charlesk

In general, my opinion of a person goes down when he is also an unoriginal copycat. CharlesK

I saw that some predictions of Oscar nominations of Original score are: frontrunners ? John Williams - Catch Me If You Can ? Wojciech Kilar - The Pianist ? Nicola Piovani - Pinocchio ? Craig Armstrong - The Quiet American ? Thomas Newman - Road to Perdition contenders ? Elmer Bernstein - Far From Heaven ? James Horner - The Four Feathers ? Elliot Goldenthal - Frida ? Elmer Bernstein, Howard Shore - Gangs of New York ? Charlie Mole - The Importance of Being Earnest ? Alan Silvestri - Lilo & Stitch ? John Williams - Minority Report ? Mychael Danna - Monsoon Wedding ? Rachel Portman - Nicholas Nickleby ? Peter Gabriel - Rabbit-Proof Fence ? James Newton Howard - Signs ? Cliff Martinez - Solaris ? John Williams - Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones I have to check out the other movies.

Oh, God. Williams playing jazz, what else can I ask? Williams will take over my music collection! As for Christopher Walken, I look forward to see him. The guy is very good, but had bad luck for gettng good parts, mostly because he is always type-casted as a psycho, evil, scary type of guy. And I'm sure Spielberg is back with some of the stuff that positioned him as a cinematic genius back in the 70s.

The E.T. music that was supposed to be used when ET is with Elliot installing the signaling device. Strings simulating the wind. If she doesn't fall with this, leave her.

Hey, even though I'm from the Original trilogy, and I don't care much for this kid, if he is fired 'because of bad acting' I would defend him myself, as a professional in my own area, defending other professionals being defamated by powerful bosses. And there will be other people defending him for less rational reasons. The fans could fire Lucas. Without his fans watching his stupid attempts of directing, he is nobody. Nobody will hire him as a director or produce any of his movies.

This HAS to be a joke, unless Haydn was fired for another reason. I could believe: - Haydn doing a contract infringement for wanting to squeeze in schedule another job - Haydn having a difference with Lucas, and Lucas arrogantly suggesting that he could have easily replaced Haydn with a CGI. - Haydn criticizing Lucas' bad directing, - Lucas accusating the actors of the not so good box-office of AOTC, and not willing to pay an agreed fee for next episode - Other, BUT.... ... I can't believe Haydn being fired for bad acting. Although he could have acted better, same as everybody else if they were better directed and dialogs weren't so cliche, Haydn did a great job. If this is indeed true, I'm sure it will propel a wave of critics from the fan community and from the actors and filmakers community in defense of Haydn, and the target of these critics will be Lucas and his sub-par directing and scriptwriting, as the real responsible of the film's less than expected performance.

I would like to see the conductor's face if he heard this from a kid. LOL

You should be happy. Elliot is indeed very talented and original. Have you seen the Horner and Zimmer profiles? Those are really something to be ashamed of...and a riot to read

Oh, that's why I got Goldsmith, even though I'm rather a Williams' fan. The Omen (1976) was the first movie that got me curious about movie soundtracks. Then it came Star Wars (1977). Weird how this test works.

"Congradulations, you're Jerry Goldsmith! You're versatile, reliable, and almost everybody loves you! You had your full share of new experiences long ago, and by now you know exactly what works. You can handle virtually all situations imaginable with an equal amount of ease. You've scored such films as Patton, Planet of the Apes (the original), Total Recall, Rudy, Medicine Man, Basic Instinct, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Gremlins, Poltergeist, Hoosiers, Mulan, The Mummy, and The Omen (for which you won an Oscar)." Oh, my God, I've got Goldsmith. CharlesK - who will meditate about this...

Sh!t, they found out and closed the site.

