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Williams scores you think SHOULD have won best score?


Joel

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Which Williams scores do you think should have one the best original score catigory, but didn't?

For me, i think that (i'm sure many of you know this but) Hook should have won and also Catch me if you can. I also consider Empire Strikes back to be worthy of winning best original score.

What do you think?

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Raiders of the Lost Ark not winning is an absolute sham, uttetly, completely and totally ridiculous as well as inexcusable.

Ted

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Well, i think Williams should have won the award for The Phantom Menace, because i believe that it was one of the most difficult scores John ever had to write. He had to create huge score which wasn´t allowed to surpass the magic of the OT-scores. And he did that easily

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I don't understand Academy's tastes at all. To me, Oscar loses a little bit of its weight with each awarded scores such as Titanic or Shakespeare in Love. If these two, among others, were good enough to grab the statuette, than about 70 Williams' scores should have won.

Seriously, "Superman", "Hook", "Far and Away", "Jurassic Park", "Phantom Menace", "Indy" or "A.I." are all much much better than some actual past winners. I think some uninteresting winners must have benefited from the movies they belonged in, or I don't know. Oscar is becoming less and less a matter of stature.

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Oscar is becoming less and less a matter of stature.

Right on. ;)

Justin -Who knows the list of Williams "should have won scores" goes on and on.

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The Empire Strikes Back

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Return of the Jedi

Jurassic Park (for a nomination that is, considering he actually did win that year with Schindler's List)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone or Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (either one, they're both excellent)

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It annoys me how the Academy often looks at the nominees name, and tries to give everyone something. While everyone who gets nominated deserves to be, because they're all fine composers, I often get the feeling that Williams sometimes gets snubbed, just because he already has five Oscars. That's a load of BS, because the award should go to the BEST SCORE OF THE YEAR, and not to THE BEST ATTEMPT AT A GREAT SCORE BY SOMEONE WHO HASN'T WON THAT MUCH YET. :?

Besides, it's been 10 years since Williams' last Oscar, so it's time he gets another one. The genius is not dead yet. :angry:

- Marc, playing with smilees. ;):):baaa:;):P :spiny: :D :cool: beerchug :joy::nod::lurk::ola::):jump:

*cough*

:music: Escape/Chase/Saying Goodbye from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial bowdown

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The Reivers (1969) -- all that out-of-place scatting in "Butch Cassidy" wasn't worthy

Superman (1978) -- I'm torn over this because I really like the score to "Midnight Express," the winner

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) -- "Fame" contains a great original song score, but its dramatic score is hardly evident. We would see this again with "The Full Monty"

Return of the Jedi (1983) -- I love the original music from the winner, "The Right Stuff," but it does sound too much like the tracked music, which is probably what confused a lot of people

Nixon (1995) -- I would have been happy if "Braveheart" won, but "Il Postino"?????. Which brings us to....

Saving Private Ryan (1998) -- The biggest Oscar travesty (well, until 2002) was seeing Nicola Piovani win for his repetitive score. Williams should have won simply for "Hymn to the Fallen," his best choral work.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) -- this score was the reason I told everyone to see this movie. The solo soprano during the end credits is his third best choral work (after "Duel of the Fates"). I am still amazed at the techno action piece in "The Moon Rising," and get goosebumps when watching the scene when they arrive in Manhattan. Great stuff. Side note: "Harry Potter" is a fun score, but probably too Williams to deserve an Oscar (more on that later).

Catch Me If You Can (2002) -- I would have been happy if anyone but Elliot Goldenthal won. I do not like "Frida," the film or the score.

I have no disgust at the academy. I always enjoy watching the Oscars and always expect some disappointments. It's one of the things that makes the Oscars the most-talked about show on TV.

Jeff -- who always gets nervous during the Best Original Score presentation

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Oscar is becoming less and less a matter of stature.

Exactly it is more and more becomming a mediaspectacle and keeping people happy than really objective judging of the Jury.

But notheless that's another discussion

I think Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone. Really great score, suiting for that kind of movie!

Hmm I will come with more later

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A.I. As I said in 2002, it was Williams' last chances to win an Oscar, let alone deserve one. It is a masterpiece, and an evidence that John Williams will not win another Oscar unless he scores a Best Picture. Which considering his agenda, isn't likely.

Why do all the movies he wins an Oscar for need to be nominated for Best Picture, too?

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Well, i think Williams should have won the award for The Phantom Menace, because i believe that it was one of the most difficult scores John ever had to write. He had to create huge score which wasn´t allowed to surpass the magic of the OT-scores. And he did that easily
:music: I agree! And TPM is the best SW score.
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And the Oscar should have gone to....

Empire of the Sun: I like Sakamoto's Last Emperor, but EOTS is MUCH better. At least, it won the BAFTA.

