Eplicon

I never thought of the X-Men films as either over or underrated, but just right. It's fine popcorn entertainment now and again, although I give higher kudos to Spider-Man (if only because I'm much more familiar with the characters) and that it was done in a way that recalled the best elements from the first Superman film (the standard which I judge all superhero films). Still, I am a little surprised that Singer was chosen to helm the next Superman film. It never occurred to me that he could do one because I thought it would be a conflict of interest since he was already dabbling with a rival franchise.

It seems like a "there's Superman and then there's everything" else type kind of poll. But what they hey, Supes it is. The music is the definitive version for the character. The film and music captures the scope of the character -- his origins, his coming to terms of who he is and the destiny that lies ahead and the decisions he has to make upon reaching adulthood are the oft-mentioned reasons. While I liked Elfman's Batman score (didn't think much of the movie since Burton and the screenwriters were clueless about the Batman mythos -- it shudders me what Burton would have done to Superman) it lacked some scope and basically had no leitmotifs for each character. We just had the Batman theme in several permutations. Elfman doesn't really dabble with "B" (i.e., secondary) themes the way Williams does for all his scores. Without the B theme, it more or less paints the character as one-sided. Elfman's other hero themes (Hulk, Spider-Man) are well enough but nearly interchangeable. Most of his main themes have been almost like that the past ten years or so. Of his Spider-Man theme, he said he wanted it to be brassy and percussion. That's how it's been for him. All the percussions we hear are him playing his samples. They all have a general sameness. And it's much harder to hum his themes!

I'd find out what composers to study when wanting to learn a particular technique. And I'd be curious to know what composers do when they have writer's block. Do they just write anything or borrow ideas from themselves/others? (Well, I guess those questions would be the kind you'd ask Horner.)

I'm far more comfortable with Singer at the helm than the list of directors that were going to do it. You just can't have Superman without Williams' classic theme, so at least I am hoping that Ottman will integrate that in his own score. As been stated, since Singer is a big fan of the first film as we all are, I am hoping he brings back the respectibility and legend that is currently done so well with "Smallville." McG would have made it full of MTV shit and aimed it at the youth market, if nothing else. I have disliked just about everything Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer has done, so that would have made very very angry. A Superman film with a Hans Zimme/Mediaventures score? Screw that.

I rather liked movie and score myself. The DVD commentary track has some pretty good background information on the historical events and characters that were utilized in the film. Williams provided a very serviceable score, all that fife-and-drum, patriotic (duh) Americana and rousing fanfares. There's some kind of studio noise on track 8 around the 2:57 mark. Sounds like someone bumped into one of the percussions or something. Listen closely with headphones -- it will be more apparent.

Get both! The Koch release came out at time when it was thought the original tracks would never see the light of day. I think at the time, it was the consensus that the tapes were lost. Of course, that turned out to be fortunately wrong. While the Sedares rendition lacks some of the drive and energy of the original, the performances are good. Although I did find Bernstein's comments in the liner notes about not liking performances of his work done by other conductors' a bit on the condescending side.

I still have the original Intrada release. Haven't found a reason to get the subsequent re-releases; it sounds just fine to me. Great score!

Footlight is a terrific store, even though it tends to be one the pricey side. Unlike other music stores, they are full aware of the soundtrack market, the rarities and OOP stuff, and will (unfortunately?) price it accordingly! Even if you're not buying, it's an interesting place to browse, particularly the LPs. I'd skip the chains, whether it be Tower, Virgin, Coconuts and the like. All are overpriced and unless there's something that's been released in the US not available where you are, fuggedaboutit!

Brando's passing was inevitable due to his lifestyle, not to mention the personal hardships he had to endure in his later years. That he lived to 80 is a feat onto itself; I always thought he would go a lot sooner than that. Still, he will always be Terry Malloy, Vito Corleone, and Jor-El to me. I remember how he creepy he was playing the neo-Nazi in "Roots: The Next Generation," one of his rare TV appearances, too. A fine actor with many memorable roles, even if he used cue cards! Ironically, he shares the same birth/death months of one of his most famous characters, Vito Corleone (April & July respectively). Of course, that is if you ignore the birth month changing to December for Part II...

"Leaving Home" from Superman has plenty of poignant moments, like the part when Ma Kent peers out the windows and sees Clark all alone against the Kanas wheatfield, and later when the two embrace and the camera pans to show them facing north and the great unknown together. This cue and sequence moves me like no other in the film. (The other highlights are more adrenaline-related, like the opening part of the main credits with the percussion build up that leads into the main theme or the rescue of Lois Lane in the helicopter sequence.) The first sighting of the dinosaurs from "Journey to the Island" in Jurassic Park. I always felt that the way Williams scored it, with Dr. Grant shedding tears of joy in that scene, also was reflecting that we were Dr. Grant, too. The warm rendition of the throne room motif when Leia places the medals on Luke and Han was swell, too. The bit from CMIYC that leads up to the scene where Hanratty brushes off his underlings on his lack of humor ("Would you like to hear me tell a joke?"). And the flamboyant music when Abagnale gives Hanratty the slip after claiming to be a secret service agent: "Oh, god damn it!"

