Dinosaur, King Kong, Maleficent, and such, then I...just lost interest in him, I guess? His style for some reason hasn't resonated with my ears in awhile, even with the scores I used to love. Which is a bizarre feeling as otherwise my choices for favorite composers has largely remained the same.

 

Nor me. Neither this or FB2 is doing much for me.

 

I liked the first FB, as well as the first two Hunger GamesNightcrawler and bits of Maleficent, but a lot of other stuff has been rather meh. I find a lot of his scores tend to have a few highlights or one or two standout tracks, but an entire score really excelling on album is more rare.

 

He seems to have done a lot of lower profile dramas (Roman J Israel, Cut Bank, Pawn Sacrifice) which barely make a flutter.

 

And like you, go back a decade or so and I was loving his output. I suppose these days I find a lot more random scores, without attaching myself to any specific composers.

 

Can't help thinking that Powell has a similar sound but more ideas at the moment.

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