crocodile

Here's a sample waveform of "The Desert" from the eventual 2027 Sony release of the remastered OT SE and PT single disc albums:

Please, dear God, someone seize this music from Sony and Lucasfilm.

You are aware that it was conceived and recorded within days? It took John Williams few weeks to compose something as "simple" as his NBC theme (the football one, anyway). Writing is a much more complicated process than we can imagine. That Zimmer did something like this and even went to London to specifically record it is quite admirable, I think.
As to the content, yes it is based on TDK material. But those films are, unfortunately, connected to this tragedy. Whether what's tasteless or not, it's up for debate. Besides, remember that Williams Elegy for Cello and Orchestra is based on theme from Seven Years in Tibet as well. These sort of things happen all the time. I don't see anything wrong with that.
Karol

Old news.

Well, Spanish-sounding country names are quite easy to come up with. You just have to use San/Santo/Santa/Costa and add a spanish-sounding word after that.
Santo Perro, Santa Cuchara, Costa Palabra... See, it's easy!

The funny thing about mainstream music is that until recently it had one redeeming feature: voices of the artists. That they had to have some kind of skills. Now, it doesn't seem to matter.
Karol

Care to explain the reason? I assumed it was because of the literal fall he took at the end of TDK.
Or is it some stupid smartass writing to show that Bruce must learn to live without the cane (Caine, Alfred).

Saw this thing last night in IMAX. I'm still not completely sure what to think of it. I'm going to have to see it again. I definitely liked it, but I feel as though I need to reconcile a lot of what it did, namely with the sheer number of characters and plotting that it has. The ending threw me a bit for a loop and I wasn't sure if I was totally satisfied by it, but after sleeping on it and ruminating on it (which this film practically forces you to do) I've decided that it works very, very, well.
I, for one, loved Bane. The voice had a great dichotomy to his appearance. I was shocked by how large and imposing he was on screen.

They’re changing the whole thing, the whole dynamic… Everything is more nuanced. It’s very intriguing.

Yeah, definitely. Makes you feel like it's bigger than just Batman, you know?

I really liked it! It seemed really silly at times (Really? Nolan did the classic "Call the Preisdent" scene) but I found it really satisfying and exciting.

It's the family name of a common hot dog vending company in Gotham City. And Bane loves him some hot dogs.

Crocs constantly yawning and you rolling your eyes all the time. What a team you two would make!

Rottentomatoes can be very misleading and the percentage thing tends to hurt more divisive movies, that get very high and very low grades. A movie can get mostly average reviews and still have a very high tomatometer. And also movies get reviewed in relation to what preceded them, that's why lackluster (IMH) blockbusters like Star Trek and Avengers get such high ratings.

Damn, I should have thought of that one! I don't like having jokes I should have said being stolen from me...

Didn't you notice his name? He's biased!

The kind of impressionistic shots of corn and house and butterfly and stuff like that. Reminds me of Malick.
Karol

What I saw from this film doesn't look one bit like 300 or Sucker Punch.
Karol

I've got two tickets booked for the "Batman weekend". The normal screening on Friday (there are no midnight showing here) and the IMAX one in Manchester on Saturday. That's the closest venue like this to mine. Well, it's about time I visited this city. And I've never been to IMAX before. Can't wait!
Karol

I heard other night the opening fanfare of the Superman March mixed in with some techno music. And it was at the club as well.
Karol

Hope you'll recharge batteries and be back soon Maurizio. But I wouldn't discourage you from taking a bit of vacation, if you feel like it.
Message boards are strange beasts: on one hand they give you an impression you know the people, but, most of the time, it just isn't the case. I wouldn't treat it this seriously. It's not a job, you know.
You're a very good poster, with much better grasp of music than many of us (including myself), so it wouldn't be clever of us to let you go just like that.
So have a rest. And never say never!
Karol

"Shit! And my career was supposed to soar after this one!"

"When I said 'Your face is already starting to fall apart' I didn't mean you to take it literally and use Super Glue to fix it."

