Popular Post TheUlyssesian 2,473 Posted December 19, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted December 19, 2018 This is a very good score I think. I have fallen in love with the two themes below already. I think they are instantly memorable. They are both very beautiful and are very beautifully orchestrated in the score throughout. Some of the theme statements are full on John Williams level in their majesty and exhilaration. Here is proper old school old fashioned orchestral film music done right with beautiful and memorable long-lined melodies that you remember afterwards and leave the theater humming. Mary's Theme (the basis for the song - Can You Imagine That) Jack's Theme (the basis for the song - Lovely London Sky) Any other fans of this score and soundtrack? Cerebral Cortex, Will and Locrius 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p0llux 392 Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 I enjoyed this score very much. Broadway symphonic scoring with good song melodies. "Can You Imagine That" is the title song/theme I think, and that's the one I'll be humming after watching the film. The only complaint I had was there was more "sing talking" than I would've liked. Otherwise, it's a well done score and pretty well written songs. It's a worthy successor of the original. Film rating: N/A Score rating: 4/5 or A- Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMc 2,674 Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 24 minutes ago, TheUlyssesian said: Some of the theme statements are full on John Williams level in their majesty and exhilaration. I'm not hearing that. But, I'm glad you like it. It is rubbing me completely the wrong way. The score is too self-consciously old school, has the form without the substance. The themes seem rather simple and not all that memorable. And the statements sound repetitive and predictable. But maybe I'm just in a critical mood this evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasey Kockroach 2,343 Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 It's pleasant, if not terribly iiiiinnnteresting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabulin 3,506 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 The lead actress pretends to be Mary Poppins in a movie that pretends to be Mary Poppins with a score pretends to be Mary Poppins. Orchestration sounds very uninspired. The words that come to my mind are "correct", "a job", and "grade B". Melodies seem improvised. I didn't expect more, honestly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will 2,215 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 5 hours ago, TheUlyssesian said: Any other fans of this score and soundtrack? Yeah, it has some really great moments. As I posted in another thread, my favorite cue is this -- until 0:50: Miranda's voice floats in with an incredible whimsicality ("Hold on tight to those you love, and maybe, soon, from up above"), and then the massive statement of Mary's theme (?) that follows it is just downright awesome. Locrius and DolceMecha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,453 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 The songs are annnoying, but the score proper is OK. So I deleted the songs, kept the score portion and it's a neat little 33-minute album well worth having. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crumbs 14,287 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Why is Williams never asked to score musicals like this? He has the perfect sensibilities, even if someone else wrote the lyrics for him. Will and Once 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,453 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 17 minutes ago, crumbs said: Why is Williams never asked to score musicals like this? He has the perfect sensibilities, even if someone else wrote the lyrics for him. Well, if THOMAS AND THE KING is anything to judge by, it's not exactly his forte. Rather terrible, that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crumbs 14,287 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Well, that was nearly half a century ago... 🤣 Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUlyssesian 2,473 Posted December 20, 2018 Author Share Posted December 20, 2018 Like when was even the last time Williams wrote even a single song, let alone a dozen? Double Trouble? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,453 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Although I've only heard a couple of songs from HOOK, I'm kinda curious how the other songs are, and how it would have turned out as a straight-up film musical. Probably better than THOMAS AND THE KING. Maybe not. But I'd rather see Williams do an opera than a musical at this point. 2 hours ago, TheUlyssesian said: Like when was even the last time Williams wrote even a single song, let alone a dozen? Double Trouble? Yes, that is his most recent song composition, AFAIK. And even that is kinda 'halfassed' as a song. I'd say "For Always" is his last, proper song. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUlyssesian 2,473 Posted December 20, 2018 Author Share Posted December 20, 2018 Williams is somewhat unique in that he has an excess of melody in his scores but rarely turns them into songs and such. I know Horner would kinda do it often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,453 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 1 minute ago, TheUlyssesian said: Williams is somewhat unique in that he has an excess of melody in his scores but rarely turns them into songs and such. These days, yes. But back in the 60's, he was famous not only for composing theme songs for the films he scored, but also for being hired to write his score around songs composed by others. So it's very much in his backbone or musical DNA, if you will. We haven't seen much of that in the last two decades, though. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMc 2,674 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 48 minutes ago, Thor said: But I'd rather see Williams do an opera than a musical at this point. The window for opera was probably 1997-2008. I just feel that John's style at that time would have translated very well to opera. But, then again, Markings and Highwood's Ghost tell me that his sparser modernistic tendencies are doing quite well. Perhaps an opera in that direction could be striking. Once and Will 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrayodiBA 517 Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 This is a good score, I really like the John Williams-y (and Powell-y) sound in this score Especially at this particular moment in this track: And then its not wrong of you to expect ET theme to soar instead Will and Locrius 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUlyssesian 2,473 Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/mary_poppins_returns.html An unabashed 5 star rave from CC! Calls its "among the masterpieces of the children's musical genre" and "pinnacle of Shaiman long career." As I said, I think it is quite delightful and the melodies are indeed quite good and memorable. Locrius 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 7,978 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 I watched the film yesterday without having heard any of it before. It is indeed job well done. I bought the CD right after. Karol Locrius 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scallenger 481 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 I'm joining the "love" camp, for the score/songs and film. To be fair, I was never huge on Mary Poppins, even as a kid despite having seen it then (and re-watched it before seeing the new film). Sure, the original does some things better but, color me crazy, I feel like I connected with this film more. The songs and the film have several ways of tapping into depression/sadness, even the livelier ones if you pay attention, that I thought was both clever and meaningful. It definitely has some genuine heart and effort put into it above the usual "cash grab" attempts at reigniting a classic film. I'll take this any day over the BORING-looking remakes of Dumbo, Lion King, and Aladdin that all previewed before this film! At least here there was something new... and something catchy. Locrius 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Penna 3,665 