Delorean90

Huh? It suits the scene perfectly. Hm, I would've thought the theme from the first half of the cue would be Kal-El's Theme. I called the theme in the actual flight the Krypton Lament (or something about Krypton) because of its presence throughout the Krypton sequence. A re-view of the film might show me the error of my ways, but I caught the theme after listening to the OST, so I didn't have it so much tied to Kal-El as to the overall sequence that dealt with Krypton's downfall. As to the emotion of the scene, it feels off to me because it seems to be dealing with a facet of Kal-El's journey that we're not in right at the moment. This is Kal-El discovering extents of his power that he didn't know previously, and getting to embrace it, openly. The music I hear in that scene doesn't have any connect to the huge smile on his face, the joy of that scene. The hinting to the Superman theme in the first half had me set up for a big triumphant workout of the theme as Superman blissfully discovers his power of flight, and instead I get slapped in the face with music that seems more like it's intended for something else. It feels more climactic, or...bombastically introspective?

You need someone else to explain to you why you had issues with the film? Perhaps I worded that poorly. His perspective fleshed out or complemented my issues. I knew going out of the film that I felt the action overtook the film in a way that wasn't constructive, that the devastation was overwhelming and not addressed adequately, that the film set up a lot of thematic material and character possibilities that it ultimately neglected. As with any meeting of ideas, his own comments enhanced my thought process; a lot of the things he was saying resonated with the things I was thinking about the film already.

Aliens Saw this at a midnight showing, theatrical version. Great digital transfer. I had only seen the film once before, and that was at a friend's house. The experience was much more intense in the theater, which was great--some jump moments I'd forgotten about that really got me; . (It's amazing how many of those scares can be prominently attributed to Horner's damn piccolo/violin screeches.) It was nice to see in an audience as well. A great moment was when Ripley suggests nuking the site; Hudson's "fuckin' A!" got a huge laugh (oddly, not as much response to "Game over, man! Game over!"). Excellent experience. Back to the Future Got to introduce my youngest brother to this one at long last, also in the theater--this one for Cinemark's Classic Series. Wonderful as always, and it's now basically my brother's favorite movie.

I'll be specific: I find the use of the Krypton lament or whatever in "Flight" from MOS to be bad spotting, straight up. It seems to be at a total disconnect with the scene on just about every level.

He's explained this here, answering the third question. http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/8/3611344/film-crit-hulk-interview

I don't think he claims it to be a review. He writes essays on film/drama/narrative; in this case he used MOS as an example of the issues he was talking about. It connects back to a recent essay he wrote for BAD that talked about convolution in blockbusters. Perhaps the problem is that you're thinking of it as a review. I trust you wouldn't have any trouble reading a lengthy article/essay if you were approaching it as such.

I thought he made/makes a lot of good points. Not all of them are ironclad, but my ambivalence toward the film made a lot more sense after reading it.

Agreed. The score was excellent. Also agreed. When I finally saw the original this year (I watched the originals to prepare for seeing the remake), I was surprised at how much of the film was genuine suspense, and well-done at that; very atmospheric. I felt like I was watching something that Alfred Hitchcock might've done if he was just starting out in the late '70s/early '80s as an American independent filmmaker that wanted to tell a gory story. Something else that was also missing was a lot of the character of the Deadites. The lack of actual monstrous transformation definitely hurt it, but just as much of a problem was the nature of the possessed. It was enough that it almost might as well have just gone by a different name. That said, Alvarez has said he wants to follow the tradition of having different flavors for each film, so perhaps we'll get more of the fun/character next time around. I would be curious to see what he could do with a script that's a little more in the vein of any of its predecessors. And one other thing: did anyone else find that the amount of abuse Eric took hurt the film?

Oh, wow. I would pay to see that. That would be phenomenal. Yeah, any science fantasy of the Star Wars ilk in that style would be a real treat.

The subtext, imagery, and humanity on display - plus it's made be a real auteur. Nolan's BATMAN trilogy is utterly juvenile in comparison.That better be sarcasm. Not at all. Nolan's films were just trendily nihilistic in an adolescent way, with no real spirituality, insight or depth of feeling. If Schumacher's films were aimed at 6 year olds, Nolan's were for 16 year old American males. Where was the real nihilism outside of Joker's speeches? Inside Chris Nolan's skull. Come on, now, can't we be constructive here? I'm really trying to follow this. TDK is the only of the films where I see any kind of nihilism represented in a strong way. Begins is chock full of idealism, and I thought that TDKR didn't have quite the same following amongst the sort of adolescent audience you speak of because it lacked the kind of teenage ear-tickling that the Joker offered in the previous installment. Really, I see a very interesting growth arc in the trilogy. Begins has the idealism of youth, then TDK presents the adolescent confrontations with overwhelming evil, leading to a need to overcome the resultant apathy and despair in TDKR, ultimately embracing life. In what way do you see this nihilism (and I agree that the trendy nihilism I think you're talking about is disturbing and obnoxious) as the reigning theme of the trilogy as a whole?

