Steven Awalt

Actually, for the record, both of these films came in right about the same, with $305.2 million for "Minority Report" and $304.9 million for "Catch Me If You Can" worldwide, so both are fairly solid (although "Minority Report" probably didn't earn as much actual earnings since its budget was higher, it was a co-production, and Spielberg and Cruise took a huge slice of the earnings before Fox or DreamWorks got their cuts... For my two cents on Spielberg's choice of projects, he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't since if all he made were "blockbusters" people would be sniping at his supposed unoriginality or falling back on prior succeses. He tries something new and gosh he's just wasting his and our time. I'd rather have a director try something new and follow their instincts (even if they may fail from time to time, and as Morlock points out, Spielberg's track record is actually quite amazing successes to failures).

I first tried to buy the score at 7 a.m. (CST) from iTunes yesterday since I couldn't wait, but despite being charged I could never download the files literally all day long since they didn't appear to be loaded onto their servers properly. And Apple's customer service was of no help at all... My wife picked the score (wonderful score, btw) for me on CD yesterday afternoon instead (I would have bought a used copy eventually just to have an original CD, being a collector) and worse than the insulting FBI logo is the security label stuck under the CD tray right on the inlay artwork. I carefully tried to pull it off (after the case cracked when I opened it) and the sticker began to tear the artwork! I was furious?freaking Universal always does something to insult me and piss me off as a consumer. Great score though.

Is Acoustic Sounds the best source for HD audio? Any other good places to buy (any major chains online or B&M carry them?) Would this work in a normal DVD player like the A.I. A-DVD or is HD a system specific format? Any help you guys can give me (Neil, I know you're an expert on these things!) would be great, as I'd like to mention this on my site

The official site for "The Terminal" has a new soundtrack section listed. It's currently "delayed," but hopefully it will be up soon before the release of the CD. Just wanted to alert everyone to keep an eye out in case there are sound clips! http://www.theterminal-themovie.com/trailer.html

I have 6 days, 10 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds of John Williams music on my iPod, though not all of it is from official releases (the majority is though). This includes OSTs and rerecordings. So that's about 155 hours worth of music!

I've got a few original CDs of what you're looking for, Johnny: DEEP RISING GOLDSMITH AT FOX (DISCS 3 + 6) CHRSTUS APOLLO UNDER FIRE HAUNTING, THE On the Fox set, I've got one I'm willing to sell, but that I'd have to sell as a complete set so not to devalue the other discs (not sure if you want to go that route since you only need two discs). Write me if I can help you out!

"Potter" comes out first, it wasn't necessarily a priority. If he didn't write the score for "Potter" first due to loyalties to Spielberg, then "Potter" probably wouldn't have a score and he would have written the "Terminal" score for a picture that wasn't locked down...

I find it odd that some are presuming the score will be like "Catch Me If You Can" (which wouldn't be a bad bit of music since that's a great score), based probably on the tenuous connection that both films have airplanes and airports in them. I'd rather wait with an open mind until I hear it than to write it off. Williams deserves more than that and who knows if the music in the trailer is even Williams for sure anyway. Think of how great it'll be to have the wonderful "Prisoner of Azkaban" and a great "Terminal" score this summer. That's what I'm hoping for (and I like your attitude about it too Ted! Could lend itself to some really nice romantic music).

Decca (i.e. Universal) will be releasing "The Terminal" soundtrack on CD on June 15 (three days before the film's release in North America). No information regarding track titles or anything else are yet available at Decca or amazon.com, but having a date now is like gold! Can't wait to hear what this'll sound like.

"A Window to the Past" is absolutely beautiful, in its melancholy way. I'm not sure if it's the Jane Eyre sound it has going (Jane Eyre is one of my favorite Williams scores) or what, but that's the standout cue in an album full of standouts for me.

No, they'd be too busy begging for cures to their virus problems (please tip your waitresses)

Up to last month, Spielberg promised Indy IV "will happen," so I'd believe him over E! Entertainment. At the same time, if it all fell apart and Spielberg continued to do line up the kind of new films he is, I can't say I'll cry, despite being a massive Indy fan (or perhaps because I'm a massive Indy fan, like so many of you, I don't want to see a late entry into the series drag things down...) I figure if it happens, it'll happen and I hope Spielberg delivers. If it doesn't ce la vie. One less thing to give Lucas my money for

