The Illustrious Jerry

Lots of smiles in both groups!  
 
I bet only one group accidentally paid €35 each for a tiny bowl of (admittedly quite tasty) risotto, however! 🤣

And from the other end of the table…

Sometimes a very small change in a montage is enough to request a revision of a cue I think.

Long live JW and his legacy!
Congrats and thank you to Maurizio!

Ah yes, is this in the same category as there existing a Lucas cut for TRoS?
 
I kind of pity someone who seems so detached from everyone else here to sincerely believe sludge like this despite so much evidence to the contrary. Liars are the last thing I would call anyone associated with these productions, if you do decide to pull that card.
 
That, and if something so divisive like KotCS can still make money, then I can't imagine the casual audience being so filled with brainworms as to sincerely think the movie was trying to indoctrinate them or whatever fucking culture war bullshit your idols have fed you.
 
It's just a silly franchise about an archeologist doing unrealistic things. It ain't that deep.

I managed to get a picture with ASM during the interval!

Incredible just incredible! What a night !

Just about to board here in Tokyo! Will be a looong flight, but more than enough time to reacquaint myself with my favorite JW themes!
 
Onwards!!
 
 
 

Just realised who I was sat with for the rehearsal…
 
Am under 30. Got a ticket for tomorrow but thought I’d take my chances at the rehearsal today (despite sold out / no ticket). 
 
Ended up asking people outside if they had a spare ticket. Got one off a nice lady.
 
We sit together in the auditorium. I ask how she got a paper ticket, obviously she’s important! Says she’s worked with John.
 
I see this post after. Had heard of Anne from the Vienna concert. Obviously it turns out to be her! Didn’t realise till I saw this message, googled her, and thought “looks familiar” 😂
 
I was very grateful for the (free) ticket!

An underknown masterpiece you all should know is this late '50s album by Angela Morley (under her birth name, Wally Stott) titled Happy Holiday.
 
The sound of the recording is impeccable for its time and Morley's arrangements are jaw-droppingly lush and beautiful.  It's one of my 5 favorite Christmas "pops" style albums easily.  Below is a playlist of Youtube uploads from the album, as far as I know this album is not officially on any streaming platform or available digitally.  It got one very rare CD reissue back in the 90s and that's it.
 
Anyway, every track is wonderful, give it a listen.  The arrangement of "Snowfall" on this album got a second recording finally nearly 50 years later by John Wilson on his Morley tribute album.
 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxKkfSlPyeRiIu0TD4RiReAxiXrl30EP1
 

Devoted fans of 'classic' narrative Hollywood may turn away, but Goransson's second Black Panther outing is actually more interesting than the first. The fusion of ethnic music styles, vocals and percussion, with the (occasional) demands of action film scoring makes for an eclectic but engaging listen.
 
And eclecticism is the motto of the day: like Zimmer's 'Power of One', 'Lion King' (partly) or 'Black Hawk Dawn' (i even spotted some of Marco Beltrami's 'Soul Surfer' Maori vocalizing), Goransson uses the movie more as a springboard for ethno-musical world-building than for addressing specific narrative developments, and even when those turn up, they are the weakest part of the score.
 
The result is too long (rule of thumb here: the longer the cue, the lesser it is), but when the gazillions of elements coalesce into their own kind of pop (like in 'Wakanda Forever' or 'Vengeance has consumed us), the score sizzles. And for a Marvel sequel score, that's quite a feat. 
 

I'm listening to the song album right now. It's interesting that Goransson co-wrote 14 out 20 songs and was somehow involved in the production of another 3 tracks (plus additional two from the Wakanda Prologue EP). You can hear some connections between songs and score in terms of musical ideas and/or instrumental colours so his fingerprints are all over this. And while a lot of it is an "inspired by" album and not necessarily my type of jam, I still find it interesting. There seems to be some thinking behind what normally serves as a brainless tie-in product, like someone actually crafted this. Definitely feels like it belongs alongside the score and is an intriguingly tasteful compilation.
 
Karol

Federico Jusid's surprisingly good score for a new tv series that just came out. A revisionist Western drama with Emily Blunt about a woman seeking revenge on the man she blames for the death of her son. It's a curious recall of the edgy intricacy of Goldsmith's 60's westerns (think of an updated 'Hour of the Gun') in spots, especially with the prominent featuring of prepared piano and the driving string triplets, coupled with a broader theme full of european melos, which could also grace a modern setting (which gets a surprising, for a tv series. that is, workout in the 8-minute 'Soon has Come' cue). And with hardly 30 minutes in length it avoids the usual stillstand that befalls so many of the longer recent releases.

Talking about Spielberg in "Civics teacher mode", my favourite is Ready Player One: Having the power to do something doesn't mean you should do it. 

