Figo
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Posts posted by Figo
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Happy birthday to one of my all-time favorite film composers. Everyone, crack out your Ben-Hur. Flog one another in a virtual chariot race. Crush Stephen Boyd beyond recognition.
I don't know about you, but I've been playing Rozsa all week -- I'm really hooked on Lust for Life -- and I plan to watch Eye of the Needle and The Thief of Bagdad tonight.
After I buy a whole heap of Rozsa discs from Screen Archives.
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I have no problem with any filmmaker recutting or reworking their films but not to completely disregard the original versions. It's a slap in the face to everyone who worked on that film and to erase their achievements. That "incomplete" movie was quite revolutionary and advanced the field of special effects and changed the movie business. It should be restored, preserved and co-exist along with any subsequent versions of the film.
I agree. It's particularly distressing when aging filmmakers return to the phenomenal movies of their prime and decide to second-guess them. Why tamper with The Exorcist? Superman? Apocalypse Now? E.T.? In George's case, it's because he's dried up and probably insane, like Howard Hughes or Charles Foster Kane. Is there a facility on Skywalker Ranch, do you think, where he stores his own urine in milk bottles?
I also feel for the pioneering artists and technicians who made Star Wars what it was. There's probably no love lost between Lucas and John Dykstra, but Dykstra's work earned him an Oscar and set the standard for all special effects films that followed. Now, what? the images are run through a computer and all that ingenuity and craftsmanship are negated.
I don't know about you, but I find it a heck of a lot more impressive when someone is able to make something great out of almost nothing, as opposed to making something ordinary out of what was previously great. The best art is seldom made by someone with unlimited means.
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I want a Criterion release of the OT....
Amen. Coinsidering the retail price for each of the three movies is $29.99, they could have been Criterion releases. But that would have implied quality.
For the record, the last time I purchased Star Wars in any form -- come to think of it, the only time -- was when the original trilogy was released on VHS. I have no interest in the special editions, and less than no interest in the prequels.
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I bought all three of these releases at Target (the least expensive outlet I could find), but dreading profound disappointment, I haven't removed the shrinkwrap and am still contemplating returning them to the store.
What the reactionaries in this thread fail to grasp is that the "Lucas-bashers" really, really want a respectable copy of the films they loved when they saw them in the theatre -- as they saw them in the theatre. That's all I want. Lucas can tinker and damage his own legacy to his heart's content. All I -- and all thousands just like me -- desire is a nice, clean transfer. I don't even want bonus features.
If it can be done for John Ford movies, if it can be done for The Adventures of Robin Hood, then it can be done for a film made in 1977. There had to be a scrubbed-up master in order to do the special editions. Please, for the love of God, George, do the right thing. It's guys like me who put you where you are now. Don't make us solicit our friends for bootlegs.
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Like everyone else, I basically knew Myers from The Deer Hunter. Then one night I rented The Witches, and I wasn't able to get the music out of my head. To this day, I can still remember the theme. Very good score, and also a surprisingly fine adaptation of a Roald Dahl novel.
I really underestimated Myers. Too many recordings of the Cavatina.
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It seems Jamie Foxx is taking the Cuba Gooding Jr. formula of flushing his career down the toilet after winning an Oscar.
I believe this formula was established by Lou Gossett.
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This thread could be the measure of the true Williams classics.Because if you end up learning all the cues by heart for whatever reason I believe that's a measure of greatness.More than voting for CE3K in a Best of Williams poll, because you really like the last 20 minutes but don't know the first 3/4 very well...
K.M.
Speak for yourself. CE3K is one of Williams' very best scores, and like just about everything he wrote back then, I know it by heart. As Joe said, in the '70s there wasn't much else available. We didn't have computers. We didn't have video. So we'd all go to the movies (for godawful cheap) and listen to the soundtracks, over and over and over again. It also helps that when you're young, there's a lot more time to simply listen and dream.
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And the Kaska pieces aren't too shabby, either.
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It's a great piece, one of the concert works to which I return most often. I wish those numbskulls at Sony would get their acts together and issue the three brass concertos (trumpet, horn & tuba) on a single program -- while Williams is still in good enough health that he's able to conduct.
