David Coscina

Not really, at least in my estimation. I have hope for guys like Beltrami, or Ed Shearmur, both who have the chops and some real talent. Giacchino falls somewhere in that category. Ottman's harmonic language is pretty pigeonholed and totally predictable. And his theme for X2 was a bastardized version of Kamen's underrated original score. Ottman's idea of "epic" is "hey, let's add tutti orchestra and full chorus, that'll show 'em". Goldsmith could achieve a bigger sound using 18 instruments.

If a unique voice means writing themes that cannot be played by a trumpet section (because the composer knows shit about proper orchestration) or poor voice leading, than yes Ottman and co. certainly have that. Ottman is a self-avowed fan composer. And his music sounds like it.

I find the Terminal much more listenable than Potter 3. Maybe it's because I studied jazz aranging/composition in university or that having scored some small films I know it's much harder to write music for comedy/drama than a summer blockbuster action film. Whatever. Regardless, I'm continally amazed at how non-receptive film score afficianados are when it comes to jazz. These are the same people who proport to have more "elevated" tastes in music yet mostly dismiss this form whenever it's integrated into a film score context. Why is that? I find Amelia's Theme to be one of the most haunting, emotive melodies that Williams has written. It reminds me of Mancini's writing a little. and his choice of chord progressions for this theme are great. I'm going to sit down and transcribe it later on tonight. Lots of suspensions in the harmonies. There's a real longing in the music. POA to me is overly frenetic and a little noisy. Probably works amazingly in the film context but I agree with some others here who say that Williams' choice of cues is better on The Terminal soundtrack. "Window to the Past" is really the only enduring track of interest in my books. And please note that i said "MY BOOKS" meaning this is my opinion of which I'm entitled to.

Giacchino is still pretty young guys, and the quality of work he's coming out with, given tight schedules and all, is pretty impressive. Remember that Williams really achieved success when he was well into his 40's. I won't make such a proclaimation about Giacchino being the next Williams because I don't think there will ever be another Williams. But GIacchino can certainly forge his own path in the film score community. I have greater hopes (and respect) for his music than the Ottman's or Brian Tyler's of the world, that's for sure!

I met Williams last year in Pittsburgh and he looked quite vibrant for his age. Williams looks as if he lives a clean, healthy life and doesn't appear to have any chronic ailments. Let's not bury the poor guy by virtue of his chronological age. I'm more worried about Goldsmith who's been battling cancer for the last little while.

Point in fact, they sound BETTER than the flash tracks that were posted on Yared's site which were in mono. These linked MP3s are in stereo and sound much better than the former. Thanks for sharing this info with us!

Thanks for sharing this story with us Mark. I got hooked on Godzilla back when I was a young lad too and my love for Kaiju films has never really gone away. I'm planning on seeing Godzilla in theatres if I can find one up in the Toronto area that is running it. I'd also love to see DaiMajin re-released, at least the first one. It's one of my favorite kaiju films and the score by Ifukube is simply stunning. p.s. is Akira Ifukube still alive (retired) or has he passed? I'm thinking it's the former not the latter.

I was just listening to his "Arnhem" track from MOH and it's really stunning. Some of the string figures remind me of Williams' Jaws 2 but only in rhythm and chord voicing- not the actual harmonic progressions. Anyhow, I'm excited to hear what Mr. Giacchino will come up with for The Incredibles. I know it will be amazing though. Based on his previous projects, how could it not. I'll also go out on a limb and postulate that this could be the best score for a Pixar film (not fond of Randy Newman's work, and although I really like Tom Newman's music, Finding Nemo wasn't his strongest score IMO).

The father's theme from CMIYC is really beautifully done. Lot's of pathos and emotion. There seems to be some of that in The Terminal score too from the short bits I've heard on the website...

It would be nice just to buy the damn CD but Toronto still doesn't carry any copies...really dumb IMO.

Erik, how did you initially meet Giacchino? Sorry if you've already answered this. I'd love to talk to him about the next season of Alias (is it me or am I the only one that watches this show?) along with his work on The Incredibles.

I looked throughout Mississauga and Toronto (save for downtown) and also was told the same thing by HMV attendants. So I just ordered it from Amazon.ca. Less hassle. I hate malls anyhow.

I have a version of Coda's Print Music that I'll mail to you if you send me your mailing address through my private message account. It's not as deep as Finale but it works pretty darn well. It ought to do what you require for a high school scenario.

Ironic: characterized by often poignant difference or incongruity between what is expected and what actually is. Thus the irony comes from the fact that it's not used in the way it was intended in most cases.

