Jeff

Was Fred's death scene in the deleted scenes for DH2? That's pretty much the only one I can think of that I would have wanted to see in the film, and maybe an explanation for the audience of how Luna got to Hogwarts. No - at least not in the 3-disc set I bought at Target.

The concert arrangments are lame, compared to the statements within the score. They aren't as powerful, but they are still quite good.

Prejudiced!

Judging by the poll results so far, most people disagree with me, but I think Battle of the Heroes is more complex, more emotional, and more mature. I find Duel of the Fates to be kind of monotonous and juvenile in comparison, though it is still a phenomenal piece of music. Both tracks accomplish exactly what they set out to do, and are testaments to John Williams' brilliance in composing music that perfectly fits the intent of the film, sometimes saving a film from poor execution on screen. DotF is a straightforward, though suspenseful, confrontation between good and evil. There's really not much going on there besides lightsabers flashing. BotH is a complex struggle for Anakin's soul, fought both within himself and with his best friend. The music perfectly captures these emotions. Other than some poorly written/delivered dialogue, the entire BotH scene is at once thrilling and heart breaking, which is why I much prefer it to the DofF scene. My opinion holds true for the concert arrangements of the respective themes.

One of my favorite courtroom scenes (from a comedic perspective) is from What's Up Doc: I couldn't find a video of my favorite part, but here's the dialogue: Mr. Larrabee: They broke into my home. Judge Maxwell: That's breaking and entering. Mr. Larrabee: And they brought her with them forcibly. Judge Maxwell: That's kidnapping. Eunice: They tried to molest me. Judge Maxwell: That's... unbelievable.

Hmmm maybe you saw a different version of DWW because I swear blind I saw a civil war battle at the start of the film! I said "apparently" because I have never seen DWW and was misinterpreting your post: I thought by "backdrop" you meant that it didn't actually show any of the war itself, just implied that it was happening. My mistake. Back to the point, Home Alone may not be ABOUT Christmas, but it is still a Christmas movie in the broadest sense. Maybe the same could be said of DWW and the Civil War genre (again, just conjecture as I haven't seen it).

I have to agree with Faleel, Cars 2 is B-grade at least. I actually thought it was just as good as the first one, though obviously not as fresh, but I was never a huge fan of the first one. Incidentally, Cars 2 is also a pretty good Civil War movie.

I still haven't seen the movie, living in the U.S. as I do, but I thought Box Office Mojo's prediction of a $115M domestic gross was interesting: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3308&p=.htm Their rationale was that the source material was not as well-known here in the States, which I agree with. I'd like to think it would do better than "A Christmas Carol" or "The Polar Express," though.

The other thread was so entertaining, we were hoping for an enthralling repeat in round two. Valid points, but I have a lower threshold for "crap." The acting wasn't distracting and all the major elements (cinematography, direction, screenplay) were passable at a minimum. For me, only a true "B" movie, or lower, would earn the distinction of being "crap." Then again, I've probably called Transformers "crap" before, but that's just because I hate what it's done for the movie industry, not because it fits my criteria, so I guess there's some leeway.

It's a little different since apparently Dances with Wolves doesn't show any of the civil war, whereas Home Alone has Christmas scenes throughout. Gone with the Wind would be analogous to Home Alone - the Civil War is going on all around them, but it's mostly focused on the love story and Scarlett's life, not the battles themselves.

I believe Tom Cruise played an American Civil War veteran who went to Japan and ended up fighting in a Japanese civil war. I liked it. It may not have been the greatest movie ever made, but I'm not sure what would make it qualify as "crap," unless you just hate Tom Cruise.

I'm not sure why I bothered clicking on this thread after enduring the last one. But it was totally worth it for this.

I watched this in high school, and though it isn't the best made film, it is definitely instructive and heart-wrenching. Whenever I hear Strauss's "Vienna Woods Waltz," I get a sickening feeling in my stomach.

I keep all my music on my 32GB iPod. I'm not sure why anyone who cares as much about music as we do wouldn't have an mp3 player larger than 2GB. They're not all $400!

Data has probably checked that my seat belt was fastened at the Matterhorn, but I wouldn't have recognized him.

Agreed, although don't forget Bill and Ted, which was quite different from his usual roles. And Sean Connery has a specific style as well, but it's more broadly applicable.

Williams' score for Schindler's List has both subtlety and overt emotion, which is highly appropriate given the subject matter. I don't consider a tear-jerking theme to be a negative for SL.

It's an interesting conversation - especially when visiting a modern art museum, for instance. Some people may say that putting a lamp with a cow's heart in place of a light bulb in the middle of a room isn't art, but if you get enough credible people to say it is, then for all intents and purposes, it is. And if someone has shown talent in multiple types of art that appeal to a broad audience, their more abstract pieces are more likely to be accepted by the general public than someone who is just throwing something together without a respected portfolio under their belt.

I Am Legend was a fantastic movie. I've never read the book, but "poorly adapted" is not necessarily a criticism unless you require fidelity in adaptations in principle. If someone adapts a book and keeps its title, you should probably make sure the film doesn't veer wildly away from the meaning of the book's title and drain the power of the book's ending for a lame Hollywood one. Poorly-adapted is certainly a criticism in my book, and I AM LEGEND deserves the full force of that criticism. BTW, read the book, it's a landmark work and a thousand times better. I think it depends on the intent of the producers. If they are trying to be faithful to the book, and advertise the film as a faithful representation of the themes or plot of the book, then I would be disappointed if I saw the film and it wasn't. However, there are plenty of great films that take great liberty in adapting the source material, sometimes directly contradicting the purpose of the original. And I concede that the resolution of the zombie confrontation was not the most brilliant ending to hit the big screen. It was better than the alternate ending on the DVD, though.

That is kind of an extreme rebuttal to what incanus said. It has been firmly established that Williams has the credentials, the legitimacy, and the body of work to judge him objectively as an exceptional (better than ordinary) composer. At that point, it is personal taste that would determine a "masterpiece" to a "really good composition."

Well said.

I Am Legend was a fantastic movie. I've never read the book, but "poorly adapted" is not necessarily a criticism unless you require fidelity in adaptations in principle.

I loved Super 8. I liked Star Trek a lot, which is saying something coming from someone like me who avoids anything with the word "Trek" in it. Super 8 is one of the few movies that came out this year that made me feel something on an emotional level while entertaining me at the same time. Captain America, X-Men, Thor, etc. were entertaining but hollow. The only movie that came out this year that I rank higher than Super 8 is Deathly Hallows Part 2.

I couldn't buy Transformers 3's effects. They went overboard and it ended up looking like a computer game or a cartoon.

I got Jurassic Park on cassette tape for Christmas - my first film score ever. For a brief period, I thought I had lost it, so I bought the CD. Then I found the tape, and realized I needed the CD anyway. I didn't read all the posts that thoroughly, but am I the only one who had a score on cassette?