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One of my biggest concerns from all of the stills I'd seen beforehand was that the cast was going to consist of a lot of pretty, young actors. Having seen the film, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised, as they all seemed to have the chops to play their roles competently.
As has already been mentioned, Brandon Routh sounds exactly like Christopher Reeve, and in some scenes, by gum, he looks exactly like Reeve. That's some pretty effective lighting. Of course, Reeve will never be replaced, but Routh is far better than expected. (The film's dedication to Reeve would have been more poignant -- and would have bolstered audience good will -- had it appeared at the beginning.)
Bosworth was nothing like Margot Kidder, but again she was competent. The Pulitzer Prize angle was a little ludicrous, but hell, it's a comic book. A good Lois needs to be able to do a lot of brazen and stupid things in quest of a good scoop. She's mostly just an excuse to get Superman to perform all kinds of cool super-rescues. Sorry if that sounds sexist, but as the character was conceived, it's basically what she is.
I thought Spacey was fine as Lex, perhaps a bit more as he is (or was) in the comics. Hackman was great, but as a kid I was surprised by just how much humor he brought to the role. It seemed as if he were guest-starring on the Adam West Batman TV show. That said, I missed the Hackman touch in one or two scenes. I couldn't imagine the Lex of the original during the big confrontation, but then again I suppose Hackman could have played it like his Unforgiven sherriff. Spacey is naturally creepy, if you ask me. He didn't even have to act (which is probably why most of the time he didn't.)
I'm really liking Frank Langella recently, so it didn't bother me that his Perry White was a little more low-key than one would expect. He's definitely gotten better with age. I still can't believe this is the same guy who played Dracula.
The superspawn wasn't too annoying, but I agree his inclusion could spell trouble for the future.
I'm not a big fan of CG effects (those of you who know me will be shocked to hear this), and this movie has done nothing to convert me, although I think some of the most effective moments were the iconic images of Superman catching/holding/stopping big stuff. The bit with the plane seemed right out of an old Fleischer brothers cartoon, and did anyone else notice the allusion to Action Comics? The filmmakers basically duplicate the very first appearance of Superman, as he holds an automobile aloft.
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/images/com...act001s-tb.html
I didn't mind the inclusion of many direct references to the Donner film, although the repetition of certain lines pretty much fell flat. The opening credits were weak compared to the original -- far too busy, with a particularly weak performance of the main title music -- though I appreciate the effort. The flashback to Supe's boyhood on the Kent farm was disappointingly ho-hum; all CGI and not particularly imaginative. Eva Marie Saint was a nice addition, and she still looks great at 81. Too bad she didn't have much to do. And it's a dispiriting reminder of the state of our own country that a film about the ultimate American icon had to be shot in Australia.
After all these years, don't you think Lex would have come up with something more interesting than yet another land-grab scheme? Superman III may have sucked, but at least it featured an imaginative subplot featuring a wicked Superman. And when are we going to get to see some of the other classic villains?
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What's Ken Thorne been up to lately?
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- The use of the ostinato part of the March. For Williams it was simply a build up to statements of the March, but Ottman uses it as a theme in its own right, to ill effect IMO.
Imagine how much more powerful the pay-off would have been had the March been used at the end of the airplane sequence. With the images of the crowd going wild, it may have been the one scene almost worthy of the original. But perhaps such cornball rah-rah-isms and apple pie naivite are just too uncool by today's standards.
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Sorry, Burga. It was TheRuleOfThirds I meant.
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Oh my god, a perceptive comment by Ilya S. The mangling of the ship crashing through the ceiling is on par with the removal of the rifle shot from E.T. So much for Williams' hard work. Aren't we supposed to get a DVD release of the original cut, by the way, as part of some ridiculously padded set?
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I went to see the movie last night, and I must say I found the score to be far and away the weakest link. The cut in the main title is unforgivable (marred further by a low-energy performance), but time and again throughout the film, the music kept pulling me out of it. Everything seems off. No poignancy to the Smallville music, the love theme doesn't soar, and the Superman fanfare is oddly out of step with everything else around it. At no point did I experience the goosebumps I felt watching -- and listening -- to the original (main title, leaving home, Supe's first appearance in costume, helicopter rescue, etc., etc.). The film would have benefited from a wholly original score (as opposed to the freakish hybrid we got), if not by Ottman, then by someone else. Broughton would have been cool (Fiery Angel), but it would never happen. Williams, of course, is the obvious choice. The best of all possible worlds would be if the film had been made 25 years ago. Then the effects, the music, and the tone would have been all-of-a-piece.
