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I... uhhh... ...just paid for 2 standing tickets for Saturday that they offered me even though I was on the Sunday waiting list because only Sunday showed a waiting list. I HAVE TICKETS I WILL SEE AND HEAR JW I WILL BE IN THE SAME ROOM AS HIM AFTER A LIFETIME OF DISTANT MYTHICAL UNTOUCHABILITY EXCEPT for that week 2 years ago when he was here just like this AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

My source says that Williams vetoed Giacchino signing the letter. He didn't want to be in the same paper as the Rogue One composer.

I had originally meant to write this fairly long tirade in The Book of Boba Fett thread, but it also applies here, I think. Stories and universes like Lord of the Rings and Dune, beyond their bare plot mechanics, take indeed their power and appeal from the details. The world building and its inner coherence are more important than the plot itself, and serve to inform and sustain the story in such an integral way, that the whole construct would collapse without that conceptual backbone. In many ways, the world-building IS the story, so there are no extraneous details that exist solely to fatten the universe without any real purpose beyond giving a simulacrum of complexity. Now, I don't see Star Wars in the same light as those two universes. Star Wars was never about world-building. It was never about a fully fleshed out universe, coherent in its rules and concepts, without which the whole illusion would collapse. No, I've always seen Star Wars as a much more impressionistic creation. The background details don't really matter on their own. They only matter when matched with the main story to form a unified and inseparable illusion. A mythical, archetypical story, yes, told many times before, but blended in with such a wide array of aesthetical influences to create a considerably original whole. Star Wars is much more about what is implied, but never stated, about the surrounding universe, than about outright explaining it and filling every possible narrative gap. The universe around Star Wars is the background for the main story, it gives it color and identity, but it never was the main story itself, it never was the crucial backbone for the narrative. That's one the reasons why JW's musical approach worked so well for those movies, it blended the story and the background, but never in a literal way, never in a constricting way, it never locked our imagination into a single option. By not being descriptive, by not being literal, the music made all those narrative gaps feel alive and fertile ground for our own imagination to do the bulk of the filling of the background details. I don't want to see the interior of a Sarlaac. I don't want to know the inner workings of Tusken culture. I don't want to know how Stormtroopers train. I didn't even want to know how the Clone Wars actually happened. Those sort of lore-filling details are fine on the back of the packaging of an action figure, or in a trading card or even in a Video Game. Once you make them happen in live-action, it's like suddenly they actually become real and much harder to ignore. And they subsequently change the way one is able to experience those original films. It taints them. It constricts the imagination. I equate Star Wars almost to a Bizantine or Roman mosaic. When seen as a whole, it looks marvelous: But if I isolate and zoom in on some of its tiles, the effect is totally lost Like I said, Star Wars always felt much more impressionist to me. The details don't matter. The overall effect is paramount. Focusing on the details is actually detrimental to the whole experience and effect. These TV shows are giving us tiles, not mosaics

Another rehearsal pic: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca7NFSEAxdk/?utm_medium=copy_link JW looking slightly befuddled at, let's guess, the oboes? The hornist also writes that this is a "personal highlight" for him. The previous post was also from a hornist - they seem to be really loving JW. 😁

I hate when they "trailerize" JW's music. It's so tasteless. The prequels did use his music quite well in the trailers without any need to "make it more epic and stuff"

I doubt younger members will fully appreciate my rather wistful point, but Star Wars originally held an almost supernaturally mystical status when it was part of the past classics pantheon of western cinema, an untouched one-off of a legendary trilogy, eminently looked back on as being the predominant science fiction phenomenon of the Reagan era. There were no sequels and none were ever really expected; and the fans, casuals and die-hards alike, were actually fine with that - it allowed the Luke Skywalker saga to "bed-in" and become entrenched as a major nostalgic mainstay of popular culture at the time and for almost fifteen years after: it was always just Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and people would rewatch them over and over like Bond movies, like Bridge Over the River Kwai and The Great Escape. That's why they became endlessly quotable and constantly referenced everywhere. The Star Wars trilogy was a sacrosanct icon of American cinema, locked in time. Nowadays it's treated like the latest Assassin's Creed instalment, watered down to the point where the extraordinary "magic" has all but evaporated and been replaced with curdled cow's milk, to be forcibly twisted from the teat on demand, ready for the next "audience engagement". Disclosure: I really liked The Mandalorian overall, but that doesn't mean I don't also lament the changing and diminishing of Star Wars as a part of the untouched lexicon of exceptional cultural highlights. I sound like a jaded old superfan here, but the irony of my remarks is that I didn't even bother to watch it (the trilogy) till my late teens (the 90s), and whilst I enjoyed a short fad of personal fandom, I was never that into it after. Yet I had always appreciated its status and its impact. It makes me feel a little sad to see it's ongoing basardisation now, and this latest spin off may as well have been produced by Ubisoft. But I'm sure it'll be "fine". Though something else, something of abstract significance, shall nevertheless be lost. I guess time moves on.

