Datameister

I'm so excited. Didn't see this film until last year and I absolutely loved it. It emphasizes all my favorite things about Nolan's films and minimizes all my least favorite things about them. I will definitely jump at the chance to see it in IMAX.

I just never got around to it. Kept meaning to in the years since! Oh well. Better late than never.

I'm so excited. Didn't see this film until last year and I absolutely loved it. It emphasizes all my favorite things about Nolan's films and minimizes all my least favorite things about them. I will definitely jump at the chance to see it in IMAX.

I'll say this for TOD: It has many weaknesses, and almost every one of them can be viewed as a sort of strength. Is it a betrayal of everything Raiders stood for or a sterling example of a second film that's brave enough to do everything differently? Yes, yes it is.
 
And then there are the elements that are just pure strengths, no matter how you slice it. The score, the cinematography, the fight scenes, the mine car chase … there's definitely stuff to love here.
 
I'm sure I'll watch it at some point this year. And the score gets a lot of listening time from me no matter what.

I'll say this for TOD: It has many weaknesses, and almost every one of them can be viewed as a sort of strength. Is it a betrayal of everything Raiders stood for or a sterling example of a second film that's brave enough to do everything differently? Yes, yes it is.
 
And then there are the elements that are just pure strengths, no matter how you slice it. The score, the cinematography, the fight scenes, the mine car chase … there's definitely stuff to love here.
 
I'm sure I'll watch it at some point this year. And the score gets a lot of listening time from me no matter what.

Cutthroat Island comes to mind. It's got some great themes, and it's beautifully recorded, but it's just. Too. Much. You've got thickly layered fortissimo strings, brass, winds, percussion, and choir up the wazoo—and that's just the first cue! I enjoy individual tracks but I absolutely cannot enjoy the whole album, despite years of trying. 
 
I was really lukewarm on Star Trek TMP for a long time, but I finally "got" that score eventually.

Cutthroat Island comes to mind. It's got some great themes, and it's beautifully recorded, but it's just. Too. Much. You've got thickly layered fortissimo strings, brass, winds, percussion, and choir up the wazoo—and that's just the first cue! I enjoy individual tracks but I absolutely cannot enjoy the whole album, despite years of trying. 
 
I was really lukewarm on Star Trek TMP for a long time, but I finally "got" that score eventually.

Cutthroat Island comes to mind. It's got some great themes, and it's beautifully recorded, but it's just. Too. Much. You've got thickly layered fortissimo strings, brass, winds, percussion, and choir up the wazoo—and that's just the first cue! I enjoy individual tracks but I absolutely cannot enjoy the whole album, despite years of trying. 
 
I was really lukewarm on Star Trek TMP for a long time, but I finally "got" that score eventually.

Cutthroat Island comes to mind. It's got some great themes, and it's beautifully recorded, but it's just. Too. Much. You've got thickly layered fortissimo strings, brass, winds, percussion, and choir up the wazoo—and that's just the first cue! I enjoy individual tracks but I absolutely cannot enjoy the whole album, despite years of trying. 
 
I was really lukewarm on Star Trek TMP for a long time, but I finally "got" that score eventually.

I definitely like both. But to me, the original flows better. The redo feels a little choppy as it tries to navigate the happenings on the screen. It mostly feels like a chopped-up version of the original. (That being said, I really like the few passages that are unrelated to anything in the original version.)
 
Ultimately—pun intended—I'm just delighted to have them both complete and with pristine sound quality!

Also on the same album, "Confrontation with Count Dooku and Finale". The finale is there, but no confrontation.
 
And "Star Wars and the Revenge of the Sith"... where is the revenge? Is it safe? Is it alright? 

@mosabri2 I think you're vastly overstating HZ's pianistic deficiencies. Your point would make more sense if you were talking about, like, the E.T. end credits or the solos in Snowy's theme—something that could only be written by someone intimately familiar with the repertoire and with the sounds an excellent pianist can produce.
 
But the feather theme is super simple. Totally diatonic, not fast, with easy pop chord changes and a melody consisting of three-note scale fragments and basic arpeggios. It's great because of its simplicity.
 
