Loert

Edmilson · 2024-05-06T14:45:27Z

I've just finished a "Batman binge", where I watched a bunch of films set in Gotham so I could compare between them. I've never read the comics, all I know about Batman comes from what I see in these films. Here follow my candid, rough impressions:

Started with the Nolan trilogy. I watched BB and TDK many times some 10 years ago, though that was mainly because I really liked the score. But I always found it difficult to get into Nolan's style. I was hoping that viewing the films many years later might change my perspective. But if I'm honest, it's pretty much how I remembered it.

BB is still by far my favourite. TDK has Heath Ledger playing the Joker, which is of course a legendary performance, but apart from that I still find the whole thing pretty clunky. It's the film equivalent of a piece of teenage creative writing: "This happened...then this happened...suddenly, this happened..." The overall concept of the film is good, I have no problems with it. But it's the frame-by-frame action on screen and dialogue which grates on me for some reason. Everything on screen is just so "over-confident", for lack of a better term.

TDKR is basically TDK v2, though I felt some of the individual action scenes were better done than in TDK. Some of the plot is just so fantastical and unrealistic, though. I wonder, is this something that derives from the comic-books? That stuff suddenly "just happens", with no explanation? Because I just find it baffling. I think perhaps it's the clash between the "realism" the film is going for vs. the fantastical plot that troubles me. It's almost like it's trying to be a children's movie, yet the story is so gritty and down-to-earth, and I just get mixed messages.

Anyway, not saying that Nolan's trilogy is bad. BB especially is a great film. But I can't really explain the insanely high scores on review websites, personally.

Next, I watched Joker (2019). This was...OK. My main problem was that we don't really see Joker become a criminal mastermind, more like a mass-shooter type. But that minor niggle aside, I found it to be an excellent character study. The story dragged on a bit. The acting was superb, though.

Next, Batman (2022). I really loved the atmosphere of this film. I felt the story could've been a bit more interesting, and the performance of the Riddler was a little underwhelming. But the way the film was shot is phenomenal. Definitely the most visually pleasing Batman film.

Finally, I returned to Batman (1989). I never saw this film in its entirety previously, only caught bits of it on television. This film has some truly classic scenes. The surgery scene is possibly my favourite scene from all the films mentioned. Jack Nicholson knocked it out of the park as he always does. And I found Michael Keaton's portrayal of Batman quite endearing. And special mention goes to Elfman's score, by far my favourite score out of all these films. (In fact I'm listening to it now :music: ). In fact, there's not much to fault in this film!

So what are my overall thoughts on these films? Ultimately, Batman (1989) is my favourite, but Batman (2022) was the most beautiful to look at and most atmospheric. Joker was pretty good, though felt like it belonged in a different universe. And BB is a very solid origin story, whereas the rest of the Nolan trilogy is still something I'm trying to digest.

JTN · April 28

1 hour ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Not Berlioz?

Is this another one of those ironic JWFAN posts or are you being serious? :lol:

Bizet did write a symphony...and it's pretty good.

He's probably listening to this recording:

JTN · April 26

Recently rewatched 2001, this is definitely my favourite shot/moment:

Andy · April 22

My favourite Indiana Jones film and my favourite JW score. I will for sure be re-watching it. But my ultimate dream is to see it in a Live to Projection concert. Though unfortunately the people who organize LtP concerts probably already took one look at the score and said: "No way!"

Schilkeman · April 16

I adore A.I., but I made myself a 51-minute mix and listen to that. Don't think I can sit through the entire score and get the same enjoyment.

In terms of (supposedly) great scores, I struggle with LotR, Conan the Barbarian, and La La Land. I will say no more.

filmmusic · April 15

15 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

See here, Excised final chapter:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picnic_at_Hanging_Rock_(novel)

Oh believe me, I've read all the wikipedia pages and I'm still confused!

Spoiler

While watching, my interpretation was that it's fundamentally a conflict between an artificial setting (the school) and the natural world, that conflict being symbolized by the "rift" in time and space, as well as the parents withdrawing their girls from the school and the subsequent suicides. Then I found out from reading around that one of the major themes is the colonisation of Australian land, which makes sense. I think the whole thing about the girls turning into crabs is almost incidental, almost like the author just decided to come up with the craziest explanation in order to drive home that there actually is no explanation that makes sense.

April 15

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975). Watched it for the second time. The first time I saw it was around 7 years ago, when I understood very little of the story, though the film did leave an impression on me (particularly the haunting ascent music). So I was hoping to understand some more this time round...with little luck. There's a subtle discontinuity about the whole film that makes it very dream-like. The sudden shifts in location, the deep sense that something is not right...from that point of view it's very well done. But other than that I still struggle to make heads or tails of it. Maybe that's the point. I feel like I need to visit a Freud or a Jung and ask them what the film means.

Brando · April 14

1 hour ago, Jay said:

What type of person comes across this year-and-a-half old post of mine and decides to put the sleepy Reaction on it? Weird.

Maybe they were just really tired...

April 14

If you mean "theme" as in a melody that is re-used throughout the score, I don't think I could ever give a favourite, however the first theme that came to mind was the A.I. Theme, which I really adore. But I also really love the Slave Children's Crusade theme (its rendition in the ToD end credits is perhaps my favourite section in any JW score).

If you mean "theme" as in a title theme/track, I would probably go for either The Towering Inferno titles, or The 1941 March.

Jurassic Shark · April 11

FIX IT NAAAUUUUGHHHHH!!!!

Holko · April 10

...and then they told me they didn't have any more turtlenecks in stock...

Tom · April 10

I have the high ground!

Holko · April 8

I ugly-cried at the ending when I first saw it. One of my favourite films of all time.

The score is really good. I find it slightly ironic that the most famous theme from the movie was written not by Ennio Morricone, but by his son. At least, that's what I've heard, the reality might be different.

Jurassic Shark · March 28

And here is what it sounds like.

Jurassic Shark · March 27

On the topic of cello concertos, here's one of my favourites...written by John Williams' composition teacher!

March 26

3 minutes ago, Holko said:

there's that section in The Battle where the strings are supposed to carry the melodic line but they're off to the distant far left...

Timestamp?

Tom Guernsey · March 24

I haven't listened to all Jerry Goldsmith, though a while ago I did go through a bunch of 15 minute suites of his scores on Youtube. But I'm still not that familiar with his Star Trek work, for example (in fact I'm listening to it now :music: )

That said, my favourite so far is Total Recall. Someone who doesn't know anything about music might dismiss it as a silly action score, and in a way it is silly, but on closer inspection it reveals amazing artistry. And it's an enjoyable listen from start to finish.

It's so hard to choose with Goldsmith, though, because all of his works are so diverse. With Williams, even though he has also written in different genres, I feel that you can always pick out a single internal language in his soundtrack work. With Goldsmith it's not so obvious, and he's better at being more chameleon-like. But then I've listened to far more Williams than Goldsmith, so that might just be a bias of mine.

EDIT: Just finished listening to The Enterprise for the first time. :music: As if I needed any more confirmation that Goldsmith is a genius! Brilliant track, almost a perfect encapsulation of epic/heroic musical tropes of that time (not in a bad way). Lots of Debussy influences.

Jurassic Shark · March 23

Got to see him once at the Southbank Centre performing Chopin's Preludes. A formidable force of piano playing. RIP

karelm · March 22

Here is something I've been working on. It was originally intended as an exercise to get back into composing after at least a year of not doing anything. But I decided to publish it in the end. The idea was to pretend that I was writing a track for an Elder Scrolls game. I hope you like it!