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


Ollie

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The Merchant of Venice - Jocelyn Pook

Such a beautiful little score, with excellent solos for triple harp, baroque guitar and lute. It plays like a precursor to Debbie Wiseman's "Wolf Hall", but Pook even accommodates a baritone and boys choir as well. The outward appearance is medieval period, but the harmonies and writing are modern which makes the score accessible. The album is terrific overall, but "Portia" and "Her Gentle Spirit" are especially nice.

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Stylistically it is all over the place but actually forms a surprisingly good listening experience. Pook's use of counter tenor Andreas Scholl is another feature worth mentioning (lyrics for With Wand'ring Steps taken from Milton's Paradise Lost) as is the beautiful voice of Haley Westenra in The Bridal Ballade (lyrics from Edgar Allan Poe poem of all places). There is also Bassanio's Song, which is actually inspired by the play itself with lyrics from the song/poem "Tell Me Where is Fancy Bred". The composer seems to want to tap into all possible stylistic impulses of the play (or more the era) with the Jewish chants, Catholic choral music, the processionals that sound like they were from Elisabethan era and numerous traditional folk song and dance music form evocations from Spain and elsewhere and the elegant underscore utilizing the specialty instruments. A compelling compilation of sounds to be sure.

I think Wiseman's Wolf Hall is a much more austere experience.

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The Ghost and the Darkness by Jerry Goldsmith: Damn this is an entertaining and beautifully crafted score. Now I vastly prefer the final version of the score found on disc 1 of Intrada's set to the OST, a significantly different experience.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (the LLL set) by John Williams: Such a beautiful musical journey in 3 acts.

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Michael Giacchino - Jupiter Ascending

I dunno what it is exactly, but going 3-4 months without listening to this at all made me appreciate it way more than ever before when I listened this week. Tons of good stuff here!

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Well the film is in my top 10 of sci-fi films. It's as emotionally moving as it is intellectually engrossing. Also a bit of an audiovisual masterpiece in my book. The in-camera trickery is absolute genius.

There's also a sense of genuine wonder in the film, from the first moments we see little Ellie contact her deceased mother through radio waves until the great interstellar journey she undertakes much later in life.

Zemeckis couldn't have made a more perfect movie about what it means to be human. The Silvestri score is firing on all pistons, handling the emotion, excitement and awe, in subtle, refreshing ways.

The main theme is both understated and heroic. A perfect fit for the character, without ego, but with a spirit and drive that's commendable. To remain human and humble in the face of fantastic discovery.

Some interesting uses of synthesizer are found in tracks such as 'The Primer' and 'Small Moves'. These move along nicely, without coming off as cheap or cheesy.

There are only two real action cues, 'Ellie's Bogey' and 'Good to Go'. Especially the latter one is riveting and tense, just as good as anything big that Silvestri can come up with in more action packed films.

I also love the theme for 'I Believe Her' and it gives the whole emotional climax a meaning of its own.

When all is said and done, only Ellie knows of the mystery that has befallen her. The ending isn't about the heroine's victory and that cue is just what her character needed.

The final cue is a big mix-up of all the ideas that the score touched on and what a perfect way to end the (much too short) album.

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Yup great film and score

I was excited when the DVD came out with the isolated score, but really the OST has all the highlights from what I remember

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Far and Away :music:

While my love of this score has slightly waned over the years, it's still one of my favorite "obscure" Williams scores.

Yeah it is awesome!

The Wind and the Lion by Jerry Goldsmith: Another awesome piece of work!

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Listened to it for the first time on Wednesday.

I really like it. It feels like a huge bombastic JW score, but is slightly lacking in thematic development, which can make it difficult to listen to on the album. Still, great score and I would recommend it to anybody who's into orchestral music. 4.5/5 :)

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Were you listrning to the 70-minute album kr the two disc one?

Karol

Two disc version. I heard an excerpt ('score suite' on Youtube), liked the sound of it, and decided to just get everything at once.

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The 2 disc incarnation is a bit much on one sitting but the score does have really enjoyable neo-swashbuckler drive going on. It could be thematically a bit stronger to tie all the brash action together better but the "set sail" main title theme is awesome.

Young Sherlock Holmes by Bruce Broughton: Delightful adventure score in the best 1980s spirit. The middle portion is somewhat subdued with a lot of sleuthing suspense music but it doesn't hold the score back and the terrific balletic action finale where all the themes get a serious workout is just heart warmingly wonderful.

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Indiana Jones is a trilogy, this is where it ends... music-wise and movie-wise. For me it certainly does.

It may be stupid to ignore the fourth one in this musical journey, but that Crystal Skull thingie does very little to me, so I'll skip it altogether.

On to the Last Crusade, my favorite of the bunch. Because this one has it all, that undeniable Williams greatness.

Great themes, excellent renditions of those themes, mighty action music, some fun comedic bits, a haunting religious sound where appropriate, and a stunning finale.

I love this Concord 2008 presentation. It made me appreciate the score that much more, because there some great additions ('On the Tank' being the most excellent).

There is one cue that should've been included on the CD, 'Wrong Choice, Right Choice' but hey it's on another CD in the set, so no problem.

And who in their right mind doesn't adore the Grail theme, one of the reasons why Crusade is the best of the trilogy in my mind. It's chilling to the bone.

It gets it most splendid take during that most wonderful 'Finale & End Credits'. I mean can an score album end on a more impressive note? I don't think so.

What a brilliant trio of musical greatness. Of course the films are awesome fun as well. As long as I ignore that worthless sequel, and its not so good score, it'll remain a trilogy.

