CYPHER

Does anyone know if that's John Williams playing the piano during any of the renditions of Monica's Theme on the A.I. CD? CYPHER

A lot of these critics circles give out awards based on multiple films. I don't think it's such a bad idea because it acknowledges consistency and excellence throughout the year and over several films, thereby producing a more definitive result. It is of course a problematic approach because the more output someone has the better chance they have of winning. CYPHER

I've just finished listening to my newly received copy of The Two Towers soundtrack and what'd ya know but the CD came with a bonus pre-prepared scratch that produces an irritating 'ticking' noise throughout all of Track 16: Forth Eorlingas :evil: . Man am I pissed off! What is it with CDs (and other entertainment products) these days? That's the third time in 2002 that I bought a defective CD soundtrack. The Patriot had several scratches (I returned it for a non-scrathed version) and Attack of the Clones skips sometimes for no apparent reason, 'On the Conveyor' belt is f*#%ed and it's generally just 'special' aka retarded (its defects are so erratic - sometimes it works just fine - and it was a gift so I never got to return it for a better one). With the price CDs cost these days (esp. soundtracks) is it too much to ask that they should actually work? There's nothing worse than finally buying a CD (I make my purchases sparingly) and then having to go back to the shop AGAIN because its scratched. So I'm calling on you all to share with me and each other some of your 'defective product' horror stories (and you're bound to have them, I know). I need to vent and I'm sure many people here need to as well, so let's do it collectively! CYPHER I've decided to post this topic in General Discussion because it does relate to CD soundtracks and by extension film music which is what John Williams writes (though feel free to add any non-film score related tales of terror).

Hmm... probably "Jango's Escape" from AOTC. I only bought 3 soundtracks for films released in 2002 so I don't have much to chose from. And I've only just listened to TTT all the way through and have yet to fully appreciate it (though I'm well on the way - it's great). CYPHER

Who-hoo! But what is it with Attack of the Clones being dissed AGAIN?!? (and no smart-arse "because it sucks" comments please ) CYPHER

Score ONE for Johnny and Spielberg!!! I'm so glad that some critics circles still have taste. I agree that AOTC should have been included in there, but maybe if it had, it would have just been no contest at all? Can anyone provide me with a link to a site with a complete list of winners? Ta. CYPHER

Man, this is disturbing news indeed. Just goes to show what a bunch of censored the Academy has become. This is a really anal move on their part and is bound to make ineligible so many good scores (and ones that we here at this messageboard especially love). Hopefully the Academy will revise it's decision to implement these tougher restrictions next year, and if they don't, then they really will be in the garbage heap. Unfortunately this initiative is just another in a series of moves in which the Academy have treated musical scores poorly. Consider the outrageousness of refusing a nomination to Lisa Gerrard alongside Hans Zimmer for Gladiator because she did not contribute more than 20 minutes of music for the film. It's quality, not quantity damnit! Or think about the stupidity of splitting the music award into Best Original and Best Musical or Comedy Scores. This was flawed for a number of reasons: 1)Aren't comedic or musical scores 'original' too? 2) Some years there aren't ten scores worthy of an Oscar nomination. 3) Part of the reason why the split occurred was to give non-Disney/animation scores a chance of winning after they'd nabbed the Oscar 3 times in the previous 6 years. Ironically only one Disney/animation film (Pocahontus) ever won the award for Best Musical or Comedy Score. Instead quaint, but sub-par efforts like Emma and The Full Monty won Oscars. 4) The distinction between categories was quite weak, leading to travesties like Life is Beautiful being awarded Best Original Score when it was largely comedic and obviously inferior to more dramatic works like Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line. Given this recap of the Academy's previous injustices, this latest news unfortunately comes as little surprise. CYPHER

I saw this the day after it came out here. And despite my trepidation, I actually really enjoyed it. While it is quite long, I savoured almost every moment of it. "The Float" theme was fantastic and was running through my head for the rest of the day. So for anyone who's having second thoughts about whether to see it or not, I strongly recommend it. But of course Minority Report is the superior film. CYPHER - who has just got back from Melbourne this morning after going to four straight days of the Australian Open tennis yipee

Yeah, sorry about the use of "ain't". I don't know what came over me. I think I was possessed by the spirit of a crazed hillbilly or something. And Conor's right - once the caricature takes over, all grammatical rules are out! CYPHER

I just love how this topic has become almost exclusively about plants and snow, with a nascent Michael Jackson bashing thread emerging at the end here LOL Everyone's opinions on the matter are so very cute . Who knew there were so many green-thumbed individuals here? CYPHER - I ain't never seen snow in my entire life.