Saving Private Ryan: it's a shame Life Is Beautiful beat Williams' most mature work. Silence is said to be the best sound in movies. In this case, restrain.

Jurassic Park: But Schindler's List won fairly :music:

Born on the Fourth of July: Or even Last Crusade. Williams should have won in his best year, 1989.

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It all depends on the otehr nomenees. I would have loved to see Williams get a award for Angela's Ashes, but I do find that The Red Violin (Corigliano) is in fact a even better score. But I do agree that sometimes, the awards were really weird options... Il Postion or Life is Beautiful are nice eforts, but Williams works on those same years are masterpieces! And I won't even talk about Midnight Express and Chariots of Fire winning over some of Williams best work for film. The first is pure trash, and the second is just one nice theme.

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One of the big problems with the oscar is that the number of awards has grown more important in the media than the importance of an award itself.

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The Academy jury for this award is made up of composers or peers of the nominees. Those people have different musical backgrounds, and probably did not enter film music, or music in general, the way that some of us did - through Williams. Most everyone knows he's a famous composer, but they do not realize that it is because of his consistantly good work. Other composers do different things that may appeal more to "unbiased" listeners =) We love Williams music so much, we know it is good, but it is hard to be objective. On the contrary, he has been snubbed unfairly in the past. I agree with most everyone's examples above; one thing about Beauty and the Beast vs. Hook (which is technically virtuostic at times - a rarity for a score). The music in Beauty trully brought a sense of drama never before experienced in an animated picture. It made it "broadway-esque"; naturally, this change surprised Hollywood, so it chose to award a more obvious innovation as opposed to the extra-dimensional innovations Williams constantly provides. Well, that was a long opinion - sorry.

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It's a toss-up between Superman and TESB since both lost to totally inferior competition. But if I had to choose, it would be for the Man of Steel. I'd say he was more deserving of being the first composer since Waxman to win back-to-back Oscars...something Alan Menken did years later for doing nothing more than the same styled music/songs.

Of course, people would argue Williams did that very thing with Star Wars and Superman...

JW-Credit2.gif

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The list is endless. Perhaps the biggest slaps in the face were:

1. TESB: How many knowledgeable people hold this score as their "favorite of all time" and yet didn't win best score OF THAT YEAR? Give me a break!! This didn't win because Star Wars DID win (which it deserved to win, so I'm not complaining).

2. Superman: The Movie- You could say the same for this and...

3. Raiders Of The Lost Ark- ....this too!

There are more, but the above really were bad to avoid. Other mentionables would be Hook, A.I., Empire Of The Sun... one could go on and on... what's the point?

But you know what? I have no idea why some of you get so worked up for those shows. I personally have no desire to watch, and little or no respect for awards that are "voted". That means that it is NOT a competition between the best, it means it is a popularity contest where mob rule wins. And sometimes, those little dinky scores win to a no-name movie witha no-name composer that is forgotten the following year anyways... so how THOSE things win is beyond me?!

Williams' problem is that even a sub-par score of his is better than most composer's lifetime best work, and the jealousy factor and "spreading the weath" mentalities come into play with the voters. He's won alot and he's nominated almost every single year, so they give it to someone who hadn't won one yet, whether deserving or not.

I agree with the previous comment... the award should be re-named: "The best score by a composer that hasn't won one yet".

-Chris, Watching his Spurs... BYE!

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Lets see, the moment I hear the music in E.T. I knew it should win, and it did. The same with Jaws. Star Wars was worthy but so was Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Superman, ESB, and Raiders all comprise the biggest set of travesties in the Oscar for best score. All deserved to win, no question.

The Towering Inferno deserved to win over the vastly inferior Godfather II score.

Empire of the Sun deserved an Oscar.

Schindler's List should have not won, Jurassic Park is clearly superior IMHO.

Other scores that should have won are Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and Catch Me If You Can. Lost World was very deserving of an Oscar despite not getting a nomination. TPM was deserving, but A.I., Angela's Ashes, the Patriot, and Minority Report were not. I agree with Ray about Far and Away. Home Alone was worthy, I am sure Ricard would feel that way about HA2. Jaws 2 and the Fury were worthy but not over Superman. Temple of Doom was also worthy, if for no other reason than Slave Children.

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your signature is slowing down my PC.

K.M.

Buy another PC ! Or get an new kind of internetconnection!

and Eplicon it is indeed a bit fast, you can just make out the obvious text in your signature

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The following"

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Empire Strikes Back

Superman

Hook

Jurrasic Park

Hell ...... the list includes almost every score he DIDNT win an oscar for post-1975.

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Another thing i don´t like about the academy award is that if someone´s nominated for an Oscar, but doesn´t win it, he´s declared a "loser" by quite a lot of people...happened to Johnny several times.

