David Coscina

I only got a couple emails from Kamen- one such one was a response to a question where I asked him whether there was any film genre he had not scored to which he replied "well, I haven't scored a porno yet". Classic Kamen! I miss him still. Koray, did you meet both composers at a signing for Batman The Dark Knight? I have always wanted to meet JN Howard. He seems like a cool guy. Actually, Zimmer seems like one of more laid back composers, I certainly will give him that. He'd undoubtedly be someone you could sit down and have a pint with and talk shop. I would ask him about his early film scoring experiences like working on Thelma and Louise with Ridley Scott.

I have to say that, while Williams seemed very nice, I've gotta say Gabriel Yared is about the nicest composer I have met. He's incredibly generous with his time and genuinely cares about his fans and what they think. And he LOVES music. I have never seen a purer artist. John Adams was also very very generous with his time. He treated me like a fellow musician not a fan when I talked with him backstage after a performance he gave in Detroit. Mind you, Williams is a much more popular person and the one time I did speak to him, he was very very gracious and even engaged in a brief conversation about The Accidental Tourist CD that I has brought for him to sign (the original WB release). Anyone else with nice stories of composers who were kind or friendly to you?

Jesse, thanks for the clarification. Yes, I do agree with the way the music is composer with its slightly bi-polar approach. Mahler can be offputting to some because his music takes all these emotional turns and I do agree that Williams captured the duality of Nixon in his score which is dark but also pastoral at times. To me, Stone's NIXON is the equivalent of Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible Pts 1 and 2. A complex portrait of a flawed character in a turblulent setting. Prokofiev's score to Ivan was also beautiful, and I personally find it more layered than Alexander Nevsky although I love that one too.

Jesse, you hear Mahler? I actually hear more Prokofiev, especially in those bi-tonal brass chords in Miami. Even in his "Nixon" theme with that rising string figure, the harmonic treatment sounds way more Sergei and Gustav whose chromatic harmonic sense was more fluid- Prokofiev liked throwing in misleading modulations in a very block-like sense, where a chord change was on a strong beat (partly the whole Russian school of composition with the emphasis on strong beat harmonic motion) whereas Mahler's later works especially were so contrapuntal that his tonal centre was obscured by constant motion in the inner voices. I was puzzled when Stone himself mentioned the Mahler thing in an interview because I'm a Mahler nut and I didn't here Gustav in the score. But I think the standout tracks are outstanding. I wish someone would release an expanded score with the music that accompanies Harold's funeral- I love the string elegy that beautiful resolves into the rising Nixon figure. Just awesome writing. I also agree that Nixon was Stone's Shakespearean take on history and to a larger extent, the nature of people in politics just like Henry V. Or Titus.

busted.

Just in case there was any confusion, I was kidding in my last post.

Overrated scores: Spartacus- yuck, all those complex chords and dissonances, who the hell needs 'em? Jaws- a two note theme and Williams is called brilliant? sheesh Planet of the Apes- so what if Goldsmith got music out of a Dixie Cup? puuulease! The Sea Hawk- to quote that guy from Amadeus: "too many notes" King Kong- (Steiner) also too busy- c'mon Maxie, throw in a whole note for Christ's sake! Close Encounters of the Third Kind- so Williams came up with 10 million versions of that beacon and THIS is the one he chose? Another simple theme again. Psycho- yeah yeah, the strings. my 11 year old nephew could come up with a better translation for onscreen violence. And why weren't there any other instruments in this score? And why the @#$#@ was the film in black and white? It was made in, like, the 60s y;know. Star Wars- sounds like a western in space. That and King's Row. Sorry but rehashed, re-used, recycled. Johnny, are you Horner's father? Vertigo- this music makes me dizzy- I don't like it. Also, it's too loud and obnoxious in the film- the motherf'r Herrmann was a real cocky a-hole to assume that the audience actually wanted to hear his damned music. Whew, I'm glad I got that off my chest. Now I'm on to listen to some underrated genius' like John Ottmann, Brian Tyler, and the whole lot of under-appreciated hardworking guys from R-C. Peace out.