I heard somewhere that the whole Scouring of the Shire plotline is not going to be included in the final film because it interferes with the structure. Go figure... But it could actually work out for the best that way. CYPHER

I've just got back from seeing the movie just now. Yeah, the score sounded pretty good, though I've yet to listen to it in isolation. And it was kind of hard to concentrate in the cinema with those annoying brat toddlers running up and down the aisles screaming and making noises. I was so tempted to wring their bloody necks Obviously they didn't like the film, but I did (or at least tried my best to above their racket). CYPHER

Yeah, I reckon Aragorn is far more studly. Though to me the big question for all Orlando Bloom fans is this: are you attracted to him as Legolas or as Orlando Bloom, the dark haired boy wonder? Or both even? They are very different looking. CYPHER

Even though I didn't particularly like TTT I'm glad I saw it (I loved the first one so much that there was no way I could possibly not). And I would encourage most people to see it and judge it for themselves. Very rarely will intelligent individuals (as we all are here) have the exact same response to a film as somebody else so you'll never know Joe until you go. Besides I know of a few people who didn't think too much of FOTR and ended up liking TTT (and vice versa). CYPHER

Trying not to sound like a copycat or anything (or agree with Ebert), but Minority Report was also the best film I saw at the cinemas this year. Ah, validation... I don't need it, but it sure is sweet when I get it anyway. CYPHER

What I really want to know is whether the TTT soundtrack CD is worth buying or not? From what I could hear of it in the film it didn't sound too bad at all especially the Riders of Rohan theme. I didn't think much of the score for FOTR when I heard it in the film but when a friend bought it for my birthday I fell in love with it after several listens. So is there anything in TTT to match the heartbreak and emotion of "The Breaking of the Fellowship" or the eerie creative genius of "Lothlorien"? Or is it all just pounding, percussive action music which while effective in the films isn't exactly pleasant to listen to on its own? Any other comments on track length and composition or sound quality etc that will help guide my decision as to whether to purchase it or not would be great too. Thanks guys. CYPHER PS - what's the "Farewell to Lorien" bonus track like anyway?

Okay I have a few responses and comments to make here but can't conceive of how to quote different people in the one reply so I'll just address you all individually. Marian: Your comments were much appreciated. It seems we shared some similar reactions to the film (e.g. disdain for the alterations) and not others (regard for the opening scene). And I'd completely forgotten about Legolas felling the Nazgul with his arrow, but now that I remember it I thought at the time that it was a little silly. Stefancos: I haven't seen the extended scenes from FOTR yet but from what you've said it certainly seems as though the film makers have made a botch job with this Arwen-Aragorn debacle. The illogical plotting and flashbacks / dream sequences in TTT were confusing enough without adding this to the mix. In my opinion they should never have given Arwen such a big role because it's just not working. And there's no excuse for giving Liv Tyler higher billing than Viggo Mortensen! Melange: That scene in the Marshes, especially when Frodo falls in is one of the few moments that I really enjoyed. It manages to demonstrate some of the imagination so rife throughout FOTR and so scarce in TTT. Justin: Your cinema experience sounds TERRIBLE! This is the stuff of my nightmares! As much as I would hate to do it I would've walked out as soon as the problems looked like they'd persist: better to only have part of it ruined than the whole thing. But it's encouraging that you still managed to like the film and be in seemingly high spirits about it CYPHER

