Sandor

What part did Barry wrote then? Not the famous parts.

??? Sorry you got me there. I'm clearly talking about CLOSING threads and you're talking about POST COUNTS. You ok?

But Norman's James Bond Theme was actually based on another composition he created some time before Dr. No. I heard THAT piece and Barry has NO RIGHT to claim the COMPOSITION is his. It's ALL Norman's. By the time ARRANGERS can claim the royalties that should go to composers all hell will break loose.

Me neither.

Real men don't close threads!

Do they kiss in the Rebel HQ on Hoth??? Do you have ANOTHER updated version of the film?

I find it pathetic the way Barry just couldn't accept the fact that he DIDN'T compose the James Bond theme and went to court and everything.

Airport... ...the last film scored by Alfred Newman. I'm nerdy. I know.

I guess the topic title says it all: what do you consider to be the most sexy scene from a John Williams-scored film? I mean the man has not exactly scored Basic Instinct or Boogie Nights or something like that. I checked my CD collection to remember the films. I honestly don't know the answer to my own question! That scene from Catch Me If You Can? The love scene from Presumed Innocent? Han Solo kissing Princess Leia? The films Williams has scored have very little sexual energy! Unless you dig Ewoks!

I'm not exactly sure I fully understand the meaning of the term guilty pleasure, but I think I got. There are some films especially I love that I'm kind of ashamed of admitting. Among them are Babe, Babe 2, the original Revenge Of The Nerds, Chicken Run, Mask, Disney's Pocahontas and (yes, yes) I liked Alexander. None of those films would make it in my personal film top 100 or something, but they reach me on an emotional level. Guilty as hell! I also love certain musicals. I hardly mention that in the real world, because I'm afraid it sounds so gayish (no offense intended!).

I knew a lot of girls at that time who were like 14, 15 years old (don't get any weird ideas there ok?). They all had the soundtrack. They always mentioned that they DID NOT buy the CD for the song, but they listened to the SCORE, in their rooms, remembering the film, dreaming of making out with Leo, and all.

Yeah, thanks Steef! At least one here enjoys my approach. So what if I don't do another "Your favorite non-Williams themes"-thread or a "Best Flying Themes"-one (oh wait; I did do that one I think...) BUT I created some classics threads over at the Trek BBS a couple of years ago. Among them were: - "Are we nerds?" - "Why are Trekkies so humorless?" - "Would you have sex with an alien?" - "Is it ok to kill a hologram?" And also on this board I delivered some alternative threads: - "Will John Williams ever score a zombie film?" - "Is John Willliams sexy?" - "WOTW: I've got a bad feeling about this" Expect more of this shit in the future guys. Hey, and Joe even topped my level with his Jerrygasm thread!

Sigh...The Two Towers and The Fellowship Of The Ring mentioned in this thread.... I wonder how many times you guys really ever listened to it. It's the same with a movie like Terms Of Endearment. My brother is very fond of that one and always reminding me of how much better it is than some of the crap I'm usually watching. I never really wanted to see it no matter how many times my bro would insist. I was calling it a girlie, dated, sucky film even before I saw it! So one day I made peace with my brother and agreed to watch it with him. I didn't WANT to like the film though; I wasn't open for it. BUT when I DID see it all the way through I found myself crying and smiling at the same time as the end credits rolled. Man that film was good!! I loved it from that moment on. Take that as you will ok? Anyone; a REALLY bad score was Horner's Troy, although you can't really blame him considering the limited time he had to score it. I blame the people who rejected Yared's score. Some weird Morricone stuff comes to mind: The Humanoid. The American version of the original Dawn Of The Dead, which sadly didn't use the Goblin score, but opted for mediocre library stuff. Aweful. I'll post more when I remember some more bad scores.

NEIL! NEIL! I remember this kind of thread has been done before!! LOCK IT DOWN BRO! LOCK IT DOWN!!

I feel like flying, dude! Anyway; talking about flying; John Williams wrote some amazing flying themes. The theme from E.T. still being my immediate favorite, I also love the flying music from Hook, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Buckbeak's Flight) and the flying music associated with Superman. Still; some other composers have also proven to be excellent at writing flying themes. The Rocketeer (James Horner) comes to mind. There is one other flying theme that I consider an equal to Williams' flying themes. Not arrangment wise, but purely from a melodic viewpoint; The Flying Theme from Klaus Doldinger's The Neverending Story (1984) Does anyone know it? It's a PERFECT theme. I'm surprised how many people in Europe especially still remember that music after so many years. Was it written for a more mainstream film and given a more profound orchestral arrangment it would have gone down in history as one of the most memorable themes ever written, alongside Williams' E.T.'s, Star Wars or Indiana Jones' themes. I'm not joking here; it's THAT good!

