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But not nearly as effective. I presume that Villeneuve has captured a lot of detail here that will delight fans of the book. But with some heavy trimming and plot reshuffling (that would probably piss off the loyalists), a single film could have possibly been enough. I'm on board with the two film setup, but they should have redesigned a new ending for this first one.

That sounds transcendant. There was some Ligeti-esque choral stuff in the opening prologue, but it was mostly insubstantial. The whisper/shriek vocal stuff for the Bene Gesserit is actually a cool idea in Zimmer's score, albeit a brief one. That and some neat synth stuff here and there. But most of it is just so bland for the scope of this world. And I don't understand why Zimmer needs to blast EVERY moment with his massive drums or a drone...lighter touches could definitely have given greater shape in the film's more evocative moments.

On the contrary, this might be the most promising Nolan picture yet. A character drama about the man who created the means for mass destruction? Plenty of scope there.

Dune Sprawling, gargantaun and pretty much everything I expected it to be. And yet...it feels kind of empty...hollow, even. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I loved it. At the very least, it definitely has a third act problem. Also, this film deserved a better composer. God, with all the soaring visuals, the score is really such an unimaginative turd.

It seems fun. Although I don't really like the look of it in parts, and the Alice in Wonderland trope does seem like such an obvious angle to hit. But seems like it'll be super-meta with its mythology, which I'm down for. Also see no good reason why Laurence Fishbourne couldn't have at least made an appearance in this.

Great poster. Seeing this on Sunday at TIFF!

All that stuff sort of started in Angels and Demons anyway. Before he moved away from the liturgical quality and went into straight out electro-acoustic chant-screaming. But this bit sounds like Dark Phoenix regurgitated with another language instead of appropriated konnakol (which rubbed me the wrong way in DP). On the second track now. Will share thoughts later. Yea, I expect you'll hear that kind of form in the actual OST. The whole point of his sketchbooks is just presenting his pre-film suites, where he's just exploring and building on ideas.

The Peter Jackson-esque vista shots aside, it looks like an off-brand Middle-Earth knockoff. Let's hope the actual LOTR show aims higher.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings by Joel P. West The latest Marvel score is surprisingly full-bodied and dynamic. Following Black Panther's formula of incorporating colourful cultural accents with style and a modern edge. It's fun orchestral listening, with both taiko drums and woodwinds galore. And it's nice to hear a modern Hollywood blockbuster score with some presence (I'm looking at you Lorne Balfe), though it's not entirely free of the usual generic clichés either. And what it sadly lacks is any strong or compelling thematic tissue. A proper badass theme could have really saved this.

Stumbled onto this lovely all-cello tribute/arrangement that manages to blend the Fellowship, Rivendell, the Shire, Into the West...even the Wagnerian finale in a pretty sophisticated way. Looking forward to the whole album!

I agree with you. I don't find Franglen very interesting. But given how involved he was in the original film, and how many years he's spent on Horner's team, I think he's earned the franchise. Not to mention, whoever's involved in these films will probably be required to spend years developing and reworking material (similar to LOTR situation). I doubt any A-list composer has the scheduling capacity for this kind of thing. Besides, JNH has most of Disney in his pocket anyway, he doesn't need more work.

Not surprised. Happy for Simon! Probably the best candidate for the job.

Oh come on! The violin concerto is fantastic. The Toccare is so badass! Looks those bow hairs go!

The trailer told me everything I needed to know. It’s shite.

Spencer does indeed look like a lightweight Phantom Thread. Campion's film has some really nice shots. Hope the whole film plays like that. Aiming to catch both at TIFF, coming up in a few weeks, with in-person screenings again!

Kristen Stewart is good when she’s in the right film. I think she’s often miscast.

The new poster to Pablo Lorrain's Princess Diana film is gorgeous.

Well, sure. But those were A-list filmmakers who usually get carte-blanche. And all those filmmakers LEARNED their craft on film. So the rigour of specificity and craftsmanship is instilled in them early on. Kubrick didn't always get to do a 100 takes. Now, a lot of film schools don't even carry film anymore. And you can practically make a movie with anything now. Granted, this greater accessibility isn't a bad thing, but certain things do get lost. Digital also further enables the contemporary blockbuster mindset of "we can get all that in post". Granted, that thinking doesn't hinge entirely on the medium of choice, but digital plays a role in that. Oh 100%. Shooting on film is a luxury now, simple as that. And it is a great additional cost, that you'd be lucky to get as an independent filmmaker. At the end of the day, if you know what you're doing, you can accomplish great things with both digital and film. BUT, odds are, if you're bothering to go through the hassle of shooting on film, there's a much higher chance that you probably know what you're doing compared to the broader pool of filmmakers working with digital.

Aside from look (which is a very real thing), it's also about methodology and process. I have filmmaker friends who enjoy shooting on film for the discipline of it. It forces you to really plan your film before you walk onto set, because you only have so much film stock to work with. Nowadays, too many young filmmakers just shoot anything and everything and then assemble the film afterwards (a la Peter Jackson and The Hobbit), because digital can afford you that luxury.

Ooh. Didn't know about that last one. Sounds like another fun Adams "journey" piece, a la Fearful Symmetries and Guide to Strange Places. The latter is fantastic and underrated.

It's mostly strings driven stuff, but there's some horn accents in there. Pretty derivative of Penderecki (think The Exorcist). To me, it's a cheap way to seem "artsy" or "unique", especially when the "avant-garde" ideas aren't especially unique to Sakamoto: The tonal string writing in Beckett sadly just isn't memorable or very good, for that matter. And I think Sakamoto does the synth stuff for colour, not budget. A lot of his later career stuff is around playing with field recordings and sound design anyway. But in the case of his recent film work, it's just not very inspired...the kind of thing the new kids on the block do in their sleep.

It sounds like a master with well-honed skills…on autopilot. In that sense, Alex’s hodgepodge computer analogy is not entirely off-base. However well intentioned it may be, it’s little more than an amalgamation of Williams’ all-too-familiar dramatic gestures and conventions.

Beckett by Ryuichi Sakamoto Hmm. Even less remarkable and more redundant than Minimata. The only distinction this score has is the Penderecki Polymorphia-knockoff "action material", which is kind of a time-worn cliché at this point. There isn't much of a memorable tonal hook to this one either. It's a shame to think that Sakamoto's last distinctive film score might indeed be The Revenant. Knowing by Marco Beltrami Always surprised by how little credit this score gets, whenever I revisit it. Yes, it gets into less interesting broader Hollywood scoring by it's second half, but it's Herrmann-esque architecture just completely outclasses the film. This was of course from a time when you could expect good music in B-movie generic horror/thrillers.

Indeed. A few half-decent gags aside, do not understand the hooplah around this film at all.

It's also premiering here at TIFF around the same time, so hoping to catch it then.