robthehand

Watched a couple of Bond films. For Your Eyes Only. I really like this one. It's my favourite Moore film by a long way, and pretty much the only one to attempt to stay true to Fleming's character. It's not the best of them, but the plot is engaging, the acting generally good, and I've always liked Topol's character. There were some nice moments of suspense (like the mountain climbing), and the action was well-handled. The score is a bit goofy in places, though it doesn't spoil the film at all for me. Most of the time it works fine. Two things I don't like: Bibi Dahl, stupid character has no place in a Bond film - and the pre-credits sequence, while not too bad in itself, is also out of place in this film. Overall a good and enjoyable film. Then I watched The Man with the Golden Gun. I'm not sure why I picked that one off the shelf, but I am sure that I won't make that mistake again. It's AWFUL. Really, really, really bad. It may even replace A View to a Kill as my least favourite film in the series. AVTAK is just boring, this is really hurtfully bad. The acting is terrible, the script worse, the direction uninspired (and that's being kind), and the gags are puerile, even by Roger Moore Bond film standards. I can enjoy Barry's score on album, but even that feels out of place here. Such a shame Christopher Lee had to be in this film. He could have made a great Bond villain, had the script been anything close to competent. Oh, and that slide whistle during the otherwise-great car-flip stunt...

Worst would have to be the individual covers for the Star Wars anthology. Which genius thought up the idea of black text on a black background?

I agree. I think Star Wars flows better as an entire score than Empire, which feels to me more like a collection of cues. And Empire's new themes, while great, can't compare to what's in Star Wars. The original Imperial theme/motif is just perfect. But we're comparing two of the all-time greats here. I only rank Empire second because Star Wars is SO great, if that makes sense.

I watched The French Connection last night. It's not my favourite film, but it's one I can watch over and over and never get tired of. I'm more impressed by Hackman and Scheider's performances every time I see it. I got my DVD of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in the post today. I haven't seen it in years, and I'll probably watch it tonight. Looking forward to it.

Stanley and Iris and Home Alone 2 are still available from Varese Sarabande, brand new, for $15.98 and $29.98 respectively: Home Alone 2: http://www.varesesarabande.com/details.asp...1102%2D1014%2D2 Stanley and Iris: http://www.varesesarabande.com/details.asp?pid=vsd%2D5255

I bought the VHS box set that includes the CD for £8.

Just bought the Exorcist CD with the suite of the unused score, which I'm very interested to hear.

I'll see the film, and if I like the score I'll buy the album.

Hmm, good thread, I need to think about it. But I'll almost certainly end it with "Gillian's Power".

You should have ordered from Screen Archives - cheaper CDs and shipping (for those items), and no import duty. SAE almost never write the value on the package - that's what makes the difference as to whether you're charged.

Oh, I definitely like it - it's one of my favourite films, I've seen it (and commented on it) many times before. Along with Vertigo it's my favourite Hitchcock film. I know Hitchcock considered it to be just an experiment (could he tell the story all from one point of view), but it's a stunningly successful and effective one.

Hitchcock.

They're faster and there's no import duty (obviously), but yes they do put up the prices enormously, far more than import duty (at least to the UK) ever costs. For the two albums I ordered today it cost me £25 shipped from America, while from Colosseum it would have cost over £40.

I watched Rear Window yesterday.

I ordered the two 1000-copy scores. I'll get the Goldsmith in a few days from SAE (hope it doesn't sell out), and maybe the Bernstein too.

No Williams... but I'll get the Goldsmith, and listen to the samples for the others.

But in a good way. - Rob, who prefers Carlito's Way

Why does the listing say it's a 4-CD box set?

Don't forgoet, titles are being announced tomorrow. For anyone interested, The Karate Kid box set is down to less than 500 copies, Gloria less than 200, and Rookie of the Year less than 250.

I stand corrected. I gave you a warning... I know. I forgot to mention, the score was boring too. I didn't notice any new themes, or new cues, in fact it was so samey it could have been tracked from the first two for all I know.

Agreed. And there are a few fun shock moments, but nothing really scary. And not that anyone cares, but I've been to the cathedral where Damien goes nuts near the beginning. Saturday afternoon I watched Shrek the Third. Had to wait for an hour because the showing I'd planned to go to was sold out. I'd brought my iPod, so that was OK - but overall the wait wasn't worth it. The film wasn't terrible, it just wasn't very good. I laughed a few times, but the whole thing felt tired and lazy. That evening I watched Carrie. Very powerful film, quite disturbing at times. Great acting all round, and really great direction - the prom sequence is just stunning. I'm never quite sure whether the ending (the dream) is absolutely perfect, or just a cheap shock - but I love it. And it's not strictly a film, but this morning I watched the first Star Trek pilot - The Cage. I can see why they didn't pick this up (there are basically no really engaging characters apart from Pike - even Spock isn't interesting yet), though it's fascinating to watch, and very well made. I like the way they later incorporated it into The Menagerie episodes.

Blade Runner...

Membran is a bootleg label that simply re-issues other albums. They've even bootlegged a few FSM albums (I've seen Membran bootleg copies of All About Eve, Beneath the 12-Mile Reef and several others in stores). The sound quality on the Tsunami album is no better than the isolated score on the DVD.

I watched The Omen with the Donner/Baird commentary last night. Fun to listen to, and lots of fun trivia, but I didn't buy Donner's idea about it all being in Robert's imagination at all. Both of them had nothing but praise for Goldsmith's stunning score. While watching it this time, it did occur to me just how well edited the film is. Overall the movie is entertaining, not great, but entertaining.