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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Cannes Score reactions)


Jay

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4 hours ago, Brando said:

KOTCS’s score is so so good. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I have a feeling that when it gets remastered and expanded, more people on here will come to appreciate it. The recording session leak is awesome, but when we have about the same thing C&C, and in better quality, there’ll be more fans.

Where can I find this leaked recording session? Thank you.

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8 hours ago, Not Mr. Big said:

KOTCS was a formative score for my JW fandom when I saw it in 7th grade.  Also the first Spielberg I saw in the theaters.

 

I have problems with it now but you can't take that away

 

HMM my first Spielberg in theaters was War of the Worlds.

 

the "see Spielbergs in theaters" didn't last long though

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I found that the 'leak' shone a light on some parts - the opening seqence, all the action around the Jungle Chase and most of the ending. Some spectacular material there.

 

I still think it shows up shortcomings in the middle, plot-driven part of the score with Oxley. My personal playlist is ~50 minutes which almost entirely omits the middle half hour or so.

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I'm pretty sure my first Spielberg in a theater was ET for the 20th anniversary, but it wasn't a particularly memorable experience? I feel like I didn't really relate to it til I was an adult, weirdly. 

 

Whereas the first new one I saw in theaters was Catch Me If You Can the same year, which I became obsessed with. I only missed Munich since then. I saw Crystal Skull at the drive-in! Kinda perfect for that one. 

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11 hours ago, Brando said:

KOTCS’s score is so so good. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I have a feeling that when it gets remastered and expanded, more people on here will come to appreciate it. The recording session leak is awesome, but when we have about the same thing C&C, and in better quality, there’ll be more fans.

 

The way not few people overestimate audio quality is funny. It's not like this is a deal between 1960 and 2023.

And even if it was, I've never heard someone going "Man, I always hated Gone With The Wind, but now that I hear the cello more clearly, I love it!"

 

Like it was suddenly a different score.

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The stupid thing about the version on the album is it's largely a repeat of sections of Adventures of Mutt. The full version is so much more interesting and varied.

 

I'm skimming through a few tracks now on Spotify and am reminded of why I made a custom playlist years ago. What's frustrating is that there are a handful of moments of brilliance but when Williams starts scoring the actual plot and story, it loses me or it falls back onto standard Williams drama techniques, such as squealing strings and woodwinds for scorpions or chaotic brass stabs for some of the action.

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On 03/06/2023 at 9:48 PM, Arpy said:

Definitely - there's a moment in the beginning (of the full cue) where there's this building momentum and then this declaratory statement of the Indy theme comes swinging in and it always leaves me awestruck how he shifts between all these dramatic modes going from complexity to complexity. 

A or B?

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On 20/05/2023 at 12:38 AM, Edmilson said:
On 19/05/2023 at 11:13 PM, Jay said:

Isn't that what @Holko already did here?

I disagree with some of his conclusions.

Sorry but what conclusions? Do you disagree that Eat Slugs is a badly looped copypaste of Norwegian Ridgeback? Do you disagree that some HP1 theme renditions are new in it and aren't found in HP1? Do you disagree on how percentages have to be calculated? :lol:

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12 hours ago, Holko said:

Sorry but what conclusions? Do you disagree that Eat Slugs is a badly looped copypaste of Norwegian Ridgeback? Do you disagree that some HP1 theme renditions are new in it and aren't found in HP1? Do you disagree on how percentages have to be calculated? :lol:

Don't worry, it's just different methodologies. I'll just try to categorize the CoS cues into whether I think they're just Ross adapting older HPPS material or actual cues that JW wrote. They'll be just educated guesses, of course. And I'll use your analysis as a starting point.

 

Still, it'll take a long time before I actually sit down to do this. My limited time is incredibly restrict, and right now I'd rather spend it elsewhere than doing this.

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1 hour ago, TheUlyssesian said:

 

This is my review!

 

Sorry folks I was monstrously busy, I am back now and will try to go through the thread and respond to posts directed at me. 

 

(Unsolicited TMI: I was travelling after Cannes and then moving to a new house and then catching up on my day job).

Well, here is new one directed at you.  Do we get a theme for ancient Syracuse?   

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3 hours ago, TheUlyssesian said:

 

This is my review!

 

Sorry folks I was monstrously busy, I am back now and will try to go through the thread and respond to posts directed at me. 

 

Without spoilers, was there a section of the film where the score impressed the most? Was there anything that screamed "I hope that's on the OST!" ?

 

Thinking back on his recent scores, Holdo's Resolve and The Spark were immediately recognisable from the first viewing of TLJ, while Rey's Training was one of the few cues in TROS that stood out. I don't remember much from KOCS standing out on first viewing, maybe except the Jungle Chase.

