Jump to content

Neimoidian

Members
  • Posts

    3,845
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

Posts posted by Neimoidian

  1. Never warmed up to Lincoln. It's too... hagiographic for my tastes and doesn't offer much shading. It has a few good tracks, though.

    The Book Thief is a total opposite. Subtle work, really.

    Karol

    I have warmed up to Lincoln over past months more than I initially expected. I listen to it quite a lot these days.

    As for The Book Thief, it took me 2 or 3 times to dig into that score, but I must say every time I listen to it now I find it more satisfying. While most people seem to focus on its (often superficial) resemblance to Angela's Ashes or Stepmom and call it boring or uninspired, I concentrate more on what's new and unique about it. After all it's full of highlights (One Small Fact, New Parents and a New Home, Learning to Read, Visitor at Himmel St. and Finale to name a few). By no means I find it boring - it moves me a lot and I believe JW put his heart into it (even more than his mind, given it's not the most musically original of his works).

  2. I enjoyed your review, Mikko. The score has been growing on me. I agree that similarities to previous soundtracks, especially Stepmom and Angela's Ashes, are mostly superficial. After 5+ listenings The Book Thief sounds quite distinctive to me. Charming and elegant. By any means a masterpiece and not as sophisticated as the scores form the 90s, but nevertheless a very pleasant entry in composer's portfolio.

  3. Anyway, I still think this is a weaker score for the John Williams standards.

    I would maybe expect something like this from a very well trained and knowledgable starting film composer.

    The problem is that Hollywood doesn't invest in "very well trained and knowledgable starting film composer" anymore.

    Plus the bar is set impossibly high for Williams. The preconceived notion of what his scores should be to try to achieve work against him as people squint with critical brow at every note as if it should contain the world's wisdom.

    Exactly. We wait for every new JW score like for the second coming or something and whenever it's not up to the standard of his best works, we feel desappointed, almost cheated, no matter how well-done this soundtrack objectively is. The Book Thief my not be JW's best, but he has written a lot scores like this (in terms of appeal or lack thereof) in his career, so this doesn't mean anything as far as JW's talent (and his current form) is concerned.

  4. This sounds like a neat score. I've not heard much of Abel's stuff, but he definitely knows how to do the ostinato/pulse type thing in an interesting way. Very colorful orchestration too. What's the best entry point for listening to his work?

    I recommend checking out Abel's official web page (www.abelkorzeniowski.com), where you find plenty of music to listen to, including lots of stuff from his opus magnum Metropolis, as well as from some of his least-known scores (Tickling Leo is particularly noteworthy).

  5. The Perfect Storm by James Horner

    It's ridiculously melodramatic and grand. In fact you can skip the film altogether, because the score does everything anyway. You will feel every turn, wave hit, turbulence, what have you.. And the album is, of course, 80 minutes long, so by the time you reach 40-minute mark you might want to kill someone as soon as main theme appears for the millionth time. And while not exactly original as a whole (bah!), it is so entertaining anyway that that you can't deny how much fun the whole thing is. And it doesn't cease to amaze me how he writes those 10-minute long coherent pieces. Hollywood schmaltz at its best.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC3tMN-ofqM

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9LBhvRecvQ

    Karol

    Totally agree. Despite its flaws, it's immensely enjoyable score with killer tracks like Coast Guard Rescue (if I ever make my 10 Best Action Tracks list, it will most likely be in it). Actually I prefer The Perfect Storm to Horner's more acclaimed Titanic.

  6. This absolutely deserves its own thread.

    http://mspresents.com/

    "A screening series of restored classic Polish films touring the U.S. and Canada, opening at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York in February 2014.

    Martin Scorsese has personally selected 21 Polish films that have been an inspiration and influence.

    (...) an unprecedented cultural event. Polish cinema has never been showcased in North America on such a scale. The best in classic Polish film will be shown in cities in the U.S. and Canada throughout 2014, beginning with a special premiere presentation in New York City on February 5th.

    Films in the series will be presented in the highest possible quality thanks to extensive digital picture and audio restoration. Dirt, scratches and other ravages of time have been removed, while preserving the integrity and beauty of the original films."

  7. I have been listening to Kaas Chante Piaf for a couple of days and Abel's arrangements for the songs are generally stupendous. Some of them are very unexpected, like very dramatic rendition of La vie en rose (this one is a little overdone for my taste, though). There are also two original instrumental pieces written especially for this project - The 9th Hour and Song for a little Sparrow. As usual, both are brilliant.

    Here is official clip from the album.

  8. I asked him about the title, too, but he didn't tell. There is no news on it on his agency's web page either, so it's highly possible it's a substitute score. This is good, because he may finally get a top-profile project which is essential to boost his career. I only wish he wasn't type-casted for sublime lyrical scores, because he can also write grand and bold music.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.