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Agatha Christie's Poirot by Christopher Gunning

Capricorn One by Jerry Goldsmith

The Witches of Easwick by John Williams

Cutthroat Island by John Debney

War of the Worlds by John Williams

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I remember when I made the original thread for this. Many moons ago. Good to be back. Anyways....Artificial Intelligence.

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Wasn't HPFAN recently negatively cited by a FSMr in the recent debacle?

I don't know what you're talking about. But it sounds like an honor.

Wow! I remember you. You hated Cuaron!

And now I love him.

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The Russia House by Jerry Goldsmith

To Kill a Mockingbird by Elmer Bernstein

Sunset Boulevard by Franz Waxman

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The 30 minute score. Totally brilliant, goosebumps material, undeniably powerful, emotionally satisfying. Zimmer's first homerun.

I am happy that the complete score has leaked in superb quality a while back, it's a bit different from these album mixes. Both are excellent in their own right.

It's interesting to hear the differences, the complete score is more detailed and has numerous great moments not on this 1991 album.

But I will never ever dismiss this, and even though it's not the true film versions of the cues, the 30 minutes here are among the very best Hans has ever written.

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Wasn't HPFAN recently negatively cited by a FSMr in the recent debacle?

I don't know what you're talking about. But it sounds like an honor.

11th post here: http://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=111082&forumID=1&archive=0

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Back when he had talent.

His sound changed, his talent remained. ;)

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Yeah baby ! 90s action goodness from Jerry ! He was unstoppable back then. To anyone saying that Jerry had lost it during his last few years, care to step outside?

At only 35 minutes this blows so much other music for action films out of the sky. Imagine if it were expanded to completion? Someday, it will happen.

Anyway, Jerry was the master of excitement, and AFO has it in spades. And a superb theme to boot. One that one can never forget. It has more of a superhero quality than most modern day superhero themes.

And then there's 'The Hijacking'. Its relentless energy is unmatched, and it's just long enough to turn it into Jerry's most stunning composed cues.

It's a film score track everyone that has a music interest should head-bang to, without shame, without fear of ridicule, it's just plain fookin' awesome... and so is the album. :rock:

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One of my favorite Jerry scores!

I love the OST; I've listened to it probably 10x as much as I've listened to the expanded boots.

But i'd still buy an expansion in a heartbeat! Come on Varese!

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Marc Shaiman - City Slickers II

A classic I revisit often. Wonderful score with a great main theme!

David Arnold - Casino Royale
Good stuff!
Michael Giacchino - Call of Duty
I dunno about this one. It's a bunch of loud action music, then its over. Never gotten into it, for whatever reason.
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It's interesting that you seem to prefer the current day Giacchino while I prefer his videogame days. We don't agree on that point, now do we? :P

Call of Duty is a pretty fun listen, it has loud action music, and a theme, which is more than enough for me.

To this day I hope someone will release Call of Duty: Finest Hour (from 2004).

Quality isn't the best, but I'd love to own this one day (in good quality).

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Jerry Goldsmith - Capricorn One

Good stuff! Horner was wise to crib the main theme for Aliens :)

Alan Silvestri - Judge Dredd (Intrada)

FINALLY listened to the new Intrada set (well, disc 1 only so far). ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!!!!!! What a freaking great score!!!

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Disc 1 is definitely the best. I would've preferred the original album in remastered sound on disc 2 plus the alternates. But the tracks aren't arranged as such and it's missing 'We Created You' only found on disc 1.

Still, it's an excellent release, and I love the revised versions. Silvestri was in top form for Dredd.

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Van Helsing :music:

A bit unrelenting, but very fun nonetheless. The Mummy Returns has a better balance of action music/non-action music.

The Mummy Returns :music:

The First Knight :music:

A fine score, though I have trouble listening to it in full do to the prominence of the love theme, which I'm not too keen on.

Farewell to the King :music:

The Greatest Miracle :music:

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Of Mice and Men by Mark Isham

The Shawshank Redemption by Thomas Newman

The Sand Pebbles by Jerry Goldsmith

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The Man From U.N.C.L.E. by Daniel Pemberton

Is 2015 the year of 60s throwback scores? A blend of Mancini and Schifrin with a good dosage of Morricone thrown in for good measure. Glad Pemberton was able to stick his foot into the Hollywood scene, even if it doesn't go anywhere big. This is a good one; looking forward to Steve Jobs.

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Notice: the blueish cover (bad scan) above is not correct. It's supposed to be white.

Upon listening to this fine score again, I'm now hesitating whether to get the Intrada.

One cue and slightly better sound doesn't really inspire me to want to buy it, as fantastic the music really is.

As for this release, I remember this was a 4 star score for me back in the day... nowadays I give it an additional star. Without blinking. :)

Because it's brilliant, it has so much energy, melody and these addictive rhythmic figures that Jerry was so great at.

I also adore the two songs, performed by Sally Stevens and Paul Williams. They each bring something to the composition.

What a neat little album, I think the track sequencing is perfect. That's also why I'm thinking about giving the new one a miss.

Like I said the sound on this one is great, I don't know if there's a big difference with the Varèse, but this one satisfies me completely.

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By better defined, do you mean better connected to a specific character or idea in the respective film? Or do you mean less varied in various permutations? Or something else?

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By better defined, do you mean better connected to a specific character or idea in the respective film? Or do you mean less varied in various permutations? Or something else?

The War Horse themes just didn't feel as "complete" compared to Lincoln. Often lacking any definite or satisfying conclusion.

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Huh. Interesting that you feel that way. The Reunion Theme concludes very satisfyingly for me. And that other theme in plowing. I dunno.

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