Well, at that time, doing the lightsabers was a challenge. They did it with a metal saber that reflected light, and afterwars they painted it. The possibilities of a lightsaber duel were unknow, mostly because of technical limitations. Also, I think that duel was closer in technique to the Japanese martial art that inspired the Jedi fight (it's called Kendo, search Internet for videos). Later on, with more technology they give themselves more freedom to make these fights more spectacular. I would love to see the old Alec Guiness fighting like Christopher Lee (which was a double whose face was digitally substituted by Christopher's). Let's not criticize a movie because of technical limitations or because it is outdated from the FX standpoint. Those who have lived the original trilogy will always think the prequels could be done better. Those who haven't still think the prequels are good. And they indeed are; just try to find any other movie with such complexity in the story, such ambiguity in the characters, and the depiction of this fantastic world that is between sci-fi and fantasy. All movies could have been done better, but the SW saga is for me bigger than Lucas, bigger than its actors, bigger than the movies. It is now in my mind, a great story, all flaws removed. And guys, we all share love for this story. Let's not fight.

It's getting hot in here, isn't it? What I do is just take from the prequels story, and watch them in my mind. They are great in there.

No it didn't, your post triggered mine, in an effort to use a hypothetical alternate version of some scenes to explain the wasted potential of the story. I was listening today in the car the music when the Emperor is killing Luke and Vader is looking, and even though is just a mask, you see the conflict, and then resolutely takes the Emperor and throws him to the abyss. An example of a story well told, even when the actor is using a mask. I was in tears just remembering that scene. It's the dream of teenagers (of all ages): having your hard-headed father understand you and your ways, and be on your side and save you when you are in trouble. Don't get me wrong, as much as I criticize Lucas of the prequels, I admire him and am in debt with him for the memorable moments he gave us.

Yeah, that's scriptwriting. The story is about what happens, the movie script is about how it happens. A Raiders story is just like this: "Dr. Jones, an archeologist is assigned to get the Lost Ark, currently being searched by the nazis. He outsmarts the nazis and finds it first, but the nazis take it from him. Ultimately, the power of the ark kills the nazis and Dr. Jones survives because he shows respect for it." In the Episode II story: "...and Shmi dies before Anakin can do something..." Just that. But when you are writing the movie script, you have to come out with the "how it happens", seeking for drama, originality, suspense, character development, etc. With a bad script, a good story would be wasted. The Raiders story above, as good as it is, would have been a B-movie in the hands of a mediocre scriptwriter.

Oh, my God. I haven't thought of that. So many good movies so close, all scored by Williams. If he needs help transcribing notes, I'll help, but he has to do all of them! CharlesK - starving for good movies with great scores.

The Dark Side is taking over... "Difficult to see, the Dark side is" - Yoda

That kind of scene does not belong to you 'defended' SW way. They can cut limbs, bodies, but not gore scenes. That death will farer from Sw than the actual one. It does belong. This is the event that turned a guy from good to evil, the event that changed the balance of the Force in the Universe, a turning point in an epic saga told in no less than 6 movies and 25 years. It's been called for. A good director could make this scene, without showing any drop of blood, without showing anything, just suggesting it to the imagination of the audience. And it would be great. In Episode 3, I'm sure somebody else will die dramatically, completing the turning of Anakin to the dark side. Of course is Amidala who will die, we all know it. But how? How dramatic this would be? I really hope it won't be as silly and idiotic as Shmi's dead.

Wow, suddently everyone is a scholar in paleontology. Everyone seems so sure about everything. Funny, because a few years ago, paleotologists assured Spielberg that dinosarus where hot-blooded, not cold-blooded like it was originally thought. He did the movie like that, then later they changed their minds, they were cold-blooded, again. And they keep changing their minds about everything we've been taught in school. So, is there a point in defending and arguing theories here? I just like dinosarus. They seem to have been wonderful creatures. Period.

What a good screenwriter and a good director would do with AOTC? - Amidala's decoy is killed in the first scene: this is a great opportunity for acting. These girls were friends for more than 10 years, going everywhere, adventures here and there. This should show that Amidala has indeed feelings and fears. But no. What happened? Why Amidala's cold acting? - Get rid of the pseudo-poetic corny language. There is only one Shakespeare. - Anakin mother's dead: an opportunity to make a predictable plot unpredictable. We all knew she was going to die. But just like that? Ludicrous. This was an opportunity to find the mother, rescue her alive, being discovered by the tuskens, defend her in the honorable way of a Jedi, but being outnumbered and see his mother being cut her throat by a coldblooded tusken. And then, the rage, the dark side and the killing. It would be a thrilling movie experience, because all the audience would be with Anakin, understanding, sharing his rage. This dead is a mayor turning point in the saga, and in AOTC was wasted. These are only three ideas a good screenwriter and a good director would do to improve the telling of this amazing story. This story has so much potential, the political corruption, the hidden Palpatine's plot, the events that turned a good kid into an evil one, etc. If Lucas should have read just one of the many published books about scriptwriting and movie direction, we would have now another life-changing event.