Let the collaboration continue until one or both decides to hang it up for good. I'm more concerned if Spielberg continues to direct in his post-Williams phase. Spielberg seems to have a liking for Hans Zimmer (a composer I have very little respect for -- he dissed Spartacus for one thing!). And I think Horner said something like he felt like a princess in waiting on the prospects of working with Spielberg in the future. After all, he did write scores for Spielberg-related projects in the past.

"The Hounds of Sumner" is an amazing cue with the aggressive strings and mouth harp (or at least that's what I think it is) with the orchestra also hinting at the "Look Down, Lord" theme to signify the struggle from the lynch mob. The movie is pretty good, based on a true story. But the subject matter and the limited appeal this kind of movie might have be why it didn't do well as it should have and one reason why an expanded soundtrack might not happen any time soon. Oprah Winfrey did profile the movie when it came out with Singleton and the cast members and, if I recall, also descendents from the event. The score was certainly more Oscar worthy than anything else he did that year.

It's certainly one of my favorite Williams scores for the reasons you stated and one of his best output from the '90s and the past ten years. I liked how he revisited his early '70s period with that grand, classy style that would eventually evolve into the sound that he's known for today. He also did evoke some of the "Negro spirituals" that probably came from his arranging days for Mahalia Jackson and others. Some guy (I forgot his name--maybe he posts here?) reviewed it for Film Score Monthly several years ago and was so impressed, he gave it four-and-a-half stars. I think in that same issue, Lukas gave it very favorable comments, too. He said something to the effect about it being some of the best "black" music written by a white man.

Williams should have many good years left in him. He always seems to be rather healthy (good music will do that to you) and free from other afflictions associated with those years. Hell, I'm surprised that David Raksin is still around. He has always looked good for his age.

Since it is known Lucas often spent times watching "Star Trek" re-runs during his breaks while writing the first Star Wars film, he apparently decide to tweak the film even moreso to reflect one of his other influences.

I think the piece from the 2000 Awards show is Durango by Mark McKenzie. His music has been utilized a few times for the Oscars in the past. It's available on the Intrada label. Not sure about the Conti thing... I don't think he's ever released any of his material from the Oscar telecasts commercially.

Midway is a splendid re-recording and captures much of Williams' essence nicely. I was surprised at the quaility since I wasn't too familiar with Wentworth's conducting. It's probably as close as you're going to get to the orginal until it is released some day.... I wish Fiddler had more score tracks.

I came oh-so-close a couple times last year, but the times I tried to he had to refuse the fans himself or had a few security guards tell us so. In the meanwhile, here's another "previously unpublished" (as if that means anything!) pic of him. Again, like the previous ones I posted, this was at the Kennedy Center from last year. This was when he was on his way to do the Q&A session. He came on stage a bit "unexpectedly" (everyone else was already seated -- Stanely Donen, Jon Burlingame, and Leonard Slatkin), so hence it was blurry. The blurriness was due to being startled while waiting for him to come out. This is the the last of the three photos I have of him.

I think "Gloomy Sunday" was performed by Artie Shaw & His Orchestra. But apparently the album it is on is OOP. For questions 2 & 3: http://crydee.sai.msu.ru/public/lyrics/cs-...schindlers.list

Seems like the changes we had hoped in the Greedo/Han scene for is still a lost cause. Changing the scene to an alternate angle still does not make Han's cut off "Yes..." any smoother. They might have been better off getting Ford to loop that one line and electronically tweak it so the voice sounds younger. But Ford's pricetag would make that bit ludicrous, even if it is to lend his voice. Besides, he's always had a thumb to the nose attitude about the trilogy as it is, even when it was just Star Wars and sequels had yet to be planned for filming.

I saw Star Wars opening week in Paramus, NJ at the then RKO theatre (it was one of the "original 32" movie houses that showed it; the last time I was there, it had become some sort of Cineplex Odeon 14-plex or some other monstrosity). My dad took our family to see it, largely based on word of mouth from his colleagues as a great, must see piece of entertainment. I remember originally not being keen on seeing it because I didn't think much about sci-fi films, much less ones with Japanese film/Saturday mantinee influences in it. Of course, Star Wars proved me wrong. And yes, I always remember it did NOT begin with "Episode IV: A New Hope."

Hey Neil -- Nice synopsis of the concert. Your Superman ticket is now totally priceless. Good going! I shared your pain last year in the failed three attempts to get it signed. Now the universe is at peace... I'll do my best to go next time. I would've gone to this, but the total cost made it a little prohibitive this time around. Comparatively speaking, when he came to DC last year, outside the cost of the tickets, I only spent $5 roundtrip for public transportation each time.

D'oh. You're right. I got the two things mixed up. (I had only seen snippets of The Clone Wars, but not the ones with Grievous in it...) In any event, since there still hasn't any official announcement, I guess Lucas will decide as post production wraps up. Either way, I hope to hear something really interesting.

As been reported, John DiMaggio (voice of "Bender" from Futurama) was hired to do the voice. I expect something kick-ass from him. I doubt he'll be doing some smart alecky or friendly voice this time.

"The Battle of Yavin" is swell, too -- especially the cue that underscores the departure of the X-wings and their initial run into the Death Star.