Zimmer on 'On the score'

[Morlock 11]

At www.filmmusicradio.com

A 2 1/2 hour interview with Zimmer, liberally peppered with tracks of his scores. Some may find it interesting, even those who hate Zimmer.

These interviews are really fantastic, the most in depth interviews I've heard with the various composers (so far I've heard Shore, Horner, Newman and Burwell). I understand they've got a JNH one lined up....can't wait!

[nightscape94 965]

I'll probably skip through it, but it's definitely worth a try. I actually never listened to the Horner interview either. I heard it's pretty juicy!

Tim

[David Coscina 4]

An interesting listen. Although my interest in Zimmer's music is dicey at best, I think he accords himself quite well in this lengthy interview. He's certainly capable of articulating himself quite well although he seems to have to generate some momentum to get started when describing his music. At times he also seems uncomfortable, why I don't know (maybe he cannot remember which ghost writer composed what-kidding). All in all, a good interview. I like Zimmer's more candid remarks personally. He didn't seem to trash any other composers, just the critics who have dissed his music (like me! thanks Hans!).

I would love to hear something like this with Williams although perhaps with Doug Adams at the helm. No offence to Daniel but I would love it if Doug were to interview Williams as he would undoubtedly ask him some great questions and would be able to converse on a more musical level than more film scores fans/interviewers.

[TownerFan 4,992]

I would love to hear something like this with Williams although perhaps with Doug Adams at the helm.  No offence to Daniel but I would love it if Doug were to interview Williams as he would undoubtedly ask him some great questions and would be able to converse on a more musical level than more film scores fans/interviewers.

I agree. Doug would be the perfect interviewer with JW.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,267]

No Doug Adams would be totally wrong.

He owns a John Williams pencil for god sake!

[Morlock 11]

And Schweiger is a huge Zimmer fan, and has worked with Zimmer......

[David Coscina 4]

No Doug Adams would be totally wrong.

He owns a John Williams pencil for god sake!

I find your lack of faith...disturbing.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,267]

Big deal!

[BigMacGyver 0]

Daniel Schweiger is possibly the worst interviewer especially in this instance. He is NEVER asking the really important questions. I would be dying to hear a real investigative interviewer who actually isn't a fan of zimmer asking some really important questions and then I would love to have Zimmer's reactions and answers (if there would be any at all - he even stumbled over Schweiger's fluffy questions ). Schweiger is too much of a softie and too bad these interviews are more about promotion than anything else.

What really got me going was the something's gotta give part. It's now obvious that there is someone at sony pictures who is clearly pushing for remote control and zimmer influence on all possible movies, which was probably also the reason why silvestri walked off of Click before anything worse could happen. Zimmer mentions this person... leah or leo wallock (? - the name is hard to understand) who is obviously in charge of something at sony and who is a friend of him.

Does it still wonder anyone why Silvestri walked off and was replaced by a score 10 guys have written in 4 days that claims to be a zimmer score while all he did was the theme? I don't buy the stuff that Silvestri's material was that wrong, the guy has written themes for a number of films and never ever have i heard a theme of his that was anything close to be unfitting. Never. And I know them all! And no one can tell me that something Zimmer had in his archive of throwaway stuff was better than what Silvestri came up with. That's just as impossible as finding weapons of mass destruction in irak's sand. Damn, I am so sick of Zimmer... sitting there claiming he wanted to send that throwaway theme from his garbage can over to "help out". And please, no more horseshit of "oh, how great that composer is, what amazing stuff he has written, I am not telling names on purpose"... give me a break! If he would really have that much respect for Silvestri, he would have simply said: I am not going to do it in 4 days with my legion of hacks. But that takes artistic integrity, which is something Zimmer clearly does not know or have.

But thank god Silvestri has it, which was certainly the reason why he did not score anything for sony pictures anymore after Something's gotta give. I just hope Zimmer won't be awarded for the crap that is pirates 2 because that would actually encourage him. That guy got enough positive feedback from the general crowd already. Let's ask some really important questions instead.

[stewdog1 50]

BigMac,

Say it like you mean it next time.

[Morlock 11]

What really got me going was the something's gotta give part. It's now obvious that there is someone at sony pictures who is clearly pushing for remote control and zimmer influence on all possible movies, which was probably also the reason why silvestri walked off of Click before anything worse could happen. Zimmer mentions this person... leah or leo wallock (? - the name is hard to understand) who is obviously in charge of something at sony and who is a friend of him.

Yup, it's all one big conspiracy theory.

Does it still wonder anyone why Silvestri walked off and was replaced by a score 10 guys have written in 4 days that claims to be a zimmer score while all he did was the theme? I don't buy the stuff that Silvestri's material was that wrong, the guy has written themes for a number of films and never ever have i heard a theme of his that was anything close to be unfitting.

I guess you haven't heard Nixon. And- guess what- you haven't heard his rejected themes. How do you know they were right?

And no one can tell me that something Zimmer had in his archive of throwaway stuff was better than what Silvestri came up with. That's just as impossible as finding weapons of mass destruction in irak's sand.

You're just in denial, Silvestri fanboy. Meyers had a relationship with Silvestri, so obviously she wouldn't throw his score out unless she was absolutely convinced that what he was doing was not what she wanted.

Damn, I am so sick of Zimmer... sitting there claiming he wanted to send that throwaway theme from his garbage can over to "help out". And please, no more horseshit of "oh, how great that composer is, what amazing stuff he has written, I am not telling names on purpose"... give me a break! If he would really have that much respect for Silvestri, he would have simply said: I am not going to do it in 4 days with my legion of hacks. But that takes artistic integrity, which is something Zimmer clearly does not know or have.

