Tom Guernsey
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Posts posted by Tom Guernsey
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4 hours ago, crocodile said:
Watched The Ten Commandments over the past couple of evenings. Oh dear, this film really drags, doesn't it? I liked Charlton Heston's charismatic performance but everyone else is quite bad. Elmer's score didn't exactly stick out as much as I'd like but it has certainly a pretty main theme. Overall, I'd say this one didn't age well at all. Anachronisms aside, it just isn't very engaging filmmaking.
Having said that, the UHD presentation is quite nice.
Karol
I saw it years ago and think I found it pretty interminable to be honest. But then I have the same issues with most of those historical epics. They’re just a bit dull and slow moving. Even allowing for the significant change in how movies are made and acting, they’re usually still something of a hard slog. Usually the most interesting thing being the music but I’ll just enjoy that on its own!
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5 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:
Life Of Brian - annual Easter rewatch. Still a joyfully irreverent comedy masterpiece (and about half the length of those interminable Biblical epics).
And, as someone once pointed out, probably more grubbily realistic too (in the sense everyone is dirty and dusty). But yeah great film even if my favourite python movie scene is the Holy Grail discussion about magical swords from watery bints not being a sound basis for a system of government (I may be paraphrasing somewhat but the full length scene is hysterical).
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56 minutes ago, Tallguy said:
I could easily make the argument that the best TNG movie is Generations. I could just as easily (and with more popular support) argue for First Contact. But that's it, any other consideration is nonsense.
Generations just isn’t as good as it should be and has lots of weird moments like the pointless Picard family tragedy which is shoehorned in to make the nexus seem even more appealing to him. But the plot is one of the worst for logical inconsistencies (like firing a subsonic rocket to a sun and it taking minutes to get there, it’s not like they could easily have used some standard Star Trek tech to make it more plausible). Plus there’s no reason for it anyway. Kirk’s death is still pretty meaningless. But the Enterprise D looks amazing (save for the shots they recycled from the tv stock footage which sticks out like a sore thumb) and the crash sequence is superbly realised. I have always really liked Dennis McCarthy’s score. He’s no Jerry or James Horner but not many people are. And it’s a lot more fun than Nemesis’s score which probably goes down as Jerry’s least interesting Star Trek effort. Then again he has precisely zero awe and wonder to score which he did so well in the earlier films.
So which TNG film has the best score?!
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1 hour ago, Score said:
An even more literal quote is the passage immediately before the soprano entrance, see at 2:15 here:
The very distinctive chord is exactly the same as the "twinkling stars" chord from the Star Wars Main Title, see 1:47 here:
The instrumentation and the general mood are also very similar.
Oh yes! Don’t know how I didn’t spot that. Interesting that JW’s RVW influences are more textural and orchestration than more specific as for some other composers.
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6 minutes ago, crocodile said:
The booklet credits both gentlemen on four tracks as "additional composers". Think it is the two action tracks and two transformation tracks (tracks 6, 10, 13 and 16, I think?). But I wonder whether they actually wrote the cues from scratch or where merely adapting existing sketches by Elfman to new cuts or something like that. Or wrote only some parts of these cues. After all, this film was a bit of a nightmare and it's not surprising really. But these tracks also sound very much like Elfman so it's really hard to say. Whatever it was, their collaboration works very well.
Karol
Aha, I guess that’s the downside of having all your music on iTunes and the CDs safely stored away! Interesting but yeah it was quite a mess as a production from what I recall. Looking forward to revisiting it later.
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48 minutes ago, crumbs said:
What the? Why?!?
People love that shit on bigger scratchable discs you have to swap every 20 minutes (approx). I don’t see the appeal aside from the cool packaging and artwork.
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8 minutes ago, crocodile said:
The Wolfman. This is the kind of score I was hoping Elfman would write more frequently later in his career. It would be a natural progression of his early fantasy works, but weightier and more grounded. Yes, there are some Kilar references but they are mostly relegated to the opening track. The remaining material is some of Elfman's finest writing in 21st century outside of his concert work. There's no silliness and it moves with purpose.
On a side note, I would be very interested to find out what was the role of Lindgren and Shearmur on this project. It sounds quite seamless to me.
Karol
I’ll have to give this another listen. I only there was additional music by Conrad Pope but didn’t know there were even more involved.
