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What Is The Last Score You Listened To? (older scores)


Ollie

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Honey I Blew Up the Kid (Bruce Broughton): I lost my copy of the original album a while ago, but luckily in a lovely coincidence it was around the time Intrada released the complete score. Truth be told though, I kind of prefer the album presentation (40 minutes) as the whole thing (60 minutes) felt a tad repetitive. Ah well, it's still a delightful, beautifully orchestrated listen. 

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Red Sparrow - James Newton Howard

 

A new release especially interesting for what it isn't, namely a soundalike of the round-up-the-usual-suspects variety for such glossy thrillers (from Bourne with love, so to speak). Gone are the choppy rhythms and the heavy electronic percussions (the expected piano for more emotional moments seems also curiously missing), instead the director asked JNH for a string-heavy suite to be written on his own accord to act as musical calling card for the film while being shot.

 

The movie, which seems to be a pretty misogynist affair, centered around young woman trained by KGB (or something) to become top flight spies/assassins (nudity and sexual kinks very much part of the parcel), did not seem to demand such sophisticated approach, so kudos to Francis Lawrence for not treating his composer like a mere afterthought. Newton Howard leapt at the chance and wrote his most individualist score in years, though we might argue that he has the most fun in long suites that happen outside the movie proper, but so be it. A long overture, recalling similar approaches in 'Last Airbender' and 'Maleficent', runs the gamut from a moody, vaguely sinister opening for strings that prelude an elegant slavic tune (recalling Smetana's The Moldau and such things) set to a droll faux-Tchaikovskian ballett interlude that still is pretty adept from a technical standpoint (and clearly anchored in JNH's harmonic idiom). The morose overall tone is very much drawing from Bernard Herrmann, a frisbee reference at best, but more specifically the psychological Herrmann of Psycho's/Vertigo's illustrating those movie's scenes of quiet obsession ('Blond Suites You', one cue is fittingly called).

 

Together with the movie's end title, these pieces clock in at 20 minutes, with a handful of cues from the underscore approaching this depth but an even bigger amount of pure mood mongering that inexplicably made its way onto another overlong album that forces the listener to edit a good flow out of what is essentially a published recording session. It may - in this case - even attribute for a worse than necessary rating. But, and a big but it is, as promising start into 2018's line-up of high profile scores, it's game. For me, what's especially encouraging is that filmmakers and composers actively seek for musical qualities to enhance storytelling (which is what film music should do) instead of selling high-tech refinements of the sound track as musical work. As 'Red Sparrow' only half fulfills the promise of having better *music* driving the movie it may not yet be a cause for celebration but as demonstration that Hollywood blockbusters mustn't sound like indistinguishable clones and proof of JNH's ongoing viability as very good film composer it is as good as one could hope for in feb/march's dumpster for movies not good enough to play in competitive months.

 

 

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16 hours ago, Bespin said:

Always a wonderfull and very enjoyable compilation.

 

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « john williams 1969 »

 

A third CD for boosting this excellent compilation would be perhaps... looking like this?

 

01 Sound of the Bells!

02 Hedwig's Theme from HP & The Sorcerer's Stone

03 Escapades from Catch Me if You Can: 1st movement (Spielberg/Williams III)

04 Across the Stars from AOTC

05 Harry's Wondrous World from HP & The Sorcerer's Stone

06 Battle of Heroes from ROTS

07 Sayuri's Theme & End Credits from Memoirs of a Geisha

08 Dartmoor 1912 from "War Horse" (Spielberg/Williams III)

09 With Malice Toward None (Spielberg/Williams III)

10 The Adventures of Mutt (Spielberg/Williams III)

11 The Duel from Tintin (Spielberg/Williams III)

12 The BFG Suite (Spielberg/Williams III)

13 The Jedi Steps and Finale from The Force Awakens

14 The Rebellion is Reborn (from The Last Jedi)

 

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:music: Wolf by Ennio Morricone and The Wolfman by Danny Elfman. Both scores have a few things in common... certain classy restraint and "romance over horror" approach.

 

Wooo!

 

Karol

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7 hours ago, Richard said:

Yeah, not a patch on the original.

 

Horseback Address and Battle are probably amongst the better tracks on the Golden Age OST but I recall Sharky on another forum once describing it like computer game music and this time round, I was inclined to agree sadly.

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Listening to the last 20 minutes of...

 

- Jaws (Expanded)

- Star Wars (SE)

- CE3K (Expanded)

- E.T. (Expanded)

- The Lost World (Expanded).

 

:rock:

 

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On 02/03/2018 at 5:24 PM, Bespin said:

Always a wonderfull and very enjoyable compilation.

 

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « john williams 1969 »

 

I own this one! It was my first dive into Williams' music. Now I'm here on JWFan so I think it worked.

 

On 03/03/2018 at 9:51 AM, Bespin said:

A third CD for boosting this excellent compilation would be perhaps... looking like this?

 

Ooo great idea for a new topic!

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Now that's bad cover art. I get that they're showing a camera because he's composed music for film, but at the same time I don't get it. The cover implies he's a cinematographer. 

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King Kong by James Newton Howard

It's also ai'ight!...even if it takes awhile to really get going (but then so does the movie, hardy har har). "Beautiful" is one of the most fitting cue titles ever. 

 

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Willow by James Horner

 

Kingdom of Heaven by Harry Gregson-Williams

 

Jane Eyre by Dario Marianelli

 

Oscar and Lucinda by Thomas Newman

 

Silence of the Lambs by Howard Shore

 

SUN - Soul of the Ultimate Nation by Howard Shore

 

A History of Violence by Howard Shore

 

Empire of the Sun by John Williams

 

The Lord of the Rings by Leonard Rosenman

 

 

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1 hour ago, Richard said:

"OSCAR AND LUCINDA"?

It doesn't get enough love, around here, imho.

Kudos, Inky.

 

1 hour ago, publicist said:

'Oscar and Lucinda' and 'Little Women' are my favourite 90's scores from Tommy Newman. Bliss.

I would personally add The Shawshank Redemption but yes Oscar and Lucinda is definitely among my all-time favourite Newman scores. A perfect blend of those classic Newman moods and beautiful almost entrancing melodies he seemed to come up on a whim and typically slightly off-kilter too.

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American Beauty is great, but nothing i listen to much. Red Corner is also very good, as is Joe Black, but you have to draw the line somehwere and that line is those two scores i listed (don't find Shawshank that remarkable).

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