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

[filmmusic 1,826]

 

Unnecessarily complex score I would say, and I didn't like that it used direct quotes (intentionally as it seems) from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.

Other than that, it's certainly a well crafted score. 

[Edmilson 7,433]

 

Thanks to Movie Music UK's recommendation, I decided to give this one a go. Not bad, but the main theme is repeated a lot, so it gets tiresome by the end. Also, thanks to the first cue this score being used for the logo of some studio, now I can't listen to it without thinking about Adam Sandler comedies!

[filmmusic 1,826]

43 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

 

Thanks to Movie Music UK's recommendation, I decided to give this one a go. Not bad, but the main theme is repeated a lot, so it gets tiresome by the end. Also, thanks to the first cue this score being used for the logo of some studio, now I can't listen to it without thinking about Adam Sandler stupid comedies!

I LOVE this score! I don't remember it being tiresome.

[Andy 4,119]

@Edmilsonwe must’ve listened at the same time!  This my my first listen after reading a lot of hype. 
 

Danny?  Danny Elfman?  Is that you??? 
 

Seriously who the hell wrote Sommersby?  I don’t hear any demented horn triplets, celeste and children’s choir, or oompa circus music.  
 

I loved it and it lives up to the hype. Lush, fun, and surprising. 

[Thor 7,493]

Yeah, SOMMERSBY is a brilliant score, easily top 10 Elfman. It also is -- in addition to BLACK BEAUTY -- one of the scores to slam on the table to people who are not normally a fan of Elfman, as he doesn't often venture into these pastoral modes.

 

 

Superb effort in painstakingly recreating Vangelis' sound for the brilliant 1997 videogame that I played as a young man.

[Thor 7,493]

 

I've often had trouble getting into Barrow & Salisbury's work in the past, even if I adore Alex Garland (well, up until the dreadful MEN, at least), but this, I dig! Dark, delicious, Carpenter-like synths. Shame the score was rejected from the 2012 Judge Dredd movie.

[Andy 4,119]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

Yeah, SOMMERSBY is a brilliant score, easily top 10 Elfman. It also is -- in addition to BLACK BEAUTY -- one of the scores to slam on the table to people who are not normally a fan of Elfman, as he doesn't often venture into these pastoral modes  

After Sommersby, I went ahead and ordered the OOP Black Beauty while it’s still cheap.  The expansion with apologies to Thor. 

[filmmusic 1,826]

Academy Promo

 

One of those Oscar winners for score and one of a few Goldenthal scores, that I'm not into.

I strongly believe that year Catch me if you can (with the original main theme back to Williams's roots), or The Hours should have won.

 

[Tom Guernsey 2,282]

17 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Academy Promo

 

One of those Oscar winners for score and one of a few Goldenthal scores, that I'm not into.

I strongly believe that year Catch me if you can (with the original main theme back to Williams's roots), or The Hours should have won.

 

Good alternative options. This definitely felt like the “we really ought to give him an Oscar” award which is a shame as there are clearly many other Goldenthal scores which were far more deserving but I’m glad he won even if it’s not one of his best. 

[filmmusic 1,826]

 

I wanted to see what was the fuss about.

Oscar winner 2006. Seriously?

I don't understand this win.

And wasn't there some controversy about the score? That the main theme (you know, that one with the arpeggios in guitar) was used again in the past in some other film, or it was an old Santaolalla composition?

I remember listening to it in another context.

[Thor 7,493]

I dig BABEL. Those airy, wonderful guitar strummings that seem to capture the protagonist's journey beautifully.

 

As for FRIDA, it's a wonderful score. Of course, it doesn't hold a candle to other Goldenthal efforts that SHOULD have been nominated and perhaps even won, but I found it a pretty deserved winner that year.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,514]

The score for BABEL, is, like so many scores, too good for the film that it is written for.

 

FRIDA, on the other hand, is great.

[Thor 7,493]

 

This score is such a "warm blanket" everytime I listen to it, and perfect for a cold Norwegian Saturday evening, with a glass of red wine. Yes, it has a lot of Tchaikovsky in it, but Bruns & co. play around with it in a delightful way.

[Jurassic Shark 12,054]

But but but... it's expanded, isn't it? [Insert scream emoji here.]

[Thor 7,493]

Could be. It still works well in its 63-minute running time; the score is rich enough for it.

[Jurassic Shark 12,054]

1 minute ago, Thor said:

Could be. It still works well in its 63-minute running time; the score is rich enough for it.

 

Saved for posterity. 

[filmmusic 1,826]

 

Oscar nomination 2013. 