Yep.

The subtext, imagery, and humanity on display - plus it's made be a real auteur. Nolan's BATMAN trilogy is utterly juvenile in comparison.That better be sarcasm. Not at all. Nolan's films were just trendily nihilistic in an adolescent way, with no real spirituality, insight or depth of feeling. If Schumacher's films were aimed at 6 year olds, Nolan's were for 16 year old American males. Where was the real nihilism outside of Joker's speeches?

Yeah, someone made an edit of it. It's just the entirety of "Anything is Possible" as originally scored. This ending segment was dialed out in favor of Rage Against the Machine's "Wake Up."

The subtext, imagery, and humanity on display - plus it's made be a real auteur. Nolan's BATMAN trilogy is utterly juvenile in comparison. Can you elaborate? If anything, I would consider it the opposite, especially when the trilogy is examined as a whole. I felt the themes at play were developed in a much more cohesive and satisfying manner in Nolan's films. I need to watch MOS again, but when I watched it I felt like a whole bunch of themes and ideas were set up in the first half of the film, and then the bell rang and everyone ran home and played fight with their toys.

Jay, I found it particularly noticeable when watching the full film. Going through the whole experience, particularly coming to the climactic section of "Anything is Possible," there's just a sense of a symbiotic build in film and score that just doesn't reach its destination when the Davis gets switched over to the song. I actually found the usage of non-orchestral material far more organic in general in the sequels, whereas the songs in the original feel much more commercial on the whole.

I mean, it works, but in a lowest common denominator sort of way. It feels more shallow. With Davis's cue, I get more of a sense not only that there is more to come, which you get with "Wake Up," but also the sense of Neo's journey, the satisfaction of the stopping point in the story that the first film's ending offers. I think you get the full package with Davis, whereas the RATM song just feels like the frat-boy ready to see some ass-whuppin'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWOF0i3oDiI

I do really wish they'd saved the Rage Against the Machine for just the end credits, though. Davis did a superb job with the finale, and it's a much better conclusion to film/score. I could really feel that crescendo going somewhere as he prepares to leave the phone booth, and then it's like the momentum of the whole film just gets cut off, going from a truly satisfying, rich conclusion to "Yeah, bro! He's gonna kick some ass." Meh. You could've had your cake and eaten it too by just delaying "Wake Up" until the credits start.

I mean, it's even idiomatically fitting. What the hell's going on in that crazy German brain of his?

Holy shit! Tender, warm woodwind and string passages! From Zimmer!

So La-La Land's released Patriot Games, Intrada's released Clear and Present Danger...c'mon, folks, let's get a complete Hunt for Red October!

Every facet of filmmaking just works together so wonderfully well in that film. I talk so much about the script, acting, score, direction, cinematography, that sometimes I neglect to point out that it's also a very nicely balanced story about good characters: neither too sweet nor too harsh, but ultimately positive. Marty and Doc and George are the kind of characters that you can root for in a way that I don't see too often these days.

Indeed. But that potential on display with the gradual development (the bus rescue is a great example of this) just makes its flaws that much more frustrating. For starters, revealing the theme with full gusto over the final title is not a satisfying payoff for that development. You've got plain bad scoring (the flight scene, which SHOULD have been the big reveal), and a lack of attention to effect of the score on an already relentless film. The score (like the Batman scores) fails to acknowledge the variances in tone and importance from scene to scene and character to character. It also provides little relief from or temperance of the bludgeoning that the film gives you; even when the action isn't quite as overwhelming, there's an incessant self-importance about the music, as Zimmer is still plagued with the need to have every moment be hugely significant. It simply gets tiresome.

Haven't seen Sherlock Holmes, but I like "Discombobulate." I actually very much like Inception; I like the pseudo-Vangelis stuff, I really enjoy the dream motive, and I think it's just an all-around great fit with the film as well.

Okay, everyone, I'm sure Koray means no...*harm*.

Matt, it seems like a lot of what you've seen is his later work. You might check out Hannah and Her Sisters; it was the first Allen film I ever saw, and I found it to be a really good entry point. It's got enough of his thoughtfulness and flavor but is also probably one of his more (emotionally?) accessible films. Love and Death is also great, a very important film in his crossover to more serious work. Honestly, I'm a pretty big fan of his '80s films (that I've seen)--Zelig is superb; I love Hannah; The Purple Rose of Cairo is also excellent (one of Allen's favorites, I think, if not his favorite); Radio Days is a hoot, nostalgic but also thoughtful; Broadway Danny Rose is one of the sweeter Allen pictures, with some really gorgeous black-and-white photography--different from Manhattan, but a real visual treat. Crimes and Misdemeanors is excellent, but, to me, in a way that almost feels a bit more aloof. It's got some very meaty material that I'll have to chew over again.