I guess if I'm just sketching out a piece on Finale, I use my Motif ES GM set to approximate the orchestra and don't really worry about sonic realism. If I'm doing a score for a film and I'm on a tight budget, then I'll turn to Gigastudio with SAM Horns, Trps, Trombones along with some other great libraries. I'd love to get my grubby hands on that Vienna Opus set. Alas I don't have a full blown Gigastudio nor a DVDrom (or a honking huge amount of RAM..just 512 megs). Eventually though....

Alex, that's a good point. I do find the SAM libraries suck up polyphony like there's no tomorrow, especially on the cross-faded samples. But they are the best brass samples I've heard. The trombones are awesome- and I ought to know as I played that instrument for 15 years. I read somewhere that the Silver edition can only have eight insutrments. This was in a post on another board. I don't think that's accurate though because all of the Kontakt screens show 8 instruments at once. I'm more interested in the Silver Edition than GPO because my Emu Proteus 2 has better woodwind sounds..or my ES8 which has a great bassoon sound. To me, the GPO is really underwhelming either in the context of solo passages or tutti. The Quantum Leap Orchestra Silver Edition doesn't suffer from this. Oh yeah, there are some weaker samples but all in all, it's pretty great. As for the full blown orchestral cube from Vienna Libraries...OH MY GOD. The winds are bloody exceptional. Outstanding. I guess the cube is for Gigastudio. I think one would need a couple computers running Giga 160 or the new Orchestra version of GS3 since the samples are huuuuge. But they sound completely awesome. I don't mean to run down GPO. For those who are just getting into composing, it's a great tool to hear an approximation of one's work without spending a million bucks (like the Vienna libraries).

Williams used a synth version of a celeste in Accidental Tourist years back. Perhaps he's doubling the celeste in Potter with something like that.

I know there's been a lot of talk about Garritan's Personal Orchestra. Me, I'm not too impressed by the sounds. Very thin and flat. His strings from the big set are pretty good although I've heard better...such as the Vienna Symphonic Collection. Wow, just listening to their Opus 1 (which runs about $1000) I'm impressed with the woodwinds and brass in particular. They also have release a Solo Strings edition and that has some great sounds too. For those who don't know, East West/Quantum Leap has released a Silver Edition of their acclaimed Symphonic Orchestra series. This runs about $265 and would be the most appropriate contender with Personal Orchestra. To my ears, the strings sound fuller, and edgier, the horns are big, and some of the articulations are quite expressive. Like GPO, the Symphonic Orchestra comes with a version of Kompakt to play the sounds. Has anyone used this to compose on? The ads say it's perfect for laptop use because the entire set is only 2.5 gigs. Still sounds bloody impressive to me. Oh, for the most awesome horns, trombones and trumpets, check out Project Sam. They have the best libraries of brass sounds for cheap. The SAM Horn library which I own for Gigastudio only cost me $129 (US). Real steal!

Of course directors don't want the music to be too involved. One has but to look at Yared's firing on Troy as an example of this. His music was deemed "too old fashioned" which translates into "too well written and musically challenging".

Oh did anyone notice the nods to Prokofiev (Classical Symphony) and Rossini? Brilliant!

Obviously everyone has their own opinions about this score but I find it to be outstanding. The level of writing and originality that Williams achieved with this score is one of the biggest surprises I've had out of him of late. I mean, his level of writing is always way above anyone else working out there but I Hadn't expected to hear the variety and originality he achieved in this score. We've got whacked-out bebop jazz for Knight Bus, ethereal chorus, a beautiful English folk tune inspired theme for "A Window to the Past" and some of the most aggressive percussion music I've ever heard from Williams. The percussionist must have had a lot of fun on this one. Great rhythms too! This score has given me a heightnened respect for Williams' ability to continually expand his compositional palette. Well done Johnny!!!

I wish QT had put in that scene with Bill in the alley with those kung fu guys. It would have helped establish him as a kick ass guy. Also would have been nice to see another well excited fight scene in Vl. 2, not that I prefer mindless action over good dialogue...but I prefer good action over mindless dialogue which I thought cluttered a great deal of Vl. 2

I think they're responding to the deeper subtext that this film tries to achieve. And I do think it's reasonably successful. But it's such a shift in style and content from the first film that one's expectations (based on the trailers) can be dashed a bit. I'll see it again however as it's been on my mind since I viewed it earlier today and that's always a good sign. Believe me, this film is far from trash. And the acting of Carradine and Thurman is excellent. Best Supporting Actor nomination for Caaradine methinks although it's a bit early for that.