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 8 hours ago, TheUlyssesian said: http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/mary_poppins_returns.html An unabashed 5 star rave from CC! Calls its "among the masterpieces of the children's musical genre" and "pinnacle of Shaiman long career." As I said, I think it is quite delightful and the melodies are indeed quite good and memorable. CC really does like judging the reader based on whether or not they agree with him. Apparently you're a 'cynical, unimaginative asshole' if you don't go for this score. Alternatively, you might just not particularly go for musicals. What a twat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Why do people care what CC thinks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Penna 3,665 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 I don't. I just don't find his approach to criticism very impressive. And his reviews of RCP scores are usually pointless wastes of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasey Kockroach 2,343 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 He hands out five stars to anyone named John Williams even when Williams was clearly asleep on the job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Penna 3,665 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 I'm a few tracks into Poppins and it's not really doing anything for me. I think the only musical-based track I've enjoyed recently is Someone In The Crowd from LaLaLand. I skimmed through the first bit of the film on Netflix once to see what was going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMc 2,674 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Stefancos said: Why do people care what CC thinks? Because he's been doing his thing for ages maybe. I think the score is okay and the songs a little less than. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 I'm not a fan of songs in movies, generally. Bond films excepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locrius 97 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 This is neck-and-neck with SOLO for my favorite score (I'm also counting the songs, here) of 2018. The main theme is amazing; ever since I first heard its use in the initial teaser trailer, I desperately hoped that that music would make its way into the actual movie. So obviously I was overjoyed that not only was it in the movie, but it was everywhere, not to mention that the trailer music itself was included as the track "Theme from Mary Poppins Returns." The songs are also loads better than the original, in my opinion: I re-watched the original film the night before I watched MARY POPPINS RETURNS, and the massive upgrade in quality could not have been more obvious. I find myself returning to this one regularly. And as others have pointed out, Shaiman's instrumental score is also phenomenal. All in all I agree with all the praise this score is getting, and I'm happy to see CC gave it 5 stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1977 1,743 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 21 hours ago, Warrior of Wet Dreams said: He hands out five stars to anyone named John Williams even when Williams was clearly asleep on the job! You clearly have not read his reviews for Stanley & Iris, The Accidental Tourist, JFK and Always then (only two stars each) and a good number of the rest have received three or four stars only, even some beloved favourites around these parts (such as The Lost World). 21 hours ago, Richard Penna said: I don't. I just don't find his approach to criticism very impressive. And his reviews of RCP scores are usually pointless wastes of time. I find them quite entertaining to read myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Richard Penna 3,665 Posted January 14, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted January 14, 2019 The Clash of the Titans one was very funny to read and would've been fine if it weren't published on a serious review site. The problem with his 'buy it if.... avoid if...' mentality is that if he doesn't use it to point out some significant shortcoming or strength in the score (which he often does), he instead uses it to basically say that you're an idiot or a party pooper if you don't agree with his analysis. --- I just had another look at that review, and this paragraph I think illustrates the complete disdain he has for the RCP world: Quote As for the work of Ramin Djawadi and his hoard of assistants, there's really no point in discussing it as one would an accomplished piece of film music. Such an analysis of their atrocious material for Iron Man was a waste of time. We've reached the point where straight forward reviews of this kind of mindless, mechanical music are too boring to crank out one after another, so Filmtracks treats Clash of the Titans to a special format of analysis: the completely fictionalized Remote Control spotting session for this film. Basically: I'm too lazy to give Djawadi the decency of a fair and objective review of what little musical value there may be here, so I'm going to make up a load of random shit about RCP instead. 1977, Once and Locrius 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUlyssesian 2,473 Posted January 21, 2019 Author Share Posted January 21, 2019 Disney's released the big production number. I am not terribly impressed with the staging of this. And the dancing starts only 3 minutes into the song. When Blunt starts dancing, the music used is actually mary's theme. crumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasey Kockroach 2,343 Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 THAT'S the big production number? I wouldn't have guessed. It's kind of limp. crumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerebral Cortex 3,357 Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 Very old school. I kinda like it. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crumbs 14,287 Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 What the -- THAT'S the film's big production number? Talk about mediocre -- and not just the music. Unimpressively shot and not even remotely creative with its blocking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arpy 4,145 Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 Why are there so many fucking lamps on that one street? Eh, I think they're trying to go for the look and staging of the original film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romão 2,274 Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 The Cover is Not the Book is more of a showstopper than that sequence mrbellamy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUlyssesian 2,473 Posted January 21, 2019 Author Share Posted January 21, 2019 6 hours ago, Arpy said: Why are there so many fucking lamps on that one street? Eh, I think they're trying to go for the look and staging of the original film. I think it is meant to be a dream sequence. I think everything from when they go down into the sewer to when Miranda catches the torch is meant to be imagined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scallenger 481 Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 It's not more random than anything from the original film haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scallenger 481 Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 This song has a lot more going on: Locrius 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kühni 485 Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUlyssesian 2,473 Posted March 12, 2019 Author Share Posted March 12, 2019 Finally saw the movie - and it confirmed it for me, this score is a masterpiece. I mean the actual score that is the non song portions. All the music is very lushly and brightly orchestrated, the sound is dense and enveloping, the mix is great and loud, the application of the themes impeccable, I think that is where the score excels. The fidelity to the application of themes is perfect, specially the main theme. There is a particular callback to an old Sherman tune in the score and it is so perfectly timed that is unbearably poignant. You need to experience this score in the context of the movie (as all scores should be) to appreciate it. This is the best film score of 2018. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kühni 485 Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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