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James Newton Howard thread


nightscape94

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POTC = brilliant

Yes, Steef, that's just what I said. :lol:

indy4 - who, in a half-hearted attempt to bring this thread back on topic, will now mention that he just got Hidalgo.

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POTC = brilliant

Yes, Steef, that's just what I said. :(

indy4 - who, in a half-hearted attempt to bring this thread back on topic, will now mention that he just got Hidalgo.

Hidalgo's a nice score, but I think that the movie (which I usually get bored with after a few minutes) may have dragged him down. A few of the action cues seem a little formulaic to me, and of course the score was cut to shreds in the film.

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Hidalgo's nice. Like a lot of his actiony stuff, very fun and makes for a terrific listen. But has no 'JNH' mark on it. Sounds very Goldsmithian to me.

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POTC.....brilliant.

POTC.....brilliant.

POTC = brilliant?

non sequitur...your facts are uncoordinated!

Dispute....error....error....non sequitur...illogic....must compute...must compute.....

exploding-computer.jpg

:lol:

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POTC = brilliant

Yes, Steef, that's just what I said. :)

indy4 - who, in a half-hearted attempt to bring this thread back on topic, will now mention that he just got Hidalgo.

Hidalgo's a nice score, but I think that the movie (which I usually get bored with after a few minutes) may have dragged him down. A few of the action cues seem a little formulaic to me, and of course the score was cut to shreds in the film.

yes, I think it is a very nice score so far, some of the cues sound a bit like Treasure Planet. Probably my least favorite JNH score (I only have four), but still a great score!

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I do illegal stuff for bootleg scores I suppose. But is it technically illegal to trade scores directly? Isn't me and another person trading scores the same as me buying a score from Amazon and giving it to my brother to put on his iTunes and listen to on his iPod? I think it's only illegal if you publically allow people to download scores, of if you give a score you don't own to someone else.

For example, it would be illegal for ind4 to give someone Chicken Run after I gave it to him.

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I do illegal stuff for bootleg scores I suppose. But is it technically illegal to trade scores directly? Isn't me and another person trading scores the same as me buying a score from Amazon and giving it to my brother to put on his iTunes and listen to on his iPod? I think it's only illegal if you publically allow people to download scores, of if you give a score you don't own to someone else.

If you are keeping that score after you trade it with others, then it is illegal. If you are given them the music, and then deleting it from your iTunes or whatever, then it's legal, I think.

Because the record companies are still loosing money because one person got their copy of the CD free.

This is all technical, of course. :lol:

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Technically, yes, I think it is. But who gives a garbage about these tiny rules, I certainly won't be the one to call the police on you!

EDIT: Haha, that's awesome! I type in s*** and it changes it to garbage.

garbage

garbage

garbage

garbage

garbage

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Indeed. It'll be kinda MV-ish, considering Sinéad O'Connor is providing the vocals. She worked on Veronica Guerin with Harry Gregson-Williams. And it seems JNH is becoming more MV these days, he's even using their orchestrators.

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The bashing has started already. O.K. I'm ready.

Blood Diamond, The Interpreter, Michael Clayton...these are all very MV-ish scores by JNH. He is very good friends with Hans Zimmer, even thanked him in King Kong. He's also been using Blake Neely to conduct his scores. He's also having them mixed at Remote Control Productions.

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I'm not bashing anything, I just don't think it's soon enough to start throwing out ideas like JNH turning into MV. MV's fine for what it is (or not, depending on your point-of-view), but Howard is light years beyond that uninspired, mindless style. Films like the ones you mentioned above don't lend themselves to having as distinct and compelling scores as others, and I think he's unfortunately been scoring more of those recently. But still, his scores for Lady in the Water, King Kong, The Village, and Hidaglo are anything but MV, and those are all from the last few years. I understand that you're probably not saying this as a bad thing though, given your views on MV.

