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News of the World - James Newton Howard


WampaRat

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Hoping for a lush JNH western score in the style of THE POSTMAN or WYATT EARP or whatever, but expecting something a bit more gritty, perhaps.

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Anyone knows when and how this was recorded? JNH is in the risk group for Covid, so if the recording sessions happened after March, they had to happen with the utmost security for everyone involved.

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In the biz, perhaps?

 

In any case, this does sound promising. Melodic and soft. Reminds me a bit of Michael Kamen's excellent OPEN RANGE (his last great score, IMO).

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49 minutes ago, Thor said:

In the biz, perhaps?

No he's a hacker / bootlegger.  He literally asks for donations in the description of the youtube video, give him one and he'll illegally send you this album that isn't out yet that he got from who knows where

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1 hour ago, Thor said:

In the biz, perhaps?

 

In any case, this does sound promising. Melodic and soft. Reminds me a bit of Michael Kamen's excellent OPEN RANGE (his last great score, IMO).

 

That reminds me I need to listen to Open Range again. I recently found the OST for a good price, but I'm not convinced it's a good score (separated from the film).

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3 hours ago, Pawel P. said:

 

Sounds very promising. 

 

Wow, that was really what I wasn't expecting. I was hoping for something more epic like Wyatt Earp.

 

Instead, it seems to be an atmospheric, sparse score. I have no problem with that, and this suite is wonderful.

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I wasn't sure what to expect, but I definitely felt it wasn't going to be Wyatt Earp style.  JNH seems to have largely moved away from big sweeping, melodic scoring for dramas.

 

His scores for drama movies in recet years such as Pawn Sacrifice and Roman J Israel (that's a good film) really haven't done anything for me, but along comes what appears to be a gritty western, and it's more engaging. However, I tend to like modern westerns, such as the Magnificent Seven remake.

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Ha!  It is kinda similar, innit?

 

Is it fair to call that a suite?  The description of the youtube video indicates it's simply 3 OST tracks back to back to back.

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There’s more melody than I was expecting, for a Greengrass picture at least. Still, I knew from the start that this wouldn’t be a return to the days of Wyatt Earp, so my expectations weren’t high anyway.

 

I’m more looking forward to Jungle Cruise. The film looks dreadful but I’m sure it has enough scope for a bombastic melodic score. He hasn’t disappointed with a Disney film just yet.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Track titles for the OST:

 

1. Captain Jefferson Kidd
2. There Is No Time for Stories
3. Leaving Wichita
4. Arriving at Red River
5. Now for Some Federal News
6. Johanna’s New Clothes
7. The Road to Dallas
8. It’s Hard Finding Your Way Home
9. Dime Mountain
10. What Else Can You Teach Me
11. Erath County
12. Kidd Defies Farley
13. Johanna Returns Home
14. Dust Storm
15. A Gift
16. Castroville
17. Kidd Visits Maria
18. Miss Johanna Kidd
19. End Titles

 

It will include an end title suite at the end :lovethis:

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There are bits and pieces in his 'big' genre films in recent years that are nice enough, but first and foremost, I'm interested in the alternative films. Stuff like A HIDDEN LIFE. As such, I'm rather curious about his score for the documentary THE LAST ICE recently, or the TV series EMILY IN PARIS.

 

NEWS OF THE WORLD is exactly the kind of thing I want to hear these days.

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On 10/26/2020 at 3:17 PM, GerateWohl said:

Is there any Kamen score that works good on an album? I have two of them and there I am always just listening to my favourite 2 or 3 tracks.

 

I like these albums:

Band of Brothers

Don Juan

Robin Hood (OST)

 

Which two albums do you have?

 

37 minutes ago, Mr. Who said:

2018 also had Nutcracker and the Four Realms! Great list of scores! Too bad beasts 3 is pushed.

 

Frankly, I got embarrassed on JNH's behalf when I heard what he'd done to Tchaikovsky's music. But JNH has always been very hit and miss to me.

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34 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I like these albums:

Band of Brothers

Don Juan

Robin Hood (OST)

 

Which two albums do you have?

Brazil and Highlander. But from the Last one only excerpts in simpler of the 3 films. But even there I usually only listen to the first track.

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3 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

Brazil and Highlander. But from the Last one only excerpts in simpler of the 3 films. But even there I usually only listen to the first track.

 

I kind of regret not getting Brazil before it went OOP. It's a fun album with great highlights!

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37 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Frankly, I got embarrassed on JNH's behalf when I heard what he'd done to Tchaikovsky's music. But JNH has always been very hit and miss to me.

Absolutely agreed. My favourite JNH scores are still the first four M. Night Shymalan scores and King Kong.

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1 minute ago, Richard Penna said:

Band of Brothers has some really slow tracks. I personally found about a half hour of good material; others will find more.

 

You make it sound like slow music is automatically boring.

 

1 minute ago, GerateWohl said:

Absolutely agreed. My favourite JNH scores are still the first four M. Night Shymalan scores and King Kong.

 

Signs ranks very highly in my collection.

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46 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I like these albums:

Band of Brothers

Don Juan

Robin Hood (OST)

Thank you for the recomendations. I have not sehen any of these films. RH only Half of it and I just remember the Bryan Adams song. But probably I will give it a try.

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6 hours ago, Thor said:

... I'm rather curious about his score for the documentary THE LAST ICE recently, or the TV series EMILY IN PARIS.

 

I did not know about these. Interesting.

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17 hours ago, Thor said:

As such, I'm rather curious about his score for the documentary THE LAST ICE recently, or the TV series EMILY IN PARIS.

 

 

He scored that Netflix Paris movie? Had no idea. Might watch it for the score now. I'm guessing there is no OST release.

 

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I looked at the show on Netflix. Appears he only wrote the theme -- very stereotypical "French" with accordions and what-have-you.

 

As for THE LAST ICE, I don't have National Geographic, but I'd love to see it for the score.

 

 

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Seems to be pot luck these days whether documentary scores get a release or not. Most things Zimmer & Co. do get a release, and there's a ton of very obscure stuff from smaller composers. But when film composers like JNH do one... more often than not it seems forgotten.

 

Netflix on the other hand - tons of their shows have score releases judging from Spotify. Enola Holmes and The Silence being two I got in the last year.

 

Even some really low profile horror films have had score releases. I'll bet almost no one here has seen an Aussie one called The Tunnel, for which there's a C&C digital release, or The Nightmare, which I even got on CD. Plus, as I mentioned in another thread somewhere, the Newton Bros' Hush.

 

Funnily enough, searching for 'documentary score' brings up mostly library albums.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm listening to this.

 

It's a sparse, atmospheric score, kinda like an Americana version of Michael Clayton (but not as dull as MC). Some parts reminded me of the violin solos for the District 13 cues in the Hunger Games franchise.

 

It won't get many fans as last year's A Hidden Life, but it's still a solid dramatic score.

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I like the more downtempo Americana stuff, or the lyrical parts. But it's also plagued by a lot of contemporary, soulless ostinato-isms. A few tracks that just drag. And it's far too long at 71 minutes, with some short tracks that barely get going before it's over. It's a far cry from A HIDDEN LIFE, or the other western scores he's done, but still one of the year's highlights. That says something about the high standard JNH is capable of, I think.

 

Another one added to the list that I need to whittle down; I think a 50-minute playlist or so will improve the whole impression a couple of notches.

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