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All the ones I'd suggest have been said. But, I would say that The Red Violin is a score that is definately worthy of an oscar, it's a very well crafted score that is very enjoyable, Angela's Ashes is a score that is more enjoyable... in some parts, but in my opinion it's not as well crafted.

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The one that should have won is of course:

Seven years in Tibet

Why well I just have to quote filmtracks:

Seven Years in Tibet: (John Williams) After the superb use of Randy Edelman's Dragonheart music in this film's primary trailers, it was hard to imagine how any other music could fit better with the images in Seven Years in Tibet. From the very outset of this score, however, John Williams' majestic touch of theme and suspense make that trailer discussion a long, lost memory. There's no doubt this score will give John Williams another free pass to the Academy Award ceremonies, and of the contenders (or lack of) so far this year, it certainly would win the award.

I don't think that I have to say more ;)

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Hmmm,

He should have won many more times since he's the best composer around,but the real ripoffs were:

Superman,the Movie

The Empire Strikes Back.

Raiders of the Lost Ark.

A.I.

Hook,JP and Phantom Menace should at least have had a nomination.

K.M.

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Hmmm,

He should have won many more times since he's the best composer around,but the real ripoffs were:

Superman,the Movie

The Empire Strikes Back.

Raiders of the Lost Ark.

A.I.

Hook,JP and Phantom Menace should at least have had a nomination.

K.M.

Total Agreement.

Ted

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The Reivers (1969) -- all that out-of-place scatting in "Butch Cassidy" wasn't worthy

Superman (1978) -- I'm torn over this because I really like the score to "Midnight Express," the winner

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) -- "Fame" contains a great original song score, but its dramatic score is hardly evident. We would see this again with "The Full Monty"

Return of the Jedi (1983) -- I love the original music from the winner, "The Right Stuff," but it does sound too much like the tracked music, which is probably what confused a lot of people

Nixon (1995) -- I would have been happy if "Braveheart" won, but "Il Postino"?????. Which brings us to....

Saving Private Ryan (1998) -- The biggest Oscar travesty (well, until 2002) was seeing Nicola Piovani win for his repetitive score. Williams should have won simply for "Hymn to the Fallen," his best choral work.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) -- this score was the reason I told everyone to see this movie. The solo soprano during the end credits is his third best choral work (after "Duel of the Fates"). I am still amazed at the techno action piece in "The Moon Rising," and get goosebumps when watching the scene when they arrive in Manhattan. Great stuff. Side note: "Harry Potter" is a fun score, but probably too Williams to deserve an Oscar (more on that later).

Catch Me If You Can (2002) -- I would have been happy if anyone but Elliot Goldenthal won. I do not like "Frida," the film or the score.

I have no disgust at the academy. I always enjoy watching the Oscars and always expect some disappointments. It's one of the things that makes the Oscars the most-talked about show on TV.

Jeff -- who always gets nervous during the Best Original Score presentation

Excellent list Trumpeteer and I agree with most of it, especially the Goldenthal point. However I would add Jurassic Park (although I understand it lost in favor of schindler's list, which i think is ok) and actually Harry Potter (I think the orchestration is rather original, and besides, and being too Williams is not a good arguement to dismiss a score i think, certainly not for the academy). By the way, yoy know Williams made an excellent arrangement of Bacalov's Il Postino for violin and orchestra, recorded by Itzhak Perlman and the Pittsburgh SO? (It's on Cinema Serenade, and like Williams arrangement for the color purple, at least as good as Schindler's List).

MSM

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your signature is slowing down my PC.

K.M.

Haha most funny remark as of recently! LOL

It slows it down a bit for me as well. I had also had problems with Stefan's wider-than-life signature, but he fixed it recently only for Morn's mp3 push-buttons that twice overlap the horizontal pitch of my screen to get me in trouble again, so if I want to read the message bodies in their entirety, I can't but keep moving the horizontal scroll bar in my internet browser from left to roight constantly, which makes the reading all the more toilsome. But far be it from me to complain... ;)

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I agree with most people in that Williams should have won many, many more awards than he has, however one thing does make me keep my sanity about it. The other honor he holds when it comes to awards.

He is the most nominated person alive.

Maybe the most nominated ever, I'm not sure...but I'm certain about the most nominated alive. And if they don't give this man a lifetime achievement award, THAT will be the biggest travesty of the Academy Awards. Just for a moment, try...just TRY to think of a Hollywood without Williams. I can't do it.

His music will be around long after the statues. ;)

-JCM

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JCM makes a point that maybe we forget all too often, especially those of us who watch the Oscars regularly:

His music (will) be around long after the statues.

That is definitely true.

And he's not the most nominated person ever. That would be Alfred Newman, though many of his nods came in an era when the head of the studio's music department got the nomination, instead of the composer.

