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ESB SE is nowhere near great and a mess but unlike RotJ, it's listenable.

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Better listen on your phone speakers, because there everything sounds like crap.

RotJ is nigh on unlistenable in how cruddy it sounds. Like it was recorded on a wax cylinder and played through a makeshift gramophone. I don't know how they fudged it up. Could you imagine Rise of Skywalker sounding like that and they just left it and said 'Eh, whaddya gonna do about it?'

Um no it's not just his headphones. I've had good headphones over the years and the Special Edition for ROTJ does have crap sound. I took the SE one and 'remastered' it. Here it is and hopefully sounds good to people. Yes this is the Special Edition version as that's all I have. The_Battle_Of_Endor_III_(Remastered).flac

I wouldn't worry about it

Been playing around with the film a bit. One thing I thought that would have been fun was if Williams reused the little Mustafar fanfare of sorts from ROTS right before the planet appears to kinda do a "reveal before the reveal." I think it works okay: Alternate TROS 1.m4v Putting Journey to Exegol over the Kylo sequence is fun. Love how gutsy that music is. Alternate Tros 2.m4v I continue to mourn over the exorcism of The Speeder Chase. It just adds some much needed flavor to what is a pretty meh scene. If I was making a film that was supposed to serve as the 9 film conclusion to a saga and I'm only allowing myself 2 hours to do so, I don't think I'd waste time on including action scenes like this one, but, oh well, got some good music out of the deal. Alternate Tros 3-1.m4v

For over 30 years of the 88 that you have been around, I have have been enthralled by your music. I have listened to it for countless hours. I have formed many friendships because of it, and it has impacted my life in ways that are simply undeniable. Thank you John Williams Thank you JWFAN.

You speak of the Matrix or Hollywood producers?

You're such a hippie, Martin! (Judging from your photo, that is. )

The production design is so richly detailed. I discover something new every time I watch.

Watched Aronofsky's THE FOUNTAIN and it really made an impression on me. Frankly I think its RT critics score is waaay too low; in my eyes it's a masterpiece.

I made some minor tweaks to my OT revisionist cover set.

It's just silly space music for kids.

Sweep, if you think that Madeline Stowe is a hottie, in STAKEOUT, then you'll love her in a soaking wet, red Speedo, in UNLAWFUL ENTRY. Oh, yeah

Desplat has been fired from the role of composer on Black Widow.

Logically, in my opinion, based on what I know... If it's recorded with an orchestra then it was probably written specifically for this and would indeed reference or hint / build up to a theme. Wouldn't be a stretch that the studio would pay for it if they think the small clip will generate a good buzz (which it has). If it's from the demo though...probably a synth mock-up and only a small portion of it. I could be wrong, and please correct me if I am, but does anyone know of demos being recorded with an orchestra? Agreed.

sounds like it was recorded with an orchestra, particularly when the trumpets come in that doesn't sound anything too dissimilar from what I'd hear in terms of mixing on something like his Rogue One soundtrack. pretty clear this isn't the full theme but either way I like the dark noir vibes and it feels particularly fitting for Batman so I'm keen to hear and see more.

It's dynamically fucked and sounds like you're listening to it underwater.

Considering it'd be too early to start writing the score, I assume it's a synth mock up (unless he did this whenever he recorded his last score). It's a simple enough thing that it'd sound relatively fine as is.

Apparently it's just your headphones.

If this is representative of Zimmer’s approach for the film, I’m cautiously optimistic... https://mobile.twitter.com/bilsourcemedia/status/1228139959485435915?s=19

*loud fart noises*

It's more likely than not to be a portion of that demo theme, yet it's also possible what we will eventually get might not even sound like this. I don't want to see JW naked, thankyou very much.

What else am I supposed to go by if there's not much info currently? Sure, it's more likely this is a small sketch he had recently done, but it still fits the image pretty well. Besides, Reeves might've felt like including it to make it stand out a bit more.

Or that normal people can’t tell the difference between a film shot digitally or on film. But shhh, don’t tell him that.

What are your favorite shits in a movie?

