Naïve Old Fart

Verhoeven said offers dried up and so he took what he could and left. Hollow Man brought a profit, though not enough to establish him as a hit director.

I know, but they're all dead.

I know, but they're all dead.

BATMAN BEGINS. Against all better judgment, I rather like this film. It has suspense, humour, charm, and good performances.
Zimmer has said that two notes, played on the horns could be expressive. I'm sure they are, but it will take a much more talented composer than him, to make them sound anything other than two notes. Thankfully, most of the score was drowned out by sound effects (couldn't hear much JNH, in the score, so it's just as well).
Next up: THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.

The "hello" theme is first heard as the old Mexican man sings, after Flight 19 is found. Finding it in India, confirms what the man is singing. It's then isolated at the conference, that Laçombe and his team has, and is then played on the synthesizer by him, at Goldstone.
The fact that the theme resolves is, probably, due to the singers on the day, and is not meant to be a new set of tones.

The "hello" theme is first heard as the old Mexican man sings, after Flight 19 is found. Finding it in India, confirms what the man is singing. It's then isolated at the conference, that Laçombe and his team has, and is then played on the synthesizer by him, at Goldstone.
The fact that the theme resolves is, probably, due to the singers on the day, and is not meant to be a new set of tones.

You always were a cunning linguist.

Another FSM expansion found its way to Spotify. Having not listened to this particular score for a long time makes it doubly remarkable how much development Goldsmith put into a regular *underscore* cue like 'On The Circuit': elaborating on and deconstructing his main theme with modernist writing techniques (Bartok and Stravinsky, naturally)  during a 4-minute cue is just the tip of the iceberg, the rising three-note motif is put through so many guises in the score proper it almost becomes nauseating and puts modern scoring approaches to shame (musically). The purely electronic cues remain a challenge for the ear but even barring those you still sit on a healthy 50-minute album, one of the best sci-fi scores ever. It's modernist, yes, but still immensely digestible with one brilliant balletic action cue (You're Renewed) that rocks the house. 

Aren't the films meant to be fantasy? He could his "tractor beam" 

I know, but they're all dead.

I know, but they're all dead.

She was gorgeous, in FIREFLY.

She was gorgeous, in FIREFLY.

It was for you, Richard.

It starts out so light, but gets heavier and heavier until it becomes a knockout powerhouse by the end. Goddamn.

Listened to the whole thing, rather quickly obviously, on the way to work. Fits an icy February walk to the subway, and morning rush hour tired people intensity, lol. I love the modernism and daytime drama vibe for Rogo and Linda, but it is in places about as ugly as he's dared get in terms of sonority. There aren't many if any of the familiar emotional arcs other than at the stellar end points. It's dark grey. But I love that I put this on in 2019-20 and immediately hear a scoundrel, a princess and a victory.

In the scheme of things, Spielberg bailing is probably beneficial to this film - remembering very well here that he's been sick of the whole affair for DECADES. Not only that, but Stevie's exciting movie mojo is already sitting pretty in the care home, where it's been enjoying bed baths for the past ten years. He's not fit for high adventure any more.
 
You can forgot John "stale" Williams too; the most damaging thing about this change is yet more delay in its actual production. Indiana Jones is a legendary trilogy from a bygone golden era in American blockbuster cinema. It shouldn't be remembered as the time cursed cobble job it's becoming. It's undignified. Just let it RIP.

Not bad, Croc. Now, try:
KRULL
BRAINSTORM
GORKY PARK
COCOON
STAR TREK III

You said yourself what the problem is:
 
 
They're like the Adam Sandler comedies in which they pander to the lowest possible common denominator in hopes of getting some bucks from unsuspected parents. Illumination's movies aren't done aiming for quality storytelling and animation, they're like big marketing campaigns that encompass toys, backpacks, notebooks, anyway, every single possible product for kids... as well as movies.
 
And I know Disney's and Pixar's movies are marketing machines as well, but come on, they at least try to make their movies with some quality on the writing, animation, storytelling, etc. And that's not even counting for really bold stuff like Spider-Verse or Studio Ghibli's films, which yeah, are for kids, but they're in a level of quality that Illumination never strived for.
 
Also, the minions are fucking annoying, and the human characters aren't that much better.

Quintus, no. While the general orchestral Jerry stuff is done fine, that's not the point here. Every orchestra (well, not EVERY) can pull that off. The genious of the DNS is that it deals with Jerry's synths in a similar way to Goldsmith - a bit like what Leigh Phillips does. They sound identical. I do not know how old you are but I have had to put up with endless variations on Jerry's Total Recall theme (Silva even with fucking Ford Thaxton could not get it right) and that's not even a complex electronic component - it was a running joke in the 1990s and 2000s that no one could get even the opening synths for Total Recall correct. The fact that DNS can do Gremlins 2 - a much more complex synth score than Total Recall - is astonishing. It means we can get lost Jerry scores re-recorded.
Even Diago Navarro was unable to pull it off, and he is fucking great:
 
 
And whatever the case with the action stuff the awesomeness of Total Recall is this - and there is no way anyone can ever replicate this masterpiece. This is the Mona Lisa of film music:
 
 

Personally, I think the excellent Film Symphony Orchestra version (in their suite) blows every other recording away, even Goldsmith's original.
 
 

Huh? No, the 2002 musical.
 
Also, I'm not a fan of the LFE channel for music. Music with a subwoofer sounds better when it's taken from the stereo lower end frequencies.

I saw ALIEN, on its opening weekend, at the Odeon Leicester Square. I was front row, royal circle. The film was shown in 70mm, and 6-track magnetic.
I had never seen a sheer mind numbingly scary film, in my life, and I doubt that I ever shall. It was an overwhelming experience.

Obviously not very well! I said AVIATOR, not Avatar.
Ouch that was too punny! Get your coat! Right now!