Holko

Seen it all before but it's been so long that I binged the whole thing now in 2 weeks. Whew. S1 is still the peak. The vibes are great, characters, worldbuilding all well balanced. Hop really stood out to me with his very compalling arc and slowly revealed backstory/motivation. S2 is a bit weird in that it's kiind of a "let's do the same thing again" but this time wraps up most of the leftover bits from s1 so neatly that I kinda felt it could have worked a bit better as a shortened extra few episodes in S1 instead. S3 is where the plot goes off the rails but a lot of the character stuff is so strong and fun still that it manages to remain a fun romp, even if looking at all 5 season overall it definitely seems like the filler one. And even if some characters like Hop are parodies of themselves by now. I mostly loved S4 too! The strong Kingian vibes were back, Vecna was scary and the whole thing was woven together perfectly around dealing (or not dealing) with trauma etc. Maybe my biggest issue was that it made the world feel smaller, the Upside Down is not this incomprehensible alternate world, just a snapshot made when the show started, the villains behind the previous seasons were not ancient inhuman monsters but a guy who got zapped a few years ago, etc. S5 was again a bit messy and unfocused. The visuals were dulled down (colours, lighting, clothing). I've noticed a trend where season by season we got less and less of the main characters just living their life, Hawkins being Hawkins, interacting with side characters as well as each other, to have contrast for what they're fighting for - well here it was one episode of catching up with what they've been doing and then straight into the action that lasts almost unbroken until the end. And a lot of that action is convoluted contrivances and copypaste planning scenes with someone dramatically coming up with the solution which will almost work. And during that action we spend the time with many of them just bickering, which I hated. I was almost a bit embarrassed about how excited all the little fanservice moments made me, like Mrs. Wheeler being a badass, or finally getting the awesome Mr. Clarke onboard, or Joyce's one liner and finishers, I think for the last season it could have used a lot more of these. Brown's acting seemed to be significantly less good this time. Vecna was not nearly as scary, maybe he got humanised a bit too much, maybe the kidnapping/grooming aspect just wasn't woven that well into the story - but on the other hand, they did manage to fix my issue with him in s4, it was always the ancient inhuman monster after all! And that's a good transition point - by the second half I was enjoying it a lot more, and the final 2 episodes were pretty satisfying! The new kids were cute, Holly and Derek were great, they helped up the stakes. The cast by the end comes together very well and relationships are wrapped up nicely. The final action (and Vecna on general) was a bit Marvelly but at least not too overdone. So after all that, overall it still left a good taste in my mouth, even got a bit emotional at the final scene and the main credits. One weird thing that stood out over the entire series that really bugged me - all the reused footage! Sure, it makes sense some of the time, but there were so many flashbacks, not even only to things from previous seasons, not even only to things from previous episodes, but even to conversations that took place in the same episode!

He didn't do it.

SW: wrong takes. ESB: wrong mixes, not great sources ROTJ: garbage sound caused by a mastering fuckup Also missing alternates and inserts etc. And all 3 could sound faaaaaaar better.

10 minute videos specifically came about because of how Youtube was putting more ads in and therefore giving out more money for longer videos hitting that mark, and pushing them more because they'd get more money from them too. Fucking ads and braindead immoral infinite growth are the two roots of all evil.

Seven??? Is it an anthology?

Whoa, artificial double tracking. Did she get/would she have to be credited and paid for it? And only once or however many times "she" ended up "performing" on it?

Yeah. WB could just fire their leadership and find someone who's not completely braindead.

Can't replace her with a solo instrument to carry the melodic line... yet... Ranking is for the weak and one listen to each is nothing. But still I think I'd have easily preferred 5 over 1 with the soloist replaced with instruments, but even with that I might agree it's stronger. But I still liked 1 too.

My enjoyment of the second symphony is hampered a bit by the soloist, in general I can't stand this kind of operatic singing. But still a lot of good stuff again, especially in the second half. It's reprising Silmaril material from the first movement so Eärendil returning? Finding and bringing together all 3 of them? Or more just their spirit in general to represent the forces of good. After a quick lookup I'm hazy on the details and chronology but so were JRR and Christopher it seems, this battle is noncanon. Interesting use of parts of the Ring text - headcanoning Sauron into also being brought back for this battle, or using them as general Black Speech text, or specifically saying look, Melkor can do what Sauron wanted to do, but without needing the Ash Nazg to do it, he's that much badder? Yes, the name is puzzling, but it worked for me perfectly as an " Earth broken and remade, the mountains of Valinor levelled, so that the light shall go out over all the world" piece.