Happy Birthday Maestro @88..... [just saw this on my facebook Sony Classical page] https://www.facebook.com/1497289083843603/posts/2489944331244735/

Yeah, I was hoping he'd reference the Mustafar stuff from ROTS. Well, maybe he did, but it was cut. Most of the castle sequence was cut after all

The whole "comparing dicks, er...sorry...calling cards" was silly, but that was the 80s for you; the decade of artifice and meaninglessness. It was the most shallow of times. Yes, I'm not sure how much of it was "real", either.

Have listened to the Eilish song once ... it's OK, I guess. Am presuming the bits of mumbled vocals are standard practice for her ... I'm unfamiliar with her other stuff, and it'll be staying that way.

Fun!

Since I've been revisiting Voyager lately, a show I've always loved, I was very excited to see Seven at the end. I wanna know where Janeway, Paris, B'Elanna, The Doctor and the rest are! I demand a cameo from Admiral Janeway! Give us the Janeway! Give us the Janeway!

I know, but they're all dead.

Indeed. It's 100% certain he'll be composing stuff all throughout 2020, given his views on the matter. But it's not certain if any of it will be heard or recorded this year.

? He just said a week or two ago that he's never been more in love with music and composing. Nobody here would be mad at him if he took a break, lol. We're just speculating about what he might do next, since he seems interested in doing more.

Indiana Jones 5 maybe? Ford says that he will start working on the next one in two months!

If it could happen, it’d be very sweet to have JW and the LSO do a full Star Wars saga compilation, especially to record concert pieces and other highlights from the Disney trilogy.

IIRC the album version is one take all the way through, while the film (and therefore LLL disc 1) version is mostly that same take, but they intercut to a different take for a small section for a performance issue - I just don't remember where

The Good Place 4x13 Whenever You're Ready spoiler-free, safe to read: A wonderful finale to a wonderful and unusual american network sitcom. With all the plot out of the way, the entire finale is devoted to giving wonderful endings to the characters we've grown to love over the years, and everyone of them was well-earned and felt right. On top of all that, there was nice very interesting camera work and cool new locations too! If I could complain about anything, it might be that it isn't particularly FUNNY, but I suppose they wisely realized that wasn't the biggest priority here at the end game. It wasn't unfunny per say, but I don't think a reflection on the absolutely funniest moments the show ever had would contain anything from the finale. Basically, despite the first half of the final season bordering on being a waste of time, the final stretch of episodes and the finale in particular more than make up for it, and left me with a good taste in my mouth for the finale season as well as the series as a whole. The show isn't perfect, isn't consistently great from start to finish, but still comes highly recommended. 53 22 minute episodes is well worth it, especially compared against all comedies that came out in the 2010s. SPOILERS!!! For me this ranks pretty highly among the best series finale there are (most series don't have great final episode when you really think about it).

