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A magical evening with the Maestro! I’m sooooo glad he did the second half of the concert instead - hearing him introduce his own iconic pieces and conduct them himself just can’t be beat! Williams was in great form, telling the usual funny stories with even greater humor and joy than usual (and noting that Empire is when he “put clothes on Darth Vader and Yoda” when telling the Luke-Leia-love-them story before Leia’s Theme). He also seemed more spry than the last time I saw him, walking much more quickly and easily and even bending down multiple times to pick up his massive score books. At one point, his baton even fell to the ground and he was about to pick it up himself before a cellist did for him. Needless to say, Yo-Yo Ma was brilliant during the Concerto and Schindler’s List Theme in the first half, but the second half with Williams himself stole the show, and the energy of the audience alone demonstrated that. The second half encores were Helena’s Theme, Star Wars Main Title Suite, and Imperial March. So, no surprises this time, but still a wonderful concert full of classics and amazing energy from both Williams and his audience. My only “critiques” would be that beyond Williams coming out before and after Schindler’s to bow with Yo-Yo Ma, there was no other interaction between them, and you’d have expected Williams to conduct Yo-Yo at some point given their double headline spots in the concert. And additionally, Williams’ security needs to chill a bit. A kid who couldn’t have been older than 14 walked up to the stage with a CD and sharpie in hand towards the end of the concert when Williams was exiting, and a security guard standing stage right began motioning to the kid to leave and ultimately came down to tell him to go away. Let’s not forget Williams used to come out the stage door after Boston shows and greet everyone. I know eBay scalpers ruined that, and now Williams is up in age, but for security to get on a kid’s ass just because he was holding a CD was sad. Not necessarily Williams’ fault, of course, and also not surprising since Williams hasn’t signed for people in years, but it definitely showed how times have changed. Anyway, looking forward to experiencing this wonderful program again at the legendary Carnegie Hall in a couple days! Hopefully Williams does the second half there, too. It really enhanced the entire evening. Tonight was my 30th time seeing him conduct live, and I certainly hope there will be many more ahead! My pics from the evening:

Book 2 is inbound!

I love this!!!! Abels is a fantastic composer and I'm excited to hear what he does with this!

If Zekeckis ever sells BTTF to Disney, we could make a Disenchantment Under the Sea Thread... EDIT: Well that's just too funny a misspelling to correct.

Fixed

James Horner - House of Cards Kinda like a shier cousin to Searching for Bobby Fischer, which came out on the same year. It's less overtly melodramatic than, say, Bobby Fischer or A Beautiful Mind, but it's a rewarding listen. Nice intimate moments and even some ethnic instruments mixed with synths, a Horner trope. An undiscovered gem in 's filmography.

Intermission! Schindler’s was indeed the first half encore. Williams came out before and after the piece to wave to the audience and take a bow.

I heard Bob Iger say that the SE release is good enough.

Reviews are in. And they are spectacular. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dune_part_two

Hellboy II: The Golden Army? The second one we already know is How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. Good batch! Karol

I agree with all that has been said. Lovely concert, wonderful orchestra, great atmosphere, and “Just Down West St” was a treat🤗

Well, we are talking about Warners here, which is striving valiantly for the award for most ineptly-run studio in Hollywood. Maybe we shouldn’t read too much into this decision.

There should be a "feels like" run time for movies, kind of like with the weather. No Time to Die (2021) Run time: 163 minutes Feels Like: 4.5 hours

Excited to see the super talented Gareth Edwards as director, but worried that that means Giacchino again. I'd love to see literally anyone else.

@Mattris Copy that. Looking forward to that midi-chlorian trilogy bringing us to your plane of enlightenment, God whilling.

I'm down for a Bear McCreary concept album. Worked well for Giacchino. Sometimes these types of projects gives an outlet for ideas they have that don't fit into film scores, and then they are rejuvenated for future film work after completing and releasing the side project.

Official photos from The Philadelphia Inquirer: https://www.inquirer.com/arts/john-williams-philadelphia-orchestra-yo-yo-ma-20240221.html https://bnnbreaking.com/world/us/at-92-john-williams-captivates-philadelphia-with-a-lifetime-of-music-a-night-with-yo-yo-ma The Imperial March

It's official -- JW will conduct the second half! https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2024/02/22/An-Evening-with-John-Williams-and-Yo-Yo-Ma-0700PM

HTTYD3

L aecmgue GsarIo "I am George Lucas" My God!

I think it will probably be Giacchino again. Even if he isn't Edwards main choice, Universal may still push Gia on the movie, lol. But a Zimmer Jurassic Park score could be interesting. When the dinosaurs appear, instead of the JW Jurassic Park theme we'll hear: BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMM!!!!!