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And he's not the most nominated person ever. That would be Alfred Newman, though many of his nods came in an era when the head of the studio's music department got the nomination, instead of the composer.

True, Newman was nominated for an Oscar 45 times, and as of 2002, Williams has been nominated for 42. So I think it's safe to say he will surpass Newman by the end of 2005. (Harry 3, Indy 4, Star Wars III).

And that doesn't even count Golden Globes or Grammys ;)

-JCM

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So I think it's safe to say he will surpass Newman by the end of 2005. (Harry 3, Indy 4, Star Wars III).

Sequels won't have almost any chance to get nominations.

So our hope is on Terminal, Walter Mitty and a possible? Alexander the Great.

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Jango is right on the money with Seven Years in Tibet. What kind of morons decided to forego nominating the collaboration of the best film scorer of all time and one of the best cellists ever? Williams and Ma (Is that his last name, if he has one?). It's like an offspring of the Spielberg-Williams collaboration. From director-composer, you get composer-performer. Both relationships are perfect and you can rely on them everytime to spawn great pieces of work.

Nearly every track on the score is great to listen to, because of the ever-present dramatic flare that is imbedded in the main theme. It makes for a way better score than any other of Williams' dramatic scores, I think. I know some louse is probably going to bring up Schindler's, but I just don't like Schindler's, okay? The movie may make it better, but I haven't seen it. I have seen Seven Years in Tibet and I can't say that the movie made the music any better. If anything, the score is more like another cello concerto, but disguised as a film score. It doesn't really have many characteristics of a classical piece of music, but it seems less restrained by what's on the screen. It's as if Annaud told JW and YYM, "Have at it, boys! Leave the reels on the editor's desk when you're done!" Of course, I don't think it's as if Annaud didn't care, he just didn't want to disturb the masters at work. Of course, it's been a while since I saw the movie and I don't remember how the music worked and/or was worked into the movie, but judging from what's on the CD, it sounds like Annaud went with the whole non-interfering attitude. But it does leave me to wonder why he didn't tap Williams for Enemy at the Gates nor his upcoming pic, The Two Brothers. I guess $1M is a lot of money for a filmmaker who isn't George Lucas or Steven Spielberg. Time is also usually a scarce commodity for Williams, too.

I'm not sure which is the largest sham--The Reivers losing to a 15-minute score or Seven Years not even being nominated. Wonder if Jiang Zemin and his cronies were nominating that year...?

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I can only agree TLIJ!

and can only add that the music perfectly suits the music. Especially when the so-called himalaya-mountains (it was recorded in the Andes) get a full in flight view and that music under that scene. Just Breathtaking really well done.

As I think of it, almost every seen has been perfectly been backed with breathtaking music

Jango - who has seen the movie 6 times now

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I know some louse is probably going to bring up Schindler's, but I just don't like Schindler's, okay?  The movie may make it better, but I haven't seen it.

Take a look at the film, then come back and tell us if your opinion remains.

Jeff -- who needs to take another look at "Seven Years in Tibet"

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I know some louse is probably going to bring up Schindler's, but I just don't like Schindler's, okay? The movie may make it better, but I haven't seen it.

Take a look at the film, then come back and tell us if your opinion remains.

Jeff -- who needs to take another look at "Seven Years in Tibet"

Like the commercial says, Jeff, "Don't be that guy."

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It slows it down a bit for me as well. I had also had problems with Stefan's wider-than-life signature, but he fixed it recently only for Morn's mp3 push-buttons that twice overlap the horizontal pitch of my screen to get me in trouble again, so if I want to read the message bodies in their entirety, I can't but keep moving the horizontal scroll bar in my internet browser from left to roight constantly, which makes the reading all the more toilsome. But far be it from me to complain

Huh? What sort of old dust bucket do you have which requires you to use such a low resolution. :)

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So I think it's safe to say he will surpass Newman by the end of 2005. (Harry 3, Indy 4, Star Wars III).

Sequels won't have almost any chance to get nominations.

So our hope is on Terminal, Walter Mitty and a possible? Alexander the Great.

Well I dunno about that.

Sequels can be nominated assuming they are good enough.

Wasn't Williams nominated for scores like ESB? Temple of Doom?

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Yes, he did, Rogue, but the Music Branch of the Academy is considering some rule that says that any score eligible for Best Original Score must have a majority of the music comosed for the film. That means no themes must be reprised, or at least not be chock full of them.

Films like Harry Potter and Star Wars are reliant so heavily on previously composed themes that not hearing them just to get an Oscar nomination would be weird.

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It all has been done to give other composers a shot for an award

Like I said before. For the media they do everything. All just to keep some people happy and give them the feeling their work appreciated too!

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