Filmtracks to eliminate major awards coverage

[Sandor 459]

http://www.filmtracks.com/news/updates.cgi?read=27

[Richard Penna 2,083]

He's hit the nail on the head.

I watch the oscars only because it's a sort of fun ceremony and it's cool to be in the chatroom.

[Quintus 5,391]

I used to watch the Oscars to hear the auditorium orchestra's renditions of old and new film themes, as the stars collected their award. Oh and to see Spielberg say "This is the best drink of water after the longest drought of my life."

I lost interest a few years later, after LotR wiped the floor with the competition.

[Luke Skywalker 1,285]

i think clemmensen is right. maybe it is not as conspirational, but the results are the same.

[Wojo 2,442]

Well written article. Excellent use of inflammatory language to, well, inflame.

[Diego 21]

Awards are pointless and stupid... unless Williams wins it, then it's awesome.

[Koray Savas 2,095]

He's hit the nail on the head.

[Charlie Brigden 5]

I thought everyone hated Filmtracks.

[Richard Penna 2,083]

Well Clemmenson has some clear biases against a few composers (Zimmer, Tom Newman to name two) and gave 5 stars to AotC (), but apart from that I think he writes some decent reviews.

And apart from his reviews, he got the chance to tell a major studio to fuck off when threatened with stupid legal action. If people wonder why I'm so damn cynical and hateful towards corporations, that's a big reason for it.

[Ollie 859]

Eh who cares, Clemmensen's site is of little importance anymore.

[Richard Penna 2,083]

I find most review sites aren't really important these days.

One site thinks score A is great, another thinks it's crap. I prefer to use my own ears.

[Uni 306]

Yeah, this was a good call. I've wondered for years if I'm the only one who notices that the Academy voters seem to have no clue what film music is really about. The Oscars as a whole have become a bigger joke and a more worthless ritual with each passing year. It used to be a central event in my year; last year I watched a few minutes here and there while flipping through other channels. It's a waste.

I hadn't visited Filmtracks in years until now. I read through his review of Avatar. He's got some chops, but tries too hard to impress with his words at times--and I don't know that I could sit still through a hundred or so reviews of that length.

- Uni

[Henry B 49]

http://www.filmtrack...tes.cgi?read=27

What an incredibly arrogant article. "Truly superior," "right results for the wrong reasons," "transgressions of illegitimacy," "hideously uninformed choices" ... Okay, Clemmenson, just keep telling us exactly what to think.

[Docteur Qui 1,248]

That's the first thing he's written that I've pretty much completely agreed with.

[Quintus 5,391]

What is the main reason for the site's dislike on this board? I read a few of his Williams score reviews a while back and I thought they were good.

[mahler3 353]

I think it was something to do with a fall out and slagging match on the message board (or score board as they call it) - it was years ago and can't recall what it was all about!?!

[Docteur Qui 1,248]

My main problem with his reviewing style is his utter lack of consistency when it comes to the final grade. Half of the time he takes the scores in their proper context (i.e. in the film, as a complete whole) and grades them according to that, but then other times he will only take a score as it is presented on album. Obviously the two approaches are completely different and both drastically affect most people's final opinions of any given composer's work. A lot of the time his grades tend to contradict the preceding reviews, and his newer reviews often contradict older ones; in his review for Hooper's Harry Potter scores he refers to Williams' previous contributions as if they were the highlight of film music in the last decade, yet when you read his reviews for the 3 JW Potter scores it's a different story.

Also, he still hasn't reviewed Up. Seriously? It's been 6 months. It was a MAJOR motion picture last year. Not to mention a critically lauded score.

Anyways, I no longer really care that much for his reviews, though they're often interesting to read for little tidbits about composers and how it was working on some projects.

[Desplat13 1]

I hadn't visited Filmtracks in years until now. I read through his review of Avatar. He's got some chops, but tries too hard to impress with his words at times--and I don't know that I could sit still through a hundred or so reviews of that length.

- Uni

Most of his reviews aren't quite that long.

[Sandor 459]

Personally, I enjoy Clemmensen's reviews and his website. BUT I always read reviews as the product of just one man's opinion. There is nothing factual about it so why take offense?

The only really annoying thing he did was - on occasion - to rate scores "as written for the film" BEFORE he saw the actual film!

[crocodile 6,294]

BUT I always read reviews as the product of just one man's opinion. There is nothing factual about it so why take offense?

Good point.

Karol - who just realized that it's his 2012th apocalyptic post

[Henry B 49]

Personally, I enjoy Clemmensen's reviews and his website. BUT I always read reviews as the product of just one man's opinion. There is nothing factual about it so why take offense?

Of course they are just his opinions, but he doesn't speak them to stir up debate, he simply treats them as absolute truths and sneers at anyone who disagrees. That's what I usually take from him. Descriptively, his reviews are okay.

[Uni 306]

What an incredibly arrogant article.

Oh, sure it is. The one "get away with arrogance free" card, however, is to be dead-on right.

Most of his reviews aren't quite that long.

I see. I'll have to look into it, then. Good to know, friend.

- Uni

[Hlao-roo 388]

I think it was something to do with a fall out and slagging match on the message board (or score board as they call it) - it was years ago and can't recall what it was all about!?!

Clemmensen essentially implied on his forum that Ricard was a thug, and not surprisingly there was significant pushback on this point from members of the JWFAN community.