Well I don't think it has to do with that actually. You like Giacchino and Powell, both whom use orchestras pretty well. Hey, like or dislike what you want man, no one is arguing that. Yes, Zimmer is generally reviled on this forum because he's really at opposite poles to that of Williams with regards to music but I don't think you're a RC lover only. Otherwise you wouldn't like Williams. But if you are going to offer up sacred cows like ST:TMP as overrated, than be prepared to deal with the fallout because its largely thought of as Goldsmith's crowning achievement next to Planet of the Apes.

He'd probably call Williams for us and say "hey asshole, write another score so these guys on this forum dedicated to you won't bicker and bring out all of their sexually repressed energy in the form of latent aggression"....or something to that effect.

Koray, I do not seriously wish you any ill will. I do think we must respectfully agree to disgree on the topic of film scores and what constitutes good music though. :cool:

Dude you're on fire today. Keep it coming! :cool:

Your opinion mate. To me, I think it's both funny and true. And if you think that's insulting, check out my previous edited post. ka-ching!

yet you see Star Trek the Motion Picture score as overrated. Of course it is. It's got too many real instruments to be taken seriously. Now if it had a little more synth, power chords, and less complex melodies, I think Koray would see it as being less overrated. That's bloody brilliant! :cool: Koray, can you spout off a little more about your views on film scores into a water tight bag and mail it to me because my lawn is in need of some fertilizer.

yet you see Star Trek the Motion Picture score as overrated. Once again, nice point Joe. :cool:

My experience here tells me when Mark makes a point of saying something like this, it should be posited. He does not fly off the handle and, as Joe said, is one of the most well balanced film score collectors I know. (must be his great inner ear)

Just reflects the shifting age demographic from us 40 year olds to acne-laiden pre-teens. I wish I could mail a few of these guys $10 so they could go out and by themselves a clue.

Listened to this score again today. Sighhhhh. Just can't get into it. The earlier tracks sound like LOST chord progressions with a few extra instruments doubled to give it that "epic sound" and the latter ones are the same frenetic action fare approach from MI:3. Not sure where I stand on Giacchino though it's unlikely anyone else gives a crap what I think. I guess this is one film score fan that will have to resist buying his stuff without having seen the film first. I'm really trying to analyze why I don't care for this score though since I have been an ardent fan of Giacchino's from his early years. Is it his sound has not changed too much, or should I say "matured" in the way I had hoped it would when he first came onto the scoring scene with ALIAS back in 2001? His scores for video games still possess a depth that I would say is largely missing in much of his big screen work. Maybe he's working on too many things at once (LOST, ST, LotL)

Ugh. now I'm going into diabetic shock. Thanks Stefan.

I think Ilia's Theme is the best. Oops, wrong forum. I would say Princess Leia's Theme.

I just played this score the other day and I must say that this could very well be one of Horner's best love themes ever. One, it does not sound like anyone else (ie Prokofiev, Vaughan Williams), and two it does not sound like him repeating himself. It's got a soaring theme, a long melody, beautiful harmonies and exquisite orchestrations. Yeah, this one is my favorite although I'm sure others will think Titanic is (sorry but I don't think it's anywhere near as beautiful and involved).

I was going to buy it from iTunes but the samples did not excite me. I have a lot of Desplat in my collection and based on the short clips, it sounds s though he's covered this ground before. Same for the Coco Channelle score. I feared when he took so many assignments in 2009 that it would result in a little bit of cross-over from one score to the next. I am looking forward quite a bit to New Moon or whatever that next Twilight movie will. I think the subject matter will inspire him (not that these scores are poorly written- just what we've already heard from this composer).

Fair enough. I had thought of starting with composers from the '90s on but I just had to see what the results would be with some of these holy grails

Thanks for your responses everyone! I had a look at the poll and was glad to see some variety in the answers. Like I said, a lot of them are really good scores. I was going to allow for multiple votes but I wanted to make it hard. he he.

cough cough, I need water... the humor here is soooooo dry.

No, we're not! You stupid asshole! It's YOUR poll! You're the one who asked us to vote on this idiotic issue! I hate you! I hate you! woaw, I thought you were kidding! Are you seriously calling me an A-hole? If so, that's a little uncalled for wouldn't you think? I wasn't even referring to you in my initial post.