CYPHER

LOL It's anarchy here, I tell you! ANARCHY! "I have the conch! I have the conch!" CYPHER

Hector, what is that thing in your new avatar? Whatever your answer, I sure wouldn't want to bump into it in a dark alley! CYPHER

I agree with Falstaft. If we're talking about the music playing over the aftermath of Brad's heel vs Orlando's arrow then it's almost a direct lift from Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis." What I disliked the most about Horner's otherwise fairly serviceable score was the faux Gladiator female vocal solos. They were sooooooo derivative it was painful. What's more it was an approach that almost all the members of the audience would already be familiar with. I could just sense everyone in the cinema sniggering and rolling their eyes during those moments. CYPHER

Think about it Ray. I've already made it well known that I'm not a fan of Harry Potter - I haven't read the books and I haven't seen the films. I won't be watching the forthcoming film. I lack the technology to listen to the new score online. The CD will not be released here for at least another couple of weeks. I haven't bought any CD in almost two months. I'm not rolling in cash at the moment, so my purchases will be judicious. I'm a practical and patient guy. My love for John Williams' music remains strong. Over the last fortnight I've been re-listening to his Star Wars scores in chronological order. I just finished listening to The Empire Strikes Back on Friday. This is almost certainly my favourite film score, but I probably haven't listened to it in about six months. So it was lovely to hear it again. It's all good. CYPHER

Even better! CYPHER

'No' of course. Actually it's good to see that the new Harry Potter score hasn't distracted us too much from having some good old stupid fun. CYPHER

Well done, K.M. well done. I had a good little snigger when I logged on just now and saw all these "banning" threads at once. Oh, the honour of being included amongst them! (Swoons) CYPHER - who voted "No". Der.

Well, I'm probably more in that category than in the 'John Williams fans who love HP' group, so yeah Steef, I'm happy for them (and me) too. CYPHER

I'll be waiting... for about a year or so until I find the CD in a bargain bin as I did the previous two Harry Potter scores, then I'll probably snatch it up. I might have a bit of a listen to it instore if it's at a listening station. Plus I probably won't be seeing the film for quite some time after that. Hence I won't have much to say on this topic over the new few weeks and months. BUT I am very happy for all of you HP fans out there who are going nuts at the moment (so cute) and I'm glad so many of you appear to like what you're hearing. CYPHER

Wonderful that you enjoyed The Rite of Spring. Thank goodness this work was left complete (though I wonder if they edited some small parts, or Salonen skipped some measures). Such a virtuoso work for musicians and conductor, and a landmark in history of music. I caught the end of this performance of The Rite of Spring a month ago and loved it. It was my first time with this piece too (although I must have heard it while watching Fantasia and been too distracted by the dinosaurs to notice much ). You can definitely hear how influential it must have been for composers like Herrmann and Williams. Any recommendations for what performance/recording of this piece I should try to hunt down for my collection? Cheers. CYPHER

This blows... Here's hoping its safely back with the LAPO soon. CYPHER

Ah, who cares? I say, enough is enough of this 'cultural cringe' crap! CYPHER

Bummer-rama! CYPHER - wondering when the formal inquiry into this grievous oversight will be announced...

Whatever it is, it's going to be bad. CYPHER

Well, let's hope so anyway, otherwise we could be in for one big snoozer of a film... CYPHER

Yep, I remember feeling that then about Catch Me If You Can, just as I am feeling it now about The Terminal. And I believe this sense of 'vagueness' surrounding both projects is a product of their initial inability to inspire my enthusiasm and imagination (on paper at least). CYPHER

Personally, I made the mental connection between The Terminal and a jazzy Williams score because this latest film sounds, on paper at least, very similar to Catch Me If You Can (with its jazzy score). Both sound like dud, recent period pieces, starring Tom Hanks in a film that hardly promises to stretch Spielberg's talents as a film-maker. That said, it should turn out to be fun in the end and probably won't have a jazzy score either... CYPHER

You beat me to it Ray! That E.R. theme is just tops. Then again it was written in, what, 1994? Plus Thomas Newman's Six Feet Under is pretty decent too. CYPHER

It's the Who's Who of JWFAN.NET USA!!! That sounds awesome - have fun you guys! CYPHER

'Healthy', heterosexual males - isn't that suposed to be one of the big target audiences for this movie? Too funny. Still, I bet wild horses couldn't keep them away. CYPHER - who thinks Troy will probably be better than Van Helsing but both will probably be scraping the bottom of the barrel. "Hey look," they both remark, "There's King Arthur! Come on down! We've got big box office receipts and we're gonna party!" LOL

I voted yes, but at this stage, 'sort of' would more accurately capture my 'degree of care' for this film. CYPHER

Well, let's hope so anyway! 8O But seriously, I'm glad to hear it. So remind me, which members here are attending this concert(s)? Hey, that's The Seekers you're talking about! That's a brilliant 'imagining' of our national narrative right there. I'd never really read the lyrics before but they hit me where it counted. On a less serious note, how can you resist a line like this: "I'm a bushy, I'm a battler"? It's GOLD! LOL CYPHER

Ha ha! How right you are, Neil. I'd forgotten all about that. :oops: 8O CYPHER

I'm not sure if I will actually buy these DVDs at this stage. It depends on their content. That said, the main attraction to buying them would be to own something as close as possible to the films I love. Ultimately it'd be great if both the original and Special Edition versions were contained on each disc, but I highly doubt this'll ever happen. So that said, I'd still settle for just the 1997 Special Editions rather than having another Special Special Edition. CYPHER

I'm with you on this one K.M. As much as Broughton's score rocked, this movie should've been Williams' by rights! How self-reflexive could you get? Considering that much of Arnold's earlier work sounds like a poor man's John Williams... It would have to be a very poor day for Williams to copy Arnold. And I'm talking majorly cash-strapped here. CYPHER