CYPHER

Yes Morlock, you've gotta see it! CYPHER

House of Sand and Fog had an interesting soundscape. Some of the quieter cues were softly impressive, especially the unusal orchestration. But the more dramatic music played frequently towards the climax was uncomfortably similar to one of his motifs from A Beautiful Mind (which I had perhaps unfortunately been listening to in the days before I saw this movie). As for Troy, I would've been interested in hearing what Yared could produce - I quite like his Minghella stuff. But with the limited time available to Horner now and with a seemingly dubious film as his sole inspiration, I don't think it would be wise to expect too much from him. CYPHER

My only Edelman score is The Last of the Mohicans. Obviously nearly everyone buys this album for the Trevor Jones stuff, but I personally find this gets way too repetitive to warrant much listening to these days. Edelman's part of the score is much more atmospheric and complex and whilst not strictly as 'enjoyable' or 'rousing' as Jones' cues, it certainly stands up better over time. CYPHER

Does any one else get the impression that the cafe scene was specifically made for the trailer and won't actually be included in the film proper? Kind of like the original Twin Towers trailer for the first film. I mean this scene is not going to surprise anyone if they include it in the film. That might explain why the acting is a little dodgy and Kirsten Dunst looks akin to a rotting corpse as she leans across the table for a kiss... That was why Peter's Spidey-sense was tingling I tell you!!! CYPHER

A ha! Thanks Marian . I liked this bit: and This certainly goes some way towards explaining how Nyman manages to capture that brilliantly LOUD sound of his. CYPHER - celebrating his 600th post (and it's in a thread he started too)! 8O

I voted for the Star Wars option, although "Man Against Beast" from Jaws would come a close second. CYPHER

Well apart from what you said about Willow Morlock, I basically agree with your post. The only noticeably decent component of Horner's score is the end credits music. I think Aaron Eckhart is great as always, but everything else is pretty uninspiring as you say. The screenplay is the worst aspect though - the plot descends into complete trash. Despite its subject matter and obvious affinities with The Searchers I'd struggle to even classify this movie as a Western because it so utterly lacks the right aesthetic. For one thing a Western should not have such wretchedly fast editing! CYPHER

Yeah, I noticed Wael's recent absence too. Hopefully he'll be back shortly with lots of hot insider goss . CYPHER

And many more years of paying off credit card debt I'm sure . But that is still encouraging news of course . So what's the deal with the Michael Nyman Band do you know? And the Michael Nyman Orchestra (which has performed most of his recent scores)? Is it the one bunch of musicians who follow Nyman around everywhere and only play his stuff? How frequently would it's membership change I wonder? And do you think Nyman performs often with any other musical ensemble or does he generally just use his own posse so to speak? I guess when you've got your own private band, I wouldn't see the point of branching out ... CYPHER

I'll defend the American Western too. I love them. I haven't seen any of the early silent Westerns or too many of the black and whites either but I'll watch any of the old 1940s and '50s stuff with John Wayne or Alan Ladd (Shane is a super film). But there are so many seminal pieces I haven't watched yet like Stagecoach, High Noon, The Magnificent Seven and The Wild Bunch. I get a great kick out of spaghetti westerns too, and not just the Leone ones. Little-known films like God in Heaven ... Arizona on Earth and The Price of Power have a wonderful asethetic and I really enjoy them. Although a spag western like Too Much Gold For One Gringo can be (perhaps unsurprisingly given that ludicrous title) too crap even for me to stand . I especially admire all the revisionist Western films of the last fifteen years or so, especially Dances With Wolves, Unforgiven and the brilliant Open Range. I prefer my Westerns to be fairly serious and contemplative, serving as meditations on a lost time and place and the complexities and paradoxes of American identity. I'm less thrilled by action movies set in the old West, which partly explains why I found The Missing so unsatisfying. Horror films would have to be my all-time favourite style of film. When it's done well e.g. Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I enjoy it more than I do any other genre. It's another genre that has a lot of diversity, much of it bad, but I'm bound to love at least one film from any of its 'sub-sections'. I also love science fiction cinema, and thrillers and dramas that are intelligent, sophisticated and a little on the dark side. Romantic comedies don't do much for me and I especially avoid those star-driven showpieces that Alex mentioned. Yuck CYPHER