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28 minutes ago, Toillion said:
musiconvinyl 3 LP release for Hook coming.
https://www.musiconvinyl.com/shop/original-soundtrack/hook-john-williams?fbclid=IwAR3chF25VJRB_YDAUTD0aGlc72PDTCcWTNPH8AbsbVDR0ADkRHG32Mlvgkg
Intriguing. Especially since the other vinyl release was on a different label. All we need now is for someone to put it on cd… what an interesting turn of events!
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Listening to Vaughan Williams’ Antarctic Symphony (based on his score to Scott of the Antarctic) and it struck me that the use of wordless soprano in the first movement is very similar to the finale to Attack of the Clones, I think it’s the bit where Count Dooku flies to meet with Palpatine. The overall textures are strikingly similar and supremely eerie. Indeed there’s quite a few passages in the Vaughan Williams that are reminiscent of JW, albeit more the overall orchestral texture than specific melodic lines or ideas.
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5 minutes ago, Tallguy said:
Nope. But then, I might not be a reliable judge.
Haha, I feel very reassured now ;-)
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4 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:
I also wish for a piano concerto.
Well I was trying to stick to things he's already written and finished... so I shall shameless add the Cello Concerto to my wishlist.
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2 hours ago, Andy said:
This is bloody brilliant
That is brilliant, they even have the slightly awkward pacing down to a tee. Is it disturbing that I knew which episode it was before the Borg even appeared just based on Riker's dialogue about leaving the nebula?!
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1 hour ago, ddddeeee said:
Sound clips from Elfman's Percussion Quartet, out next month.
Very cool, look forward to that... hopefully the concerto isn't far behind.
(It wouldn't be a film music forum post about a new release without a "and I also wish for..." comment ;-)
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19 minutes ago, Jay said:
Except that this score already has an entr'acte cue...
Hah yes, maybe it just fits there or perhaps they just didn't want it lost in the bonus tracks. Should have put it at the start so you get two Overtures, like a HTTYD expansion ;-)
- Yavar Moradi and Jay
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2 hours ago, Yavar Moradi said:
The previous Intrada 2CD release came out over a decade ago and the software to remove wow (as applied so dramatically by Chris Malone on everything from Goldsmith's Take Her, She's Mine to Newman's The Diary of Anne Frank) simply wasn't in use at the time. So I'm in for this double dip, both for that and because they've properly swapped the film version of the overture with Jerry's superior original version (which featured the wonderful Chinese Love Theme instead of the "main" love theme...which I've always kinda disliked).
Yavar
I'm sure there's a decent upgrade in sound, it was just a bit more mixed on the messaging than usual! Usually it's either "this is a massive improvement" (Wrath of Kahn - buy) or "this is basically the same" (TMP - happy with 3CD set) but 11 years of software improvements are enough to convince me. The reordering of the overtures seems a bit odd, but I guess putting it in the middle should as a kind of Entr'acte like Patton. I really feel I ought to be better acquainted with The Sand Pebbles. I've listened to it enough times but I don't really feel I know it at all, although I was glad to pick up the RSNO re-recording a few months ago (random second hand shop purchase) which makes a nice companion.
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14 minutes ago, Jay said:
The press release is the same one from 2011, the forum posts by Roger reveal it's more than just a straight reissue
Indeed, but makes it harder to decide whether it get it*
*spoiler alert, I'll probably get it.
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Not sure if I'm being dim (don't answer that) but the initial blurb of it being "newly re-mixed, re-mastered from original multi-track stereo elements vaulted at 20th Century Fox" suggests a pretty decent upgrade. However, the follow up information suggests a slightly more marginal improvement so kinda torn as to whether it's worth a double dip in this case... can't say the source music interests me at all (in the pantheon of bonus tracks, source music is usually the stuff I'm least interested in). Might be a wait and see situation...
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10 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:
Given this a couple of listens so far but have to admit to not really identifying the themes particularly, but then it doesn't help that I don't really remember the main theme until it plays and it jobs my memory! Having said that, seems more enjoyable than some of the earlier descriptions implied although it never really turns into the kind of stirring fantasy score that perhaps one might have wanted. Chances of me seeing this film are slim as I thought the first was tolerable and the second terrible. I guess I wanted it to be more of a fun adventure movie about, you know, finding fantastic beasts as the core element, with bits of pre-Potter story thrown in, not Harry Potter and the Fascist Wizards of Poorly Rendered Nazi Allegory... plus the odd beast.