Nope. But I have heard the Hobbit drama once and I'm planning to listen to both sometime.

First listen to the first one just because of this thread. It made me think of the Hildebrandt art in some ways - with today's eyes somewhat childish here and there, metaphorical bolder strokes, somewhat more generic medieval fantasy feel, nowhere near what I have in my head while reading. If the same work was called Beowulf or Narnia symphony, I wouldn't notice anything wrong. But there's still really good stuff in it, I liked Gollum more than you for the exploration of that sound, however fitting or not, and Hobbits is probably my favourite movement, that theme just really got me and captures their simple selfless unpretentious heroism. It also did remind me of Rosenmann's LotR's sound and part of his approach (like the marchiness) just a bit in some parts.

Right off the bat this just seemed like... that kind of score. Especially after reading the track by track notes and seeing how specifically some parts react to onscreen events, I knew I had to do this not only for fun but to help "get" the score better, and it sure as hell did help! And it sure as hell was fun too. R1P1 The Dream - Interestingly, though Goldsmith and Carolco had a good relationship, the logo gets no special music on its own, the main titles already start to build up over it. The ostinato semi-ominously builds for Mars and towards the motif for the Mountain, taken over by the Dream theme which doubles as a love theme as Quaid and his dream woman start to hold hands. R1P1 The Dream (Original Ending) - The Dream theme comes out of a much lighter and dreamier atmosphere with no special accent for the mountain. I assumed the eye-popping shot was shorter in this cut (maybe to not give it away early) and replicated it. R1P3 Rekall Commercial (Alternate) - Only restored this version since it works better around the picture - well, subtitled dialogue for the most part here. I didn't remember the commercial exactly (and we don't see most of the start) so I was initially weirded out by the comedic start, but it works absolutely perfectly. Heroic fanfares for the imagined adventures, mocking descending lines for reality knocking in, switch to corporate muzak for corporate schmuck. The final film unfortunately only keeps the last part with the vocals. R1P4-R2P1 First Meeting - I couldn't resist editing the ending down just slightly to make that fingernail sync a little better. R2P5 Secret Agent - Goldsmith subtly underlines the fateful decision of trip, then continues the rekall ostinato and dream motif as the adventure is outlined. R2P6 The Implant - A sweet sleepy motif starts playing as Quaid's slowly getting knocked out, the Dream theme accenting Melina's... birth? The ensuing chaotic action gets a break as Quaid (Hauser?) breaks free, with a few suggestions of the dream theme's first notes. The layers are brilliantly gradually stripped back as he goes back to sleep. R3P1 Where Am I? - Completely unused so this placement is my best guess, with the strings coming in as Quaid wakes up, and the Johnny Cab fanfare working around the dialogue. R3P2 The Aftermath R3P3 Old Times Sake - Richter gets a wonderful unambiguous introduction. The ostinato and dream theme continue from The Aftermath for Quaid washing his hands. I struggled a bit with this cue but in the end I put a break in the music at the first gunshots as it is in the movie, then put a break in the video when the brawl starts. This is not how the cue's edited down in the final movie, but it worked too well not to do it like this. The only good "proof" of an edit here is that before my cut, Quaid is on the bottom, and after my cut he's on top. The Rekall ostinato interrupts the action for Quaid recognising his wife as the attacker. The action winds down and ends as he lets her go, and the ostinato and dream theme again take over for the explanation of his fake life. R3P4-R4P1 Clever Girl - A wonderfully reactive action cue, breaking it down could take pages. Just shortly of note, Richter's theme for the bad guys running, new action theme for Quaid running, pinking synth for the tracker, main title rhythm returning for the escalator shootout for some extra drive. With nothing better to go on, I used the film's music edit points to insert 3 gaps in the footage. R4P4 The Johnny Cab - The movie drops the first 30 secs, including the determined Dream, a cool Richter cut and more tracker pings. It enters with the more mysterious ostinato+dream for the hotel room. Another wonderfully reactive cue, but in