Filmtracks vs Movie Music UK vs Movie-Wave

[Tydirium 1,166]

On 1/29/2020 at 12:37 PM, Edmilson said:

Apparently, is with this that he earns his money:

 

 

So he seems awesome at coding and webdesign. That said, this is how he describes Filmtracks:

 

 

But I don't know. It's cool that he wants to be retro, but let's face it, webdesign is not like wine, it gets worse as it gets older. Most 90s websites were very shitty. 

 

I mean, if Filmtracks was like this, it would be odd, but still readable:

 

 

But the way it is, I can't stay for more than one minute on his site without feeling nauseated.

 

I actually kind of like film music review sites having a retro look. For instance I kind of prefer the look of the old Movie-Wave, to its current incarnation. Maybe it's just because that's how these sites were when I grew up reading them, and I am averse to change.  Though I do confess that Filmtracks is a tad tough on the eyes at times...

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

43 minutes ago, Tydirium said:

 

I actually kind of like film music review sites having a retro look. For instance I kind of prefer the look of the old Movie-Wave, to its current incarnation. Maybe it's just because that's how these sites were when I grew up reading them, and I am averse to change.  Though I do confess that Filmtracks is a tad tough on the eyes at times...

 

True! I get a bit put off by that modern "blog post" look.

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

What's a blog?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

What's Aleppo?

[Edmilson 7,369]

Blog posts are so 2011...

 

They should do video reviews on YouTube now. Or on IGTV. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

13 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

They should do video reviews on YouTube now. Or on IGTV. 

 

Not everyone is meant for on-camera work.

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

I don't think CC is that foul.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

10 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

I don't think CC is that foul.

 

I just mean not everyone is comfortable being on camera, as in they might be camera-shy or untrained.

[Arpy 4,145]

There aren't really any YouTubers doing film score reviews like theneedledrop (Anthony Fantano) who covers mostly Pop/Rock/Jazz does or in the vein of that style. Would be nice to have something similar for film scores, like they might review the CD and then discuss the music/film.

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

@Thor talks about scores in his webcasts.

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

I think film score reviews would be particularly suited to podcasts. Instead of mentioning themes and motifs, reviewers could play snippets which would be so much more instructive to the audience. 

 

The only problem being - the way CC writes, it is - I daresay - a literary style in some aspects. In the sense that is very much meant to be read rather than spoken. This is true of almost everybody right? Certainly true for me. I write in a style which is distinct from the manner in which I speak. You can get more refined while writing while while speaking you usually want to be more direct and unambiguous.

 

So I certainly think podcasts could be valuable but I think criticism as a whole is also a genre of writing that should be preserved in some way.

[Arpy 4,145]

I think one of big reasons why it's never taken off is just how niche this genre is. If you're a YouTuber trying to rake in cash, no one's going to watch a soundtrack review on Child's Play 2 or Star Wars.

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

15 minutes ago, Arpy said:

I think one of big reasons why it's never taken off is just how niche this genre is. If you're a YouTuber trying to rake in cash, no one's going to watch a soundtrack review on Child's Play 2 or Star Wars.

 

 

It's easy for YouTubers to get caught up in the vortex where Google promises significant income for doing what they love doing, but instead they get ripped off or thrown under the bus. Over the last few years, I've seen some previously compelling and entertaining YT channels descend into mediocrity because they're compelled into carving videos to conform to YT's algorithmic standards. To me this is almost tragic because channels like Cinemassacre or Monster Island Buddies, who at the beginning seemed like they were enjoying their side hobby, just don't seem to be having fun anymore. After the empty promise of capital returns, the quality of the videos suffers, and their hearts are no longer in it. Google sucks the life out of these people.

[Arpy 4,145]

Yeah, it's sad, especially after the Adpocalypse and YouTube's merciless automated systems and policies. I follow a podcast that's had to endure all of YouTube's broken nature and it affects everyone - the content creators who have a schedule and their own lives, and it affects the quality of their content the more stringent the guidelines become. 

 

Something's gotta give somewhere, sometime, but it's not looking good if you're starting an enterprise like this.

 

20 minutes ago, Þekþiþm said:

 

 channels like Cinemassacre or Monster Island Buddies, who at the beginning seemed like they were enjoying their side hobby, just don't seem to be having fun anymore.

I like Cinemassacre's content still, especially AVGN, I think it's different for him though considering he's been around much longer and still has a large following. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Ideally a YouTuber would be working a dayjob they liked and made YT videos only as a hobby and ignored all the guidelines and algorithms that tie up those who have come to depend on it for income. It'd be a nice way to stick it to them.

[Kühni 485]

.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

55 minutes ago, Arpy said:

I think one of big reasons why it's never taken off is just how niche this genre is. If you're a YouTuber trying to rake in cash, no one's going to watch a soundtrack review on Child's Play 2 

 

 

I would.

