pixie_twinkle

I don't think the academy should need to judge a score from the CD. It's usually pretty clear how good a film cue is when heard in the context of the film. Bland music may serve a simple function within the film, but hardly adds any extra depth. In fact overly simplistic scores tend to detract from my enjoyment of the film. Interesting point you made about trilogy scores. If only Time Bandits had been scored by Michael Kamen then his scores for Gilliam's "fantasy trilogy" would be near the top of my list!

Big Fish by a mile. Go Danny!!!!

Let's face it, Williams scores over the last 3 years or so have been pretty bland. Catch Me if You Can had some nice cues though. It's all just a little too uninvolved for my taste. He used to blow me away on a regular basis with his scores. These days he seems content to paint a wishy-washy backdrop with no detail. I fear this is the way many scores are going. Danny Elfman is one of the few composers who still sounds as grand as he did back in the 80s. Give that man an oscar (Big Fish best original score!)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who loves Resurrection. But how can you rate Alien 3 (or even Resurrection for that matter) over the phenomenal, ground-breaking, trouser-soiling original Alien??? And so on and so on...

I completely agree with Morn! Why should bad music be praised just because it creates a sense of emotion in a movie. Believe me, it's not that hard. If a suitably tearful moment (well written, acted, and directed) presents itself in a film, ll a composer has to do is add a triad in the tremolo violins to make the audience cry. It can be minor OR major. Major triads work very well in sad moments (Ben's death?, The death of the scholar in Monteverdi's Poppeia? etc etc). However, I honestly feel that the quality of the music in its own right is essential, even in movie music. Korngold's scores excite me far more than the bland Shore scores for LOTR. I find a sense of excitement heightened by Korngold's music, while I find Shore's to be dreary, overly simplistic, and ultimately not much of an addition. It sounds as if Shore has watched the movie and written a series of cues, which is of course what every film composer does. I wish more composers would assume thir music will get a concert performance. Only then will they imbibe the score with the complexity and sophistication that I feel ALL music deserves. Jerry Goldsmith has said that he feels all his scores should have a life away from the film. I agree. A composer who only thinks his music can be heard in the context of the film... Do you think he's really all that proud of his score?

I have to confess I LOVE Alien Resurrection. Ok so the ending with the Alien "baby" thing is pretty silly, but I'd take it over Alien 3 any day. I think it's an awful movie, even in the extended cut. The best thing about Alien 3 is the awesome extra disk on the set in which everyone talks quite candidly about what went wrong and why it fell apart. The most interesting part is that everyone backs David Fincher as being a great director, and makes the fox producers and backers out to be morons. It's actually very brave of them to put the disk out! By the way, I loved the stuff about the alternative story for Alien 3 with a wooden planet inhabited by monks! It would have been an interesting film I think! Jeunet's Alien Resurrection is the second best in my opinion after the original. Cameron's is rightly a classic, but there's just so much idiotic marine-waffle, and hardware glorification. The first hour is a bit of a drag. Jeunet's is a better film in my opinion. Ok so it is more comedy than horror, but it works well as a Jeunet film more than an Alien film. I'd take a Jeunet film over an Alien film any day.

Ok thanks. I get the impression that you only get the trailer on the individual disks. Sucks if you've blown a fortune on the Quadrilogy set! Oh well, at least I get an extra disk of goodies!!!

I am pretty amazed that Last Samurai wasn't nominated. I thought the acting, music, directing, and overall story were far superior to Master and Commander, which I thought was a fun bit of fluff (which I enjoyed btw!). Last Samurai should have won best picture this year as far as I'm concerned. I also agree Big Fish should have been up there. Both Ewen McGreggor and Albert Finney were superb. I'm not surprised the Johnny Depp was nominated. I thought his performance in Pirates made the movie. I hope he gets it (which he won't). I am also not surprised that Sean Aston didn't get nominated. I think he's a pretty bad actor for the most part, and I honestly think both he and Elijah Wood were horribly miscast. Even if one ignores the cringe-worthy English accents, they made for a very bland and undynamic pair in the movies. Admittedly Sean shows a little more flair in ROTK, but not enough to redeem him in my opinion. Still, if ROTK wins best picture I will be happy. Great flick!

Has anyone else bought this set? It's got 9 disks and is generally pretty awesome (although I had to replace mine owing to faulty disks!). BUT, if you buy these disks seperately I notice they include the trailer for the upcoming Alien vs Predator movie. I can't find this trailer anywhere on the Quadrilogy boxset! Has anyone found it, or isn't it there?

