Matt C

Unintentional. Ferdinand Jay Smith did say that the head of HBO at the time wanted the biggest, most expensive movie intro ever when they were putting the opening.

I always liked the HBO theme, wish the 1999 opening got an orchestral recording. Also like the Mark Thomas music they licensed for their HBO “The Works” bumpers.

I hope Fleming can do better things with Williams’ theme next go around because he and Murphy basically neutered it in the film.

Oh got it.

Mandalorian & Grogu will be lucky to hit $300M worldwide. Michael is almost at $900M. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1246593025/?ref_=bo_hm_RECENT_WEEKEND_WIDGET_4

Michael Director Antoine Fuqua captures the sensation and energy of being at a Michael Jackson concert whenever the iconic beats drop— but a lot of the story outside of it feels like a Lifetime movie adaptation. Coleman Domingo gives MJ’s father (the quasi villain of the movie) some dimension while Nia Long’s Katherine is a Marge Simpson type pushover. Jaafar Jackson does a good impression of his late uncle (the voice is incredible) but it’s not award worthy. The fact that the Jackson family was involved with making the movie shows— the movie ends in 1988 years before the truly bizarre era (and abuse allegations) began. Janet isn’t even in the film either. That said, the movie won’t play as well on streaming and home video because the song sequences have to be experienced on the big screen with Atmos sound.

She does. Ehle comes off a bit too timid while Knightley makes Elizabeth a bit more assertive and multifaceted, while still reserved when it suits her.

“Pride & Prejudice” (1995) It’s very faithful to the source novel, allowing for more character development than the 2005 film, but it also makes the pacing uneven and tedious. The costumes and set design is nice but typical of BBC Austen adaptations, too clean and posh. Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth are very good in the leading roles (but look too old for the characters they’re playing), everyone else feels slightly miscast. Book purists prefer this for obvious reasons but it doesn’t do much for me. For the criticism slung at the 2005 film for what they changed, there’s a case to be made that the casting and feel of the Joe Wright film was more realistic of the period than the squeaky clean aesthetic of the miniseries. It also manages to convey what scenes the film omitted could happen offscreen.

Her work on the original film was incredible. Imagine had George brought her back on the prequels, she would've made them tighter and less hokey. On the other hand, I would've loved to see John Jympson's original cut of the film before he got jettisoned for Marcia, Richard Chew and Paul Hirsch. It would've shown how invaluable a good editor is.

Dumbo - Danny Elfman It's not as memorable as his two Alice scores, but his themes for the titular elephant and his mom are really pretty -- as well as his interpolations of the animated film's thematic material. You can't get wrong with Elfman writing flying music either.

Avatar: Fire and Ash - Simon Franglen Such an excellent extension of Horner's sound and themes without sounding like a temp track -- but the way he writes the brass lines gives me sweet memories of Horner. I think I like this better than Way of Water, actually.

I enjoyed it but it felt more geared towards children than the last several SW films. It looks good for the lower budget (specifically the IMAX scenes) and it was nice to see Sigourney Weaver being a boss in a SW film. The movie feels a bit episodic and the Grogu segments plus the four other animatronic aliens got a bit too cutesy at times. I haven’t seen the show but I could guess where it was originally plotted out for 4-6 episodes before they opted for the movie route. Goransson’s score was okay. I’m fine with him not quoting Williams’ material but the tonal shifts with his more exotic sounds really jarring. There were scenes where Goransson sounds like he’s scoring a Tron or Blade Runner movie than a SW film. When he goes for the Williams SW sound channeled through his own voice, it sounds amazing.

Same.

I wasn't sure about Ryan Gosling doing SW after being underwhelmed by Blade Runner 2049 (which wasn't his fault). After seeing him in Project Hail Mary, I'm excited to see him do a Star Wars movie. And Disney and Lucasfilm apparently made this on the cheaper side -- a reported $165 million before P&A costs. They poured over $250M+ each for the SW sequel films, Rogue One and Solo.

The Piper has rapidly become one of my favorite Young scores. It's so refreshing to hear him delve back into orchestral horror after a long time, he hasn't lost his touch. The flute solos in the three concerto movements are exquisite, a nice throwback to The Grudge 2, while some of the atonal passages recall The Grudge. The choir usage recalls the beauty of Hellbound: Hellraiser 2, while the harsh brass lines with woodwinds and timpani could easily be tracked into Spider-Man 3's action sequences. And it works really well as a concerto and film score at the same time. I wish he'd get more mainstream work... and not another horror or romantic comedy gig.