I'll just say I'm very glad I saw the film before I listened to the album.  I definitely can understand feeling underwhelmed without the context of why it sounds like this and why it's so short.  A lot of score would have given scenes a feeling of fantasy, of going to the "dream world" that films can conjure without parallel as Mitzi Fabelman might describe it.  It would have been so wrong for the film.  The scenes that do have score it is with such a feeling of purpose.  These are masters at work, Spielberg and Williams.
 
I also can't imagine just making a playlist and cutting the classical tracks out, I love this album program!  And of course the Bach adagio is maybe the key piece of music in the entire film.

Just got out of the theater and I echo all the praise for this film. I tear easily at movies and this one jerked all the tears out of me, especially as the child of divorced parents.
 
The latter half of the movie, once they move to Santa Clara county, was spellbinding. Some of the vibes, such as in the scenes with the bullying or the prom breakup, were much like what I experienced, even if the details were completely different. But also the breezy feel of high school, with its cliques and  girls you crushed on and the general optimism at that age in your life—Spielberg is almost 80 and he captured that mood so fucking brilliantly; better than directors half his age could.
 
The David lynch cameo was pricelessly terrific and leads into the funniest and cleverest meta moment (one of at least two in the film) I’ve seen in a movie maybe ever. 
 
Also, everyone can quit bitching about the amount of original score in this movie. It’s perfectly spotted and JW’s score is pitch perfect when seen in context. 
 

Uganda, south west, not far from the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire at the time). We saw the mountain gorillas a few days later. One of the highlights. Might as well post pics.... I listened to parts of The Lost World while on that trek. I was seriously worried about being eaten by raptors.
 

Is that the choral section at the end of OST track The Middle Passage? - I've only seen the film once, and that was a long time ago. And for those in the know, is the choral piece its own track on the new release? The Prisoner's Song, perhaps, as it's about the same length?
 
I have some fond memories of this score, in particular Dry Your Tears, Afrika. I travelled around Africa a few months after the soundtack was released, and I'm certain it's what I gave this kid a listen to on my Sony Walkman:
 

Yeah loved the hell out of this. I was most into it pre-California but then again the Jesus girl scene is one of the funniest things he's ever done, I kind of can't believe that's in a Spielberg movie lmao, or ostensibly is something that more or less must have happened to him. That moment when he looks up at Jesus when she's on top of him, I was dying. And Lynch's scene with that very last camera adjustment, it's too good. 
 
It's an interesting thing watching this because on one hand I still feel that just about everything he's saying here was being communicated obliquely in his other movies, which in some ways is more interesting. But on the other hand, he's never REALLY made just a straight hangout/coming of age film and this is a surprisingly breezy watch. More than any other movie since Schindler's List, I can tell he had to get this out of his system for the Judd Hirsch scene ("you love your parents and your sisters, but you love THIS a little more" hits so close to home, what a line), the discovery in the camping footage, and those couple brilliant seconds with Sammy's vision of himself in the mirror during the family breakup. One of the most honest visual ideas I've seen in an autobiographical movie, somebody's had a lot of therapy. 

The kids are with their grandparents, I'm seeing this movie (finally!) with my wife at an 11am showing today 

It played a big part in starting my current JW fandom and making me come to this forum where I learned about so much more scores and releases! I bought the S/W collaboration trilogy in early 2017 and liked the first 2 enough, but Dry Your Tears Afrika was the almost shocking (positively) switch to a different style that really made me perk up my ears and discover just how versatile he is and how much his style evolved over time. I still adore S/W III, but I can specifically remember replaying DYTA multiple times after it was first over. Instant purchase ASAP!

Just extraordinary.  That track list makes me so happy.  This will be a rich full meal of a score and I cannot wait to savor every second.  Thank you LLL and Mike Matessino from a very grateful JWFan!

I don't know what to say about this album, except that it's a masterpiece on multiple levels.
 
It's a masterpiece of a film score - from themes to underscore to orchestration to soloist work.... I continue to be astounded by this score's many stand-out moments
 
It's a masterpiece of a recording - say what you want about other recordings of his, but Shawn Murphy was at the top of his game in 1997 and this recording is one of the most satisfying recordings of his I've ever had the pleasure of listening to
 
It's a masterpiece of album production - the main program is paced brilliantly, finally showcasing what Williams did for this film in a way the old score album couldn't come close to, and even the film does not.  The main program flows so perfectly into the bonus track section you just want to keep listening and don't even feel like you're in a bonus track section.  Any so many specific decisions were made to fit everything recorded for the score into 2 discs, but still keep a great flow throughout... Mike's instincts have never been better are how to take a big score and make it listenable.  And time I listen to a random track, I just keep listening to the album from there.
 
