Uni

Umm . . . what's left to discuss, then. . . ? Kidding . . . I'm kidding, man.

It's scored by a pretty simple metric gauged by the order everyone uses for their list. Their top choice gets 10 points, their second choice gets 9, etc., all the way down to 1. (That's why the order, and no "ties," was so important.) It's been a wild competition so far, too. Some big surprises (for me, anyway), and the jockeying for the top 4 positions hasn't stopped since the poll started. In fact, there's currently a tie in the list right now, one I'm hoping someone (Jay, maybe!) will come in and break. I still need to post mine--because of a technical glitch, I won't be able to do so until tomorrow--but I've already added my own into the tabulation, so I can't break the tie myself. This has been so much fun to watch that I'm considering doing a sort of "recap" of the action, so you guys can see what I watched unfold. It's been a blast!

I'm thinking I'll go ahead and close it down and post the results tomorrow as planned. I just don't think it'll sustain much more interest, for one thing. And at this point I don't think the top 10 is going to change. There's a significant point difference between #10 and #11, almost as though these ten were destined for their places. If it were closer, there might be reason to wait and encourage more people to get involved. But it's looking like it is what it is, and there's not much reason to hold out any longer.

I can say that no release ever made me happier than the one on the lower right. The one that started it all.

I was going to tell you you're no weirder than anyone else around here, but . . . well, that's probably a mixed compliment at best. Suffice to say that your interest in film music doesn't make you strange. It just makes you you. And there's nothing at all wrong with that. I'm guessing you're one of our younger members. Back in the days when I started collecting—maybe right around the age you are now—I had already developed an aptitude for recognizing and retaining the music from movies in my head as being a component every bit as important as the acting and cinematography. When I learned that one could actually own this music for themselves, and listen to it apart from the film that inspired it, I was ecstatic and began grabbing up everything I could get my hands on. I didn't think this made me weird; on the contrary, I valued the idea of being unique, and therefore thought it made me great! Of course, I had to learn during those years that not everyone shares my interests, and didn't necessarily think I'm awesome just because I listened to movie music. And that's fine. Like you, I also was a fan of a lot of pop music back then, so it wasn't like I was a total alien to my friends. But I also felt, like you, that none of that music could plumb nearly the same depths as film scores could. These days, I listen to instrumental music almost to the exclusion of everything else (except for some occasional forays back into my old pop favorites), and I feel less need than ever to have to explain myself to people who don't understand. All this to say that you're cultivating an eclectic taste for a very specific kind of music, one that (as you said) doesn't appeal to most of the public, at least on a conscious level. But that is one of the great things about the advent of the internet: before forums like this existed, I almost never got the chance to discuss my interests with anyone else, much less debate the merits of certain composers/scores/periods of music, etc. The journey has certainly improved since I've been able to start sharing it with others. (That's the one area where our experiences differ; you're lucky, in that you'll never know what it's like not being able to do what we're doing right now.) This would be a great step in the right direction. It's got a fixed place in my JH Top 10 (which I hope to post today. . . .)

That's where his low-key, everyman take that he brought to most every performance worked surprisingly well. The character was almost right in between his two personas in Regarding Henry—the smug lawyer and the aw-shucks common man. Like you said, it left you ambivalent about his guilt or innocence.

There was a time, my dear, in distant ages past (like the 80s 'n' stuff), when the physical acquisition of rare film score releases was something akin to Indy going after the lost ark or the holy grail. These days it's just not the same thing; once Indy could jump online and order these artifacts for a modest shipping charge, the whole bullwhip-and-fedora thing kinda lost its verve. I still haven't decided which era is better; it is nice to have access to all this wonderful music these days, but something in me misses the hours I spent flipping through hundreds of LPs at WaxTrax and the inordinate thrill that came with finding a piece I knew was a rare find. It's been a while since I've stopped to think about those—nowadays it's all about the value on eBay, and I'm not one to sell even my less-than-useful scores—but here are a few I can recall: Dragonslayer by Alex North: the edition I owned was listed in the yearly Soundtrack Market book (yes, they used to have those) as being worth at least $300. Not a great score for listening, but it once had crown-jewel status in my collection.Krull by James Horner: I owned the SCSE Edition from the beginning, which was the only near full-length version on the market at the time.High Road to China by John Barry: I don't think this one was released at all other than in the limited-edition SCSE version, which I owned and treasured.The Lord of the Rings by Leonard Rosenman: The Ralph Bakshi animated version of Tolkien's epic was a galactic turd, but the score was a passable effort by a good composer. I owned the double-LP set that featured art from the film on each side of both records. Another fairly rare and valuable piece.Superman II by Ken Thorne: the score was a dim shadow of the original Williams classic, but the LP had the "S" symbol laser-etched into the record at each compass point. Very cool-looking.There were others, I think, but they escape me at the moment. I was "proud" of having the physical copies of these back in the day. There are others (such as many of the multi-disk releases already mentioned above) that I love having because I've wanted the music for years, but—like I said—most of them are readily available these days, so actually possessing the CDs themselves isn't the special aspect. For what it's worth, I like how you're approaching the hobby of collecting film scores. I agree with you that comparing composers competitively, as one being "better" than another, isn't the best way to chase the classics. It makes for interesting conversation in places like this, but if you really want to broaden your perspectives you should view each composer simply as having their own voice and style, and make a conscious effort to listen to the best of that voice and style that each one has to offer. That's where the folks around here will be able to help you best.

. . . which was a great role for him, BTW.

