John

There's no thread because nobody cares about this score, Thor.

Hello everyone!
After watching this video from Vox:
 
I felt inspired to make a thread about the many Dies Irae uses in movies.
It has always been something I enjoy spotting in soundtracks.
 
This guy already started a list on this other video:
 
In this last video, we can read about three different types of the motive.
 
Type 1  Full statement
Not only the first notes, but the full theme of the original Dies irae chant.
 
Type 2  Stinger
Probably the most common one. It represents most of the time the four first notes of the Dies irae original chant.
 
Type 3  Ostinato
Often provides a certain energy and intensity to a scene. It is rarely foregrounded in the mix, and the four notes are sometimes inverted.
 
 
 
So if you think of any other uses of Dies irae in movies or tv shows, please add them to this thread. (I'm sure you will, there are so many!) And if you can, write down which type you think it belongs to.
Or maybe you can think of another type that doesn't fit with those three?

Tarantino's style doesn't work for me. 
 
He rips off filmmakers who are better than him (like Kurosawa), he dresses them up with snappy dialogue and bloody violence, and manages to convince Hollywood stars that he's the bees knees. 
 
Maybe if he gets that Star Trek movie in production, I'll see that. That might be crazy enough to work.

Fantastic Flops and How to Reboot Them

Tried 'It' on Netflix again. 'It''s not for me. I love the production values and scenery, but whenever there's a scare or a monster moment - for the lack of a better word - the movie turns loud and gaudy, as if the filmmakers don't trust their (mostly) great actors and the fabled King story. I'm not going to lecture seasoned filmmakers about the use of silence but it works great in other genre classics. Too bad, because once you turn the volume down, the whole thing plays much better.

Got it!

I couldn't find any previous thread on this, the big sci fi film of the year (in addition to STAR WARS IX).
 
Anyways, just came back from it and offer some spoiler-free comments. My colleagues, who saw it in Venice, were rather lukewarm, but I could glean from their comments that this would probably be more up my alley. I was correct in my assumption. I loved the film. It's a hodgepodge of various inspirarions -- 2001, FURY ROAD, Malick, GRAVITY, EVENT HORIZON etc., but it works to its benefit. Plus James Gray's usual fascination for APOCALYPSE NOW and Coppola, which he explored so wonderfully well in the brilliant THE LOST CITY OF Z. At one level, it's a regular space adventure -- with some hokey elements that aren't necessarily connected to the overall storyline -- but on another level, it's a beautiful, cerebral science fiction film about fundamental human issues, mainly the relationship between a father and his son. Most great sci fi films have this balance of elements.
 
I also love the "road movie" feel of it, with each location firmly set with its own atmosphere. In that way, it has a kind of 'vignette' feel to it; I could easily see a whole film taking place in each of these locations.
 
I'll save more specific comments for later.
 
As for the score, I really liked it. It has Richter's usual minimalist style, but with some expansive chords. There's an electronic "motif" or beat of sorts that was particularly captivating. I have no idea what Richter did and what Balfe did (perhaps Balfe's the one that did the beautiful electronic thing), but I can't wait to hear it on album. If it gets an album, and we don't have another GHOST IN THE SHELL situation on our hands.

His work for The Lost World is very... robust? Much more rough around the edges compared to the original Jurassic Park score. 

Pretty sure I saw Temple of Doom first as a kid.
 
In high school, when The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers came out, I knew nothing of the Lord of the Rings or anything Middle Earth.  2 friends of mine dragged me to a matinee to see it, cause I had nothing else to do, wasn't expecting much.  After the opening scene with Gandalf fighting the Balrog, I was hooked.  I think the Battle of Helms Deep is still one the most amazing theater experiences I will ever have.  After that I ran home to watch FOTR, read all the books, have read the Silmarillion and listen to the scores monthly.  I don't talk to those friends anymore, but I surpassed them by a long shot in my Middle Earth fandom.

Welcome.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, by Howard Shore
 
What an accomplishment this score is. Every time I return to it, I find something new to admire.
 
***** out of *****

The Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy is excellent.

What if we're all wrong? Will we have to surrender our JW cards?
 

To many to name or care about.
 
 
On a side note, I saw both Godfather films when I was 13 or 14, and I couldn’t turn them off. I was totally engrossed, especially the second film.

Solo put me to sleep for the first 45 minutes. It was so boring and so dark that I just dozed off until some sort of explosion occurred on a train that reminded me of the Shadows of the Empire video game. Like Heath Ledger once said as the Joker, it was so BORING!

The Jaws sequels 

Sunshine (1999) - pretty much purely because if the Jarre credits on the Tadlow Lawrence of Arabia.
 
What is it with Ralph Fiennes and Hungary? Count Almásy (English Patient), Grand Budapest Hotel and this.
 
So this is a historical drama about a Jewish-Hungarian family in the first half of the 20th century, through 3 generations of males and their progressive loss of family- and self-identity (and late attempts to recapture them) tangled up in and caused by the events of those tumultous times. All 3 men are played by Fiennes which sounds super gimmicky but actually it just works. 
 
It's pretty interesting but not perfect: I don't think it's too long since all 3 generations have roughly an hour dedicated to them, but it can be unfocused and not greatly structured. The script has weak points, especially one ridiculously textbook-flavoured outburst explaining motivations and the political situation, with one of the hammiest (in a bad way) I've ever seen Ralph being. Being local I did get a huge kick out of Mari Törőcsik hugging Aunt May, for example, though! It looks pretty nice and as expected with such a concept, there are many nice visual or thematic callbacks, a somewhat circular structure - for example every Ralph choosing societally more or less unacceptable female companions over better choices, thus quasi-cursing themselves, and the relationships getting rougher and worse every generation. Despite all this loss and worsening though, there is a light - sunshine - at the end of the tunnel.
 
I'm glad I saw it, wouldn't know who to recommend it to. It's shot in English if that's what you're afraid of.

Someone likes dogs!
 
In my case, the list would include every movie I ever liked, which is many. But last week my wife got me to watch The Help, which I hadn't seen until then. And that is a movie I'm glad to have seen. I never knew Bryce Dallas Howard could (or would) play such a distasteful character -- and yet do so in her charming way. Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer were amazing too. 
 
Also, The Last Jedi. Fuck y'all.

The Jaws sequels 

That movie winning Best Picture is the ultimate expression of "blowing the film's praiseworthy elements out of proportion"!!!

Is it getting smoky in here?
 
ahem
 
ahem
ahemBraveheartahem

Publicist reads this thread?