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I know, right? Mike’s technical work isn’t his only superpower to encourage a fresh take on an old listen - he has a gift of encyclopedic knowledge and compelling commentary to make a re-evaluation of anything appealing. The man knows his film history, and he’s very good at distilling it down and sharing it with listeners to get us excited about his work. I also want to say that Maurizio is a hell of a writer as well. His blog just strikes the right balance of eloquence and celebration, accessible to all readers, yet never pandering. Thoughtful work from Tim as well. It’s the only podcast I’m listening to these days. I save the Mike Matessino podcasts. They’re fun to revisit and add to the end of the score playlist, like a bonus feature.

I can count on one hand how many times I've received two separate JW releases delivered to me on the same day, plus it's our 22nd wedding anniversary today!

Thank you everyone for your nice words of appreciation, it’s really sweet. I am glad that you like the show. And it’s very fun seeing some of you combing through every word out of Mike’s mouth when he’s on the show 🙂 But I agree that he’s always a joy to listen to, knowledgeable, insightful and fun. Since you love guessing games, let me tell you that we’re going to have a couple of really terrific musician episodes and also a very special video feature that will “complete the trilogy” after London and Los Angeles…

I actually got a quick response about the missing material on instagram:

Not my favorite either, but I really appreciate they way Matessino put both scores into the context of a transition time for Williams “digging deeper” (particularly with PI) to move from the heroic mid 80s sound to the more “mature” 90s writing. It’s fascinating to consider a film like Presumed Innocent and consider how he might’ve scored it if it were made two decades later, given the complexity of his writing after scoring more diverse projects than SW and 80s Amblin style work. I see it as a transitionary piece. Maybe not necessarily the most exciting on its own, but in context of career, very interesting. Of course a nice shiny new MM expansion may completely change my perception of it. In fact, I welcome that and am counting on it.

Luke literally calls it a "fleeting moment", it's in the text. He experiences a disturbing vision, draws his saber, but then the moment passes and all that is left is the shame. The brevity of the moment is what is important - his emotions and primal instincts completely take over in a split second, and a split second later he sees reason. It's a very human moment but obviously quite heightened (read: space opera). I disagree, we don't need to see what's happened in the 30-year gap because that's not what the story is telling us is important about his character. The last time we saw Luke he had an almost identical moment: when taunted about corrupting Leia by Vader (who at this point he has already committed to redeeming) he is overwhelmed by anger and violently attacks him. It's a shocking moment in that film, and it obviously has stayed with Luke. His reaction to the vision of Ren is a deliberate echo of that moment and demonstrates the lifelong struggle that is mastering our primal emotions, and that is precisely what the text is telling us is important about Luke's character in this particular story. The shame he feels in this moment is infinitely compounded, the subtext is that this time he should have known better, especially as a trained Jedi. The fact he didn't actually attack Ren like he did Vader doesn't matter, certainly not to Ren.

Thank goodness Kingdom of the Crystal Skull wasn't the last movie he scored.

It's wild to think that 10 years ago I was just happy he was doing Lincoln. If you told me in May 2012 that in a few months Disney would buy Lucasfilm and John Williams would be writing Star Wars and Indiana Jones music into his 90s I would have told you to get out of my face.

It's my favorite Trek score and even I wouldn't call that a "very big" project since it's been expanded already. That said, I would heartily welcome an MM remaster of it

I think it runs much deeper than that, asians are notoriously stereotyped in Hollywood movies since the dawn of film beyond lumping together ethnically different people. The standard refrain to these stereotyping complaints is the usual 'they're overreacting', which is as patronizing and ignorant in this case as it is for any marginalized group, but i know from hearing first-hand from asian colleagues that western people just don't understand/don't want to understand how offensive certain cultural slurs are to them.

Love to prove that, wouldn't you? Get your name into the National Geographic.

Presumed Innocent and Spacecamp both not my favourite choices for expansions. But, hey, it's John Williams! So,

Mike Matessino is really such a smart person, so knowledgable. It is always a pleasure to listen to him talking about John Williams and his work and the 80s and anything.

You never flood the market with williams titles…. btw at some time, label managers and producers must realize theyare not getting any younger so i expect them releasing all williamsscores as fast as they can…otherwise they wontbe able to listen to them in their lifetimes. Us fans arent getting younger either. Help us LLL, intrada et al!