So . . . looking back at Joey's threads for the Top 10 JW Scores, I was surprised to realize he allowed a whopping 5 months for everyone to collect their thoughts and vote. Granted, this is a Williams board and not the Hornershrine, but is a mere two weeks too short a time for everyone here? Do people need more time? I figure we could give this at least a month if there are folks still struggling to decide. Then again, with this not being a Horner board, people might just as easily lose interest if we wait too long. I'm willing to postpone the closing of the polls, but it's up to the hoi polloi. What do you guys think? Should we give this another couple of weeks, or has everyone who wants to vote already submitted their choices?

Thanks for posting those, Jay. I was going to go looking for them (to draw some ideas about the added metrics he used), and now you've saved me the time.

Of course there's not. Like I said, we've already got one for him, and we'll shortly (like, tomorrow) have one for Horner as well.

Ford is Ford in most films he's in, if we're honest about it. He fully occupied the persona of a few characters in his films—Han Solo, Indy, etc.—but he's not an actor who tends to "stretch" himself most of the time, going for deeper roles, accents, flourishes, none of that kind of thing. That's not to say I think he's a bad actor, or that I don't like the movies he's in (I do, usually); he's just Ford. What you see is what you get.

Yeah, they never topped that one. I thought Baldwin did a much better Jack Ryan than Ford did. (He's who I always pictured when reading the books.)

We actually did it twice, ten years apart. Joey ran the proceedings both times. I think the last one was at least two or three years ago now. The Empire Strikes Back won in both cases, and though I think there might've been a little movement on the list, most of the same scores were on each one.

That's fine. We need an official JWFan list, now that we'll have one for JW and JH.

. . . which is most of what we get around here, which is why it's nice to see a lady show up and offer a view from the other side of the fence. We don't get enough of a feminine presence here. Umm . . . sure. Why not? I'd say it's nearly indispensable, as Horner music goes. Not a lot of original sounds in it, but it remains one of his better epics. Some consider it one of his best. It was one of the turning-point scores in his early career, and a fantastic adventure filmography—although it really does go best with an understanding of the film, which is also a classic adventure romp. You ought to see if you can track down the DVD for cheap (I'm sure you can). You won't regret it.

I wondered when someone was going to do this. I actually don't think JWFan has done a Goldsmith list yet. Are you actually going to be tabulating and releasing the results, Josh? (If you're not planning on it, I can do it. I've already got the matrix worked up for it.) I still have to post my Horner lists . . . then I can turn my attention to this. (Wonder if it'll be as hard. . . .)

This is just you being sarcastic again, right? You're just pullin' everyone's leg again by playing a ridiculous extreme in a completely straight manner, right? Right. . . ? Even when you say things like: That's just you joshin' us again. S'gotta be. I promised myself I wouldn't be pulled in by your poker face again, and by golly, this won't be the time it happens. Of course, it's a little harder to tell, because in your own words: . . . and the line can get so subtle that people have no way of telling (such as in the posts above) whether you're bloviating or parodying. Juss sayin'. But I know you're kidding. You can't seriously be worrying about this kind of thing to such an extent. Ah . . . so in films primarily about animals (like the Disney "Buddies" movies), the violent deaths of animals is fine. Cool. Best post on the subject. "Needless" is in itself annoying as hell, whether it involves death, violence, unnecessary characters, or what have you. He didn't really. You missed the part in the credits where it says, "No acklays were harmed during the making of this film." Actually, you stole my thunder. I was going to bring up the years and years of absolutely senseless deaths involving redshirts on Star Trek. Really, when you think about it, this is the far greater tragedy. Here you have human beings who have joined Starfleet for no better reason (apparently) than to get killed instead of someone else, like a higher-ranking officer. They're substitute deaths. Really makes you question the "higher sensibilities" of the Federation after all. . . . In the spirit of TGP's admirable activism, I think we need to start a new organization: People for the Ethical TrEatment of Red Shirts, or PETERS. And we shouldn't just sign up to be a PETER; every one of us should act like a PETER, all day, every day. Be a PETER, and change the world!

I do need to give MoS a fair listen sometime soon. I was not a fan of the movie, but the score may well be a match for BB. (The film will never be.)

Yeah . . . I don't listen to it as much as I used to, but it's a strong work for the film in question and a superior evolution of the first score. And "It's Over/Goodbye" is Fiedel's best moment ever. It still brings the goosebumps sometimes.

I'd recommend you explore them in that order. Body Heat is good, but hardly my favorite. Good music for certain moods. "Chinon/Eleanor's Arrival" from Lion in Winter is flat-out one of Barry's finest moments. Out of Africa, however, is as indispensable as DWW. They played the Overture during the "In Memorium" sequence of the Oscars the year before last. There's never been a more perfect piece for the job.

Fair enough. You shall be spared.

Another loss that still makes me sad. The man who gave James Bond his swagger, and could out-romance just about anyone when he was in the groove. Ditto. Currently, I only own King Kong (FSM) and The Living Daylights (Rykodisc). Oh, and I picked up Dances with Wolves and Raise The Titanic used a while back, but haven't really listened to them much. Get on the Dances With Wolves thing. Now. And while you're at it, get Out of Africa, High Road to China, and Lion in Winter—or be prepared to turn in your "Film Score Fan" membership card.

That would've been my pick. Not in a million years. Nolan is as uncinematic as it gets. Whatever, dude.

Bingo. They never again came close to Cameron's vision (although, really, who does when it comes to his kind of movies?).