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Uni

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Everything posted by Uni

  1. Absolutely. One of my favorites as well. I've always found it a slightly unsettling moment cinematically anyway, the thought of having your body wrapped like that and then ejected into the eternal cosmos. Jerry's creativity takes it to an entirely new level, though, with his use of the gong swipe and the wind machine. Somehow he combines bitter sadness with a deeply chilling effect to create a moment that lingers with you (as much as any of the patently scary scenes do). It's a brilliant film, but I don't think there's any denying it wouldn't be nearly what it is without Jerry's genius providing the atmosphere—even in spite of the egregious meddling from Ridley and Rawlings.
  2. I read the book as a kid. It was really a great story. When I saw the movie, I thought it was . . . "over-Bluthed," as some of his projects tend to be. It was all right, but I wasn't a big fan. The score was one of its best aspects. The first was by far the best!
  3. Long overdue . . . though not much new material here. Still, it's an easy decision to order.
  4. Y'know . . . it wasn't boring, but it did seem a little fanboyish of you to run off a list of recent JW listens, given the topic of conversation. . . .
  5. Film music. Seriously. Any day of the week, pretty much any time of day. Which film music? Any of it. I don't subscribe to any notions of requisite moods or settings—although the right choice can sometimes enhance both of those elements, to be sure. But I can't imagine expending mental effort on making so specific a choice. I let the music take me where it's going, not the other way around. Of course, even that gets its stimulation from variety. I don't think there's any single score I could listen to every single day for years and not eventually tire of it. (That's really what did in the Star Wars main title for me. Too many hearings dulled it for me, so that it's become probably my most-avoided piece of JW music over the last 10 or 15 years.) There are some that have shown remarkable durability—Superman, for instance—but I need a break from even the best of themes and scores after a while. That's what made the advent of playlists and the shuffle option so magnificent. I used to have a set of 3x5 cards with lists of all my scores printed on them (this is back in the day when my collection was still solidly encamped in 2-figure totals). I knew most of the music so well that I could "play" it in my head at will. I would carry those cards and set of dice with me. I had a whole system set up to determine what results led to which scores. At odd moments, when I needed to occupy my mind with something, I would roll the dice to randomly select a score, and I would choose a piece to start replaying in my head. It was the closest thing I had back in those Stone-Age days to a shuffle option. I could put together randomly assembled lists on cassette or (eventually) CD, of course, but I was the one putting it together so I knew what the order would be, and eventually I'd learn the order anyway and it wouldn't work any more. I dreamed of a time when technology would do it for me. And like flight, space travel, and measles vaccination, one day my dreams became reality. I do have certain playlists for certain activities or arenas—you can't write to distracting action music, and each major composer has his own collection of best-ofs—but for the most part, I let the collection go where it will and enjoy not knowing what's coming next. And it never gets old for me.
  6. My first thought: $30 for an obscure book on just one film score? My second thought: Why not? Where the hell else am I going to get information like this? Supply meets demand. . . . I think I'll order myself a copy.
  7. Wow . . . that trailer was some seriously awful crap. Can't even imagine I'll take the time to watch the show now. And about that promo poster . . . what's with the cables attached to the jet packs? Didn't they have free-moving jet packs in the movie? If this takes place years after the story in the film, why would they need cables now? And does it really make sense to have jet packs if you can only use them where they've got cables strung up? (Actually, the bigger and more damning question is: did some knucklehead use a still from the show before the cables were matted out?) So have most networks at one time or another. Fox is actually much better at taking a show that's great during its first season and horribly and inexplicably maiming it by changing its premise during its second season, leading to cancellation immediately thereafter. (Looks like they're taking a shortcut on this one and just making it terrible from the start.)
  8. This is the real world. Everything else is the matrix. Sorry to see you go, Richard. I can understand the desire for privacy (not many people know this, but "Uni" isn't my real name, either), although I'm not sure I see the need to take it to these lengths. I can respect your wishes, though, even if it deprives us of your company. Wow . . . that thing is good.
  9. Both older and younger, for me. My 21-year old has been hooked on JW for years (I know how to raise 'em). My 10-year old got a tablet last Christmas that's packed with film music from a number of different composers, but he especially loves Star Wars and Star Trek music.
  10. I'd love to be creative and totally original with this, but I can't think of a better example than "The Ballroom Scene." When you have a gift like that in your hands and you fail to use it, you're guilty of criminal incompetence. Which is one of the reasons the answers to this question are bound to be limited. Most directors would kill to have JW scoring their film, so he has very few rejected scores and pieces making it a very small pool to draw from. There'd be a lot more to choose from if you were asking the same about Goldsmith, Horner, or most other composers.