John Williams is writing Indiana Jones "right now", per Mike Matessino, 1:14:20 into this podcast https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2022/05/20/spacecamp-presumed-innocent-podcast/

Presumed Innocent: The Deluxe Edition (CD) JOHN WILLIAMS UPC: 888072419094 Release Date: 5/20/2022 Regular price$ 19.99 Presumed Innocent, the debut novel of Scott Turow, was a bestseller upon publication in 1987: a twisty, ultra-smart account of a prosecutor investigating the murder of a brilliant colleague with whom he was having an affair—and all clues point to himself as the perpetrator. The book was made into an equally riveting, first-class film in 1990, directed by Alan J. Pakula (Klute, All the President’s Men) and starring Harrison Ford, Brian Dennehy, Raul Julia, Bonnie Bedelia, Paul Winfield, Greta Scacchi and John Spencer. By 1990, John Williams was a worldwide icon for his soundtracks to blockbusters—but he was a master of every possible genre, including the unique combination of crime thriller and courtroom drama that was Presumed Innocent. Williams created a haunting, beguiling score of subtle piano, noble yet melancholy French horn, churning strings and even a wisp of synthesizer to express the film’s exploration of guilt and innocence, virtue and obsession. It is an exquisitely subtle score, but melodic and stimulating—and dramatically pitch-perfect. Presumed Innocent was released by Varèse Sarabande at the time of the film, and has now been expanded and remastered by Mike Matessino in a new program of the complete score, followed by unique album versions and alternates. New liner notes are by Jeff Bond. Limited edition of 2,500 copies. SCORE PRESENTATION 1. Main Title (From The Motion Picture Presumed Innocent)** 1:37 2. Family Morning 1:11 3. Carolyn’s Office (Film Version) ** 1:13 4. Burning The Note * 1:18 5. The B File (Film Version) 1:16 6. Juvenile Pictures * :46 7. Remembering Carolyn 2:20 8. Reacting To Carolyn * 1:08 9. Love Scene 4:08 10. Off The Case / You’re Always Right * 2:37 11. The Bedroom Scene (Film Version) ** 4:22 12. On The Advice Of Counsel 1:26 13. In The Patio 2:24 14. Carolyn’s Apartment ** :51 15. Family Theme * :57 16. Physical Evidence * :45 17. Outside The Courthouse * :45 18. Leon Talks 2:01 19. Fingerprints * 1:06 20. Barbara And Rusty 1:12 21. Case Dismissed (Film Version) :49 22. The Boat Scene 2:16 23. Return To Normal ** 1:00 24. The Basement Scene (Film Version) ** 2:56 25. Barbara’s Confession 5:19 26. End Credits (From The Motion Picture Presumed Innocent) ** 4:03 ALBUM VERSIONS 27. Presumed Innocent 4:14 28. Family Life 1:32 29. The B File 3:30 30. The Bedroom Scene 4:22 31. Carolyn’s Office 3:26 32. Rusty Accused 2:08 33. Case Dismissed 1:55 34. The Basement Scene 2:57 35. End Credits 4:06 * Previously unreleased ** Contains previously unreleased material https://www.varesesarabande.com/products/john-williams-presumed-innocent-the-deluxe-edition-cd

JoAnn Kane Music Service just shared some images of the original full scores for The Empire Strikes Back:

But Bruce -- for people like you and Thor, the original album is already there. The Deluxe Editions are for everyone else who wants the rest of the music. How does their existence hurt you? Logically, people who were satisfied with the original album (like you) aren't going to buy the expansion anyway. People who were NOT satisfied with the original album are obviously coming to an expansion for unreleased music. And because any cue in the score could be someone's favorite, it makes most sense for it ALL to be included. Just look at The Bourne Identity recently where people are lamenting missing cues. I am sure it's a dealbreaker for some. Yavar

I remember praying that he be able to finish the prequel trilogy....

Maybe someone should ask Powell on social media about the missing cues? He's usually very open with his fans.

Your past self would probably be more interested in the "time travel is real" part to be honest

Either Bruce genuinely doesn't understand this, or he's being deliberately antagonistic towards those who want every bit of music, and I'm pretty sure it's the second. I quite often have full albums playing in the background on Spotify when I'm evaluating a purchase, and the number of tracks is meaningless because I'm not paying attention to when one ends and another starts.