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Blood Diamond is an MV-ish score (not an especially good one, but still). The Interpretor and Michael Clayton are not really MV-ish. They are in color, but they are so subdued and almost droning, not something that typifies MV scores, whether good or bad. They are more like a very stripped down approach to his urban sound of The Fugitive and Glenngary Glen Ross (which are not the least bit MV).

Morlock- who thinks that, at his best, JNH is as good as it gets. In general, he is excellent, with the problem of voice. His own voice only rarely dominates an entire score of his (and those make for his best scores). At his worst, he composes a lot of effective, yet totally unremarkable scores.

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Oh, I meant to add that I really enjoy Blood Diamond. Nothing really groundbreaking, but the exotic atmosphere, driving rhythms, and pleasant harmonies make it an enjoyable listen for me, moreso than I expected before hearing it.

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It really just sounded like an amalgam of all kinds of tired stereotypes to me. Of course, the fact that I hated the movie (which faithfully and effectively served) doesn't help things.

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The film was terrible. Edward Zwick is such a heavy-handed, hit-you-over-the-head-with-a-message director. The score was your typical mix of your typical African stuff.

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I've seen bits of Glory and Legends, and I didn't like either. I think it may be that I just have problems with period films sometimes if they're trying too hard to be serious when they have someone like Brad Pitt and the (IMO) miscast Matthew Broderick.

I think it's unfortunate that JNH seems to be making these scoring choices at the moment, but I don't think it can be argued that with output like The Village or Snow Falling on Cedars, he's in a completely different 'talent zone' than most of those in Zimmer's camp. I have to say though that I was a little disappointed with Blood Diamond - I find it ok as a background listen but not much more than that outside a few cues.

With his Christmas assignments coming up, he's scored a whopping six films this year, and has another four for next year either completed or in post (according to IMDB). He needs to slooooooow down I think and be more selective next year.

And I agree with koraysavas90, I don't think his friendship with Zimmer is doing anyone any good.

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  • 3 months later...

That's a really neat interview - thanks for finding that.

I have to agree with him about the bug scene though. It does project a very ghostly setting for me, and kind of mimics the confusion and panic that is going through the minds of the characters.

I think his comments about interpreting music differently is a valuable piece of wisdom too.

Can't stop listening I Am Legend and The Water Horse - I really do think they're the best scores he's done in a while.

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Wonderful interview. A nice, but short exploration of an incredibly creative mind. I have to say that I agree with his understanding of music. Coincidentally, or not, I feel those odd sensations when listening to his most evocative stuff, whether that's tribal rhythms or sustained oboe notes. He understands that the best film music is not on top of action and does not enhance what's there but is organically part of it. It is part of the image.

And I completely agree with him about the insect pit sequence in King Kong. It's a great sequence with great music. Beautiful, yet haunting, and very dream-like.

Ted

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I meant to say that the whole sequence was that way, not individual aspects of it, per se.

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I think the individual aspects betray the fact that it is an over-the-top gross-out scene. And the music tried to morph it into something different. In my opinion, it was entirely unsuccessful. The music did give it a dream-like effect to a certain extent, but the images were totally unaccepting to the music.

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  • 2 months later...

In the midst of all the Indiana Jones hoopla lately, I'd forgotten that JNH's score for The Happening is released this Tuesday. I couldn't find any clips online, aside from some background music on the film's official website, but there were some notes on the music by Shyamalan there. The words "beautiful" and "haunting cello theme" were used. :)

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Howard really outshines most of todays film composers in terms of harmony- with the exception of old Dennis McCarthy I can't think of many film composers (film being the key word) that really understand harmony and counterpoint as well as he does. This of course is largely responsible for his incredible knack for underscore. Also, Wyatt Earp has always been a favorite of mine, and I think many cues in there are very well representative of his style. His score to The Sixth Sense is chilling, and not often mentioned.

I hope he goes his separate paths with Zimmer, because Zimmer almost has this "leaching" aura about him- He enjoys working with composers, but I think he ends up almost adulterating their very music.

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