Has this been done? Shall we do it one more time? Here's mine: 1. Steven Spielberg The Master. The one who, together with George Lucas and John Williams, brought the love for film (and film music) in my life. His best films: Jaws, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, E.T., Schindler's List and (hopefully) War Of The Worlds. 2. Peter Jackson I love the Lord Of The Rings SO much that this man, although with a limited number of films, is becoming one of my favorite directors of all time. I see him becoming a giant. I hope King Kong will further establish him as the man who brought back the pure excitement to film. 3. James Cameron Aliens, the first two Terminator films, The Abyss, Titanic,... This man is a GENIUS! His upcoming Battle Angel Alita has the potential to re-invent cinema as we know it. To bad he's not that productive, but he brings so much detail and attention to his films that I love him. 4. David Fincher I must admit that the only really good films this man has made are Se7en and Fight Club, although the latter to a much lesser degree. Still; I LOVE his direction (even on weak scripts like Alien3 or The Game). I'm truly excited about all his upcoming films and I see him ruling the future of film. 5. George Lucas OK, I'll admit that my love for Star Wars has motivated me for adding his name. As a director he is actually quite old-fashioned, sloppy and unimaginative. Still; he is also a writer, a creator. The only gem among his directioral credentials is obviously Star Wars (1977). But against all odds he made that film and that was an amazing feat. I hope Revenge Of The Sith will redeem in a way for the lack of true spirit of the first two prequels. Other directors I love: Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill), Paul Anderson (Boogie Nights) and Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Alien).

No, Titanic is not a brilliant film looking at it's script and direction (somewhat cold for James Cameron). BUT in a way it IS brilliant; Cameron made a film for everyone! Like I said before the main reason for it's gigantic succes was it's appeal to an extremely wide range of people. I'm sure Cameron delibaretly made the film that way. Many have tried that before, but so many have failed. Cameron did it.

I think people are highly underestimating Revenge Of The Sith! This film has the POTENTIAL to become the highest grossing film of all time. If it's executed well enough and the film has a heart, an emotional core if you will, it's going to to amazing things. It will drive people to the theatres, even those who had no interest in Episodes I and II. Just the images of Vader, the classic visualisation of C-3PO and R2-D2, the familair Emperor look, Chewbacca, Yoda,... People will see the old Star Wars in this film that they didn't see in The Phantom Menace. Even the title Revenge Of The Sith rings Star Wars. But it needs to be a good film then. If the film rocks, it will definately rock the box-office. Since it's the last Star Wars film, people will give it one more chance. I expect this film to bring home about $500, but again, it has the potential to earn a lot more. However; if the film is another sloppy Attack Of The Clones, it could perfom a lot worse than the previous film. The box-office is somewhat unpredictable either. If on January 1 2004 you would have said that a film like Shrek 2 would be the box-office king of the year and a film like Van Helsing would sort of bomb, people would have called you crazy. Shrek 2 hardly recieved any coverage in magazines with their Summer-films previews. Perhaps the highest grossing film of 2005 comes from surprising corners. I mean if I were to say that Memoirs Of A Geisha may earn more than Batman Begins, no one takes me serious, right? King Kong also has so much potential. I have an enourmous faith in Peter Jackson. This man truly knows what great cinema is all about. I see him as the new Steven Spielberg, the new George Lucas. Can lightning strike twice? Yes it can. Can Jackson follow up his enourmous succes of The Lord Of The Rings with another truly exceptional cinematic succes? Yes he can. Spielberg proved this in the late '70's and early '80's. Schönberg proved this with Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. Remember how brilliant The Empire Strikes Back was after the amazingly fantastic Star Wars. Jackson: I hope you will deliver all the goods! For some reason I think Harry Potter and the Goblit of Fire will be a dissapointment at the box-office. The kids who grew up on the first three films have moved beyond that. They're into Usher and Snoop Dogg now and I think another visit to Hogwarts is a bit too corny for them. My prediction. War Of The Worlds could rock. I hope so. But I get the feeling this film will be very intimate at it's core (like Spielberg already stated). Another Signs? Sure there will be massive effects shots and great action sequences. But Minority Report had that too and I consider that a fairly limited financial succes. Spielberg still makes great films (I liked A.I. and Minority Report very much), but he has just lost his edge to reach the mass audiences. Jackson however knows exactly how to reach them. Still; Spielberg (and Lucas) have the ability to surprise us big time. They could, with Star Wars III and War Of The Worlds return to their glory days in every regard. Maybe a nice set-up for Indiana Jones IV.

