karelm

I enjoyed the film and love the soundtrack!  Saw the film yesterday and have already listened to the album twice.  Of course, I can't wait for all the music to get released, it's such a pleasant listening experience.   About half of it is missing since the album is 62 minutes (not including Anne-Sophie Mutter's suite for violin and orchestra) and James Mangold said it had two hours of music.  I think it fits very nicely with Williams' 2010 SW sequel style but also so many 1980's Indy references.  It's a very good score!  I especially loved Battle of Syracuse.  Something I dreamed of hearing of JW all my life...a historical epic and kind of got it.  But I think the film version is way longer than what's on the album.
 
Question: I haven't seen any of young Indy tv show.  How does that show portray the young Indy?  Was he pretty much just a boy scout junior version of old Indy or more ambivalent, and rebellious?  I'm wondering if Helena is being set up to be the next Indy and her attitude issues are similar to Indy's younger persona?  

This is very gorgeous!  Herrmann's Wuthering Heights suite released today in exceptional audio quality.  Very moody, impressionistic, and lyrical.  This substantial suite is from his three hour opera...his passion project that he spent a decade composing and self-funded the premiere recording since no one was interested.  It's very beautiful and substantial.  
 

Just saw the film and had a great time!  It was very loud but not sure if that was my theater.  It hit all the right notes for me such as nods to nostalgia, great set pieces (chases), good side characters who have their own backstory yet contribute to the plot, good villain and henchmen.  To me, this is much better than Crystal Skull and almost as good as Last Crusade but that one of course has Sean Connery.  
 
Story wise, damn good and here is why.  Indy always pursued the treasure but usually found in the end, the treasure must remain in its place.  The others who are greedy don't realize this usually costing them their lives in a desperate bid for a futile pursuit.  But now, in a carefully crafted story, the shallow Helena pursues the prize of the artifact.  Once Indy, who's always lived in the relics gets to experience the past for the first time in his life, it is he who starts to lose his life by the desire to experience the past itself.  And Helena, the greedy muse who realizes Indy is right after all and has to pull him back kicking and screaming to reality and leave the past in its time.  That was brilliant storytelling and very moving plus added a layer to the character without compromising his legacy.  To me, that makes it a worthy entry in the Indiana Jones saga.
 
As far as negatives, I wish Mikkelsen had more opportunities to show his villainy because frankly, I really like him as an actor and he never seemed bad enough or greedy enough.  Perhaps just one more scene of utter villainy would have sold it.  I also felt the audio (not the score) was way too loud.  Again, I don't know if that was just my DOLBY ATMOS theater experience, but the score seems way better than I recall as I'm listening to the soundtrack now but all I remember was the sound effects.  Harrison looked amazing for his age but sometimes looked quite old and sometimes I forgot his age.  I think a lot of this comes down to hair.  When he's disheveled, he looked older.  But you still catch glimpses of his eternal boyish charms.  I also felt the film needed a little more humor.  He's weary most of the time.  I get he's older and all but this still needs to be a fun movie.  It would have just taken a touch or two to pull this off.  One small example, when he's with Marion at the end, the final shot should have been an empty clothesline where he takes the worn out fedora he has on placed on the clothesline (the complete opposite of what they shot) and implying they're about to hop in the bed to snuggle but also a very nice send off.  Overall I would rate it at 7/10 and entertaining and glad to see a beloved character return for another adventure with some nice twists and expansions but some missed opportunities.  

My take on the film:
 
In general:
+++ Ford's acting!
++ Phoebe Waller-Bridge's acting
++  I think the film excellently balances between Indy's grit/toughness and vulnerability. I liked the exchange about the watch being a memento for Indy's father. You could feel for Indy just being an old human being not having the energy to suffer everybody and everything being unkind to him. In many such small moments an excellent movie that could have been tried to raise its head. Ditto the 'my friend just got murdered'. Or fixing the engine problem and smiling. Or managing to climb the cliff but having Helena show some care (which also sets up her later care for him in Syracuse).
+ Helena was not overpowered; she tried to take charge of action scenes with varying success, did not overshine Indy, I liked very much how balanced it was between them and I think the filmmakers did a good job in telling "that episode where Indy goes on an adventure with his goddaughter" kind of story. For example: the scene where Helena and Teddy discuss who is really in charge, and Indy is a bit more.
++ It's a personal take that can be wrong, but it seemed to me Williams wrote and used Helena's theme in a way that vaguely reminded me of a kind of quaint woman-centered adventure from the 1950s/1960s, or a later throwback film like Passage To India. For whatever reason I generally felt that Williams generally wrote a bit in the spirit of Maurice Jarre for this film.
+ starting from Morocco the film found its footing.
+ I enjoyed Sallah's cameos. I realized it would be too contrived to have him be present during the adventures, and I low-key liked how they presented him simply as a family man and a friend adding a bit of positive energy to the film.
 
