Uni

That happens from time to time. Some people don't have much interest in the current threads, so they bump old ones they liked. Which tends to happen when you're going downhill. . . . But hey, at least he knocked off the ALL CAPS thing.

I'm actually thinking on doing just that. Rosetta Stone, here I come. . . .

All of that makes sense—although, again, it bums me out that I can't listen to your original language broadcasts. I would love to catch you doing some of that "on the fly" sort of thinking, with free associations and spontaneous remarks on the scores you're covering. I think you're definitely on the right track with using details about the film's plot, preproduction history, trivia, etc. as an introduction to the music. The scores don't exist in a vacuum, and often times their stories are as interesting as the stories of the films they represent. I plan on tackling your next international broadcast tomorrow morning. More feedback to come. . . .

Now that I see it, the title of the thread does look familiar. However, I don't open every thread on any of these forums. I stick to the ones that look like they'll interest me. Unfortunately, I don't always look into posts with strange titles to see if they'd interest me or not (and, obviously, I often come out the loser in those situations). I'm glad I've finally caught on to this, though. I really enjoyed your first international broadcast, Thor. Frankly, you cast a much wider net than Edmund Stone did on The Score when it comes to women composers. I think he featured five or six (heavily favoring the music of Rachel Portman), where you spread things evenly over 10 candidates. I thought it was great presentation, both of their work and the overall theme of female composers. (I especially liked when you offered a rebuttal of the notion that only the male, John-Williams-style composers can offer up boisterous scores for action, adventure, or military sorts of films. It was a nice touch.) The most interesting thing you said—or what most caught my attention, I suppose—was the bit about having to be both a little broader and more detailed during your international broadcasts because listeners abroad tended to know more about film scoring than people from your "neighborhood." I wouldn't know whether that's actually the case or not, but if it is, that's an adept bit of thinking on your part. I don't know that I would've changed anything about the program if I were in your place other than switching the language. Now I'm really curious to know how your regular shows differ in content. I'm tempted to listen to them anyway; even if I can't understand a word of what you're saying, I'd be interested in hearing your choices of music. Is it usually a sort of "beginner's seminar" on film music (familiarizing your listeners with scores that are commonplace to long-time fans like us)? If so, then more kudos to you for trying to get the word out on this particular form of media. I'll be listening to more soon. Thanks again for bringing it to my attention, and keep up the fine work!

That's funny. I had exactly the opposite reaction to both films. Weird. But hey . . . to each his own. This is pretty close to my feelings about Cloud Atlas. It's a sort of guilty pleasure I just don't feel that guilty about—one of those movies I was willing to suspend my disbelief for and let them take me along for the ride. It may be flawed, but ultimately, I just didn't care. It was a fun ride. (Worth it to see Hugo Weaving's Nurse Ratched turn. As epic as Elrond.)

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - Finally caught up with the series (well, almost). Was really looking forward to this one, having loved the third installment and being assured by some folks around here (mostly Steef) that GP was better than MI:III. Which left me . . . disappointed. Not hugely; GP was a good movie, and a fitting entry in the series, but I didn't find it nearly as intense and enjoyable as the third. Which was a little baffling, since I've considered B.B. to be just about as good a director as J.J. in most situations. (If this is the tiebreaker, J.J. will walk away with the award.) I'm not sure what about it rubbed me the wrong way. It just seemed a little more . . . forced than the last one. It came off as trying too hard at times. The team wasn't nearly as interesting and engaging as the one in MI:III, with the exception of Jeremy Renner, who's connection story took things up a notch. (Simon Pegg was his usual, unchanging, Peggish self, but Ving Rames's absence was a sore blow—though I really enjoyed his cameo at the end.) The action wasn't as memorable, nor was the storyline. A good, but not truly great, entry in the series. (*** out of ****)

Okay.