Ok, if we percieve The Silence Of The Lambs and Se7en to be horror-films, than I'll include them as two of the best in the genre. I would classify them as thrillers though, but horror will do.

With the upcoming War Of The Worlds being referred to by various sources as a horror-film, I wonder what you guys (and one girl) hold as the best horror-film ever made. John Williams hasn't really been active in this genre with Dracula (1979) and The Fury being the exceptions. And although I don't expect WOTW to be a real horror-film, it probably has some horrific scenes and elements. My favorite horror-films are The Exorcist, The Evil Dead, Dawn Of The Dead (original) and 28 Days Later. As sci-fi horror I love Alien and Aliens. Recently there has been an revival of the horror-genre. I liked The Ring and Cabin Fever to a lesser degree. Any opinions? Would you like to see Williams score another horror-film in the future?

I've got the Tsunami CD. I enjoy it. The Fanfare And March To The Museum is funny and shows some signs of the kind of music Williams would become famous for. I also enjoy the track Nicole. The sort of music Ennio Morricone wrote during the same period. And Simon Says is funny too. Considering the fact that I've used the word "funny" two times (oops! that's three!) to describe the music of this score sums up pretty much what it is: funny (and that's number 4!) Far removed from The Fortress Of Solitude or Schindler's List.

Well, maybe they get a chance to sing the theme-song: I Want Earth That Way....

Well, Titanic is not as bad as many people WANT it to be (for various reasons). It's not a perfect film though. Some of the dialogue is extremely simplistic and compared to Terminator 2 or The Abyss the direction is a bit unpersonal. Still; James Cameron is easily one of my favorite filmmakers. To see Titanic become the triumph that it became makes me happy for the man. Stefan is right: Titanic was plagued by bad omens before it was released. It seemed the critics (after hearing the reports about all the controversy that went into the film - going over budget and all) also WANTED Titanic to sink. I remember actively following Titanic's box office performance. I was dissapointed by the opening weekend gross: around $30 million. I remember thinking: "Oh no! This film will NEVER make any profit!". But then something amazing happened: Titanic proved to have very long legs. The film earned around 25 million for WEEKS! It's endurance was amazing! It reminded me of the first Star Wars film, which also didn't open in Spiderman-style, but run succesfully for months. Part of Titanic's strength was it appeal to a very wide audience. The conception that only 14 year old girls embraced the film was completely shattered when I saw it in the theatre. I was sitting alongside families, the elderly, children, boys, girls, homosexuels, heterosexuels,... EVERYONE wanted to see this film! And not just once: TWICE! Oh, and Stefan: L.A. Confidential should have won? I don't know. Sure Pulp Fiction should have won back in 1995 or The Fellowship Of The Ring in 2002, but L.A. Confidential? I don't think so. Titanic is not a perfect film, like I said, but it was a perfect succes-story. Against many odds James Cameron won. In a sense it was the Star Wars of a new generation. And about the score: yes the Enya lifts are irritating, but for some people Williams' score for Star Wars inflamed the same kind of disregard. A rip-off of Korngold's Kings Row? Yes and no. The same applies to Horner's score for me. Sometimes I play some of Titanic's Theme on the piano. When people hear it they always silence and listen. Face it guys: the themes HAVE become modern classics. Titanic brought film music to the foreground again and just listen to the album: it's nowhere near as bad as some make it sound.

I just heard a rumor that The Backstreet Boys have sold more albums than John Williams! Oh no!

Yeah, something along those lines. That was my motivation for starting this topic. Not only put extra quality in them, but also simply compose while there is still time. Williams once said that his best work is yet to be written, that he always feels he can do better. Well, it has often been said that after his first wife died Williams' music has become more profound, more mature which is accentuated by the fact that Williams' career was truly launched by 1975's Jaws. Ofcourse I don't mean to say in any way that therefor it was good that his wife died so Williams could reach his height.