[Arpy 4,145]

I could believe you'd single-handedly fund their YouTube career.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

They have degrees in public speaking now?!

[Holko 9,491]

27 minutes ago, Arpy said:

I like Cinemassacre's content still, especially AVGN, I think it's different for him though considering he's been around much longer and still has a large following. 

James doesn't even play the games or write the episodes since about 2017, he just gets in to read the lines quickly and goes.

[Arpy 4,145]

I think he's actually a digital reconstruction using footage from old episodes.

7 minutes ago, Holko said:

James doesn't even play the games or write the episodes since about 2017, he just gets in to read the lines quickly and goes.

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

33 minutes ago, Holko said:

James doesn't even play the games or write the episodes since about 2017, he just gets in to read the lines quickly and goes.

 

That just makes me sad. Apparently Cinemassacre even threw one of its best contributors under the bus over money.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

Movie-Wave seems much too lenient, throwing around with five star reviews. I'm not a fan of inflationary praise.

 

He loves everything by Jerry Goldsmith except a handful of two star scores! Despite being a huge fan of the composer, I am definitely more differentiated.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I was baffled by CC's 5-star rating for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, despite me loving the film. The score was fine in places, but overall it's noisy, exhaustive and sometimes frustratingly corny.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

According to CC, The BFG, Sleeping with the Enemy and The Vanishing are all better scores than Alien, The Lost Wirld and The Prisoner of Azkaban.

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

49 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

The Lost Wirld

 

Haven't seen that one. Any good?

[Edmilson 7,369]

It's decent, but not as good as its sequel, The Last Wirld .

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

He gave Ferdinand three stars and five stars to every Star Wars score, so he doesn’t jive with me.

[Erik Woods 555]

10 hours ago, TheUlyssesian said:

I think film score reviews would be particularly suited to podcasts. Instead of mentioning themes and motifs, reviewers could play snippets which would be so much more instructive to the audience. 

 

The only problem being - the way CC writes, it is - I daresay - a literary style in some aspects. In the sense that is very much meant to be read rather than spoken. This is true of almost everybody right? Certainly true for me. I write in a style which is distinct from the manner in which I speak. You can get more refined while writing while while speaking you usually want to be more direct and unambiguous.

 

So I certainly think podcasts could be valuable but I think criticism as a whole is also a genre of writing that should be preserved in some way.

 

 

Film score reviews, critique and analysis already exists in podcast form and has for YEARS!

 

For instance, my show is MORE than just a music show.  I usually write 3000-4000 words per show describing the film, score, it's use in context and aspects of the score I want you to focus on when listening to the suite I carefully curate for the program.

 

Then you have podcasts like Art of the Score, Settling The Score, The Soundtrack Show, The Annotator, The Goldsmith Odyssey, The Baton, etc that breakdown, analysis and review film scores.

 

-Erik-

[Tydirium 1,166]

7 hours ago, Þekþiþm said:

I was baffled by CC's 5-star rating for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, despite me loving the film. The score was fine in places, but overall it's noisy, exhaustive and sometimes frustratingly corny.

 

Agree 100%. I much prefer McCreary's RIM OF THE WORLD soundtrack which was released the same day as his GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS. Sort of funny that (imo) the Netflix film got a better score than the big blockbuster.

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

My post is not a political post - I am not expressing a political position or expressing political views. My post is discussing a reviewer which is pertinent as that is literally the point of this thread.

 

With that said CC of filmtracks announced an endorsement of Joe Biden.

https://www.filmtracks.com/

(See front page)

 

I am immensely disappointed. Not because of who he endorsed but because he endorsed somebody. This really is outrageous.

What next, my elevator technician solemnly announcing an endorsement?

 

That he felt the need to do this is troubling. Like who on earth does he think his readers are? We go there to read about the statement of the second theme in the climax of a mid-tier goldsmith score etc.

 

What the fuck do we care about his political leanings? Does everything have to be polluted with politics today? Do I need to brace for an endorsement next time I visit my favorite tennis site to read tennis news.

 

[Kühni 485]

He has done so since 1996. It's his site, so he's free to do with it whatever he likes. The political discussions have always flared up on the ScoreBoard in the weeks before a presidential election, and they always have ceased almost immediately afterwards.

 

I haven't got much to contribute seeing as I'm not an American citizen and am not directly affected by either outcome. I'll offer the following spin on this: Send Trump to Germany, we have no nuclear warheads, so he can't do much harm. In return, send Merkel to the US, as they have a functioning constitution and courts that can and do reign in the government. Done and done. (When I said this out loud to a bunch of our oh-so-lovely village folk, they were quite dismayed.)