Silvestri didn't need to be a virtuosic pianist. He "just" needed to be really, really great at a much rarer skill: the ability to craft a tune that sounds totally inevitable, that gives the right feels, and that lingers in your ear and heart. And I'd argue that HZ has written some tunes like that as well, albeit very different in style.

Really puzzling allegations here. HZ got his start as a keyboardist. He may not be a world-class virtuoso, but I'm sure he could get his fingers around something basic like the feather theme. (It's a great theme, but not remotely difficult to play.) And I believe Djawadi started with guitar, graduating summa cum laude from Berklee, so he's probably not the world's worst musician either.

Yep. Complete programs for the prequels would be pretty easy. Complete programs for the sequels … oof. Nightmare. (But one I still fervently hope happens during my lifetime!)

Yep. Complete programs for the prequels would be pretty easy. Complete programs for the sequels … oof. Nightmare. (But one I still fervently hope happens during my lifetime!)

Yep. Complete programs for the prequels would be pretty easy. Complete programs for the sequels … oof. Nightmare. (But one I still fervently hope happens during my lifetime!)

Yep. Complete programs for the prequels would be pretty easy. Complete programs for the sequels … oof. Nightmare. (But one I still fervently hope happens during my lifetime!)

Yep. Complete programs for the prequels would be pretty easy. Complete programs for the sequels … oof. Nightmare. (But one I still fervently hope happens during my lifetime!)

@mosabri2 I think you're vastly overstating HZ's pianistic deficiencies. Your point would make more sense if you were talking about, like, the E.T. end credits or the solos in Snowy's theme—something that could only be written by someone intimately familiar with the repertoire and with the sounds an excellent pianist can produce.
 
But the feather theme is super simple. Totally diatonic, not fast, with easy pop chord changes and a melody consisting of three-note scale fragments and basic arpeggios. It's great because of its simplicity.
 
Silvestri didn't need to be a virtuosic pianist. He "just" needed to be really, really great at a much rarer skill: the ability to craft a tune that sounds totally inevitable, that gives the right feels, and that lingers in your ear and heart. And I'd argue that HZ has written some tunes like that as well, albeit very different in style.

Yep. Complete programs for the prequels would be pretty easy. Complete programs for the sequels … oof. Nightmare. (But one I still fervently hope happens during my lifetime!)

Really puzzling allegations here. HZ got his start as a keyboardist. He may not be a world-class virtuoso, but I'm sure he could get his fingers around something basic like the feather theme. (It's a great theme, but not remotely difficult to play.) And I believe Djawadi started with guitar, graduating summa cum laude from Berklee, so he's probably not the world's worst musician either.

Really puzzling allegations here. HZ got his start as a keyboardist. He may not be a world-class virtuoso, but I'm sure he could get his fingers around something basic like the feather theme. (It's a great theme, but not remotely difficult to play.) And I believe Djawadi started with guitar, graduating summa cum laude from Berklee, so he's probably not the world's worst musician either.

I definitely like both. But to me, the original flows better. The redo feels a little choppy as it tries to navigate the happenings on the screen. It mostly feels like a chopped-up version of the original. (That being said, I really like the few passages that are unrelated to anything in the original version.)
 
Ultimately—pun intended—I'm just delighted to have them both complete and with pristine sound quality!

6 episodes in, I have such mixed feelings about it. The ideas themselves are really interesting, but I feel like the tone is all over the place. There's kind of a YA melodrama tinge to a lot of the writing and acting, but then suddenly there's full-frontal nudity, or a character dropping the C-word a few times per episode, or a mass casualty event that's as creative as it is unflinchingly gory. CW meets HBO. Anyway, I will certainly be finishing the first season and awaiting the second, and there's a good chance I'll read the books in the meantime.
 
I'm probably just spoiled as I'm still coming down from the high of finally finishing Better Call Saul, which did the unthinkable by really giving Breaking Bad a run for its money. Jesus, I was sad to see it end—and delighted to see it end as well as it did.