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2 minutes ago, crumbs said:

 

 I don't remember much from KOCS standing out on first viewing, maybe except the Jungle Chase.

Not even the Mushroom Cloud? Henry Jones theme?

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10 hours ago, Tom said:

Well, here is new one directed at you.  Do we get a theme for ancient Syracuse?   

 

Related 

 

Spoiler

Does the music stand out at all when they go back in time? Just wondering if it's fairly standard chaos or if JW took the period setting and ran with it at all. 

 

And I also understand Indy has a dramatic beat toward the end where he wants to stay, is the music doing anything emotionally as the climax builds? 

 

Just wondering since you did seem to appreciate the big swing of this sequence in your review, if there's anything musically in here that stood out to you, either in craziness or simply bringing gravitas or whatever.

 

I of course assume he ultimately sticks the landing in the final 1969 scenes into credits because how could he not? 

 

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30 minutes ago, A Farewell to Kings said:

Not even the Mushroom Cloud? Henry Jones theme?

 

Yeah the references to older themes stood out the most, IIRC. Can't remember anything more specific except the score not leaving much of an impression overall.

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17 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

The main thing I remember wanting to hear again was Mutt's theme during the jungle chase. 

Innit on the album?

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On 30/05/2023 at 11:20 PM, Brando said:

KOTCS’s score is so so good. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I have a feeling that when it gets remastered and expanded, more people on here will come to appreciate it. The recording session leak is awesome, but when we have about the same thing C&C, and in better quality, there’ll be more fans.

 

doesn't fix the more anemic perfomance (but there's a distinction to be made there, of course)

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Here's a comment from someone on Facebook who has seen a press screening.

He's not favourable about the movie, but:

Capture+_2023-06-12-22-19-14-1.png

 

I have no clue what "a disorienting John Williams score" would even mean...

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17 hours ago, Taikomochi said:

I take that as code for “I don’t really know what Williams sounds like outside of his 70’s-80’s hits, least of all how his sound has changed over time, so it was disorienting and different to me.”

 

I take that as code for John Williams delving deeper into his habit of scoring to too many sync points, leaving the coherence of his action music even farther at the wayside.

 

An estimated 0.1% of the audience of this film follows film composers' sound "changing over time".

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On 11/06/2023 at 10:40 PM, Tom said:

Well, here is new one directed at you.  Do we get a theme for ancient Syracuse?   

 

In my first viewing - admittedly in poor conditions - I was not able to notice one. Given the nature of the film, it wouldn't surprise me if there is one.

 

On 12/06/2023 at 12:25 AM, crumbs said:

 

Without spoilers, was there a section of the film where the score impressed the most? Was there anything that screamed "I hope that's on the OST!" ?

 

Thinking back on his recent scores, Holdo's Resolve and The Spark were immediately recognisable from the first viewing of TLJ, while Rey's Training was one of the few cues in TROS that stood out. I don't remember much from KOCS standing out on first viewing, maybe except the Jungle Chase.

 

Honestly, nothing one the level of those things. The first 2 were extremely dramatic moments, so you'd remember the moments themselves and the music would also be ingrained in your mind. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny doesn't have any comparable dramatic moments.

 

I can't think of a particular musical moment that made me go "I wish that is on the album". Maybe the map transition scene? I remember that making an impression on me. 

 

On 12/06/2023 at 12:37 AM, mrbellamy said:

 

Related 

 

  Hide contents

Does the music stand out at all when they go back in time? Just wondering if it's fairly standard chaos or if JW took the period setting and ran with it at all. 

 

And I also understand Indy has a dramatic beat toward the end where he wants to stay, is the music doing anything emotionally as the climax builds? 

 

Just wondering since you did seem to appreciate the big swing of this sequence in your review, if there's anything musically in here that stood out to you, either in craziness or simply bringing gravitas or whatever.

 

I of course assume he ultimately sticks the landing in the final 1969 scenes into credits because how could he not? 

 

 

Hmm...

 

so the climatic sequence is notable...

Spoiler

because they go back in time like you said. I think just the narrative surprise of being in 3rd century BC maybe prevented from me from noticing what the music was doing then. I can't seem to remeber if it suddenly turned extremely period. 

 

The scene where Indy is making a big decision at the end, kinda ends in a comedic bit from Phoebe. So there is kinda a music build up that suddenly cuts out. 

 

I actually for the life of me... can't remember the last shot explicitly. But I do remember the last shot of Crystal Skull - that shows you what good filmmaking will do for you. Mangold isn't on the level of Spielberg obviously. 

 

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1 hour ago, TolkienSS said:

John Williams delving deeper into his habit of scoring to too many sync points

Isn't....isn't that a good chunk of scoring?? Why would he not score to a sync point?

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