1. The Eye of the Storm (2:30) 2. Hogarth Hughes (0:21) 3. Creepy Music / Hogarth Investigates (1:30) 4. Into the Forest (3:33) 5. The Giant Wakes (1:24) 6. Hogarth in Car / Sting for FBI Man (0:56) 7. Come and Get It (1:45) 8. Shut Off Switch / Rock Tree (1:04) 9. Cat and Mouse (0:53) 10. Train Wreck (1:07) 11. Magic Rebuild / Hand Underfoot (2:55) 12. Chew Your Food (2:01) 13. Amerika (1:23) 14. Great Ride (1:14) 15. We Gotta Hide (0:49) 16. His Name Is Dean (0:47) 17. He Can Stay (0:39) 18. Eating Art (0:42) 19. Space Car (0:58) 20. Souls Don’t Die (4:07) 21. Contest Of Wills (4:34) 22. The Army Arrives (1:34) 23. Annie and Dean (1:18) 24. I’m Superman (0:30) 25. He’s a Weapon (2:43) 26. Giant Discovered (4:28) 27. Trance Former (4:26) 28. No Following (4:02) 29. The Last Giant Piece (1:07) 30. End Credits (8:23) 31. Bedtime Stories (2:25) 32. Wild Tam-Tam (0:19) 33. Chew Your Food Pickup (0:44) 34. Duck and Cover (0:30) 35. Early Demo #1 (2:40) 36. Early Demo #2 (3:52) 37. Souls Don’t Die – Michael Kamen & Eric Clapton (2:45) https://music.apple.com/nz/album/the-iron-giant-original-motion-picture-score-deluxe/1611663693

So we got: Duel of the Fates Battle of the Heroes The Force Theme The Mystery Motif from Attack of the Clones And the end brass from "It Can't Be" from ROTS All in all, nice selection!

You know what would go well with this?!? THE IRON GIANT in Full Score (chrissiddallmusic.com)

I see an endless discussion about whether the first Vienna concert was as good as the second Vienna concert - or vice versa. What a hellish debate.

Lucky me... The Dutch Noord Nederlands Orkest last minute added 3 (!) John Williams 90th birthday anniversary concerts, performing yesterday, today and tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll go to the concert in Drachten, which is 20 km from my hometown and then Saturday morning on the plane to Vienna. Dutchies who want to go: https://nno.nu/concert/filmmuziek-john-williams-90-jaar2

This one amused me enough to repost here lol

This talk show clip from when Batman Returns came out is so funny Thinking about making this an avatar

Sure. But it was a pathetic "critique" though... Early Göransson was the best Göransson!

I showed the trailer to my wife. Duel Of The Fates definitely got to her right from the start (“fantastic music”). She really enjoyed the rest of it as well, maybe enjoying the feeling she got more than actually reflecting about what the show might actually be about, (“great trailer”). She did have some concerns about Obi-Wan’s role in the show, whether he would just kind of hide in the shadows trying to do good, and not being caught (“He’s not going to fight at all?”) Then we joked about that the show is about an old man who’s new job is to lurk distantly while weirdly watching a boy growing up.

Sorry, that was a little late, but I could not resist.

Nicholas Britell was the only composer from this year's nominees to put their name against the letter. Absolutely pathetic from the other 4 (especially considering voting closed weeks ago). Obviously didn't occur to them that there can be no bias if all 5 put their name down, unless they fear ramifications in years to come. Not like Williams had anything to lose, considering the Academy have snubbed him for nearly 3 decades now. I doubt he's expecting wins for Fabelmans or Indy 5. Side note: my opinion of Britell continues to improve.

Original star wars themes by John Williams Music by Conrad pope and William Ross Conducted by William Ross Performed by the London Symphony orchestra Hows that?

Bravo to all. That was a who’s who of nearly the entire top tier of composers. And Zimmer and Giacchino, you cowards. What could you possibly have to lose at this point?

Let’s fill in another backstory nobody asked for.