And without wishing to add fuel to the fire of the length of album debate, I must admit that I quite liked the way the first score was presented, a full single disc version and then special edition with a second disc of extra tracks. OK, I admit that's annoying for anyone listening on CD who wants to hear the full thing in order, but if you have iTunes or similar then you can turn the full thing into a playlist (as I did). Danny Elfman has produced a few of his recent scores like that. It feels like a nice compromise. FB3 definitely feels a touch long, I'm sure I'd have been happy with 70/80 minutes plus some optional extras.
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The Beast (Don Davis) - I think I was sent this as a promo back in the day but haven't listened to it in ages and don't really remember much about it, but was pleasantly surprised that it makes a fine companion to Jurassic Park III as an enjoyable orchestral action/adventure score. OK, it doesn't have JW's themes to lift it, or something like Davis' own lovely family theme, but it's still a lot of fun with some extensive action cues that actually remind me more of Jerry Goldsmith than anyone, which is rarely a bad thing.
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Given this a couple of listens so far but have to admit to not really identifying the themes particularly, but then it doesn't help that I don't really remember the main theme until it plays and it jobs my memory! Having said that, seems more enjoyable than some of the earlier descriptions implied although it never really turns into the kind of stirring fantasy score that perhaps one might have wanted. Chances of me seeing this film are slim as I thought the first was tolerable and the second terrible. I guess I wanted it to be more of a fun adventure movie about, you know, finding fantastic beasts as the core element, with bits of pre-Potter story thrown in, not Harry Potter and the Fascist Wizards of Poorly Rendered Nazi Allegory... plus the odd beast.
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4 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:
If they need content, they should HD-remaster DS9!
Can't uptick that one enough ;-)
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3 hours ago, Omen II said:
I went to see the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a very rare performance of Rued Langgaard's first symphony at the Barbican on Friday. It is a remarkable piece (finished by the Danish composer in 1911 when he was still only seventeen years old) and quite bonkers at times. There were nine horns (four of which doubled on Wagner tubas) as well as off-stage trumpets and trombones in addition to the healthy numbers already on stage.
I was glad to have been in row S; any further forward and my ears might have started bleeding as if listening to the boîte diabolique in Look Around You.
I bought the complete art of his symphonies on dacapo I think it was but recall finding them less interesting than I had hoped but based on your description I’m wondering if maybe the early ones were interesting but because I went through them in order my impression was based on the less interesting later ones?! I got his music or the spheres recently which I quite enjoyed but need to listen again.
Currently enjoying a double disc of various Martinu concertos including one for string quartet and another for string piano and timpani. Always forget how much I enjoy Martinu and these are a delightful addition to my collection of his symphonies and a few other bits and pieces.
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18 hours ago, Falstaft said:
I think it's worth getting, if just for the 17th symphony which has, for my money, one of the most beautiful slow movements of all time. Sound quality and performances are a little hairy at times, but overall it's an incredible set and great value.
18 hours ago, Loert said:Yep, while I'm a fan of Svetlanov's "musical sensibilites", the playing in that set can get quite shoddy in places. Clearly some symphonies are more rehearsed than others. For example I think the performance of the 24th is really good, but the 4th...well, the less said the better. But ultimately, as far as I know it is the only complete set of Myaskovsky's symphonies though, so... up to you really! (I do wish another orchestra came round and did it another complete set, Myaskovsky certainly deserves it).
Even if some of the performances/recordings aren't great, it seems well worth getting given the price. I already have the album with symphonies 16 and 19 so I'll have to give them another listen. The full set is such a bargain that I may as well pick it up. As I've commented elsewhere, while film music collecting can be expensive, classical collecting can sometimes be ridiculously cheap at times! It looks like some other labels have recorded some of his works, I have 24 and 26 on Naxos, 17 on Chandos and 2 and 10 on Orfeo. Naxos seems to have quite a few, but not a complete set, but any one of those labels feel like the type to do a full survey at some point but clearly never quite did, or BIS (my favourite classical label, to me they're the LLL of classical music).
Guess we should really move this to the classical music recommends thread lol...
Star Trek is better than everything
in General Discussion
Posted
As with so many things like this, his character was actually at his best just before he left. It wouldn't have been quite so bad if he'd been just a young, but exceptional, ensign, who grew through experience, it would have been a great character. Sadly he was just the annoying special kid stereotype for much of the time. Even if they didn't always know what to do with him at first, Jake Sisko was much better written and more interesting.