From what I understand of it, almost everyone who has covered this (via the Variety article) so far has been off the mark. Between the only two solid sources we have on this film over the last year (CNN interview with John Williams and now the Variety article) the film will not be about the Olympics tragedy, but rather, what they wrought. Williams said the film will focus on the Mossad and their "Wrath of God" campaign to avenge the slain Olympians. Variety, if you read the fine print of their article, confirms this. For anyone who reads my site, I hope I didn't further confuse this by using the image of the Black September terrorist at the Munich hotel in yesterday's news?it's such a powerful image about the events that I thought it would be good to illustrate the story with, but it would seem as if that moment in the events will be more of a prologue to the film. This interests me greatly. While a dramatic representation (there was one TV movie about it before) of the Black September/1972 Olympics tragedy would be told powerfully through Spielberg, the "Wrath of God" (which would be a good title for the film) story could be even more interesting to show what happened (both pro and con) within the Mossad. Hopefully Kingsley will play the Mossad operative in charge of the 10 year "Wrath of God" operation. It's important that Spielberg, if he will be portraying this, shows the events accurately since Mossad both avenged the heinous and unlawful deaths of these civilian athletes, but the fact that Mossad did make at least one tragic mistake (they murdered an innocent Palestinian mistaking him for one of their targets) and the fact that Mossad's tactics of revenge may be ethically questionable to some, despite the cause of the revenge. I certainly wonder how popular the film will be in Europe, or even the U.S. where, of course its predominantly Christian and the Old Testament (or old Hebrew) concept of vengeance doesn't jibe with the teachings of Christ. It'll be interesting to see how people accept the film. Ricard or Neil: if I got too political or over-stepped religious commentary in this response, please accept my apologies. Since the film will inherently be a very sensitive topic even on a surface level, its inevitable to talk about it, but I hope I didn't offend anyone. I'm glad to see people talking about it so much here though. On my forums, I'm embarrassed to say their hasn't been a peep on this monumental news in Spielberg's career yet, which surprises me and disapoints me to say the least!

If you're going to do an homage though, its best not to make your film look stupid and juvenile. The Tarzan yell is right up there with the "California Girls" bit in A View to a Kill. An absolute cheap showstopper on both counts. Lucas can have respect for Burroughs all he wants, but it was still a horrendous choice for Jedi.

And let's not forget to edit out the "Tarzan" yell with Chewie and the Ewoks. That's got to be the worst thing Lucas has ever committed to film.

Actually, our article pointed out that an unrealiable Kiwi source says Spielberg will shoot in New Zealand, though they have absolutely no fact to back this up (and they were even outright incorrect in saying Spielberg had been scouting there last year in a previous article.) At this point, there is no truth at all that "War of the Worlds" will shoot in New Zealand, though I wouldn't rule anything out. I wouldn't call it bandwagoneering either, since its economically sensible to shoot certain productions in New Zealand due to its varied terrains and (now very) strong film industry.

It's always great to read other fans rediscovering original passion they felt for these films from their childhood. I, like probably so many of you, find I have lost touch with those wonderful feelings from my childhood too due to?I'm not sure what? Lucas' current trilogy, changes to the lore because of the trilogy, etc., but occassionally, when my mind wanders back to those wonderful days in the late 1970s, early 1980s, boy do I feel alive! Of course Spielberg films (like Close Encounters, Raiders, Poltergeist, E.T. and Temple of Doom) always give me this feeling of warm nostalgia!

I wouldn't say they lie, but they have been outright totally incorrect many times (especially in their film listings which, true are submitted by users, but are supposedly approved prior to posting by a staff of editors). I never said they lie either, but you don't have to lie to be a rumor monger or sloppy and be wrong a percentage of the time.

imdb.com is right for once, as the trades and major genre news has picked up on it too! Very interesting choice of casting. Hope it works out for the film, Jackson and Black!

I think you just described the big reason Elfman has lost a lot of fanbase over the last decade or so. He certainly doesn't play it safe or play to audience (or film music fan) expectations, and that's one reason that his music is so much richer now. He also has one of the most unique voices ever to come out of film scoring in Hollywood, another reason he should be appreciated even if one doesn't care for his work (in this age of cookie-cutter MV scores, anyone with an original voice, even if repetitive on the occasion, should be canonized.) And if you haven't yet parted with your "Black Beauty" CD and are interested, Alex, I'm in the market That and "Midnight Run" are the only Elfman scores (officially released) I'm missing?I had them and they didn't survive a move a few years back :cry:

Damn you Neil I have to wait until Monday (if UPS can find my darned house, that is!) Obviously you didn't skip ahead to the rare tracks on the later discs yet?

I think the regular iPod fits perfectly in jean pockets. Maybe I don't have much else taking up space around me pockets I'd definitley hold out if they are going to put more memory in them. Make it more worth your money. I read today (on CNN I think) that Apple says the minis were actually designed with women in mind (with the size and designer colors). I'll leave any interpretation of that to you, King Mark 8O

I know what the title was used for, but its just such an odd title in itself. Wonder if Lucas came up with himself. He who gave us Sleezbagano.

Better still, "Blue Harvest." I could see where noone would have suspected that to be a Star Wars movie, let alone a movie anyone would be remotely interested in. What the hell does "blue harvest" mean anyway?

I disagree.Depends what you want.I was waiting all these years for 5 GB storage Media Player that was exactly the right sise and looks.This is it.I don't mind having to remove data to replace it from time to time. K.M. But as Neil pointed out, for about $50 more (which here in the States for a high priced electronic item can be the amount of tax you're paying), you can get a larger sized harddrive in a full iPod. That way you don't have to shuffle music from storage or computer to portable player. I was just really surprised when the mini iPods were announced that the price point was so high. I would easily spend $50 for an additional 11GB of memory. The price of a mini just doesn't make any sense (to me). Either way you go though, an iPod, as far as the machine itself is something you'll be thrilled with.