Looks like that Spacecamp CD finally sold for $249. I'm relieved that someone has actually paid more for a copy than I did. Mine set me back $160, for which I've been extremely embarassed ever since. Mind you, I love the score!!! Some of the tracks are very magical and pure Williams! Besides, I was at a point in my life when I needed to buy something like that for comfort. Occasionally spending a lot on something small is exactly what we need! Ah, I love excess! James

I agree! I listened to his 4th symphony again last week. The juxtapositions of styles are so effective. The use of hymn tunes in the second movement is awesome, and the fourth movement ends so beautifully. The cacophony proir to the gentle ending is so important to set the scene for the final section. Central Park in the Dark, and Unanswered Question are also amazing. If anyone out there wants to see an entertaining series of lectures on musical language and tonal development/deconstruction over the years you should look at Bernstein's Norton lectures, also called The Unanswered Question. Some very complex musical issues are explained in simple laymans terms, in a frank and straightforward way. And of course Leonard Bernstein is always a joy to watch.

Actually I have a really hard time with most of Brahms' chamber works. Maybe it's just a phase I'm going through. I adore his symphonic stuff though. His violin concerto is a tearjerker! Perhaps my favourite violin concerto ever. The second subject of the first movement is PURE emotion!!! Oh my God, I'm going weak at the knees just thinking about it!

How long is he exactly?

Bernard Herrman??? My God man, have yoe got any EARS??? Tootle off and listen to Citizen Kane again! And for that matter listen to the awesome Pekka Salonen CD of Herrman themes (I forget what it's called right now). Shostakovich Babi Yar

Funny how the people who absolutely hate it haven't seen it. Hmmm.

OK so I need to learn the difference between quotes and italics aparently....

Marian Schedenig wrote: Which set? CDs go for the remastered Solti set. It's awesome, even though was recorded in the 50s! Personally I would get the DVD set with James Levine and the MET. This music works so much better when you see the action taking place! (Unlike Williams' score for which works well however you listen to it!)If there was a Russian word for Weltschmerz it would be Shostakovich. Shostakovich 8th symphony, Adagio

WOW! That was fantastic! It had to have been the Swingle Singers! I honestly can't think of any other group both crazy enough to attempt a stunt like that and talented enough to actually pull it off!!!

I'm very curious to see which composers are listened to the most by readers of this forum. I have a feeling that the great late/post romantic composers will feature highly on many people's lists. These after all were the composers who had the most influence on the film-music medium. For the record here's my list. All time favourite composers: Shostakovich (particularly symphonies 5,7,8,10 and 11) Vaughan-Williams (particularly symphonies 2,4,6 and 7, Donna Nobis Pacem, Job, and Hodie) ...and close seconds: Rautavaara (symphonies 6,7 and 8, Violin Concerto etc etc!) Debussy (La Mer!!!) Stravinsky (Rite, Petrouschka, Soldier's Tale) Delius (Over the Hills etc) Beethoven (7th Symphony, Violin Concerto, all the quartets!!!) Prokofiev (the ballets. especially Cinderella) Messiaen (Turangalila, Preludes, Quartet for the end of time) I seem to have a preference for orchestral pieces! (Probably John Williams' fault!!!) However one of my all-time favourite pieces is Schubert's Quintet in C Major. Aaaaah!

Ok, so this topic isn't REEAAALY related to anything at all except that it's about a movie, and John Williams writes movie scores... But anyway. Am I the only person in the world who thinks Bad Santa is an awesome movie???

Other rarities? I don't know what you consider to be particularly rare but I have all the FSM releases (including Towering Inferno ) plus a few nice vinyl records including Diamond Head, Not With My Wife You Don't. I also have CDs of Fitzwilly, Penelope, How to Steal A Million, Spacecamp, Witches of Eastwick, Temple of Doom, Accidental Tourist, and just about everything else that's ever been readily available. I can't find the prelude and fugue though!!! Of course I AM proud of my collection. It wasn't until I found this site that I realized there were others like me out there. I thought my John Williams obsession was a rarity! I've always loved his music. It's partly through exposure to his music as a child that I came to love music as I do today. I certainly own more CDs by John Williams that by any other individual composer.

But neither can Sir Paul McFartney and he still wrote Standing Stone. Oh hang on, that was Richard Rodney Bennett. Well at least he wrote Liverpool Oratorio. No...wait, that was Carl Davis...

Hmm, embrace all composers huh? I vote that Goblet of Fire be scored by Andrew Lloyd Webber!!!!

Could be one of the section players taking the solo in a rendition of Schindler's List. I've seen Williams conduct this piece in concert with a regular member of the orchestra playing the solo. I'm not sure who she is. The orchestra seating plan looks like the Cleveland who Williams has conducted at Blossom on several occasions. It doesn't look like the Blossom stage though. Hmmmm.

I recently bought the Electric Six CD Fire Yeah it's a great album! Not great as in just a fun collection of pop songs, but great in a deeper sense of the word. Much of this music could accompany a great epic action movie, possibly the upcoming Alexander the Great. The song Gay Bar is a particularly complex and grand work of art. The line "Girl! I've got something to put IN you!" would work well during the battle sequences.