Trying to keep up with Oscar nominations and winners of last 15 years.

Another Oscar nomination that is not my cup of tea, and I cannot understand.

I haven't seen the movie of course, but still...

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

I don't remember the score, but the film is excellent.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,514]

The film is, indeed, excellent.

Like @Marian Schedenig, I cannot remember a note of the score.

[filmmusic 1,826]

31 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

but the film is excellent.

 

2 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

The film is, indeed, excellent.

 

Ah, ok. You answered my confusion why the score was nominated. 

[Jay 37,346]

The film is great!

 

Don't remember a single thing about the score

[Thor 7,493]

Never cared for either film or score, I'm afraid.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,514]

Hmm. That's interesting.

I'd have thought that it was right up your alley, @Thor.

Why are you not fond of it?

[Thor 7,493]

I have a problem with films that have a hipster- or apathy-like tone. HER fell into that category for me, I seem to remember. I tried the score a couple of times, but it didn't really do anything. It just sat there. Which is weird, because I've enjoyed some of Arcade Fire's non-film work.

[Jay 37,346]

John Powell - Solo

 

I listened to (my personal edit of) The Deluxe Edition the other day after not having listened in a while, probably due to the news it would be getting a physical CD edition.  Man, I like this score a lot!  I find more to enjoy about it with each listen.  This time I feel like I noticed more instances of L337's theme than before.  How I wish Disney let everyone make the trilogy they wanted to

[Jurassic Shark 12,054]

5 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Hmm. That's interesting.

I'd have thought that it was right up your alley, @Thor.

Why are you not fond of it?

 

It's not "intellectual" enough.

 

4 minutes ago, Thor said:

I have a problem with films that have a hipster- or apathy-like tone.

 

Paging @Smeltington, JWFan's resident hipster. 

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

2 hours ago, filmmusic said:

Ah, ok. You answered my confusion why the score was nominated. 

 

I'm not saying I didn't like the score, or that it didn't work in the film, mind you. As far as I remember, I think it worked fine. I just don't remember it… I guess it's time for a rewatch.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,514]

16 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I'm not saying I didn't like the score, or that it didn't work in the film, mind you. As far as I remember, I think it worked fine.

Maybe that's the sign of a good score: it doesn't draw attention to itself, but forms part of the cohesive whole?

[Holko 9,519]

38 minutes ago, Jay said:

John Powell - Solo

 

I listened to (my personal edit of) The Deluxe Edition the other day after not having listened in a while, probably due to the news it would be getting a physical CD edition.  Man, I like this score a lot!  I find more to enjoy about it with each listen.  This time I feel like I noticed more instances of L337's theme than before.  How I wish Disney let everyone make the trilogy they wanted to

Getting Powell is the only great decision they made with Solo, and the best decision they made in all of Disney SW after not not getting JW for the episodes.

[filmmusic 1,826]

36 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Maybe that's the sign of a good score

Hmmm.. Then, Williams scores that draw attention to themselves most times are bad scores?

 

edit:

So, now I have listened to all the 2013 Oscar nominations/winner.

 

Gravity (Steven Price) (sessions)

The Book Thief (John Williams)

Her (Will Butler & Owen Pallett)

Philomena (Alexandre Desplat)(FYC)

Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman)(FYC)

 

Unfortunately, I couldn't connect to either of them, except The Book Thief, which also is not on my top 30 Williams.

[Thor 7,493]

 

Coupled with Williams' NOT WITH MY WIFE YOU DON'T on FSM (which is obviously the superior score; in fact one of my top 10 favourite JW soundtracks). Still, Duning -- almost 60 years old at the time -- taps wonderfully into contemporary jazz and pop tropes.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,514]

26 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Hmmm.. Then, Williams scores that draw attention to themselves most times are bad scores?

Of course not, @filmmusic.

That's not what I meant.

All components of a film are - or, at least, should be - made to come together to make the finished product. I don't make films, and I never shall, but it's my opinion that any filmmaker wants the audience to enjoy what they see and hear, as a whole. It's only sad, anal eejits, like us, who, when it comes to cinema, analyse the ins and outs of a cat's arse .

We pick gnatshit out of pepper, and long may it continue.

The average cinema-going person doesn't give a single goddamn about the use of leitmotifs, or the twelve-note chromatic scale, in film music. They only respond on a gut level, and, hopefully, get something out of what they watch, while they chow down on their nachos, and their popcorn, and their corn dogs, washing it all down with their big gulp Mountain Dew.

Of course the score is a very important part of the film. If it wasn't, we wouldn't have all these awards for it.