Yes, yes, and yes. For those who are stuck in the groove of contemporary scoring and have yet to visit the Golden Age of Hollywood music, from the late 30s through the mid-60s Rosza was just about the closest thing to post-'75 Williams you'll find during that era. (Korngold was another, of course, though he only did 18 films. And I'd say Victor Young had the sort of melodic sophistication we love in JW's music. But Rosza was, in my opinion, consistently the best during the time of biblical-scale epics.) Scores like El-Cid, Quo Vadis, Ben-Hur, King of Kings, and Ivanhoe were the Star Wars, Superman, and Jurassic Park (so to speak) of the 50s and early 60s. Sodom and Gomorrah came right at the end of that period, and was the last work he did before a decline in the frequency of his output (he would do only four more scores over the next 10 years). I'm a little iffy on full-score rerecordings in general, but Nic Raine has shown a deft hand in the past and this is a classic score. I think I'm gonna hafta pick me up a copy.

American Beauty—One of Newman's more energetic works, full of what I like to call "clockworks" music. Good score. Definitely, though Treasure Planet was a bit superior (and Dinosaur was only slightly inferior). I'm always bummed no one ever mentions Dave, which is a personal favorite of mine from his repertoire.

Not at all. In fact, this would probably be better served as a broader topic—say, "Film Score Radio and Webcast Programs" as a general place to list both online and broadcast shows featuring film scoring and any kind of behind-the-scenes info. (Can someone change the topic title of the thread?) And thanks for posting those links. I didn't see an archived list, and was worried I'd only be able to access the most recent program. Looking forward to listening to them!

Okay . . . that is nothing short of awesome. How have I missed this over the years, Thor? I'm afraid I can't go through your entire repertoire, but I'm bumping those 10 English episodes to the front of the line immediately. . . .

Scratch what I said about not having interviews. I just listened to a terrific episode that featured Laurence Rosenthal in studio discussing his career. This show really does do it all. . . .

I did a search on this, just to see if anyone's ever brought it up before. Nothing came up—which was a bit of a surprise, because I figured someone must've stumbled onto this at some point before now. Guess not (or else they've kept it to themselves). I was searching Google for some background on a score the other day, and it led me to a website I'd never seen before. It's for a radio program in Portland, Oregon called The Score. It's hosted by Edmund Stone, a classically-trained Shakespearean actor of stage and films. If you check out the link below, and look in the right column below the title banner, you'll find a complete (well, complete as far as I know, anyway) archive of all their episodes since 2010—a total of 263 shows. I've started listening to them from the start, and I have to say . . . this is an excellent program. For anyone who loves film music (I know that doesn't apply to many folks here. . . .), whether a veteran listener or just starting out on a collection, this is an immensely entertaining presentation of music from all eras of cinema scoring. It doesn't have anything like live interviews (though they've featured a few clips of composers talking about their works); it focuses strictly on the music, and does a terrific job of giving it center stage for most of the program. The host adds some historical and contextual notes, but mostly stays out of the way and lets the music speak for itself. And rather than simply playing a wide range of arbitrary pieces from random scores—something a lot of classical stations do on weekly programs centered on film music—one of the best features of this show is that each episode is specifically themed. For instance, one episode I listened to celebrated female film composers; another traced the musical legacy of the James Bond franchise; and the one I listened to this morning was all about composers who started out as either rock musicians (Mark Knopfler, Trevor Rabin, and, of course, Danny Elfman) or jazz and television composers (including our own JW) who eventually broke into film scoring. I have a long commute to work—an hour at the least, and that's when traffic's not too heavy—so this has been a fantastic find for me, something that fills the time beautifully (just when the playlist thing was getting a little old). For someone like me, it's a perfect mix of getting to hear pieces from scores I know and listening to music I haven't heard yet, but am now interested in pursuing further. And again, if you're just starting out with this kind of thing as a hobby, you could learn a ton from this kind of resource. Here's the link. I highly recommend you all check this out: http://www.thescore.org/

Congratulations, Jason, and all the best to you and your bride. Main Title, Father of the Bride. Cheers.

Agreed. He's really done a lot in that vein, when you think about it—yet it's probably the most ignored angle of his repertoire. This might be a good "blind spot" to educate people about.

So Spielberg's making the completely unprecedented conjecture that one day a current fad will fade away and be replaced by another fad? Man, this guy's another Nostradamus! How does he come up with this stuff?!

