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John Powell kicks ass


Morlock

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I don't know why, but when I put his Two Weeks Notice into the cd player, I lsten at least 10 times to it. Love every track on it.

A very enjoyable score and also ideal to listen in the background.

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I think John Powell has what it takes to be the next great one, so long as he keeps taking bigger and more ambitious projects. I think it's time for him to move on from kiddie scores and ultra-techno action scores. I heard the Bourne Identity andi t was one of the worst things I've ever heard, are the sequels any better?

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His UNITED 93 is the only score of his I own. And it will be my last.

Try again. That's the only score of his that I can't listen to, it's so boring.

Seriously. You picked his one bad score out every amazing one that was available.

Try X-Men 3, Chicken Run, or Happy Feet next.

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I heard the Bourne Identity andi t was one of the worst things I've ever heard, are the sequels any better?

Oh yes.

Yes! It's like Goldeneye compared to Tomorrow Never Dies in the Bond series.

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John Powell does rock and of course my favorite score from him is X-Men: The Last Stand. I also like his score for Agent Cody Banks. He's definitely one of the best composers to come out of the RCP group. At least he knows how to write music.

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John Powell does rock and of course my favorite score from him is X-Men: The Last Stand. I also like his score for Agent Cody Banks. He's definitely one of the best composers to come out of the RCP group. At least he knows how to write music.

The Phoenix theme from X-Men: the Last Stand is one of the best pieces of music written in the last 20 years.

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John Powell does rock and of course my favorite score from him is X-Men: The Last Stand. I also like his score for Agent Cody Banks. He's definitely one of the best composers to come out of the RCP group. At least he knows how to write music.

The Phoenix theme from X-Men: the Last Stand is one of the best pieces of music written in the last 20 years.

Hollywood film music that is. :mrgreen:

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He has an ability that I consider JNH and Tom Newman to have as well: a great ability to merge an orchestra with synths. Rather than Zimmer's way of just using synths to make the music sound bigger or substitute for real instruments, he uses them to flesh it out a little when the tone and rhythm of the score calls for it.

I'm not too keen when it gets very mickey-mousey or starts using techo style (like in some parts of the Bourne scores), but I think there's no question that Powell's got an original voice and that he will become one of the biggest players within the next decade or so.

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Yeah, I always liked Powell right from Face Off when I heard him going different places with his harmonies. That's why I like Williams' music so much BTW. Because it defies expectation.

Back to Powell, his Hancock is far and away my second fave score of the year. It would have been first but Desplat's BB is just about the best thing I have heard from him or anyone else in ages. Sorry to keep plugging that but it is great.

Powell's Hancock is a much different beast on CD. The Director's Cut of the film is closer to what music is on the soundtrack but the original release hacked up poor Powell's score to bits. Death And Transfiguration is a great track ALTHOUGH the string arpeggiations sound a little too perfect- like they were sequenced. Perhaps that's because he's doubling them with snares or something......

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Yeah, I always liked Powell right from Face Off when I heard him going different places with his harmonies. That's why I like Williams' music so much BTW. Because it defies expectation.

Agreed....that's one of the things that is very common amongst my favorite composers...from Goldsmith, to Herrmann, to Williams.

When I first put in their CD's...there was always a surprising turn somewhere in there, and yet despite being different from what you logically expected, it was soooo satisfying.

Now days I can hear where the music will go next. I can hear the next note before it's even been processed by the CD player. John Powell, Alexandre Desplat and Michael Giacchino and even James Newton Howard form a foursome of expectation defying composer.

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I heard the Bourne Identity andi t was one of the worst things I've ever heard, are the sequels any better?

Definitely. The first score isn't too bad, but the sequels are far better.

His UNITED 93 is the only score of his I own. And it will be my last.

Try again. That's the only score of his that I can't listen to, it's so boring.

Seriously. You picked his one bad score out every amazing one that was available.

I love United 93. As I have said before, it's his Schindler's List.

John Powell does rock and of course my favorite score from him is X-Men: The Last Stand. I also like his score for Agent Cody Banks. He's definitely one of the best composers to come out of the RCP group. At least he knows how to write music.

He is the best composer to come out of RCP. I really like Agent Cody Banks as well.

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For me James Newton Howard is too often the opposite.

Opposite of what?

---

There's a director's cut of Hancock? Hmm. Is the Hollywood Blvd sequence intact? Powell's amazing cue was undermixed, edited to hell and generally thoroughly manhandled in that scene.

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For me James Newton Howard is too often the opposite.

Opposite of what?

---

There's a director's cut of Hancock? Hmm. Is the Hollywood Blvd sequence intact? Powell's amazing cue was undermixed, edited to hell and generally thoroughly manhandled in that scene.

If you are talking about the scene between Hancock and the bank robber, it is presented more intact than the theatrical release. Also, there is an entire scene between Hancock and a "fan" of his in the bar after his first heroic attempt in the film. At the scene's conclusion, Powell's full cue John, Meet Ray begins. so yes, the director's cut is far more complimentary to Powell's score. :)

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He's good. His music doesn't ruin the movie, and that's the best I can really say. He's shown he has talent, but he's grown his career in such a way that he's stuck doing a lot of fashionable styles that seem trite and small-minded. The highs aren't high enough to make up for the lows, whereas with Goldsmith, his highs were enough to make anyone awed regardless of what kind of horrid commercial crap he worked in there with the great stuff.