"Hans, come onto stage and share your concept for the new Superman theme! (Should be a good one)"
Karol

On Friday December 7th, 1979 a group of my college friends and I went to the local theatre to see the new film Star Trek the Motion Picture. It was a very exciting night. The showing we went to was sold out and the anticipation was extremely high. The crowd was a typical college crowd. After all Fayetteville Arkansas is home to the states largest university. I can look in my minds eye and still see us a the kids we were. My friends and I were sophomores, a bunch of 19 and 20 year olds. But the crowd overall was from every class, geeks, football players, and throw in some adult sci fi nuts and sci fi freaks. We had been waiting a long time for this. A long time. Allow me to digress for a moment.
Back when I was six years old a television show premiered on NBC called Star Trek. I instantly loved it. It became, along with Lost In Space one of tv's must watched programs. For the next three years it was my friend. I saw most episodes but there were some I missed. It wasn't until 1974 that I finally saw all the episodes, one called The Devil in the Dark, 7 years after it originally aired. On June 3rd 1969 the finale episode of Star Trek was aired, The Turnabout Intruder. I remember TV Guide saying that William Shatner's talents are showcased in that episode. It was a bad episode, not the best way to go out. It would be over 10 years before another live cast version of Star Trek would be seen again.
And that brings me back to the anticipation. For 10 years Star Trek existed as re-runs and what could/should/might have been. Yes there was a season of animated Star Trek. It was pretty good as cartoons go. But it wasn't the same.
Then in 1977 there was a small film called Star Wars. It ended up making a large fortune for 20th Century Fox. That got Paramount thinking and looking into what it had and decided that they could revive the original series, but somewhere in the game they decided that a movie made more sense.
The internet back in those days was something called Starlog and word that the new Star Trek movie was coming was making the rounds. We saw glimpses of the newly redesigned Enterprise. Exciting times I tell you.
The on one fall night in 1979 we went to the movies to see something, I do not remember what, it doesn't matter, what matters is that there was a preview for Star Trek the Motion Picture. It was an OMG moment before this text mainstay was ever conceived.
Finally the night arrived. We were in the middle of final exams, but it was the weekend and a night out with dinner and a movie was the perfect way to unwind. We were starved for Star Trek, starved I tell you. 79 episodes and #80 about to start. We snagged seats in the middle with our popcorn and Coke A Cola, There really was a buzz in the air.
The theatre manager came out and asked everyone to move to the middle and then told us the film was about to begin. He stated it featured and Overture, uncommon in 1979.
Our theatre featured the latest and greatest sound at the time and this heavenly music filled the air. Then the now iconic Star Trek font filled the screen. For the next 2 hours and 12 minutes I in heaven. I think I cried a few tears when Scotty and Jerry reintroduced Captain Kirk to his starship. I know I laughed as did the rest of the college audience when McCoy said his rant about engineers and how they loved to change things. We were attending a engineering university after all. It was a natural.
I was in a state of bliss. When it was over most of the audience applauded. I loved it. It was a movie experience, not a movie to be reviewed at least not then. I remember my friends felt mostly the same way. On our way out we had several discussions with other "fans". Some were less than thrilled. There was that group that wanted a less cerebral more shoot um up film. That was a fair thought. We'd get that later. First things first we went to the mall and got the new soundtrack LP. We would wear that one out, literally.
That was over 30 years ago. The movie is still a treasure to me. I know it's heavily flawed, but that's okay. Perfection would arrive with the the Borg in the Next Generation. But Star Trek the Motion Picture gave us so much, and it's still giving. It gave Star Trek back to the world. The world is a better place with Star Trek. My world is a better place with Star Trek.
Footnote: Stefan has been asking me to recount this for awhile. Thanks for your interest. You are the best.

I concur.
Christopher Young's Black Spider-Man theme was more memorable. And Horner's is miles ahead of both of them.
Karol

Elfman's rising and falling chords cleverly suggest Spidey's web slinging, But it's a motific idea, not a fully fleshed out theme (which has never really been Elfman's forte anyway)

Revolution by John Corigliano
Now that I'm pretty familair with his rejected Edge of Darkness score (it's really really good), I decided to check out his other works. And this one is probably his most accessible (more than The Red Violin). Mostly neoromantic and melodic and lush, it presents a very different musical take on American Revolutionary War, which means it sounds nothing like The Patriot - bucolic and lots of solo flute writing (with performances from James Gallway). A 40 minute album is a perfect presentation as well. It feels more like a concert work than fim score. Not that it surprises me. It is obviously written by someone who knows a thing or two about what orchestra can do.
And also Howard Shore's Edge of Darkness. Which is good, but not that good.
Karol