Docteur Qui

Many of the named composers in this thread have had careers in Hollywood spanning over a decade, and continue to work in their field (even if it's not on blockbusters). In my opinion that's far from bombing out! Not everyone can be a Zimmer, Williams, Elfman, Goldsmith, and that's entirely the point - the long, high-profile careers of those composers are the exception rather than the rule in an industry that regularly chews up and spits out talent at all levels. 
 
Speaking of Elfman, while he may still be working in Hollywood after four decades it certainly hasn't been easy on him - he's been one of the loudest critics of the shifting culture around modern film production and temp tracking, and has admitted that he's struggled to find work. It's harder than ever these days to stay relevant in an industry more obsessed with bottom lines and profits than ever. Zimmer is one of the only "traditional", pre-2000s composers to have not only survived the transition, but thrived - indeed, he capitalised on it by scaling up the composer sweatshop model to a profitable production line of ghostwriters and content merchants, which many production houses have imitated. I have mixed feelings on the matter - on one hand he's helped media composition become more accessible than ever to burgeoning composers, but on the other hand that model has exploited those same composers to a terrible degree; years of shit-kicking and slave labour, burnout is high, and the few composers who manage to rise above it often spend the rest of their careers waiting for it all to fall apart. 
 
End rant. As a working composer I have a lot of opinions around the concept of success in this field. It's a lot more complex than people realise.

Many of the named composers in this thread have had careers in Hollywood spanning over a decade, and continue to work in their field (even if it's not on blockbusters). In my opinion that's far from bombing out! Not everyone can be a Zimmer, Williams, Elfman, Goldsmith, and that's entirely the point - the long, high-profile careers of those composers are the exception rather than the rule in an industry that regularly chews up and spits out talent at all levels. 
 
Speaking of Elfman, while he may still be working in Hollywood after four decades it certainly hasn't been easy on him - he's been one of the loudest critics of the shifting culture around modern film production and temp tracking, and has admitted that he's struggled to find work. It's harder than ever these days to stay relevant in an industry more obsessed with bottom lines and profits than ever. Zimmer is one of the only "traditional", pre-2000s composers to have not only survived the transition, but thrived - indeed, he capitalised on it by scaling up the composer sweatshop model to a profitable production line of ghostwriters and content merchants, which many production houses have imitated. I have mixed feelings on the matter - on one hand he's helped media composition become more accessible than ever to burgeoning composers, but on the other hand that model has exploited those same composers to a terrible degree; years of shit-kicking and slave labour, burnout is high, and the few composers who manage to rise above it often spend the rest of their careers waiting for it all to fall apart. 
 
End rant. As a working composer I have a lot of opinions around the concept of success in this field. It's a lot more complex than people realise.

Many of the named composers in this thread have had careers in Hollywood spanning over a decade, and continue to work in their field (even if it's not on blockbusters). In my opinion that's far from bombing out! Not everyone can be a Zimmer, Williams, Elfman, Goldsmith, and that's entirely the point - the long, high-profile careers of those composers are the exception rather than the rule in an industry that regularly chews up and spits out talent at all levels. 
 
Speaking of Elfman, while he may still be working in Hollywood after four decades it certainly hasn't been easy on him - he's been one of the loudest critics of the shifting culture around modern film production and temp tracking, and has admitted that he's struggled to find work. It's harder than ever these days to stay relevant in an industry more obsessed with bottom lines and profits than ever. Zimmer is one of the only "traditional", pre-2000s composers to have not only survived the transition, but thrived - indeed, he capitalised on it by scaling up the composer sweatshop model to a profitable production line of ghostwriters and content merchants, which many production houses have imitated. I have mixed feelings on the matter - on one hand he's helped media composition become more accessible than ever to burgeoning composers, but on the other hand that model has exploited those same composers to a terrible degree; years of shit-kicking and slave labour, burnout is high, and the few composers who manage to rise above it often spend the rest of their careers waiting for it all to fall apart. 
 
End rant. As a working composer I have a lot of opinions around the concept of success in this field. It's a lot more complex than people realise.

Many of the named composers in this thread have had careers in Hollywood spanning over a decade, and continue to work in their field (even if it's not on blockbusters). In my opinion that's far from bombing out! Not everyone can be a Zimmer, Williams, Elfman, Goldsmith, and that's entirely the point - the long, high-profile careers of those composers are the exception rather than the rule in an industry that regularly chews up and spits out talent at all levels. 
 
Speaking of Elfman, while he may still be working in Hollywood after four decades it certainly hasn't been easy on him - he's been one of the loudest critics of the shifting culture around modern film production and temp tracking, and has admitted that he's struggled to find work. It's harder than ever these days to stay relevant in an industry more obsessed with bottom lines and profits than ever. Zimmer is one of the only "traditional", pre-2000s composers to have not only survived the transition, but thrived - indeed, he capitalised on it by scaling up the composer sweatshop model to a profitable production line of ghostwriters and content merchants, which many production houses have imitated. I have mixed feelings on the matter - on one hand he's helped media composition become more accessible than ever to burgeoning composers, but on the other hand that model has exploited those same composers to a terrible degree; years of shit-kicking and slave labour, burnout is high, and the few composers who manage to rise above it often spend the rest of their careers waiting for it all to fall apart. 
 
End rant. As a working composer I have a lot of opinions around the concept of success in this field. It's a lot more complex than people realise.