Ugh why do they region lock trailers like this? The show is going to be released on a streaming platform here in Australia around the time it's released in the US. But they aren't showing the trailer either. It's maddening! EDIT - Thankfully it's here on the BCS Youtube channel:

I was hoping it would appear on Spotify tomorrow to tide us over. Hmmm. Also wonder whether it will contain the instrumental of the entire 'courting' track on the OST, where it would be nice to hear the music without the manic vocals. The FYC promo only has the first bit. I actually think #3 is the best produced album of the three, and I haven't seen the film so I don't know what's missing.

When my sons saw the teaser their only comment was "Why is the inquisitor so fat?"

Oh, you are totally right!

Looks more like the opening arpeggio of the Flying Theme from E.T.? I can see "...ESTRIAL" in brackets and the last letter of "THEME". Only if we get a RECORDING of the second Vienna concert.

One of the best harpists in the world chimes in: https://instagram.com/stories/anneleenlenaerts/2790927127103513244 Looks like they moved her to the front - best seat in the house. 😉 Maybe for the violin concerto? The harp plays a prominent role in that one. No ASM in sight, though.

I ran into the same "problem" with my iso score commentary so I made up my own names for the themes I could gather together, hope it can be helpful:

Probably going to happen. She came out in the first Vienna concerts after the second half for encores, even though she didn't play in the regular part of the second half program then. I rather expect her to do at least one encore after the second part, but at this point I would be surprised if she appears during the "official" part of that half.

I'm swaying more and more toward William Ross. I've been re-visiting a lot of his work recently and I think it would be great to finally hear him on something high-profile again.

I'm beginning to feel that these concerts weren't designed to satisfy the hard-core fan 100% but rather to provide a well-balanced survey of The Music of John Williams for attendees who may have missed out last time - fair enough. If I were seeing JW for the first time in my life live, I would probably even accept Nimbus 2000 instead of Fawkes. So I am gradually lowering my TROS and Rey Theme expectations.... Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly, i.e. that nobody onstage tests positive and that nobody backstage forgets to press the record button !!!

Congratulations!

Just a comment, percussionist Emil Richards played on 1968's Planet of the Apes and Jurassic Park and Jurassic World where he provided his ethno-musical percussion instruments. EG: the primitive percussion. He also performed the percussion on the TV show, LOST, where he provided handmade airplane percussion (tuned instrument made out of broken airplane parts). He played percussion on every Planet of the Apes film from 1968 through 2019 (his death).

Pretty fun hearing some obscure prequel musical references throughout the trailer! Bit disappointed by how "clean" the series looks visually. Was hoping for something a bit grainier/grittier, closer to the original film. Oh well, shouldn't be surprised. And overall looks great!

And why not Fernando Velazquez

This score sounds like Kamen through and through to me, and it's my personal favorite of his works. Yavar

You thought correctly, Powell's instagram story 100% confirms that it is coming to the CD format this Friday (and that it's 2 discs) Powell's post doesn't specify the label, but the only two possibilities are that Back Lot Music is releasing it on that format themselves and the Varese batch is unrelated, or Back Lot sublicensed the physical CD edition to Varese and it's one of their two Club titles this Friday.

WB has changed the dates of three of their upcoming DCEU flicks Black Adam October 21, 2022 (no change) Shazam 2 June 2, 2023 -> December 16, 2022 The Flash November 4, 2022 -> June 23, 2023 Aquaman 2 December 16, 2022 -> March 17, 2023 Blue Beetle August 18, 2023 (no change) So they're dropping Shazam 2 the same day as Avatar 2, and The Flash the week before Indiana Jones 5 Geniuses.....

Hopefully it'll have flashbacks to his childhood Bantha farming or whatever.

I enjoyed the use of the music in the trailer. At least it wasn’t just the usual one finger epic version of the force theme in the style that seems to plague so many trailers these days. Sounds like just a little amping up. Just hope it’s not all set on Tatooine… I’m as bored with sand as Anakin… still can’t believe the composer’s not yet been announced.

Is the music in this teaser what he recorded the other week?

Hell yeah hell yeah hell yeah!!!

eh

Contrary to my comments on the previous page, I'd be wary. Most of the COVID restrictions were lifted last weekend in Austria (part of the reasoning was that there has been a vaccination mandate since the beginning of the month, but that has never been enforced and was just lifted today). Fortunately, Vienna is stricter, and FFP2 masks are still mandatory indoors in many places, but nevertheless infections are spiking (the numbers today are the highest they've been during the whole pandemic). At concerts, only the mask mandate remains (no 2G or 3G or anything). I'm not quite sure if restaurants and pubs still have a 2G rule (it's all a bit confusing), but even if they do, it has hardly ever been taken seriously, and customers are rarely even asked for their certificates. It's too cold to sit outside, and I wouldn't really recommend visiting a crowded restaurant at this time. We're probably lucky that these concerts are happening now and not a few weeks later - if the numbers keep rising, who knows if Williams would have risked to come to Austria then.