That I can't remember a single note of the score from HER is absolutely no indication that I didn't enjoy it, or that it is not good. It means, merely, that I experienced it as part of a greater whole, which is what film music is all about.

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,054]

3 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

I can't remember a single note of the score from HER

 

She's got a name, you know. 

[Thor 7,493]

 

Decided to listen to my entire Fenton collection again (all 20 titles). I've always been a huge fan, of course, and even had this nice chat/interview with him back in 2015, about his career, but it's been a while since I listened to some of his music. This nice African-Western music blend (a blend I'm a sucker for) has always been a fav. Whatever happened to Jonas Gwangwa, btw?

[filmmusic 1,826]

24 minutes ago, Thor said:

Decided to listen to my entire Fenton collection again (all 20 titles). I've always been a huge fan, of course,

Any highlights you recommend?

Besides Cry Freedom, I have also listened to Gandhi, Shadowlands and Dangerous Liaisons.

I have maybe watched 3-4 more films he has scored, but I haven't listened to anything else, outside of the film.

[Thor 7,493]

A top 10 for ya. I've stricken out the ones you're familiar with, and added some alternatives at the end.

 

1. ANNA AND THE KING

2. White Palace

3. Dangeous Liaisons

4. Shadowlands

5. Cry Freedom

6. The Madness of King George (a lot of Händel in it, though)

7. Dangerous Beauty

8. China Moon

9. Memphis Belle

10. High Spirits

 

Alternatives to the three stricken: We're No Angels, Ever After: A Cinderella Story, The Blue Planet.

 

You can also listen to the aforementioned interview to get a nice career overview (funny to hear this early interview again, btw, where I was doing my best to pronounce in proper British English, but at the same time very stilted -- these days, I'm more informal, but also less proper in the pronounciation. Funny.).

[Smeltington 1,439]

22 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

It's not "intellectual" enough.

 

 

Paging @Smeltington, JWFan's resident hipster. 

 

"Her" is almost unbearably twee. Which I understand is the same thing Thor is getting at. But it does a good job exploring the implications of its premise, therefore has merit despite the obnoxious tone.

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,054]

23 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I didn't like the score

 

Ah, OK.

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

…

[Holko 9,519]

 

Finally finished my assembly for this. Bajakian does an impressive job of imitating lots of tiny JWisms, but also somewhat diverting from them at times to make it feel like its own thing.

[Faleel 5,346]

I remember that I made a rescore video way back of the Jungle Chase that used some of the action cues, fun times back then!

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433]

Room (FYC) by Stephen Rennicks

A pretty nice score, nothing transcending though

 

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (53 tracks FYC) by Joe Kraemer

Damn this score is so good. Each time I listen to it I found it better. Today it was really the Knife Fight track that caught my attention, those drums are simply magnificient.

[Jay 37,346]

Yea I think Knife Fight is the one cue (maybe Shoe Leather too) that I think should have been on the OST to make it a perfect highlight collection

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433]

Agreed, still good though it was made available with the FYC Album. Now we just have to wait two years and maybe LLL will release the whole score for it's 10th anniversary

[Jay 37,346]

That's be great!  It was recorded overseas so no AFM fees!

[Romão 2,274]

On 05/03/2023 at 6:32 PM, Thor said:

A top 10 for ya. I've stricken out the ones you're familiar with, and added some alternatives at the end.

 

1. ANNA AND THE KING

2. White Palace

3. Dangeous Liaisons

4. Shadowlands

5. Cry Freedom

6. The Madness of King George (a lot of Händel in it, though)

7. Dangerous Beauty

8. China Moon

9. Memphis Belle

10. High Spirits

 

Alternatives to the three stricken: We're No Angels, Ever After: A Cinderella Story, The Blue Planet.

 

You can also listen to the aforementioned interview to get a nice career overview (funny to hear this early interview again, btw, where I was doing my best to pronounce in proper British English, but at the same time very stilted -- these days, I'm more informal, but also less proper in the pronounciation. Funny.).

 

Planet Earth is still my favorite Fenton. It's tremendous

[LSH 968]

 

Folk's score is very Horner-esque (I guess it was prime-time for that) but it's enchanting nonetheless.

[Andy 4,119]

Lionheart- Jerry Goldsmith 

 

1 minute in… I’m not sure this is as good as I remembered. 
 

60 minutes in … It’s better than I remembered,   my eyes are tearing up, and I’m humming along with the end credits. 
 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,514]

Agreed, @Andy.

It's an underrated 80s Jerry gem.

[GerateWohl 4,356]

The cover is probably the most direct imitation of the original Star Wars poster, that I have ever seen.