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

On 10/8/2020 at 3:10 AM, Jay said:

Political opinions as always are not allowed, in this or any thread. 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

No surprise there. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

2 hours ago, TheUlyssesian said:

What the fuck do we care about his political leanings?

 

You obviously do care, since it triggered you to write a post about it.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Rocky/West 2020

[bollemanneke 3,334]

Wow, is secession really on the table in America? Didn't know it was that bad.

 

Also, he would do well, in my opinion, not just to blame the majoriy of Americans for Donald Trump's victory. If anyone is to blame, it's the political class who couldn't care less about the voters.

[Tom Guernsey 2,277]

The only one I read is Movie Wave, mostly because I went to uni with James (and basically introduced him to film music, or at least introduced him to the availability of soundtracks...) and his writing is witty and well observed. I like the enthusiasm of MMUK, but I find the reviews too long and, dare I say it, too positive. I used to read Filmtracks but haven't in an extremely long time.

 

It's interesting how my and James' tastes diverged quite significantly when we at uni... he loved John Barry and Michael Kamen whereas I was indifferent to both aside from a few, whereas he really disliked Alan Menken and wasn't massively predisposed to James Horner. However, I now hugely appreciate the former and he the latter, especially James Horner. I've hugely enjoyed his James Horner odyssey. I think our tastes have probably converged quite a bit so if he likes something, I'll probably like it and if he recommends skipping I largely trust his judgement.

 

As someone mentioned, I used to run Soundtrack Express during and for a few years after uni, so James and I had competing/complementary review sites. However, I kinda ran out of steam doing mine, largely getting bored of writing 3 star reviews of scores that I thought were "fine" but not much more than that and not terrible enough to inspire and enjoyably scathing review either. I tried restarting Soundtrack Express as a blog but couldn't get the momentum going so decided to just remain a contented reader.

[crocodile 7,976]

I actually remember your website. It was actually one of the better ones. I discovered a lot of music reading your reviews back in the early 00's.

 

And yes, after writing some reviews you become somewhat desensitised. After all, there's so much you can do in the format. My adventure with reviewing lasted only a couple of years but you run out of enthusiasm quite quickly as film trends change. I liked doing interviews though. Did only a handful but that felt bit more nourishing. 

 

Karol

[Tom Guernsey 2,277]

2 hours ago, crocodile said:

I actually remember your website. It was actually one of the better ones. I discovered a lot of music reading your reviews back in the early 00's.

 

And yes, after writing some reviews you become somewhat desensitised. After all, there's so much you can do in the format. My adventure with reviewing lasted only a couple of years but you run out of enthusiasm quite quickly as film trends change. I liked doing interviews though. Did only a handful but that felt bit more nourishing. 

 

Karol

Thanks Karol, glad that someone enjoyed my reviews and hope you discovered some good music from reading them. I'm sure quite a lot don't stand up today and my tastes have definitely changed. I do recall giving Alien 3 one star, but clearly it's a stunning piece of work, but it is pretty hard going in places so I'm not surprised I didn't enjoy it at the time!

[Kühni 485]

Back in the early 2000s, I printed out a couple dozen of your reviews, @Tom Guernsey. I still have them! However, since I never actually met you (unlike Southall, Jon Broxton and Clem), I have doubts whether you actually exist. 

[Tom Guernsey 2,277]

1 minute ago, Kühni said:

Back in the early 2000s, I printed out a couple dozen of your reviews, @Tom Guernsey. I still have them! However, since I never actually met you (unlike Southall, Jon Broxton and Clem), I have doubts whether you actually exist. 

I like to think that I remain fictional... (however burn the reviews lol).

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

4 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

his writing is witty and well observed.

 

I haven't read many of his reviews, but I was thinking exactly the same thing when reading his review of Witches.

 

8 minutes ago, Kühni said:

Back in the early 2000s, I printed out a couple dozen of your reviews, @Tom Guernsey. I still have them!

 

Please upload them here.

[Bespin 8,472]

I love http://www.movie-wave.net/.

 

Does James Southall post on this forum?

[Jay 37,263]

Nah

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I don't care at all about reviews of new releases, but I have enjoyed in the past reading Broxton's reviews of classic scores I already love.

[bollemanneke 3,334]

57 minutes ago, Kühni said:

Back in the early 2000s, I printed out a couple dozen of your reviews, @Tom Guernsey. I still have them! However, since I never actually met you (unlike Southall, Jon Broxton and Clem), I have doubts whether you actually exist. 

What's Clem like as a person?

[Kühni 485]

11 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

What's Clem like as a person?

 

Very tall. 

 

Perfectly nice fellow, great sense of humour and can be engaged on about any topic. Kinda sad that we only ever managed to get together once...in a Missoula pizza place.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Filmtracks posts one review a year or something. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

But what a review!