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If you are talking about the scene between Hancock and the bank robber, it is presented more intact than the theatrical release. Also, there is an entire scene between Hancock and a "fan" of his in the bar after his first heroic attempt in the film. At the scene's conclusion, Powell's full cue John, Meet Ray begins. so yes, the director's cut is far more complimentary to Powell's score. :)

Ah, some digging turns out there's an unrated cut on the BluRay that's 10 minutes longer.

Sadly, it hasn't been released on DVD here.

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I love United 93. As I have said before, it's his Schindler's List.

Tried it again. Still can't get into it.

There's just no theme or melody... at all.

I really can't even find any music buried in it. Just a bunch of sounds.

Am I missing something?

Sure, it works perfectly in the film. Brilliantly even. I just can't listen to it on its own.

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I love United 93. As I have said before, it's his Schindler's List.

Tried it again. Still can't get into it.

There's just no theme or melody... at all.

I really can't even find any music buried in it. Just a bunch of sounds.

Am I missing something?

Sure, it works perfectly in the film. Brilliantly even. I just can't listen to it on its own.

I agree, I don't listen to it on its own very often, because it's too haunting. Very powerful music I find, and the build up at the end is amazing.

I love United 93. As I have said before, it's his Schindler's List.

You don't have very high standards at all, don't you?

Or rather, very confused ones.

You don't even know what I'm talking about, so just go away.

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It's an inapproriate comparison. In more ways then one.

It's appropriate in that both scores relate to emotional events, and that listening to either one will put you in that state of mind. That's the reason why I don't listen to either very often, beautiful yet haunting.

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I have a few tracks from United 93; it can be effective when I'm in the right mood, but some of it really is little more than sound design IMO, and the film isn't one of the easier ones to watch.

Phone Calls is probably my favourite track, and even that doesn't really heat up until about 2 mins before the end when the soloist comes in. However, I personally find the last minute or so incredibly affecting, because given that it sounds like a young-ish child's voice, it makes me think of all the kids who lost parents in the tragedy. I think there's almost nothing more powerful than the human voice in music, and especially the echoes added to this section really give it some serious gravity.

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I personally find the last minute or so incredibly affecting, because given that it sounds like a young-ish child's voice, it makes me think of all the kids who lost parents in the tragedy. I think there's almost nothing more powerful than the human voice in music, and especially the echoes added to this section really give it some serious gravity.

On the DVD commentary, the director says it was John Powell's own son doing the vocals. And "Dedication" is one of my favorite tracks from the score as well. ROTFLMAO

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I was actually referring to the scene with Hancock and Mary fighting and the sky turns dark, etc. It's the Hollywood BLVD track on the CD ROTFLMAO

I'm not sure if that one was lengthened at all. I think that scene was still pretty trimmed musically.

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I personally find the last minute or so incredibly affecting, because given that it sounds like a young-ish child's voice, it makes me think of all the kids who lost parents in the tragedy. I think there's almost nothing more powerful than the human voice in music, and especially the echoes added to this section really give it some serious gravity.

On the DVD commentary, the director says it was John Powell's own son doing the vocals. And "Dedication" is one of my favorite tracks from the score as well. :nod:

Beat me to it, twas Oliver Powell.

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I personally find the last minute or so incredibly affecting, because given that it sounds like a young-ish child's voice, it makes me think of all the kids who lost parents in the tragedy. I think there's almost nothing more powerful than the human voice in music, and especially the echoes added to this section really give it some serious gravity.

On the DVD commentary, the director says it was John Powell's own son doing the vocals. And "Dedication" is one of my favorite tracks from the score as well. :nod:

Beat me to it, twas Oliver Powell.

The next Joseph Williams?

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Well if you were to goto JG Online (or FSM) and say he was the next Goldsmith you would probably get an angry reaction... :)

Actually Roar! is Giacchino channeling Akira Ifukube.

I can hear a little Goldsmith in Giacchino as well.

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Lost is probably the most Goldsmith work of them all. It's 60s and 70s Goldsmith down to the straight up odes to Planet of the Apes.

And there is nothing wrong with mixed breed dogs....

Just look at John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. They channeled many other people and unified them under their own vision....and my god what visions we got.

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I wasn't a big fan of Ice Age 2 actually, much preferred Newman's score.

:rolleyes:

Well, to each his own, I suppose.

I personally find Newman's score to be rather irritating.

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Lost is probably the most Goldsmith work of them all. It's 60s and 70s Goldsmith down to the straight up odes to Planet of the Apes.

And there is nothing wrong with mixed breed dogs....

Just look at John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. They channeled many other people and unified them under their own vision....and my god what visions we got.

Get your Giacchino talk outta here! He has his own thread, y'know!

I wasn't a big fan of Ice Age 2 actually, much preferred Newman's score.

;)

Well, to each his own, I suppose.

I personally find Newman's score to be rather irritating.

I'm with Chuck on the jaw drop. Ice Age 2 is fantastic. Mini-Sloths Sing-a-Long is awesome.

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