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The annoying thing is that anything short of presenting Lincoln as the devil incarnate will get Spielberg nothing but derision from critics -- just because he's Spielberg. "What? Spielberg thinks there's a glimmer of goodness in Lincoln? How pathetic, how infantile, how typically Spielbergian! Spielberg's two-dimensional view of human nature rears its ugly and naïve head again!"

In my very humble opinion, none of the scenes in War Horse are overscored. Sure, there's some pretty big music accompanying several scenes, but I never had the feeling of "this is too much". I found it absolutely in line with the film's aesthetic itself (good or bad, you be the judge). It's certainly music that harkens back to an older Hollywood scoring style, with lush themes played by a full symphony orchestra. And nowadays many people are just put off by such a stylistic choice and find it phoney or insincere. However Spielberg and Williams are champions of this kind of approach, especially in the movies that acknowledge very clearly a nostalgic, naive attachment to the good ol' days of Hollywood movies--like War Horse. What really impresses me is that many people are ready to point the finger at Williams for "overscoring" the films for which he writes the music and don't realize that A LOT of other Hollywood composers/directors are doing just the same, if not worse. Recently I saw Scorsese's Hugo and I noticed that Shore accompanies the film in most of the scenes with busy, melodic music. But nobody stood up and slapped the composer for putting "too many notes" in the film. That's not to beat on Shore (the music is really lovely and fitting), but it's strange that film critics and part of the audience seem to have become allergic only when it comes to Williams. And what to say about Zimmer's constant drumming and droning during The Dark Knight Rises? The music is playing for 90% of the film's duration, even accompanying dialogue scenes--and it's also really LOUD! But I didn't read a thing in film reviews lamenting that Zimmer "overscored" the movie.

Empire Strikes Back reminds me of Winter. Star Trek V makes me think of Cranberry Juice (I know). Hook reminds me of Autumn. 1941 reminds me of taffy (I know, I know). The Star Trek TV scores remind me of Summer.

I can understand how the film might not appeal to all Jwfans but the score is a rarity. John's productivity is now low and we're not assured of any more scores at this point. Each score should be treasured from this point forward.

Black Gold by James Horner: Despite some familiar constructs this is a grand, sweeping and exotic score from Horner, his trademark sounds alluring and powerful here. If anything this composer can score drama and melodrama, the inherently larger than life nature of Horner's music quite clear from the first notes. The Western symphony orchestra provides most of the faux Middle Eastern colouring although a wailing male voice and a few specialty instruments here and there add a touch of authenticity to the Arabian feel of the music. The main theme is an expansive, slightly wistful and shamelessly romantic piece, conjuring grand desert vistas, sun burned wilderness and oases and certain elegance at the same time and it is almost impossible not to get caught in the enthusiasm and pathos of Horner's music when you hear the full orchestral renditions of it. Definitely some of Horner's best material in the last few years.

That is really one of the strongest aspects of Shore's music. It really transports you and conjures such immediate mental images. I already experienced this on my first listen of the FotR OST.

Yes Jerry captured the essence of raw, dirty sex like no other! Heather must have been gooood!

What, George Fenton's Groundhog Day?

War Horse and The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn For the first time since December of last year. The former is still a great listen with much warmth. The latter is still mundane Williams on autopilot. "The Adventure Continues" is the only track that I actually enjoy listening to.

It was great. Boston Common is a really nice theater. Classic movie posters, murals and quotes everywhere. Nice. We arrived a little late into Raiders during the temple scene. Movies all looked good, although from close up the resolution wasn't quite as high as I was expecting. They still looked great. Raiders kinda lost focus at points (and not the usual instances) and there was some kind of weird fuzziness at times, like the blue sky in the opening of Last Crusade. But I guess that's always been there since I had it on VHS. Temple of Doom was easily the best time and the one the audience seemed most into. It's the ultimate popcorn movie. Once again I was made to question whether or not Raiders is truly the best one. It's a great film yes, but there's no more rollicking, rousing, action-packed roller coaster ride of a movie than Temple of Doom. Thoughts on Temple: - Easily the best score. I know many hold the others in high regard (for good reason), but God damn! Williams' presence in a film has never been greater! There's a reason all the women are spreading their legs for him in the opening credits. - Everyone disagrees, but I like Willie. I love how wrong she is for Indy and turns out to be so right. They have great chemistry in a kind of Han Solo/Princess Leia way. - Short Round is the greatest sidekick of all time. - The scene where the big guy goes into the rock crusher makes me think more than any Kubrick or whoever's thinking man's films ever will. Was Indy trying to save that guy or was he just using the rope to get up to the catwalks? In fact, we will never know. - Few movies have created such serious tension as when Indy falls into the black sleep. The scene where they make him drink the blood is super intense. - Every shot of Harrison Ford in this is a masterpiece. Literally.