It struck me the other day that I have seen very few of the films Michael Nyman has scored. I think the only three are Gattaca, Ravenous and The Claim. I thought the music worked splendidly well in Gattaca and there are some wickedly enjoyable passages in Ravenous (co-written with Damon Albarn of Blur fame[?]). His score for The Claim has got some great stuff, but it didn't help my enjoyment of that particular film. What I've seen of Michael Winterbottom's work is not my cup of tea. Obviously I would like to see more of the films Nyman has scored. Especially the Peter Greenaway stuff. But these films aren't readily available here. Clearly Nyman's work stands up incredibly well on its own because it has such a formidable presence, but it'd be nice to see how his music functions in the context of the films for which it is written. Thoughts Marian, anyone? CYPHER

Now there's a face only a mother could love . But it has certainly stood him in good stead, and many of his roles especially in The Name of the Rose have accentuated the ugliness factor. CYPHER - who doesn't much care for Densie Richards either. Maybe it's an Australian thing? Morn care to throw in your two cents so that, on the basis of three votes, I can generalise for a population of 20 million? LOL

"And if you call NOW you´ll get the revolutionary CD set >How to become a film composer< for free. Acclaimed composers like James Horner used this product to learn how to score a film brillantly" 8O 8O Well, I'm glad so many of you have liked this ad. It sure is a blast from the past - John's even got colour in his hair! 8O. I just love the way that JVC product is conveniently, and ever so strategically placed in the background . CYPHER

LOL Ah, potty humour ... Seriously though Ross, you have my sympathies - as if things weren't bad enough as they are. CYPHER - who also has an aversion to large bodies of water.

Well I think Shyamalan has every right to stick to these supernatural thrillers if he wants to. It's quite obvious that he likes the genre, that it excites him and intrigues him and that, for the most part, these films of his are quite good. They certainly show considerable talent and sensitivity in any case. Certainly it'd be nice to see him try his hand at something different later on if he wanted to, but there shouldn't be any pressure. Indeed I like the fact that he's sticking to his roots. I generally get a little miffed when some new hot shot makes it big with a genre piece and then promptly decides never to touch the stuff again now that he's found 'acclaim.' As a genre fan I appreciate that he has continued to make these type of films. And Jeff's Hitchcock analogy is a good one - if it ain't broke don't fix it. CYPHER

That's why you keep shouting your name. Yeah- I've thought of that several times but never said anything. Well even though my username is entirely in capitals as well, I definitely never intended to convey any shouting effect. "How rude!" as Jar Jar might say . It's just supposed to be bold and stand out more. CYPHER

Well I finally bought a soundtrack last week that I've been meaning to get for a long while: The Horse Whisperer by Thomas Newman. I had some of the main cues taped off the radio from back in 1998 when it came out and had been waiting to see the CD for a cheap price I liked. I found it for $A10 (approx $US7.50) so I bought it . I've listened to it a couple of times now and it's really quite nice. It seems to have the right mix of both large orchestral flourishes and quiet, atmospheric rumblings. There's definitely a soft emotional core to this score and some of it sends shivers down my spine. And the sound quality is amazing . CYPHER PS - Great idea for a thread Morlock. Hopefully this one'll stick around for a while.

