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Any genre that JW didn't score a film in?


karelm

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Has anyone come up with a list of movies JW has scored by genre and sub genre?  Earlier, I was thinking, "I wonder what a period romance score by JW would have sounded like" but then I remember we know this because Jane Eyre is set in the early 1800s.  Period action piece would be The Patriot so we have good references.  It would be nice to imagine what a spy thriller would sound like from him.  But isn't that kind of like "Catch me if you can?"  Biblical epic?  I think there is some of that in Raider's with the map room and the power of the ark.  Musical?  Sort of...if you consider his involvement in Fiddler on the Roof and what I assume will be similar with West Side Story.  I then start to wonder what genre has JW not scored if any.  Any ideas?  It would be interesting to see a breakdown of films based on genre but I think he scored a movie in every genre.

 

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No.  I think the horror community likes to think Jaws is, but it's really not.

 

The Shallows (2016) is a good example of a Horror movie with a Shark.

 

Jaws is about 3 dudes trying to kill a shark.  It has elements, but not the whole way through.  2nd half of Jaws is an adventure film.

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18 minutes ago, Gruesome Son of a Bitch said:

Superhero, obviously...

Well, there’s Superman. Unless you mean “cash-grabby, overwrought universe-driven superhero” genre. 

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Yeah, Williams didn't do any of those "macho" action movies from the 80s and 90s, like Kamen, Horner, Goldsmith, Silvestri, Poledouris... 

 

Which is a shame because I'd love to see how Williams would score stuff like Die Hard or Lethal Weapon.

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1 hour ago, Edmilson said:

Yeah, Williams didn't do any of those "macho" action movies from the 80s and 90s, like Kamen, Horner, Goldsmith, Silvestri, Poledouris... 

 

Which is a shame because I'd love to see how Williams would score stuff like Die Hard or Lethal Weapon.

 

I once contemplated that in a thread and everyone came up with great suggestions!

 

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/29431-williams-manliest-most-testosterone-fuelled-music/

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2 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

I think of it as a modern genre. Ya know, with Matthew McGonehy and Ann Hathaway. 😎

Any of those?

 

I guess Sabrina and The Terminal come closest. 

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9 hours ago, karelm said:

  It would be nice to imagine what a spy thriller would sound like from him.  But isn't that kind of like "Catch me if you can?" 

 

Yes, more or less. There's also THE SECRET WAYS.

 

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Biblical epic?  I think there is some of that in Raider's with the map room and the power of the ark.

 

He's never done a straight-up biblical epic, but flirted with the style on occasion. Like the flashback scenes in GIDGET GOES TO ROME.

 

 

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Musical?

 

There's THOMAS AND THE KING (for stage). And the aborted PETER PAN musical. Plus plenty of work as arranger on musicals, of course. Some bits and pieces of musical songs in television, like in "The Jenny Tannen Story".

 

 

9 hours ago, Bellosh said:

Horror?

 

As others have noted, DRACULA and THE FURY are considered horror movies. IMAGES is a horror/psychologial thriller. And plenty of individual horror moments in films like JAWS, CE3K, WAR OF THE WORLDS etc.

 

7 hours ago, filmmusic said:

-Contemporary non-fantasy action?

 

The 70s disaster movies could possibly be put here, although I know they're not the type of action film you're looking for.

 

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-Peplum?

 

As with biblical epic, not a film he's done, but rather invidivual moments here and there.

 

5 hours ago, Datameister said:

Has he ever done a martial arts film?

 

Not as a genre. But some of the STAR WARS prequel scenes would possibly qualify.

 

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Film noir?

 

THE LONG GOODBYE.

 

5 hours ago, Datameister said:

Anthology film?

 

Not that I can recall.

 

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Mockumentary?

 

THE KATHERINE REED STORY.

 

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Silent film?

 

There's the piece he wrote for the silent film montage, but it's not a feature length, of course.

 

3 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

I think of it as a modern genre. Ya know, with Matthew McGonehy and Ann Hathaway. 😎

Any of those?

 

As others have said, he's done a plethora of romantic comedies, especially in the 60s. It's not a new genre. And yes - I would definitely label SABRINA and THE TERMINAL some recent examples.

 

2 hours ago, filmmusic said:

Sport movies.

 

True. But he's done some great tunes for sports-related things (Fanfare for Fenway, Sunday Night Football, Olympics etc.)

 

2 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

And cartoon movie.

 

Tintin. But if you're thinking "cartoon" more specifically in the Bugs Bunny style, I guess the closest we have is "Mr. DNA" from JURASSIC PARK or the music for Dr. Know in A.I. Or the animated Saul Bass opening sequence from NOT WITH MY WIFE YOU DON'T.

 

****

 

There aren't that many genres he hasn't explored in some form or fashion, especially not if you also include his extensive TV work. I would have loved to hear him do an artsy independent film in the style of Robert Altman again, maybe even for a European filmmaker, but that's not gonna happen.

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18 minutes ago, Thor said:

There aren't that many genres he hasn't explored in some form or fashion, especially not if you also include his extensive TV work. I would have loved to hear him do an artsy independent film in the style of Robert Altman again, maybe even for a European filmmaker, but that's not gonna happen.

 

I'm sure he'll score George Lucas' art flicks.