There is no album of music of any genre I've listened to more than this since getting it.  It's an amazing release and I can't wait for everyone to hear it.  It's a must-have for any Williams fan.

ANOTHER WILLIAMS/SPIELBERG MASTERPIECE...
 
RELEASE #4
 
AMISTAD: 25th ANNIVERSARY EXPANDED LIMITED EDITION (2-CD SET)
LLLCD 1612
Music by John Williams
Limited Edition of 5000 Units
RETAIL PRICE: $29.98
 
ORDERS BEGIN TUESDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2022 AT 12 PM PST
 
In celebration of John Williams‘ 90th birthday and the 25th Anniversary of the acclaimed feature film AMISTAD, La-La Land Records, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures and Geffen Records present AMISTAD, a special 2-CD remastered and expanded release of Academy Award-Winning composer John Williams’ (E.T., SCHINDLER’S LIST, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) original motion picture score to the renowned 1997 big-screen historical drama directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins and Djimon Hounsou. Maestro Williams’ masterwork encompasses the depths and heights of human experience, unleashing unforgettable moments of anguish and uplift as it supports the film’s true chronicling of the 1839 African slave ship revolt abord the La Amistad and its subsequent landmark U.S. court case. 

A breathtaking fusion of orchestral Americana with African percussion rhythms and vocal chanting, this important John Williams score finally gets a definitive release with this deluxe 2-CD presentation, meticulously produced, edited and mastered by Mike Matessino, in consultation with the composer and director. 

Remastered in high resolution from studio master elements, Disc One and Disc Two of this program features the film Score Presentation, which expands the original 1997 soundtrack album by almost double its length, including cues not used in the film. The score presentation is followed on Disc Two by 50 minutes of bonus tracks including source music, concert arrangements, and alternates - some of which offer completely different approaches than the film versions. The exclusive, in-depth liner notes are by writer Jeff Bond, with the packaging’s elegant design by Jim Titus. This is a limited edition release of 5000 units. 

TRACK LISTING:
SCORE PRESENTATION 1:45:04
1 Introduction And Retribution 4:40
2 July 4, 1839 4:04
3 Steering East 1:27
4 The Capture 5:00
5 Introducing John Quincy Adams 5:15
6 Meeting Of The Minds 3:58
7 Counsel Meets Client 1:36
8 The Ship Remembers 5:32
9 Visiting Adams 1:32
10 What Is Their Story? 3:44
11 Learning To Count 1:57
12 Tale Of The Lion’s Tooth 5:48
13 The Capture Of Cinqué 4:03
14 The Crossing 4:41
15 Tales Of Horror 7:40
16 Discovering The Bible 5:05
17 Prisoners’ Song 1:33
18 The Letter To Massachusetts 2:09
19 Cinqué’s Legal Mind 2:26
20 African Violet 5:33

Disc One Time: 78:10
 
DISC 2 
SCORE PRESENTATION CONT’D
1 Adams’ Address To The Court 7:21
2 Adams’ Summation (Film Version) 3:01
3 The Verdict 5:10
4 Liberation Of Lomboko: Dry Your Tears, Afrika 2:17
5 Going Home 2:05
6 Dry Your Tears, Afrika (Reprise) 3:37
7 The Long Road To Justice 3:19

ADDITIONAL MUSIC 49:53
8 Cinqué’s Theme 4:13
9 Introduction (Alternate) 1:12
10 The Capture (Alternate) 5:02
11 Harbor Tavern 3:05
12 Cinqué’s Theme (Solo Flute) 2:07
13 Meeting Of The Minds (Instrumental Version) 3:45
14 The Ship Remembers (Alternate) 5:26
15 What Is Their Story? (Alternate) 3:33
16 The Crossing (Alternate) 4:23
17 Tales Of Horror (Alternate Excerpt) 3:19
18 Discovering The Bible (Alternate) 5:11
19 Cinqué’s Memories Of Home 2:39
20 Going Home (Alternate) 2:06
21 Dry Your Tears, Afrika (Alternate) 3:35
 
Disc Two Time: 76:50
 
Total 2-Disc Time: 2:35:00
 
This is a CD format release.
 
https://www.facebook.com/lalalandrecords/posts/pfbid02C5KU3xb3nP4WCT7WxYTaESVxuT8ft2jsQpkeBUvMYQbwm9BhcWkYhFUiDFJKFUn4l

Got to see it last weekend in LA with friends and it was just amazing. We’re all 20-somethings trying to make it in the entertainment biz, having all moved away from home to pursue our passions. The film really spoke to us.
 
I agree with @Molly Weasley that there’s a universality to the movie. It’s actually really incredible that something so personal and specific could be so relatable - Spielberg is so good at that.