How the fuck is that artistic integrity? He is a film composer. Silvestri is also a film composer. They have a job to do. Somebody came up to Zimmer and told him- listen, we're rejecting this other score, I need another one real fast. The same thing has happened to Silvestri a few times, and he did exactly what Zimmer did- took the job. And, BTW, Zimmer is one of the few composers who actually does show respect for other composers, and he's known for being an honest guy in his interviews.

But thank god Silvestri has it, which was certainly the reason why he did not score anything for sony pictures anymore after Something's gotta give.

What on earth are you talking about? Do you have absolutely know idea how this business works?

I just hope Zimmer won't be awarded for the crap that is pirates 2 because that would actually encourage him. That guy got enough positive feedback from the general crowd already. Let's ask some really important questions instead.

:roll:

A. Don't worry, he will not be awarded for Pirates 2.

B. If the guy got positive feedback from the general crowd, he's done his job. It is not his job to satisfy the few thousand film music fans out there (even though he has satisfied a bunch of them). Especially not people who hate Zimmer, and would hate him no matter what.

C. What really imporatant questions, per se? I can think of many, but I have a feeling that what you have in mind are basic questions that Zimmer already answered, except the answers pissed you off.

You're just way off here (Except on the first part- Shwieger really sucks).

[BigMacGyver 0]

I know my view on the subject does not excite zimmer-fans. But I can perfectly live with that. No more Zimmer or anything connected with him for me, please.

[Morlock 11]

Ow, but they do excite. In there slim connection to the realities of the film scoring world.

[BigMacGyver 0]

There are. It's just a matter of wether you want to see them or not. Believe me, i have made experience in the subject and you can never trust annything that is said in these interviews. There is ALWAYS a different story that is not being told for various reasons.

Or are you really that naive and believe that Zimmer is completely honest about a situation that was uncomfortable for nearly everyone involved?

Of course, since these interviews are all about promotion, he will answer in a way that suits him well and of course he is the first to note: "Oh that score from that other composer, i have heard it and it was all wrong but MY theme made nancy shake because it was sooo good and fitting". It's interesting that a composer who is hardly producing "fitting" music is the one who recognizes a score that is "not fitting at all".

[Morlock 11]

Or are you really that naive and believe that Zimmer is completely honest about a situation that was uncomfortable for nearly everyone involved?

Look, listen to Yared's account of what happened on Troy and Horner's. Two radically differenmt stories. Both men have agendas. It's impossible for us to know where the truth really lies, but I do know that I've seen dozens of interviews with Zimmer, and his directness, his willingness to answer any question (that is posed well), and his genuine love for film and and film composers always comes out. I know that he loves Silvestri, he's said it several times before Something's Gotta Give came out. So while maybe he wasn't quite as saintly as he said, I am willing to believe the spirit of the story. Agreeing to replace a rejected score is not at all something bad.

Of course, since these interviews are all about promotion, he will answer in a way that suits him well and of course he is the first to note: "Oh that score from that other composer, i have heard it and it was all wrong but MY theme made nancy shake because it was sooo good and fitting".

I don't recall him commenting on the Silvestri's score, only on other's impressions of said score.

It's interesting that a composer who is hardly producing "fitting" music is the one who recognizes a score that is "not fitting at all".

A. He didn't say that he recognized it was not fitting.

and B. Zimmer's scores in recent years have been far more interesting than Silvestri's.

You just don't like Zimmer at all. It comes down to that, since a lot of this other stuff just makes no sense. Things just don't work that way.

[BigMacGyver 0]

Well then, if we can't know the truth I don't see any reason why we should continue this discussion. You believe what you want to believe and I will do so too.

Just one more thing: It's quite funny that you note zimmer's music is more interesting than silvestri's because unfitting music always has the tendency to be more interesting than something that actually fits a picture. Silvestri could have probably used E-guitar converters on the orchestra for the Polar Express action sequences to make it "interesting" but I bet Zemeckis would have given him the boot then. Beyond zimmer's "interesting" choices, the music that comes out is still plain simple in composition, laughable in execution (the dirty dozen of remote control helpers) and uneffective as a result. He is the most overrated composer who ever walked on hollywood ground.

[Morlock 11]

Tell me, how can the most derided composer be the most underrated one?

And, BTW, I did not say the Zimmer's music was more interesting, I said his scores were. While I would contend that Da Vinci Code is more interesting musically than, say, The Wild, I think it is certainly more interesting as a film score (and tremendously effective). And it's rather ignorant to think that Zimmer's take on things is using Electric Guitars. You obviously know little of Zimmer's work (as can be said of most die hard Zimmer-haters).

And you said it yourself, he is cocnidered to be good by the general population, which is proof that he gets the job done. With all the great music Silvestri has written, I don't a single score of his made a dent in the public's mind since Forrest Gump. The job is who serves the film best, not who writes the best music.

[robthehand 3]

I don't hate Zimmer, I'm just not really interested in his work. I'm sure he's written good music but his is an area of film music that I have no desire to explore at this stage.

[Romão 2,276]

Zimmer has scored more iconic movies that Silvestri. Still, I don´think he has written a theme as memorable as the one from BTTF. But memorability is a very shallow measure of a composer´s talent.

Zimmer´s music can serve a film well, but that´s not the only measure of quaility of a film composer´s job. Zimmer has done some great scores, but he very rarely achieves anything transcendent.

[Morlock 11]

I would say that about most film composers (even though transcendent can be a pretty vague term).

[Romão 2,276]

No doubt about that, Morlock.

When I say transcendent, I mean something that rises above "music to play with images" and in a way conveys the concepts of he film much better than the images. Williams does this often.