Jeff

I have the boxed set as well and I DO have the documentary. It is on the same disc as the original Jurassic Park - there is no bonus disc if I recall correctly. I'm assuming you're talking about the one with the tan/brown cover.

Faleel - I don't know but that brought up another question I've been meaning to ask. Has anyone tried stringing together all the different occurrences of Raiders' March into one audio file? I'd like to hear how many variations were concocted and what they sound like side by side.

Those are both archetypal journeys, based on the Odyssey format. Harry Potter, Star Wars, LOTR, and almost every story ever written have a lot in common because they follow a basic narrative format that has been around for thousands of years.

I've decided that whether your source ends up being right or wrong, you are my new hero. I have never witnessed the beginning, middle, and end of a successful urban legend before (good intentions aside). Assuming flaviobessajr's post is truthful, he saw your post on Conrad Pope's facebook, asked WB Brazil if the rumor was true, then posted their response in the affirmative. The rumor spread like wildfire to semi-legitimate blogosphere sources (even the hollywood quasi-news organizations) before being retracted by the original source (some sources, like Mugglenet, still haven't retracted the story). All of this within a week of the initial rumor and hours of the first comment from WB-Brazil. Isn't the world we live in remarkable?

Seriously. You should have been there as it unfolded - I was getting heart palpitations.

I don't think she ripped anyone off. The late Roald Dahl, who created the character James Henry Trotter (compare to James Harry Potter, Harry's father's name in J.K. Rowling's books) for James and the Giant Peach in 1961, could make the same claim. And it's much more likely that Rowling read his book than saw either of those movies. But even if she did watch those movies, sometimes ideas formulate subconsciously from various sources. It must be that way - we create from pieces of things we have been exposed to. Harry and Potter are both common names. It's not an unlikely coincidence that other people had thought of similar names before (and at least one person Rowling may have known actually had that name and claims she stole the name from him.) Even if Rowling had made up names that no human has ever had, she would have taken the components for those names - the syllables, the rhythm, or real words that aren't usually used in names - from her experience. Given omniscience, you could always trace an idea back to its source in the real world. (Geez, I'm reverting back to Inception logic. Thanks a lot, Christopher Nolan!) Harry Potter is different enough from any of the sources mentioned above that the phrase "ripped off" is unfair. (I realize you guys weren't as serious about this as I am, but I always feel compelled to defend one of my favorite authors.)

I have a feeling I will like Desplat's take on the HP franchise. I think I will enjoy it more if the question of Part II is behind us (one way or the other). If JW isn't doing Part II, I don't want my disappointment to tarnish my perception of Part I. So I hope the Part II announcement is well before the Part I album release.

Maybe they're waiting to hear from Desplat, as in, to hear what he has come up with. And maybe to hear what our response is to what he has come up with. So they may not make an official decision till the album is released. (?) Or maybe due to our foolish, impatient, hype-driving, rumor-spreading debate, WB will be forced to make a decision early. Maybe they will even have to abandon their attempts to get Williams. And then it will be our own fault that we don't get another Williams score next year. Or maybe they're just trying to keep it a secret.

Yeah, they're almost as untrustworthy as the American English fan blogs. I suppose that's what we're learning today.

I'm not getting my hopes up or letting them down until I hear something official from WB - not WB Brazil. And I'm certainly not trusting a Brazilian Portuguese-language fan blog.

Which sites? I'm not seeing anything denied or confirmed by WB. They will have to comment sometime today or tomorrow, though, the way things are going.

I'd rank them the same way. I don't own the full album for #4-6, though, so my rankings could change for those someday. Not likely any of them would displace 1-3.

I get what you mean - it doesn't bother me too much, though, because I consider SS and COS to be companion volumes in the series. POA is where the kids start to grow up and it really needed a turn there with the score as well (that's also why Michael Gambon grew on me and now I think he's perfect for the darker installments). COS didn't need a fresh feel because it's like Part 2 of the innocent childhood phase. Incidentally, I also like Chris Columbus's lighthearted approach to these two films. If all seven/eight films had followed in the same pattern, it would have driven everyone mad, but two stylistically and thematically similar films was just enough.

