Steven Awalt

Odd poll, since it specifically ask which of his 17 Oscar-nominated scores is users' favorite, yet then it gives an option for "other."

Yet if Brittany Spears or someone of that ilk were to pass on, it'd be treated as a national emergency. :roll:

I may be beaten down for this, and pardon my ignorance since I don't know much about his work, but would Joel Goldsmith be good for the job? I liked the work he did with his father on "First Contact." Not sure how his other work is though (not sure I really care about "Trek" music without Jerry Goldsmith though.) I did like Horner's two scores for the series, but as someone above pointed out that was then and this is now. Maybe they could just track in STII or STIII and save the trouble of hiring Horner to do it for them all the while charging for a "new" score

Still having trouble believing Mr. Goldsmith is dead, even given the recent news on the state of his health. Despite his fight with cancer, he still seemed so alive in the last video I saw of him (the introduction to "Superman" and a few other flicks on cable this past year). I've really gotten into Goldsmith's work more than ever this past year with great thanks to Neil. Before, I limited myself to select works (Poltergeist, which is a masterpiece, The Omen, Planet of the Apes, and a handful of others) because I had this wacky prejudice growing up with some of his scores from the eighties that had too much cheesy sythisizer in them for my tastes. Such short-sightedness made me miss out on a lot of briliant work for far too long. I particularly love Goldsmith's 1968-1983 period (if it can be broken down as such), pre-heavy synth use. Nearly everything he did during those years easily stands above most other composer's output, Williams excluded, of course, who I think stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Goldsmith, despite all the bickering at places like FSM. As I said on my site, Goldsmith's passing is a loss that film music will never recover from. He may not have received the best commissions for the last couple of decades (seeing he did a lot of second-tier films throughout the eighties and nineties), and its a real shame more "A-list" directors didn't see fit to utilize the amazing talents of one of Hollywood's most innovative, original composers. Even still, Goldsmith brought so much even to lesser films (much like Williams does when he takes on such films as "Heartbeeps," etc.), which is more than some composers who reguarly recycle their works on the upper echelons of Hollywood releases can say. Goldsmith was a class act all the way. P.S.?in the locked thread on Goldsmith's passing, someone mentioned how inconsiderate it was for someone to have said Goldsmith was "dead." I presume the person didn't mean anything wrong with it, and in news, it's actually the "correct" way to report on someone's passing (AP style at least). It might not be the most pleasant word, but it's a fact of life, sadly.

My personal favorites are (limiting it to the five you asked for): Poltergeist, The Omen, Damien: Omen II, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Alien. There are many more equally as great as these scores, but these are the five I couldn't live without personally. BTW, Neil, I think Damien may be surpassing The Omen in my eyes too! You've made me see the light. Can't get enough of those creepy croaks in that score

It's not good or bad news, but a rumor that POTC writer Stuart Beatty shot down at TheRaider.net. As far as Beatty tells it, he's not on the project and the rumor was nothing more than a journalist's error in an article about the screenwriter. So fear not. The script not in the hands of that "Pirates" guy, rather its safe under the guidance of master scenarist George Lucas. LOL Speaking of Harrison Ford, the old boy turned 62 today. That puts him at a full decade more than the age Connery was at when he came back to play Bond (sadly) in "Never Say Never Again."

It's all true. We've been covering the project since 2003 here: http://spielbergfilms.com/mossadnews.html

Despite flaws in "The Terminal" there are certainly a few magical moments to add to the great list you have there. And the last thing I would want to do is start a fansite, Morlock. People who run and frequent such sites are annoying nuts

Really thoughtful post, Joe, but I still don't think it addresses such a dropped bomb as "has Spielberg lost his relevance." Apparently to you (and many others here), even if he's going through a period that isn't your cup of tea, he's still very relevant to you as a filmmaker (enough so that you are looking forward to or have at least given some good thought to upcoming projects he has lined up). He's also relevant in the respect that you are willing to look at a film a second time. So to answer your question that spurred my response for you, yes Joe, Spielberg is still relevant for you personally, from all you've written, and its seems he still is relevant to many others here, even if he isn't the same filmmaker many of us grew up with. And for me personally, yeah, the man's more relevant to me than any other filmmaker living or dead, always has been. I'll follow his work anywhere (even into the dark and backwards recesses of "Indiana Jones IV," should he chose to revert to it still).

Thanks for the info, Morlock. Shame about "Fiddler," as I particularly love that CD and would love to know Williams could take credit for it. Still, its interesting to hear how much he was involved (enough to earn his first Oscar, at the very least).

I've seen almost every single one of these films (with the exception of "Dad") and you're so right that "Casper" and "The Flintstones" are the worst. They're shameful cash grabs and little more (though some things about them should be commended: design elements, cinematographer, the score for "Casper.") I wouldn't count "Shrek," "The Haunting" and other films that say uncredited, since his connection with them can be rather tenuous. Then again, sometimes when his name was even on a film as a presenter or executive-producer (particularly around 1987-early 1990s) Spielberg himself has admitted having very little to do with the films. It's safe to say his name was just used by Amblin as more of a marketing tool. "Yume," for the record is Kurosawa's "Dreams," which Spielberg merely put some money up for.