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4 minutes ago, thx99 said:


John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!

 

😉

 

He, he....in a sense, yes. Of course, the whole football coaching thing takes completely backseat to the incessant intrigues at the sheik's palace.

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49 minutes ago, Thor said:

There's THOMAS AND THE KING (for stage). And the aborted PETER PAN musical. Plus plenty of work as arranger on musicals, of course. Some bits and pieces of musical songs in television, like in "The Jenny Tannen Story".

There would also be Goodbye Mr. Chips. I haven't seen the movie though so I might be mistaken but the score clearly sound like a musical.

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50 minutes ago, Thor said:

There's THOMAS AND THE KING (for stage). And the aborted PETER PAN musical. Plus plenty of work as arranger on musicals, of course. Some bits and pieces of musical songs in television, like in "The Jenny Tannen Story".

 

That is what I meant. He moved around that genre and even received an accademy award as an arranger.

But Thomas and the King was never filmed and the question on top was "Any genre that JW didn't score a film in?"

And some bits and pieces and songs here and there. The closest he got to that was probably "Hook".

 

55 minutes ago, Thor said:

Tintin. But if you're thinking "cartoon" more specifically in the Bugs Bunny style, I guess the closest we have is "Mr. DNA" from JURASSIC PARK or the music for Dr. Know in A.I. Or the animated Saul Bass opening sequence from NOT WITH MY WIFE YOU DON'T.

The reason why I did not say animated movie because I wanted to refer to drawn cartoon. But stylistically you are right, Snowy's Theme is pretty much cartoon style. And there opening sequence of Catch Me if You Can is as well a score to kind of a cartoon sequence.

 

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2 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

That is what I meant. He moved around that genre and even received an accademy award as an arranger.

But Thomas and the King was never filmed and the question on top was "Any genre that JW didn't score a film in?" And some bits and pieces and songs here and there. The closest he got to that was probably "Hook".

 

Yes. As you know, two of the songs from the aborted PETER PAN musical ended up in HOOK. There are several more unreleased songs from it. I would say that technically, he HAS scored several film musicals. Even though he didn't write the songs themselves, he arranged them AND provided the dramatic underscore between the songs - such as TOM SAWYER, GOODBYE MR. CHIPS etc.

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7 hours ago, Datameister said:

Has he ever done a martial arts film? Film noir? Anthology film? Mockumentary? Silent film?

 

Film Noir, anthology and silent films aren't genres.

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If we’re talking about specific genres, JW completely missed out on that mid-2000s period when actors like Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston would more or less play the same people in different movies. Whatever that genre’s called!

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John Williams never scored a mafia/yakuza/gangster drama and actually I have to admit that I would have loved to hear him scoring that kind of movie. He should have worked at least once with Martin Scorcese or someone else who is good at such kind of films.

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13 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

John Williams never scored a mafia/yakuza/gangster drama.

 

Yes, he has. THE KILLERS. THE LONG GOODBYE would qualify too. Also, in television, there are several examples. 

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2 hours ago, Thor said:

 

Yes, he has. THE KILLERS. THE LONG GOODBYE would qualify too. Also, in television, there are several examples. 

That is quite interesting. Thank you for the hint.

 

In general, I remember there was a the discussion in general how to structure genres and what is a genre anyway.

If you ask me, I have no idea.

This genre thing is too complicated for me. There might be experts who know if action, comedy and action comedy are different genres or from which amount of humor or gags a film can be called comedy or if the only difference between comedy and tragic comedy is depending on the question how the story ends or if a tragic comedy can even have a happy end while traditionally a tragedy can't, or if an unbelievable deus ex machina ending still a happy end even though everybody in the audience know, actually they would have all died. And what does that mean for the genre?

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12 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Yeah, Williams didn't do any of those "macho" action movies from the 80s and 90s, like Kamen, Horner, Goldsmith, Silvestri, Poledouris... 

 

Which is a shame because I'd love to see how Williams would score stuff like Die Hard or Lethal Weapon.

Man, that would be interesting.

 

I'd wager TLW is the closest we have to that.

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Hmm, what would be the list of John Williams scores for films that take place in contemporary time (meaning the main part of the film is contemporary, not bookends like Schindler and Ryan), that have no fantasy/sci-fi elements?

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7 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

So, maybe he could cover it by scoring an upcoming cartoon sword and sandal musical.

 

Brilliant, I'm writing it as we speak.

11 minutes ago, Jay said:

Hmm, what would be the list of John Williams scores for films that take place in contemporary time (meaning the main part of the film is contemporary, not bookends like Schindler and Ryan), that have no fantasy/sci-fi elements?

The Terminal 

The Accidental Tourist 

Black Sunday

Cinderella Liberty (?)

The Eiger Sanction

The Home Alones, but they are somewhat fantastical

Stepmom

Sabrina

Presumed Innocent

Pete N' Tillie

 

@Thor can fill in the 60s era better than I can

 

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7 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

Musical.

 

And a sword and sandal movie.

 

And cartoon movie.

 

So, maybe he could cover it by scoring an upcoming cartoon sword and sandal musical.

The life of Christ in a musical traditional animation film would be glorious! How come noone has thought of it?

A film like The Prince of Egypt.

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