Ew

I am not going, but I wish you all the fun there is.

Family Plot (JW) - I have to admit that I always found this a bit underwhelming and can't say I was an more, erm, whelmed. The main, harpsichord led, theme is great but the underscore is fairly low key for much of the running time. One of the rare occasions where a tighter running time would have emphasised the highlights. The Eiger Sanction (JW - OST) - Only listened to the original album arrangement a couple of times since I originally acquired it as I'd always filed it under "scores I like but the sound quality is dire" so it's great to enjoy the newly remastered version which manages to not just sound a bit better but to be almost unrecognisably better. Great themes (the main one is very Morricone-esque) and enjoyable listening to bits of JW before he fully hit the big time. Babe (Nigel Westlake) - I almost feel a bit bad for Westlake as you pretty much end up remembering only the Saint-Saëns rather than Westlake's own, entirely charming material. I listened to the original tracks released on Varese last year and still think it's one of the most unlikely scores to have received a re-recording. To be honest, I can't say there's much to pick between them, both are performed and recorded well. Nice to have the choice I guess. Currently on Eastern Promises by Howard Shore... superb stuff.

?

Not really. It’s its own thing, although some will sound familiar. I didn’t care much for it when I first heard it but it’s grown on me and is honestly a superb work well deserving of his first Oscar nom. (That said, I also consider Lonely Are the Brave and Studs Lonigan to be Oscar deserving scores.) Regarding Lonely Are the Brave… my reaction was similar to yours when I first heard it. It took years to become my favorite Goldsmith western score (which for a long time was held by 100 Rifles), much less favorite Goldsmith feature score. It’s subtle. But if you allow it to, it will grow on you. And it will really help to experience it in film context, as the film itself is very powerful and the score is perfect for it. I’ll PM you. He did some other fine work in 1962 though lots of it is unreleased TV stuff. Two more things you can explore on album though are The Spiral Road (lots of great stuff in his Asian style, and also one cue that looks forward to Looney Tunes 40 years later of all things!) and his final Thriller score (written for his Trouble With Angels collaborator, Ida Lupino): “The Bride Who Died Twice”. Great Hispanic guitar stuff in that, as you can hear in the Tadlow music video: Actually he did a lot of excellent stuff in 1972, though you’re right that a lot was for TV… but that includes some excellent TV movie scores — Pursuit and Crawlspace in particular are my favorites and I really hope they get premiered on album some day. Check out my “Advance Liner Notes” for both scores here, complete with links to watch them on YouTube/Vimeo: https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=116952&forumID=1&archive=0 https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=117275&forumID=1&archive=0 I also did “Advance Liner Notes” for The Man (1972), which was produced as a TV movie just like those two, but which transitioned into a limited theatrical run as well. Intrada will release their new RSNO recording of the score (paired with Black Patch) in the next few weeks! http://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=113568&forumID=1&archive=0 Listen to generous samples from the new recording here; it’s great stuff although a short score: https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/9988703-production-report-black-patch-the-man-2021-intrada-recording But my favorite Goldsmith score of 1972 was for a regular theatrical film, by the director of To Kill a Mockingbird! And it’s been released on CD, albeit in frustrating fashion (a single 24 minute suite): I’m referring to The Other, and it’s pretty wonderful. Here’s hoping Varese gives us a definitive Deluxe Edition some day because they control it. You know what his biggest project was in 1972 though? He wrote the famous main theme and scored no less than a half dozen episodes of The Waltons! Supposedly all of that music is lost, alas, but it would make a great candidate for a 2CD Kickstarter re-recording! I did a Complete Score Breakdown for his “Jewish” score for the series, “The Ceremony”, here: https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=117025&forumID=1&archive=0 Also, Papillon was the final thing he scored in 1973, and he was super prolific during the year leading up to it, with a lot of great stuff (first out of the gate was a title theme and pilot score for Barnaby Jones!) I love Inchon too but he actually recorded that score in 1980, and the film was initially released in 1981. You should swap it out for his awesome score for The Challenge, which did come out in 1982, in theaters the following weekend after NIMH! You forgot my favorite (maybe not best) score of that very packed and impressive year: Mom and Dad Save the World! It’s so much fun and so creative and energetic, like an honorary Dante score. Can’t wait for Varese to expand it! You also forgot another unused score that year — Gladiator. It’s not a favorite of mine but when I saw some cues restored to picture it made an amazing difference in film context. Yavar