KK

Agreed. But this is classic Nolan after all. I honestly think if you cut out half the music, especially in the first half, it would immensely help with this problem.

Howe Records (Howard Shore)

Such a fantastic moment. Sometimes, I don't find all of Doug's sub-theme group names very useful. So I've always seen that example as a variation of the Ring theme, which in itself is one reflection of Sauron's theme, so this instance, among others, is scoring the rising victory of those evil forces.

As of now, this is what I'm feeling: 1. Oppenheimer 2. The Prestige 3. Memento 4. The Dark Knight 5. Inception 6. Batman Begins 7. Dunkirk 8. Interstellar 9. Insomnia 10. The Dark Knight Rises 11. Tenet I have a feeling that Oppenheimer will be as "small" a Nolan film as we'll get.

It's an uber-lightweight version of all those things I like it in parts, but it does still feel like a clumsy collection of suggestions rather than score with a compelling identity, especially given the material it's working with. Although Trinity mostly plays like a really poor man's Shaker Loops, the all-too-brief musically adventurous moments tease a ballsier score that could have been... Anyway, I'd rather listen to the Oppenheimer opera:

I've long given up on expecting Nolan to trust his material enough to let go of his mazes and puzzles. He will always try to build something to "solve". But unlike Tenet, I felt these tendencies were actually compelling in this context. Somehow this messy assault on the senses elevates the material.

Yes, that is indeed the problem. That's why Oppenheimer works better as a character piece than it does a piece on war or the bomb. Come and See is indeed terrifying. I'd also add The Thin Red Line to canon of true anti-war films (though it's not after the same kind of "horror").

it's a fine scene, but I wish Nolan pushed it even further. I think the film is a strong character study of Oppenheimer and the fears he wrestles with, but I don't think it truly manages to capture the horror of the bomb itself. Which is mostly fine, because I think ultimately that's what the film is interested in, Oppenheimer and his point of view. What did you think of the film Jay?

Elfman will continue to have an enormously profitable career. This will disappear within the month. Abadi, probably already blacklisted, will have a very hard time working again. And that's kind of the heart of the problem.

Haha. I definitely had a Barbenheimmer day.

His worst is easily Downsizing.

Barbie Meh. Feels like a film that's trying too hard to appease everyone. What we end up with is a pretty tame and neutered romp that's occasionally fun, rarely funny.

It's possibly his best film. At the very least, his most interesting.

Great film! Great score!

Oppenheimer Perhaps my new favourite Nolan (upstaging The Prestige)? Don't get me wrong, this is a very Nolan film. But at last, I feel that all his classic (and overfamiliar) gimmicks and machinations finally find a synergy that actually serves its characters and subject with some nuance. It's a grandiose, maximalist, super talky character epic of the highest proportions and it works staggeringly well. We see many facets to what Oppenheimer offers as a subject that is torn between being a scientist and a politician, and all the threads that become inevitably tangled around him. And in true Malickian fashion, this is all placed against nothing less than the vast cosmic forces of the universe itself. I've long bemoaned that it's a shame that Nolan might never return to his more intimate dramatic origins, and this does just that, but in larger scope and scale. Oppenheimer isn't perfect. It's loud, a bit myopic and even unwieldy, much like the ego of its subject. But this feels like the work of a more mature Nolan, one that seems to have better interrogated what he chooses to tell. It is indeed a seminal work in his canon and one of the more arresting biopics I've seen in some time. The biggest critique that I came out of it with, funny enough, is that it's way too overscored. Too much wall-to-wall music, especially in the first half, that robs some wonderful moments that needed a gentler touch and more breathing room. Ludwig's score follows the Nolan-Zimmer school of barraging the audience with deafening sound, but there were some nice, more extroverted musical moments.

Whether all the allegations are true or not, you can't deny that the intimate circumstances of their relationship that both parties have verified (i.e. the photoshoots, the martini glass "joke", etc) are all ripe for uncomfortable, predatorial boundary crossing, especially in that kind of power dynamic...and it's not entirely off-brand for Elfman's public persona.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny by John Williams Helena's Theme is a nice addition to the franchise's musical canon and the rest is more or less inconsequential. But it's hard not to find it all endearing. It very much serves as functional orchestral film music, barely rising above archetypal music gestures or offering anything truly distinct or remarkable and yet you can't deny this is still very well-written film music, the caliber of which we will not really see again for some time. Asteroid City by Alexandre Desplat Lol. I understand that Desplat scores for Wes films now operate entirely in the realm of self-parody and it's not worth expecting anything more from them...but why put any of this out at all? It's the same track times times six. Could have sufficed with just releasing a "single". Strange Way of Life by Alberto Iglesias Like others have expressed here, I also have mixed feelings about Iglesias' work, which often gets lost in its own anonymity. But he definitely has chops, and this concise album is a nice showcase of his chamber writing.

It's not as overwrought or annoying as the other ASM arrangements, but the orchestral version is indeed still better. The JW/ASM relationship is clearly mutually beneficial and advantageous to both of their brands at this stage of their careers...but not every theme needs to try so hard to be a concerto. The superfluous tropes start to become exhausting.

You don't show your face around here for a bit and this is the respect I get... This is why I need you to defend my good name!

Thanks guys! Depends on where it lands with distribution. I know it's heading to TIFF next, but I know they're aiming for a theatrical release at some point.

I was at Cannes this year (scored a film that played in the selection). And I can attest to the new Ceylan film being excellent and in line with the scale and quality (and length aha) of his other work. Couldn't make the Glazer screening but heard great things about it as well. Surprised it didn't snag the Palme D'or.

Listening to this masterpiece and realizing now where one of my favourite Goldsmith cues of all time came from:

The Night Logan Woke Up by Hans Zimmer and David Fleming This was a nice little surprise! Written for Xavier Dolan's new limited TV series, it evokes the old school Zimmer orchestral mystery melodrama of the like of House of Spirits (yaay woodwinds!), diffused through the more contemporary sensibilities of Max Richter and Jóhann Jóhannsson. It runs too long, as these things do, but it is refreshing detour for Zimmer and team.

That is a pretty damn good flourish. Haven't heard them like that in a while!

Nothing is sacred anymore.