The "old-fashioned" love theme (Burgaflippinman) happens to be one the most uplifting, romantic, and fantastic (as in, full of fantasy) pieces Williams ever composed. And it's not called CYRMM. That would be the nauseating vocal rendition.
By 70s standards, I give Ottman's take on Superman a D. By today's standards, a C. It gets the job done, but fails to inspire. It reminds us of the glory of Superman, though regrettably at several decades removed.
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Eva Marie Saint? Nice motherly figure to look at, but I never bought her presence. They should've buried her after the first movie just like the Salkinds.
Harsh judgment for an actress who wasn't even in the first movie. And didn't the Salkinds do II & III as well?
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Jim Belushi wishes he were John. He doesn't possess any of his brother's spark or borderline psychosis. He's affable enough, but his movies are easily forgotten.
I saw Jim on Broadway once, as the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance (replacing Kevin Kline, who was off making the terrible movie), and it was like a different actor. Jim was turning somersaults and handsprings in true Belushi style. Of course this was back in the early'80s.
Addressing the original topic, I would definitely pick up the soundtrack, JMan. It's from smack-dab in the middle of Williams' golden era, and the march as heard on the original soundtrack (cannon fire and all) is among the composer's finest. It far outshines the Pops re-recordings.
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"Bring me four fried chickens and a coke."
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He was best in Animal House. Not counting Saturday Night Live, of course. I still think of Belushi whenever I see a Toshiro Mifune film. He was also the best thing about 1941 (other than the music), but even he couldn't save it.
Come to think of it, Mifune was also in 1941. I wonder if he said anything to Belushi about "Samurai Delicatessen?"
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As far as I know Varese just did a straight re-issue. I don't think there was any re-mastering done. This is one of my least favorite albums as far as content goes. It has the explosion sound effects over the 1941 March and End Credits plus it has a couple of snippets of dialogue over "The Finale" and "To Hollywood And Glory". I wouldn't mind an expanded re-mastered score to this film.
Hmm..I actually LIKE the explosions and James Belushi.
That's John Belushi. James' brother. Died before you were born, probably.
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This CD made me fall in love with the era, and it's only the tip of the iceberg.
Then you should scroll it back a year, since The Adventures of Robin Hood was released in 1938. Wonderful album, Cerrabore. I agree, this was the greatest era for film music. The late '70s/early '80s run it a close second, but there were simply too many great composers in the '30s and '40s operating at the peak of their ability.
That's not to say Williams and Goldsmith weren't (aren't?) titans. Just felt the need to stink up this thread with unnecessary fuddy-duddyisms.
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I'll read the article tonight, Incanus. As I said, Gramophone has been favorably reviewing Williams' scores for some time. The quality of those reviews is another story. The guy who devotes himself to film is not usually as incisive as his colleagues. Gramophone critics can be a snooty lot (elitist), and snooty as only the British can be. But since most of the great British composers also wrote for the cinema, I don't think they are quite as intolerant as, say, Dole's writer from the Times. I do wish one of the hardcore old-timers would have a go at reviewing film music by someone other than Vaughan Williams, Walton, Bliss, Alwyn, etc. Even when they're dismissive of something, it is usually in such a way that you actually glean insight into the music, or at least the critic. The criticism is almost always illuminating -- which is one of the reasons I still read the magazine.
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...soothe Bob Dole's ruffled feathers.
I meant "smooth," of course.
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That looks like something you would see on an amateur fansite, not a respected magazine.
Tell me about it.
At the very least it should soothe Bob Dole's ruffled feathers. (See his thread "Stupid NY Times.") There is no more respected classical music magazine in the world -- at least not with that kind of circulation.
Thank you, Melisande. As I say, I couldn't find it online, and I don't own a [functional] scanner.
Happy Birthday, Star Wars
in General Discussion
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That Empire Strikes Back poster is one of the most evocative images from my early teens. God, how I fetishized that thing.
Happy Birthday, Star Wars. Would that ye had died young and left a pretty corpse.