One of the examples that come to mind would be Joe Kraemer. He seemed like a really big promise in the action blockbusters, with Jack Reacher and his excellent Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, but after that he has done only a couple of small projects. I think I read something about some disagreements between him and director Christopher McQuarrie, and it's a shame, because not only he got replaced in the following Mission Impossible films, but he has almost disappeared completely from Hollywood. Here's one of my favorite cues from Rogue Nation that shows how great he is.
 

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.  

At least half of these are pretty blatant photoshop jobs from the early internet days, you guys need to up your internet literacy or you won't survive the forthcoming AI wars!

I don't think I've recommended this yet?
 
Think Gillianimations with puzzles and renaissance music. It's currently on sale on Steam, and also in a bundle with Four Last Things (to which this is the sequel) and another game by the same creator. I haven't played those yet, but Calvary was a hoot.
 
The third part of the trilogy is currently in production:
 

Even in the streaming era, if something drops on a particular day then it becomes ritual viewing for me and many people I know. Monday nights over the past 8 months have been brilliant in our household with the stellar HBO lineup of House of the Dragon, White Lotus, The Last of Us and Succession. It became a regular thing for us to have friends over and have small viewing parties for those shows, and it's something I value quite highly.

Very cool album; it has both the Warwick and the Bassey versions. To my surprise (as a big fan of all Bassey Bond songs including “No Good About Goodbye”) I actually prefer the Warwick one!
 
And yeah I actually far prefer “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” to “Thunderball” (nothing against Tom Jones… he’s an utter delight for The Emperor’s New Groove!)
 
Yavar

As an Australian, the Saturday time slot equals Sunday daytime viewing for me, which is perfect. I have very fond memories of my first few years living out of home, hungover eating junk food and watching the latest episode in bed. Those were the days!

Shirley also recorded it:
 
 
She recorded the demo version first, but was unavailable when they went to re-record the song to match the length of the opening titles, so Warwick was approached. Bassey wasn't happy and sued the producers, which is why neither version was used or heard until the 90's (and why "Thunderball" replaced it). Allegedly anyway - I've also heard that the producers got cold feet about the song because it didn't contain the film's title in it.
 
 
You need to listen to that wonderful score again. It's basically the main theme of the score; Arnold uses it liberally, essentially replacing the James Bond theme which doesn't appear in full til the end credits. That was a masterstroke IMO - the score feels so fresh and inspired after the very tired Die Another Day, largely because it doesn't use Norman/Barry's theme as a crutch. The back half of the chorus melody ("the odds will betray you / and I will replace you") and the opening notes of the verse melody ("if you take a life") are all over the score, and the the opening "badum badum" rhythm from the intro is especially prominent in the action cues.

I also left timeslots in the twentieth century where they belong

Agreed.
DOCTOR WHO is Saturday tea-time viewing, not Sunday, or midweek, as was both 5th and 7th Doctors.
One of the specials should air on the 25th November, as it's the closest Saturday to the 23rd.

In terms of their BBC screenings, my guess would be 3 consecutive Saturday evenings (I reckon RTD will want the show back in its 'classic' timeslot).  

Pun intended?

I remember an interview with Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy) about a time he was asked to write a song with Guy Chambers and being terrified by how quickly Chambers (and collaborators) could churn something out and that he had only just started to form some thoughts while the others had already finished.
 
Mr Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang is a great song... I had forgotten that it wasn't recorded as a song (at least not on the version I have), just an instrumental. Not sure if I like it more or less than Thunderball itself (I mean, it's like who's the least attractive Hemsworth), but shows Barry's greatness that he could write two classic Bond songs for the same film when some writers can't manage one...

It is used throughout frequently, it's basically his theme in the movie.

Am 2 episodes into Rian Johnson's crime comedy drama Poker Face, and having a lot of fun with it. Natasha Lyonne's lead turn is great. Am also 3 episodes into the winning, very funny but thankfully not sappy Aussie 'rom-com' Colin From Accounts.  

Every smartphone shown was just a current iPhone.  The youtube interface was today's.  The cars all ran on gas. The clothes and lingo were today's.  Lazy lazy lazy

I much prefer the "Balloon Sequence" from the Boston Pops' Salute to Hollywood CD, over the "Ballroom Sequence"...
 
 

I put this together quickly for anyone who hasn't tried it themselves. 
I do wonder what that 1:30 of black screen originally contained - does anyone have any idea?

According to Wikipedia it was a collaboration. Arnold wrote the music and Cornell wrote the lyrics. Which was pretty much how Barry did it.

Agreed on all counts really... although I have to concede that how long it takes you to write something doesn't necessarily correlate with its quality, if people think your song is dreck, saying you dashed it off in 10 minutes doesn't help your cause. Then again, we are probably in a minority and most people thought it was the best Bond song ever cos it's, like, you know, not old fashioned and that... ;-)

This is true. (I'll go out on a limb and guess that Goldeneye ranks first?)
 
TWINE and DAD are each half a good Bond film. TWINE alternates good and bad (character scenes alternate with boom boom 'splosions). DAD has a pretty good first half and then goes full Bad Guy Hamilton for the back half. TWINE's bad parts aren't terrible. DAD's bad parts are. Once they get to the ice palace not even Rosamund Pike can save them. It makes you want to watch the avalanche from On Her Majesty's Secret Service on a loop.
 
Both of them have a fair amount of good character stuff for PB to do. I always felt Brosnan's colder more tortured side was something the producers grudgingly get by and then they made it the entirety of Craig's character. There ain't no justice. (I liked Craig.)