Details:
- I didn't like the 1944 prologue (confound soft reboots, including music reuse) or the New York very much (perhaps I saw too many set photos and had unrealistic expectations).
- The horse chase was kind of pathetic. I don't know how to express it better. I don't think it was necessary for the film to point out the datedness of escaping on horseback.
+ The audience in my theater did chuckle though when Indy said the subway was faster, so I guess that landed.
- ambiguous FBI / CIA ties of the bad guys that make it confusing early on just who was giving orders or in general what to expect from them
+ the bad guy gang was just good enough as far as the mooks went, even if the characters were not as easy to tell apart as the bad guys from Raiders, Temple, or Crusade
+ The hotel brawl scenes were fun. Reminded me of the bar fight in POTC: Dead Man's Chest.
+  The Tuk-Tuk escape from that comedy genre gangster in love with Helena. LOL
+ Teddy was well-written and well-acted. He didn't feel annoying, forced, or too in/competent. That one scene of a set up of him probably being able to fly a plane later sufficed for the pulp genre.
- Did Helena try to get Indy killed underwater by leaving him to the eels and then changed her mind? I didn't quite get that scene.
- Banderras character was kinda a waste, dragged into the story only to get killed (the disposable pilot / thanks for the ride / selfless friend trope)
+ singing Beethoven's 5th in the cave. Random stuff like this helps keep a series fresh. Reminded me of such moments in TLJ.
+ giant goon (Oliver Richters) died a bit like the spider alien from Treasure Planet, outsmarted by the kid. Not what I expected, but fair enough xD
- the real pilot waking up in the back of the kid's Cessna felt like seeing a clear fix to a plothole that was not introduced yet (how would a kid regain control of an airplane in freefall)
+ Voller seemed intelligent, with my favourite moment being when he realized the validity of Indy's warning and tried to turn the plane back. In general I loved the tension right before they entered that portal, and the tension immediately after. The film had several top notch scenes, but sadly also many just decent and quite a few weaker ones.
+ the Syracuse battle was a fun idea, reminded me of the battle from the third Mummy movie.
-- but the plane just circling around and getting flak from ballistas felt a bit aimless. Missed opportunities in that final act.
- Archimedes interacted with the McGuffin plot but didn't feel impactful (unlike the Grail Knight), and the supporting characters in the ancient era (the guy with a bow, the random Roman officer) seemed pointless.
+ Indy talking in Greek. I like to think about it as a little pay-off to Henry Jones Sir's forcing his son to practice Greek in Crusade.
+ Helena being shown as vulnerable by knowing some Greek but not as well as Indy. Part of that balancing.
+ Ford's acting out the character's motivation to stay in the past just to watch was good, for a second you could imagine him staying being an ending that would make sense to the character, but I also liked how the nonverbal sentiment Helena tried to express was acted out. Unpopular opinion, but I kinda bought the punch to the face Indy got. I thought it was cartoony kind of funny, like hot shoes after stopping the mine cart or rolling out of a fridge. Indy is not just the kind of character who can be flawed and get hit, but also inherently the kind of character that can be the butt of slapstick. I preferred the film to end more like ROTJ than like TLJ, with him surviving.
-/+ I didn't like the reunion with Marion in KOTCS and I wasn't excited about another one here, but Ford's acting throughout the film made it seem fitting. I smiled at the idea of a simple, down-to-earth romance scene between two old characters. I also like how Helena smiled and disappeared from the picture at a right moment. This, plus Sallah-coming-and-going felt like a well-cooked mood soup.
+ I liked the final close-up on the hat being pulled back through the window and the screen turning into a contracting circle (like Star Wars OT, only slower, cartoon style). Precisely for that kind of light final note I wanted Indy to live another day.
 
Overall very different from but probably better than KOTCs (a film I like for what it's worth); it's about on par with an archeology-themed flick like National Treasure to me. Would watch again sometime.