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I've heard outdated sort of through proxy. A lot of people I talk to about film music nowadays, and I'm talking casual listeners here, seem to prefer the, what I call, "Mood and Tone" scores. They lack big and powerful melodies, but excel in providing a general mood and tone for the scene. This is really really the way things are going more recently. About 10 years ago if you asked me at the end of the year what film scores I loved, I'd have a decent sized list, but since then, the list keeps dwindling in size. Like, don't get me wrong, there's plenty of recent scores that have come out that I like and enjoy listening to. I don't love them though or connect with them as deeply. As much as some people seem to dislike Giacchino around here, his Trek scores still had great melody, themes, and motifs, and I connect with them greatly, but even he has sort of fallen off a bit for me. So I guess for most people I talk to, in person, consistently, he's sort of...out of style? Which is sort of like saying he's outdated. I mean I worked as editor on a commercial recently and had Back to the Future in the temp score and it was called "distracting" and I was asked to move towards a more atmospheric and general approach. It wasn't the main melody or anything that would be considered to recognizable, that wasn't the reason. That being said, it was the right call, but I can't help but feel that more and more people are finding themes and melody or even just lush orchestration to be "distracting". It seems in some movies now, the dialog is the "melody" and the film score in a bunch of chords in the background or a repeating ostinato or a very sparse melody. Let's see. Recently, I've liked Stranger Things 3, Mr. Robot, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Dark Crystal (Netflix), Knives Out, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, The Dragon Prince, etc. just to name a few recents in my iTunes purchases. I like them, particularly Dragon Prince out of that bunch. I listen to them, but the last time I really remember a film score having a HUGE impact on me in the theater was 2015 in The Force Awakens. The scene with the cue "The Resistance" So good. I got goosebumps the first time I saw that and even a few rewatches after. I personally want more moments like that in films, where the themes help drive the story and can make GREAT moments like that and really make you feel something. It still happens. I mean we've gotten Star Wars films, How to Train Your Dragon, Good Omens has a great theme, etc. etc. but it's becoming more rare in my opinion. It's not gone, but it's starting to dwindle I feel. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to sound alarmist or make it seem like I think all film music is garbage now or something, but there is certainly a shift happening. So after that long-winded expelling of thoughts...I think when melody, motifs, themes, etc start being considered "distracting" is also the same time that Williams becomes more and more "outdated" to most people. As someone who's composed a couple projects, short films, theatre productions, etc. I always aspire to create themes and motifs for characters and ideas, but feel like I need to lean more atmospheric and general to get selected or have my work used. Idk man. Interesting topic though. Haha. Yes I feel like Zimmer has been one of the driving forces to what I mentioned above. Don't get me wrong, I listen to and like some of his recent music. It's (in some cases) fun to listen to. I'm a sucker for fun "techy" music (for example Escape from the Ship from Man of Steel or tracks from Inception) but I don't really connect with his stuff over the last several years. I enjoy it, but it doesn't make me feel the way I described that I want more film music to make me feel. With a few exceptions, Zimmer's music certainly isn't "distracting" in most of the projects he does.

Couldn't have said it better myself; you raise a point which I've been trying to find the words to express lately. It feels like in the 20th century classical music hit a fork in the road (Mahler was one of the key figures to introduce said fork) and went two separate ways: the people who wholly embraced atonality as the ONLY next step for music to go in, and the people who wanted to continue the Romantic tradition (while still dabbling in newer techniques and using atonality like a light seasoning to be employed for great effect/affect). Some examples of the former would be the Mahler pupils and acolytes (Berg, Webern, Schoenberg etc.), and the latter would be figures such as Richard Strauss (post-Mahler's death), Korngold, heck even Sibelius in Finland. It seems like some people were so fascinated by the 12-tone-system that they thought tonality must be done away with entirely, whereas others thought it was an interesting concept and yet still saw value in making music that "sounds good". But in addition to his well-timed use of atonality in otherwise tonal music, Williams is also an interesting figure to me because, like Rachmaninoff in his later years (Piano Concerto No. 4 for instance), he was influenced by jazz in addition to his traditional classical upbringing. The thing that really makes Williams stand out from a lot of other composers, imo, and which makes him feel like this logical "next step" you speak of, is his perfect synthesis of the jazz and classical harmonies and styles. Atonality went away from tonality, but jazz delved further into tonality, venturing into uncharted areas and introducing new ideas of harmonization. It'd be like if Beethoven or Brahms discovered a bunch of new chords, and continued to write melodic, tonally logical music—but now harmonized with a bunch of major 7th chords underneath. Basically what it boils down to is, there was still a wealth of stuff to be explored and accomplished within the tonal system at the time that the 12-tone fanatics jumped ship—which is why someone like Williams feels like a logical "next step"...

Yes it is!

I've made this TFA cover years ago: I can of course try to come up with matching designs for all other episodes, but not today, because I'm about to leave to watch THE RISE OF SKYWALKEEEEEER!!! Oh, but here's a quickie here are two quickies before I'm off:

Continuation of the series... @Pellaeon found a hi-res version of Roger Kastel's "Style A" poster for Empire, and it works quite nicely actually. The same with Kazuhiko Sano's "Style B" for Jedi, I used the half sheet version and extended the sides, I also had to remove an awful watermark right across the center of the poster And added The Rise of Skywalker, though I had to move some characters on the poster:

Extended the edges of the Rise of Skywalker poster to get a better fit for a 1:1 square. Widened the Mandalorian poster to get a 'grander' feel to the cover.