Contains SPOILERS I saw The Two Towers this morning and I'm afraid to say I thought it sucked for the most part. I'm a big fan of the books and absolutely loved the The Fellowship of the Ring movie. My biggest problem with The Two Towers has to be the structure and the pacing. From the opening scene (which to me is pointless, inappropriate and comes completely out of nowhere) the film is an utter mess. All that scene jumping prevented me from ever getting settled into the film and I found it really hard to appreciate what were emotionally significant events. Even the lead up to the battle at Helm's Deep was underwhelming and I really didn't care much for the Men holed up inside no matter how many times Peter Jackson served up cliched shots of lip-trembling women and stern-faced men holding back their tears The deviations from the original text would not have been personally problematic if they had actually served much purpose or been even slightly effective. So many of these were ludicrous (Aragorn's 'death') or completely unbelievable (the winged Nazgul flies away from the One Ring just because his steed has been hit by a single arrow?). I'll admit that the book is structured in an atypical way (The Return of the King even more so) but the transfer from one medium to the other has been very poorly handled here in my opinion. Saving Shelob and Gandalf's admittedly anti-climactic confrontation with Saruman for the final film will probably feel just as weird. The most disappointing aspect about this film though was its complete inability to move me. I was entirely devastated by the first film and moved to tears on so many occasions - from such disparate moments as the response to Gandalf's death to a forlorn exchange of looks between Aragorn and Boromir in Lorien. In The Two Towers none of the characters were given room to breath because so much was going on and there was very little evocation of their plight. Considering this is the darkest chapter I'm surprised that I feared more for Frodo and Sam in the first film than I did here. Despite having an extra writer the script seems much more sparse and it's profound neglect of character development is probably one of the main reasons for this phenomenal let down.

Fiery Angel, I completely agree with you: Unbreakable was an amazing film, M. Night Shyamalan's best to date and definitely one of the top 3 movies of 2000. CYPHER

I think Alexander the Great would provide great material for a movie but I don't think we really need two of them. I'd probably prefer to see Oliver Stone's version (instead of Baz Luhrmann's) for a few reasons: 1. Colin Farrell would be much better suited for the role than Leonardo DiCaprio (TOTALLY WRONG!!!) though I think Heath Ledger would have been best of all three. 2. Oliver Stone has the best chance of getting John Williams involved considering their close collaboration in the past. And while I think a few other composers could pull it off, I shudder at the possibility of an 'out there, eclectic' Craig Armstrong score which will certainly come attached to Baz's production. 3. While both Oliver and Baz are undoubtedly completely insane, I think Stone's madness is much more suited to this genre. And if the script is as good as they say it is and he gets Robert Richardson to photograph it and he reigns himself in a bit (please no split-screen antics a la Any Given Sunday ) Oliver could come up with a final masterpiece before he O.D.'s into oblivion. CYPHER

I find that James Newton Howard nearly always puts in a competent effort at the very least. He writes good scores that suit the movies well and certainly contribute significantly to them. Signs is great, but I also really love the way Unbreakable and Snow Falling on Cedars work in the context of these films. I own the latter on CD and while it is a good score, I've grown a bit tired of it lately - which doesn't diminish its appropriateness and effectiveness in the film. CYPHER

I grew up loving the Star Wars saga and therefore by association, the soundtrack to the original trilogy. It wasn't until 1997 when I got The Empire Strikes Back Special Edition 2CD for Christmas that I really started to get into John Williams music on its own. CYPHER

Thank you so much everyone for your very helpful replies. I'm going to try and hunt down Five Sacred Trees or else get the Yo-Yo Ma CD. Thanks again. CYPHER

Thanks for the link CharlieSherry! It actually sounds really awesome, and very 'catchy' too (pun INTENDED). Okay, maybe I am a little excited about this movie now CYPHER

John Williams' challenge in writing the music for Episode III will be quite a considerable one. Ideally it should see progress being made towards the closer integration of the new prequel themes with the older original trilogy themes whilst still coming up with a sizeable amount of original thematic material and underscore. To date Williams has been surprisingly reluctant to rely too heavily on the original trilogy themes in the prequels and while for me this has worked to date, I feel it would be remiss if he failed to incorporate the Force theme, Yoda's theme and perhaps even a nascent Rebel Fanfare in Episode III. More pressing though is the need to include and develop some of the prequel themes. If 'Duel of the Fates' has to be included in the finale (which I'm not too keen about because it really has lost its charm for me) then it shouldn't just be a cut and paste from The Phantom Menace but a re-working significant enough to give it new flavour and vitality. As previously stated the 'Love Theme' definitely needs some attention and it would be great to hear a corrupted 'Anakin's theme' as Beowulf suggested, a much darker version that ends in a near-full rendition of the 'Imperial March' in all its glory. Yeah, I'm pretty excited too :yellow: CYPHER