Speaking of the "Tom Sawyer" score, people here (and at FSM) have asked if John Williams wrote some of the music or if its all literally adapated from Sherman brothers writing. I've always wondered about this score, along with "Fiddler on the Roof," "Valley of the Dolls" and "Mr Chips": what exactly did Williams do on these scores? Anyone definitively know for sure?

And I probably don't know much more than anyone else, John, but I just hope Frank Darabont will get his due if the film is made, either through his script still being used (with Lucas' alterations), a script, I should add that Spielberg reportedly really liked, or through the surprise that maybe the writer who Marshall won't talk about is Darabont doing another draft of his script (something I highly doubt since Darabont has the exciting "Fahrenheit 451" in his near future supposedly, and I wouldn't be surprised if he bails on the Indy project due to bad feelings he's hinted at over Lucas' dissatisfaction (in the face of Spielberg's satisfaction) over the script. All of this is a shot in the dark, but maybe we'll see how it comes out (and maybe we never will). And I agree with all who agree about Indy 4's score being something to look forward to (although I also agree I hope we never hear an Indy 4 score for obvious reasons...)

I can't believe you'd write Spielberg off like that Joe (or at least question his relevancy as an artist). I know you're not a fan of "The Terminal" and the prospect of "Indiana Jones 4" doesn't excite you (me either), but aren't there any other projects in his future that have you interested or excited about his career still?

To split hairs, the article never says that they're writing a "new script." It may be a new draft of Darabont's script, or maybe a completely new script, but the article never makes it clear, so its not accurate to say it's a new script. The other thing thing that should be pointed out is that the whole Beattie rumor has been shot down by Beattie himself. A writer misquoted him and he allegedly has nothing to do with the project what-so-ever. I do agree with you that the film should just be scrapped at this point. I'd rather see Spielberg move on with new projects and not be forever looking over his shoulder like his friend Lucas does all too often.

Oh yeah, "The Fury." Every bit as incredible as any "Star Wars" score or big notable Williams soundtracks. "Jane Eyre" would be my second choice. I'd have put "Images" on that list too. Certainly an "unusual" and intersting score. I'd love to have the privilege of owning a complete "Family Plot" to be able to consider that a favorite too, but Universal hasn't deemed us worthy.

I love Peak's unused "Something Wicked This Way Comes" art. Very eerie art for one of my favorite stories (if not film). What do you think of the "Missouri Breaks" CD, Morlock? Unique stuff, eh?

The cover art was done by Bob Peak (Superman: The Movie), an incredible artist. And Nicholson looks like that in the film?I think it looks like him on the cover, personally. Speaking of "The Missouri Breaks," this is one of my favorite of Williams lesser-known scores. The love theme is really charming.

A score CD is coming in July from all I've heard. Can't wait to hear more of Doc Ock's theme. UPDATE: That article that was linked to above actually gave a date for the Elfman CD release! July 20!

I don't know if Spielberg is an admirer of Zimmer (haven't read anything to the effect) so much as that Zimmer is in charge of DreamWorks' film music division. Certainly Spielberg had a big say in Zimmer's hiring for that post, but that doesn't imply he'd use the composer for his films.

Actually, I think it's "preaching to the choir" Singing to the choir . . . of all the crazy . . . Whoops. Noted and corrected. I honestly know the phrase, my mind must have just slipped up. It's a pain trying to write with screaming kids over your shoulder!

You're preaching to the choir on that, but I left it open out of respect to those who might not agree (Hitchcock and Herrmann's collaboration certainly has its fans...). IMHO, it just doesn't get better than Spielberg/Williams, and to ask a question like this poll is pure blasphemy I thought of that, Joe, but the odds are obviously against it, all things sadly considered (people like Spielberg, Williams and Walt Disney (to name a few) should be eternals so they can continue to give their unique gifts to the world, as long as they want to?death be damned!) I was wondering the same thing. If I were the kind of guy to promote mob violence, I'd suggest we take the vile trio out back and kick the [blank] outta 'em!

"Should Williams end his collaboration with Spielberg?" Three words: Are you insane? I dread the inevitable end of their collaboration that's beyond their choice (Williams passing). Until then, we should continue to cherish and celebrate one of the most incredible partnerships in film ever.

To further annoy you with details, if you put much stock in Rotten Tomatoes critical polling system, it looks like "Catch Me If You Can" actually comes out ahead at 97% fresh, while "Minority Report" got 93% fresh. The general public (from my vantage) seemed to like "Catch Me" collectively more than "Minority Report," which did have its detractors. Still, Morlock's (and others) points remain very valid that Spielberg doesn't seem to be hurting either critically or financially from his recent project choices. These are obvious facts that may not say that his newer work is everyone's cup of tea, but a helluva lot of people seem to appreciate what he's doing.

Ah, "critical" hit, not "box-office" hit. Got ya!