Relatively major plot twist! Interesting that Williams and Yo-Yo wouldn’t share the stage together, but Williams conducting the second half’s contents sounds way more fun, so no complaints from me! EDIT: Seems two others already reported the news, haha, but here’s a pic of the insert!

I am! New member here! A new development that I'm thrilled about. In the program at the theater, "in tonight's concert Stephane Deneve will conduct the first half of the program and John Williams will conduct the second half"

Other takeaways-- Hook expanded edition is selling like hotcakes and may be 80% (or more) sold out already... and MM hasn't begun working on Star Wars expansions yet. (Or maybe he has and he's really good at hiding that fact. But the way he spoke about SW as a project he'd like to work on doesn't sound prepared. I think he really hasn't been given the green light yet for that one.)

Oh HELL Yes! Keep buying them people! I can't believe we're finally getting this after all this time.

I think we're alright.

Interesting choice. We shall see. I quite like Us. Karol

The bottom of the main program page with the listed of pieces states: “Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday: afternoons at 1 PM and are repeated on Monday evenings at 7 PM on WRTI HD 2. Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details.” I can’t find anything on their site specifying what concert would be broadcast this coming Sunday and Monday, but maybe it’s a proper recording of this performance?

Fortunate? He's the one doing them and pushing for them!

It was recorded in London. Karol

I think you just solved it.

Are you sure you know what an elephant looks like?

I don't think it's entirely her fault. The movie seems to have been re-written and re-edited over and over again, with idiotic Sony executives pressuring her to deliver a franchise-worthy movie that is at the same time different from the MCU. Then again, this is the reality of working for a major comic book movie these days, and some directors fare better within these conditions and others don't. The director of the first Venom seemed to have had an awful experience too. I hope she can find more satisfying work in other movies or shows after this debacle.

Back to fun, escapist action-adventures 2 hours or so in length. Globe-trotting, glamour, thrilling stunts and action sequences, gadgetry and humour. Modern sensibilities be damned ... no more 'this time it's personal', no more 'MI6/field agents/the 00 section is irrelevant', angst and self-reflection to be kept to a minimum (stuff along the lines of the scene on the beach in Goldeneye is absolutely fine). Unapologetically have Bond be a straight, white, patriotic hero who takes pleasure in eating and drinking well and in casual sex. Make clear that the reason he enjoys these things is because (for all he knows) he could be dead tomorrow. And yes, he kills in the line of his work when necessary. If the 'yoof' find any of this 'problematic' ... they don't have to watch them. Simple. Hire artists who are actually worth a damn to write and record the theme songs again. I realise I'm probably dreaming, but this is what I would do if it was up to me. Seemed to work pretty well from 1962 - 2002.

No, he's saying it was the Force's plan. It wanted Vader to catch Luke. In the fourth trilogy, the Force itself will be revealed as the true villain behind everything bad that's ever happened in SW. The peoples of the galaxy will have to rise up and go to war with their own midi-chlorians. (That end battle was sure tricky to shoot, back in 2018.)

As does the Philadelphia website…

At the very least, we deserve to see Tallguy ride a horse painted to look like like a zebra. In slow motion.

Certainly, more detailed information on how the alternates and film versions fit in the film would be valuable. I think like Thor said, this sounds like a long-term thing but if it got to the point where a major, complex score had an entry that broke an album down to help readers identify a piece they heard in the film, that would be extremely helpful.

NTTD is a two and a half hour movie that feels like a three hour movie.

They moved Williams's bit to the second half of the concert and the piece picked up "in a rush" still wasn't ready in time?

A new interview from what looks like late last year that lasts 1.5 hours with Mike taking about his work through the years. The interview starts around 36 minutes in.

You made me think of Tallguy replacing Tanya Roberts in the actual movie roles

Thank thank you for all this! What an amazing experience. Going to be there on Thursday. It’s just so odd that Ma and Williams don’t share the stage at all.

Just to make sure I'm tracking … you're suggesting that this isn't made clear by Yoda in that very scene? "Through the Force, things you will see. Other places. The future, the past. Old friends long gone. … It is the future you see."

So he is going to quote The Lost World?

Gareth Edwards is the new director. Interesting development since he worked with both Giacchino and Zimmer. Will he keep Giacchino on, move on to Zimmer, or use someone else? https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/jurassic-world-director-gareth-edwards-1235825386/

Massive, hope it’s the same for NY also

Sweet, be sure to share a full report!

So? Who's at the show tonight?

From the Netflix documentary "The Greatest Night in Pop". This is towards the end at about 1:28. They're showing how many people are buying the We Are the World records. Well... Not EVERYBODY. It's alarming given how quickly this went by that seeing this was like someone shouting my name. Does anyone know what the stickers on the plastic wrap say?