This is very gorgeous!  Herrmann's Wuthering Heights suite released today in exceptional audio quality.  Very moody, impressionistic, and lyrical.  This substantial suite is from his three hour opera...his passion project that he spent a decade composing and self-funded the premiere recording since no one was interested.  It's very beautiful and substantial.  
 

Williams never worked with this kind of echo effects like Goldsmith did in Alien and Planet of the Apes. And these are really quite characteristic for these scores. Would be interesting If Williams would have gone into a similar direction. Probably not. And for the Alien main title we might have missed that creepy moving of the bows on the strings which I absolutely love. 
So, it might be interesting, if a rejected Williams score for Alien existed. But I wouldn't want to miss Goldsmith's  work for it.

One of my favourite symphonies and while I'm sure a fair number of people here have heard of him due to his marvellous score for Things to Come, not perhaps a well known British composer. The Red movement in particular is great fun and the last 30 seconds or so are/were used by the BBC as the theme for the Proms and also feature as one of the ringtones on my phone... I'm soooo cool.
 

I quite liked this release.
 

I quite liked this release.
 

This.  The greatest interpretation I've heard is Boult's 1950's cycle but are mostly mono so not everyone will be able to get past that.  They were done either with Vaughan Williams' cooperation or just after he died.  A good second choice is Boult's 1960's stereo recording which are very good, stereo, not quite as great interpretations as the '50's cycle though.  Previn is from the late '60's and early 70's and was on fire during this time and it's the third great Vaughan Williams cycle.  Haitink should be avoided EXCEPT for his magnificent 1st (Sea Symphony).  Hickox is pretty good, a great expanded Symphony No. 2 but his cycle is incomplete.  Symphonies 7 and after were conducted by the lifeless Andrew Davis.  Very sad because Hickox did a great Symphony No. 9 in concert.  They should have used his concert recordings instead of Davis and just cleaned them up.

As a frequent listener to Scandi/Nordic composers, I highly recommend exploring the works of Kalevi Aho and Vagn Holmboe, two of my favourite near contemporary composers.

I don't know if I'd even agree with the list of who you are saying had sizzling careers then blew out.  Just because they aren't scoring the blockbusters doesn't mean they blew out.  The composers you mentioned are all in fact very successful.  Honestly the answer comes down to a simple detail that to be scoring big blockbusters, you have to be a very good businessman and have that networking, socializing temperament.  Many composers don't really care for that and would rather be selective and picky but do projects that resonate with them artistically and sacrifice some income to gain more creative freedom and some form of a life.  Some of those you mentioned were former employers or teachers of mine and they are doing very well, just might not be in the sort of projects you care about or that catapult them to A list territory.  

I don't know if I'd even agree with the list of who you are saying had sizzling careers then blew out.  Just because they aren't scoring the blockbusters doesn't mean they blew out.  The composers you mentioned are all in fact very successful.  Honestly the answer comes down to a simple detail that to be scoring big blockbusters, you have to be a very good businessman and have that networking, socializing temperament.  Many composers don't really care for that and would rather be selective and picky but do projects that resonate with them artistically and sacrifice some income to gain more creative freedom and some form of a life.  Some of those you mentioned were former employers or teachers of mine and they are doing very well, just might not be in the sort of projects you care about or that catapult them to A list territory.  

I don't know if I'd even agree with the list of who you are saying had sizzling careers then blew out.  Just because they aren't scoring the blockbusters doesn't mean they blew out.  The composers you mentioned are all in fact very successful.  Honestly the answer comes down to a simple detail that to be scoring big blockbusters, you have to be a very good businessman and have that networking, socializing temperament.  Many composers don't really care for that and would rather be selective and picky but do projects that resonate with them artistically and sacrifice some income to gain more creative freedom and some form of a life.  Some of those you mentioned were former employers or teachers of mine and they are doing very well, just might not be in the sort of projects you care about or that catapult them to A list territory.  

I don't know if I'd even agree with the list of who you are saying had sizzling careers then blew out.  Just because they aren't scoring the blockbusters doesn't mean they blew out.  The composers you mentioned are all in fact very successful.  Honestly the answer comes down to a simple detail that to be scoring big blockbusters, you have to be a very good businessman and have that networking, socializing temperament.  Many composers don't really care for that and would rather be selective and picky but do projects that resonate with them artistically and sacrifice some income to gain more creative freedom and some form of a life.  Some of those you mentioned were former employers or teachers of mine and they are doing very well, just might not be in the sort of projects you care about or that catapult them to A list territory.  

