BTR1701

For those interested, there's going to be an outdoor screening of Wrath of Khan at 7th & Figueroa this coming Saturday @ 8:30 PM, with an appearance by Leonard Nimoy. http://filmguide.laf...ventNumber=5457

I liked how Scott snuck about 30 seconds of Goldsmith's ALIEN them into the score, during the holographic briefing scene with Weyland.

Yep, just like Stephen King, who announced his retirement about five years ago but has been writing steadily ever since. He said he truly meant to stop but realized it was just in the blood and there's no stopping the words from coming out.

Isn't that basically the goal of all these type movies?

Then the Hulk is ultimately unfilmable, because there's not a human being on earth who could play the character the way it's supposed to look. Painting a muscle-guy green is just as ridiculous as cartoony CGI. If there's a third option, I just don't see it.

I don't think anyone's expecting the next Star Wars or don't realize how much thing have changed in film music. More like we're all too aware of how much has changed in film music and are lamenting that fact.

I agree it's sounds like something Jablonsky or Djawadi would do, not Silvestri. It is rather disappointing for a major movie like this. I swear it seems like most movies these days have almost no theme to the scores. Bingo! Every single new score that comes out on iTunes sounds exactly the same as the one before it. Basically either long, sustained chords for somber moods, or frenetic synthesized string ostinatos over long sustained chords for action sequences. The Silvestri score to Avengers is nothing special, but at least it employs a real orchestra playing real music, not some kind of sonic wallpaper, and it's sad that this is the best we can expect these days. It really makes my heart sad for missed opportunities to think of what Williams might do with a film like Avengers, if given wide latitude and a direction to compose in his 80's-90's style.

Robin Williams looks like he's nuts in that picture.

Midway? That's probably the one. For me, there's the jurassics, and that is all. I've long given up on expanded prequels (true ones), and Potter won't happen anytime soon, so just JP / TLW (with JP3 bundled, in better sound quality) Yes, if I had to pick one, I'd like to have the entire score to the first JP. So much great music left off the OST in favor of three nearly identical versions of the JP main theme. Never could figure out what Williams was thinking there. That stuff bugs me. For some reason I don't mind hearing extraneous noises related to performing the music (sheet music page turns, bow clicks, breath sounds, even the key/valve sounds from the wind instruments), but stuff like coughing, sneezing, etc. that have nothing to do with the music grates on me. I have no idea why one bothers me and the other doesn't, but there it is.

Yes that is what I am hoping as well. Ummm... LLL released 1941. Well something was released by Varese that I picked up there last fall.

I wish they'd given the option to pick it up. LaLa Land is barely four miles away from me in Burbank. I could easily pop over on my way home from work and pick it up rather than pay (and wait) to have them ship it down the street. When Varese released '1941', they had an option for in-store pickup at their place in Hollywood. Saved me some bucks and I got it much quicker.

Robin Williams looks like he's on meth. Other than it's nice.

Symphony No. 7, Movement V - Rondo-Finale. Just listening to it makes me think of action movies in general. And if it's performed by an orchestra with a powerhouse brass section (Chicago Symphony is a standout), it'll blow you away. It's like a religious experience.

I would have loved to have seen him do a Star Trek film. I know Trek was mostly Goldsmith territory, but I've often wondered what a Williams Star Trek score would sound like. The recent Trek reboot was a golden opportunity, but Giacchino is Abrams' guy, so that was pretty much inevitable.

He gives them this: files.me.com/btr1701/1ueo5u And they turn it into this: files.me.com/btr1701/cgj7wo

I notice that Malcolm McNab is still lead trumpet. He was playing lead on film soundtracks back when 'Jaws' first came out, and even earlier. The man's a machine. Back in my trumpet-playing days, I'd have given my left nut to be able to play half as good as he does. Williams actually doesn't have much say about what goes into the credits of the film itself. People are credited or not as the union rules dictate. Well said. 'War of the Worlds' was my first JW disappointment. To this day I just can't connect with that score at any level. I find it boring and tedious, and I had such high expectations for it. I mean, come on... alien invasion movie + Spielberg + John Williams... there was no way that was gonna be anything but stupendous and then I listened to the CD for the first time and I was like, 'What the hell?'

Yeah, pretty much. If you take the last 10 major releases for the sort of films that I like, only Super 8 was worth listening to. The rest-- from the kind of films that used to generate complex scores with rousing and memorable themes, films like Thor, Spider Man, etc.-- all they consist of are endless arpeggiated string ostinatos over electronic drums, and the 'themes' (such as they are) mostly consist of long sustained chords in the brass. Compare this year's X-Men movie to Superman (both superhero films in the same genre) and the difference in scores is striking. Everything from musical complexity to good old hummable themes is lacking in in the former and on grand display in the latter. You may like that sort of thing, but for me, it's dreck, and it's pretty much de riguer these days. And no, not liking the same things you do does not make me ignorant. Your aesthetic tastes are not an objective benchmark by which everyone else is judged.

So what are you saying? That Midway is dreck? It's one of my least favorite Williams scores. Quite boring aside from the march, and even that feels like it's about to go somewhere but then falls flat. Despite all that though, I hate it when people claim anything written by Williams is instantly better than everything else out there. It's ignorant. (1) I didn't claim that *anything* written by Williams is better. Just this score. (2) I didn't claim it was better than everything else out there. Just 90% of what's currently out there. (3) It's my aesthetic opinion of what I personally like and do not like. It's no more or less ignorant than yours.

I gave my copy a listen last night and it was a perfectly fine score. Is it comparable to the likes of Empire or Raiders? No. But it was enough to keep me engaged and I enjoyed the music and am happy I have it in my library. It's certainly light years better than the dreck that currently passes for 90% of the soundtracks these days.

Just stopped by Varese in Studio City and picked up my copy. Haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, though.

FYI: 'Will call' means you'll pick up in person from the Varese Sarabande offices in Studio City. In other words, they don't ship it to you, you pick it up. That's what I chose. Stop by on the way home from work and save seven bucks. Or Jurassic Park

So?

Yeah, he's been sitting on the rights to Stephen King's "The Talisman" for decades now. No more dinosaurs until we get to see The Territories on the big screen. And if Williams scores it, all the better.

No, the better question is why Greedo shoots first!