Just returned from watching Kill Bill Vl. 2. Let me break it down this way: THE GOOD- David Carradine's screen presence is electric and his scenes shared with Uma Thurman are charged. There's an almost improvised tenor to their dialogue sequences. We see Bill at the outset of this film which serves to lend some context to the first film and flesh out Thurman's bloodlust in the second volume. Carradine eats up the scenery in his sequences leaving the audience wanting to know more about this character. He also presents himself as a bit of an enigma- cold bloody assassin and warm, funny father figure. An amazing duality out of an actor that I frankly didn't know had this range in him. Kudos Caine! The flashback sequences that involve Thurman's training with Pai Mai (the old Chinese guy from the commercials who oft strokes his white beard and laughs) are also exciting and fun to watch. As with Tarantino's other films, one doesn't know how a character will react in his films give them an edgy, realistic tone. I only wish there was more time dedicated to these training sequences. The underscore, this time by Robert Rodriguez and The RZA is much more cinematic in that it's more emotionally tailored to this film rather than the usual needle drop the Tarantino uses. In fact, I think both volumes of Kill Bill use more instrumental music than I can remember in Tarantino's canon. This is a good thing because it lends some musical cohesion which helps the dramatic arc of the storyline. One thing I really liked was the harp and strings quotation of "Bang Bang" the song used to open up the first film. At first I wasn't sure whether it was in fact a strain from that song but upon its recapitulation later on in the film, I smiled knowing that someone was clever enough to use that theme as a visceral map to connect the plot points leading to the final act of the film. I also thought Thurman did an exceptional job at emoting in this film. The first volume was all about the rage and vengeance. This film shows The Bride in a series of states, from reserved elation (flashback in the opening upon her impending marriage) to horror (being buried alive) to shock mixed with regret at the sight of her 4 year old daughter to cathartic release at the film's conclusion. I know it's way too soon to get on the Oscar bandwagon but it's one of her best performances if not the best I've seen. THE BAD What Volume 1 excelled at was pacing. The narrative rocketed by and was aided with a wry narration by Thurman's purring voice. This was eschewed for Vl. 2 saving only the episodic title cards that herald each new segment. Vl. 2 is also longer than its predecessor by 30 minutes and one feels that around two thirds into the film. I also didn't find the dialogue to be on par with Tarantino's usual level of writing (save for the scenes between Bill and The Bride). The fight scenes in this film are rare. Also, the ones that are in the film feel too short and less polished than the amazing sequences of the first. Technically, Vl. 2 does not measure up to Vl. 1 in fight choreography, mixed styles of filmmaking (split screen, anime etc.) and if they are employed, they feel forced as if to sell the scene rather than embellish it. Darryl Hannah and Michael Madsen are slightly wasted as characters and as actors in that they don't have the same resonance as Liu did in the first volume. I blame this on the writing rather than the actors though. Hannah does a serviceable job as Elle but isn't as compelling to watch as Liu's tyrannical O-Ren. THE UGLY (SPOILERS INCLUDED) Major major mistake for Tarantino to model his film as an ode to those grind house '70's films and spaghetti westerns without the ubiquitous long drawn out showdown. If a semi-polite conversation at the dinner table constitutes this, well then Tarantino has made the ultimate revisionist kung-fu/western/grind house film. But after all The Bride and the audience have been through, it's just the biggest let-down to have things ended with a brief sword fight around a table and The Bride's final move (which I will not reveal). This was so disarming and sudden that I thought that Bill would show his cragged face at the film's conclusion, but alas, he didn't. Bummer. Also, the trailer for this film shows a scene between Bill and a bunch of Chinese martial arts guys in an alley. NOWHERE TO BE FOUND in this film. Looks like Hatori Hansui's sword was so sharp that it cut a fight scene right out of the film! In a movie that lumbers along, it would have been a wise idea to include this sequence to remind folks about how dynamic a Kill Bill movie can be. Don't know what happened there. I am aware that the influences on Volume 2 have shifted from fast paced Asian cinema-styled pacing to the quiet, somber tone of the Sergio Leone westerns where they talk more than they fight, but it's a pretty severe modulation even having split the two films up. Conclusion In the end, it looks as though Tarantino couldn't just follow through with an A-styled ode to those memorable (and laughable) B-films of yesteryear and tried to imbue volume 2 with more importance than the series needed to have. That said, the scenes towards the latter part of Kill Bill Volume 2 are excellent. There are hints of brilliance along the way too but they are mired by pacing that is inconsistent, and character developments that are lacking. My hope is that Tarantino puts these segments back together and finesses them to be more even along with putting back great scenes like I mentioned earlier on back into the movie. Kill Bill Volume 1 gets an A Kill Bill Volume 2 gets a B.

How do you access the deleted scenes on the disc incidently? I've owned the bloody thing for 2 years now and still cannot find the menu where they're at!!!