I don't know if I'd even agree with the list of who you are saying had sizzling careers then blew out.  Just because they aren't scoring the blockbusters doesn't mean they blew out.  The composers you mentioned are all in fact very successful.  Honestly the answer comes down to a simple detail that to be scoring big blockbusters, you have to be a very good businessman and have that networking, socializing temperament.  Many composers don't really care for that and would rather be selective and picky but do projects that resonate with them artistically and sacrifice some income to gain more creative freedom and some form of a life.  Some of those you mentioned were former employers or teachers of mine and they are doing very well, just might not be in the sort of projects you care about or that catapult them to A list territory.  

I don't know if I'd even agree with the list of who you are saying had sizzling careers then blew out.  Just because they aren't scoring the blockbusters doesn't mean they blew out.  The composers you mentioned are all in fact very successful.  Honestly the answer comes down to a simple detail that to be scoring big blockbusters, you have to be a very good businessman and have that networking, socializing temperament.  Many composers don't really care for that and would rather be selective and picky but do projects that resonate with them artistically and sacrifice some income to gain more creative freedom and some form of a life.  Some of those you mentioned were former employers or teachers of mine and they are doing very well, just might not be in the sort of projects you care about or that catapult them to A list territory.  

I don't know if I'd even agree with the list of who you are saying had sizzling careers then blew out.  Just because they aren't scoring the blockbusters doesn't mean they blew out.  The composers you mentioned are all in fact very successful.  Honestly the answer comes down to a simple detail that to be scoring big blockbusters, you have to be a very good businessman and have that networking, socializing temperament.  Many composers don't really care for that and would rather be selective and picky but do projects that resonate with them artistically and sacrifice some income to gain more creative freedom and some form of a life.  Some of those you mentioned were former employers or teachers of mine and they are doing very well, just might not be in the sort of projects you care about or that catapult them to A list territory.  

Picture taken by a friend, but from Crystal Skull.  

JW's hometown orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, has a great lineup of JW concerts in the next season including E.T. in concert conducted by Dudamel, Hollywood film music curated by Johnny, Superman LTP and something called Harry Potter Grand Suite.  
 
John Williams Spotlight (laphil.com)

I LOVE TMP.  It is clearly heavily indebted to 2001 which isn't a bad thing.  Similarly, the pacing, hours of flying through an abstract experience with weird reactions and fantastic music plus the whole AI achieving consciousness plot.  I don't think TMP is a masterpiece, but it is loveable.  I actually love it and TWOK equally because they both represent the yin and yang of TOS.  It had very cerebral moments full of awe and wonder and great action/adventure too while always focused on deep and enchanting characters.  With TMP, the biggest character arch is with Spock who starts off nearly fully embracing pure logic.  But he has doubts turning away Kolinahr.  He finds V'ger to be a perfect example of pure logic and sheds a tear, perhaps his first ever, in realizing what all V'ger lacks even though having achieved pure logic.  Is this all there is?  Am I nothing more?  So then seeks out his creator to try to understand why do I exist.  TMP is Star Trek at its headiest and one of the great ST scores ever.  

Hey guys,
 
Did a quick mock-up/transcription of the opening of Kenobi's Theme yesterday and wanted to see if any of you fine composers had any thoughts on the mock-up/mix/transcription? Would love to hear what you all have to say. Thanks and hope you all are doing swell!
 
I used Cinematic Studio Strings, Cinematic studio brass (horn solo) and woodwinds (clarinet melody doubling), and BBCSO Double basses doubling the CSS ones as well as some BBCSO Bass Clarinet when the strings first come in for some warmth. 
 
Other than that, just some EQ's on the strings and reverbs!
 
 

No, I was bass trombonist in the orchestra.  The concert was a medley of popular opera sequences.  I was the composer in residence and said you really need Puccini because many people heard opera through the "Three Tenors" concerts in the 1990's that includes Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, and Luciano Pavarotti but introduced opera to many audiences.  It was so full of Puccini and included one of the greatest signature arias "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's opera Turandot.  The problem was there were so many fantastic arias from Puccini, how can we pick one?  So I made a medley/arrangement of seven or so of his great operas in a 10 minute sequence to cover those very popular lyric operas.   

My favorite SW character