I nominate this as one of the best posts of 2002. CharlesK- Who still doesn't have a DVD-ROM.

What I did notice is that the Chamber of Secrets Theme is inspired by the Emperor's Palpatine theme. But the fact remains inconspicuous because it's orchestrated diferently and melted into the more melodically complex soundtrack.

Star Wars: Episode IV Oscar Academy Awards: - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Winner) - Best Costume Design (Winner) - Best Effects, Visual Effects (Winner) - Best Film Editing (Winner) - Best Music, Original Score (Winner) - Best Sound (Winner) - Best Actor in a Supporting Role- Alec Guinness (Nominated) - Best Director - George Lucas (Nominated) - Best Picture (Nominated) - Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen - George Lucas (Nominated) Academy Special Achievement Award: - Ben Brutt for Sound Effects (Winner) Only from the Academy Star Wars was nominated in 10 categories, won 6 Oscars and one Special Achievement Award. It was a phenomenon at its time. Can you believe a sci-fi movie doing this good? Empire: 3 nominations, 1 won oscar and 1 Special Achievement in visual effects Return of the Jedi: 4 oscar nominations, won 1 Special Achievement in visual effects Episode 1: 3 oscar nominations, nothing won Episode 2: we'll see. Probably a Special Achievement in digital imaging Star Wars: A New Hope, the movie that initiated the saga, is legendary for a reason. Lucas hasn't done anything better yet, and the more money and technology he has, the worse he becomes. He's fallen into his own dark side of the Force You guys from the prequel generation cannot understand the impact the original trilogy had in ours. It was a life changing event. That's why we are sometimes rude and angry about the prequels, because we know what Lucas was capable of doing with much less money, control and technology. Oh, guys, if you only were there... you would understand our disappointing...

To clarify the polemic about the first kiss scene un AOTC, it is important to notice that in the whole movie Lucas is controlling the console and playing with the volumes. Also, Lucas has committed every imaginable editting blasphemy with Williams score. The music was too low in most action scenes, cuts everywhere, music refurbished from Episode 1, etc. So, if the music here had a very abruptly muting (not cut, the music actually continues), this is responsibility of Lucas, not Williams. I think the intention of Lucas (and Williams) was to make a funny scene, but it resulted ambiguous, because the characters are not regarded as funny. These are not Leia and Han, whose relationship always was funny. A muting like this with Han and Leia would result in an unambiguous and honest laugh, also because Carrie Fisher would act better the temperamental princess and Harrison Ford would put one of his hilarious faces. In AOTC, the polemic produced by the scene is a flaw of direction, not scoring. As for the subject of the thread, I can't remember any bad scoring by Williams that wasn't the result of a directors cut, improper use of bad editting.

I bought the DVD yesterday and saw it last night. As one of the guys who where disappointed with the movie I have to say that AOTC is much better appreciated on DVD. I enjoyed the movie much, much more. The flaws are still there, though, especially the acting of Anakin and Amidala, and the unnatural pseudo-poetic dialogs between them, particularly in the fireplace scene. And Anakin mother's sudden death still makes me laugh. Remarkably enough, I found that the best acting was delivered by the CGI Yoda, followed by the sweet duality of Palpatine and then Obi-wan. Upon viewing the documentaries, I found a possible explanation. As seen in these very extended documentaries, the filmaking process was so cumbersome with the many details of artificial beings and effects, that most takes lasted just seconds. It was like: Action!...three seconds of acting, and the bell rings to cut. It has to be dificult for any actor to get into the character in such short and constantly interrupted scenes. But for the CGI Yoda, every movement was discussed over and over, and received more care and attention from Lucas than the care actors seemed to have received. However, the movie still stands strongly in the saga, displaying a brilliant segment of the Star Wars story and the DVD will not disappoint because is full of features, excellent quality and great value.