Do you even have the CDs, Datameister? I thought you said you don't have them yet. I was a holdout on getting the COS album until very recently, having judged the music by what I heard in the film. When I finally realized that COS had enough original or enhanced material to warrant adding it to my collection, I bought it and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the work. There is some pretty brilliant detail in there. (Fawkes the Phoenix and Reunion of Friends had been in my collection for years, but some of the less prominent moments in the score were worth paying for.) "Fawkes is Reborn" is one of my new favorite cues. In short, Data, I recommend you get the full album! (Though, based on what you've said in various posts I can't guarantee you'll love it.)

I agree with you. Some have been overly harsh to Hooper. I haven't bashed Hooper per se but I think his decent HP scores were a missed opportunity for true greatness. What makes his scores so disappointing in my opinion is not that they were bad but that we know what a great HP score sounds like and his are not among them. That said, his scores did not detract from the films, which is a major achievement and should not be taken for granted, and in some instances they did add a certain something. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed Half-Blood Prince. It was a moment to relax and enjoy the subtlety and joy of the relationships and Hogwarts life in general, with a brief but chilling journey into darkness, before the storm that will be Deathly Hallows. For fans of the books, the actors, and the world of Harry Potter, HBP was a lot of fun.

I don't see how a movie that made $142M domestically and $420M worldwide can be classified as a "bomb." True, it's domestic take was less than its $225M budget (All this data from box office mojo), but add in DVD sales and this was a highly profitable movie. I for one liked it better than the first in some ways; overall Caspian was a fun movie. I agree that Dawn Treader must do better, though. Sequels tend to have diminishing returns and if this one isn't a hit, future sequels will be too risky for any studio to finance.

I think in the case of Harry Potter, the combination of a crew who seems to really have a passion for the story, a talented, all-British cast, and hundreds of millions of dollars have worked together to produce something magical. Compare with Transformers and you can see that money alone is not enough. Look at Twilight and you will see (among many other flaws) that cheap effects can be detrimental to the mood.

Most likely BBC. I need to check that out someday. I've always wondered how Potter would have turned out if the Beeb had gotten to it before Hollywood. It probably would have been boring, strange, and bland. Sometimes the American studio system can sterilize filmmaking, but in this case, I think the loads of cash are necessary to inject the spectacle and magic of this particular franchise.

Agreed. If orchestral scores really are as good as we all [apparently] think they are, eventually someone will emulate Williams just as he did Max Stein et al in the 70s.

Well that's a good point, because "entertainer" is often used to mean someone who "performs" for the amusement of an audience. Here, I'm using "entertainer" to mean someone who creates something that will be used to entertain, but doesn't necessarily perform it, although John is good at the "performance" and packaging aspects of his craft, as well. But that's not necessarily new - as I understand it, the early composers (including Mozart) sometimes debuted their own works in a live performance. I would be interested in seeing John tap dance, though.

So one can be "merely" an entertainer (whose work does not rise to the level of art), or an artist (who is also an entertainer because his work entertains). Can one be an artist whose work does not entertain?

The board has been quiet for a few days so I thought I'd throw in another poll. The choices above are quite narrow and may force you to choose an option that you don't entirely agree with; go ahead an do so anyway and explain your reasoning below. I also thought this was an interesting way to bring up a discussion of the distinction between an artist and an entertainer - does your choice of medium automatically categorize you as art or entertainment (i.e., television = entertainment, theater = art), or can you be an artist within any medium? Does it take time before you can be considered an artist? For example, was Dickens an entertainer in the 1800s but his work became considered classic literature over time? Is an entertainer inferior to an artist or can a great entertainer be on the same plane as a great artist? It was difficult for me to choose names to go next to the options - feel free to challenge my choices. Let the debate begin!

Maybe I'm the only one but I prefer Apple earbuds - decent quality and very comfortable. Anything bulky around my head gives me a headache, which ruins the listening experience more than ambient noise. When I'm on an airplane or in a crowd, I avoid music that requires me to hear every note (I save orchestral music for my car or home).

I liked The Day after Tomorrow. It's no masterpiece in filmmaking but it's fairly entertaining. For the record, I think both Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal did well in this movie and I'm a fan of their work in general.

It's the opposite for me - I hardly ever use my CDs anymore once they're extracted to iTunes. I use my DVDs on a regular basis and scratches are much more likely to affect the viewing experience. A scratched CD can sometimes skip on a player but still be extracted without defect.