Gotcha. You weren't taking a shot at JNH, you were giving props to Kraemer. And he may well deserve it, as well as a chance to repeat his success with the first. I'm now thoroughly convinced I need to give JR a fair hearing. I'm logging in to order it now. . . .

Ditto all of this. No idea why it would be a problem for JNH to be scoring anything. I'm not familiar with either Kraemer or his score for JR, but it sounds like I need to look into it. On the main subject of the thread: I find I'm really excited about the idea of a sequel. Reacher's one of the best "action" characters to come along in years—and I put that in quotes because he was more distinctive for his intelligence than his fisticuffs or driving abilities. (I loved the moment when his car gets stuck going in reverse toward the bad guys' hideout. He didn't pull a Jason Stratham or an Arnold, where they would've acted like that was part of their plan all along. He was really stuck, in a dilemma, not knowing what to do next. It was a great, authentic moment.) In a lot of ways, Reacher's a better role for Cruise than Ethan Hunt, who I like but is much more intense and centered around straightforward action. Reacher's a thinker, a deliberator, and takes action only when it's necessary and he has a pretty good measure on what's involved. JR was a fantastic film, and I would love to see this character doing more . . . which is the best foundation for any sequel, really. Actually, though, I'm far more concerned with the switch at director than at composer. McQuarrie did such a phenomenal job establishing that particular atmosphere, I can't help but worry that Zwick won't be able to reproduce it. But he deserves the shot, I suppose, and I'll definitely be in line to see the results.

I would use the opening of JG for a quick laugh—"Who could forget this Williams classic?"—and as a way to demonstrate in a vivid fashion to most of the people there that there's a lot of JW music they've not only never heard, but would never have dreamed he wrote. Makes for a fun snapshot illustration, but I wouldn't go into anything deeper than that, either. (You're right that How to Steal a Million is a much better score for analysis. Bachelor Flat is pretty good too, for having a similar sound as well as representing one of his earliest studio works.)

Two words: John. Goldfarb. (Especially if you're going to be playing clips from the scores you're speaking on.) I'd love to hear your presentation—though I probably wouldn't understand a word of it. . . .

Correct. Another example of Rawlings using Jerry's music as a general "pool" to draw from. (Note how the effect at the end of the cue that worked so brilliantly in the scene it was written for—the bit with the gong swipe and wind machine as Kane's body spins into space—falls flat in this secondary usage. It doesn't make any sense at the end of the exchange between Dallas and Mother. It's a good example of how and why music written for a specific moment won't work as effectively when used elsewhere.)

Of course, along with Vanlint's cinematography and Rawlings's editing. But I doubt it'd be anywhere as near affecting without the sensual yet disturbing score. Agreed on both points. Alien is one of the finest visual masterpieces in cinematic history, no question. But a standard horror-genre score would've stood out in the worst way, even detracting from the visuals to some degree. Goldsmith's music becomes a seamless element in what you're seeing, so that the soundscape matches the landscape in ways that are just so eerily effective. Think of the sequence aboard the alien ship, from beginning to end. Try to imagine it with normal, "emotive" music, compared to the unsettling, minimalist approach Goldsmith takes. The results just wouldn't be the same. Oh, good Lord. . . .

Y'know, I'd have to say I agree with that assessment 100%. In fact, Tintin felt like it was trying to emulate movies like Castle Cagliostro—and that's not to say it did a bad job of it, just that it felt more imitative of this sort of thing.

Cagliostro is a movie that's great fun. Lupin's a solid, clever character. It honestly felt more like a "real" movie to me than a lot of Miyazaki's later works, probably because it involves less sorcery and magic and more straightforward action and invention. Interestingly, I can remember seeing a laserdisc arcade video game based on this film. Made in the style of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace (the Don Bluth laserdisc games), you essentially played through a story similar to the events of the movie as Lupin—but when you made a wrong move, animation was added that showed the consequences (crashing, drowning, dying, etc.). I only saw it once or twice when I was younger, but it was brought back to me some years later when I spotted Chunk playing it during a quick cut in the movie The Goonies.

This should be a required class for all members here.