mostly more subtle ways. My favourite bit is the brass for Quaid's reaction to the tracker in his skull. R5P1 Howdy Stranger - More lowkey but subtly reactive scoring for the coversation between Quaid and Hauser, made more tense by the loud Richter cutaways. The first minute or so until the first Richter cut is unused in the film. R5P1A The Nose Job - Nasty pounding action builds to a fun little motif for the tracker. The pings immediately return R5P2 The Spaceport R5P3 A New Face - Richter alternates with a crazy new motif building up as Quaid's disguise unravels. Interesting choice to go heroic only when the mask is fully off, not when we see his face as he's taking it off. R5P4-R6P1 The Mountain - Again an interesting choice here - leave the entire action sequence unscored (while going all out on nearly every other action scene), but come in at the end for a grunty Richter coda. After some ostinato for the mountain conversation, we get an epic Mountain theme buildup for the very impressive miniature shots. Interesting demonstration at the end of how the score never really gets to characterise Cohaagen, the actual main villain of the movie. R6P3 Identification R7P2 Lies R7P4 Where Am I? - Weird that the cue's called this, based on the opening line it should be Where Are We? and it confuses the tracklist too that they didn't change it. Anyway. Another lovely subtle cue for all dialogue that nevertheless shifts perfectly between moods. R7P5-R8P1 Swallow It - A fantastic buildup to a short bit of action as Quaid's quickly taken out by painfully accented kicks. Richter's theme reenters but Melina arrives first. The ostinato muddies the dream or not waters again for Quaid's brief hesitation before putting Lori down. R8P2 The Big Jump - The big action showcase piece, very reactive in the first half, not quite so in the second. Unfortunately I again had to insert 3 gaps purely based on the music edit. R8P3 Without Air - Dramatic scoring for the newly raised stakes. R9P1 Remembering - Another cue of subtly shifting moods. R9P2 The Mutant - Probably my favourite cue in the score, especially when put up to picture. Basically a full formal statement of the Mountain theme, with some Rekall ostinato and the introduction of the Blue Sky theme to build up to it. R9P3 The Massacre - As it is in the film, large chunks would be missing, so I decided to start it earlier to at least get rid of the biggest one, it starts at a weird point in the film anyway. Slightly extended the gap in the score for Benny's reveal like it is in the film. Also removed the shot of Kuato calling to Quaid from under the shirt. R10P1 Friends? R10P2-R11P1 The Treatment - After a wonderful string and brass chorale for the torture, the action is edited down a bit, then we return to the early cues' mood - dream theme as love theme, chase motif reprise, then the main title rhythm and even melody come back for the drill fight. R11P2 The Reactor - Hopeful statements fo the Blue Sky theme. R11P3-R12P1 The Hologram - Very interesting and creative percussion scoring, alternating between subtile sneaking buildup and loud outcries, initially starting in the main title's odd meter, then switching to a smooth 4, then back again for the final confrontation with Richter. R12P2 End of a Dream - Probably the most interesting cue to do here with its nearly 4 minutes of unused action, how the orchestration is gradually ratcheted up through the repeated theme cycles, usually restarted by cuts back to the reactor working, how the xylophones(?) drop away for the last most dire section with the most direct danger (I've been near a colleague who managed to break a glass door onto himself, I've seen the aftermath) and low strings take over their job. Interestingly the vast majority of it still fits, I only shortened the final action shot before the cut to the mountain with the clouds coming out. R12P3 A New Life - The Blue Sky theme reaches its concusion, but the Rekall ostinato has one last sneaky appearance up its sleeve. R12P4 End Credits*

Who cares how long the track is when the music flows well and as it was written to flow?

I think I'm hearing what he thinks he's hearing but comparing to the actual shout in the movie, it doesn't sound like it.

Oh yeah, learning about that german orchestra mess was fascinating too! After all that, on its own, that Clever Girl doesn't sound that bad, but since Neil edited it together from 7 takes, I assume he picked the relatively best part of everything. But then A/B-ing it with the final recording really reveals how lacking it is.