Jeff

I had heard the 3D transfer wasn't all that great, so I caught a 2D showing (luckily there was one in a theater nearby - there was only one in town the whole day). It was definitely worth it - whatever the flaws of this film, it is best viewed on the big screen. The set pieces are fantastic and the non-character effects are spectacular. Being surrounded by John's score alone is worth the cost of admission. I didn't notice issues with the score mix or other sound problems noted by reviewers, but my ear isn't as well trained as theirs. Overall, even though I watch this film at least annually, it is still a lot of fun and I enjoyed seeing it in a theater for the first time since the 90s. I just hope this one is at least successful enough that Episode II, the only one I haven't seen on the big screen, is re-released next year.

OST or complete score? Both. I particularly like the OST of AOTC, but I think the score works well in the film. It may not be "Roman" but I'm a sucker for the "Romantic" style.

I think you have a very interesting analysis here that shows the causes of the underlying shift in style. However, I have always preferred AOTC to TPM, so I think you may actually be explaining why AOTC is more enjoyable for me personally.

Happy birthday! I'm retiring by age 65 but there are plenty of able accountants to fill my shoes. I can only hope John Williams is still having fun after all these years!

Maybe it's just because I'm averse to change of any kind, but I particularly don't like the new main page. It seems jumbled and disorganized. But kudos to Ricard for reminding us how good the old one was.

How can you be disappointed at this point? Maybe you were the first time you watched it, but now you know exactly what to expect.

Everyone kept saying that Williams couldn't do the later HP films because they were "too dark" for his style. I disagree - I think he could have transformed the style over time and given us five more fantastic scores. And I think that answers your concern, Koray - it may as well not be the same franchise, the later entries are so different. But it would be nice to have some common threads besides a mere statement of Hedwig's theme here and there.

Every commercial on Nickelodeon/Disney is exactly like this trailer - it's just the way marketers approach children. Usually adults don't ever notice these ads; I'm not sure why this one got circulated. Putting the trailer aside, I'm looking forward to sitting in a darkened theater, seeing "A long time ago . . .," hearing John's iconic theme blare through the speakers as the opening scroll begins, and reveling in the Star Wars universe on the big screen. It's been seven years since I had that chance, and thirteen since TPM. It's glorious.

Five years is a long time, and anything can happen, but I think it will be made. These films will be successful again - a big financial gain for Lucas for a small price.

Oh, don't mind me, I'm one of those people who liked Inception. I'm not saying it was a brain-contorting philosophical enigma. But neither was it a mindless explosion-fest a la Transformers. All I mean is that it got me to think about relationships, life and death, childhood, coping with loss, moving on - those types of questions.

I LOVED the movie and I'm the sole voter who gave it 5 stars, I guess. It did all the things I really want a movie to do - it drew me in and made me forget I was watching a movie; it attached me to the characters and made me interested in their fate; it had an emotional impact that made me actually feel something (that's pretty rare for me); and it engaged me intellectually and had me thinking about the film long after I left the theater. Any flaws that can be pointed to me are irrelevant - if a film can do the things I just described, nothing else matters. Of course, that makes my rating highly subjective. I haven't heard the score separate from the film, but it did its job.

Although I'd be curious to hear what JW could come up with for a Disney-style animated film, I don't think that would be his forte, and I doubt it would be better or even as good as what we have, for the most part. And I severely doubt he could have come up with a slate of Broadway-worthy songs. Tintin and War Horse were perfect examples of the two genres Williams does best - whimsical adventure/fantasy and epic drama. That's why 2011 will be considered such a successful year for him. My biggest regret is that he didn't score Harry Potter 4-8. Those films would have been right up his alley.

That's only four scores! I didn't really have a fifth in mind, but since you pressed me for it, I'll nominate Sherlock Holmes 2 since no one else probably will.

War Horse, Tintin, Super 8, and Deathly Hallows Part 2 would be on my list of nominees. Can we have a Razzies, as well? The most distracting score for me was X-Men: First Class.

I'm going. I love the movies and I'll take any chance I can get to see them on the big screen, 3D or not. (I prefer 2D if there's a choice.)

I love Williams and I think his nominations were deserved, but I definitely think Disney deserved every one of his nominations and more: http://en.wikipedia...._Academy_Awards Almost all of the nominations were for cartoon shorts. Walt was deeply involved in the production of everything at his studio, especially the shorts. The only feature-length film that he was nominated for was Mary Poppins, his crowning achievement, and well deserved. He deserved nominations for nearly every one of his feature-length animated films (and I don't mean just in the animated category, which didn't exist until recently), but he didn't get a single one (unless you count the honorary award for Snow White, and the one for Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, which was later released as part of a feature-length film). He also produced several classic live-action films, like Swiss Family Robinson and The Parent Trap.

People keep saying the Artist will win for score, but where is that coming from? Is the buzz around the score as big as the buzz around the film itself? Score doesn't always follow suit with the Best Picture favorite.

War Horse I was very excited to see this movie and it far exceeded even my high expectations. I liked virtually everything about it. The score was just right. I wanted to hear more of the main theme throughout, but Williams wisely withheld pushing that button too many times. Just one more time and it would have gotten cliche. It has my vote for Best Picture, even though I'm sure it has no chance.

P.S. I think Life's a Happy Song was better than Man or Muppet.

Congrats to Williams! His War Horse is 100% deserving of the win. I saw it over the weekend and the score was classic Williams. But I'm not familiar with the politics of Hollywood so I won't try to predict the outcome.

What? http://en.m.wikipedi...lly_Goats_Gruff This well known tale obviously didn't cross the Atlantic. For the record, I'm an American and I grew up hearing this story.

I could go for 2012 right now. If it comes true, it would become particularly chilling.

I finally saw Tintin over the holidays. The theater was relatively empty on a weekday afternoon. I've been surprised at how poorly its doing at the box office - I never would have thought, as Box Office Mojo is predicting, that War Horse would do better. Having never read the comics, I had a completely fresh view of the subject matter, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The action was top-notch, the pacing was great, the characters were fun, and the story was clever. When it ended, it left me wanting more, which is absolutely a good thing - I hardly think it was "too short," as some people are asserting. The animation was light years ahead of Polar Express, which turned me off of the motion-capture animation initially. Tintin was beautifully shot and I liked that the animation bordered on reality at times. The music was a lot of fun - as others have pointed out, it was reminiscent of Catch Me if You Can and KOTCS. I haven't listened to the OST yet, but I'm severely tempted to buy it now. The one thing Tintin had against it was that it had a childlike sense of adventure that would have captivated me much more strongly if I had discovered it at a younger age. As it is, Tintin doesn't occupy some special place in my heart, so it will have to fight with the dozens of other characters and worlds that have been introduced to me in the last few years. I enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes and Mission Impossible sequels just as much. Still, Tintin is a worthy film and I hope it sees more success.

I love that movie.

Why is the first poster in Russian? According to the poster, it opens February 9th there, I guess.