For all his webmastering prowess, his reviews have always seemed awkward, stylistically and substantively. But, for nostalgic reasons, I'm glad his site is still around.

[Uni 306]

I do remember that scrum, albeit vaguely. That was back in the early days of the board. I have no clear memory of what got Clemmensen's hackles up, but I do recall everyone standing firm for Ricard and the site. Hmmm . . . now that all that comes back to mind, I don't know that I need to spend any significant time following up on his site after all. . . .

- Uni

[MissPadmé 17]

The problem is, I would like to read several articles on the filmtracks-site but what is preventing me to do so is the aweful colourscheme of plain and glowy WHITE text on a BLACK Background.

Am I the onlyone who gets really dizzy when reading a few sentences on that page?

[Wojo 2,442]

I don't get dizzy, but I do often have to resize my window to half the width of the monitor. I don't like reading paragraphs of such length that span the page. Makes my eyes feel like a typewriter carriage.

I guess such an observation is not limited to Filmtracks.

I share the nostalgic sentiment, as that site was my first source of solid soundtrack reviews, which I also used to expand my horizons and learn what other scores were out there to buy. Case in point, while First Contact was my first Trek score, Star Trek V was the review that taught me about The Motion Picture, as he compared the end credits suites of both films, and encouraged me to go buy TMP. I fondly remember a day in high school government class, checking Filmtracks on the teacher's PC on the day that The Phantom Menace was released. The site was completely frozen and unusable, as EVERYBODY in the world was slamming it to get the first inkling of what the first new JW SW sound in 1.5 decades was like.

[Ollie 859]

I think there is or was an option to change the text to black on white at Filmtracks.

At one time, when he first started, his board was useful. But as time wore on the message board became a joke because he appeared to have no control over it. All kinds of junk was posted and it became a chore to wade thru. Plus he had made some unkind comments about Williams with no proof to back up those claims and then throw in the spat with Ricard (I think he may have had some spats with other boards as well), well it became a waste of time to even go there.

Plus his reviews started to become a joke. Yeah I know, he has a right to his opinion but I have the right to not read them.

[Wojo 2,442]

I stopped going to Filmtracks regularly when I went on a several year hiatus where I didn't buy movie scores as often. Then I rediscovered this place, and have been on a 2+ year bender, with this place as my review site.

Plus, Filmtracks has clips in RealAudio format. I don't like RealAudio format.

[Charlie Brigden 5]

I think soundtrack.net was the first place I really came across for reviews, and went back to (I still use their trailer music resource). But it seems like a bit of a desert nowadays.

[Hlao-roo 388]

I think there is or was an option to change the text to black on white at Filmtracks.

At one time, when he first started, his board was useful. But as time wore on the message board became a joke because he appeared to have no control over it. All kinds of junk was posted and it became a chore to wade thru. Plus he had made some unkind comments about Williams with no proof to back up those claims and then throw in the spat with Ricard (I think he may have had some spats with other boards as well), well it became a waste of time to even go there.

Plus his reviews started to become a joke. Yeah I know, he has a right to his opinion but I have the right to not read them.

If you select 'Print View' (or whatever it's called ) on any given review page, it gives you black text on white background (plus the retro Filmtracks logo).

He's in control of the board, but he's relatively laissez-faire about it and allows certain content that other moderators would be less likely to turn a blind eye to.

In his "tribute" to the composer, Clemmensen, citing industry sources plus a stray quote from an obscure interview circa 1997, goes out of his way to suggest that Williams is full of himself.

I have no clear memory of what got Clemmensen's hackles up, but I do recall everyone standing firm for Ricard and the site.

This was back when JWFAN was still "Star Wars: Episode I - The Music" (or had perhaps just been newly reincarnated as "JOHNWILLIAMS.COM" or "JohnWilliams.Cjb.Net" or "John Williams Central"). Even after Ricard had firmly re-established the site as a credible news source on Williams, some continued to question its legitimacy and impugn its webmaster.

What's silly is that at least until recently, a number of film music sites refused to link to JWFAN as a source of information on Williams, opting instead to list The John Williams Web Pages. With all due respect to Jeff Eldridge (and, indeed, much is due), JWFAN long, long ago superseded his site as the place to go for timely info on Williams. The older site is still a great reference source but plays only a complementary role now.

[Ollie 859]

Back in the 90's and up to 2002, moviemusic.com used to have a chat every Monday night. I can recall him making some uncalled for comments about Williams during our chats.

[indy4 152]

I've always enjoyed reading his reviews (though I haven't read many).

As for the thread topic, I think it's "true" that the major award ceremonies have made some big trip ups, and seem to be incredibly biased. However, I still love to watch them. It's fun to root for your team, even if you know the referee isn't that fair.

[Uni 306]

This was back when JWFAN was still "Star Wars: Episode I - The Music" (or had perhaps just been newly reincarnated as "JOHNWILLIAMS.COM" or "JohnWilliams.Cjb.Net" or "John Williams Central"). Even after Ricard had firmly re-established the site as a credible news source on Williams, some continued to question its legitimacy and impugn its webmaster.

I think it may have been a little later than that, 'cause I didn't catch on until early 2000. That was back when the message boards here were in outline form (there were a lot fewer posters back then, so it worked pretty well at the time--the population count now would make it a nightmare).

- Uni