This was a great episode, what a wonderful companion to the new album. I really hope everyone listens to it and enjoys it, and then comes back and reads my thoughts! I really enjoyed the conversation about placing this score in the context of where JW was in his career at this time, and how where Spielberg was in his career and personal life at the time affected the path of Williams' film score selection as well. It was also interesting to learn about how Disney purchasing Fox led to this release being possible, and that Mike initially only wanted to release what is Disc 1 of this set because the album mix is only subtly different from the film mix and he had room to include the one album combo track as a bonus track anyway, but that Doug Fake wanted to include the OST album on a second disc, so that's what happened. It was also very cool to hear Mike Matessino talk about being younger and waiting patiently for a new Williams score to arrive in stores, the frustration with hearing cool Williams music that couldn't be purchased (like his Amazing Stories scores), and copying the SpaceCamp LP to cassette, but doing it in chronological order, to listen to on his walkman. I did this exact thing when I was in middle school with the Star Wars scores, playing the 1993 anthology set on the CD player on my dad's living room system while recording it to cassette, but in chronological order, also including the Mynock Cave music from the TESB OST CD and the full Training a Jedi from the Gerhardt CD, etc etc. Great stuff!

Wonder and Drama: ‘SpaceCamp’ and ‘Presumed Innocent’ Producer Mike Matessino talks the latest John Williams expanded reissues just released: the 1986 space adventure film SpaceCamp and the 1990 courtroom drama Presumed Innocent Hosted by Maurizio Caschetto and Tim Burden https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2022/05/20/spacecamp-presumed-innocent-podcast/

Meh, you're worse than Thor. At least he has a clear stance of just wanting the OST, and not needing any more material. Stick with OSTs. It'll be easier for all of us.

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I think the Intrada samples were my first ever listen to a note of this score - thought it was OK enough, worth looking into more. The cues in the preview podcast peaked my interest, but now the samples in the proper podcast hyped me up and I can't wait to get it, no further pre-investigation necessary!

I think it's a little more nuanced than that in this particular case due to the nature of the film and its connection to past Japanese/Chinese conflict. The Wikipedia page on it has a nice summary of the concerns people had

Well said on every point!

You are completely right, and i actually like Tintin, so i just forgot to delete it.

I think when DD quoted you, he meant that the current era was the one that people would rather regard as a bad dream.

I see it can be a choice, but that isn't taking into account the genre of the music they are selling, nor the audience who are going to listen to it, so it's a wrong choice. On top of that, I think we can all agree that no expectations must be had on a company which since decades keeps being confused between two major artists of their catalogue, only because they have the same full name. This label doesn't waste any occasion to embarrass itself since TPM was released...

As for Attack of the Clones, I do look back at that period fondly. I am ashamed to admit I have seen this film 8 times at the cinema. To this day I cannot explain why. Perhaps because I was really following the making of it and all the leaks and it was exciting to piece together the whole thing long before the release. It was around that time that I started to really actively follow the fan sites and all the spy reports leaking plot details left and right. While the film wasn't very good at all, it made for an interesting study. It was a strange experience to watch the film for the first time and being aware of all the stuff that's NOT in it. It was also an important time because I started reading JWFan board regularly around that time. It was horrifying to read all the details of butchering, looping and tracking prevalent throughout the film. I must have heard the score some time before the release, it must have leaked or something. At first, I wasn't particularly taken with it due to a more streamlined approach and somewhat flat mixing. Compared to the bright and colourful The Phantom Menace, this felt quite, well, dull. But I really liked Across the Stars right away. Thought it was a tremendous theme from Williams and remember finding a lot of the initial fan comments very harsh. Eventually, when the actual album came out, I became very fond of it. There are some absolutely amazing setpieces on it and there's a certain coherence to the writing as well. To this day, I still believe this is one of the finest Star Wars OST albums, despite the disappointing sound. It has a shape and scope of an epic, unlike the more fragmented episodes 1 and 3. In terms of score presentation, it is up there with the original and The Force Awakens. It looks like Williams nails the album only once per trilogy. All I am saying is that, as a viewer, I am simply aware this is a committee effort. And as far as committee efforts go, I have seen worse. I wouldn't read too much into my comments in terms of defending it. It's virtually like a lower-tier Marvel movie, not quite horrible enough to waste time ripping it apart. Certainly not 3 years later. Karol

Shame, it is a really nice set actually. For years, I was avoiding the other extended disc due to my worries it would be an overkill. But the LLL one really changed my mind. It feels, oddly, less repetitive than the original album. Glad I picked it up a couple of years ago. Karol

We know Williams read the script early on so he may have developed some themes early into the film's production, but I'm glad that he's able to attack the bulk of this score now with the film in post and all the filming completed while cuts of sequences are slowly being delivered to him. Sounds like he won't be rushed a ton and will have more adequate time to send-off Indy in a more cohesive way than he did the Star Wars ST. Should bode really well for the final product.