  11. When I first picked up POTA, I wasn't expecting the abstractness of it (I hadn't seen the movie in years), and I absolutely hated it. It would be a long, very patient learning process before I grew to understand and eventually love what Goldsmith did with the music for that film—although I still don't find it a very soothing listen, to be sure. I can't even. . . . . . . .
  12. I'm sure there are plenty of examples I could think of, but the one that leaps to mind immediately is The Game. I remembered the music conveying a chilling effect during the movie, but was thoroughly bored when I listened to it separately. I also think you have to give a score a second, and sometimes third or fourth, chance to get through to you. I can agree that much of T2 is a pretty mechanical experience, but I wouldn't dream of tossing out a CD that contains pieces like "Desert Suite" and especially "It's Over/Goodbye," the best piece Fiedel ever composed. That's another pretty good example. I'm still not completely sold on the music outside the movie, but I can't picture that picture without it.
  13. Well, 2712 since the new boards went up. I probably did at least that many back when the board was in outline form. And you know as well as anyone that used to be one to unload 10,000-word corkers on a pretty regular basis. I've gotten away from that . . . but still, if you went by word count instead of post count, I'd probably be pretty close to you--if not for your (outstanding) Deep Space Nine thread.
  14. How could I have known this morning when I woke up that today would be the day I'd hit the big 150. . . ?
  15. That misses the point. My bafflement rests altogether on the notion that we have to propose and adopt a plan en masse . . . in order to be civil and decent to people who just want to hang out and discuss our favorite subject with us. Blows my mind.
  16. That's your opinion, dude. (Pay no attention to the fact that the bold "IM" on my shirt is slanted to the right. . . .)
  17. No kidding. I always love flaming posts denouncing flaming posters. He was talking about Thor?! He referred to him as a "terrorist," fercryinoutloud? Gimme just a small break.
  18. So . . . that qualifies as a "plan?" To not be an asshole to someone until they reach a certain post count . . . and then to choose to be an asshole after that? Do you think we'll retain a lot of newbies who, as soon as they hit #151, suddenly get pounded to dust for no reason they're aware of? The alternative, of course--and I know I'm stretching things a bit here--is to simply not be an asshole. Like, ever. I think we'll have plenty of retention if we follow that track. The flip side, however, involves just what your definition of "asshole" is. Some folks can't handle strong personalities. Some people can't handle a simple dissenting opinion. Let's face it, some softskins should just shut their computer down and steer clear of the interwebs. People speak their minds in places like this, and if you can't deal with that, you shouldn't be in places like this. Lively debate is what makes a subject-specific internet forum such a great place to hang out. There's another, similar plan you could consider (if you're genuinely interested in opening the door to new members and keeping them here): instead of putting them on a learning curve with us, you could choose to put yourself on a learning curve with them. Pay attention to their posts, see where their interests are, test the waters of their particular sense of humor in some harmless fashion. See how they react to some of the more belligerent exchanges between veterans. Watch and learn how quickly they fit into the dynamic here. If we were to get, say, another BloodBoal (God help us!), he/she would probably waste little time in stirring some waters on their own, and you'd know you wouldn't have to wear kid gloves when handling them. If another younger poster, particularly a young lady, were to start breaching the water with a few experimental posts, you're probably intelligent (or at least intuitive) enough to understand that it'll take a while before she's ready to put on the spikes and kick in with the rest of the yamuckamucks. (And counting down the posts until she reaches 150 is probably the best way to ensure her speedy departure when the time comes.) But there's one more dynamic in play that your plan doesn't account for: as we've already read from people in this thread, most folks lurk for a good while before they jump in and start posting, and most of them don't need a 150-post limit to know how things work around here. For some, there's a reason they haven't opened up yet (could have to do with some of that whole "asshole" thing). And some of them might be reading this thread and nodding their heads at the reminder of just why they've kept silent up to now, and why they'll continue to do so as a result. . . .
  19. You guys reveal an interesting point: George Lucas can only succeed with characters in a certain, very specific age range. Once he goes too old (Indy) or too young (Anakin/Vader), he completely loses control and is no longer viable. So we've just proven that Lucas is the Andromeda Strain of the cinema. . . .
  20. It fits the character well enough. Not really "jam session" material, true, but it did what it was supposed to do. (Although I was somewhat pleasantly surprised when the Colorado Symphony Orchestra performed it as part of an extended Star Wars tribute a few years ago at Red Rocks. That's not usually a theme that gets much play on the performance circuit.)
  21. Gremlins gets a lot of love, but I found this one to be so much better. It definitely has the fun/mischievous vibe down pat.
  22. I love the "lull" music you're referring to. It's some of the great stuff from that score. Would you say you're mostly a fan of JW's action/fanfare music then, and not so much of his quieter stuff? Oh, and . . . it's great to see you back again!
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