Check out what I found in an old National Geographic magazine! It was on the backcover of Vol. 160, No. 4, dated October 1981. It's got a cover article about the maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle Columbia in April of that year . I thought many of you would get a kick out of seeing this advertisement. It made me pause to think about the perceptions of John Williams at various stages in his career. At this point people had still yet to hear his score for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial let alone Schindler's List or Jurassic Park etc etc. Maybe he's working on E.T. in this very picture? My apologies for the battered quality of the image - it is from a second/fourth-hand copy of the magazine after all. Also I had to reduce the size of the image to upload it, so the writing at the bottom may be a little unclear. If anyone wants any words or sentences clarified, just let me know and I'll post a 'translation' . CYPHER

Well that "Best of" album I've got has a few tracks from each of those Peter Greenaway scores you own Marian. I really like the Drowning by Numbers stuff esp. "Wheelbarrow Walk" which is just great fun. Both the tracks from The Draughtsman's Contract - "Chasing Sheep Is Best Left To Shepherds" and "An Eye For Optical Theory" - conclude with audience applause, so maybe they're from that Live album you mentioned? Definitely a concert performance anyway . There's also a performance of "Memorial" in there too from The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover. Admittedly I have only listened to it the one time, but I found to be a rather painful experience. There's good cacophony and there's bad cacophony, and I thought this was the latter. Still, I'm sure to give it a few more listens and I hope it grows on me. Tell me, have you actually ever seen any of these Greenaway films? I certainly haven't and they definitely seem like an acquired taste. I've seen bits of The Pillow-Book but that's it. As for those more recent soundtracks I mentioned I thought I should point out that I cannot strictly recommend the CDs themselves. I don't actually own them and although I have much confidence in them, I can't actually vouch for their length, sound quality, value for money etc. But I am certainly very impressed with the music I have heard . CYPHER

Now, why wasn't E.T. cuisine listed as an option over at the 'Dining Out' thread? CYPHER

I agree. However slowly but surely the posts seem to be trickling in. Chrusher says he owns a Nyman CD and I forsee Morn becoming a convert shortly ... Plus I seem to recall Peio being somewhat of a fan, but he doesn't seem to be posting here much lately. Thanks for providing the details about those albums (and acronyms) Marian. I'll be sure to keep my eye open for them in the future. Even though I have been listening to Michael Nyman's music for years now (usually from the radio and by keeping my ears open during the films), it has only been over the last six months that I have actually bought any of his albums. So at the moment I only own two of his CDs: the aformentioned The very best of Michael Nyman and Gattaca. I have yet to listen to The Piano as I am waiting to see the film first. The "Best of" album does offer some great samples of the calibre of his more recent film scores, and I hope to get one or two of these soon. Of particular note are: - The Claim, which contains some Morricone-inspired brass work and an astounding 9-minute long finale, dubbed my Nyman himself as his most "quasi-operatic" film cue to date. - Wonderland - each of the main characters seems to have their own specially developed theme music, which is by turns moody, depressing and exhilarating. This is some excellent stuff. - The End of the Affair - while some parts of this score do seem a little trite, the opening track "Diary of Hate" is one of my favourite Nyman cues, a brooding, achingly beautiful and exquisitely torturous piece. - Practical Magic - Nyman's score for this film was rejected and replaced by Alan Silvestri's music, but two of Nyman's cues are available on some versions of the soundtrack release. The one I've heard, "Convening the Coven" is an absolute corker - as energetic and insanely vigorous as Philip Glass' best . So which of the Greenaway scores do you own Marian? CYPHER

I'd pick the following as some neat opening cues: - "Dead Already" from American Beauty (Thomas Newman) - "Lost in the Fog" from Snow Falling on Cedars (James Newton Howard: some great early atmospheric stuff here) - "Foundations of Stone" from The Two Towers (Howard Shore: one of my favourite renditions of the Ring theme) - and of course "A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics" from A Beautiful Mind (James Horner: too bad the movie's all downhill from here on in ). CYPHER

As if this is actually going to happen, Ross. I wish, but as if . CYPHER

LOL So that's what all these 'collaborations' are about, eh? CYPHER

Nah, I never knew this, but I'm glad I do now, so thanks Morlock for your detective work! That theme is a little ripper - I used to have it as the ringtone for my mobile phone. Back when I had a mobile LOL. CYPHER PS - I'll try to get around to rating my favourite comic book films, but apart from Unbreakable and the two X-Men movies, they all seem pretty much of a muchness...