His music was indelible and helped make Blade Runner the sci-fi classic it was. Of course he composed for other films and on his own, but BR is my favorite thing he did. RIP.

You’re not.

Chicken Run The more I listen to this score, the more I love it! It's so fun and energetic

Oh god, please don't combine tracks unnecessarily! Don't remove choice from the listener! I HATE it when expanded releases have a 5 minute track that consists of 3 cues, only 1 of which is worth listening to regularly. I rarely want to listen to all the music from a score, but I sure want it all upfront so I can decide what makes the final cut.

But what Bruce complains about is 47 tracks where they aren't combined together into longer tracks. I don't understand how that sounds any different to someone's ear. If you want the unexpanded version of the score that already exists for your listening tastes. Only Looney Tunes of these is two discs. If it had been the one disc that Bruce Botnick had originally planned, it would have OMITTED Goldsmith's excellent opening cue (which was on the original album), OMITTED the superior film (and original album version) of the Area 52 cue with Sally Stevens as vocalist evoking the theremin, and OMITTED Goldsmith's original Road Runner cues, among other things. Again, for people like you and Thor there's already a single disc version designed by the composer for "listening experience". Don't begrudge the rest of us wanting an expanded edition with everything available. See @Jay -- there are absolutely people who would have complained if The Iron Giant had been pushed to a second disc. Yavar

I long for a world where 'big' does not have to mean either John Williams or Star Trek. I'm still waiting patiently for Gladiator and JP3. You can't tell me that the former isn't a big title.

This was a great episode, and surely will be a wonderful companion to the new album. I really hope everyone listens to it and enjoys it, and then comes back and reads my thoughts! I enjoyed the discussion about writing a score that gets more into the phycology of the characters (in a movie where everyone has secrets), as opposed to say, scoring the raw instinct of the shark in Jaws or the bombast of action and adventure. I also enjoyed the talk about how Indiana Jones 3 felt like the end of one era of John's career and Presumed Innocent is like the start of the next, and how much flexing of his scoring muscles he worked out anew throughout the 90s. I also enjoyed Maurizio's observation that John used the French horn in the theme for feelings of regret, instead of the usual way it is used for nobility and heroism. Maurizio's observations about how John scored the sex scene, and how he uses Dies irae in it was fun too

May 13 - SpaceCamp May 20 - A Gathering of Friends May 20 - Presumed Innocent May 27 - Obi-Wan June 3 - Violin Concerto #2 and Selected Film Themes What a run!

Just cracked open my copy, and it sounds magnificent! The previous issues certainly didn’t sound bad, but the score has certainly never sounded as vibrant and immediate as it does here. Excellent notes, courtesy of Mike Matessino, as always. We’re in the midst of great few weeks for John Williams fans, for sure!

Another great episode, gentlemen! I really enjoyed all the stories, especially the fascinating reveal of which label initially had the rights to the Home Alone album before Sony took them instead!

Mike provides an update at the end of the latest episode of Maurizio's podcast https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2022/05/20/spacecamp-presumed-innocent-podcast/ Here are his exact words " I'm working on things for the end of the year right now. Maybe my comments were taken a little bit out of context or misinterpreted a bit last time. I have several in various stages that I'm working on, but I have no idea how many will actually make it out within this calendar year. Right now I'm looking at 2 for the end of the year, and a lot of it is just because of how long the administrative aspect of it takes, and how much catch up I have to do having spent 8 months on Star Trek - a lot of catch up. And then some of these are larger more ambitious things. There's at least 3 where the mastering is done already, so it's a matter of doing all that, and also maybe not flooding them all out at once, but it depends really on what they are. So there's 2 that I am focused on right now for the end of this year and I hope that they'll make it - you never of course have any guarantees, and once you see that it's May already, you start panicking... " He also teased that he has a very big non-Williams soundtrack project coming soon!

One of the most important scores after the millennium turnover, and a cornerstone in my lectures on film music history.

Karol